Sherry Leclerc's Blog - Posts Tagged "self-publishing"
Amazon Kindle Giveaway
For anyone who would like to increase their chances of winning a copy of my novel, The Guardians of Eastgate, I have started an Amazon giveaway for a Kindle edition of the book. All you have to do is click the link below and follow me on Twitter to enter for a chance to win. Good Luck!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=RN...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=RN...
Check out my second Seers Short Story
While we are awaiting the second edition of my first book, the Guardians of Eastgate, and the subsequent release of the second book of the Seers Series, I have posted my second short story on the blog page of my website. Click the link below to read it.
Enjoy!
http://www.sherryleclerc.com/2017/10/...
Sherry Leclerc
Enjoy!
http://www.sherryleclerc.com/2017/10/...
Sherry Leclerc
TIPS FROM A SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHOR FINDING HER WAY IN THE DARK
6 December 2017
Issue # 1 : Traditional Publishing, Assisted Self-Publishing, or Self-Publishing?
I published my very first novel, The Guardians of Eastgate: Seers Book I, this past summer. It was officially released for sale on all online platforms on August 30th. During the process of getting that first edition out to the public, and since then, I have learned a lot. And I’ve learned enough to know that there is still a lot more left to learn. It’s a never-ending process. I say ‘never-ending’ because there are always new things happening, so I expect I will never know everything there is about the subject.
In order to help other authors who are starting out and thinking about self-publishing, I decided to start writing this blog series. In it, I will tell you about the things I’ve discovered while stumbling my way through the dark.
In this first issue, I will talk to you a little about traditional publishing, assisted self-publishing, and self-publishing.
When I finished writing my first manuscript, I knew I would need it edited, formatted for print and eBook, and so on. Really, though, I was aware there was a lot to be done, but I didn’t know what it all was, or how to go about doing it. So, I searched online for help.
Some major benefits of going with a traditional publisher, I have learned, are that they take on the costs of publishing the book, and they provide editors, cover artists, and pretty much every other service that you need to get your story from manuscript to published book. So, it’s the publisher who takes on the risk of putting money into a book that may or may not make back the value of the investment.
Sounds great, right? Especially if you are a new author who can’t afford to carry all the costs yourself, or you don’t have the time to search for all the talent you need.
Well, it can be great, but there is also a flip side. Traditional publishing companies provide you with everything you need, but they also claim much of the royalties from the sales of the book. Of course, you can negotiate contracts most of the time, but some publishers will actually take up to 70% or more of the royalties. On top of that, the publishing house will most likely hold the copyright and take the creative control.
And, that’s assuming you can get a traditional publishing company to take you on in the first place. Did you know that when J.K. Rowling was looking for a publisher for her first Harry Potter book, she was turned down many times before a small publishing company decided to take a chance on her? And look where she is today.
There are two morals to that story. First, never give up! Second, don’t expect that you’ll find a company to take you on right away.
Publishing Companies can end up with more manuscripts sent to them than they can process. At the same time, though, some publishers don’t like it if you’ve sent the same manuscript out to other publishers to look at while it’s with them. Manuscripts can end up sitting for years on an editor’s desk before they even get the chance to look at them. Then, once they do, your manuscript may end up rejected, not because it wasn’t a good story, or because it wasn’t well-written. It could end up being rejected for reasons such as, how many manuscripts in your genre has the company taken on presently? What genres are selling well at that moment in time? And so on and so on.
However, you may never know why the manuscript was rejected. For example, one of the members of a Facebook writers’ groups I belong to recently wrote about how he had asked an editor that “why” question. He was told, in not a very nice fashion, to never ask that question again. So, you may end up sitting there, deflated, thinking your story is not good enough and/or your writing is not good enough. Of course, there is always the possibility that’s the case. But there is also the possibility that it was rejected for a completely different reason.
Many authors write query letters to the publishing company instead of submitting their manuscripts cold. A good query letter can help your book stand out, so it is a good idea to learn how to write one well if you are going with traditional publishing. Some authors also go the route of finding literary agents to take them on as clients. These agents can help make them more noticeable to traditional publishing companies. Again, you have to write query letters and be prepared to go to numerous agents before finding one who will take you on as a client.
Another thing I discovered is that there are many so-called “Assisted Self-Publishing” companies out there. However, many of them are linked to traditional publishers and, while you still have to pay for everything yourself since you are “self-publishing,” these companies still charge for services, and even claim royalties. In some cases, they claim much more than I would have expected, considering that the initial costs come out of the author’s own pocket. So, if you go this route, you have to be very careful in researching and choosing a company.
