E-book vs. Traditional Publishing: Pros and Cons

by Annette Lyon

With the huge boom of e-book publishing, particularly self-publishing, writers today have more options than ever before. What to do? Are there still benefits to traditional publishing? What are the benefits to going out on your own? Which should you pick?

Recently I talked about how to do self-publishing the right way if that's the path you take. You can read about that here.

Today I thought I'd talk about both sides of the fence, because the answer to the big question of how and where to publish and why will be different for every writer, because we all have different goals.

E-book Self-publishing
Some of the pros here are obvious. First and foremost, you don't need to snag an agent or publishing house to get your work available to the reading public. In addition, you have full control over the content and presentation, including the cover, editing, and formatting.

A huge pro for self-publishing today is that if your writing square peg doesn't fit into the standard round hole of the limited number of publishers out there, you can still find the audience out there who is eager to read your work.

Another big pro is the timeline: You can publish whenever you want, and you get paid much quicker. No waiting years for advances and royalty checks.

The cons for self-publishing are the flip side of the coin for each pro. Because it's so easy to self-publish, many writers jump on that ship and click the publish button before they're truly ready. They may not get their work ripped apart by solid critique partners, get it professionally edited after that, or get it proofed after that. They may not hire a trained graphic designer for the cover. (Basically, it's really easy to land into all of the pitfalls mentioned in that other post.)

I know many, many writers who will agree with me on this next point: While there will always be outliers who are the exception to the rule, generally speaking, the most successful self-published e-books are authored by writers who have already been in the industry a long time and who have experienced the submission/rejection/acceptance process, followed by the publishing house editorial processes.

Those are big things to have experienced . . . or to not have experienced. Writers who have gone through the ups and downs and who have had outside eyes weigh in on their work again and again: Those are the people most likely to succeed with e-books, because they've already experienced publishing and what it takes. They probably already have the chops.

This is not to say that if you've never been traditionally published that you can't succeed. It just means that you have to take the time to make sure you've worked long enough at your craft to have it down, and that you have people you can trust to tell you the truth. In other words: Don't self-publish your first book. And likely not the first several. You need to learn the craft and learn it well. Putting up sub-par work just because you really want to be published will only come back to haunt you.

Traditional Publishing
I can summarize the biggest con here in one word: gatekeepers. While agents and editors serve a valuable purpose in sifting the wheat from the chaff, sometimes they have to toss a great book to the side because it doesn't fit what they are selling or publishing right then. And that's frustrating. Great books don't always get published. That's a reality.

Another down side is that the time lag in traditional publishing can feel brutal. Getting an agent can take forever. Selling your book even longer. And once it's accepted for publication, it may not hit shelves for at least a year, possibly two. That can feel like an eternity.

And yet. Traditional publishing does have some major pros. Part of that is the professional package you get, with content and line editing, cover design, interior layout, and so on. Another is that they pay for all of those things, assuming all of the risk. And that includes hard-copy books getting printed and shipped.

More importantly, however, because publishers are assuming the financial risk, they invest money in your book so it can succeed. They have marketing dollars and advertising outlets writers simply don't have. (Scholastic book orders, anyone?) They have the muscle to reach more readers than you can ever do on your own. Granted, not all books get big budgets, but even a small one is probably more than you can do.

Part of their power lies in distribution. Good luck getting a hard-copy book into any bookstore, especially a chain like Barnes and Noble, if you're self-published. It pretty much never happens. Distribution is a huge plus for traditional publishers.

This includes selling internationally. Sure, Kindle is opening up in other markets, like Germany, Spain and Italy, but with traditional publishing, you can get international deals--and translations--of hard-copy books into bookstores in a huge number of markets. I know a writer who sells a lot of books in the US but makes more on his international sales through the different countries that have purchased foreign rights to his books.

Another thing to consider is that the bestsellers' lists are almost exclusively made up of traditionally published books. It's easier to get struck by lightning than to get on one of those with a self-published e-book. Meaning that yes, it's happened, but seriously, more people get struck by lightning each year than the number self-published books than have ever gotten onto those lists. (I actually looked it up.)

And then there's the fact that there's something to be said about the validation and respect that traditionally published writers tend to get more than self-published ones, whether or not it's justified. I don't know of a writer who wouldn't love to have "New York Times Bestselling Author" next to their name.


So Now What?
Many writers have concluded that picking one side over the other isn't necessary, and that doing both may actually help their careers. One romance author reportedly makes significantly more money with her self-published e-books, but she can sell them in higher quantities because she's traditionally published as well, so readers trust her name and brand more than they would if she were entirely independent.

