Publishing’s Inconvenient Truth?

Regular visitors to this site know that I am a supporter of self-publishers, small publishers and even Print On Demand authors. After all, I am or have been all of the above. I always believed that having my book out there would be a plus, and that a track record of sales would make me more attractive to publishers. Besides, with a book published I can demonstrate how hard I’m willing to work to sell books.

The truth may be someone different. I’ve spoken with several agents lately and been told some things that, if true, I wish someone had told me a lot sooner. Some things that POD Publishers and small presses would NOT want you to know.

For example, I’ve been told that some agents automatically reject any manuscript from an author who wants to step up to a bigger house, or wants a chance at a wider readership once he or she is already published. They say that publishers prefer the unknown risk of debut authors to the known potential of established authors who have shown they’ll promote their work, unless those authors have sold more than 50,000 copies.

For years I’d heard that large publishers would pick up books that had been successful at a small house or POD, but until now no one every defined “successful” for me. (This particular agent, Janet Reid, was speaking in the Sisters-in-Crime newsletter.)

Agents also report that most publishers aren’t interested in taking on a series that is already started. They might look at a new series by an author with a series already published, but only if they see the new series as potentially a big breakout hit.

So the advice from these agents is, keep submitting everywhere because if you self-publish, publish POD or go with a small press it could spike your chances at a career as an author for one of the big houses. Ms Reid says that until you’ve queried 50 agents with three separate books, it’s too soon to consider the other options.

It’s hard to say to what extent this is just information that small presses and POD companies just don’t want you to hear, since their livelihood is based on getting writers to publish with them. There is also quite an industry that has sprung up around selling products and services to self-publishers and POD authors. They don’t want you to think it’s pointless, or worse, counter-productive to try.

But it’s also hard to say to what extent this information is self-serving for the agents, whose livelihood depends on selling manuscripts to companies that pay an advance big enough to make 15% worth having.

As there are no disinterested parties in this business, we must all still use our best judgment: publish now and risk never being considered by the big guys, or keep submitting, knowing that you may never be considered by the big guys.

I’M EVERY WRITER…you’re all in me

When I began this blog I promised to make it personal and talk about what was going on in my writing life. I figure that will involve sharing the actual metrics – how many words written, events attended, submissions made – but that data will require some context. What kind of writer am I? Well actually, I’m all kinds.

I am a Print on Demand author. Two of my novels were first published by a POD publisher and they still have the nonfiction book they asked me to write. It was a how-to on marketing POD fiction. Selling POD books is different, mostly because most booksellers don’t want to stock them. I’ve made no effort to sell this thing, but it has sold steadily and I still get letters from readers about how helpful it has been.

I am also self-published, or rather wife-published which most people take as the same thing. My lovely wife Denise publishes five of my novels under the Intrigue Publishing imprint with greater success than I would have expected. My first project for this year is to update and rewrite my marketing book for all fiction writers, and Denise will publish that new volume.

I am a small press author too. Echelon Press picked up “Blood and Bone,” the flagship of my Hannibal Jones mystery series, and the power of their distribution has made it easy to get all my books into the major chains.

And finally, I’m a mainstream hopeful. My efforts promoting my writing helped me get the attention, and representation, of a New York agent. Susan Gleason is presenting my manuscripts to big-name publishers. A part of me believes it’s only a matter of time before Ballantine or Penguin Books recognizes the value of my work. The rest of me is not willing to wait for that recognition, and really enjoys signing books at various events and receiving those e-mails filled with praise.

So you see, no matter what kind of writer you are, no matter how you choose to be published, I can relate.

Oh, and as for the metrics: I’m 117 pages into the final edit of the 164 page how-to, tentatively titled “Successfully Marketing your Novel in the 21st Century.”

Then next Hannibal Jones mystery doesn’t even have a working title, but I’m 27, 072 words into its first draft.

I’ve started the Northern Virginia chapter of the Virginia Writers Club and today we held our third monthly meeting after receiving our charter. I want to make this chapter grow and make it an engine for promoting the work of all its members.

Now you can track my progress… and I’m committed. To you.