#publishing advice

[novlr]

How to create a Copyright for my fiction novel?

For example:

All right reserved. This is a work of fiction...

(I forgot all of it)

In August we wrote a beginners guide to copyright, in which we talk about whether you need it, how to get it if you do, and what information you should include in a copyright page. We've even given you a downloadable template that you can customise to your needs for both fiction, and non-fiction books! Click the link below.

[thewritersalchemist]

Brandon Sanderson did make smart career choices, but they might not be what you think.

(originally posted on a different writing blog in March 2022)

This is NOT another post breaking down “what you can learn!” from Sanderson’s massive Kickstarter earlier this month. Well, it kind of is, but it’s the opposite of some of the others.

Buckle up, it’s unpopular opinion time.

On March 1, 2022, fantasy author Brandon Sanderson announced a Kickstarter: pledge to help him publish four standalone novels he’d secretly written during the pandemic. He and his team set a goal of one million dollars, and he estimated they would get two to four million total.

In three days, the Kickstarter had reached twenty million dollars, and it currently (as of March 27, 2022) sits at thirty-three million dollars.

The publishing world was—and still is—staggered.

In the last three weeks, I’ve seen a dozen indie authors and marketers try to break down that massive success and what lessons others can take from it for their own careers. Most of them write to various Amazon markets. Some of them made good points. One thing everyone keeps repeating is that Sanderson has made “smart career choices.” But every time, I’ve walked away from those articles shaking my head. Most of the articles seem to be missing the biggest and most important point. It's hard to talk about taking lessons from Sanderson’s marketing before you talk about lessons from his WRITING career.

A few facts:

The four novels Sanderson will be publishing with the Kickstarter money are already written. He wrote them for his wife (and because he wanted to explore new stories) during the pandemic.

He will be publishing them through his own company: Dragonsteel Books. He created the company to publish special editions of his books, carry his book swag*, and have an alternative option for people to buy his books if Amazon ever stops selling his books again.**

Sanderson has a reputation for being reliable with his book publishing. If he says he’s going to publish something, he does it, and he tries to keep fans updated as he goes.

*Book swag / book merch = special items created for fans of books. **Years ago, Amazon briefly stopped selling his books because of contract disputes. You can read more about it here.

And some facts about Sanderson himself, if you’re not familiar with his work:

His first book to be published—Elantris—came out in 2005. It was the sixth novel he wrote, and it was published by Tor. It took eighteen months for someone to read the book and then call him about it.

Before Elantris was published, he’d written thirteen novels.

He now has so many novels out that Wikipedia has a separate article for his bibliography.

He was handpicked by Robert Jordan’s wife to finish the Wheel of Time book series, and he was on the writing team for the Wheel of Time TV series.

So what were Sanderson’s “smart career choices” as a writer?

He didn’t write to market. This is going to be the most unpopular opinion of all, but hear me out, please. Sanderson tried it. Back before Elantris was published, after a lot of people told him his books weren’t being accepted because they were too long and didn’t have the popular format and tropes of the time, he tried writing to market. He’s said those were the worst novels of his writing career. So he stopped. He went back to writing what he loved. That love and passion kept him writing books that have resonated with fans for almost twenty years now. If we’re going to talk about why his fanbase loves his BOOKS so much, let's start with how much HE loves what he wrote and how much that love spills over in how he talks about his books.

He constantly pushes himself to improve. He knew from the beginning that he needed critique, and he got it. Since college, he’s been in critique groups and had alpha readers, and they keep pushing him to be better too. He himself says that some of his earlier books (yes, the published ones!) aren’t his best. He’s honest that he keeps wanting to do better and looking to improve.

When he made plans about publishing, he didn’t just think about it like a writer. He thought about it like an author. He figured out his writing pace and he tried to be consistent with that. You can talk for hours about how he finishes books and how that “makes him better than Patrick Rothfuss and George R. R. Martin,”*** but I don’t see many people talk about how Sanderson learned from them and others and FIGURED OUT what he had to do AHEAD OF TIME so he wasn’t doing that to his fans, intentionally or accidentally.

He also approached his published author career like a reader. He treated his fans like he would have wanted to be treated as a reader. He used social media to connect with them and to keep them posted. He was and still is actively involved in his fandom.

He’s given back to the community. He’s taught at university for years; he’s talked at conferences; he’s free with his advice on his writing podcast; he’s given fans advice for years at cons and book signings and through his website, and he always has a smile for his fans.

***I’m not going to discuss Rothfuss’s or Martin’s choices; I don’t know what’s going on in their lives, and I think there’s a difference between authors having a responsibility to finish a series and authors ‘owing’ fans the way their particular fans claim. This is only about Sanderson and his decisions.

THESE were his smart career choices. THESE are the reasons his books are so popular and why his Kickstarter got to twenty million in three days. Sure, finishing Wheel of Time helped get his name out there to some readers, but the majority of Sanderson’s fans don’t talk about Wheel of Time like they talk about his own books. Wheel of Time fans (some of them) talk about being grateful he finished the series, yes. But Sanderson fans talk more about Elantris, Mistborn, and the Stormlight Archive.

If we’re going to break down Sanderson’s success, we have to go back further than his marketing. We have to look at his foundation and be honest about why and how he is where he is.

If you write to market, three things sell your books:

your ads

your other marketing (but mostly your ads)

and how well you followed the recipe for that market

Whether your plot and characters are objectively well written doesn’t matter as much. (I'm not saying it doesn't matter at all.) Why? Because the recipe is what the ads sell. So if you’re good at following the recipe, readers will keep coming back after their first few from you. Not so much if you like to change recipes a lot or can’t follow one well. You might get other readers, but you won't get that particular market's readers.

I’m not dissing writing to market. If you DO mostly write to market, you won’t be able to take many lessons from Sanderson’s Kickstarter success (or his career in general) because Sanderson’s marketing isn’t what keeps his fiction selling. His writing is. His fan interaction is another huge part.

