Had second thoughts and removed it from Amazon. There's no footprint of it there anymore. I put it up just for 'fun' and for a sense of completion without thinking of the consequences. I looked it sort of like the writing version of putting something up on soundcloud. But looking back, it was a dumb move. I managed to get it off goodreads too, cos someone had added it there. But it's still on these random sites linking to a PDF that isn't there. I have no idea how to remove that. Or how that even happened. Here's how lame my ego is: I'm scared this will damage my 'reputation.' Even though I'm nothing right now. I just feel bad about the whole thing. I wish I could go back in time and not publish it. But this ain't End Game. Anyone else gone through this?
I have published stuff in my 'real' name already. And I don't want to start again. Plus, I can't think of a decent name. But not a bad idea I guess. It just feels a bit like hiding.
There is a lot of good experience to have from self publishing and it makes sense to use a pen name so that it wouldn't affect a traditional publishing career for whatever reason. I personally will always use pen names but my name is horrible as an identifier (exceptionally common and associated with stupidity--haha). I also consider pen names part of the business and even fun. It's only about hiding if that is a goal. Which, there's no shame in that. Anyway, perhaps you can find a smaller group to share your stories with? Like a local group or this forum.
That's what I'm hoping to do from now re sharing stories with a smaller group. What I'm saying is I already put up a novella in my real name, took it down There is still some footprint online. And I feel bad about that. Maybe it's not enough to tarnish my name forever. And maybe I'm overthinking it.
I wouldn't say you're overthinking, but you do need to move on, I reckon. You've learned something valuable—which is what (over) thinking got you. Don't publish stuff too quickly, just because you CAN. If people don't like your book because it's chock-full of SPAG errors, a storyline full of holes, and downright bad writing, it's not easy to reverse that opinion. (Even if you erase all traces of the 'bad' work itself, people may remember you for it. Short of a mass lobotomy, not much you can do about that.) I assume you want to be proud of the work you publish, so don't rush it. Make sure it's something that you will be proud of later, as well as the moment you wrote The End. Your options now are to: Publish using a pen-name in future (so your newer stuff is not connected to your first efforts.) or Just assume it was a blip and nobody will notice/care. Do your best to promote your GOOD writing, via reviews, etc.
I haven't done this myself, but I guess I'm failing to see what these negative consequences would be. Why was it dumb to publish your novella?
I think the idea is that the OP is afraid of having bad writing/distasteful writing associated with her name.
That would basically make you like anybody else who has ever written anything. Plus, I have to ask, what caused you to decide it was bad?
I have no experience of your situation . But I have some experience regarding the workings of the internet. On the down side , it is almost impossible to rub out all trace of things that have been posted on the net. But you know where to look and what to look for . So it seems to be a bigger problem than it actuly is .It will slowly sink down into the mud and you will forget about it .
I wrote it during my 'heavily autobiographical' phase of writing, which I now deem shameful. At the time, I had earnest ambitions which are laughable now. I was being very entitled and thinking without the proper work I could just blast out something decent. I had an 'immediate gratification' mindset back then. I thought I deserved 'something' for my efforts, and if that something was just having it up on amazon and a few friends reading it, that was enough. I didn't think long term about how it could look. It was a lot of black and white thinking, all of which I feel bad about now. Now I'd much rather take the longer and harder road of slowly getting better as a writer in total obscurity rather than the cheap thrills of putting something up that isn't the best I can do. However, it wasn't all bad. It still has some of the best stuff I've ever written in it. It just should never have been released as a novella. I am a millennial. Sometimes the worst kind.
Hi, Look I don't know how good or bad your novella was - but I wouldn't take it down. Writing is a communicative art form. If you don't publish and let others read it and decide for themselves, you're really only doing half the art. And you won't be advancing yourself as a writer. Now your book could have been completely unready, I don't know. But this could also just be the same nerves everyone else has. Only you can answer that. But at the end of the day you've got to be aiming to publish, and then be ready to take the slings and arrows. It's the only way you'll grow. And in time criticism will run off your back like water off a duck's. You'll learn to face it, find what you think is fair and let the rest go. Cheers, Greg.
