Quote:
Originally Posted by TCSimpson
This is true, but the problem also arises that so many authors who wish to be trad-pubbed don't realize the possibilities to be had in self-pubbing. If a traditional publisher wants your book, let them have it, but not all of your rights or your right to selfpublish other works of a similar vein la David Dalglish, who not only started off self-pub but is now signed to Orbit for one series, Amazon's Fantasy imprint for another, AND still self-publishes other works. THAT is the key for today's author. Use the traditional publishing for the advantage of "writing" recognition, public "trust" that your work is good. Then piggyback off that to be hybrid. The KEY nowadays for the majority of midlist and lower level authors is to write, and write a lot: three to four books a year. Example, a friend of mine, Daniel Arenson, who has sold some 300k copies or so since late 2011 as a selfpub author and puts out 4 or 5 books a year.
Some of them also make what I feel is a mistake, when they're signed by a trad-pub like Tor, ala John Brown and David Walton, and then work their way out of the contract because things did not happen as they foresaw: be it sales, the way the publisher wanted to put out the work, etc. The reason I say mistake is that the use of the trad-pub to build an audience is better than going solo from a self-pub standpoint off the bat for the majority of indies. If I were in that position, I would write other works to complement what I did under contract, which then goes back to not giving up all your rights, or making sure you can publish elsewhere, namely self-pub.
I do realize there are those non-compete clauses to prevent an author from putting out similar work. If a trad-pub was interested in my work and insisted on that clause, I would not sign. I like my freedom.
I do recognize some of this might be hard to ask for as an unknown author and that the likes of Dalglish negotiated from a better position because they were already established as a self-pubbed author. However, if a publisher thinks the work would provide enough profit for them to invest in I doubt they would stop an author from selfpublishing also. And I say profit, because let's be honest here, I see some people try to equate the higher ebook prices with better books. Is it really about better books? No. The publisher's money is placed where they think they can make a profit and that is as much about good books as it is about popularity as can be seen by books from celebrities etc.
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Very good points. The reason that so many big named SF writers from the 50's and 60's were so prolific is that was the only way to make a living at it, write and sell lots of books. Asimov literally wrote hundreds of books and short stories. We may be heading back to those days.
I think that for self published authors, the struggle is, even if you write good stuff, to get noticed and remembered.
I would also say that what publishers offer is a known quantity rather than "better" books. It's a bit like going to a chain restaurant when you are driving cross country in the US, rather than stopping at some random restaurant. You might miss out on some really good food that way, but you also don't find yourself in some greasy rat trap either.