A note on consistency.

Sanderson is a prolific writer. He can sustain a publishing pace that many people can’t. I can’t, for sure. I would LOVE to be that prolific, but I’m not there, at least not right now. Being consistent doesn’t mean you have to publish every year or write every single day. It means finding what pace works for you and then being consistent with that. If that means publishing once a year, good for you. If it means once every three years, go for it.

Building a fanbase takes time. Sanderson has been publishing for almost twenty years, if you count how long the process took for Elantris. He’s been writing for twenty-five years. No one likes to hear that something they want right now takes time, but it’s the truth. Building a consistent fanbase takes time, and it does tend to take more time for indie authors than traditionally published ones.

I've worked with a lot of competitive write-to-market indie authors. I know exactly how unpopular this opinion is. But for all the authors wanting to really understand the writing craft and find the path that helps them build their own consistent career of putting out good stories, this post is for you. If you're asking “Why is Sanderson so popular that his Kickstarter reached twenty million in three days?” and wanting to know what you can learn from it . . .

This is why. And this is what you can learn.

[clairelsonao3]

Any Writers tried BookTok?

As some of you know, at some point in the New Year, I plan to self-publish a romance ebook. Over the next few months, I hope to start putting some more infrastructure in place to promote it for when the time comes to send out arcs, etc. I already have friends and supporters on Tumblr and A03, which is a great start. But of course, everyone says BookTok is the place to be, especially for romance writers. But I'm hesitating for a few reasons, which are:

Will I get canceled? To make a long story short, the book deals with topics that are not only dark but could be seen as controversial -- and are liable to be attacked by people who don't care that the book is the exact opposite of what they think it is and simply like canceling things based on certain phrases in titles, blurbs or loglines. Tumblr and Ao3, with a few unfortunate exceptions, have been mostly, blissfully free of these people, but BookTok strikes me as someplace that might have a lot of them. Idk, maybe I'm wrong. And if someone does try to cancel me, will I be able to handle it by simply refusing to engage?

I don't want to and can't really show my face for mostly professional reasons. (I like my face just fine, just not for TikTok!) I can use my own voice and, like, my hands or, something, but face is a no-go. Will I be severely hurting my chances of getting any eyeballs on my posts?

Is the culture toxic or likely to harm my mental health? No amount of promotion is worth something that's going to traumatize or hurt me (see above about cancellation). And if my work and/or my characters are hurt, I'm hurt. I've encountered toxicity on social media before and have largely stepped away from it, with Tumblr being the main exception because the community here is so wonderful.

Will it be too much of a time commitment? I know they suggest posting once a day, which seems like a lot, especially if it involves creating and editing original posts. And really anything that's going to take more than, say, 20 minutes out of my day (unless of course I really enjoy it, like I do Tumblr) is too much of a time commitment, in my opinion.

So, that said, I would love to hear from anyone who has experience with BookTok, especially writers of romance and ESPECIALLY writers of "dark," edgy, and/or controversial romance. Should I just try it for, say, a few weeks and see how I like it? (I have never used TikTok before, ever, so it would mostly just be getting a feel for it). Is that even possible?

Thank you for any opinions, anecdotes, or nuggets of wisdom anyone can offer!

[em-dash-press]

Questions to Ask Before Signing With a Literary Agent

Getting published might be your dream, but meeting with a literary agent is more like a job interview. You’ll be professional partners. They should prioritize your vision for your manuscript while guiding you on the best path to bookstore shelves.

If you get to meet with a potential agent for your next book, consider asking these questions to ensure that you’ll work well together.

What Did You Like About My Manuscript?

The agent’s answers will reveal what they’re most interested in working on. You’ll also learn what they consider to be your strengths as a writer.

If they’re interested in your story for reasons other than its intended purpose or your vision, you’ll prevent yourself from signing a contract based on a misunderstanding.

Do You Want a One-Time Client or a Long-Term Writer?

Literary agents are very busy.

The average literary agent makes $37,482 per year and given that most of the big publishers headquarter in New York City or L.A. where the average cost of living requires $63,600 annually in NYC and $30,640 for L.A. rent alone each year, it’s understandable that many agents do their agenting work alongside a full-time job.

Some will only have the time and energy for a one-time client who has a stand-alone project ready to go. Others may have more time in their schedule to commit to a long-term working relationship with a writer.

If you’re interested in turning your manuscript into a series, exploring other genres, or have ideas for future projects, the answer to this question is crucial.

Why Did You Become a Literary Agent?

It’s important to get to know someone before working with them. This is a standard question for anyone in a job interview. You deserve an agent who’s passionate about helping authors, especially first-time authors if you’ve never been published before.

How Long Have You Been an Agent?

A new literary agent could have gained the experience to become great in their own agency by working with other agents at a publishing house for years. Others may have a law degree, but little real-world experience yet.

What you do with the answer to this question is up to you. The new lit agent could be the best person for your book because they have the energy, focus, drive and passion to help you succeed. But you might also benefit from having a more experienced agent if your manuscript will be tricky to sell. (More on that below.)

What Did You Love about the Books You Sold Recently?

You should already know the agent’s latest sold books based on the query research that made them a good person to query. However, looking at a list of titles is different than hearing why the agent cared about those manuscripts in the first place. It shows part of their character and their interests, which may or may not fully line up with your hopes for our writing future.

What’s Your Communication Style like throughout the Publishing Process?

Some agents are very hands-on during the publishing process and some prefer to send occasional updates so you don’t get weighed down by details you don’t understand.

Again, how you react to the agent’s answer is up to you. There are tons of reasons why you may or may not want a hands-on agent, just like there are tons of reasons why agents might keep you posted for the most important info. They can explain a bit more after answering your initial question.

