I voted today. I’ve voted for every election, local, state or national, since I was 18. No matter where I lived, no matter what the office, no matter what the weather . . . I voted. I grew up in a military family, with several family members in civilian service as well. I worked for Civil Service for 25 years. My husband is now a retired federal agent. Son is US Coast Guard. The flag flies high in my backyard, on view for everyone on the lake. Hubby reminds us of Pearl Harbor Day, D-Day, and various other memorable dates that have meaning to free Americans. Yes, we are very patriotic, and no . . . if my candidate does not win, I would never consider moving to Canada.

I live in the country by choice. 

I am an author by choice.

Nothing in the publishing industry seems to come easy, and I don’t agree with all its diverse decisions. About the time we adapt to one change, along comes another. So many styles of self-publishing. So many forms of e-book. Agent or no agent. Big Six or small press. Nook or Kindle. Public appearances or online promotion. Paper or electronic, or both. In actuality, the public decides what works and what doesn’t. And because you don’t like some faction of the industry, or dislike a hurdle that pops in your way to achieve publication, doesn’t mean you turn mean and ugly about it, vowing to scream to the masses how you disagree, pointing an ugly finger at those who dare go against your line of thought. Plus, do your readers, people just seeking an enlightening and entertaining book, need to hear about the dirty laundry of your profession?

Who hasn’t read a myriad of complaints on Facebook and Twitter about this year’s politics? 

People force nasty remarks on their social media followers, which spawns a zillion caustic retorts, to include complaining about nasty retorts! They forget that they’d make a lot more headway speaking about the positives of their supported candidate than bashing the opposing one. Since when do we convince someone to change sides by belittling them? Such wasted energy that could be used elsewhere.

Maybe we can learn from this election year as we continue our publishing journey. 

Instead of hating Amazon, criticizing the self-published, or hating the New York publishers, try focusing on the positives of the route you DID choose.

There’s a lot of truth to “learning by example.” Nobody likes to have an opinion forced down his throat. But there’s a subtle power in marching on with a smile on your face, knowing you made the right choice for you. People adore confidence and personal satisfaction, and if your choices in life make you happy, chances are someone else is going to want to be like you . . . using your choices to make themselves happy, too.

Traditional publishing sometimes publishes bad books.
Self-publishing sometimes publishes good books.

Take a look at that statement. You can write a good book either way.

The odds of getting accepted traditionally are low.
The odds of self-publishing a successful book are low.

The odds are against you either way. Just decide the company you want and the path you’d prefer. then own it and don’t discount those who choose the other side.

I just returned off a whirlwind tour of three states and 3200 miles in ten days. Whew! I met some great, great readers, fans, writers, and authors . . . some remarkable editors and agents. The larger conferences are always interesting. If you don’t allow yourself to become intimidated by the names and experience, you can actually enjoy watching the pecking order.

All of us had to start somewhere. Everybody debuted at some time or another, but you wouldn’t know it at a conference. Watch the dipping and dodging, the study and measuring. If I were Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse, able to read minds, I’d probably be amazed, embarrassed, and charmed, all at once. When you have hundreds of people interested in writing, collected in one locale, the social strata fall in line.

The self-published often feel indignant at the traditionally published. The traditionally published try not to notice. Watch the dynamics in a room where both are selling their wares. Agents often stick together. Editors as well. Sometimes with each other. Writers in the same writing groups hang tight. The small publishers pal with other small publishers.

Writers are afraid to speak to agents except during pitch sessions, and agents seem to avoid being cornered. I watched self-published look for reasons to be defensive in sessions, as if daring someone to doubt they could make a living as an indie.Traditionally published were almost afraid to say they were.

I don’t understand why people don’t split up, open up, and learn from each other.

When I go to conferences, I love being cornered and questioned. I want to meet people. I want to greet FundsforWriters readers who happen to attend. I crave to hear from someone who loved my book. I want to hear how others have done well, in hopes of learning from them. I’d love to participate in a big round table of assorted industry types, eating lunch, sharing situations, even arguing pros and cons of a current debatable topic like the DOJ lawsuit against Apple and several of the Big Six. Sure, someone won’t understand, but they just might once you explain it to them. Everyone could learn from everyone else.

If you are a new writer, dare to approach the published, the agents, and the editors and ask questions. Don’t feel badly if they are too busy. Try another one. You’ve paid a fee to be in the same rooms with these people.

