Done and done!
Hi all,
Well, it's been nine and a half long months, but I can now say that I have finally finished. Manuscript has been completed - the rewrite is complete. Boom. And the sound of silence is deafening.
It's definitely a milestone for me - thanks to everyone who's given me a kind word over the years - told me I could actually do this. I know it's only halfway - now that I have a product to sell, I have to sell it. And that's where things get interesting. See, these days there are a number of options for publishing - traditional, self, crowdfunded.
My plan is
essentially to take a look at the traditional market first - see what comes of that. Who knows, the book might get picked up by an actual publishing house. I gotta say, there's something of a dream wrapped up in that option.
If I strike out, I'll either crowdfund or self-publish (maybe a bit of both). E-books cost nothing, essentially, to produce. It's more about formatting, and there are plenty of services out there that will take care of the nitty-gritty for you.
From what I understand, online marketplaces take a sizeable chunk of the sale price as their cut for hosting the content - which is fair, since they have to pay for infrastructure and such. Traditional publishers do the same - in that they pay a royalty, usually a percentage of the selling price, and generally a much smaller percentage than in self published works. However, this is where traditional publishers excel - they absorb the risk of printing the book, the costs associated with marketing and distribution, and if the book doesn't sell, they lose money.
Obviously everyone would prefer to self-publish if it meant a significant number of books with a vastly greater return than if relying on a publishing house. However, the sheer amount of self-published work out there is staggering. And that makes anyone who dives into that market about as noteworthy as a grain of dust. How do you separate yourself from the pack in that environment? It's an interesting question - some folks have come up with ideas and strategies (more on that later), but it basically comes down to a bit of luck, good reviews and a lot of self promotion. Even then the chances of making a tidy profit on your property is minimal.
And the same holds true for traditional publishing. Like all industries, it's rare for anyone to make it big - to get that break, that 'niche' status that means people are talking about your work - people want to read about it, hear about you, and pay your way in return for the ideas you put down on screen and paper.
It's an interesting challenge. Would I like to get rich off this? Of course I would. But I also understand that the chances of that are slim - winning the lottery slim.
Anyway, at the end of the day, I'm proud of what I've done - even though it took me 4 long years to do it. And with some luck and a bit of hard work, I'm hoping to add 'published author' to my personal and professional accomplishments. I also hope to make a little money in the process. In the meantime, I'm looking for readers - people willing to take a good run at my work and give me solid feedback on story, progression, plotholes, language/grammar, etc. Basically anything that jumps out at you as either particularly amazing or terrible - I want to eliminate those book breaking moments you sometimes get - inconsistencies, unrealistic plotpoints - that kind of thing.
If you're interested, click on this link, read through the sample and leave me your comments. I'll be happy to respond. Those of you who finish it up will be considered for the vaunted title of 'readers'. Worst case scenario, we have a conversation - best case, you get to read the draft and do lots of work...for free.
Best job ever!
Till next time - thanks for reading!
Well, it's been nine and a half long months, but I can now say that I have finally finished. Manuscript has been completed - the rewrite is complete. Boom. And the sound of silence is deafening.
It's definitely a milestone for me - thanks to everyone who's given me a kind word over the years - told me I could actually do this. I know it's only halfway - now that I have a product to sell, I have to sell it. And that's where things get interesting. See, these days there are a number of options for publishing - traditional, self, crowdfunded.
My plan is
essentially to take a look at the traditional market first - see what comes of that. Who knows, the book might get picked up by an actual publishing house. I gotta say, there's something of a dream wrapped up in that option.
If I strike out, I'll either crowdfund or self-publish (maybe a bit of both). E-books cost nothing, essentially, to produce. It's more about formatting, and there are plenty of services out there that will take care of the nitty-gritty for you.
From what I understand, online marketplaces take a sizeable chunk of the sale price as their cut for hosting the content - which is fair, since they have to pay for infrastructure and such. Traditional publishers do the same - in that they pay a royalty, usually a percentage of the selling price, and generally a much smaller percentage than in self published works. However, this is where traditional publishers excel - they absorb the risk of printing the book, the costs associated with marketing and distribution, and if the book doesn't sell, they lose money.
Obviously everyone would prefer to self-publish if it meant a significant number of books with a vastly greater return than if relying on a publishing house. However, the sheer amount of self-published work out there is staggering. And that makes anyone who dives into that market about as noteworthy as a grain of dust. How do you separate yourself from the pack in that environment? It's an interesting question - some folks have come up with ideas and strategies (more on that later), but it basically comes down to a bit of luck, good reviews and a lot of self promotion. Even then the chances of making a tidy profit on your property is minimal.
And the same holds true for traditional publishing. Like all industries, it's rare for anyone to make it big - to get that break, that 'niche' status that means people are talking about your work - people want to read about it, hear about you, and pay your way in return for the ideas you put down on screen and paper.
It's an interesting challenge. Would I like to get rich off this? Of course I would. But I also understand that the chances of that are slim - winning the lottery slim.
Anyway, at the end of the day, I'm proud of what I've done - even though it took me 4 long years to do it. And with some luck and a bit of hard work, I'm hoping to add 'published author' to my personal and professional accomplishments. I also hope to make a little money in the process. In the meantime, I'm looking for readers - people willing to take a good run at my work and give me solid feedback on story, progression, plotholes, language/grammar, etc. Basically anything that jumps out at you as either particularly amazing or terrible - I want to eliminate those book breaking moments you sometimes get - inconsistencies, unrealistic plotpoints - that kind of thing.
If you're interested, click on this link, read through the sample and leave me your comments. I'll be happy to respond. Those of you who finish it up will be considered for the vaunted title of 'readers'. Worst case scenario, we have a conversation - best case, you get to read the draft and do lots of work...for free.
Best job ever!
Till next time - thanks for reading!
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