How Many Clients Are You Currently Representing?

Agents with a long list of clients might make enough from agenting that they can handle a big client team and still devote enough attention to be by your side through the publishing process. Others may only have a few clients because that’s the best balance for their work life and communication.

Having fewer clients doesn’t mean an agent is bad news. Don’t forget to follow up to this question if you want more information.

Are You Involved in the Editing Process?

Editors often take over when a manuscript needs work before publishers consider it or after a publisher signs on to sell it. Agents sometimes jump into the work with their clients if they have the time to do so.

Editing can take a while since broad developmental editing almost always happens before agents pitch a manuscript. How many people you want to communicate with throughout that process depends on your communication preferences and the agent’s editing expertise.

When Do You Believe My Book Will Go Out on Submission?

If your agent has read your full manuscript, they may have an idea of how much editing you’ll need to do. One agent who wants major changes could indicate that the process might take up to a year, while another could estimate three months of editing work in your future.

This also means they have different visions for your book’s final draft. You can talk more about that in detail after they estimate the editing time prior to submissions.

How Long Did the Submission Process Take for Your Other Clients?

Agents have to pitch manuscripts to publishing houses. It’s like the query process for writers, but for agents. They often know which houses are more likely to pick up specific stories based on their industry connections and previous sale experience too.

That being said, the submission process takes an average of 4–6 weeks. If the agent’s previous clients took longer or shorter than that, it’s important to know why. They may have been up against industry factors out of their control or could have learned better ways to sell books based on past mistakes that took longer than necessary.

Do You Think My Manuscript Will Be Challenging to Sell in Today’s Market?

Consider your history of reading. At different ages and stages of your life, you were likely into different genres and themes. The book industry as a whole also goes through stages. 

Sometimes, a fantasy book about a high schooler and her vampire boyfriend makes everyone preorder the next YA vampire book they can find. Other times, all people want to read are bubblegum romance books with familiar plot formulas because the latest copies from the biggest romance writers have everyone swooning.

Books can also become more likely to sell if they involve a societal topic or challenge that everyone’s talking about. 

It’ll be more challenging to sell books that don’t appeal to anything readers are currently buying en masse. Challenging—but not impossible. The best agent for your book will identify potential challenges and plan ways to navigate around them or spin them into something appealing to publishers.

They might also pitch editing ideas to tweak your story closer to what sells in a similar age group or genre. Whether or not you agree that those ideas align with what you envisioned for your book is up to you.

Do You Manage Subsidiary, Foreign, and Film Rights?

Subsidiary rights are the legal rights to every non-physical form of your book. A literary agent will know how to handle traditional book rights (rights concerning printing, manufacturing, and distribution), but also managing subsidiary rights makes them an even better advocate for you. 

They’ll negotiate for your rights to do things like have a say in which publications gain excerpts from your book for PR purposes, who can make book-club editions, which company makes an audiobook, and how many languages your book gets translated into.

Foreign rights are the rights for a company to publish your book in its original language in countries where it wasn’t initially published. Related, there are translation rights that go with that too.

Film rights cover things like how much you and/or your publisher get paid when a company purchases the rights to turn your book into a movie. It doesn’t include the rights for the author to be involved in casting or screenplays (unless the author is already super big and/or has a hand in the film world).

Agents who can do all of these things reduce how many pieces of your profit pie you have to give to each person helping your book succeed. They also streamline who you trust with such big decisions.

What Happens if My Manuscript Doesn’t Sell?

Agents set their own time limits on trying to sell a manuscript based on factors like their own schedule, the market’s interest, how many publishers they’ve contacted, etc. 

Some agents set a hard time limit and recommend writing another book if your initial one doesn’t sell. Unfortunately, they may not feel like the right representation for the new book if it’s wildly different from what you initially queried.

Others will try selling a manuscript for a few years. They might believe it will be a hit, but they need to wait for changes in the market or publishers to become available for work like yours.

There’s really no wrong answer to this question. It’s just good information to have, especially if you’re interviewing more than one agent before signing with anyone.

How Many Deals Have You Made in the Last Year and What Were the Figures?

You’ll know the publicly announced book deals the agent has made before you speak with them based on your query research. However, there may be other deals you don’t know about. 

It’s also important to get the figures for each deal to estimate your potential book deal number. You should compare your standing to authors of similar standing that the agent recently helped get published.

If you’re a debut author comparing yourself to long-time authors with six-figure deals, you won’t have a similar experience unless you’re the one in a million who has an instant hit with your book sales.

What Are Our Next Steps after I Sign?

You’d typically ask this in a regular job interview to know if you need to go through other interviews or if you’ll get an employment contract.

After signing with your agent, they’ll lead you through the various steps to getting published. They’ll likely have personal revision suggestions, then want to submit your revised work to editors. Then the editing process begins. 

Your agent should know your next general steps before you sign the contract. If you sign, they’ll get more specific with details like which editors they think will be a good fit for your work and when they can schedule meetings with you to go over their revision suggestions.

-----

Getting to this point with an agent at all is a huge success. So many writers never get published or even send a query letter. Congratulate yourself for getting this far and don’t be afraid to ask more questions than the ones I’ve listed here. More information will lead to a more informed decision when you decide to sign or not.

