Not quite the rainbow I was looking
for….
By Frank Zubek
We
all have a book inside of us. So they say. Here is my story.
I
started writing in 1999 and to date, I have made sixty dollars. And the bulk of
that has been just in the past two years from Kindle. I started out submitting
to traditional publishers and in the end, wound up on Kindle. And all that
time, if I accomplished nothing else, I was getting very good at the work ethic
needed in order to be an author. Successful writing requires the same dedication as any day job, if not
more.
On
December of 2008, I did it. I got published on Every Day Fiction and earned
myself
three dollars. And remember, we’re talking starting this long journey in
1999. Rent, car payments, food, clothing, the electric bill that keeps the laptop
humming, all have to be paid every month. I really don’t recommend quitting the
day job.
One advantage to Kindle as opposed to traditional publishing is that
instead of stuffing an envelope and waiting up to three months for a response,
a writer could submit the same material to Amazon and – in theory- within 24
hours, have the POTENTIAL of making hard cash from their creative work.
Interested in self- publishing? It isn’t as easy as it sounds. There are
the same important steps to take as there are to submitting to traditional
publishers. Kindle is just another way to read someone’s story. You should do
some research first and I recommend the kindle boards: www.kboards.com/ a community of kindle writers who help and
encourage each other.
First, you need a manuscript. If you haven’t yet, I’ll say this, the
faster you can produce at least two or three finished pages per day, the sooner
you’ll be able to edit it and send it off.
You finish the manuscript, right? Great. Have a total stranger read it.
Find a local writing group or maybe pay a local English teacher who loves to
read. Maybe you have a Meet Up group nearby. http://international.meetup.com/ And don’t become close friends. You need
them to cut your story apart to improve it, not to have them over for weekend
picnics.
Now you need to find a good editor you can trust. And yes, they do
average a few bucks a page or by chapter. But do your own math. Work within a
budget and do homework on the genre you are in. Don’t spend $ 2,000.00 for an
editor when the book you will publish (depending on the genre), will be selling
for $2.99 and only bring in fourteen sales a month. Unless that’s okay with you
long term. Your choice.
During the editing process, ask these questions. Can my story be
improved? Tighter? Expanded? Does my dialogue need work? Do I describe enough
of each scene? Do I really need this chapter? Do the characters each have their
own pattern of speech? And this is tough one…Should I just scrap the whole
thing and start over?
Now if this is a self- published book you need a cover. Ask around and
don’t go over your budget. A good cover can be had for under a few hundred
dollars. I have done my own cover by using free public domain photos and typing
in my own titles, though it is best to find a pro. I do what I do because
I am quite broke. I do sell copies of my stories, but chances are I’d do better
with professional artwork.
But then again, this is why I am here talking to you. Maybe you can get
further than I did. Maybe you can excel where I failed. Take notes.
Now mind you I don’t want to sound like I’m whining. I am trying to
sound realistic.
This self- publishing stuff is hard work.
For one thing, with self-publishing, you don’t have a publisher backing you and
flying you to a dozen cities for book signings. Even the lucky few who get
published don’t automatically get royal treatment like that. Granted, that DOES
happen. But truthfully, you’ll have better odds with winning the lottery.
So
self-publishing sounds a bit better. I have more control, right? To a degree,
yes, you do. But remember, being self published means YOU run the show. YOU are
the marketing department. YOU have to make up e-mail lists. YOU have to think
up guest-blog campaigns. YOU have to keep track of sales and taxes. YOU have to
update the face book blurbs. John Jones isn’t there to back you up if you call
in sick.
But then, you may be squeamish about self-
publishing. That’s understandable.
“I like the feel
of paper.” Fine. Draw up a dozen query letters and send them off.
I’ll even give you a one time saving tip. If
you really want to try the traditional route, the smart thing to do is submit
to publishers or agents who accept e-mailed simultaneous submissions. There is
an annual Writers Guide that has updated addresses. This cuts down a bit on
your waiting period. If you exhaust those, THEN start licking stamps.
Still with me? Lets take a hard look at
traditional publishing numbers.
Let’s imagine the moment. You did it. You got published. Now if you
weren’t aware, your book has to be scheduled in the printing pipeline, which
can take six months to a year. But to speed things up here we’ll flash forward
to the big day. It’s Tuesday. Your book is out there on store shelves. You’ve
managed a small interview in the local paper or an interview with a local
college station. THE READING PUBLIC is well aware your book is on sale today.
But
the reality of it is this: The book has maybe three weeks to sell. If not,
there are a number of other books waiting in line for YOUR spot on the shelf.
It’s not personal, its business. The bookstore, after a few weeks, HAS to send
your book back for credit to make room for dozens and dozens of other books.
After all, the book coming out next might make them money whereas yours didn’t.
Which isn’t your fault. That’s just the nature of this business.
Luckily, these days, a traditional book is
published in hardcover and e-book. But even so, the publisher may not provide a
marketing budget for you, so you’d better be on Twitter
and Facebook letting people know the e-book version is out there as this may
help sales. Still, your book is competing with not only a few dozen other books
on actual shelves, but with a few HUNDRED e-books PER WEEK on Kindle- many of
them in the same genre! Maybe with better covers! Maybe a dollar or two less
than what your book is selling for!
And to stay balanced here, this goes for the self-published folks too.
Each of them had to really work at getting where they are. Yes, a few dozen of
them have absolutely made thousands of
dollars a month from their books on Kindle and they were able to go into work
and put in a two week notice and they haven’t looked back.
Heck, that was MY dream. But I’m still working the day job. And every
day I hammer out a page or two. I ignore the wife, skip some meals, lose some
sleep and the whole time I ask myself questions…. Will the fantasy novel I’m
working on for next year sell? Will my sales double if I also release the
book as an audio book? (so far, no). Should I go back to cartooning?
Please pay attention to me. This thing called writing is NOT easy. You
have to sit at the computer and type. And retype and re-edit and retype some
more. You have to decide to go traditional and wait for a response or try self-
publishing and work even harder to just get a few sales. For all I know you’ll
get lucky on the first try. If so, congrats.
And no matter which route you may choose, you need to be writing the
next book. Writing takes tenacity and dedication and sacrifice. Much, much more than you might ever think. Best
of luck to each of you, you’ll certainly need it. But it's worth it. We wouldn't do it if we didn't love it.
Frank Zubek is based in Ohio, and his
stories and novellas can be found here: www.frankzubek.net/ Frank can be reached by email at frank.zubek@yahoo.com . Check out his books on Amazon by clicking HERE. Follow him on Twitter @FrankZubek
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