I totally agree with that. I am working with editors, posting stuff on here and working with betas for that necessary feedback you mentioned. I agree writers need to go public. However, I even knew in the core.of my being this novella wasn't something that worked as a whole. And I put it up anyway....that's what I dislike myself for. Basically, I went against my own instincts. It's already down. I just wish all the traces could be removed. But alas. Luckily, no one cares hehe.
Oh boy, I have one of those shameful autobiographical eras too. Was actually just reading through some of the stuff I took to my classes back then and I nearly curled up and died just reading it. Not that I dislike creative nonfiction now, but I don't write like I'm just so unique because I think my depression and heavy drinking make me cool. Yikes.
You sound really down on yourself. Whether it's good or bad (which is always subjective depending on who's reading it), I don't think it will hurt you to have published it. If you sent it to editors and it was rejected a million times that wouldn't hurt you long term either. I'm still learning a lot, but one thing I have learned is nobody is a worse judge of my work than me. I was taking a writing class a few months back and wrote a short story for an assignment we were given. It was based (very) loosely off of something someone in my family experienced several years ago. I didn't think much of it at all. I turn it in and the instructor loved the thing and told me she'd read a novel about that character if I wrote it. I think she was being sincere because many of my assignment feedbacks did not come back that way, including some I THOUGHT were better written. So you never know I guess, LOL.
I appreciate all the thoughtful responses here. Various people are saying 'don't take it down.' Well guys, it's already been taken down. Miraculously, the world is still turning.
I can safely say I was in your boat quite recently. I was excited about posting my work, I uploaded the unedited version rather than the corrected one. Boy was I embarrassed, but I didn't take my book down completely, I went in and revised and told others my mistake and went on. These things do happen and readers out there are forgiving, especially if you let them know the reasoning. Of course, you're going to have buttholes out there that are cruel, but let them, it could be a catalyst to becoming an even better writer.
Had a horrific experience with a publisher, marketer, that shall remain nameless. They took my money, promised to show my book at grandiose book fairs, printed it, and after 5 grand invested I got eighty bucks. Lulu is the way to go if you want to publish just for the sake of publishing. It only costs about five bucks and you get an ISBN number out of it. I've published stories in internet magazines, that was legit, got paid, but books seem to be a haven for crooks taking advantage of the writers ego...
I have a bit of a mirror-image question related to this: I read that it can be a good exercise to go through the steps of publishing a practice book through the various platforms, under a throw-away pseudonym. Has anybody done this? Would Amazon give me grief?
I haven't done it but you absolutely could do it. I don't know if self-publishing really makes sense unless you're actively building an audience on social media. I'm one of those people who believes in traditional media, even though that's seeming more and more ridiculous every day. It really just comes down to a self-esteem thing where I don't much like promoting myself on the web or in life actually. I might have to get over this at some point.
This is where I was when I started exploring shifting careers to writing, but after a few years of listening to publishers lecture, chatting to publishers informally during writing related events, and more formally in conferences, it's become clear that the author's social media branding is just as important in traditional publishing as it is for self publishing. And that's publishers - agents seem to be even more obsessed with a prospective author's follower counts. I don't think even traditional media believes in traditional media anymore. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that social media's more important in traditional publishing, because it's directly connected to the goal of 'selling copies' which is the reason they're in business. In contrast, I can self publish and not care about book sales, and am free to eschew social media entirely if that's my preference. That aside, my skill development model for the career shift includes learning as much about the business as possible in order to not get blindsided later by some major aspect that I'm just hearing for the first time, that might set me back months in my timelines. Practice publishing on the various platforms seems to have some general skills that will give me a good grasp of what's going on, as well as being a proof of concept to honestly weigh my trad vs self career roadmap. Honestly, at this point, I see myself publishing different types of series through different distribution channels. But that's very pie in the sky right now.
Interesting. Cheers for the insight. I think I get overwhelmed quickly. I don't even fully know what using social media to help my writing would mean. Blogging about writing? Do people still do that? Writing tweets everyday about books and using Facebook ? Would it mean retweeting articles and linking and stuff? Or should I be on tiktok and instgram? Do I take a picture of myself with my kindle? What the hell am I supposed to do? I have reached out to some writers on social media and had good chats with them about their works, so that was cool. I post on here and I use goodreads, but that's anonymous.
I've done it. There is no grief. Amazon lets you have as many pseudonyms as you desire. I put up a short story/novella and it was a great learning experience.