Yep. I'm done, after a dozen or so exasperating "let's make an exception just this once" disappointments. I don't even find the complete garbage all that depressing--that just means a few of my dollars thrown away. What depressed me more was the could-be-good books that were published before they were ready--that means hundreds or thousands of hours of a good-but-not-yet-good-enough writer's time and inspiration thrown away.
When talking about self-publishing then I think that you come to a point that you need to use social media, perhaps creating a website or at least a blog page. And after that you can use YouTube to create a book trailer... Other than that, promoting your book means also you need to see if you can get reviewers and see if they like to read your novel. Anyway, there's a lot of time involve.... And yes; @ChickenFreak, I agree with you. Since anyone can use self-publishing than there's the pitfall that potential buyers/readers will think that your novel is not worth reading due to the lack of a "real" publisher.
So, what would/should/could a self-publisher do to convince you that their work is worth reading? There are gems out there, in fact, there are absolute diamonds out there but they are hidden amongst the rough that readers have to sift through. Unfortunately, the diamond writers have no control over what anyone else publishes and even if they did tell you "hey, I worked my ass off, have been edited to the enth degree and have made my book as professional as I possible can ..." are you going to believe them?? I do read a lot, and I have read some crap (I have also skipped chapters and tutted when the wrong character's name was used) but I always have to read the last bit, just so I know what happens.
Hmm. Good question. - Well, first, it would have to actually be good. There have been a fair number of times when I've read a preview on Amazon, and the dubious quality of the writing made me think, "...is this self-published?" Then I check the details and, yep, it is. This means that I need some kind of preview. - It also has to be immediately interesting and engaging. So if a writer is self-publishing in order to avoid eliminating an infodump-filled or poetry-filled "slow start", sorry, that book isn't going to get me. I'm less, not more, likely to forgive a slow start in a self-published book. - It would be even better if the preview presented a complete piece of writing, thus proving to me that the writer can complete a decent piece of writing, not just a few engaging paragraphs. Unfortunately, I don't much like short stories, so to grab me as a customer, a book of engaging (funny or interesting or preferably both) essays has the best odds. - In fact, hey! I did recently buy a book of essays from a publisher so small as to be, I think, almost self-published. That's one partial (partial because it wasn't technically self-published) exception to the otherwise unbroken line of exasperating disappointments. However, that book didn't come from a writer who wrote their own stuff, said "Hey, I think I'm good!" and published. The first essay in the book had already been very, very well received in other media (Magazine? Internet? Can't remember.) to the extent that it was essentially the defining piece on the subject. The others built on that accomplishment. There was selection involved, it just happened before the book format was an idea. - If the accomplishments are directly known to me, of course that's even better. There are several blogs written by people whose books I would seriously consider buying. If the book is similar to the blog (that is, again, probably a series of essays) the odds are higher, but I'll still seriously consider it even if it's quite different. - If the accomplishments are known to people that I know, that's another possible "in," though it's much, much less influential than my own opinion. I might bother to click on a link and read a preview, but I'm pickier about writing than most people, so the odds are not all that great--the preview needs to really impress me. - If a writer has gotten through my filter in one of these ways, or some other way, and I was pleased with their book, then they're "in" with me (edited to correct: OK, they would be "in" with me--it has yet to happen, except for the traditionally published author example below) and I will consider them on an equal level with traditionally published books, at least until they disappoint me. For example, there's a murder mystery writer who is republishing her old books as the publishers' dibs on the copyright expire; I'm not the least bit bothered by the fact that those are effectively self-published. And if she wrote a new one and self-published it, I'd give it a fair shot, too.
Not much then! So, basically, they have to be as good as TP. Which may not happen because there are no gatekeepers in sp. Reviews can be a good indication but, with sp, I guess there is more of a possibility that friends and relatives have given biased reviews. (Thankfully, I have no reviews written by relatives LOL). I agree about recommendations coming from people you trust but I have to admit, there have been books that my step daughter (she's 33) has recommended to me that, although they have been in the genre I read, they have left me feeling short changed. Much for the same reasons as you decided not to carry on with sp books. I also agree about trying further works from a particular author if you have enjoyed their previous works but, there always has to be a first book. But I can't agree on your last point that the previously tp'd crime writer's books can now be classed as sp simply because she's uploading them to amazon (or wherever she's sp'ing to) following the expiration of the copyright. As her books were previously published through a publisher, this means they've gone through the necessary gatekeepers and therefore already have the 'stamp of approval'. I do think a lot has to do with a specific genre too, as in, whatever is the 'in thing' at the time, certain people will start to jot down their own version of what's trending and upload it for sale to simply jump on the bandwagon with the thought, if so-and-so can do it, then why can't I? Which kinda spoils it for the rest of us who have decent stories to tell. Xx
I think 'trust' in this context doesn't meant you trust them not to lie to you, but rather that you trust that their taste aligns with yours. This is one of the things I like Goodreads for. It's hard to sort through ALL the reviews of a certain book, but if you find someone who's view of a book you've read is close to your own, you can use the "compare books" feature to see whether your tastes generally align on all books you've read. If they do, you can "follow" that person's reviews. You can make them one of your trusted voices in what books to read. There are strangers on Goodreads who could make me read a self-pubbed book if they recommended it, and people in the real world who aren't lying to me but whose book recommendations mean nothing to me.
Just wanted to chip in to this. All the discussion on this thread has been very helpful and informative - I'm going the traditonal route; I think my book is good enough. I've worked on it for nearly three years. Was wondering about the amount of Ms sent out at the same time. Some say five every 2 weeks. I would think 8 or 10 at once would be ok. Do agents really talk and say: "Gosh that writer just sent the same MS to me - I'm horrified!" "Yes - he did the same to me! Disgusting." "These writers should approach one agent every month, wait for 2 months for a response and then do it again" "Exactly - then it would take them 10 years to land an agent." "Yes - that sounds about right"
I'm not sure if they would, I mean, surely agents/publishers who deal in specific genres are actually in direct competition with eachother and are therefore, on the lookout for the next big thing ...
You could! The only thing that would stop me, is the postage and printing costs! And the time constraints. Many publishers/agents require different things. A synopsis of the whole story, first two chapters and a cover letter. A different agent might require a synopsis of EACH chapter (don't forget when you introduce each new character, that character's name has to be in capitals ...) and then another one might want a self address envelope too ... Take the time to research what each agent/publisher wants included in your submission and make sure you are submitting to the correct people. It's no good sending a banging sci-fi MS to a publisher who only deals with cookbooks and biographies!
Personally, I'd start out a little slower, but not 5 every two weeks. There are a lot of things involved with why an agent does or does not choose your story, and I think one needs to take a little time to consider why they didn't. It might be the story needs work - it might be the query. It might be a number of other things. You might be lucky enough to get some feedback from an agent that changes the way you do things, but you've already shotgunned your query to dozens of the top agents and then what? So don't go at a snail's pace, but don't jackrabbit either.
I agree with shadowwalker - the moderate pace isn't so you don't annoy agents, it's so you have a chance to modify your query if needed. Like, if you send 10 queries and don't get a single expression of interest, there's probably something wrong about your query. So you don't want to 'waste' 10 more good agent approaches with a query that's unlikely to work. If you send 10 queries and get 5 requests for partials/fulls, your query is doing its job very well. But if you get no further expression of interest from the 5 agents who read your MS, then you might want to re-examine your MS, especially if one or more of the agents was kind enough to send a rejection with feedback.