[at-thezenith]

acquiring a manuscript - the agent and editor

hello, it's me, your favourite publishing student. let's talk acquisition.

so you've managed to secure an agent with your manuscript. then what?

most agents will do a developmental edit on first deciding to work with you. plot, character, pace, continuity and worldbuilding all come under this. what makes a good agent (and editor) is whether they are offering you suggestions on what to do instead of outright rewriting your work.

once you've made those changes (or gone back and forth depending on how much you do or don't want to make that change), your agent will send your manuscript to editors in publishing houses.

a key question on their mind is: can i sell this book? agents (and editors, but i'm getting to that) look at a book's merit, and they look at what they can compare it to. you need some sort of USP (unique selling point)

is it pride and prejudice but trans? most ardently by gabe cole novoa. is it black mirror in south east asia? red dust , white snow by pan huiting. (highly rec both, btw)

key note here - if you are submitting to a publishing house that accepts unsolicited manuscripts, you will skip straight to this next step.

your manuscript will land on an editor's desk, along with the pitch your agent has given them, usually tailored to that editor's or that house's tastes. in a big house, that editor will usually pass that manuscript to an assistant, to do a reader's report, in which the assistant will sum up the plot, point out strengths and weaknesses, and most importantly, tell them whether it is worth publishing. some manuscripts don't make it past this step, and in that case, the agent will send it to another house.

if the editor likes the sound of this manuscript, they will then read it. usually, they will read it three times: one for first glance edits, two for developmental edits, and three for line edits (line by line, spelling/grammar, vocabulary, etc). once this is done, they will tell the agent that they plan to put their house in the running for acquisition. then comes the acquisition meeting.

the acquisition meeting is where your editor will fight to get the publishing house on board with your book. remember that USP? here's where that comes into play. your editor needs, above all else, to get sales and marketing on board. how can i sell this book? editors often ask other members of the meeting to read the book beforehand to have some support, and to point to the book's readability.

the literary qualities of the book certainly come into play, but what sales and marketing want to hear is how your book is both familiar and new. so your editor will construct a pitch that both highlights the excitement of your book, but also point to previous successes with books like yours. i know that comparing books to other books is tedious, but sales are notoriously pessimistic. they control the money, after all.

but your book makes it through the meeting, and you have the whole team on board. now comes the editorial letter. this is where the editor is going to do their best to sweet talk you (and your agent) into accepting their offer of publishing your book. however, they will both gush about your work, and tell you the edits they want you to make to it, from the big developmental changes all the way down to the way a character moves in a scene. don't be discouraged if the list of changes is long; if the editor didn't want to publish the book, it wouldn't have made it past their assistant.

this of course is assuming you decide to accept their offer immediately. you could have offers from other houses, and in that case you usually won't receive the editorial letter - or at least, not in such great depth - until you have signed a contract with the house of your choice. that is more complicated.

hope you found this useful! my dms are open if anyone has any questions :)

[tlbodine]

Lessons Learned at My First Book Signing

I attended an in-person author event today for the first time ever. It was not an especially high-profile deal -- just a local author fair hosted by the library. But it was still the first time I'd ever set up a table for the purpose of selling and signing books and interacting with would-be readers, and I want to talk about that experience a little bit and give some take-aways and advice for other writers who might be curious about doing something like this.

Step One: Find an Event

My dear friend and co-conspirator @comicreliefmorlock tipped me off about this. She saw a flier for it at the library and I applied on a whim, not even sure if I'd get accepted for the event. But I did! And that's the first lesson I want to give you: Everything good I have in my life I got by saying, "Fuck it, let's give it a shot."

Don't get too deep in your own head about things. Don't self-reject from opportunities. Kick imposter syndrome in the teeth and just do the thing.

Step Two: Set Up a Table

I was operating on a major shoestring budget for this, and I didn't have time to put together real signage or anything fancy. But I could go to the dollar store for some Halloween flair and a tablecloth and honestly? Even that was eye-catching enough that it definitely lured some people over. Next time I'll be better prepared to do something a bit more cohesive. But even these little touches put me miles beyond most of the other authors there, who just had a small stack of books on a bare table.

A few tips:

Don't put out all your books at once. Leave most of them in the box and tuck it under the table or somewhere. Fewer books, artfully arranged = implied scarcity. And it just looks nicer.

Scatter your business card/swag around the table. Consider leaving out a dish of candy. Freebies lure people into stopping.

Put up a sign with pricing. I used a small whiteboard from the dollar store and doodled on it when I got bored.

Try to have a little flair. Keep it on-brand with the type of stuff you're writing. The goal here is to be eye-catching enough that people want to come see what you've got going on.

Step Three: What You'll Need

If you're going to attend any kind of author fair or signing event, I recommend the following:

Some way to take payment not in cash. If I'd had a Square reader today, I would have probably sold at least a couple more books. Nobody carries cash anymore (but plan to have a bit of change anyway). The sales I made today came through PayPal, and having that QR code sign (free with my business account!) came in clutch.

An assistant. If you can, try to bring someone along to be your helper. It makes a huge difference having somebody who can watch your table while you go network with other sellers, as well as somebody who can help make change and restock the books if you get busy talking to people. And on the flipside, if nobody shows up, your helper can keep you from feeling super lonely and awkward.

Some kind of swag or, at least, a business card. Bookmarks or stickers/bookplates would be baller, too. But you for sure need something with your name and some kind of identifier -- your website, your social media, your Wattpad, something. This is what my business card looks like:

They're double-sided (the black is on the back). I had these printed up for Wattcon 2018 (and then forgot them in my car at the airport) and didn't have a website yet at that point. But I'm still quite fond of them. I designed them, had them printed, and picked them up at Office Depot.

I cannot express enough the importance of the business card. You may think you're there to sell books. But you are actually there so that people will remember your name. Folks who stop by might not be ready to buy your book, but they might check you out later. At the very least, they'll now have a thing with your name on it in their possession, which will help stick in their mind so the next time they see your name, it will have a ring of familiarity to it, which will make them much more likely to be interested in what you're doing.

Step Four: Talk to People!

Make eye contact and smile with passers-by. Engage with people who look interested in what you have to offer. Don't try to hard-sell or anything, but be available to answer questions. Have a quick, one-sentence pitch for explaining your book at the ready. Encourage people to take your swag.

