Ending the Stigma of Self-Publishing

This is a fairly interesting blog post from over on Free Kindle. The author asks the question "What is a book?" He has a valid point. If the book is the physical thing, then an e-book isn't really a book at all. Neither is an audio book, a podcast or anything else.

This is the way I approach it, too. I see myself as a storyteller more than a writer, which is why I'm as happy directing as writing. Films, books, it's all just about a story at heart.

Here's another free kindle post about what readers judge a book by. Publisher isn't in the top 5, interestingly enough. One reader comments that he (or she?) only reads books that are like books by authors he (she?) likes. This reader doesn't know how to search out other books.  I keep getting the feeling that there should be a way Indie Authors can come together, because only collectively can Indie Authors outshine the NY Publishing Houses.

Until there is a way for Indie Authors to work together, there will be limited individual successes (yes, okay, like Zoe. Zoe who?) and a huge amount of people falling into obscurity. Yes, there is crap produced, but there are some real gems out there. I feel there needs to be a way to get readers to more easily find Indie Authors.

I read a lot of Indie Author blogs. You'll find them down the side of my blog, all except Zoe who (lol, again) for some reason I can't link to from down there. I'm always finding more Indie Author blogs without even looking thanks to the gem that is Google Alerts. I have various alerts set up but the important one just now is "Indie Author" including the quotation marks.

A lot of these author blogs I read are geared at other authors. Very few make a conscious effort to blog for readers. I don't either, but I don't have a book out yet so I doubt readers are interested in me.

This isn't an Indie Author thing. Of all the blogs I have read by authors, only 2 have been strictly for readers. Neil Gaiman posts a "this is what I did, this is what I'm doing, this is what I'm going to be doing" style blog here. For a blog that's fun, interesting, and all about the readers, try this one: Patrick Rothfuss. The reason I think this works so well is because he wrote a magazine in college. His blog posts are college-magazine like.

So what can Indie Authors do? I don't really like offering advice because my book isn't out yet. I am kind of side-lined, but it is getting unbearably close to being ready. Like standing at the tip of the diving board, staring into the water below, people behind getting impatient. I did that, once. Was terrifying all the way up the ladders, and just before I jumped I lost all fear. It was about 30 ft above the water and I was doing a life-jacket test.

Indie Authors all seem to see themselves as being alone. But that won't work. When a NY published book comes out it comes out without the stigma attached to self-publishing. It comes out with the backing of literary gatekeepers. Yes, as Zoe Who episode 2 points out, that gatekeeper might be a 19 year old fashion school drop out, but it's still a gatekeeper.

Right now is the best time to be an Indie Author. Right now the publishers are killing themselves, they are literally in their death throes. I really do think they will re-invent themselves, be reincarnated in a new form. But right now they are dying. They are collapsing where they stand. And there are so many reasons for this, way beyond the obvious reasons. You want to know one of the major reasons the publishers are dying? J A Konrath is murdering publishers, or at least he has the potential too.

He is showing that mid-list authors with backlists and fans can do a lot better on their on, without publishers. When this news gets about, as it will, more will follow. When they do, publishers will be left with noobies and big guns. With only debut authors and giants and nothing in between, and every few years the noobies reaching the point where they are better off on their own, the publishers will die.

That's not the only reason. This is another one, and the agency pricing model another, and the obsession with dead tree books another. Now is the best time to be Indie, but to truly get passed the self-publishing stigma, I think that Indie Authors need to work together. There needs to be a grassroots community of Indie authors that readers find easy to navigate. There has to be a way of finding other books readers will like.

It has to be aimed at readers. It has to be directed at the people we are directing our work at. It has to be honest. If we recommend something shit, it damages our reputation. By finding a way to highlight the gold we can widen other indies readerships even as they widen ours. Books are read faster than they are written. By bringing Indie Authors together and sharing fans everyone's readership will grow, and we will lose some of that stigma that self-publishing has.

If a reader picks up an Indie book they might think "Wow, I thought all self-pubbed books were shit. Guess this is the exception." If they Stumbleon the grassroots community of Indie Authors where every book is quality, then their whole opinion must be revised. A self-publishing author isn't news. A grassroots, word-of-mouth community of authors that have turned their backs on Publishing because someone left a wardful of idiots in charge might be news.

For the benefit of all of us, Indie Authors need to come together. I'd love to hear other people's views on this. Leave a comment below.

