Love this! Sometimes I feel bad that one of my self-published books only has 9 reviews on Amazon, but then I remind myself, I’ve finished and published two books!
And all nine of those reviews were five stars. Celebrate the success you do have!
I’ve also gotten an agent, then was rejected by all the big publishers! What fun that was... not. Hence, an agent does not always lead to validation. That book remains unpublished.
Absolutely true. I interned for a literary agent for nine months a decade ago. I learned a lot from the inside. I started getting my writing published around then as well. And I started editing books. As an editor I’ve worked with both traditionally published and self published authors. Either can be successful or not. Depends on the writer, luck, talent, connections, name recognition, etc etc etc.
Thank you so much, Kate, for your honesty and positivity! And thank you to the reader who submitted this question -- how awesome to win prizes and be shortlisted! In addition to the larger publishing houses and self-publishing, there's also a ton of excellent indy publishers, and I think you might find a great one that doesn't look only at agented writers. If you're like me and can't imagine doing the marketing, this might be another possibility!
Totally true. My mom got her first book published, un-agented, by a small press. She’d entered a short story contest and won, which gave her the book contract. Lots of ways to slice an orange 🍊
This is truthfully a hard thing to know. I interned for a literary agent in 2013 and learned a ton from the inside. I’m also a published writer and developmental book editor. The truth is: So much of the pub biz has to do with luck, connections, friends in the industry. Your work needs to be strong, edited, and have all the major story elements, sure, but even if they do there’re a thousand reasons why you might get rejected: the 21-year-old intern is hungover and doesn’t like your first sentence; the idea you have has ‘already been done recently’; your material is too dark, too raw, not ideologically on the ‘right’ page; it’s not a marginalized writer’s story; etc etc etc. The myth that it’s all about quality is just that...a myth. There are some incredible trad pubbed books out there...and there are some god-awful trad pubbed books. Ditto self-pubbed and indie books. In the eve I think the right path is different for every individual writer. It depends on your goals. What you want. How free you want to be with your idea/language/marketing. Ad Infinitum.
Amen. Thanks, Michael, and Kate. I knew too much about publishing to even want to deal with it, and went straight to self-publishing in 2007. I don't advise or recommend the "right" course to others for all the usual reasons. There's hassle and humiliation either way. But at least I could make my case directly to readers, and I'm told I've done far better than most conventionally published authors. As a reader, though, I do give a damn about quality. I can't say it has made me happy to know *why* US publishing is in such dire straits.
Thanks, Michael, and thank you for articulating the problem so well. What a cruel and colossal con it is for people in publishing to even pretend the game isn't rigged. BTW, reading Bennett Cerf's At Random let me know this isn't a new problem, but it has certainly worsened.
Let's try not to forget there are hundreds of publishing professionals out there who are not trying to rig anything or con anyone, but can't possibly work on all the books that deserve to be published. I know the spirit in which these comments in this thread are made, and I am only taking this with your best of intensions but keep in mind a lot of us are doing our best, too.
I did belatedly realize my comments are tactless, Kate, so thank you for your kind tolerance. I even count a few people in the industry as friends! Much of this comes from my being approached by countless people who want my advice--which I have no desire to give, since I feel incredibly unqualified, and try to point them toward Writers' Market. Even when I am blunt (but kind!) in telling them the truth, they don't want to hear it. And then I think of NaNoWriMo, and wonder why anyone would encourage even more people to try to publish? When I speak in schools, kids (as young as nine) often ask how they can get published. I emphasize the joys of writing for themselves, friends, and classmates. It's advice I followed myself. (And thanks for all you do here. It is interesting, and it is appreciated)
To the reader who submitted this Q: I think there are a LOT of young adults who read via e-reader (phones, kindles, whatever). Publishing it in e-book form and doing a truly kick-ass marketing campaign could be a big success! I know of writers who do this regularly and have big sales.
As Kate says, nothing is guaranteed, and the writing itself (and sense of accomplishment) needs to be enough, but still... you want to get it into the hands of readers. And you CAN. It all comes down to your marketing campaign, and that is even more doable than finishing the book! Sounds like you've REALLY had it vetted by lots of professionals, which makes me think it's good to publish on your own.