If you are a seasoned individual at any aspect of the profession, be available. Hang in the lobby, the lounge, the back of the room at the end of a presentation. Be real. Be approachable. Leave your high horse elsewhere.

Conferences can be great places to meet friends, but they can also be fantastic places to make new ones and learn. It shouldn’t matter whether you are from NY City or Muscogee, AL. After all, why go to a conference to begin with if not to broaden horizons?

I was reading a blog post about publishing options and marveled at how terms morph and paradigms shift over such a very short time. Not two years ago, we fussed over traditional publishing, vanity publishing, and self-publishing. Many whined about SO many choices, worried how to select the “right” one. Well, hold onto your hat. Now you can choose traditional, vanity, self-published, Indie published (why the capitalization??), and hybrid.

If you’re an author trying to decide how to publish, you’re allowed to throw that hat on the ground and stomp on it. I know. It’s frustrating. I’ve self-published and traditionally published, and years and years ago, I once vanity published (trying to forget that experience).

No one way is right for all, but you have definite issues to consider with each one. You just have to weigh the good, the bad, and what fits in your life, your marketing plan, and your pocketbook.

Traditional

• Pays royalties based upon sales
• You pay nothing
• Highly vetted
• What you generally see on bookstore shelves
• The publisher is responsible for formatting, cover, editing, distribution
• You sign away an agreed upon number of rights
• Found at Amazon and B&N and in Indie bookstores.
• ISBN belongs to traditional press

Self-publishing / Indie publishing

•  You pay everything
• You own all rights
• You receive all money
• You are the publisher, responsible for formatting, cover, editing, distribution
• You are the distributor
• Some difficulty placing books in brick and mortar stores
• Found at Amazon and B&N online and e-book venues like Smashwords
• Common method used for e-book sales
• Indie means an author creates the image of an imprint or “publishing house” for his/her books
• ISBN belongs to you/your imprint

Hybrid Presses

• You pay part of the cost
• You negotiate the rights, but are usually able to keep more, if not all, rights
• You receive royalties, usually at a higher rate than traditional
• You choose the degree of editing, formatting, cover, and pay for the service
• Your investment determines the print run, just like self-publishing
• Sometimes material is vetted, depending on the entity
• ISBN belongs to hybrid press, but might be negotiated.

Vanity-Subsidy Presses

• You pay everything
• You own all rights
• You receive royalties at a much higher rate than traditional
• You agree to formatting, cover, editing, distribution, marketing in the price
• Agreements may be made to restrict rights of author and increase rights of press to harbor the book in its catalog
• Minimal vetting; some do not vet at all
• ISBN belongs to press

Somebody may take issue with bits and pieces of each of these, and in real life, there are exceptions within these categories as well as some entities that may feel they don’t fall into any of the above (like Publish America). If you are new, just notice the terms and read the general descriptions. It’s tempting to jump into publishing, but you don’t want to spend months and years on a story to ruin its appearance to the world. Choose wisely, and only after doing your research. It’s well worth the time and investment of your full-attention to know what you are getting into . . . and what you are choosing not to.
 

How would you reply if asked this question? Indignant? After all, everybody has to start somewhere, plus you’ve been writing various pieces for years.

Everybody has to write the first manuscript. But few of them need to publish that first manuscript.

If you went to the doctor, needing an operation, you might ask, “Have you done this sort of operation before?” What if the reply is, “No, but I’ve been studying how to do it.” You’d move on to another doctor, because no matter how long he’s read the books and tested on cadavers, he hasn’t proven himself.

To an agent or publisher, saying this is your first book is like saying, “I don’t know what I’m doing yet, but trust me, it’s going to be a great book!” Rachelle Gardner, an agent with Books & Such Literary Agency, recently penned a great post about this subject: “4 Reasons to Write Several Books — Before You’re Published.”

You need experience before you publish. So what is experience?

1. Completed manuscripts of other books.

Just the fact you’ve spent years (yes, as in many months) writing says something about your diligence. That doesn’t mean two or three first drafts. It means books you struggled with and might be willing for someone to read and consider in addition to the one you are pitching. Trying to query about the fourth book you’ve written versus the first, tells a professional that you’re fighting in this business until you get it right. That’s enough thought to give someone pause that you might be worth considering.

