Traditional Publishing or Self- and E-Publishing?

Mid-month and "business" post - PART 1 on this topic

Approaches to publishing is a HUGE topic, not only broad and deep, but just tough.

There are layers to thinking about this:

—individual writer and reader— why choose traditional? and why self-publishing?

—publishing world/business— how choices might affect it

—infrastructure—bookstores and online— what do we want in our world?

And the question: how is this changing the world of literature? Really, too much for one post, so I’m going to leave this last piece for another. But let’s get started.

(Do post comments and questions at the close!)

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Why choose to publish with a traditional publisher:

#1 reason - Editor

There are a number of reasons, but the foremost— for me—is the likelihood of working with a solid editor.

To find an editor who brings to a manuscript what I hope for is a cost— in dollars, yes, but also in what you lose if you don’t work with a solid editor; there is a dynamic that grows within the triad of writer/editor/story, and this magic is often unheralded (or unknown) by most who advocate self- and e-publishing. Even if they say “hire an editor” they are generally referring to a copy/line editor, and not the kind I have in mind.

A professional substantive editor has the experience and judgement to know how to bring my particular manuscript to a place that I have only imagined. An editor is a mid-wife of sorts.

Collaboration—working with other professionals

There are others, too, who have roles besides writer and editor in the creating. The designer and publisher; the eye of a skilled copy editor, whose job it is to maintain or grow the verisimilitude; possibly a translator (alas, translators are generally unnoticed… except when you’re reading a poorly translated book!); and others.

Each of these roles requires a creativity all of its own. Although the collaboration of a stage play, or screen-play, or even a picturebook is beyond that needed for the fulfillment of fiction, a novel or story collection or creative nonfiction still needs multiple visions to come together. Each makes a difference.

Recently, in a Substack community post, a professional designer saw the logo I designed for The Unschool, and without saying anything, he went ahead and did as he would at his work-site.

Wow! With a bit of change here and there, a twist of angle, an understanding of manipulating fonts, he took it to another level. (I was so grateful. You might want to check out his cheering and thought-provoking newsletter called “Forest.” I’m appreciating it.)

As a writer, I yearn for that kind of commitment and professionalism to the final work.

If I had to put a price tag on that, for me to go out and find a substantive editor, hire one on my own, the work involved would be a minimum of $2000 just for the editing (and that’s low!)

On a practical level, to replace all these positions is not realistic.

When writers are talking about the yays and nays, this has to be factored in.

With traditional publishers, the editor comes with the publishing house; they find the best person for the job. (And true, we’ve all had or heard of editorial nightmares, but for most of my books, I have been blessed.)

Distributorship is #2… or #1 tie!

Even the smallest traditional publishers have better access to real distribution. That infrastructure has already been created and is in place. It is complex and challenging for an unknown to re-create both the system and the people involved. It’s difficult even for a “known”—that is, a person with many followers on social media and elsewhere.

Too often, it’s a case of not knowing what you don’t know. You cannot even begin to ask the questions.

Along with this is the fact that publishing houses come with publicists—again, a person or team, with years of connections for the most part. Hard to replicate.

You’d either have to pay to find someone in this position, or you’ll be learning and building from the ground up. This costs in both money and time.

And time, for a writer, is the ultimate commodity. Time, for me, means everything.

I’d rather be writing

While every writer has to—yes, has to—have some entrepreneurial streak, however thin—it’s this: we all have the need to balance ‘writer’ and ‘business-person.’ We are all on a spectrum with this.

Where are YOU?

Writer —2 ——3 ——4 ——5 ——6 ——7 ——8 ——9 — Entrepreneur

Full-on “Writer” is one of those people who writes and never or rarely sends it out. Think: Kafka, leaving a note for a friend to burn his work.

Full-on “Entrepreneur” is like the fellow (I won’t name him) who was telling me how to use social media and more to sell my work, and as he outlined what I should do, I had to stop him and ask: “When would I have time to write?” His response, with a tone of impatience: “How long does it take to write a book?”

For some, the work is no more than something to sell; they could sell anything. And if their “book” doesn’t sell, they’re as likely to get their real estate license and move on.

Both these are extreme positions.

Most of us are in the 2-9 range. I feel I’m about a 3-4. I would prefer to be writing, but years ago discovered I also have a passion for talking about writing with others, and enjoy seeing other writers grow and learn. I also like visit classrooms to share with young people. I wrote my caregiving memoir hoping others would find it useful, and now I appreciate the emails I receive (and respond to each) from people who are caregivers--a sizeable piece of writing nonfiction. These pieces, for me, all feel to be components of writing. It’s when pieces of my work doesn’t feel to have anything connection to writing, that I balk. The folks who think of themselves as a 7-8, perhaps they consider the selling to be a part of the writing, too--more so than I do.

Where are you on the scale? Why do you believe that is your place? Where do you want to be?

