Several months ago, one of my friends talked about writing novels, and how anyone can write something and put it up for sale on Kindle.
I loved that this is possible these days, and wished I could take advantage. I think I even signed up for an account. The problem is I didn't want to write a novel. I think I considered putting up one of my old novels. I'm not sure why I ended up not doing that.
Anyway, when I started writing my novel I began to change my mind about self-publishing? Why not try to get an agent; then if that fails, go the self-publishing route.
I started doing major agent research. I looked at about twenty agencies, read a profile of each agent, looked at interviews with agents that might be a good match for my book. Then I chose one agent from each agency that I'd eventually query.
After all that, I changed my mind again.
The thing is the agents are already hurting my feelings and they haven't even rejected me yet. Well, a few of them haven't responded to my Twitter replies, and that's kind of a rejection. See, I'm that sensitive.
Besides that though...I'm sitting there reading about the agents, and some of them sound so wonderful. Not as agents necessarily, but as people who are like me. These are people who share my love of books! And the websites give all this personal biography information. I keep thinking...this person sounds really awesome. But once she rejects me, I'm going to have major negative vibes.
Then sometimes the agents sound a bit snarky. They're tired of getting the wrong query letters. They're tired of writers not following the rules. They're tired of writers being too persistent. They're tired of seeing crappy writing.
I do think most of their complaints have merit, and I have sympathy for what they go through. But I'm also paranoid. I imagine them reading my query letter with disgust and annoyance.
Basically, I'm scared of agents.
They intimidate me.
So I'm going to go the self-publishing route.
There's a lot of negatives in that too though.
I guess the main thing is most people who read get books that are published by big publishers.
It's rare these days for a self-published book to be successful.
It means I'll have to promote my own book. That doesn't sound too fun. However, I know traditionally published authors also have to do a lot of self-promotion. Also I've been seeing that there are websites out there who help with promotion. I'll be alone, but there are tools I can use. So I have some hope. I don't completely dread it.
Here are some things I LIKE about self-publishing.
1. It's free these days, unlike in the past where you had to invest a lot of money.
2. I love that anyone can write and publish a book these days, and that we're not dependent on book publishers to choose what's available to read. By self-publishing, I'm supporting all that.
3. I like that I won't be demanded to edit my book based on opinions of editors and agents. This might not be great, because there could be an editor and agent who'd improve my book. I understand that. But I also imagine there could be a case of an editor or agent wanting me to completely change my book, and I'd lose what I love about it.
I was going to add a 4th thing....I like that I won't have to pay a percentage to an agent. But if I had an agent, I'd probably make much more money than I'm going to make all on my own.
Anyway, my conclusion is that both searching for an agent and self-publishing are terrifying and full of hard work and uncertainty. So it's kind of a matter of choosing your poison.
Wish me luck. Please!
I loved that this is possible these days, and wished I could take advantage. I think I even signed up for an account. The problem is I didn't want to write a novel. I think I considered putting up one of my old novels. I'm not sure why I ended up not doing that.
Anyway, when I started writing my novel I began to change my mind about self-publishing? Why not try to get an agent; then if that fails, go the self-publishing route.
I started doing major agent research. I looked at about twenty agencies, read a profile of each agent, looked at interviews with agents that might be a good match for my book. Then I chose one agent from each agency that I'd eventually query.
After all that, I changed my mind again.
The thing is the agents are already hurting my feelings and they haven't even rejected me yet. Well, a few of them haven't responded to my Twitter replies, and that's kind of a rejection. See, I'm that sensitive.
Besides that though...I'm sitting there reading about the agents, and some of them sound so wonderful. Not as agents necessarily, but as people who are like me. These are people who share my love of books! And the websites give all this personal biography information. I keep thinking...this person sounds really awesome. But once she rejects me, I'm going to have major negative vibes.
Then sometimes the agents sound a bit snarky. They're tired of getting the wrong query letters. They're tired of writers not following the rules. They're tired of writers being too persistent. They're tired of seeing crappy writing.
I do think most of their complaints have merit, and I have sympathy for what they go through. But I'm also paranoid. I imagine them reading my query letter with disgust and annoyance.
Basically, I'm scared of agents.
They intimidate me.
So I'm going to go the self-publishing route.
There's a lot of negatives in that too though.
I guess the main thing is most people who read get books that are published by big publishers.
It's rare these days for a self-published book to be successful.
It means I'll have to promote my own book. That doesn't sound too fun. However, I know traditionally published authors also have to do a lot of self-promotion. Also I've been seeing that there are websites out there who help with promotion. I'll be alone, but there are tools I can use. So I have some hope. I don't completely dread it.
Here are some things I LIKE about self-publishing.
1. It's free these days, unlike in the past where you had to invest a lot of money.
2. I love that anyone can write and publish a book these days, and that we're not dependent on book publishers to choose what's available to read. By self-publishing, I'm supporting all that.
3. I like that I won't be demanded to edit my book based on opinions of editors and agents. This might not be great, because there could be an editor and agent who'd improve my book. I understand that. But I also imagine there could be a case of an editor or agent wanting me to completely change my book, and I'd lose what I love about it.
I was going to add a 4th thing....I like that I won't have to pay a percentage to an agent. But if I had an agent, I'd probably make much more money than I'm going to make all on my own.
Anyway, my conclusion is that both searching for an agent and self-publishing are terrifying and full of hard work and uncertainty. So it's kind of a matter of choosing your poison.
Wish me luck. Please!
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