Trying to sort out my options

stepheniesue said:

I am working on a middle grade sci-fi/ adventure book. It's the first in a series. I actually got the idea for the main character/ story line when trying to help my husband, who is a video game developer, come up with ideas for a new game to create. After my story for the game became way more story than any video game needs, I decided to make a book first, with the idea that we can always go back and make the game later. I think it would make a great game, too.

Therein lies the issue. If I traditionally publish, can I still hold the rights to make a game later on down the road?

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It's "trade publishing", not "traditional". Lots of people use "traditional": but it's confusing, and not in common use in trade publishing circles, so if you want to be taken seriously by agents and editors you're better off using "trade".

As for whether you can retain your gaming rights, of course you can. No one is going to force you to sign away rights you want to keep. If you have a good agent behind you, you'll find the issue of rights much easier to navigate.

I've worked in both book and game publishing, by the way.

I've heard that middle grade books don't do well self published. I do have a bit of a plan for promotion etc, which may help that some. I think the books would do well specifically with homeschoolers (the MC is homeschooled) and I could try taking it to the homeschooling conventions, etc. But I think it would also appeal to a larger audience and I am afraid it may be harder to connect with readers if I self publish.

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From what I've seen, self-published books for adults do tend to sell better than self published books for children, or the MG or YA market.

Marketing your books by taking them to conventions with a relatively narrow focus is going to get you some sales, but you probably won't recoup your costs. Especially when the focus of the conventions you're attending has relatively little to do with the books you're selling. It's something you could do: but I wouldn't rest all of your marketing eggs in that particular basket.

Does anyone have any insight? Would traditional publishing ruin my chances at making the video game?

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No! Not at all, so long as you know what you're doing when you negotiate your contract OR you have a good agent behind you.

And are self published middle grade books ever successful?

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Yes! But relatively rarely. What is going to make your book stand out? Will you be satisfied if it doesn't do well?

Thanks

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You're welcome.

stepheniesue said:

Therein lies the issue. If I traditionally publish, can I still hold the rights to make a game later on down the road?

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You can hang onto any rights you wish or sell any rights you wish. That's why you have a contract that spells out these things.

stepheniesue said:

I've heard that middle grade books don't do well self published.

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Define "doing well." Statistically, middle grade books don't sell through the same channels as adult books in the same ways. By self publishing, for example, you will be unlikely to get library distribution, which works well for middle-grade sales, and middle-grade readers don't buy their own titles on Kindle the way adult readers do. But that doesn't mean your book will do poorly, the publishing sales world is funny. Sometimes everything works despite all the odds being against it and sometimes the very best odds result in a work that tanks.

If your goal is wide ranging sales and a video game, a trade publisher, especially using an agent, is the better option for getting to your goals. If you want to sell quickly and aren't concerned about really wide sales, then self publishing is a better option. If you can write the video game yourself, you're probably okay self-publishing but, if you need a game development company (and you probably do anyway) then an agent and trade publisher is far more likely to get you there.

Jeff