Which side you pick—or whether you intend to pursue a bit of both—is a decision only you can make. You'll have to make a list of your personal goals and decide on the route mostly likely to to help you reach those goals.

Regardless of what you choose, one critical decision should remain the same for all writers:

Study up on your craft and write the best book you're capable of.

Everything else comes later.

Getting Past the First Chapter

By Julie Wright

We all know that the first line of the book has to be awesome. It has to earn you the right to the second line which has to earn you the right to the first page, which has to earn you the right to the first chapter. The first chapter is the thing that paves the way for the rest of the book. Sometimes it's all anyone will ever see of your book.

But writing a first chapter is HARD. It takes time--which is the number one reason people never get past the first chapter. I tweeted this the other day: My best writing advice to new writers? Time is made not found. If you love it, you will do it. We always *make* time for what we love.

Don't tell me you're too busy. If you loved writing like I love writing, then you will MAKE the time. Heck, even if you only sorta liked writing a tenth of the way I love it, then you'd make the time.

But it's still HARD. After all what if you write it all down and it's lame, lame, lame? Fear is another reason people don't write. In Steven Pressfield's The War of Art, he talks of Hitler's talent as an artist, then made the claim that it was easier for Hitler to start WWII than it was for him to face a blank canvas. That line stayed with me. Am I driving my own artistic life off course in order to avoid the blank page? I'm not saying fear of failure isn't real. I'm not saying that the blank page isn't terrifying. Of course it is. But it's also exciting, filled with possibility and adventure. The blank page can be anything you want. Embrace the page and write. So what if it's lame? I maintain my firm belief that a lame page is easier to fix than a blank page.

So where do you start?
I start with the character.
Then I put the character in a  situation that feels interesting to me. I have them act on that situation and speak to those people populating that situation.
You might be a setting starter.
You might be a plot starter.
You might be a late starter and need to turn the engine over and over and over until it finally engages (which means you'll have to delete the first few pages, but so what? They helped you get the engine going).

There is no right or wrong place to start. The point is to start at a place that is interesting to YOU. In my latest novel, Capes and Curls, the story opens with Red killing a rabbit in front of her sister who hates the killing even though they're starving. I opened showing the differences between the sisters, the sacrifices each were willing to take for the other. I wanted to show that even with all their differences, they stood together  in all things. Did I know I wanted to show all that with my beginning? Absolutely not. I started there because it was interesting to me. Admittedly, I had a couple of other false starts before I got to the scene with the girls and the rabbit, but those were the cranking-the-engine pages and were all deleted.

The first chapter is do vital because it sets the tone and mood of the whole book. Should the reader be afraid? Should they be cautious? Should they want to laugh?  All of that is revealed in the beginning of every book, so you should know ahead of time whet kind of book you're writing. Is it romance? And if it is romance, is it funny, tragic, steamy? You need to know going in so that your tone stays consistent. You don't want to start out with a deep, soulful, naval-gazing talk about the weather when you want the book to be an action-packed, hard core science fiction novel.

So have an idea of what you want to write, forget fear, make the time, and sit your butt in a chair. You might have to rewrite but that's okay. Why? Because it's easier to fix lame than blank.

 

Monday Mania--Query Letter

Critique Archive #55

One of our readers has submitted a query for critique. Please offer only constructive comments. 

 

Subject: query. Cats and Dogs Tell No Tales.

 

Dear AGENT, 

     Cats and Dogs Tell No Tales is a fun filled book for the middle school girl.  Emma, the storyteller, shares her first experiences as a student witch.  Her neighbors have been turned into familiars for the local coven.  Anyone that gets to nosy or bothersome is turned into a cat or dog by her grandmother.
     Harry, a neighbor, familiar, and a Jack Russell Terrier mix is the instigator of an animal revolt and supposedly holds the key to everlasting youth. It is a completed novel (19,138 words.)

     This is my first novel for the middle school age student.  It was inspired by the exploits of my granddaughter. Both her and her best friend have actually tried (unsuccessfully) love spells. 

      My father introduced me to writing and literature just as I share literature with my granddaughter. I am a retired RN and have a B.A. from Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois and Loyola University in Chicago. I have recently published my first adult novel which is the beginning of a historical paranormal romance trilogy. This was my driving force to produce this book. 

      Please enjoy reading the 10 pages I have include in this e-mail. I sent 10 pages because the first few are just the cast of characters but pertinent to the story. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

 

AUTHOR

 

The Almighty Edit

by Julie Wright

As an editor, I get to ruin a person's day. As a writer, I get my day ruined by editors.

