Two years ago, I found an agent to represent Lethal Inheritance my YA contemporary fantasy novel but she didn’t find a publisher .
‘Even three years ago the book would have been snapped up,’ she said after several excellent rejections—ones that showed that the reasons for rejection had nothing to do with the quality of the book, and in some cases even affirmed its quality.
After publishing some SS on ebook and selling more than I thought I would, I decided to go the same way with my short YA novel, You Can’t Shatter Me. I didn’t bother to show it to my agent because I knew a traditional publisher wouldn’t even look at it—it’s just too different. I loved that I didn’t have to wait for years to have it published and that I had complete control over the whole process. I set up a little Indie publishing company with my husband and put out a paperback version. It wasn’t easy. I had a steep learning curve, but I did it, and I did it well. I decided to publish Lethal Inheritance the same way.
Why?
- I was sick of waiting for someone else to publish it. Even if I got a publisher now, it would be another 18 months at least before it goes to press.
- I know the book is good because
- I had over 10 beta readers—ranging from the target audience to other authors and one with a degree in creative writing—seven rewrites, countless edits, plenty of time between them to become objective, and I’m highly critical of my own work. It even passed the partner test—and that wasn’t easy.
- I got an agent to represent it
- I had this feedback from Allen and Unwin of Australia – a publisher with very high standards: ‘I love the story and the writing is excellent but our marketing department doesn’t think they can sell it as well as our other YA titles.
- I already had a cover; I know it’s good, and it’s exactly what I want.
- I’d be doing the same marketing regardless of who publishes it, so why give the major part of the profits to others?
- I had all the skills needed, and I like having control over the product. Also my Indie publishing company needs to publish more books if it’s to start breaking even.
What about the perks offered by a publisher?
Then only reason I was still hanging out for that publishing deal was because,
- I thought I might sell more books, because the paperbacks would have a full distribution and would actually get onto the shelves in books stores, but
- they only stay there for about 3 months unless they sell really well,
- small bookstores have little shelf space, so they still may not stock it.
- in the future more and more book sales will come from online sources
- Using Lightning Source, my books will be available via order from all major bookstores world wide. Distribution is no longer an issue.
- according to Aaron Sheppard, I’d have to sell 10 x as many books to make the same money.
- I would have the publisher’s publicity machine behind me, but, apparently, they’re focusing their publicity dollars on the big names and aren’t doing anything special for new authors. The book would, however, have a higher profile and more visibility even in digital stores. I can’t duplicate that.
- I wanted to avoid the self-publishing stigma, but Indie and self-publishing has a growing positive profile and is offset by the support of the Indie community. In some ways, I owe it to the Indies that I support so whole-heartedly to fully throw my lot in with them.
- I wanted to have the stamp of approval that comes from getting a publishing deal, but I’ve actually got it from other areas. My published works have all gained entry to the Awesome Indies list (which I set up with rigorous standards), and You Can’t Shatter Me has fantastic reviews by genuine reviewers who know what they’re talking about. These mark my merit as a writer, so getting the stamp of approval is no longer an issue.
- I would get to work with an editor who would improve my work, but I’ve already been through a parallel process to a structural edit (beta reading as mentioned above) and I have an excellent copy editor (Krisi Keley) I trust that Krisi would tell me if my work wasn’t up to standard. My partner certainly would.
- I would have the support of a publisher in developing as a writer, but I have that in the wonderful writing blogs I follow, my very-hard-to-please business partner and my beta reading author friends.
I’m sick of waiting for what amounts to having paper books in bookstores and the kudos of being published by a big company. I want my book out, and after 2 years, the likelihood of it being picked up now is pretty much zero. Sure, I could have tried small publishers ( I did try a few and are still waiting for their replies), but actually I’m sick of the whole game and Lethal Inheritance was ready to roll. Besides, being Indie is about more than just a different way of publishing, it’s about artistic control and freedom of ideas, and that’s something that moves me.
Without a marketing miracle, I will probably sell less books by going Indie, but if I don’t, it’s likely that no one will ever get the chance to read it. It’s a tough business which ever route you take. What do you think? Did I make the right decision? Did I have a choice at this stage? How long would you wait for an agent to find a publisher?
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