As for myself, I decided to go the assisted self-publishing route in the beginning because, I had waited more than 25 years to get the story in my head down on paper, darn it! I didn’t want to take years more to get it out to the world. But, since I knew nothing, I decided to go the ‘assisted self-publishing’ route.
I know what you’re thinking. Why would I go that route after all the negative things I said about it above? Well, there were a couple of reasons. First of all, I had a book that needed publishing and not enough time or patience to learn to do everything myself. More importantly, I managed to find a Canadian company called Tellwell (www.tellwell.ca), who provides the ‘talent’ (editors, layout people, cover designers, etc.), sets up distribution accounts, and various other things you might need, depending on how much you want to spend. And this was the ONE company I found who didn’t claim the copyright, and who did not take ANY royalties.
They can even, if you purchase that particular service, set you up with a domain name and a website. In fact, they have recently helped me transfer the domain name owner from them (because they do all the initial set-up) to me.
If you go the true self-publishing route, you can either do it all yourself using a service such as CreateSpace, or find and pay the people and/or services you need to get your book published. I will give you more information about self-publishing and self-publishing options in Issue 2 of this newsletter.
In the next issue of Tips from a Self-Published Author Finding Her Way in the Dark:
*More pros and cons of assisted self-publishing
*Why I am glad I used a (true) assisted self-publishing company for my first novel
*Why I would NOT go this route for the second edition of my first book, or for planned future books
*More information about self-publishing options
Please note that these are my own experiences and opinions. I am not saying my choices would be best for everyone. It is always a good idea to do your research. My goal is to inform you of the kinds of things you need to know, and maybe even give you some insights and direction.
I look forward to posting more blogs about self-publishing, for your information and enjoyment, in the future.
Thanks for reading!
P.S. If you have not yet signed up for my author newsletter in exchange for a free copy of my Seers Series short story collection, The Guardians of Sterrenvar, please click here.
https://sherryleclerc.authorreach.com/
Issue # 1 : Traditional Publishing, Assisted Self-Publishing, or Self-Publishing?
I published my very first novel, The Guardians of Eastgate: Seers Book I, this past summer. It was officially released for sale on all online platforms on August 30th. During the process of getting that first edition out to the public, and since then, I have learned a lot. And I’ve learned enough to know that there is still a lot more left to learn. It’s a never-ending process. I say ‘never-ending’ because there are always new things happening, so I expect I will never know everything there is about the subject.
In order to help other authors who are starting out and thinking about self-publishing, I decided to start writing this blog series. In it, I will tell you about the things I’ve discovered while stumbling my way through the dark.
In this first issue, I will talk to you a little about traditional publishing, assisted self-publishing, and self-publishing.
When I finished writing my first manuscript, I knew I would need it edited, formatted for print and eBook, and so on. Really, though, I was aware there was a lot to be done, but I didn’t know what it all was, or how to go about doing it. So, I searched online for help.
Some major benefits of going with a traditional publisher, I have learned, are that they take on the costs of publishing the book, and they provide editors, cover artists, and pretty much every other service that you need to get your story from manuscript to published book. So, it’s the publisher who takes on the risk of putting money into a book that may or may not make back the value of the investment.
Sounds great, right? Especially if you are a new author who can’t afford to carry all the costs yourself, or you don’t have the time to search for all the talent you need.
Well, it can be great, but there is also a flip side. Traditional publishing companies provide you with everything you need, but they also claim much of the royalties from the sales of the book. Of course, you can negotiate contracts most of the time, but some publishers will actually take up to 70% or more of the royalties. On top of that, the publishing house will most likely hold the copyright and take the creative control.
And, that’s assuming you can get a traditional publishing company to take you on in the first place. Did you know that when J.K. Rowling was looking for a publisher for her first Harry Potter book, she was turned down many times before a small publishing company decided to take a chance on her? And look where she is today.
There are two morals to that story. First, never give up! Second, don’t expect that you’ll find a company to take you on right away.
Publishing Companies can end up with more manuscripts sent to them than they can process. At the same time, though, some publishers don’t like it if you’ve sent the same manuscript out to other publishers to look at while it’s with them. Manuscripts can end up sitting for years on an editor’s desk before they even get the chance to look at them. Then, once they do, your manuscript may end up rejected, not because it wasn’t a good story, or because it wasn’t well-written. It could end up being rejected for reasons such as, how many manuscripts in your genre has the company taken on presently? What genres are selling well at that moment in time? And so on and so on.
However, you may never know why the manuscript was rejected. For example, one of the members of a Facebook writers’ groups I belong to recently wrote about how he had asked an editor that “why” question. He was told, in not a very nice fashion, to never ask that question again. So, you may end up sitting there, deflated, thinking your story is not good enough and/or your writing is not good enough. Of course, there is always the possibility that’s the case. But there is also the possibility that it was rejected for a completely different reason.