I know it's important, the job of an editor. I know I'm helping other writers. But as a writer, I don't know what I'd do without a good editor. A good editor is what saves you from yourself. He or she will save you from certain embarrassment if that scene or sentence actually makes it into the final version of your manuscript.

This post might seem a bit like an ode to editors past, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the editor who changed my life as a writer.

Kirk Shaw was/is (he's at law school, now) a great editor. I owe many thanks to him for saving me from myself. He told me what scenes were lame and needed to be cut. He told me when I was going too easy on my characters and in what ways they could stand to suffer a little more. He taught me several comma rules. I still don't know all the fickle ways of the comma, but that's merely because we didn't have enough time together. The man was a genius at his job.

Some good things to keep in mind when editing your own manuscript

•  Make your characters work for it. If the quest is too easy, it's not worth reading about.
•  If a word is not a contributing member of the sentence, then it needs to be evicted. Make sure your words all have a specific function.
• If a sentence is not a contributing member of your page, then it needs to be evicted.
• If a page is a not a contributing member to the story, then it needs to be evicted. Don't let the dead weight take up residence in your story.
• Cutting hurts. But a tight and tidy package looks nicer and is better received than the one hastily slapped together with a few errant pieces of tape and rumpled wrapping paper.
• There is a difference between the words lightening and lightning. Make sure you used the word you meant to use. Spell check doesn't catch this.
• There is also a difference between a nice dress and a mice dress. Sometimes you hit a wrong key, but the word still fits well enough in the sentence that spell check doesn't see it. Make sure you are reading your story out loud during your final editing stage. You catch so much more when you're reading it out loud and having to say every word as it is written.
• Do your characters have a goal they're working toward or are they just playing around?
• Avoid passive language--especially in a book meant for action and suspense. The active voice makes the scene more immediate and urgent. The passive voice slows everything down.
• Editors never use the phrase "Show, don't tell" because they think the words sound pretty together. When you see that phrase, take it to heart. Showing versus telling makes the difference between meh and amazing. It is the plastic roses bought at a dollar store on clearance versus a fresh bouquet from one of the nicest florist shops in town. Always act on this directive when an editor tells you it is needed.

These are just a few things I've seen needing fixed over and over during my time as a writer and editor. When you get an editorial letter, it isn't a time for weeping and feeling terrible. It's a time to be excited to jump into your work and make it better than it was before. I love that Kirk was such an amazing editor that he inspired me to be better than I was. Thanks, Kirk. I know law school was the right choice for you, but that doesn't mean you aren't sorely missed in my life.

CS Lewis has this quote:

“Imagine yourself a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, you can understand what he is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping up the leaks in the roof and so on. You knew that these jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently, he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and seems not to make sense. What on earth is he up to?

The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought. He is throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage, but he is building a palace."

Your manuscript is your house. Build a palace.

 

Monday Mania--Query Letter

Critique Archive #54

One of our readers has submitted a query for critique. Please offer only constructive comments. 

Date

Agent/ OR name

Agent/ OR address

Dear Agent/OR,

Doesn’t everyone wonder when it’s their time to die?

One mother, Vera, seems to know.

Statements of, “If I make it till Christmas” are heard quite often.

And what would you do if you thought you had killed your own mother?

When Vera dies and comes back from the dead to tell her daughter, Kathie, “I am alive, I did not die!” Kathie is not surprised by her mother’s courage and strength to reach through the veil, after all, her mother had hitch-hiked thousands of miles with her three small children without a penny to her name in order to save her children’s lives while she was alive. Why would she not continue to watch over them?

           

Vera leads her daughters, Kathie, and Donna, to greater Awareness and Healing through her 'Watching over them while in Spirit' and at times 'PLAYING TRICKS' to get their attention. While Kathie learns to communicate with the dead, Donna wants nothing more than to be left alone.  The experiences detailed are astounding. 

This book was first written on the devastation of a beloved mother's journey through three major strokes and the decision of whether or not to prolong her life.  It soon expanded into a most amazing ‘Afterlife’ story that will astonish even the harshest skeptic for once this portal from another dimension is opened numerous soul’s follow.

