Category Archives: Publishing

What No One Tells You About Publishing

Posted on by
Reply

I suspect I am like many aspiring authors. I overindulge in research on how to  get published, lessons learned by established authors and the like.

So when I came upon Curtis Sittenfeld‘s post on BuzzFeed entitled 24 Things No One Tells You about Book Publishing, I immediately read it and liked it.

rectangle-38507_1280She focused more on human behavior and less on nuts and bolts. Which is not to say she didn’t touch on a few nuts, like these two.

  • Blurbs achieve almost nothing, everyone in publishing knows it, and everyone in publishing hates them. [I knew it. I just knew it. None of my favorite authors seem to share my taste in books.]
  • But a really good blurb from the right person can, occasionally, make a book take off. [So, I guess she’s thinking Oprah or Stephen King.]

But what I really liked was her attitude:

  • Sometimes good books sell well; sometimes good books sell poorly; sometimes bad books sell well; sometimes bad books sell poorly. A lot about publishing is unfair and inscrutable. [Emphasis mine.] But…

  • …you don’t need anyone else’s approval or permission to enjoy the magic of writing — of sitting by yourself, figuring out which words should go together [I love that.] to express whatever it is you’re trying to say.

    Brava, Curtis. Useful and comforting at the same time. Just what aspiring authors need. 

More Than a Writer: Publishing Paths

Posted on by
Reply

Could Solzhenitsyn or J.D. Salinger make it as writers in today’s writing-publishing world?

Could any recluse who only wants to write? I wonder.

In the olden days, writers wrote and publishers published.

Today, alas, it’s not so simple.4-Key-Publishing-Models-662x1024

Jane Friedman, a publisher who lives just down the road in Charlottesville, VA, came up with a very nice one-page PDF illustrating the four key paths to publishing your book.

You thought there was one ‘preferred’ way? (Yeah, me too, but that was about 18 months ago.)

Those four paths are:

  • Traditional (Good luck with that.)
  • Fully Assisted
  • Do It Yourself
  • Community

Jane describes the key characteristics of each and outlines the value for authors of each approach.

It’s a great infographic, and Jane is well worth following on her various social media feeds.

Hmm. Which path would Solzhenitsyn and Salinger choose?

I’m guessing not the Community approach.

 

Agents Behaving Badly

Posted on by
Reply

Every writer wants an agent. Someone to take their cause, fight their fight, make them money. (Let’s be real here, people.)

Well, probably almost every writer, given that e-publishing allows writers to become their own publishers.

Maybe perhaps a lot of writers want an agent, because all the big writers have them.

All right, already, I want an agent. I need a tutor in publishing and book marketing, a mentor in the business of selling fiction.

So thank you very much, James Scott Bell, for your piece on The Kill Zone blog about Agents Behaving Badly.

Dousing oneself in ice water appears all the rage these days.

I just wish I had an agent to wonder about.

BTW, Bell’s piece should be mandatory for all writers seeking an agent. It’s a business, people, not just art.