chose self-publishing as well

A_Napp · May 12, 2012

Well, after one year spending countless hours browsing the net, searching for any publishers/interests, writing queries for 2 screenplays and 1 novel and thus having no time to write anything ELSE anymore, I decided to self-publish.

I've published 2 novels and scientific books in my home country, but that doesn't seem to help me one little bit.

Either they don't take submissions, they want an agent, they want MY ideas of how to promote the book, I need to get into a contest first and blbalbalba. All that takes months with no result whatsoever. For one year, my life is just stuck in searching people I might beg to read my stuff. I guess other authors have the same experience.

I thought I might finally be able to MAKE some serious money with writing instead of paying for publication - but the process is getting so on my nerves that I lost all energy to write or do anything at all. Therefore, to get forward somehow, I'll self-publish. So I can at least control when and where it comes out and THAT it comes out within this year.

eggs · May 12, 2012

So, trying to understand what you are saying: you are a published author in one country, but you now live in another country and have spent the last year trying to get published in your new country with no success. You were hoping to make "some serious money" in your new country, became dejected when this didn't happen, have now given up and decided to self-publish. Did I get that right?

If all of that's correct then:
1) Why don't you submit your new stuff in your home country where you've already enjoyed publishing success?
2) Success with "2 novels and scientific books" will not necessarily translate into success as a screenwriter, they are two VERY different fields with very different skill sets.
3) One year isn't very long to try before giving up; and
4) I don't think you'll ever be happy with self-publishing if you see it as some kind of desperado looser option. There are plenty of good reasons to self-publish and your works may well be very successful in that format, but only if you approach it in a professional manner.

I'm not saying 'don't do it', I'm just saying don't do it with this mind frame or you may well end up feeling worse than you do now.

Old Hack · May 12, 2012

A_Napp said:
Either they don't take submissions, they want an agent, they want MY ideas of how to promote the book,

Many publishers refuse unagented submissions; so try to get an agent. And it's no big deal to write a proposal for your book, and to detail your marketing ideas in that proposal. I can see that you're frustrated: but frustration isn't the best motive for successful self-publication.

A_Napp · May 14, 2012

eggs said:
So, trying to understand what you are saying: you are a published author in one country, but you now live in another country and have spent the last year trying to get published in your new country with no success. You were hoping to make "some serious money" in your new country, became dejected when this didn't happen, have now given up and decided to self-publish. Did I get that right?

If all of that's correct then:
1) Why don't you submit your new stuff in your home country where you've already enjoyed publishing success?

--> I still live in the same country, but happened to write in another language. My "old" publisher doesn't want to publish things in English. So the search started. But I thought it might help that I already have some credits. I'm just tired of writing queries and waiting waiting waiting and my life passes and I can't get forward one tiny bit. I thought, when it's self-published, than at least it wasn't completely in vain that I wrote it. I reach more people as if it would sit in my drawer and rot there.

eggs said:
2) Success with "2 novels and scientific books" will not necessarily translate into success as a screenwriter, they are two VERY different fields with very different skill sets.

---> I know. But I got a few encouraging critics from pros. Anyway, I can't manage to seriously get anywhere with the stuff.

eggs said:
3) One year isn't very long to try before giving up;

---> Maybe, but I'm out of options. As for the screenplays, I used pay-submission sites, and mailing lists and "normal" queries, and honestly don't know where still to go with the project. It's either "we already had similar stuff" or "we don't take such stuff at all" or "budget problems".
As for the novel, I tried not that long, but I'm simply on the end of all patience with this. I'm just down in the depression pool, and if I can't move things forward soon, I won't have the energy for anything anymore. Just want to take things in my own hands again, you know?

Funny thing is, my screenplays are rather "difficult themes", I know. But the novel is something light, vacation literature, and I thought, well, this will sell, because what shall go wrong with something like that? I narrowed down an agent's list to 12, got 7 "no" immediately, the others don't answer.

eggs said:
4) I don't think you'll ever be happy with self-publishing if you see it as some kind of desperado looser option. There are plenty of good reasons to self-publish and your works may well be very successful in that format, but only if you approach it in a professional manner.