And then get up and go talk to other people! If you're at an event where there are multiple authors, go introduce yourself (bring a business card!) and ask them questions about their work. Be friendly. I traded one of my books for a book from my neighbor's table today:

Eirik, it turns out, is a Twitter mutual of mine. We share like 20 online acquaintances and would have never known we lived in the same place if not for this event. I tagged him in my tweet about the event, and he tagged me back for his followers. That's networking, baby! (also this book looks sweet as hell. The Great Gatsby with werewolves? yes please. I'll let you know how it is after Angel gets done with it because she yoinked it from me as soon as it came back to the table).

Even if there aren't any other authors to meet-and-greet and network with, ingratiate yourself with the staff of the library/bookstore/wherever. Be friendly and thank them for the work they're putting in. Being kind and gracious is how you get invited back to more events. And you really want to make friends of librarians and bookstore employees because they're in a position every day to recommend books to dozens of people. Word of mouth is literally priceless in this business.

Something I saw others doing that was really smart is capturing email addresses to add to their newsletter. One had a giveaway raffle - sign up, then a name gets drawn at the end. One just encouraged people to sign up so they could learn more about his work. This was really clever and a good use of the space -- I'm going to do something similar next time I do this!

Step Five: Don't Get Discouraged

I sold two books at this event. That was twice as many as anybody else I talked to. Like I said earlier -- this is a marketing thing, not a chance to profit directly off book sales. Don't feel disappointed if you go to something like this and don't sell out. If people are scoping you out and engaging with you at all, if they're taking your card or signing up for your newsletter, that's a win.

R.L. Stine pretty famously had one person come to his first book signing. He writes about it in his autobiography. I figure, if his career could start out like that, it's good enough for anybody.

You can learn a lot from going to an event even if you're not selling books. From watching the way people interacted with my table, I came away with a few observations:

Most people who use libraries are, in order: old people, parents with young kids, teenagers. Of that, I captured the most attention of teenagers. They were drawn like catnip over to my table, maybe because of the Halloween decor, maybe because of the covers. Old people don't read horror, by and large -- they prefer mysteries. But a lot of them know someone else in their life who does like scary stuff, and a lot of them took my card to presumably tell their loved ones about it. (I had a few teenagers who absolutely would have been sales if they'd had any money. I told them I was also on Wattpad and encouraged them to take a card to look me up there. The response to that was an even mixture of bafflement, suspicion, and excitement. Yes, graying middle-aged farts like me are on Wattpad.)

The Darkness of Dreamland was far and away the book that captured people's attention. I think the cover really drew people in.

Purple is an unusual color in the genre, and that hand-painted unicorn with its malevolent, unusual design is a real eye-catcher. A lot of people wanted to stop and read the back cover to see what was up with this book. Which leads me to....

Your back cover copy is your most effective sales pitch. The front cover has to get them through the door, and the back cover seals the deal. It's really easy when you're working on them to forget about that. It's easy to get too deep in your head about making both of them accurate or literal interpretations of the story or symbolic or whatever. That's not the purpose. Your book cover is a marketing tool, it is ad copy, and you have to approach it with that mindset.

So those were my takeaways from my first-ever author fair. I hope some of this was at least a little interesting or helpful for you! I got a lot out of this experience, even if I did spend a whole lot more money ordering copies than I earned selling them -- now I just have to challenge myself to sell the rest of the books in my trunk!

Happy to answer any questions or give clarification on things.

[crow-caller]

Hey! I saw that you published some books (looking forward to checking them out, actually), but I was wondering how you did that? I'm not out of high school yet, but I've already finished my first draft of book one of my series, and have been working on editing and fixing up the second draft. I do have an editor, which is nice. I was wondering how you published? Any advice/ info would be greatly appreciated!

Hey, cool! My first book legit came out when I was still in high school.

I'm an indie author, so I'll talk about indie stuff... and traditional... and oh dear that's a lot.

Let's go over some pros and cons and what to expect.

Crow's (oops not) Quick Guide to Publishin'

Self Publishing:

This is what I did for Good Angel, Bad End, my duology!

Self pubbing:

+Total control of end product +No deadlines +Full control of changing it at any time -You do all the work (or pay) -It costs you money for jobs you can't (or shouldn't) do yourself like editing -Extremely limited reach of audience, very hard to sell

I queried GA/BE around a bit but ultimately decided to self publish it. It's just too niche for mainstream, being a weird genre mix up with way too queer characters. Multiple neopronouns used by funky angels in magic school slice of life that turns apocalyptic? yeah, I felt it'd be best I just put it out.

You'll need to

Edit the text (I'd recc multiple friends, a paid editor)

Proofread the text (I'd recc paying a pro)

Assemble the text files formatting (for digital, print)

Get a cover

Make pages for it on GoodReads etc and promote it

Self-publishing can be a lot of work. I did GA/BE's interiors myself using first Microsoft word, then adobe indesign for the recent revamp. Using Word/other text programs can give you a fully workable interior file, but abusing the free trial system of adobe will allow more advanced inclusions. Getting ebook files to work is a nightmare, and print can also be a pain- it's a lot of following online tutorials and trial and error I found. Calibre then is the program you use to finish digital files for release.

Costs for editing can be very high. Editing is a high skill, high time job- I got my books done on discount from a friend for next to nothing, but expect definitely a few hundred bucks. Research though fair prices. You don't need to hire someone to proofread or edit, but it is a good idea. That or outsource to many friends, ideally ones who give honest feedback. A proofreader is much cheaper as they only look for errors, I again got it cheap for 65£ per book. Art wise, I bought mine on commission- talk to an artist and make it clear it is for a commercial project and that you have the right to sell the end result. My cover for each book was about 100£

You might notice this is adding up to a few hundred quid, and yes: it cost me like, 350£ or so per book to publish, even with myself doing a lot of the work. This is a lot! Does it pay back? Usually no. I have at this point now "made a profit", but it took years. You can't typically go into self publishing looking for profit.

