A Publishing Misconceptions Chit-Chat

Let’s lift the veil about publishing, or at least, let us review the two main methods of publishing today and eliminate a slew of myths behind the magic. Allow me state this now, that the examples below are not to either encourage nor dissuade anyone from traditionally or self-publishing. This is purely a deglamorization of the industry as a whole. For some, this might be a hard read, at times blunt, and for that you have my expressed sympathy, but for as long as I have been writing, truths are truths.

Let's begin.

“I am going to be an author, and the world will love me!”

Maybe. Initially, no, if at all, but maybe. Some, perhaps, but that depends on…

If you are just starting out, understand the fact that no one knows who you are. You are a nobody on the publishing stage regardless of if you self or traditionally publish, and the latter becomes that much more difficult to get through the door. I am a three-book, traditionally published author and people barely know who I am and my name is often confused with the Michael Frost evangelist author from Australia.

Anywho, a quick little focus on the 'getting through the door' thing for a moment. This is where an agent comes in.

Agents are your representative to the publishing companies at large, big and small, and they are the first person your book has to impress. They are the ones who hope to sell your manuscript up the chain. In my own personal experience, getting the agent is one of the hardest steps in the traditional publishing route, and one of the most frustrating. I will do an article on that entirely but let me just state this: if an agent tells you, “Send me the full manuscript” after you have queried and submitted their required sample chapters, that means a whole lot of diddly squat. It simply means they asked you to send them the whole thing and they are willing to read past the samples and at any point along that process they could decide it’s not for them. Yes, it’s better than an immediate rejection, but a rejection, nonetheless.

There are many publishers out there that take unsolicited manuscripts, including the Big 5 open that open up special submission dates for un-agented authors. No one is saying this is an impossibility to get in the door without an agent (as a matter of fact, Stephenie Meyer did not have an agent initially, but she did get one and she got a nice book deal out of it), all I am stating is that it is harder.

Moving on…

“I have to do all the work if I self-pub!”

Well, yes, the word ‘Self’ is in the subject, but it’s How you self-publish and what are your end goals...

Neither path removes the obligation from the author to market oneself. Seriously, it doesn’t. The Big-5 will market the new ‘gimmick’ slash new ‘fad’ author, and they might tack that onto the author’s advance which we will discuss that [near] bottomless pit later. Many traditionally published authors are expected to build newsletters, maintain social media, arrange appearances, and cultivate readers. Meanwhile, many successful indie authors hire editors, designers, and publicists, creating books that are virtually indistinguishable from traditionally published titles.

Twenty-five years ago, there was a bigger distinction, but today? Not nearly as much.

In the end, a self-published author and a traditional one both have to ‘hustle’ because that what publishing is, a hustle. From a self-publishing standpoint, let me share a story about what self-publishing meant in the past, and perhaps you (if you self or traditionally publish) won’t feel so bad.

Here’s three self-publishers of old school who rocked it like the little ball in a spray can:

John Grisham self-published A Time to Kill in 1988 because publishers rejected it. He sold copies out of the trunk of his car! HIS TRUNK! After a while, a small regional press picked it up before it was acquired by Doubleday.

Robert James Waller self-published The Bridges of Madison County in 1992 which became a huge bestseller until it was picked up by Warner Books, Inc. and then Grand Central Publishing (Hatchette).

Amanda Hocking self-published YA paranormal novels on Kindle in the early 2010s, and she sold over a million copies before signing a multi-book deal with St. Martin’s Press.

Not too shabby, right?

Okay, I did state traditional authors need to hustle as well, didn’t I? Well, here’s my favorite of all: Fern Michaels.

In around 1990, I remember reading an article about a romance author named Fern Michaels who, albeit not self-published, had to hustle. This woman went on to sell 150 million books before being picked up by major houses. Let’s circle back to Fern. This woman loaded up U-Haul trailers with her books and went around the country peddling her books to bookstores, libraries, book shows, you name it. Talk about a hustle!

Fern Michaels did this with…

1. No internet
2. No KDP [formerly Create Space] (See #1)
3. No blogs, social media (See #1 again)
4. No online marketing campaigns (See #1 yet again)
5. No email (You know by now where to look, sheesh)

So, remember, neither path is inherently better. They simply serve different goals, personalities, and careers. Now, that seems almost poetic, but let’s cut the bull. It really comes down to three major things, and a caveat additional one:

1. What are you trying to accomplish by publishing?
2. What are you willing to do to get there?
3. Why are you doing it?
4. *Who are you doing it for?