This book is also written about the extraordinary life Vera’s daughter, Kathie, has experienced. After being abducted as a very young child and then almost dying by electrocution at the age of seven only ‘Divine Intervention’ could bring such a child into the world of the fully living. And this is only the beginning for now Kathie has been given several gifts to share with others such as messages given by Divinity, specifically, Mother Mary, and our Lord. Included also, a miraculous spirit photograph given as confirmation of an earlier visitation. And, Kathie no longer thinks of so-called death, as an end – only the most precious of beginnings for she has seen her mother’s Spirit - ‘THE VERY ESSENCE OF GOD’ exit her mother’s mouth upon her final breath.  Kathie experiences both a Heavenly state and a Heavenly place, talks to the dead, receives spiritual teachings, has psychic visions, and remains present in the dreamscape.  How can Kathie actually be aware enough in a dream to ask her mother, “Momma, is there really a Heaven?” And further, ask God, “Please God, let me wake up!”

And what would you do if you saw your brother who committed suicide alive and well when you’d been told he’d gone to Hell?

I have enclosed the beginning of my manuscript ‘I AM ALIVE, I DID NOT DIE!’

along with a few key sections.  Included also is a SASE for your convenience.  Thank you for your consideration.  I look forward to an opportunity to share the entire manuscript with you soon.

Sincerely,

Author

Writer Evolution

This is a topic I have pondered on a lot of late, as I work on book ten of a series that uses the same character. I love it, don't get me wrong, but I'm feeling antsy too. My husband teases me that I should write Sadie forever; that I can do dozens of Sadie books like the Murder She Wrote Series. As long as they are selling, I should write them. I see the wisdom of his position and from his perspective as a businessman and entrepreneur it makes perfect sense for him advise this way, but I don't agree it's in my best interest--or Sadie's for that matter.

A few weeks ago we watched an interview with Alanis Morissette, whose music we both love. She talked about her own experience with this, how she had made a splash with her album, Jagged Little Pill, back in the mid-90's and her producers wanted her to do it again. However, by the time that album had come out, she had evolved into a different place. She was writing different music and her life had changed so much and she wanted to show THAT. But they didn't want it. They wanted a brand; a 'sure thing.' In this interview she talked about how the strain of trying to please them and herself nearly broke her. She ran away to India and had to take some really deep journeys to determine what she would do next. She didn't want to lose her momentum, but she didn't want to put the time into something that felt 'over' in her own mind. It's been almost two decades since that time, and she hasn't had the same success she had with Jagged Little Pill but she said she has never regretted not doing it the way everyone wanted her to. She needed to grow and she needed to reflect that growth in her work, which she has been able to do. She said that when she sings those early songs she loves them and gets to relive the joy of that time, but can also reflect on what's changed since then. I turned to my husband and said "That's what I mean when I talk about not being able to do Sadie forever; I have to make sure my work reflects who I am when I'm writing it."

So does that mean if you have a series that's doing well you should stop? Not at all. Does it mean you can't enjoy writing in the same genre and never step out side of it? No. But it is important to understand that your writing isn't just about the writing; it's about you and the journey you are making, too. Being aware of evolution that will likely take place within you --if it hasn't already--will make it easier when you realize when you are outgrowing something. When I first realized this antsyness in regard to my current culinary mystery series, I felt ungrateful for the success and enjoyment I'd had with it. Like Cousin Dudley not getting 37 birthday gifts. But as I've worked through those thoughts I've found peace in the realization that it's not about being ungrateful, in fact, it's a credit to what I've done to say that I've done it to the best of my ability and now I want to do something new. I want fresh ideas and new characters and ideas that keep me on the edge of my seat. I think my willingness to evolve has also contributed to how well the series is doing. I'm writing cozy mysteries with one POV. It could easily get stale, which is why I've told a ghost story, a character driven volume, different locations, and I've focused on themes like archeological theft, adoption reunions, and numerous ways to murder someone :-) While there are lots of similarities in the books--they are a series after all--I've tried to make each one different both for the reader's sake and my own. When I am challenged, I am digging deeper and I think it shows in my writing.

Ironically, I wrote Lemon Tart when I was frustrated with my LDS writing career and felt I needed a change. Soon after I began it, an LDS book I'd written was accepted by Deseret Book, re-igniting my LDS novels. Lemon Tart eventually grew into a force to be reckoned with. If I'd never explored my need to evolve when I started that book, who knows when it would have surfaced. As this series winds down (though there's still three to go and I'm loving it!) my head is becoming awakened with new ideas and directions--things I had never considered five years ago.

It's also scary to evolve, though. It's tempting to remain comfortable, to take advantage of every drop of something that's working well for us. I would never say turn your back on something you love, but I would suggest that you consider where you are and where you want to be and continually ask yourself what's next. There are authors who write essentially the same thing for their entire career. They do well with it and they enjoy it. Hat's off to them. But it's not me. It's not most writers I know.

