Publishing mix n match

How does everyone feel about pursuing both traditional and self publishing at the same time?

By this I mean, trying to find a traditional publisher for one or two of your novels, while at the same time self publishing completely different novels. Is this okay or does this confuse the messaging or the brand?

 

I’m trying to self publish in the country I live in and seek representation back in the US. I’ve built a healthy network here that I feel I could sell to successfully, but the publishing laws are extremely sticky. I don’t know if self publishing out here will help or hurt my chances with traditional publishing in the future, but I feel like prioritizing the people out here because they are my target audience.

 

Is there a reason why something would be getting shopped to agents/publishers, but another thing is going to be self-published? If everything's ready to sell, I'm not sure why both avenues would be pursued at the same time. Query them all to agents and publishers first and see if anyone bites. If a novel has already been rejected by a ton of agents and indie publishers but you still want to get it out there, then yeah it might be self-publishing time. I don't see many issues with querying another book while pursuing self-pub at the same time, though the brand is something to be concerned about, yes.

You might want to consider separating these two pursuits by using a different name/pen name for each. If you self-publish and the numbers are bad, you don't want that blemish on your record. If an agent or publisher is taken in by your query and pages, they're going to google you for sure. The same approach is probably best if you're writing in very different genres.

 

Disclaimer: I'm not published in any way or form.

If you self-publish a refined product that meets or even exceeds the big five's standards, there's no issue in my opinion. That is a major IF. You have to be certain of the quality beyond a doubt's shadow. If it manages to be moderately successful, that will even boost your queries. Arguably, however, any kind self-publishing beneath those standards is a waste of time anyway.

Is it worth publishing with the big five if you're somewhat successful in self publishing other works? That's... a personal decision to make.

 

Good question. Here are a couple of reasons:

1. Approaching publishers, getting rejected, approaching again, getting rejected again, takes a long time. That time could be used to self publish another novel to obtain some useful skills and perhaps even sell some of your work, instead of it seating idle.
2. As I was binging "Story Grid" videos recommended on the other thread I found this little gem. To save you trouble watching the whole thing, the outcome there was that after spending awhile being rejected and finally securing a deal with a traditional publisher, you are basically signing up to "Bucket C" with a $5K advance. What does that mean for you? It means that the publisher will be pouring most of their resource into authors in bucket A and the rest into bucket B. You will still need to do a lot of leg work yourself. This is where the skills you learn in self publishing (like building an audience and advertising / marketing you work) become crucial to continue to secure your publishing deal and finally have hope of climbing out of the pit of despair and into the bucket B. (If this doesn't make sense, please watch the video below, it will explain it much better.)

3. The reasons you mentioned

Thank you. I like the idea of separating the brand into two pen names. I will think about this some more.

 

But what if you self-publish a pretty sub par product, which sells very little and attracts little attention, but through this process of self publishing it you build a critical skillset in; attracting an audience, marketing your work, editing and designing your product. And then, you go and self publish another product, which through the merit of your acquired new skills and enlarged audience sells much better? And then you rinse and repeat, each time perfecting your craft and sharpening the saw.

 

Thanks @big soft moose, that's good to know. I think the first self published work would be credible, but perhaps lacking in sales due to unknown author self publishing a fist book and lacking experience in everything.

I wish there was a place to teach the basics in self publishing for first time self publishing authors. (especially on how to build and grow an audience)