If your answer to any of the above is, “To be rich and famous!” well, I suppose that’s an overall goal many of us authors toy with especially in the beginning, but personally, they are the wrong reasons. Although it is not impossible to do either regardless your method (Self/Traditional) understand that if you are not willing to hustle, or you don’t have a hustle mentality (or the financial means to do so these days), you may have a hard fight to get there. Some, other than myself, might even say those are the wrong reasons to become a writer, but I will reserve that for a later discussion.

*You think that I forgot the caveat, didn’t you? I did not.

I believe one of the most important things one should ask themselves is ‘Who am I doing this for?’ and of course one must assume this question is trite, because the answer is simple: Me, duh!

Well, which ‘Me’ is it for?

Me: The true writer inside that is bursting to share their stories with the world or Me: The egoist writer who can with a high degree of snobbery profess to the room that they are a published author. ‘Look at how prestigious I am!’

For the latter, all I can say is please sit down. You’ve published a book, Woopty-dilly-doo, but can you do it again? And again, and again? Is each new manuscript better than the last? Does each expand the audience base? Did your ‘book’ touch anyone in any way? Getting published? Guess what 'ego-based author'? So have millions of other authors before you and me, and there will be millions more after. 

This returns us back to the Who. I personally think one of the most important things an author needs to ask oneself is for Who do you write/publish for? During this thought experiment, you will surely answer the Why and the other W’s and probably the sometimes-elusive stepchild, 'How'. I could be wrong, and you truly do not care, but I know for Who I write for and have known this for quite some time.

The last thing I will address is what I mentioned in the beginning:

The Author Advance and the Bottomless Payback Pit of Despair

<INSERT DRAMATIC MUSIC HERE WITH THUNDEROUS SFX! MU-HAHAHAHA!>

Yes, traditionally published authors are normally offered an author’s advance which many loosely refer to as a Bonus, but there’s a caveat. This ‘bonus’ is an advance against your projected royalties based on projected sales. Now, let's not confuse a Book Deal with an Author's Advance. That book deal is your money. They bought the rights to how many future books in that deal, but we will not be covering that here.

But, before we move on, read that again: Your projected royalties based on projected sales. They are not giving this to you because they like you or that your book is The Bee’s Knees, no. It's earnest money to satisfy your time which will be full of edit changes, calls, more edit changes, etc. Technically, they are advancing you money you have not earned so that you will work for your manuscript in the methods that they desire before it ever goes to print. Then you pay it all back.

Let’s say that your projected book sales earn your manuscript a $10K advance against your royalties, your book has to sell enough copies to earn out of your advance. That’s right, people, your sales have to pay back that advance (and some publishers, there are other costs levied against them).

“You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store”

-Tennessee Ernie Ford

The industry’s own internal estimates cluster around 20-35% of authors EVER earn out. This means roughly 1 in 4 traditionally published authors ever see a cent of royalties beyond their advance. This rate is even lower with the Big 5 where only 15-25% ever earn out.

My people, that’s a zero-interest payday loan, not a bonus.

Now, that’s not the death of your title (yet). Publishers don't snatch your title out of circulation immediately if sales are not performing, but they do care less about it. A publisher will keep selling it in multiple formats in hopes to recoup the loss, but over that time and whatever contract you sign with them, well, once again, you may never see one red cent other than your initial advance.

It’s simple math. The bigger the advance, the harder it is to earn out unless it is a success (so hustle, hustle and hustle more).

Does the above absolve the Self-Publisher? Nope. Well, it can, depending on if you give two-shits about your book…

If you are a smart self-publisher, you are an investor in your product and by doing so, you are also investing personal monies. Now, if you are a ‘slop Self-Publisher’ and do not care, you can stop reading here or simply skip to the end. A ‘slop’ one is the type who just throws a book together, slaps a two-bit cover on it and sends it to self-pub for ninety-nine cents. The following is not for you. In another writeup, I will be talking to you Self-Publishers who do undersell your titles directly. Not all self-published authors put out slop, many of them are quite good, but know your damn value!

Seriously, folks? A dollah’?! WTF?!

