On the fence; is it even worth it to TRY?

It sounds like you want to avoid rejection and disappointment. Self-publishing won't do that for you. Readers may give you harsh reviews. They may not buy your book at all, leaving you to wonder what was wrong with it. Whichever route you take, there will be disappointment.

You'll also be overwhelmed at times on both paths, because there's a lot to learn.

So it comes down to which you'd prefer. If you'd like a trade publishing deal, try that first. No one can tell you if your book will sell, but you'll have better odds by trying than by doing nothing. If you want it, you have to go for it, and accept it won't all be fun and laughter.

If you think you have a solid, marketable book and are willing to do all the publisher's work (get it a nice cover, promote it, get it distributed, hurry up and write the sequel/more books), then self-publishing can be an option.

I don't think anyone can tell you whether it's worth it or not to deal with querying before deciding to self-publish. Like Polenth said, don't avoid queries in order to avoid rejection. Having your precious book sit at rank #1,200,000 after getting hit with a negative review and a 40% return rate is some pretty harsh rejection, too.

Also, what genre is the book in? If it's romance, then you'd have a better shot at succeeding in self-publishing, but if it's general literary fiction, it'll be incredibly difficult to market as a self-pubber.

If you want to go the self-pub route and want this book to actually succeed, you'll need to do a metric fuckton of market research, which includes watching trends in your genre, reading blurbs, asking for lots and lots of feedback on lots of things, getting a good cover (I recommend hiring out) that works in your genre, typesetting if you want a print version, etc etc.

I have a fellow erotica-writing friend that released a self-pub romance novel under a new pseudonym last month. She did a ton of research (and was already familiar with trends in romance/erotica and was experienced in the self-pubbing arena), played into the market, got some reviews through strategic early promotion, and she earned herself a spot in the Amazon Top 100 Kindle books. Not just in her genre, but overall. Part of her success was luck, but a much, much bigger part of it was all the hard work she put into it - everything from writing to a high standard, to getting it edited and promoted, and doing all that research beforehand.

So . . . here's my take. YMMV.

If you want a trade publishing deal, then query, with the understanding of all that querying entails.

If you want to self-publish, with the understanding of all the work that entails, then self-publish.

Like Polenth said, self-publishing has its own set of overwhelming challenges, and not just with regards to readers rejecting you. If you self-publish, you have to be the publisher -- you are responsible for hiring an editor and cover artist, for publicizing and marketing your book, everything commercial publishers usually do for you. So . . . it all comes down to which challenges you want to face. It sounds to me -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- like you want a trade publishing deal (and think you'd get one) but it's striking you as too much work. But self-publishing is a lot of work is well -- just a different kind of work.

I don't think you should self-publish because you think trade publishing is "out to get" new writers or something; if you self-publish, I think you should self-publish because you want to self-publish.

Also, forgive me if I'm reading into what you're saying, but it strikes me a little bit like you're looking for a "you have an awesome and unique premise? Then you'll get a trade publisher right away!" response (again, forgive me if you're not! I don't mean this antagonistically anyway, though). The thing is, none of us can tell you that. Sometimes publishers want unique premises. Sometimes they don't, either because they don't think people would want to read it, or they don't know how to market it, or what have you. Or they might like the premise but pass on the way you executed it. I have a "unique" premise too, and some of the people I've told it to have thought it was really cool, and other people have given me the weirded-out eyes and said, ". . . Only you would write a book like that." (To which I say: ) My point being: sometimes unique means people won't want to read it. Anyway, not meaning to rain on your parade or your belief in your book -- just some things to think about.

I'm not trying to tell you what to do at all -- please take all this with a grain of salt. These are just my thoughts with regard to your question.

pinkrobot said:

I have finished writing my book and am in the final stages of editing. I don't want to give too much away, but the basis of my book is truly unique and has, as far as I am aware, not been done by any other author. Ever.

Every person I've described my book to has been incredibly intrigued and fascinated. I feel like, if I were to describe it in a query letter, it would very likely grab the attention of the person reading it.

However, I am overwhelmed with everything I read about rejection in the publishing world. I am leaning toward skipping the query letters altogether and just opting for self-publishing. I guess the feedback I'm hoping to get is, is it even worth it to try getting someone to publish my work? Having tried to publish a children's book in the past, I know about waiting months to hear back, and then getting that disappointing rejection letter. So as an unpublished author without an agent, is it a waste of time to spend the extra time and effort crafting query letters, researching publishers, and making trips to the post office? Or am I pretty much SOL if I even give it a shot?

