One more I was told recently from a published author. If I were to put together a book of short stories, and some of them were things I had written about in my newsletter, a publisher would want to know that no more than say 30% of the book had ever been published before. But of course self publishing I can do anything I want.
Cali! Lots of great info and thought here. I've done both, and have written about this too. I have posts about how to find a lit agent, and another that compares traditional to e- and self-publishing.
Lots of knowledge shared between all. But I have to point out that the % that an agent takes is quite a bit higher. Mine is 20%, and some now do 25% (Which is just horrible, to my mind!)
Also QueryTracker is a great way to find who is doing what, agent-wise. (Just go with caution with what YOU post, because agents do read...) and is you're focusing in writing for children and young people, you can't do better than the AMAZING resource of "LiteraryRambles"--created by a woman who has gifted all of us countless hours of interviews with many agents, and all sorts of back ground info. Finding an agent, in my experience, requires 4-6 hours of intense research per...
I have to say that my foray into e-publishing has been abysmal (two OOP books, and a mystery novel for young people). And I am very fond of working with solid editors. But every path is so different! And it's wonderful to have a glimpse into others' paths! Thank you!
Control and timing are the reasons I've chosen self-publishing for my first book. It's my story and I'm utilizing a beta team and editors to make it the best I possibly can. I don't want to spend time on queries and waiting to get it out there. I'm going to go with Amazon, so hopefully that goes well.
Great summary. I self-published two years ago and loved the entire process. I found the creativity and agency to be soul-enriching. Learning Amazon KDP was fairly easy. I designed the cover in Canva and invested in Vellum to layout the book. I used my socials and email list for promotion. Putting together a launch team of 50 or so friends was doable. Yes, it was a heavy lift but so so fun!
I’m doing it again with my debut poetry book on grief. Planning to publish this March. I love that I could easily shift my date if needed. But I’ve laid out a schedule I can manage.
I often say that my body makes my decisions now (long story). And she LOVES self-publishing so there we go. 😊
One more I was told recently from a published author. If I were to put together a book of short stories, and some of them were things I had written about in my newsletter, a publisher would want to know that no more than say 30% of the book had ever been published before. But of course self publishing I can do anything I want.
Cali! Lots of great info and thought here. I've done both, and have written about this too. I have posts about how to find a lit agent, and another that compares traditional to e- and self-publishing.
Lots of knowledge shared between all. But I have to point out that the % that an agent takes is quite a bit higher. Mine is 20%, and some now do 25% (Which is just horrible, to my mind!)
Also QueryTracker is a great way to find who is doing what, agent-wise. (Just go with caution with what YOU post, because agents do read...) and is you're focusing in writing for children and young people, you can't do better than the AMAZING resource of "LiteraryRambles"--created by a woman who has gifted all of us countless hours of interviews with many agents, and all sorts of back ground info. Finding an agent, in my experience, requires 4-6 hours of intense research per...
I have to say that my foray into e-publishing has been abysmal (two OOP books, and a mystery novel for young people). And I am very fond of working with solid editors. But every path is so different! And it's wonderful to have a glimpse into others' paths! Thank you!
Control and timing are the reasons I've chosen self-publishing for my first book. It's my story and I'm utilizing a beta team and editors to make it the best I possibly can. I don't want to spend time on queries and waiting to get it out there. I'm going to go with Amazon, so hopefully that goes well.
Great summary. I self-published two years ago and loved the entire process. I found the creativity and agency to be soul-enriching. Learning Amazon KDP was fairly easy. I designed the cover in Canva and invested in Vellum to layout the book. I used my socials and email list for promotion. Putting together a launch team of 50 or so friends was doable. Yes, it was a heavy lift but so so fun!
I’m doing it again with my debut poetry book on grief. Planning to publish this March. I love that I could easily shift my date if needed. But I’ve laid out a schedule I can manage.
I often say that my body makes my decisions now (long story). And she LOVES self-publishing so there we go. 😊
Everything about your Substack is a treasure, from your voice to your context to your literary citizenship. Thank you.