Okay, back on track. Here are some of the investments for print, eBook and audio formats that a dedicated self-published author needs to consider:

1. Professional editing (Most important one. Can get very expensive)
2. Professional book cover (Prices vary low to high. STOP with the MS Paint!)
3. Purchased ISBNs (STOP using KDP/B&N Press/IngramSpark ISBNs and head to Bowker and buy your own! NOTE! Those ISBNs are OWNED by whomever gives them to you for free and the chances of those titles ever getting into a library or bookstore are the slimmest little to none)
4. Professional title setup (Usually low priced, but be wary)
5. Professional eBook services (Unless you are an InDesign master, prices can be high)
6. Professional Audiobook creation (People, seriously, please stop making your own audiobooks. No, seriously, stop doing this. I’ve heard many and they are not good at all)
7. Marketing (This you need to be VERY, VERY, VERY careful with. That’s a bottomless rabbit hole that has (usually) a seriously low ROI if you are paying for marketing services. They do not care if you only sell one book or a thousand)
8. Register yourself as a business (LLC is probably going to be your best bet but offers protections)
9. *Media E&O (Errors & Omissions) Insurance (Low cost $300-$800 per year, dependent upon breadth of coverage. It is a professional liability policy that protects authors and publishers from claims of defamation, copyright infringement, privacy violations, or other content‑related mistakes arising from their work). This one is not a must, but it is nice to have.

In the same sense as traditional publishing, you have to look at the initial investment as your author's advance. If you poured $10K into the above and you start selling books, you have to earn that much in sales before you are in the BLACK, and hopefully you did the above in cash because yes, you have got to add on interest.

Now, examine the above and all of the above are taken care of by your Publisher, but if you insist on Self-Publishing, once again, the keyword is ‘Self’.

For me, as the end of this comes near, I traditionally publish, and yes, Belen Books is a small press, but they are growing fast, and to be very honest, I like their business model. They pay amazing levels of royalties, and do offer author advances, but I declined mine. I know how the game is played and I wanted none of it. One thing I do appreciate about them as a publisher is that unlike other publishers, my publisher doesn't penalize the author for returns. Nope. They absorb that which is unheard of. You see, there's another caveat those in self-publishing know all too well. The Returns Monster. A quick explanation before I end this.

"The Returns Monster bit me and bit me hard!"

Being published is a business for both a publisher as well as the author themselves. Your amazing title is now a product, nothing more. Like all businesses, it boils down to revenue, so don't get it twisted. For the following, let's assume you are either a self or traditional published author here and you are in the black.

Your book sells 1,000 copies > There are 200 returns > 200 returns is subtracted from your total sales = 800 book sales. Now, most book retailers get 6 months to return or destroy your unsold titles, and self-publishers on Amazon knows that their book can be returned to whatever Amazon gives them to return. The Amazon thing affects traditional published as well, so yes, in this case, everyone is the same.

Do consumers purchasing books, read them and returned them like your title is at a library? All the damn time because people are generally nasty entitled little gremlins. Back in the day, the only way you could return a book was if something was physically wrong with the book. Not because you didn't like it, not because it wasn't what you expected and especially if the buyer is a piece of crap consumer who gets their kicks by doing so. No, that level of entitlement didn't exist until the WWW, most notably the early days of Web1.

Now, let's look are that return window. You are in the black (self or traditional), you are getting royalties and then suddenly, out of the blue, a major retailer returns 160 titles. You've been paid already, but guess what? If your sell-sheet for the next round of royalties makes you happy that you are to receive a $1,000 royalty deposit, well hold on, mon ami, nope; those 160 returned titles suddenly show up as a deduction from the total and you are like WTF?! Yep, you have to pay back the Piper. Remember, this is a business and no one cares about your creative genius or how much blood, sweat and tears you put into writing your masterpiece at this point. Your book is a product, nothing more, so always keep that in the forefront of your mind.

Solution to this? Just sigh, take a deep breath, move on and hustle your ass off.

A note about the last sentence above: The Hustle. This is never ending, mind you and quite circular. I've seen it and lived it. Example: 

An online book retailer buys 20 copies total mix and match of your PB and HB. They start selling them, so they order more. That 'Only 5 left in stock!' is usually accurate, so yeah, they buy more. Your product is selling and they are making money. This cycle continues until your sales decline, and now that retailer is sitting on a bunch of your books in a warehouse taking up valuable space. If you are not out there hustling your title (and I would highly recommend you push that retailer who has your titles [if you can determine which one does]), sales will decline and once that retailer isn't moving your title, they will return them to the publisher which includes Amazon for the KDP people out there. Once returned, deduction occurs.

It's a bitch, but very true.

(le sigh)

Well, boys and girls, we’ve reached the end of this conversation, and as you can see, there are pluses and minuses to both, but with both you have to learn to hustle. Regardless your path, I would suggest (especially if you are just starting out) to go back and ask yourself those few personal questions and doing some soul searching first.

No one said being a published author was going to be easy. To be honest, it is one of the hardest things you can ever do.

As always, you have my heart,

Michael Frost