In addition to this brilliant newsletter, people interested in self-publishing might get some inspiration from Joanna Penn https://www.thecreativepenn.com/
She makes me want to self-publish and I haven't even written a book! :)
>doing a truly kick-ass marketing campaign could be a big success! I know of writers who do this regularly and have big sales.<
Worth tacking on a "your results may vary!" I self-published a book that was a hit with my beta readers but I just could not figure out how to market it. Banner ads didn't drive sales and the "book influencers" that I approached turned out to be swamped with paying requests from Big Publishers, no time left for indie people. (I would have thought indie reviewers would prioritize indie writers -- like who the hell needs your two cents on the books that already made the NYT list??) I also found that my self-pubbed friends who lured me in by telling me they had thousands of readers... later revealed, once I was in the club, that they had fudged those numbers. All part of the hustle.
Self-publishing CAN work! Best of luck! I found it to be more complicated than expected. Still, I do feel happy when I see my book sitting on my shelf, even if it didn't set the world on fire. It's a pretty good book, and in a parallel universe, no doubt it outsold Twilight.
You are amazing Kate, thank you for this brilliant newsletter and all your tough love and wisdom, I love it. I hope we can do something together in 2023 in the Substack world! Merry Xmas! Hope you enjoy a well deserved rest xo
As someone who plans to publish her own book one day, your honest thoughts has been immensely helpful in preparing me for what to expect in the industry. I can imagine how tough it must be for authors, so I just want to say thank you for your newsletter and answering our questions! x
Thank you for this -- it is really helpful to remember that there is so much out of our control as writers and there will always be shitty books that get published and great ones that don't. We can only control our effort, not our outcomes.
"publishing is a retail industry and not a meritocracy". Well said, and very helpful to someone like me who is working on his GREAT Christian fiction work, and surveying the landscape of getting it out in front of others, to be a blessing to them.
I just read this. And I needed to read this. I just signed with an agent yesterday and this is good stuff to keep at the forefront as we move forward. Thanks, Kate.
Love this! Sometimes I feel bad that one of my self-published books only has 9 reviews on Amazon, but then I remind myself, I’ve finished and published two books!
And all nine of those reviews were five stars. Celebrate the success you do have!
I’ve also gotten an agent, then was rejected by all the big publishers! What fun that was... not. Hence, an agent does not always lead to validation. That book remains unpublished.
Keep writing! Keep loving yourself.
Absolutely true. I interned for a literary agent for nine months a decade ago. I learned a lot from the inside. I started getting my writing published around then as well. And I started editing books. As an editor I’ve worked with both traditionally published and self published authors. Either can be successful or not. Depends on the writer, luck, talent, connections, name recognition, etc etc etc.
Thank you so much, Kate, for your honesty and positivity! And thank you to the reader who submitted this question -- how awesome to win prizes and be shortlisted! In addition to the larger publishing houses and self-publishing, there's also a ton of excellent indy publishers, and I think you might find a great one that doesn't look only at agented writers. If you're like me and can't imagine doing the marketing, this might be another possibility!
Totally true. My mom got her first book published, un-agented, by a small press. She’d entered a short story contest and won, which gave her the book contract. Lots of ways to slice an orange 🍊
“You have to divorce your self-worth from publishing. It’s not going to solve that for you.” Ooof.
❤️❤️❤️
This is truthfully a hard thing to know. I interned for a literary agent in 2013 and learned a ton from the inside. I’m also a published writer and developmental book editor. The truth is: So much of the pub biz has to do with luck, connections, friends in the industry. Your work needs to be strong, edited, and have all the major story elements, sure, but even if they do there’re a thousand reasons why you might get rejected: the 21-year-old intern is hungover and doesn’t like your first sentence; the idea you have has ‘already been done recently’; your material is too dark, too raw, not ideologically on the ‘right’ page; it’s not a marginalized writer’s story; etc etc etc. The myth that it’s all about quality is just that...a myth. There are some incredible trad pubbed books out there...and there are some god-awful trad pubbed books. Ditto self-pubbed and indie books. In the eve I think the right path is different for every individual writer. It depends on your goals. What you want. How free you want to be with your idea/language/marketing. Ad Infinitum.
Amen. Thanks, Michael, and Kate. I knew too much about publishing to even want to deal with it, and went straight to self-publishing in 2007. I don't advise or recommend the "right" course to others for all the usual reasons. There's hassle and humiliation either way. But at least I could make my case directly to readers, and I'm told I've done far better than most conventionally published authors. As a reader, though, I do give a damn about quality. I can't say it has made me happy to know *why* US publishing is in such dire straits.