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You're in for hard work and ups and downs no matter which path you take.

I don't know much about your book or its genre, and my thoughts could change if I knew. But based on what you've said, my advice would be to query after you're sure the book's as good as possible.

If you self-publish and sell 2 copies a month, you'll have a much more difficult time changing your mind. Very few agents or publishers will look at previously published anything. There are some, but they're few and far between. Instead of a pool of hundreds to query, you'll have a handful and it's over.

But if you query first, self-publishing stays on the table should you decide to go the other way. You're giving yourself more long-term options by querying first, in my opinion.

Unpublished authors get published all the time. Every book you see on the shelves was written by someone who was once unpublished. So if you want to be published by a publishing house, try that. Rejection is part of the process, and one you simply have to work with. It's no more painful than having a self-published book that doesn't sell or gets bad reviews. That may even feel worse.

Self-publishing is an option, but in all honesty, if it's not in a hot genre and you have no other books available, it could languish. This is especially true if you don't know much about self-publishing and jump in without a great, professional-looking cover and editing and/or proofreading by someone besides yourself. There's also marketing to deal with, like sending your book to reviewers and figuring out promotion strategies.

If this is your only book in this genre, and you're pinning all your hopes on it without moving on and starting another (I don't know that you are, just a warning), then you're setting yourself up for disappointment right from the beginning no matter which path you choose. You need to be prepared to send it to dozens, maybe hundreds of places. Sure, you could get picked up right away. It's possible. But you can't plan on that. If you self-publish, you should be prepared for months of selling a couple of copies, or none. It might sell well right away, but again you simply can't expect that. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

If no one but you has read your book, and you don't have other publications or experience with editors, you might consider getting a beta reader or two to give you feedback on the actual work instead of just the concept. Make sure it's written well and works on the story level. Don't rely on friends and family, because they usually just want to be encouraging. Get someone else's eyes on the manuscript, so you can get hopefully objective feedback.

The idea that your book is unique and nothing like it has ever been done before . . . I doubt it. Hearing you say that makes me worry for how disappointed you might be, because that's one of things that newer writers tend to think, but it usually isn't true. It's possible, but I have to admit that a little alarm bell went off in my head at that line. It's probably not as unique as you think it is. Here's hoping it is! But most things have been done before, many times.

Look at it this way. If you send some queries, the responses you get might help you discover that your idea really is unique and marketable, or you might learn that it still needs some work. I think it's probably worth doing, at any rate. If you get an offer from an agent or trade publisher, get an IP lawyer to look it over to make sure you understand what you're signing and not giving up anything you don't want to give up. Some contracts need more negotiation than others, and some agents aren't as diligent as they should be. If you get offers you're not happy with, you don't have to take them, so there's not much harm in trying.

If you're querying to see what kind of bites you get, you can always spend that time writing the next book and researching self-publishing in case you decide to go that route. If you decide you don't want to query, don't rush into self-publishing, either. Research it, so that when you do it, you do it with some knowledge and a game plan.

Just don't rush either decision. Make sure the book is ready to go, then weigh your options. No one can really tell you which path is right for you, but the more you learn about both paths, the better off you'll be.

My recommendation? Do both.

No. Don't do both at the same time. It doesn't work that way. But have both options AND a plan for both in place.

Spend one year querying the book. You'll get rejection. It might hurt. A lot. But do it. Don't do any self publishing during that year so you have that virgin clean debut author status agents really want. Research it, plan for it, write a whole bunch of short stories and have them edited and ready for self publishing, but spend one year querying your novel for trade publication AND setting all your self-publishing ducks in a row.

Spend the next year querying the book AND building an audience for self-publishing. Self publish short stories that are just as good as the book (put effort into them, in other words), and give yourself goals. Have a "failure" goal--If you don't sell X by date Y, stop self publishing because it won't work--and a success goal. If you sell X books on a regular basis (My Publish The Book goal is 20 to 30 books a day) self publish the book, because then you can assume it will have at least a moderate number of readers.

Try to shoot for one decent sized book a month. The logic behind that is, with self publishing books tend to drop off the face of the earth after the first month of being published. So when your first book gets eaten by the past, your second one is there to gather attention, and so on.

