Tuesday, April 15, 2014

What my wife has taught me about self publishing.


Consumer of Self Publlishing

My wife recently downloaded a number of Romance novels to her kindle. So, how did she decide which ones do download?

She chooses free novels. Because of the number of writers who are trying to promote their works, there is no shortage of free works to download.  My wife knows full well that if she wants to continue in the series, she will have to pay for the next volumes, but doesn't care. Since the first volume is free, there's nothing to lose. If it's no good, she simply switches to another free novel.

I have heard an interesting comment from her considering self-published works she's read. She has said she found a series she likes, if she can ignore the errors. Many authors can't or won't put out the money for editors. However, when the author publishes without an editor, it's very noticeable in the final product.

So, what are the lessons of her experiences?  First, since writers are so anxious to get their works to the forefront, they are willing to offer a part of their portfolio for free. It may be heart wrenching to work for a year on a novel just to give it away for free, but that may be the price of getting people to sample your works. More important, you need to find a way to get your novel noticed. Since the first things a prospective reader will see of your novel are the cover picture and the blurb, they have to be eye-catching. Your novel could be another Twilight or Harry Potter, but if you don't have the attractive cover or blurb, no one will want to read it. Finally, in order to stand out (or at least keep in line with professionally-published novels), it should be well edited. If not, it needs to be awfully good or the reader will have a tendency to quit for another of the legions of novels out there in self-published land.

My wife is only one of millions of Romance readers, but I don't think her consumption habits are different from most readers.  There's no easy route to success in publishing. Then again, if there were, everybody would be a novelist.

10 comments:

  1. poor editing is what gives self-published author the bad name...
    i have pride in my work and have spent a great deal of time editing on my own with my writer's group. i've used critiquecircle to further catch problems, but ultimately all my works end ups at wizards in publishing to be edited professionally by a wonderful staff.
    there is no excuse for outputting books that are filled with grammar and punctuation mistakes.
    i've chosen to be and indie author to keep control of all my novels, but that has never meant poor quality.
    to be honest, i grab free books also, it's the only way for me to get to know if indie authors are good or not.

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    1. If every indie author had your level of care, the reputation of indie authors would be very good.

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  2. Sounds pretty similar to what my husband does, although he's downloading free fantasy instead of romance. And he's always complaining about the lack of good editing. Readers do notice!

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    1. I think my wife's and your husband's experiences are typical. Editing is more important than most indie authors think.

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  3. It's so essential to get 'other eyes' on something before it goes out. I know I can go over my manuscript literally scores of times and Still miss things! Good luck Chuck. Barb Bettis

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    1. I don't know how many times I've had a manuscript that I thought was perfect, and then someone picks it up and finds errors right away. Well said, Barbara.

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  4. I often find the free novels are not that good. I see the benefits if you have a series, but one must watch out for the Indie novelist who just wants their book out there. I've done 3 rounds of re-writes on my current novel and now a professional is going over it and I can't believe the things I missed. Good post Chuck.

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    1. Good point, Wanda. My concern about self publishing is that the really good novels out there are getting lost in a sea of sloppily-done novels.

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  5. I've grabbed a free book or two, and sometimes I get lucky and they are good. But I've also paid $2.99 and up for a self-published book I expected to be good, and then ended up swearing through the first chapter because of the errors. I'm not against self-publishing, but I can't imagine doing it without having a professional edit it first. As for buying authors whose work I'm not familiar with, I now click the little option to look inside and read a few pages for free. If those pages grab me, I buy the book. It's as simple as that. If I'm not intrigued, I click to a different book.
    Deb@ http://debioneille.blogspot.com

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    1. That is a great idea, Debbie. Maybe I'll suggest it to my wife.

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