Many authors write query letters to the publishing company instead of submitting their manuscripts cold. A good query letter can help your book stand out, so it is a good idea to learn how to write one well if you are going with traditional publishing. Some authors also go the route of finding literary agents to take them on as clients. These agents can help make them more noticeable to traditional publishing companies. Again, you have to write query letters and be prepared to go to numerous agents before finding one who will take you on as a client.
Another thing I discovered is that there are many so-called “Assisted Self-Publishing” companies out there. However, many of them are linked to traditional publishers and, while you still have to pay for everything yourself since you are “self-publishing,” these companies still charge for services, and even claim royalties. In some cases, they claim much more than I would have expected, considering that the initial costs come out of the author’s own pocket. So, if you go this route, you have to be very careful in researching and choosing a company.
As for myself, I decided to go the assisted self-publishing route in the beginning because, I had waited more than 25 years to get the story in my head down on paper, darn it! I didn’t want to take years more to get it out to the world. But, since I knew nothing, I decided to go the ‘assisted self-publishing’ route.
I know what you’re thinking. Why would I go that route after all the negative things I said about it above? Well, there were a couple of reasons. First of all, I had a book that needed publishing and not enough time or patience to learn to do everything myself. More importantly, I managed to find a Canadian company called Tellwell (www.tellwell.ca), who provides the ‘talent’ (editors, layout people, cover designers, etc.), sets up distribution accounts, and various other things you might need, depending on how much you want to spend. And this was the ONE company I found who didn’t claim the copyright, and who did not take ANY royalties.
They can even, if you purchase that particular service, set you up with a domain name and a website. In fact, they have recently helped me transfer the domain name owner from them (because they do all the initial set-up) to me.
If you go the true self-publishing route, you can either do it all yourself using a service such as CreateSpace, or find and pay the people and/or services you need to get your book published. I will give you more information about self-publishing and self-publishing options in Issue 2 of this newsletter.
In the next issue of Tips from a Self-Published Author Finding Her Way in the Dark:
*More pros and cons of assisted self-publishing
*Why I am glad I used a (true) assisted self-publishing company for my first novel
*Why I would NOT go this route for the second edition of my first book, or for planned future books
*More information about self-publishing options
Please note that these are my own experiences and opinions. I am not saying my choices would be best for everyone. It is always a good idea to do your research. My goal is to inform you of the kinds of things you need to know, and maybe even give you some insights and direction.
I look forward to posting more blogs about self-publishing, for your information and enjoyment, in the future.
Thanks for reading!
P.S. If you have not yet signed up for my author newsletter in exchange for a free copy of my Seers Series short story collection, The Guardians of Sterrenvar, please click here.
https://sherryleclerc.authorreach.com/
HOW LONG SHOULD A DEBUT NOVEL BE?
Sherry Leclerc
How long should my debut novel be?
When I was writing the first edition of my first novel, a big question for me was how long should a debut novel be?
One of the first places I went to try to figure this out was Wikipedia. What I found out there was that writing over 40,000 words is considered a novel, but beyond that, it can vary greatly.
Classification Word count
Novel 40,000 words or over
Novella 17,500 to 39,999 words
Novelette 7,500 to 17,499 words
Short story under 7,500 words
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_count
There are a number of factors that can affect the length of your novel, such as genre and whether you plan to self-publish or are looking for a traditional publisher. If you are looking for a traditional publisher, it is also important to note that different publishers may be looking for different minimum word counts. On the flip side, if your manuscript is what they consider to be too long, the publisher may ask you to cut some of it out.
During the process of writing my first book, I read articles and spoke to people in the industry that suggested that a new, unknown author keep their first novel short, for a couple of reasons.
First of all, many publishers are looking for shorter novels for untested authors due to cost and so on, and longer novel lengths are typically reserved for authors who have already proven themselves.
I also read that a shorter novel might better entice readers to give your book a try, as they won’t have to commit to buying a longer and potentially more expensive book by an author they have never read before.
For the first edition of my novel, then, I kept it short at about 60,000 words. However, I felt it needed more fleshing out, and this thought was echoed in a review or two of the book.
When I decided to hire a graphic artist to do the book covers for the entire series, I also decided to re-do the cover of the first book so that the series would look more uniform. This would mean publishing a second edition, and I took this opportunity to develop my story a little more.
In the end, my second edition ended up at around 72,000 words and is, in my opinion, much improved from the first edition. This is still on the short side for my genre, which is fantasy. However, I followed the advice I was given or had read in the beginning concerning first novels and decided to keep it on the short side.