When you are absolutely confident that it will not be published via trade AND you have built an audience you feel satisfied with, self publish the book.

All of this assumes that your book is the very best thing it can be. If nothing else, the query process will help you polish it more and teach you enough about marketing and blurbs (and thick skin) to make self publishing that much more viable. It's a lot of work (I am contemplating three releases in the next two months and part of me is curled up in a corner whimpering quietly to itself at the amount of work that implies) and there is no gaurentee of success. And even if you will succeed, there's not going to be a lot of payback at the beginning.

But it doesn't hurt to try.

Polenth said:

It sounds like you want to avoid rejection and disappointment. Self-publishing won't do that for you. Readers may give you harsh reviews. They may not buy your book at all, leaving you to wonder what was wrong with it. Whichever route you take, there will be disappointment.

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The exact same thing can happen when one goes with a publisher as well.

I agree that self-publishing isn't a way to avoid rejection. It also might mean you have a harder time finding an audience. Self-publishing isn't the easy way out. In a lot of ways, it's the harder one if you want to do well. I've also heard several people say getting rejected by readers is just as hard or harder than rejections from agents. And rejections don't just come in the form of bad reviews--they come in the form of book returns, or no sales at all.

If your book is really clever and original, you'll have a good chance with querying. The first rejection might sting, but it's not personal. It's not even about your book. I had several rejections on full manuscripts that said "Love the book, just don't know who to sell it to."

Submitting to agents is all about finding the right match--the person who not only loves your book, but feels they have the connections to sell it.

The other great thing about querying is that you have so many resources here to help you make a good query before you submit it. Make sure you get beta readers and what not to read the book first and make sure it's up to par. Edit and reedit and so on. But the query is a hard part. One of the challenges a lot of us face is just getting a query that people will read. A good query will guarantee requests. Period. And let me tell you, those requests are exciting and fun.

Read the Query Shark blog and see what she has to say about querying. Read Miss Snarks blog. Read through the threads in Query Letter Hell and see what sort of comments others are getting. Try your best to write one, then put it up for critique.

Think of it this way: a query is considered to be doing pretty well when it gets a 10% request rate. Some do much better, some do worse. I might have been a little below, actually, though I think by the end I was right around 10%.

Is querying an easy process? Not at all. It takes a hell of a lot of patience. It might require some ice cream and whiskey nights. But it also has those fun moments. And keep in mind, every request you get is an affirmation that someone thought your idea was worth reading.

Just be sure you're ready before you do it. That's the biggest mistake people make, querying too early. I say this as someone who's been there, done that.

pinkrobot said:

I have finished writing my book and am in the final stages of editing. I don't want to give too much away, but the basis of my book is truly unique and has, as far as I am aware, not been done by any other author. Ever.

Every person I've described my book to has been incredibly intrigued and fascinated. I feel like, if I were to describe it in a query letter, it would very likely grab the attention of the person reading it.

However, I am overwhelmed with everything I read about rejection in the publishing world. I am leaning toward skipping the query letters altogether and just opting for self-publishing. I guess the feedback I'm hoping to get is, is it even worth it to try getting someone to publish my work? Having tried to publish a children's book in the past, I know about waiting months to hear back, and then getting that disappointing rejection letter. So as an unpublished author without an agent, is it a waste of time to spend the extra time and effort crafting query letters, researching publishers, and making trips to the post office? Or am I pretty much SOL if I even give it a shot?

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Here's the thing, op, what have you got to lose? The self publishing process is a long process if you're doing it right. So move forward with it if you want. And while you do that, pursue the traditional path. If you want to do it right, self publishing is going to mean setting up accounts, finding cover artists, editors, learning how to format and layout, or finding people who can do that for you. You'll want to set up websites, etc etc. You will want to do serious research about what the production process looks like at a commercial press, and you'll want to mimic it if you self publish.

When you get to the point that you're ready to hit the 'publish' button, or sign with an agent or publisher, you can pause, and reassess, and then move forward with confidence.

The titles in my signature are self published. I'm also represented by DGLM, and they work to sell my other titles.
FOR ME, the hybrid publishing model is most appealing, and I think it offers great options, especially if you're someone who writes a few books a year.

Every author is different. I just think you need to fully explore both sides of the fence so you can move forward with your decision with confidence.


ETA: why is there an angry face on my post?