I really enjoy self publishing GA. It meant I could put a project out that I kinda only made for me, and have full rights to do whatever I want with it. I got to design the cover and choose what to do at every step... but it was a crazy amount of intensive work too. Marketing wise I've found is about impossible- your best bet 100% is to send the book to as many people as possible (digitally) for review and just try to get enough people reading it. Then you hope they like it and talk about it. I've found no other method of marketing particularly useful: word of mouth is still king.

Indie Publishing:

Indie pubbin:

+Don't have to spend any money (get paid) +Professional editing/cover/formatting +Backing of publishing house's marketing team -Deadlines -Less creative control -Contracted -Must query and be accepted

My first book was Angel Radio, which actually I sold when I was 17. came out when I was 18. The timescale for traditional publishing, even indie, is typically at least a year.

There's a lot of indie publishers out there, and we should read them more often. However, being published by an indie publisher (aka, a small, non-mainstream one- unlikely to ever be 'on shelves') takes extra, different work.

Do your research!!! There's a LOT of scam publishers out there. A publisher will never, ever, not even slightly ever, charge you money or pressure you to spend money (like buying your own copies of the book). A great way to check is to just look up 'publisher name + scam'.

Prepare a query letter. This is a pitch for your book, basic book info, and a bit about you. Every publishing house will have a 'submissions' page which explains specific wants (such as several pages of your book or a synopsis), so every application is slightly custom.

Query and wait. It takes many weeks to hear back with queries. Usually you should do them in small batches of like five. It's very rare to get a deal- it may not be your book, it might just be market trends or they already got a book about dragons on order.

DOUBLE CHECK YOUR CONTRACT. Contracts can be hard, so seek help if you want, though I've found my one contract to be not that long and readable. Still, you should always read a contract, especially as a scam publisher might try to trick you there.

Indie publishing is good because... it's more accessible and diverse than mainstream, but still offers the same benefits to authors. Just on a way smaller scale. I don't think my publisher, Harmony Ink Press, did much jack or shit for me marketing wise, and that's pretty typical. Marketing is very hit or miss and very expensive, so the onus is still on you to market (spoilers, these days marketing is on you no matter what). You also have more leeway in edits and covers- I designed AR's rough cover and worked with the artist directly! That's uncommon.

Most indie publishers also have a common royalty scheme where you pay it back. This isn't a hallmark of a scam, it's pretty normal: You get advance cash upfront, but then do not earn royalties until your book has paid itself off. Which it may not. Angel Radio sold for 500$, not a huge amount but not exactly tiny, especially for a teen. But I haven't earned a penny on royalties because it never sold well enough! I think I'm a little over halfway there.

Traditional Publishing

(I don't have a book of this type. yet...?)

Y'know, like, books?

+Large advance +Big support team +Marketing +Books on shelves +Most lucrative and recognizable -Sharper deadlines -Least control and rights -Must query (hardcore mode) -Still marketing yourself

Traditional publishing is the longest timescale and hardest method. Obvs. You again are looking to write a good query, but now you need to go through a literary agent. You query an agent with your book (again, should only ever be free), the agent then essentially queries publishers on your behalf ("out on submission"). An agent is your liaison to the business of publishing, taking a portion of your earnings for the service. You just can't make it into publishing without an agent.

A query letter ideally is... roughly, quickly, this is my format guide.

Hi there [actual agent name]

I'm here proposing my cool book, XYZ of ABC, a GENRE book of ??k words that IS SOMETHING UNIQUE SELLING POINT. MAIN CHARACTER is LIKE THIS but faced CONFLICT when PLOT HAPPENS, in SOME KINDA WORLD OR WHATEVER. THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU WRITE A 2-3 SENTENCE PLOT BLURB. But when TWIST happens, will MC have SOME EYECATCHING IDEA? This book will appeal to fans of THIS KINDA THING and is extra good because RELEVENT DETAIL LIKE OWNVOICES. I believe JUST KEEP SELLING KID. I myself SOME SORT OF ACCOMPLISHMENT LIKE UNI, PAIRED WITH A RELEVANT HOBBY. thank you for your time

Hot and dirty, something like that. You gotta recall at all times this is a market. It is economic. Your passion... matters, but uh. It doesn't matter. Gosh that sounds rough. But make your passion clear but your sound business proposal clearer: You need to show why your book is worth picking over thousands of other queries.

Querying is a horrible torturous process that does help you slowly build up exposure therapy to rejection and failure. Anyways, that will take a bit typically (I've been querying on and off for ten years for an agent, but a lot has been 'off' time). Then you wait and eventually, bam! Probably post some edits, your book is sold.

You still wait a long time though, and have a lot of work to do. So much work. Your book will come out on shelves at the end, sure, but that's still not a promise of success. The author these days is especially the product, and while you start on a higher stage (maybe even the marketing team will f---ing do something), you still gotta claw. There's a high level of scrutiny too on debut authors on any tier, but especially the traditional publishing tier. So your success is very dependent on each book you do, with it being harder and harder to sell books if you aren't doing fantastic.

Still, it's hard to deny the appeal of that mainstream success. Man, I'm chasing it myself! But it's not just easy book out there you go. I'm pals with traditionally published authors and you'll still be very busy, if you can get your foot on the ladder with an agent to begin with. Being on submission generally takes months, and even when your book is with a publisher it may be a lot of time and work before it ever comes out. Even then, hitting the shelves still doesn't mean you're set for life.

Still. Good luck. Go try!

(BTW look at my books, I guess, as a sticker on what I hope is good advice, and good luck! I first decided to try publishing Angel Radio with HIP because of a post by someone else published by them on tumblr... like 10 years ago now....)

Gum ebook

Amaz print

Goodreads)

[wrongpublishing]

Increase Your Literary Body Count in 2024

by Mathew Gostelow.