2. A writing reputation elsewhere.

Published twenty magazine articles? Published numerous columns for your newspaper? Taught creative writing? Written for nonprofits or corporations for a reputation period of time? Received an MFA? Published nonfiction or commercial material and now dabbling in fiction? Show something. Have nothing? Then you know what you need to do.

3. Contest wins.

A zillion contests exist for unpublished writers. Frankly, most contests do not require experience or publishing credits. However, place in several contests, and you gain credibility as well as put your name in the view of important people in the business.

I want experienced people teaching my children, removing my gall bladder, or selling my house, just like agents and publishers want experienced writers. No, you might not have published a book, but show you are fanatically serious about this business by giving them something, anything, to show you are experienced in one way or another.

I’m not just talking editors here. As writers we face no at every turn, and I dare say most of us cave somewhere in the process. There’s a reason they say that diligence is the most important characteristic of a writer. It doesn’t matter how good you are if you can’t keep your shoulder against the yoke.

“No” can be carefully hidden in comments that may not throw up a wall and stop you cold, but they may covertly plant a seed that does just as much damage. But when you let that obstacle grind your writing to a halt, you do it to yourself.

Look at these no’s and my money’s on the fact you’ve heard one or more:

1. You can’t write a novel in present tense.

2. You use too much passive voice.

3. Your grammar needs major work.

4. You can’t have a platform without a blog.

5. You must traditionally publish to be taken seriously.

6. You  don’t have what it takes to publish yet.

7. You need an agent to traditionally publish.

8. You can’t break into a dollar-a-word magazine with your credentials.

9. You must use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, fill-in-the-blank.

10. You must write short stories before you write a book.

11. Success is the sale of 10,000 books.

Gosh, the shoulds, oughts and can’ts come at you from all directions. However, you err in digging in your heels and dissing the messager. Don’t say, “Nope, you’re wrong.” Instead, study the obstacle. Give it thought. Even sleep on it. Then, once you’ve wrapped your mind around the negative dilemma, compose a cure for it.

1. Earn the skill to remove any doubt.

2. Practice your craft to remove any doubt.

3. Perform the deed that will remove any doubt.

Don’t get in some juvenile argument with the naysayer. Talk is cheap. Action speaks volumes. In this business, a lot of online noise is about confronting the No-people with nothing other than hot air. Serious writers, however, are quietly proving people wrong with their actions, their writing, their eventual success.

Notice how rules are flexible in the publishing industry? For instance, when you ask how many books you need to sell to be considered a success, nobody wants to give a number. 5,000, 10,000 – depends on if it’s fiction or nonfiction – depends on whether it’s self-published or not – depends on whether you have a platform the publisher is willing to gamble on for book two. Depends . . .

Should you self-publish to draw attention to your writing? In hopes of landing a traditional contract? Depends . . .  Should you get an agent? Depends. . . Should you write in first person or third? How much telling versus showing is allowed? How much passive voice is acceptable? Everything depends.

Notice how nobody knows the exact rules but everyone can tell you when it’s wrong. And no two interpretations of wrong are the same.

So what does that tell us?

We need to understand the issues, both sides, first hand. We need to study the pros and cons of any issue like those mentioned above, so when we make a decision, it’s an informed one.

Understand what an agent does, reading both pros and cons of contacting with one. Then decide if you need one.

Read writing that used telling more than usual, then read those that utilize showing exceptionally well. Be able to readily recognize the difference, so when you tell in a story, you do it with a purpose in mind.

All of the debated issues in our profession have multiple sides. Know all the debated rules, hearing all sides, then formulate your method of keeping the rule, breaking it, or finding a middle ground. However you do it, do it because you have your act together and have analyzed each and every option.

Taking credit for writing success means somewhere along the way taking responsibility for decisions made. The blessing and the curse of being a writer is that the results are on your shoulders. You can shirk responsibility or embrace it, but you can’t deny that the results are yours to own.

Choose your own rules of engagement, but only after studying the battles that have gone before you. Only after you’ve gained education and experience do you have the savvy to choose wisely. Privates don’t establish rules of engagement . . . generals do.

Note from Hope:

Enjoy this guest post by Sean McLachlan who blogs about travel for Gadling and writes history books for three different publishers. He recently released his Civil War novel, A Fine Likeness, and a collection of short stories titled The Night the Nazis Came to Dinner and other dark tales. For more about Sean, see his blog Civil War Horror. 