Pink,

I'm going to comment my way through your post, because I think you have several issues I am at least inclined to disagree with. Not having a bash at you, but I think before you do ANYTHING you should perhaps spend a month or so on this site, in this forum, the Basic Writing Questions forum, and the Novels forum to get a bit better informed prior to any decisions.....

pinkrobot said:

I have finished writing my book and am in the final stages of editing. I don't want to give too much away, but the basis of my book is truly unique and has, as far as I am aware, not been done by any other author. Ever. 1.) this is very, very doubtful....there's nothing terribly new under the sun. 2.) That you are worried about giving too much away implies you are afraid of folks stealing your idea, which is an automatic "newbie flag." And it cuts in several ways....for one, you may be using unfounded fears to steer real decisions, including about getting a beta to read your work, going to agents or not pursuing them, etc...

Every person I've described my book to has been incredibly intrigued and fascinated. I feel like, if I were to describe it in a query letter, it would very likely grab the attention of the person reading it. only if you do the query well, and here's the thing: even if you have a really interesting idea (Samaurai gunslinger Jesus) if you can't execute, it doesn't matter. A good idea is good for keeping YOU interested, but you still need to be mindful of if you can execute. I'm not, NOT saying you can't--I have no idea. I'm saying it is something you need to worry about (any writer does; the competition is fierce) and again, your fear of sharing may be very detrimental to you

However, I am overwhelmed with everything I read about rejection in the publishing world. I am leaning toward skipping the query letters altogether and just opting for self-publishing. I guess the feedback I'm hoping to get is, is it even worth it to try getting someone to publish my work? competition is fierce, as I said. but what's the other option? There are cases where the book is such a niche self-pubbing is a plus. there are cases where the writer wants to be their own business manager, and self-pubbing is a plus. there are maybe a hundred other reasons, all valid. "I think the competition to get an agent is too fierce, so I am considering a shortcut" is not one of them. You went from extremely competetive gatekeeping to simply tossing your grain of sand onto a beach to avoid the challenge. If you have a plan, a business model, ideas, self-pubbing may be for you. If "Publishing through a house and agent is too hard" is the reason....you are very, very likely to do poorly in self-pubbing as well. Because you need to break out of the ananymous masses there as well, somehow, and I am not hearing any thoughts on how or why you would.


Having tried to publish a children's book in the past, I know about waiting months to hear back, and then getting that disappointing rejection letter. true, perhaps, but do you know all about selling three books at $4.99 a month? Is that what you are willing to accept? Or, again, do you have a plan in self-pubbing? I am not trying to steer you away from self-pubbing, only from the notion it is "the easy way out." Things tossed into self-pub aren't money trees if you don't invest in them. They also need to be incredibly good, and now YOU have to work to market them and get folks to find them. Because one self-pub title isn't a needle in a haystack, it is a needle in a warehouse-sized pile of other needles.


So as an unpublished author without an agent, is it a waste of time to spend the extra time and effort crafting query letters, researching publishers, and making trips to the post office? 1.) relatively few agents only take snail mail subs anymore. 2.) they take new writers all the time...otherwise it is hard to stay in business, since current clients can leave, retire, die, etc..... 3.) if that is the mindset you go in with, almost anything is a "waste of time." That said, pursuing what you really want instead of just giving up is never a waste of time (do you want to be published by a house?) and writing queries probably taught me more about writing in general than any other single exercise. Or am I pretty much SOL if I even give it a shot?

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you are SOL if the query isn't good enough to get an agent to read sample pages.

you are SOL if the samples aren't good enough to get them to request a full.

you are SOL if the full is flawed or not good enough for them.



Any of these are fixable. And if any of these pose serious issues now, skipping the agent isn't going to do much for you. Self-pubbing widened the market, and there are some good things out there, but for all the chest-beating, arguably the biggest thing it has democratized is reader access to slush. Which doesn't negate the good work in there, but the folks who succeeded did so because they had plans to besides tossing the books into the market, and sadly I suspect there are a fair number of pretty good books and authors out there who are languishing in that sea of obscurity who could have polished thir work and/or persisted until they got an agent, OR could have come in with a plan and possibly raised themselves above the crowd, but they did neither.

Do you have a plan to be seen? Is that important to you? And are you truly sure you're ready, for either market, when nobody has seen the work? Self-pubbing is an increasingly viable option, but if you think you're "wasting your time" learning to write a query letter, what about the time promoting your work, interacting with fans, etc. to try to build a base self-pubbing?