On the flip side of that, I recently read an article that listed publishers who consider new authors. Each of these had minimum word counts well above the numbers I had originally been given or found. However, I have read numerous other articles and books since that repeat this advice.
And, yet again, there are still many publishers who don’t seem to recommend a particular word count.
What take-away messages did I get from all this?
Length is linked in large part to the genre you are writing in.
There really is no true consensus.
Here is a list of some do’s and don’ts that I learned along the way and would like to pass on to aspiring authors:
DO base the length of your novel on what feels right for your story.
DON’T base the length on factors such as how much the per word cost for editing is.
DO think of the submission guidelines of traditional publishing houses you may wish to submit to or are hoping to catch the eye of with your self-published novel.
DON’T assume all publishing houses are looking for the same thing.
DO think of the purpose and audience of your book when deciding word count. Are you writing fiction or non-fiction? If fiction, which genre, and what age group?
DON’T write a super long book for children, or super short for adults.
And the biggest DO of all:
DO what works best for your particular story.
Below is a list of links to some articles I’ve read relating to word count:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_count
http://manuscriptagency.com.au/word-c...
https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/w...
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-b...
https://fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com...
https://thoughtsonfantasy.com/2017/02...
http://greatstorybook.com/publishers-...
Sherry Leclerc is a science fiction and fantasy fanatic who lives in magical realms where swords and sorcery,
action and adventure, seers, shifters and sorcerers abound.
How long should my debut novel be?
When I was writing the first edition of my first novel, a big question for me was how long should a debut novel be?
One of the first places I went to try to figure this out was Wikipedia. What I found out there was that writing over 40,000 words is considered a novel, but beyond that, it can vary greatly.
Classification Word count
Novel 40,000 words or over
Novella 17,500 to 39,999 words
Novelette 7,500 to 17,499 words
Short story under 7,500 words
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_count
There are a number of factors that can affect the length of your novel, such as genre and whether you plan to self-publish or are looking for a traditional publisher. If you are looking for a traditional publisher, it is also important to note that different publishers may be looking for different minimum word counts. On the flip side, if your manuscript is what they consider to be too long, the publisher may ask you to cut some of it out.
During the process of writing my first book, I read articles and spoke to people in the industry that suggested that a new, unknown author keep their first novel short, for a couple of reasons.
First of all, many publishers are looking for shorter novels for untested authors due to cost and so on, and longer novel lengths are typically reserved for authors who have already proven themselves.
I also read that a shorter novel might better entice readers to give your book a try, as they won’t have to commit to buying a longer and potentially more expensive book by an author they have never read before.
For the first edition of my novel, then, I kept it short at about 60,000 words. However, I felt it needed more fleshing out, and this thought was echoed in a review or two of the book.
When I decided to hire a graphic artist to do the book covers for the entire series, I also decided to re-do the cover of the first book so that the series would look more uniform. This would mean publishing a second edition, and I took this opportunity to develop my story a little more.
In the end, my second edition ended up at around 72,000 words and is, in my opinion, much improved from the first edition. This is still on the short side for my genre, which is fantasy. However, I followed the advice I was given or had read in the beginning concerning first novels and decided to keep it on the short side.
On the flip side of that, I recently read an article that listed publishers who consider new authors. Each of these had minimum word counts well above the numbers I had originally been given or found. However, I have read numerous other articles and books since that repeat this advice.
And, yet again, there are still many publishers who don’t seem to recommend a particular word count.
What take-away messages did I get from all this?
Length is linked in large part to the genre you are writing in.
There really is no true consensus.
Here is a list of some do’s and don’ts that I learned along the way and would like to pass on to aspiring authors:
DO base the length of your novel on what feels right for your story.
DON’T base the length on factors such as how much the per word cost for editing is.
DO think of the submission guidelines of traditional publishing houses you may wish to submit to or are hoping to catch the eye of with your self-published novel.
DON’T assume all publishing houses are looking for the same thing.
DO think of the purpose and audience of your book when deciding word count. Are you writing fiction or non-fiction? If fiction, which genre, and what age group?
DON’T write a super long book for children, or super short for adults.
And the biggest DO of all:
DO what works best for your particular story.
Below is a list of links to some articles I’ve read relating to word count:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_count
http://manuscriptagency.com.au/word-c...
https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/w...
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-b...
https://fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com...
https://thoughtsonfantasy.com/2017/02...
http://greatstorybook.com/publishers-...
Sherry Leclerc is a science fiction and fantasy fanatic who lives in magical realms where swords and sorcery,
action and adventure, seers, shifters and sorcerers abound.