The Value of Editing

I recently received an email containing one of my beta's comments on my manuscript.  A lot of the comments I felt didn't really apply, for instance when the comment was that only one character seemed to be introduced (there is only one main character introduced in the first two chapters)  whilst other comments were essentially lost in translation (I will continue to spell artefact with an e; sorry, but I know I'm right and spell checker agrees with me.  So does the Oxford English dictionary.  :p   )

And some comments blew me away.

Really.

My novel is about an old warrior who heads out on one last battle, and discovers the only way to win is to die.  In some ways it has been vastly influenced by David Gemmell's Legend.

I love Legend, so no big surprise there.

There's a scene in Legend where Death comes to Druss and warns him that if he goes to war he won't be coming back.  If he stays in the mountains he can have another twenty years.

Druss goes to war.  He's a hero, that's what heroes do.

There's a scene in my book just like that.  It wasn't until it was pointed out to me and I thought about it that I realised it does nothing for the story.  It slipped in out of my love for Legend.  It's coming out.

This is the importance of editing.

I sent the full manuscript out to two beta readers.  They knew nothing about the manuscript before they started reading.  I told them I wasn't fussed about crits, I just wanted people to read it.  At least 1/3rd of my story is flashbacks, an entire second story within the novel.  I didn't tell them this; I needed to know if the flashbacks were confusing to people who had no idea they were coming.

I'm waiting on them coming back in.

When they do I will do a full, intensive revision.  I'll do the fact-checking edit myself.  It's something I feel I can do myself; with every fact I'll check in 3 sources to make sure I have it right.  I'll edit my grammar and spelling again.  This is something else I feel I can do on my own.

At school I was sitting Higher level past papers at standerd grade, and at Higher I never did a single piece of work except assessments and exams, yet I consistently had the highest grades in English in the entire school.  So I know I have talent in that area.

I've managed to get someone to agree to do me a free grammar and editing pass.  She is studying editing and needs the experience, apparently.  So despite the fact that I'm confident in my own abilities, I'm still having someone else look at it.

I'm considering having someone edit the whole thing for story.  I know it will be cost prohibitive (seriously, I have a budget of £0)  but there's no underestimating the importance of a good first impression.  I don't want to turn readers off future books because the first one is a mess.

And I need to make enough money off of this one that the next will be paid for (cover + editing).

How to find a beta reader - part 2

Well, this is my beta reader results.  It's been not bad, I'd say.


Writing Groups


I asked in the two writing groups I was involved in.  In one I received nothing, no offers.  But this isn't a fair assessment because one of the writers there is my usual beta reader and read an early draft version of my book before I reworked it.


In the other one, I received 1 offer.  Nice.


Crit Partner Match


I have had 0 offers so far from Crit Partner Match.

Friends

I asked at Superhero Nation.  I received 1 offer.  Nice.

 Family

I didn't ask.  They're not big readers.

 My blog

I received a request for a sample.

So, 2 and 1/2.  Well, 2 chapters.  Not bad, not brilliant.  I'm waiting on them coming back, and then I'll find out if my betas are any good.

In the end, I think the best way to get beta readers is to have a blog or twitter or join a forum.  Make connections.  Make friends.

And ask your friends.

But friendship is a 2 way street, so be ready when they ask you, too.

How to find a beta reader - part 1

I'm doing part 1 today.  I'll do part 2 in a few days time.


I mentioned before that the reason I have this blog is to detail everything in my adventures in Indie Publishing.  Well, now I've finished my novel I need beta readers.  And I'll post here with all my plans to get them.


And I'll post the results of my efforts in a couple of days.


Writing Groups


Okay, my first option is to ask in writers groups.  But you can't just pop up in these places and say "Hey, read my book."  Luckily I'm already a member in two online writing groups.  The first one is  mystical adventures and the second one I'm not going to name.

Mystical Adventures is a site where a small bunch of writers hang around and help each other procrastinate.  A great group of people.

The other site actually does critiques for each other, a chapter per month.

Internet Dating Sites

Well, not quite, but sites like Crit Partner Match are like dating sites for writers.  Join and post looking for your perfect partner.  Sounds simple, right?

Ask your friends

I kick about sometimes over at Superhero Nation so I asked there.  Why not?

Ask your family

Don't think you need to find beta readers online.  Sadly my family aren't readers.

And use your blog.

Anyone fancy being my beta reader?  Post a comment and let me know.



Are there any ways I've missed?  Post and let me know how you found your beta readers.