And why do you want to publish? Or, Why do you want to publish a particular piece in a particular way?

Not every piece of your work has to be shared with the world in the same way.

Self-publishing

#1 reason - Freedom!

Self-publishing comes with a type of freedom. And that freedom, for the most part, is connected to not waiting. Waiting is a part of the traditional path — a part I find very trying. I work my way through waiting by having multiple projects taking shape simultaneously.

With self-publishing, you can go ahead and just get it done. That can seem and even be desirable. (Though even as I write that it makes me think I should write a post about “cool-off time” for a manuscript! A most significant step.)

Other types of freedom— freedom in terms of creativity — what you can publish and present to the world—may seem desirable. And is in many ways. When we thinnk “freedom” with self-publishing, it is often this that comes first to mind.

And this is where the “why” enters.

Reasons to self-publish:

You don’t have an agent, and want to move ahead with publishing; you’ve tried approaching traditional publishers with no luck, and want to get on with being the writer you know you are. Perhaps your story is timely, and should be published now.

Your subject matter is edgy; again, maybe you’ve approached traditional publishers, and have come to realize the topic of storyline is just too out there for them to be open to it. (Careful… this rationale is easy to get to, but there may be other reasons. There is a lot of “edgy” work out there. What is it about yours that is particularly so? Be honest about the writing--is it strong? Is “edginess” the only reason the traditional won’t accept?

Then again, it may also be true; I’ve written pieces that were not so much “edgy” (a word we attach to a real range of material!) as it was so against the accepted grain that it was misunderstood--and I had to work hard to re-frame the material so that it could be understood. (An example: I wrote a poem that questioned the institutionalization of children in daycare… and what I was saying is so unpopular that no one in the workshop understood what I was saying. It is a complicated subject, and I have other thoughts on it--I’m not “against” daycare per se, but questioning how we go about it-- not all of which could be contained within one little poem. But the question central to the work could not be seen…

So… is your writing clear? How have you connected subject matter to reader?

Ah… This topic is complicated… Maybe by the time you’ve made your story and point and more clear, with thought-filled argument, it might be ready for a traditional publisher. Or at the very least, will be truly ready for self-publishing.

Write as if you are writing for the most worthy reader. Regardless of where you will publish.

More reasons: You haven’t found a traditional publisher… but you have received “rejection” that lets you know it is in fact at that level. They have other reasons (besides the writing and content) for not accepting, such as they’re recently published something similar.

Or there’s the “thing”--especially with nonfiction--that your “platform isn’t big enough.” And, unfortunately with creative nonfiction, this is indeed a '“thing.” My agent did not send my caregiving memoir to US publishers, because she knew that without a platform of US size, they would not look at it. She shared with me some of the rejections, and I have to say it was heart-rending to see that if I had followers in the thousands, the outcome would have been different: writing mattered little.

This issue is not quite the same with fiction, with which they seem to be more open to throwing a surprise out to the world. Will this change in future? Probably not, but who knows in this publishing world.

In my case, the memoir was accepted by a small and attentive literary publisher, with a team of people who genuinely care about their work. And I have been grateful for what they’ve put into editing, designing, promoting… and all.

So this reason--platform not big enough--is why you might not be able to sell to a traditional… but it also works against you--obviously--with self-publishing. Still, it can be the reason you might choose to self-publish.

OR should you take the time, build a platform/audience, and then take the book to the traditional world? Do you have the time to do that?

Why do you want to publish — a particular piece of work, in a particular way?

And a few thoughts to leave you with:

Timing. So much of publishing is about timing. Some works lend themselves to being a “first published” work, and others to having a place later in a career. You might write something that needs to be set aside, while you write a “first book.” You can revisit the earlier work later, when the world is ready for it, when readers know you. When an editor believes in you.

Geography, too. Consider publishing outside of upper North America. Other parts of the world are more open to certain types of work. A few times, I’ve looked at student work and suggested it’s just too whimsical for US and Canada… and more than once, a student has had work accepted in the UK, a market that works with a bit of whimsy. (The influence of the Puritans is still with us here.)

Too quiet. Ah, my nemesis. I’ve heard this phrase too often. And it sounds like: “I love it, but the marketing people say we cannot do the numbers on this.” Sometimes it is code for “nothing topical here.” Or “not a strong enough HOOK.”

Do I return to the drawing board, and give it “hook”? Do I strengthen the “why” of writing it?

Now that would be another post, yes.

Comments:

If any of you have self-published, I/we would love to hear about it. Or about any choice you’ve made (or had made for you!) with this part of being a writer.

“Publishing” is only a part of the writing life. I would also be interested in your thoughts on where you are on that scale of 1-10, Writer to Entrepreneur!

I’ll leave it at that for now. Do watch for the posts with the photo of coins; they are the “writing business” posts!