I'm not saying 'don't do it', I'm just saying don't do it with this mind frame or you may well end up feeling worse than you do now.

---> Well, but I'm kinda stuck. I have to move on somehow. I want to have my mind free for the other projects in the waiting line. I don't want to waste another year of my life. :/
I have a small fan base here, and thought, if I do the right ads on facebook and so on, I might get the investments in self-publishing back soon. Of course, it's frustrating. But not as frustrating as not going ANYWHERE.

Terie · May 14, 2012

A_Napp said:
--> I still live in the same country, but happened to write in another language. My "old" publisher doesn't want to publish things in English. So the search started. But I thought it might help that I already have some credits. I'm just tired of writing queries and waiting waiting waiting and my life passes and I can't get forward one tiny bit. I thought, when it's self-published, than at least it wasn't completely in vain that I wrote it. I reach more people as if it would sit in my drawer and rot there.

---> I know. But I got a few encouraging critics from pros. Anyway, I can't manage to seriously get anywhere with the stuff.

---> Maybe, but I'm out of options. As for the screenplays, I used pay-submission sites, and mailing lists and "normal" queries, and honestly don't know where still to go with the project. It's either "we already had similar stuff" or "we don't take such stuff at all" or "budget problems".
As for the novel, I tried not that long, but I'm simply on the end of all patience with this. I'm just down in the depression pool, and if I can't move things forward soon, I won't have the energy for anything anymore. Just want to take things in my own hands again, you know?

Funny thing is, my screenplays are rather "difficult themes", I know. But the novel is something light, vacation literature, and I thought, well, this will sell, because what shall go wrong with something like that? I narrowed down an agent's list to 12, got 7 "no" immediately, the others don't answer.

---> Well, but I'm kinda stuck. I have to move on somehow. I want to have my mind free for the other projects in the waiting line. I don't want to waste another year of my life. :/
I have a small fan base here, and thought, if I do the right ads on facebook and so on, I might get the investments in self-publishing back soon. Of course, it's frustrating. But not as frustrating as not going ANYWHERE.

Welcome to the world of publishing. You aren't experiencing anything that the rest of us don't. This is just the way it is.

If you self-publish in English, you've used up first English language rights. Many publishers don't care about this, but a few still do.

On the other hand, if you self-publish in English and don't sell many copies, what you've done is prove there's no real market for your book and that you've already tapped it out. That's how publishers look at it, anyway.

The only time self-publishing a book helps to get a commercial/trade contract is when lots of copies have been sold. Some put that number at 3,000, others as high as 10,000.

If your goal is a commercial/trade contract in an English-speaking country, self-publishing is not usually a good strategy. Unless you sell thousands of copies, the best-case scenario is that it's neutral. But the worst-case scenario is that it's a negative.

A_Napp · May 14, 2012

"you've used up first English language rights" <-- what do you mean with that? They won't allow foreigners to publish?

As for the copies, my indie publisher in Germany prints about 400 copies, and then, if everything works well and it sells, some hundred more. After 3 years, it starts to pay off that way, and my investments come back.

So, I thought, if I self-publish or on demand, and sell about as much copies, that's not bad. It's better than letting the script rot in the drawer. I know I won't reach a HUGE market that way, but at least some hundred people.
So life isn't a complete waste.

Old Hack · May 14, 2012

A_Napp said:
"you've used up first English language rights" <-- what do you mean with that? They won't allow foreigners to publish?

No, it means that when your book is first published in English, that uses up the first rights to publish it in English. You can no longer license the rights to a first English publication in that book because it's already been done.

A_Napp · May 15, 2012

Ah... yeah, that's logical, of course.

Well, my desired publisher (not US, but that doesn't matter in that specific case) just showed up with an answer. Now I know at least my stuff has arrived there, and it takes them 3 months to evaluate. So, my self-publishing plans are put on ice, at the moment.
(three long months... well, I guess, I'll have my next screenplay ready at least, during that time. Writing is the best to survive waiting)

chose self-publishing as well

A_Napp

eggs

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

A_Napp

Terie

Writer is as Writer does

A_Napp

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

A_Napp