If your goal is commercial publishing -- that is, publishing by a legitimate, royalty-paying, commercial press (a Random House or the like) -- then focus your efforts exclusively on pursuing an agent and commercial publisher (or possibly a commercial publisher that accepts unagented books, but watch out for sharks in those waters).Is it possible for me to market my novel as a PDF and then go through a publishing house later? Will they reject me based on my novel already having been out there?
Should this topic be moved to a more appropriate forum, since it's not about business writing or technical writing and might get more response if it were posted in the right place?
If your goal is commercial publishing -- that is, publishing by a legitimate, royalty-paying, commercial press (a Random House or the like) -- then focus your efforts exclusively on pursuing an agent and commercial publisher (or possibly a commercial publisher that accepts unagented books, but watch out for sharks in those waters).
See my "The Pursuit of Publishing" for an overview and resources. Link to a free .pdf version is in signature block below. (No, I have no interest in commercial publishing of that piece, in case you wondered. That is not its purpose.)
--Ken
Listen, When I saw "business and technical," I assumed this forum was for the business end of writing itself.
People like you, who make short, rude remarks to people are really making me hate this forum.
I mean no disrespect, but please -- stop disrespecting others.
Should this topic be moved to a more appropriate forum, since it's not about business writing or technical writing and might get more response if it were posted in the right place?
Wow--way to misread, dude.Listen, When I saw "business and technical," I assumed this forum was for the business end of writing itself.
People like you, who make short, rude remarks to people are really making me hate this forum.
I mean no disrespect, but please -- stop disrespecting others.
Is it possible for me to market my novel as a PDF and then go through a publishing house later? Will they reject me based on my novel already having been out there?
Listen, When I saw "business and technical," I assumed this forum was for the business end of writing itself.
People like you, who make short, rude remarks to people are really making me hate this forum.
I mean no disrespect, but please -- stop disrespecting others.
I know a couple of self-publishers who have turned down buyout offers from commercial publishers for their entire companies. (They decided they would do better to stay private, already having sales well into the tens of thousands.)I know of a handful (and that is to say, only a handful) of people who have been picked up by commercial publishers after self publishing.. . .
If you think self-publishing is not hard work, you have another think coming. I can cite very successful self-publishers (and have), but I can tell you that they work their posteriors off and have invested in learning their craft.Actually, I think it's the only way to go in today's market. If you are a new writer, breaking through the din to get the attention of agents and publishers is very, very hard work. . . . .
Hi ResearchGuy!
Sure, it's the agent's job to negotiate terms, but if you can give the agent something solid to work with (e.g. "Look, this author has sold ten thousand copies on his own, here. and get a load of these reviews!") then that agent is going to be able to make you a better deal. In the venture capital world this is called "proof of concept" and the same rules apply. A startup company with a real product and revenues to show is going to get a far better valuation from venture capitalists than one without.
I'm a n00b here in self-publishing land, to be sure. But in the three months since I published my first book (I went ahead and did two, more or less at once) I've managed to sell almost 600 copies, I've been approached by a national magazine to write stuff for them--and to my total shock, one of my books is going to be taught in an honors undergraduate course at a highly-ranked university next year!! It's true I have been working really hard at promotion but believe me, I went into this hoping for a conventional deal down the road, and so far I haven't regretted my decision for one instant--it's going great.
Obviously. But you do that, and either publishers are coming to you, or your business is far more profitable than any deal with a commercial publisher would be, or both. Very few self-publishers sell more than a few hundred books, and those that sell in large quantity (thousands, tens of thousands) are not likely to be interested in an offer from a commercial publisher. My friends who have sold in the tens of thousands have rejected buyouts or commercial publishing contracts.. . . if you can give the agent something solid to work with (e.g. "Look, this author has sold ten thousand copies on his own, here.. . . .
From my research, and in my anecdotal understanding, there is a great deal of difference between the chances of self-publishing success with non-fiction versus fiction. There appears to be more authors self-publishing non-fiction books and finding eventual homes with established publishers later, than with authors with self-published novels.
With fiction, self-publishing still carries a stigma with some agents and editors. So, each writer needs to carefully research the issue and decide for his/her self what path seems most likely to achieve their goals, short term and long term.
But with fiction, it is still, statistically speaking, more likely to achieve an agent and a contract with one of the established trade publishers by finding an agent, as opposed to self-publishing and hoping to sell sufficient numbers of the self-published novel to gain the attention of an agent or large publisher.
~suki