Q&A #1 for Spring 2024 Series

How do I start publishing?

Photo by Explore with Joshua on Unsplash

Canyonlands Nat’l Park… Utah

Hello Unschoolers!

Last year when I was on the road in the campervan, I did a series of Q&A. I’m now in Colorado after a couple days in Canyonlands, and going to do this Q&A piece again, beginning with our first, from Rolando. (Note that this first will be free for all readers, but the others in the series will be for paid folks only.)

The question:

I have some projects (including a book and some stories) that I would like to publish. I don't know how to start publishing. Can you give me some advice?

I asked for a few specifics, and his response was:

I'm writing a book with 10 chapters based on my experience as a psychotherapist. I don't have a publisher, but I can try self-publishing.

I'm also trying to publish some short stories in magazines or in digital format.

~~~

This is a broad question. And that’s rather how it has to be when you’re starting out! As you learn you may narrow it somewhat.

For many the first step is to find an agent. I’ve written about that in this post.

Find and Love Your Literary Agent

And as I looked back through the index, I also found this old post on trad vs self and e-publishing… so check that out, too. Do visit the Indexes, which you can find on the lower right-hand corner of the home page (which you can always get to by clicking on the title The Unschool at the top of the page—and if reading as an email, first click the title of the email to get to that page In other words: if in doubt, click on the title!)

So let’s put the agent question aside for the rest of this post.

Levels of publishing—traditional

Often writers will choose to work their way through levels of publishing: for instance, if they can’t find an agent, then they’ll look for publishers that are open to “unsolicited manuscripts”—that is, unagented work. They’ll work their way through traditional publishers before deciding to go independent. Or you might decide to start there. Read on, and ponder. (And ask another question!)

You might submit to publishers who do not require an agent. How do you find out about these? Online research, yes, but also by keeping notes on books you read. Especially for smaller publishing houses, as these are often more open. (But can also take more time to make decisions as they do not have the staff.)

Hybrid

Next up, self-publishing, with a note about “hybrid” publishers. Recently I reviewed a book by a friend—here is the link to that. This writer wanted to get her story OUT into the world and chose this way. (Note that this new publisher—Bold Story Press— is looking only for stories by women.) This venture cost the writer close to 10k. The book was professionally edited by someone in-house (and did a solid job of it, too), as well as the cover and design details. It looks good, and reading it I wasn’t derailed by typos and other such unprofessional bits.

However, it’s tough to recoup 10k. With the option of self-publishing, you have to count on spending time selling and promoting. True, you DO have to do this with traditional publishers too! Yes, you do—gone are the days when they do that for you. They do some, but especially after the initial 6-12 months, it’s up to you. With self-publishing, it’s 100% on you, and with hybrid, it’s somewhere between—in the name, truly.

As a writer, you need to think about how much time you have to promote and how comfortable you are doing this.

Self-publishing digital

I’ve self-published several books with Draft2Digital, and not been unhappy with the process. (The sales are another matter; again, the issue of time and comfort level with promotion!) I sussed out a number of such possibilities for digital books, and a writer-friend, Arthur Slade (do check out his work) was incredibly helpful as he’s published a number of works with them. (Both of us re-published works that had gone OOP or out-of-print.) Arthur had really done all my research for me, and was quick to extol Draft2Digital as the most straightforward and professional. For payment, they take only a small percentage off the selling price…when it sells. There’s no money upfront. It’s up to you though, to make certain your copy is as clean as can be. You need to take the time to review, page by page, what the copy will look like.

This was a bit of a challenge for me as their system work with Word files and I work on a Mac with Pages. So that’s a bit painful.

You can sign up for all the digital bookstores/distributors you want through D2D, including the behemoth, amazon. (As a matter of principle, I can’t bring myself to honour that with an uppercase. THAT’S reserved for the River and the Rainforest.) The amazon-sell takes a bit of time as they assess the legality/originality of the work.

How to get the word out? Watch for #3 in this Q&A series—another Unschool reader has asked about promoting a first novel! Here, we’ll stick to publishing.

Self-publishing hard-copy and POD (print on demand)

While self-publishing digitally should really not cost a thing—until it sells—creating hard-copies is pricey. This is NOT something I’ve done, though I’m facing the reality that it might happen. Why? In my case I have a number of picturebook manuscripts as well as MG or middle-grade novels. For various reasons, some of these works have not sold traditionally, and I’m left facing the reality they they won’t see light-o-day unless I publish (see *** below).

The readers for these works still do read actual books (and thank God they do!)

I’ve been looking into a Canadian company called Callawind. They’ve been professional, reasonable (I think), and kind in our communicating about estimates and the nature of the books—in this case, board books. Ah, but the fact that I cannot order any less than 3000 is stopping me! Especially as the boardbooks I’ve created are in a set of four… so we’re talking 12,000 books I’ll have stored in my home. And the cost of mailing them to buyers will not be an amount anyone wants to pay. The realities!

POD is an option that Draft2Digital will give you, too. They’re usually pricey books, relative to what else is out there. Keep in mind how much YOU would want to pay for a book, and be aware of current pricing.

POD means that a reader has the option of ordering the book in print form rather than digital. Or that you might have print copies to take to readings and sell—again, price can be rather high.

Dollars and Sense

There’s the reality of how much one makes from traditional publishing versus self/digital/hybrid, etc.

Numbers: the royalties on most hard-copy traditionally published novels used to be 10%, and now it’s more like 8. For picturebooks, the writer and artist each receive 5%.

Bookstores—if the book is not on sale—make 40%.