"In my slut era," I whispered, sending the story out on its ninth simultaneous submission.

At the most recent count, I wrote 60-odd things in 2024 and submitted them a total of 202 times in all. 42 of them were published in some form. Along the way, I racked up 90 rejections. All in all, I published somewhere around 44,000 words in 2023.

I was whoring my stories all over, like some sort of village bike made of ink and shamelessness. I spent a year subbing sluttily. I had a blast doing it too. I got a fair few publications under my belt, made new friends, and learned some lessons as well. Here’s just a few of them…  

Change horses midstream

I’ve discovered I work best when I’m juggling multiple projects at once. It sounds counter-intuitive and I guess it might not work for everyone, but I reckon everyone should try it.

The idea is to have several stories on the go at one time. Three feels ideal. I find that I will inevitably run out of steam on a piece – my interest or focus always flags at some point. Switching to something new acts as a vital palate-cleanser. I’m able to return to each project afresh, bringing new energy and perspective thanks to the time I spent away.

Follow the fun 

Don't be afraid to mix it up. Move out of your comfort zone.

If your latest flash isn’t quite working, why not rewrite it as a poem? Or mash it together with another half-finished piece and see what happens. In a longer piece, it’s okay to jump straight to the scene that's exciting you in that moment. Fill in the gaps and the preamble later.

Try things out. Write flash, write microfiction, write a poem. Seen a shiny prompt? Go for it. Plunge into a genre that you'd normally avoid. You might have fun, you might learn something. You might even end up with a story worth submitting.

Lean into your weird

I'm not saying you're weird, but… you’re totally weird. The way you tell stories is uniquely yours. You understand the world through the filter of your own personal experiences. And you express those observations in wonderfully idiosyncratic ways. 

One thing this prolific year taught me is that I love my writing more when I delve into those quirky parts of me. It could be sharing an oddly-specific fear in a horror story, or playing with words in a way that feels pleasing and musical to me.

Putting those unusual parts of yourself out into the world can be scary, but it's also fun. And I've found that readers and editors seem to respond to it as well.

Sim-subbing is addictive - but tread carefully

Simultaneous submissions are great. Is that one mag taking a bit long to decide on whether they want you piece? Send it somewhere else. Feel those sweet endorphins coursing through your veins. Oh yeah. That’s the stuff.

Here’s what I learned from a year of very heavy simultaneous submissions: Send a piece out to as many places as you like – but only if you're equally happy with ever possible outcome. That’s the important bit.

If you have your heart set on a specific home for a story then for gawd’s sakes don't sub it anywhere else until they have decided. Otherwise you risk tying yourself in knots if/when one of the lesser mags accepts it before your dream publisher has decided.

Play fast and loose!

Themed calls are great. They can be inspiring, sparking fresh ideas in our minds. Or help us to see our existing stories in a new light. But here’s what I learned this year: don’t be afraid to come at the theme from an obtuse angle.

Editors must get tired of reading 50 different permutations of the same story. Your off-kilter take could be just the breath of fresh air they're looking for.

And if you have a story already written when a call comes along and it feels like it's close-ish to what they're looking for, then you should throw it in the mix. What have you got to lose?

A true story from this year:

I had a story accepted after misunderstanding what a themed call was all about. I didn’t read the instructions carefully enough and subbed the wrong thing. I realised immediately after pulling the trigger and considered withdrawing my piece. For some reason, though, I didn't. (Slut era!) The editors saw something in my story and accepted the piece.

Moral: Don’t slavishly follow the theme. Go crazy.

Dilute the sting

Rejections can hurt, especially if you have your sights set on a specific magazine or anthology. But you know what helps? Rebound sex. Er… I mean, rebound submissions. Get that same piece back out there. Heck, send it to two places. Go crazy. You get closure by moving on. Also, the more you submit, the more rejection notches you get on your bedpost. And you know what, after a while you’ll find it starts to sting a lot less. 

So there you go. Lessons from a promiscuous wordmonger. Why not try to up your literary body count in 2024? You might like it. Repeat after me: “Slut era”.

Mathew Gostelow (he/him) is the author of two collections; See My Breath Dance Ghostly, a book of speculative short stories (Alien Buddha Press) and Connections, a flash fiction chapbook (Naked Cat Publishing). He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Microfiction. @MatGost

[totallyboatless]

I saw a tweet screenshot about how authors shouldn't have to be influencers to get published, and I almost reblogged but I don't want to be That Person on someone else's post.

And listen, I get what's being said - but I've worked in some version of marketing/PR within traditional publishing for over six years, and it's *so much more complicated than this take* in a way that makes me actually a little irritated. The short version is: we need to dissect the word "influencer" because it's come to mean a lot of very, very different things.

So plug: I have a newsletter with my best friend (who works in editorial) to try and help give some advice to aspiring authors. It goes out every two weeks and alternates between writing/editorial and marketing advice. I'm going to write about this topic for sure. I'm revved up enough that I kind of want to change the topic I have planned for next week lol

[authorlaurawinter]

I'm getting close to publishing the first book in my Nora & Sebastian series. All the "expert advice" says I should make a facebook page. Is it really worth it to do that when I don't have any kind of fanbase?

A Facebook page for the author name is actually a good idea. Even if you don’t use it, claiming it is great so no one else does or tries to play it off as being you. Also, having that for connection to other meta platforms can be useful for scheduling content. It can also be useful to use that page to join groups and such where you can promote your book and interact with others to get people curious.

I have an author page simply to claim it and cross post, but I do not actively use it except for big announcements. My genre (romantasy) tends to hang out on Bookstagram.

As for a series page, I don’t think it’s necessary. It’s just one more thing you have to pay attention to.

