THANK YOU JEN FOR TURNING YOUR BLOG OVER FOR A DAY!!
Normally I’m HERE.
So, I’ve been on Unedited before, and I talked about publishing, and then I asked to come back to…well, talk about publishing…
Er…
*shrugs*
So, I hate to admit this, but I used to be very anti-self-publish. Very.
I’d read (or half read) some really bad books, and then I read a bunch of awesome ones in a row –
Grounding Quinn by Steph Campbell
Loving Emily by Anne Pfeffer
Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
Because of Low by Abbi Glines
And just recently – What A Boy Wants by Nyrae Dawn
(Yes, I write YA and therefore am a YA junkie)
I’ve become crit partners with both Steph and Nyrae after reading their books, and then Steph and I decided to write one together (I love collabs by the way – if you want to really stretch yourself as a writer, they’re a great way to do it).
When Steph and I finished our book, we had two choices:
1. Turn it over to my agent
2. Self publish
With my agent having three books on sub, I’m at a standstill until I either strike out, or get an offer on something. So, Steph and I were looking at 3-6 months before we could put the book on submission to editors, and then 3-8 months (yes, I have a book that’s been on submission for eight months – the first one that went out) for our book to be on sub, and then most pub houses are out 18-24 months before a publication date…
You can see where this is going.
Why self-publishing has been my favorite mode of publishing so far:
1. I’m not a patient person.
2. I write fast and have projects stacking up
3. We’ve done everything OUR way on OUR schedule.
It’s been the most relaxing, fun way to publish that I can imagine. Is it the only way I’m going to publish?
Definitely not.
Am I going to do it again?
Funny thing… once we finished our joint project, I picked out a few others that I’ve had tucked away. It’s addictive (like querying was when I was at that stage) and now I’m thinking I’ll move forward with a few more…
I’m always curious how people feel on self-publishing. For it? Against it? Not for it? For it all the way?
Just curious where y’all stand :-D
~ Jolene
18 comments:
Hi Jolene!
Great post. I love that more and more authors are coming "out" about their SP experiences and choices. I used to be like you and then with the time restraints squishing on me from the trad route - I write pretty quick, too - I opted to try it just about 6 weeks ago. I loved the process so much. It is VERY relaxing.
Have a great day!
I'm self-published. And I really like it. (BTW, I wish I could write as fast as you do. I wish I could write half as fast as you do.) But it is a lot of work. And it's not for the faint of heart because everything comes back to you the author.
I'm with a small publisher, but I know several authors who've been very successful that way,
Love your voice, Jolene! Thank you for sharing. I, too, used to frown upon self-publishing. Not anymore. The industry has opened up for us in so many ways. It's exciting, and I love hearing successes like yours. Way to go!
I'm for it and might delve in someday, time and money permitting. Congrats on your projects!
I have friends who are self published, but I'm still not completely sold on it. For one, I'm very selective what self pubbed books I'll buy. I tend to buy traditionally pub over self pub (there are several reasons for that, some which are beyond the typical responses). So far I've only bought self pubbed books from writer friends.
Right now, my TBR pile is sooooo tall, it really doesn't matter how the book is published, the concept has to wow me before it will be added to my pile. ;)
I think it depends on what's best for your book. Both ways have their pros and cons. So glad self-publishing has worked for you!
I've come to really appreciate a lot of self-pubbed works recently. Some of my faves: Abbi Glines, Sarra Cannon, Rebecca Donovan, Susan Quinn, Stacey Wallace Benefiel, and Charmaine Clancy.
Wow, great post and so informative!!
Wow - you guys are awesome :-D
I've worked with one smaller publisher, and one mid-sized, and I had great experiences with both.
It's just been fun to sort of try everything.
Connie - YES - everything comes back to me...
Stina - SO with you... my TBR pile is GINormous... I must be salivating to read a book to add it.
Shannon - I've read ALMOST all of them... almost.
I've gone back and forth, but like you, I've read some AMAZING self-pub books. So the option is staying in my mind for the future.
Jolene, if it opens writers up to new markets I say go for it. But does self-publishing have the same level of respect with readers?
Great post Jolene! :) I think there are lots of great ways to get books out there - and self pubbing is one of them. I've read several fabulous self pubbed books!
Great post! I've enjoyed some well written self-published books.
Jolene,
I love to hear that your work is so publishing diverse. I've certainly changed my mind about self pubbing, and might wade into the pool one day. Oh and the process taking so long! That is so hard for me, too!!!!!
One reason to publish the traditional route: free-editing.
However, if you have great crit partners and beta readers...
I hate how the traditional route takes forever to do anything. I'm getting more and more for self-pub.
Some really good writer's are self publishing. I've read some good SP books and some not so good ones. I don't know if it's for me (yet), but I'm glad I got to read the books that were self published rather than them sitting in a file in someone's desk.
I hadn't even heard of self-publishing until I had to review a self-published novel for a book tour. Ever since then, I've been for it all the way! Good luck with My Heart For Yours and your next project, Jolene!
Post a Comment