Pinkrobot, there's so much good advice here. Please take heed (I know I will).

I am not trying to be mean or pile on, but honestly, if you are that scared of rejection you are really, really, really in the wrong line of work.

Stephen King struggled to support his family out of college until he finally sold, 'Carrie.' Brandon Sanderson failed to publish until his eighth book. Tolkien spent decades of his life writing his epics, and they were rejected again and again.

And you're afraid you might be rejected?

As a writer that is the wrong attitude to have.

You WILL be rejected. Whether you go the traditional route or self publish. No writer has ever been universally loved and appreciated, and you my friend will not be the first.

Accept rejection, embrace it, laugh at it, and understand it is just a reality of writing and trying to get published.The same way that when you drive you know you will run into red lights and get stuck in traffic.

I have no idea if what you have written is a masterpiece, it might be. However, the odds say it is more likely to be flawed. As authors our stories are our darlings, and its human nature not to see the failings in our loved ones.

As a writer you need to have a thick skin and a little arrogance, but you also have to always try and be objective with your work. Remember that what you find enthralling may not appeal to a larger audience.

If you honestly believe that what you have is amazing and unique, then by all means start sending out query letters. At worst the option to self publish will always be there. Just go in with the understanding that not every one of them will get a yes. And if you get 99 no's and just one yes, you've succeeded.

Also, you might want to consider letting a Beta take a look at it. If you are truly worried about someone taking your idea you can have the manuscript copyrighted first.

There's rejection in self publishing, too--low or no sales, one and two star reviews. Plus you have to put money up front--more money than a query email will cost--which authors hope to gain back through sales. If your genre does well in self publishing(like romance) then it could be a very good option, but even then you will be a little fish in a very big pool.

Also, even a book that does well will start flagging in sales if you don't have anything else published. The self publishers who do the best get books(or at least shorts/novellas) out frequently, even monthly. That is pretty hard to do! It increases sales and visibility though. One self pubbed book, out for a year or so, not really a good career move as far as I can see. Your book might be the next Wool but I wouldn't make that possibility the business plan.

A self publishing venture is something you expect to grow over time.

For different books I queried agents, I queried publishers, and I also researched how to self-publish an ebook.

I got a publisher for two of my books, had an agent for about two years, and with another book, self-published it as an ebook.

Each of the processes was hard in different ways. And no matter what, you still have to take rejection. There's no avoiding it when it comes to the business end of writing.

IMHO, start researching and querying agents. If that doesn't work out (exhaust all options), try publishers that accept non-agented queries. If that doesn't work out, move on to studying how to self-publish.

I just think that whatever direction you go, it's important to do it right, and the only way to do that is to be educated. Learn about the options, and make the decision that's right for you. I'm really glad that I had the option to self publish a couple of my books. I'm also really happy that my agent is pitching my other manuscripts to publishers.

pinkrobot said:

I have finished writing my book and am in the final stages of editing. I don't want to give too much away, but the basis of my book is truly unique and has, as far as I am aware, not been done by any other author. Ever.

Every person I've described my book to has been incredibly intrigued and fascinated. I feel like, if I were to describe it in a query letter, it would very likely grab the attention of the person reading it.

However, I am overwhelmed with everything I read about rejection in the publishing world. I am leaning toward skipping the query letters altogether and just opting for self-publishing. I guess the feedback I'm hoping to get is, is it even worth it to try getting someone to publish my work? Having tried to publish a children's book in the past, I know about waiting months to hear back, and then getting that disappointing rejection letter. So as an unpublished author without an agent, is it a waste of time to spend the extra time and effort crafting query letters, researching publishers, and making trips to the post office? Or am I pretty much SOL if I even give it a shot?

Click to expand...

If you want a publisher, go for it. Rejection is a part of life, and the fear of it will get you nowhere but stuck in exactly the same place you are now.

If you don't want to go through the query letter phase because you're simply not interested, self publish.

Honestly, it sounds like you WANT to be published through conventional means. If so, don't let fear of reject make the decision for you.

Just to note, self publishing is not an easy way out. In fact, many would say it's a heck of a lot harder. It's definitely not for the timid.

On another note, you could still self-publish and remain on the lookout for someone to pickup your novel. It can happen.