[emeryleewho]

I asked a while back what y'all would want to see if I made a Patreon and a bunch of people said writing/publishing advice, so good news, my Patreon is now up, and if you have any writing/publishing questions you'd like answered, you can comment on this post to ask!

It is *free* to leave a comment, but you must first subscribe, which, again, is free!

[viktheviking1]

This is 100% accurate. Doesn't matter if my cover artist is a good friend of mine, or a stranger, it always feels this way.

[whumpy-writings]

Hi!

I'm sorry if this is a question that is easily answered by a few minutes of reading, but it's really been bothering me for a while, nibbling at my nerves, because I don't quite know what to do:

See, I've been wanting to post my work to my writeblr for anyone to read when it's complete, and publishing has always been a distant dream/notion... but now, with the Anthology (multiple now! even if the second is in progress), and A Cry Of Fangs releasing early next year, it's really showing me that it's possible, and I'm feeling a lot of things over it, giddy, excited, terrified, but above all, I have a strong desire to achieve this dream, and the determination to match.

My question is, "Does posting a work that I eventually intend to publish to my writeblr interfere in any way with the D2D publishing?"

From the brief look I've had at their website (I should be in bed you see ^-^'), they seem really good, and like it shouldn't be an issue, especially since we could with the Anthology, but I'm pretty damn nervous, and wanted to ask someone ^-^'

Anyways, I very much look forward to your book's release, and I also want to sincerely thank you for showing me, and probably everyone else in the community that it's possible. That is an insane amount of... well, hope, purpose, and motivation. It is. so much.

I understand if you don't have time to answer that question, or the desire to explain it, especially if there's an answer right there in the FAQs ^-^' but I wanted to send this ask anyway, even just to let you know how much this all means.

You truly are an aspiration, thank you.

( @emcscared-whumps )

Hi @emcscared-whumps!

There is no problem with you posting your stories on your writeblr and also publishing them through Draft2Digital.

D2D's FAQs state that:

"We don't acquire rights or require any kind of exclusivity, so you can do whatever you want with your book." 

So go for it! I'll be first in line to get a copy!

Thank you so much for your kind words, it's been great getting to work with you on the anthologies and I can't wait to read what you write next :)

[em-dash-press]

5 Things Literary Magazines Look for in Short Stories

Submitting your work for publication in a literary magazine can be nerve-wracking. They outline what they’re looking for when they open for submissions, but it can seem pretty vague.

Here are a few things they generally look for when searching for the next stories they’ll publish.

1. A Story That Sticks With Their Submission Requirements

Literary magazines plan their editions at least a month in advance, if not more. They may create new editions based on a theme, a seasonal motif, or another connecting idea that pulls every story and visual design together.

Always check the submissions page for their requirements. If a magazine wants to create a spooky edition for October but you submit a heartwarming historical fantasy story that has no spooky elements, you won’t get selected.

Requirements also include essential details like page length, word count, and formatting instructions. The editorial teams know how much time they have to read submissions and how much space they have for selected stories in their upcoming edition. Following these requirements makes you much more likely to get selected.

2. A New Perspective

People don’t buy literary magazines to read the same stories over and over again. They’re looking for new perspectives and points of views in stories that have fresh ideas. The editorial team also doesn’t want to read the same types of stories every time they open for submissions.

You can bring a new perspective or twist on their required themes or story details by thinking outside the box to connect with your readers while bringing something fresh to the table.

3. Vivid Characters

It’s almost impossible to enjoy a story when the characters don’t feel real. You can avoid that by creating character profiles or outlines for your cast. Imagine their backstories or write scenes from the most important moments of their life.

Also, consider what they want from your story’s plot. What’s their goal? What will they learn? Vivid characters are dynamic, so they should grow into a different (possibly better, but not always) version of themselves by your story’s resolution.

It’s also helpful to use free online tools to create characters. I have a huge list on this blog post for generating their faces, mapping their world, and inventing other details so they feel like real people to you and your readers.

4. A Meaningful Purpose

You might write a story just to get published, but that might lead to a story that lacks meaning. Published short stories have some kind of meaningful purpose to make them matter to the editorial team and readers.

Your readers might learn a life lesson from your work or process some shared human emotion or experience through your characters. It’s helpful to consider a theme for your story before writing it so it always has a clear purpose.

5. Unexpected Plot Elements

Readers want to be entertained. Entertaining stories sell magazines. Remember to add a few unexpected plot elements or twists as you’re writing a story with the intent to publish it.

I have a few ideas in this blog post that might inspire you, but you can also create plot twists by shifting your perspective.

If a story has a character who stops to talk to someone in a crosswalk, your readers will likely assume they’re about to get hit by a car or pushed into traffic if the scene has rising tension. Counter their expectations by asking yourself, what’s the opposite of what they’re expecting? Your character might face an oncoming car with a distracted driver by lifting it over everyone as it’s about to crash into pedestrians. Maybe they learn how to fly or lie flat on the road as the car passes over them.

Purposefully thinking about what your readers will expect and choosing to do the opposite is a great way to add unexpected plot elements that also pique the interest of editorial teams.

-----

It’s also important to remember that you’re likely submitting a story alongside hundreds if not a thousand other writers. It depends on how popular or well-known the literary magazine is.

You can write a great story and still not get published because a big part of that experience is getting lucky. You have to hope the right editor who will appreciate your narrative style and story choices will be the one to open your submission.

Sometimes writers take years to get published. Give yourself some grace as you send your work off. Whether or not your stories get accepted, you’re still learning from the process and developing your writing skills. Eventually, your work will shine in the place it’s meant to be.

[at-thezenith]

would anyone be interested in me sharing my notes and talks i've attended as part of my publishing degree? i think a lot of it would help people trying to get published. of course i would write them up nicely and they would be free to access! i just went to a conference for young publishers in the uk this past week and it was so interesting and helpful :)

rb for a larger sample size and so as many people as possible can get access to the info!!