Hello Readers,
In honour of this past weekend having been Can-Con I thought I’d write about writing.
I’ve been published now for just over 8 years and there’s a lot I didn’t know about the industry that I wish I did.
5. Publishing is a hurdle not a finish line.
Everyone who writes dreams of the big publishing contracts with advances that will let you quit your job and become the next Stephen King. It isn’t that easy unfortunately (and it wasn’t for Mr. King either.) Most new authors don’t get advances or if they do they’re very small. Even older more established authors don’t get advances anymore.
Once the book is out there’s all kinds of things that have to be done and there’s the next books to think about. It’s a constant cycle.
4. Everyone is underpaid, understaffed, and struggling.
Rarely do authors make enough money to live off and that’s fairly well known but the same can be said about everyone else involved. The majority of small presses are volunteer or owner run. The medium sized ones aren’t much better off and rely on staff that can wear multiple hats.
The same goes all the way down. Booksellers, printers, designers, typesetters, artists, and editors. All of them have multiple jobs and does it out of passion, not for lots of money. (I can’t speak about the big 5 but I’d assume like any corporation that the CEO’s and stockholders are well paid and that’s about it.)
3. A publisher doesn’t sell your book, nor does a distributor.
WIth a few exceptions where a publisher has lots of faith and extra cash, they are in the business of making the best book possible, not selling your book. They will promote and some publishers do events where your book is for sale but it’s your job to push the book.
The same with any distributor, they distribute and will occasionally promote but it’s your job to sell the book.
One of the reason’s it seems that every tik-tok star is getting a publishing contract is that a lot of book selling is really selling you. (Not ideal for a curmudgeonly introvert like myself.)
2. Books don’t last forever.
Books have a shelf life or life cycle. They are born and they hopefully sell and then eventually they die. Big named books being an exception as usual. Most publishing contracts have a 5 to 10 year clause that says if your book doesn’t sell the rights return to you. (If your contract doesn’t say you get the rights back after your book is out of print, insist they change it.)
Series have longer lives because the first few get a boost with every new release.
1. Everything costs money, sort of.
If you are self publishing, you’re paying for everything. If you get a publisher they pay for as much as they can. With a publisher the money should go toward the author.
That’s mostly true, but it’s not always true. Sometimes you need to pay an editor to make sure your book is good enough for submission. Sometimes you need to pay for graphic design work for promotion, and if you’re going to sell your book solo at events, that’s your responsibility.
But just because you aren’t paying for things doesn’t mean they don’t cost the publisher which is why they can’t throw around advertising money like the Big 5.
*Warning* There are a lot of companies out there promising to make your book a best seller. They promise to do everything for a large sum of money. Best case scenario you don’t make your money back. Worst you lose the merchandising, film, and even the copyright to your own books. Writer Beware is an excellent source if you’re approached by these predatory companies.
Thank you for reading and check out some of my books!
Éric