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I’m gaining new respect for what goes into a book’s creation with a traditional press. This week it’s been all about the cover and the title. The publisher has allowed me input, but the ratio is two editors to one author, so sometimes I lose. But the thought process is still cool.

I won’t tell you my original title because I don’t want it to stick in your head. It was two-words and to the point. I adore to-the-point. It makes my day. And the title fit in a theme with the other two books nipping at this one’s heels. So now we have to change all of them. That’s okay. I’m good with that. They were very accommodating with my preferences in the story. I’m still scared to say the title quite yet, though. They haven’t given me the nod.

But we emailed back and forth in a three-way conversation for three days. Probably 20 emails. We looked at the crimes in the book, the location, the characters, the lifestyle of the region. Finally we narrowed it down to locale being the carrying theme. Then we couldn’t agree on which location in the book. I lost on that one, but the final choice was doable.

The fun part was filling out a Q&A for whoever creates the cover. I described the protagonist. I rated the story on light/dark, mood, pace, emotion. I had to name five items from the book that could represent the story. That was friggin’ hard to do and not look like a cliche. I even was asked if my book were a color, which one would it be. (I chose Rust.) Then I had to find covers and images from Dreamstime.com to give them ideas on how I invision the story.

If I ever self-publish a book, I’ve learned I’ll never use a template. Not after seeing the thought that’s going into this cover.

If you choose to self-pub, however, make yourself slow down and brainstorm with someone who respects you and your story. Do not stand alone in all these decisions of title, cover, font, and so on. Get feedback. Let someone validate your selections, or dash your choices. You need that.

My writing group isn’t happy that the book’s name has changed. After all, they’ve heard it by another name for years. But I’m not the one investing the money into the book. I’m not the one with a neck on the chopping block, with a serious need for this book to make a return on investment. I think we forget that when we get sassy about publishers. They spend thousands of dollars and we sit back and cry like divas, in many cases, because the title and cover aren’t what we envisioned. Or they made us change the protagonist’s choice of boyfriend or alter who kills the bad guy. I, for one, am willing to listen. They’ve made way more money at this than I have, and the least I can do is give their expertise a chance to pitch itself to me.

Now I’m anxious for them to start book two. It’s beginning to get fun and wild, people. Just realized this post really doesn’t have a lesson and maybe not a fluid theme, but hey, thought you guys would appreciate the update. Hope it made sense.

www.fundsforwriters.com

Live and let live. Lately those words have fallen out of my mouth more than I’d like to hear. We’ve become a nation and a world of adversarial opinions, and it does more harm than good, in my measly little humble opinion. For some reason we think we have to present our side to the world as if it was the only viewpoint that matters, and as writers, we need to stop and think about that.

We often write with a slant. After all, we query editors with ideas intended to match the readership of a publication. Left wing, right wing, Protestant, Catholic, wild game eaters, vegans, home-schooling, public school – we are supposed to be able to move with the subject, telling the story that needs telling. Or more so, telling the story that an editor wants to buy. We are spin masters!

However, when it comes to our profession, we tend to don blinders, dig in heels, and tout missives about “the best way” to do many tasks. For people being so open minded when writing articles and posts, we sure can be stubborn when it comes to topics like:

-self-publishing
-libraries loaning e-books
-Amazon’s payment policy
-selective agents and subsequent rejections
-Big Six publishers versus small presses
-commas
-level of social media participation
-and so on

As someone once against self-publishing, I’ve learned to accept its place in the industry. I’ll use whatever comma rule an editor wants me to use. I’ve chosen a small press for my fiction, but do not profess it’s the best and only decision that makes sense. I blog, but don’t expect every writer to own a five-post-per-week blog.

As the member of several listservs, where writers list their stands on many subjects in the industry, I easily tire of those touting one road to anything. I’m not far from removing my name off most of them. As fallible, less-than-perfect human beings, how dare we profess one method to our madness? As creative creatures, we are diverse by nature, a freedom we should embrace.

Live and let live. Each author can pick a route and make it work for him in terms of writing, promotion, agents, and publishing. And we need to accept the choices of that author. We don’t have to buy his book or comment on his blog, but we don’t have to bash his chosen direction.

Because we have a voice . . . because we have the Internet . . . doesn’t mean we have to use either like a megaphone, flaunting our decisions and belittling others. To each his own – live and let live. As the clamor settles down, you might learn another way to be better at what you do.