An Open Invitation
If I’ve learned nothing else from trying to publish my own books, I’ve learned just how damned tough it is. I mean, seriously, when I finished Like Glass, I thought it’d be simple: draw up a pretty cover, do a little formatting, submit it to the POD publisher and then kick back and watch people flock to my new work.
No, unfortunately I wasn’t on any mind-altering chemicals at the time, except my constant companions nicotine and caffeine.
So, here I sit, two years later with another book finished (Shattered, if you’ve never read any of the posts here), and this time I’m a little wiser. I’m wanting to do it “right”, and though I’m not 100% sure as to what exactly the “right” way is, I know it means I can’t do it on my own.
Side note: I was speaking with someone on Twitter last night, and they pointed out in a bit more detail something I already knew: agents and publishers don’t like self-published materials. Mainly because they don’t want something they aren’t getting first dibs on. That said, I’m still planning on spending my time and efforts in trying to self-publish Shattered. Why? Simple: my past experience has shown me that the odds of getting published are slim to none. So, the question is: do I spend several weeks in a vain search, or do I spend those several weeks prepping Shattered for publication on my own? The sooner I can get it ready, the sooner you can read it. Simple as that. And you – the person sitting there taking the time to read a random post on my blog – is the reason I’m writing in the first place, not to put money in some publisher’s pocket (maybe to put a little in mine, but let’s be honest: you and I both know this ain’t gonna break any records…)
Anyways, as the post title says, this is an open invitation. I’m looking for people to help out – we can discuss the financial aspects of it, though bear in mind I’m on a damned tight budget (otherwise I’d just go to any of the countless services on the web for this). There’s two main things I’m looking for: an editor and a cover designer. Someone to help with publicity would be nice as well, but I can take care of that to some degree.
The current plan is mainly to prep Shattered for publication, and possibly to re-release Like Glass as a hard-cover. I’m going to move from CreateSpace to Lulu. Lulu offers cover design and editorial analysis as a package for $300, so if all else fails I may just go with that. But if there’s someone out there who wants to build up a portfolio and get credit in the novel(s), I’d rather help someone out.
So, if you happen to know anyone looking for something to kill some time with, feel free to introduce me 
Of course, at the same time, if you happen to know an agent or publisher you could introduce me to, trust me: I’ll go for it. I’m just not up to wasting my time searching any more.
Alright, in the meantime, need to get back to pretending to edit and create a cover on my own 
Catch you on the flip side.
–Matt
UPDATE 1/25/09: Thanks to this post, I was able to find an editor (thanks again Ashley!). I’m still looking for a graphics editor though, so if you happen to know someone looking to fill their portfolio, let me know. Thanks!
–Matt
Comments
8 Responses to “An Open Invitation”
Leave a Reply
Networked Blogs (on Facebook)
Do you value your book enough to position it for the best possible success? Then you need to take time to formulate a real marketing plan. Don’t just trust in listing it on Amazon, for example. But expect to pay for professional services. Never mind your finances are “damned tight.” Think of your book, publishing it, and selling it as a business deal. And if you don’t have ready cash for a business deal, you get financing. You are, after all, investing in a book that you believe has the potential to sell enough copies to make you real money, right?
Actually, I’m investing in a book I want people to enjoy reading. As much as I hate my day job, I’m slowly accepting the fact that I’m pretty well stuck there; making money from my writing is secondary. Hopefully it’ll finance my nicotine addiction, or at least supplement it
Be careful what you take as gospel from people in general. Pubs and agents don’t like self pubbed stuff that is done poorly and never marketed and never sold. They also don’t want those projects, but they are interested in authors who are willing to work their butts off to write awesome books, market them and actually sell copies.
A marketing plan is the best method to get you going. You need to develop your name recognition and visibility.
Like anything else you have to prove yourself to everyone, the agents, the publishers, the readers, everything.
http://karensyed.blogspot.com
You’re right — I did have a publisher for about a month, but that fell through (long story), so I know it’s possible; just extremely difficult and time consuming.
I’ve been trying to get some kind of marketing scheme organized, but unfortunately, with the aforementioned tight budget, my options are limited to spamming bloggers about doing interviews or reviews, and spamming twitter and facebook whenever I have a new post. At least, those are the only ones I’ve found so far. Did do a couple of book signings, but the town I live in is hardly a literary center (I’m thinking that’s one of the reasons the pub dropped the contract too, because I couldn’t do much as far as local marketing).
You really do need to sit down and do a marketing plan, my man! You will hit your target much better if you line up your shot and take aim. Using the buckshot method does not work. What ever you are selling, you need to know who your target is and how you will go about getting your product to that target audience. You might decide there are several ways of doing just that and THAT is when you start actually putting your plans into motion.
I may be who I am – but, I DO know what I am talking about on this subject.
Agree with all of the above, Matthew. Unfortunately, these days you need a marketing plan in addition to solid writing, a good story, a great cover and a platform. It’s getting harder and harder for authors to only write. By choosing to self-publish again, you are adding to your list of self-published works and that means it better be good and sell well if you still want to be considered for royalty publishing sometime in the future. It’s important that you give this one your very best shot for many reasons and that should include a solid plan to get it where it needs to be. =) Glad that you are still writing.
Thanks for the comments Mom and Julie, I really appreciate them. And I’m beginning to agree — I really do need a marketing plan of some kind. The only problem is, I have absolutely no clue what to do, or even what to search for.
Would either of you (or anyone who reads this) be willing to read the manuscripts and make some suggestions? I don’t even know what genre the books fall in, let alone who the target audience would be.
Thanks again for the comments!
–Matt
Http://www.oppin.co.uk -he’s a friend and he does various bits of design stuff have a chat with him and see if he can drop in any ideas for you.