Wednesday, July 1, 2020

#IWSG Where are we going again?

Welcome to another round of the monthly blog hop for neurotic writers--okay--all writers!
Check out some of the other blogs and join us!




Today's question posted to us was what changes would we like to see in the next ten years in the publishing world. This brings up a lot of thinking (it's late, stick with me). Way back in the dark ages, when humankind was discovering the wheel, I was working on my first book.

It didn't have a title, nor do I recall that much about it. I do remember the main character's name, Vaslisha Tor Dain, (which I later stole from myself for the Asarlai Wars space opera series). But I wrote the book. Then set it aside. Years later, I started another book. Back then the only options for publishing were agents and traditional houses in NY. Or vanity press (aka pay someone to print a ton of copies of your book which then sat in your garage).

I read everything I could on writing and publishing, I went to conferences, I met with editors and agents, I kept writing. I'd get closer, but there was always something--my book was too much like another client of of theirs. It was too different. Humor won't sell right now. Etc.

Then I discovered self-publishing and the angels sang and the skies opened. Not an easy path, but I had control over who I hired for cover, editing, formatting, etc. My stories could find folks who never heard of me, but fell in love with the worlds I made up in my head. It was wonderful. And still is.

Those are pretty huge changes we went through. Moving forward, I would love to see indie authors get more respect. Some readers won't read indie because they feel we just throw things up without a care. 

The serious ones care. And spend a lot of time, money, and hard work to make it so readers care.

So, I guess that's what I'd like to see change, more acceptance. 

Happy IWSG Day!

27 comments:

  1. Yes, the prejudice must end. But with so many writers in self publishing there are bound to be such situations.

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    1. True. But when people issue blanket statements that all indies suck, it's not cool. Some indies suck. Some trads suck. Some small press suck. I guess moving forward I'd wish to see more judgement of the product fairly and without bias. :) Thanks for coming by!

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  2. I'm with you, too. Many Indie authors work really hard.
    And, not everything put out by the trad presses is all that good.
    Happy Writing!

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  3. Self publishing isn't easy if we do it right – but it's entirely possible.

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  4. high five on the getting more respect!!! We indies still face a stigma even though more and more authors are taking that path and we put just as much care and concern into the product we put out.

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  5. I think the stigma is leaving. It's not as bad as it once was. Most readers probably don't know (and many don't care) whether a good is self-published or traditionally published. I think the ones who make a big deal out of it, in my experience, are other writers who read self-published books that weren't actually ready to be published.

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    1. Very true! There seems to be a split, where some readers are blind to the source (NY, Indie, Small press) and others only stick with the huge traditionally published names in their genre. But we are edging closer to equality!

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  6. For a lot of us, indie is the way to go. My friend and I started our own company for that very purpose. It's important that we support each other. I find the "Look Inside" feature of Amazon to be the best way of deciding whether to buy any book. If it's full of editing errors or doesn't grab me, I don't buy, indie or not. And the truth is, lots of crap gets published traditionally by big name authors, just like indie authors.

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    1. Yup! I had an agent for about a year (we broke up in fall 2019 ;)). Mostly she was to help try and get international and or audio sales for my indie books. That didn't happen. Then she asked about something not part of my series--I gave it to her. She loved it. Then said the big guns weren't looking for books like that from new authors. We pleasantly called our association quits. I didn't realize how stressed I'd been having her with my book! I have too many control issues to go trad ;).

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  7. Yes, I agree--more acceptance and more respect. A more level playing field for all writers.

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  8. That was quite the journey. I think I got tired of rejection too. I need to get back to writing someday soon so I can figure out what I want from the industry too. More audio books definitely.

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    1. Good luck on getting back on the writing track!

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  9. Rejections can be hard. But they are an unavoidable part of this journey!

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    1. Oh trust me, even as an indie there are rejections.

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  10. I've read just as many crappy books from traditional publishers. The route doesn't guarantee quality.

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    1. Very true! Quality or suckage can come from any direction. Hopefully, in the next ten years it won't matter where the book came from, just the story.

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  11. I'm not sure readers really care. Most of the time I can't tell who's traditionally published and who's not. That's not what determines whether I buy a book or not.

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    1. I think some readers do, I'm in some groups where they will bash indies just because they are indie and obviously, bad ;). But as more of us read indie authors, that will change!

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  12. Indie authors publish books that range from exceptional to hmmm. In the end, it's the story that counts. We have to make our story the best we can (without refining it to the point it never sees the light of day). The quality of books put out by indies nowadays are getting better all the time. I sometimes find myself surprised that a book is not from an indie author. We've come a long way.

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  13. I think all books should be judged on an individual basis. I do think it's getting better, especially with ebooks, where readers are just going out to look for a good book and maybe don't notice who's publishing it. If people are talking about something, it attracts more attention exponentially.

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    1. Yup- the more we judge on the specific book, the better things get :)

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