Amen 🙏. Well said 🔥
Thanks, Michael, and thank you for articulating the problem so well. What a cruel and colossal con it is for people in publishing to even pretend the game isn't rigged. BTW, reading Bennett Cerf's At Random let me know this isn't a new problem, but it has certainly worsened.
Let's try not to forget there are hundreds of publishing professionals out there who are not trying to rig anything or con anyone, but can't possibly work on all the books that deserve to be published. I know the spirit in which these comments in this thread are made, and I am only taking this with your best of intensions but keep in mind a lot of us are doing our best, too.
I did belatedly realize my comments are tactless, Kate, so thank you for your kind tolerance. I even count a few people in the industry as friends! Much of this comes from my being approached by countless people who want my advice--which I have no desire to give, since I feel incredibly unqualified, and try to point them toward Writers' Market. Even when I am blunt (but kind!) in telling them the truth, they don't want to hear it. And then I think of NaNoWriMo, and wonder why anyone would encourage even more people to try to publish? When I speak in schools, kids (as young as nine) often ask how they can get published. I emphasize the joys of writing for themselves, friends, and classmates. It's advice I followed myself. (And thanks for all you do here. It is interesting, and it is appreciated)
Did the people who turned the book down say why? Their critique, even a short one like, "too slow," could help you make your book better.
Usually agents don’t respond. If they do they liked something enough to do so.
To the reader who submitted this Q: I think there are a LOT of young adults who read via e-reader (phones, kindles, whatever). Publishing it in e-book form and doing a truly kick-ass marketing campaign could be a big success! I know of writers who do this regularly and have big sales.
As Kate says, nothing is guaranteed, and the writing itself (and sense of accomplishment) needs to be enough, but still... you want to get it into the hands of readers. And you CAN. It all comes down to your marketing campaign, and that is even more doable than finishing the book! Sounds like you've REALLY had it vetted by lots of professionals, which makes me think it's good to publish on your own.
In addition to this brilliant newsletter, people interested in self-publishing might get some inspiration from Joanna Penn https://www.thecreativepenn.com/
She makes me want to self-publish and I haven't even written a book! :)
Love Joanna Penn! I wrote a piece for her in 2018 about fiction techniques when writing memoir: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2018/03/09/fiction-techniques-writing-memoir/amp/
>doing a truly kick-ass marketing campaign could be a big success! I know of writers who do this regularly and have big sales.<
Worth tacking on a "your results may vary!" I self-published a book that was a hit with my beta readers but I just could not figure out how to market it. Banner ads didn't drive sales and the "book influencers" that I approached turned out to be swamped with paying requests from Big Publishers, no time left for indie people. (I would have thought indie reviewers would prioritize indie writers -- like who the hell needs your two cents on the books that already made the NYT list??) I also found that my self-pubbed friends who lured me in by telling me they had thousands of readers... later revealed, once I was in the club, that they had fudged those numbers. All part of the hustle.
Self-publishing CAN work! Best of luck! I found it to be more complicated than expected. Still, I do feel happy when I see my book sitting on my shelf, even if it didn't set the world on fire. It's a pretty good book, and in a parallel universe, no doubt it outsold Twilight.
For sure. Hit or miss. Just like traditional publishing.
You are amazing Kate, thank you for this brilliant newsletter and all your tough love and wisdom, I love it. I hope we can do something together in 2023 in the Substack world! Merry Xmas! Hope you enjoy a well deserved rest xo
❤️🔥
I upgraded to a paid subscription just because I loved this so much and wanted to thank you for writing it. Thank you.
Great reminder. Thank you.
As someone who plans to publish her own book one day, your honest thoughts has been immensely helpful in preparing me for what to expect in the industry. I can imagine how tough it must be for authors, so I just want to say thank you for your newsletter and answering our questions! x
❤️❤️🔥
Thank you for this -- it is really helpful to remember that there is so much out of our control as writers and there will always be shitty books that get published and great ones that don't. We can only control our effort, not our outcomes.
Yes 🙌
Thanks, Kate. This hit home.
"publishing is a retail industry and not a meritocracy". Well said, and very helpful to someone like me who is working on his GREAT Christian fiction work, and surveying the landscape of getting it out in front of others, to be a blessing to them.
Thank you so much for posting this! I am in the querying trenches at the moment and this post has shifted my perspective in a much more positive way!
I just read this. And I needed to read this. I just signed with an agent yesterday and this is good stuff to keep at the forefront as we move forward. Thanks, Kate.
"You have to give publishing up to the fates" - Love that sentiment. So much good advice in this article. Thanks for sharing them.