If you are feeling the niggle of a need to change, ask yourself what you can do within your specific situation. Is there a different genre calling to you? Do you need to write a new type of character? Maybe another age group would change things up for you. Maybe you want to do a picture book. Maybe you want to explore non-fiction. Explore it; see what the future holds for your ambition and ability. You might need to work on your "new idea" in the background, as you work on other projects that have more potential or that people are waiting for, but don't turn down the inspiration that might lead you to growth that will make all the difference.

It's been said "Evolve or Die" and while redundant writing won't kill you, evolution won't either and it might take you places your are only dreaming about right now.

Happy Writing!

Planning to Self-Publish? A Check List

by Annette Lyon

In the last couple of years, the publishing industry has seen a huge rise of e-books and the ability for any writer to publish their own work. This is both wonderful and awful.

It's wonderful because writers whose work is a square peg that doesn't necessarily fit the round hole of a traditional publisher can get their work out there for readers to find.

Bad, because any Tom, Dick, or Harry can publish so much virtual dross.

It's great because the gate keepers of agents and editors no longer keep writers out.

Yet they're no longer there to vet the quality, either.

The result is a huge spectrum of quality in indie e-books. In my experience, the most successful, and the highest quality, indie e-books tend to be by writers who already have years of experience and who likely have several traditionally published books already. (Not necessarily, but it's common.)

A big part of the reason for their success is that they have been writing a long time. They've learned the ropes through countless revisions. They know from experience how to take hard feedback. They've experienced the rejection/acceptance process, and (possibly most importantly) they've been professionally edited and proofed.

This doesn't mean that you can't have success with indie publishing if you can't check off all of those items. What it does mean, however, is to be careful if you plan to indie publish. Take your time. Don't rush it just to get your book online.

For starters, get lots and lots of feedback from trusted sources (tip: not Mom). When your story is as good as it can be, get it professionally edited. Consider doing both a content edit (the pace is sagging here; the MC's motivation doesn't make sense there, and so on) as well as a line edit (smoothing out the language, fixing grammar and punctuation). Make the needed changes, and then get proofed by several people, including at least one professional.

Even then, you're still not ready.

Get your book formatted correctly. You can find instructions online, or hire someone to do it for you. Some websites have very picky formatting rules, so be sure to follow them. Then send your book file to your personal e-reader and look at it to be sure the formatting isn't weird and distracting.

Be sure your file starts with the first page of the story. Don't clutter it with acknowledgments, explanations, or other content; for e-books, you'll want all of that stuff in the back. The reason is that readers typically sample e-books, and they may give your work only a click or two before dumping it. The one exception would be non-fiction or an anthology, both of which benefit from a table of contents at the front so readers can see what the book is about and use the links to jump to specific chapters.

Finally, and possibly most importantly, don't skimp on the cover art. Hire someone specifically trained in graphic design and book covers. Don't create your own cover with PhotoShop and stock photos unless you really truly know what you're doing. Even then, it's probably a good idea to hire someone who has a fresh set of eyes. Potential readers will be able to spot an unprofessional cover, and they won't buy the book.

Before finalizing your cover, look at it as a thumbnail. Can you still tell what image is? Can you still read the text? If you're too close to your project to be objective, ask someone else. Remember that potential readers will most likely see your cover as a thumbnail first, and bigger than that only if the thumbnail image has sparked their interest, making them click over to the larger image. Don't use a bunch of fonts; two is plenty. And make sure the font or fonts are professional looking and easily readable. So no Comic Sans or Papyrus.

Often, cover designers will put together a few mock-ups to get a feel for the direction you want to go. This a great chance to ask trusted industry friends and avid readers what they think: which mock-up draws them in? Which image is most intriguing? Which font style and/or placement is most pleasing to the eye?

To sum up: Take your time. Polish your work, using as much feedback as you can find. Get a professional edit or two. Have your book proofed by multiple people. Hire a cover designer to get a truly polished, professional look.

Need convincing on the cover issue? Spend some time scrolling through the Lousy Book Covers Tumblr.

That site will make you cringe and laugh. (Warning: some of the commentary has language and other content.) What's unfortunate in these cases is that most readers will never know if the story behind the cover is any good, because readers do judge books by their covers.

While the rule doesn't always hold, it often does: If a writer didn't care enough to put forth a professional-looking cover, they may not have cared enough to be sure the book is on a professional level either.

Give yourself and your book the best shot by doing it right.