Sunday, November 9, 2008

How To Fly Solo When Other People Won't Even Give You A First Glance

Last week, was without a doubt, the most stressed out week I've ever experienced as a writer.

My book order finally came in last Tuesday, so on that day I became an honest-to-goodness published writer. Granted, it was with a publisher who in some circles would be considered a vanity press and in others would not, but fact remains that I decided to take the plunge and present my book to the people that really matter: the general public.
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Yes, the general public. For they are the ones who will truly decide whether or not my writing is good enough for them. They are the ones who have experienced my writing first hand in multiple forms. For some, they were exposed to my first attempts at short story writing and the original first draft of my novel. They saw something in that early tangled mess and told me so.

Others were exposed to my 13,000+ posts that were made in the Topix chat rooms and liked them enough (at least the ones that actually had a point and made sense) to tell me what a excellent and reasonable voice I have.

And finally, others were exposed to my writings via this blog, which has been around since Memorial day weekend 2008. I must be doing something good here as well, as I'm averaging about 100 visitors a week to my tiny slice of the blog universe. If people didn't like what they were reading, they wouldn't keep coming back.

For all of these people, and many others who know about me via word of mouth, either in the Cyber World or in the Real World, they are the ultimate decision makers in regards to my novel.
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Back to the topic at hand: self-publishing my novel. I spent a fun filled Wednesday afternoon opening a business account (note: you can't have a savings without a checking or vice versa), getting a new mailing address, and creating a brand new blog to sell it.

On Thursday, I started a simple, but hopefully, effective grass-roots advertising campaign. First, the wonderful cafeteria lady at my office building was kind enough to tape up the postcard and business card I gave to her, on the front counter near the cash register. That way, when people were waiting in line to pay for their food, they could read the short synopsis of the book, and get a chance to meet and great the author (I'm there two or three times a day) as well.

Secondly, I've been able to make quite a few friends at some of my favorite blogs for the past six months, and they've been gracious enough to post a link to my blog on theirs. For the people who were nice enough to do that, I give you all a great big THANK YOU! for doing so.

Finally, I would like to thank Blogger as well. They have a feature called "scheduling posts", which lets a poster create multiple posts and have them post in the future. The previous week before I got my order, I had enough time to create several posts and date them for future use, because I knew that with things in the real world starting to heat up, there was a good chance that I wouldn't be able to update my blog properly.

I have two more scheduled posts that are coming up on 11/11 and 11/13 (note: my scheduled posts always have a time of 7:00a on them), so by next Saturday, barring any unforeseen issues, I will be back to my normal routine of posting in the evening.

So to sum it up, I am now officially a small business owner (really small as my office/warehouse is my bedroom and dining room). It's exhilarating, exciting and just a little bit scary, because to be honest with everyone, I never really gave any thought about becoming my own boss.

I figured that since I had the magic touch in other aspects of my life, that getting a book published would be a snap. Find an agent, get a publisher, get published. Simple, yes? Well, if you've been a follower of my blog from the early days, you know it ain't that simple.

I won't rehash the gory details, but I will say that if I knew then what I know now, I probably would still be having this conversation with everyone, because I would still be going the self-publishing route. I wouldn't be spending the ungodly total sum of $7,000 in order to get my book out, but I would be spending something in order to do what I wanted to do.

Self-publishing isn't for everyone. You need to look deep within yourself and ask, "Do I have what it takes to move forward with my dream, knowing that it will become an uphill battle in the process? That most people within the industry won't really take a second look at your book unless you can show really good sales for it (like at least 1,000 or more copies and great word of mouth)? That all you'll ever be is a good niche writer with a small and devoted following?"

If you can honestly answer yes to these questions, then self-publishing is for you. If you can't, then get ready to spend years fine tuning your craft, doing submissions and receiving multiple rejections. It's long tortuously slow process not for the faint of heart, and its designed mostly to crush the spirit of the average writer who dreams of success.

While this may sound like sour grapes coming from someone like myself who hasn't paid enough dues in the way of being rejected or being published, it isn't. I am by nature, an impatient individual. For me, two years worth of rejections from agents and publishers, was a long enough wait before deciding to go out on my own. For others, it may not be. Only you can be the judge on how long you're willing to suffer through the callous industry called publishing.

In any event, no matter what avenue you decided to take, pursue it to the best of your ability, because at the end, the reward of being published is all that really matters.

13 comments:

  1. I just wrote an EXTENSIVE comment. Where did it go? Anyway, I have a stack on my table of my book ready to go to publishers. I WILL NOT GIVE UP. However, I will be contacting you in the future....Can you send me your card, etc.???
    debbie patrick
    1400 Circleville Road
    State COllege, Pa 16803

    I will also do a post about you soon!!! good luck
    xoxoxox

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  2. Leonard Cohen self-published his first book. And I intend to self-publish my first 12 songs very soon.

    DOING IT is what matters. And continuing to do it!

    COngrats.

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  3. George-My check is in the mail. I also made a request for an autographed copy, but just gave you the name I want you to make it to-I would love to leave whatever you say up to you and as a surprise for me. I think everything you write is brillant, so whatever you say will be wonderful.

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  4. @jat: many thanks for your purchase, I will send it out within a day or so of receipt. feel free to leave a comment afterwards on the other blog to let me know what you think of it.

    @jannie: that is great news. you'll have to let me know where I can get a copy when its finally in the can, I'm always willing to listen to new music.

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  5. Congrats on the new book! Give me a little time and I will be ordering a copy of Shades of Love.

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  6. @david: I thank you in advance for your upcoming purchase of my novel. I really do appreciate it.

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  7. Hi
    I search to exchange link with other blogs
    Are you interested by it ?
    Thanks to answer me in my blog
    http://darfour.over-blog.net/
    bye

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congrats, Georgie!!

    I think it's admirable that you worked so hard for this and even though it's non-traditional, you made your dream happen!

    I love scheduled posts, too. I can be walking the dogs at midnight and my blog is working for me (I post at 12:01 AM some days).

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  9. Thanks.

    It was almost 3 years in the making (started writing the novel December '05) and I'm glad that I finally got out there for people to see and hopefully take a chance on.

    Scheduled posting was/is an absolute godsend for me. With the way things were going with the book and work, it was great to have something like this to use for emergency purposes.

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  10. Good post, and I wish nothing but the best of luck.

    I'm going to have to try that scheduled post thingy; all my posts to date have been written at the time of posting.

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  11. It really was a godsend to me. I had enough stuff written up at work so that I was able to schedule about two weeks of posts.

    I think it would definitely work for you. Less stress and better management of your time, which is something we can all enjoy.

    And thanks.

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  12. Although still a veeeery long way from finishing what I am writing, it is good to see you got as far as you have, and it is a very good starting point for people to see if they are going the same route. Good effort fella.

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Go on, give me your best shot. I can take it. If I couldn't, I wouldn't have created this wonderful little blog that you decided to grace with your presence today.

About that comment moderation thingy: While yes, it does say up above I can take it, I only use it to prevent the occasional miscreant from leaving thoughtless and/or clueless comments.

So remember, all of your comments are greatly appreciated and all answers will be given that personal touch that you come to expect and enjoy.

G. B. Miller

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All the content that you see here, except for the posting of links that refer to other off-blog stories, is (c) 2008-17 by G.B. Miller. Nothing in whole or in part may be used without the express written permission of myself. If you wish to use any part of what you see here, please contact me at georgebjr2006@gmail.com