Whereas for Draft2Digital, the writer can make substantially more. But you’re wearing all the hats. Time and energy has to be taken into account.

Traditional book publishers have established means to distribute, to get books into hands for reviewing, and for authors to receive invites to festivals and radio shows… and all those ways of getting out the word on your book. And that is of value. Also of value, for trad publishing—and this is certainly the biggest draw for me—is the nature of the editing. The editing goes beyond cleaning up copy; the level and labour of editor is to be mid-wife, to birth a book that is healthy and will thrive, a book that is superior to the manuscript you showed up with at their door. You can ask yourself how important is this to you.

An option is to hire an editor. But it’s not easy to find one. All sorts of people nail up a sign and promote themselves as “editors” but it’s not easy to find one who is not only skilled but the right person for your book, to make it the best it can be. Ask a potential editor for a list of projects they’ve worked on, and READ some of their work. Ask about their approach. But bear in mind this is an area in which people are chronically underpaid, and no, they don’t have time to read your work beforehand and give you feedback they’re not paid for…in order to get hired. You might pay them to look at a couple dozen pages, and hire based off their feedback from that.

If you have writer friends, do ask for recommendations. Again, based on what your book is about. The wrong editor for some other work might be the perfect editor for your book.

I recall seeing an online review of my first agent, with someone saying they “wouldn't touch her with a ten foot pole.” I thought that so strange. I quite loved the woman! She did wonderful work with a directness I envied, and she had a huge heart. I had no idea why that (cliche-using) person thought of her as they did, but I was not in agreement.

When I work on a final edit with a solid editor, it’s a different experience that that of writing the thing in the first place, workshopping it with my writing group, responding to any editorial comments from my agent (yes, that’s another step). A solid editor asks good questions. HARD questions. Questions that bring the sum of the work to 1+1=3. The story becomes enriched for that experience. In trad publishing, the team of editor, publisher, acquisitions editor, managing editor…a number of people have already seen and read the book, before the substantive/working editor gets to it. Already thoughts have been percolating. (This is important to know because any sizeable “issues” with the story should be brought up BEFORE anyone signs. That is, if some request of change is to be made in the editing process, you want to know BEFORE you sign anything. Sometimes an editor or publisher wants a change that you are NOT prepared to make. Be careful what they are looking to do with the ms., and to what you are willing and happy to do.)

Okay—back to the question!

Short stories. Trying to sell stories is not easy. You don’t say what type of stories they are. There are a number of literary journals—most of which move very slowly with decision-making, and the pay is abysmal. Unchanged since 1910, really. But placing work with them CAN cause an agent or editor to take notice! These you can find lists of online, and—more importantly—go to your library and look up some issues. If you have a university library nearby, you’ll find even more to browse, to get a feel for what they publish.

It’s tough to offer thoughts on this without knowing the nature of the story. There are MANY online mags/journals now. And of course, right here on Substack, you can post fiction, and build a following. Which takes time and perseverance. But that's the same…

Do be aware that some publishers do not want to see anything that has ever been offered online. Again, think about the “levels” of publishing opportunities, and how you want to approach--which first, and which as “last resorts.”

There are hard-copy genre journals, too. Again, research online looking for what will be a good “fit” for your stories, and then read at least a few editions.

It can be altogether overwhelming looking for markets for short fiction (poetry too, here). You might want to find a handful that seem like real possibilities for your work, and focus on sending work to these few and to build a relationship with the/an editor. Do not send work out willy-nilly; only send to those who seem like your work and what they publish share commonalities, even as a surprise or twist in yours will cause it to stand out. Imagine the editor standing in front of you, asking “what is it in your story that makes you think we should give it a home?”

When I first started to send out work, it was a different world. Back then there were “slush piles” and editors spent hours going through them. Too often, writers sent out work to what seemed a “close enough” fit, and the result was that those piles GREW, and weighed down the entire process... and the answer to that was the advent of the agent. And now it’s almost (but not quite!) impossible to work without an agent.

If only we’d thought of that when we were just sending out material with a buck shot approach. Always be mindful of others’ time, is what I’m saying. Affter all, Time is the real commodity in this work we do.

And one more such note: it’s important to know that editors have INCREDIBLE MEMORIES! Always operate on the assumption that whatever you do, they will remember. Golden rule very much applies. In this time of seeming anonymity, know that every piece you send, every note with its tone, is building a relationship with that editor. While they might not take the first half dozen pieces you send, they might ask for a re-write of number seven, and then accept number eight.

You might sell a couple of stories to see to print, and then try to sell the whole as a collection.

I hope I’ve given some ideas here, but do let me know of any more related questions.

~~~

*** What happens when a work is rejected over and over, seemingly from every possible publisher? Sometimes, WAITING happens. Literally waiting until there’s been turnover in staff with publishing houses. People do move on. And waiting until there’s even societal change—some readiness in the world. That thing of lifting one’s finger into the air to test the temperature and wind direction…? Recently, a friend of mine had a wonderful book accepted FIFTEEN YEARS after it last went through a round of publishers, all returning with “no.” She shelved the project, then took it out again, and her agent re-marketed it… and it sold.

Timing is everything.

Please note that even if you do deep and extensive editing, an editor who has already reviewed it will not want to look at it again… unless of course they have invited you to send it along if re-written.

Questions??