tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post2550247669352273831..comments2024-03-27T10:02:56.747-04:00Comments on Fiction University: Prestigious Institutions: Always In Your Best Interest? Janice Hardyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-84458717630652137642015-10-11T13:41:41.599-04:002015-10-11T13:41:41.599-04:00Fine points, Julie, and a great post: you chose a ...Fine points, Julie, and a great post: you chose a terrific example with the Impressionists.<br /><br />I'm actually about to release a new novel, a supernatural (or, to be precise, black magic) thriller. A writer friend who knows my work and who's with a midsize trad house that covers dark.fantasy etc. offered to introduce and hook me up directly with his editor, bypassing the slushpile altogether. Now there's temptation. LOL<br /><br />Since I'm hoping that this might be my breakout novel, the offer was intriguing, seductive even -- if they liked it, it would mean an advance, no need to self-promote, copyedit and proof and design cover, and so on. <br /><br />And yet, as I thought about it, I realized that after all the work I've done thus far on publishing my first few books and establishing a small brand, I'm not prepared to give up the control, not to mention the fat slice of royalties should the book break through. I may *never* make it as a writer, but are my chances better with a trad house? I doubt it. Not at least at this point. <br /><br />I think if one's going to accept a trad pub deal at all, the time to do it is when you're successful enough to negotiate your own terms rather than to take whatever they give you (which may actually *hurt* your chances, if it's a poor cover and minimal marketing). <br /><br />Indie rules!<br /><br />Best<br />DarioAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-36308686230029671732015-10-09T02:07:42.604-04:002015-10-09T02:07:42.604-04:00Thanks for replying, Julie,
I looked into many o...Thanks for replying, Julie, <br /><br />I looked into many options, and for me, crowdfunding's my best option, as just saving what little money to my name would take too long, but we'll agree to disagree here.<br /><br />I'm glad you and Jami (who I mentioned above in my orig. comment) found ways to launch your author careers. I'm still feeling my way through on these issue.<br /><br />Yes, it's nice to have choices, but if you can't afford most of the "choices" it doesn't always feel liberating for you and your specific situation. Again, don't mean to sound negative.<br /><br />I'm certainly not giving up. <br /><br />But I was just speaking to something that's not always as straightforward to deal with in my experience, which is inherently different from yours, Jami's, Janice's and my own.Taurean Watkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604609379930060667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-89651004124448867832015-10-09T02:05:38.085-04:002015-10-09T02:05:38.085-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Taurean Watkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604609379930060667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-5964759217441405722015-10-08T23:08:19.697-04:002015-10-08T23:08:19.697-04:00Taurean, I understand your points. Yes, it does co...Taurean, I understand your points. Yes, it does cost money to indie publish. I wrote a whole post on how to publish with little to no money. I'm not a fan of crowdfunding or that sort of thing, but that's just me. We're creative types, right? So let's get creative! Trade with students, or something along those lines. <br /><br />I won't pretend to have all the answers, but you're creative...you can think of something to make it work. <br /><br />No matter what, it's nice to have a choice. That wasn't the case before.Julie Musilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02150454913885915017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-19463200869042034782015-10-08T23:05:06.104-04:002015-10-08T23:05:06.104-04:00Bonnie, so true, right? At least these days we hav...Bonnie, so true, right? At least these days we have a choice. That wasn't always the case.Julie Musilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02150454913885915017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-67403700637514759262015-10-08T19:31:38.116-04:002015-10-08T19:31:38.116-04:00I do agree with your points in general, Julie, but...I do agree with your points in general, Julie, but lack of money does in the way of that ideal, and I do feel until there are ways to better democratize access to decent freelance editors, and ESPECIALLY illustrators and/or cover designers, this "New Normal" of indie publishing will leave too many authors, myself included, behind. <br /><br />Yes, I know there's DeviantArt, crowdfunding and all that, but there does come a point where you don't want to turn to that all the time, or at least not have to ask for so much of your <b>(ideal community)</b> upfront. <br /><br />Plus, the first time crowdfunding as an "unknown" adds a whole new layer of challenges. Even Bestselling authors aren't guaranteed to succeed. <br /><br />Laura Numeroff <b>(The "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" lady)</b> had to persist on Kickstarter TWICE <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cleverkick/laura-numeroffs-work-for-biscuits-series" rel="nofollow">before her book project sold at the start of 2015</a>, and now it's available to her ever-growing legion of fans, old and new, and I was proud to be part of that campaign.<br /><br />If even she STRUGGLED <b>(she has the kind of clout, connections, trust, readership and lifetime sales most authors only dream of)</b> than someone like me, whose first book took nearly a decade to sell, and because my press has limited resources, getting the cover and illustrations my book needs is on me, and while I'm grateful for the creative autonomy, I can't fund it all myself, so I'm turning to crowdfunding, and it's hard to know how much to ask for that's reasonable without being insurmountable, and thinking of rewards for backers that are desirable, but realistic. <br /><br />Example, you launch crowdfunding campaign to hire an illustrator for a 200 page graphic novel, not counting any "Extras or stretch goals" you need $9,000 <b>(USD)</b> and for the sake of this example you get that funding goal met, the graphic novel is completed and up for sale.<br /><br />Again, for the sake of this example, it does well enough that the next book <b>(an MG novel)</b> you crowdfund that needs a different artist than the first one, and they charge $10,000 USD. A lot more than the graphic novel, BUT the sales from the graphic novel <b>(minus taxes and all that)</b> allow you ask for LESS this time, instead of the full 10K, you only ask for 2-5K <b>(USD)</b>, because you can cover the rest, and possibly get a piece of art done to use for the campaign, and use the success of your last campaign as leverage to show you complete what you start and the end result is what you say it will be.<br /><br />Granted this is an idealistic example, but this best explains my point, and I hope it helps me not sound too much a "Negative Nicky" here.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.jamigold.com/2015/10/6-tips-for-finding-a-cover-artist/#comment-560025" rel="nofollow">Author Jami Gold and I discussed this on her blog post touching on indie or hybrid authors finding cover designers who don't necessarily live "Money is no object" lives.</a>Taurean Watkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604609379930060667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-5653940553983713932015-10-08T09:16:10.445-04:002015-10-08T09:16:10.445-04:00So much to think about - 'banging one's he...So much to think about - 'banging one's head against invisible gates' captures it exactly right Bonnie Randallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02813024239481434223noreply@blogger.com