April 11, 2012
There was once a massive stigma attached to self-publishing. In the last few years that stigma has died down for the most part — thanks to numerous self-publishing success stories. Of course, there are still a few in publishing who attempt to stigmatize self-publishing, usually the folks who have a financial interest in traditional publishing. You know, some literary agents and traditional publishers. They still write negative articles/posts about self-publishing. Other lit agents and publishers have decided to embrace self-publishing by actually starting up their own self-publishing companies or at least acknowledging self-publishing as a viable publishing option. My point here: Publishing has changed drastically and will continue to do so.
I remember (over ten years ago) when I first starting writing seriously, and it wasn’t fiction. No, my heart belonged to poetry. Back then, self-publishing didn’t seem like a legitimate option. Self-publishing crossed my mind, but I thought of it as a last resort. Agents and publishers told me (via magazines, etc.) to stay away from self-publishing. I listened…and the poetry was never published. Later on, I shifted to writing fiction. I had always wanted to write a novel, so I figured I’d put the poetry aside for a while and give fiction writing a try. Seven drafts and about 700,000 words later and I decided it was time to send out a few query letters to agents. I had chosen the traditional route, at that time, but I soon learned that perhaps traditional publishing hadn’t chosen me. Rejections filled my mailbox. Eventually I moved on to a new manuscript, Unconventional. I wrote the first draft in about nine months total, 50,000 words in the first month! Surprisingly, I didn’t miss poetry. I enjoyed getting lost in my fictional worlds.
My heart was still set on traditional publishing. Yes, I’m stubborn. I sent out queries for Unconventional, too. I received plenty of rejections, but through tons of persistence I finally landed a literary agent. I thought for sure that this breakthrough would result in a major book deal. It didn’t. About six months with the agent and nothing happened. Nothing. We ended up parting ways. Self-publishing floated back into my mind in 2008. I researched it thoroughly and still wasn’t impressed with the options. Most self-publishing companies acted like car dealerships, luring authors in with “low prices” and then upselling, upselling, upselling. I wanted to see a simple “sticker price,” a one-time fee. Instead I found different variations of “publish for $599,” only to find that after I added everything I needed the total came to several thousand dollars. I felt duped, but for some reason I felt lead to self-publish somehow. I researched for probably another solid year, then I started MindStir Media, my own self-publishing company. I self-published Unconventional through that imprint (i.e. publishing brand) and used my own marketing plan to eventually sell thousands of units of my book. I had to play the querying game (i.e. sending out query letters to agents) for a while beforehand in order to see that self-publishing wasn’t quite the last resort I thought it was. In other words, after my book became a success, I realized that I should have just self-published in the first place. But how was I supposed to know that? I mean, all the “experts” at the time were telling me to stay away from self-publishing… I’m glad I didn’t listen this time! Nowadays, I help other authors self-publish via MindStir Media. I made sure that MindStir didn’t have hidden fees. The prices are clear and there’s no upselling. I also put together a mentoring program (for MindStir authors) through which I offer personalized guidance as well as training on proven (and free) book marketing strategies and tools. I teach the authors everything I wish someone had taught me early on.
I wrote a children’s book a few years ago and I’ve decided to finally publish it. I won’t send out query letters this time. It’s been a long journey. The journey taught me that self-publishing can be a first choice, not a last resort. Weepy the Dragon will be self-published and released this summer. The journey continues…
