Tim Hughes's Blog - Posts Tagged "patience"
The Indie Route. Really?
So there I was. The first draft of my book was finished. I praised God for guiding me through the writing process, and I felt as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I know God had to be smiling as he watched. He knew the easy part was done and the journey was just beginning.
It was time to edit, and I was quietly horrified as my wife and I went through six more drafts, dutifully applying stabby love to the unreadable mess that was my first draft. After six months, a book was born.
I was proud and thankful and joyous and celebratory. You get the picture. Now, God’s message was about to be delivered to the whole world. By Tuesday, everyone on the planet would have purchased my book and my wife and I would be relaxing on a sunny beach, preparing to write the next book and repeat the process. Yep, it was time to kick back and watch the sales roll in.
What? It has to be published first? Well, that’s simple. I’ll just call up the local publishing company, let them know it’s ready to go, and in a couple of weeks the world can start reading. Publishing companies take care of everything and usually provide a huge advance to their writers, right? OK, so maybe it will be a little slower than I expected, but the literary promised land is just over the next hill.
What? Publishers have huge backlogs, have little interest in new authors, provide next to no marketing support, and take as much as two years to get the book to market? Gee, that’s not quite as glamorous as it sounds. I didn’t really sign up for this part, God. All you told me was that I’d be writing novels and spreading the message you wanted delivered. You failed to mention the part about getting published. Aren’t You supposed to handle the delivery of the baby after I dutifully went through the gestation period?
How can I possibly do all of this, God? It’s just not fair. How, how, how?
What’s that, Father? I must not have heard you right. It sounded like you said “Slowly.” Slowly would mean that this is going to be another learning process, looking to You for guidance as I go. Haven’t I already learned enough? So, success isn’t going to happen overnight, Father? Sigh. Why do things always have to be so difficult?
That’s when God opened my eyes to the world of indie publishing. If I had gone the standard publishing route, I would have to market the novel anyway. First time authors don’t get much support. This was the best route. This was a route where I could go at my own pace and learn the ins and outs of self-marketing without being prodded and persuaded by a literary agent and a publishing company. This was the route where I would make the most friends and have the biggest impact on others in a personal way (and them on me).
So far, I have no regrets. God is keeping His promise and guiding me through the process. I am learning every day, trying to avoid the land mines and figuring out how to market the book.
Does that mean that I won’t ever go with the standard publishing route? Not at all. In the future, God may lead me to His intended publishing house to provide the correct solution at that time. However, at this stage in my learning process, God made it clear that indie is the best way to disseminate His intended message and have a chance to learn the ropes along the way.
God knew all along, I just had to come around to His way of thinking. Amazing how He waits. And gently prompts. And waits. And finally we see what He saw from the very beginning.
It was time to edit, and I was quietly horrified as my wife and I went through six more drafts, dutifully applying stabby love to the unreadable mess that was my first draft. After six months, a book was born.
I was proud and thankful and joyous and celebratory. You get the picture. Now, God’s message was about to be delivered to the whole world. By Tuesday, everyone on the planet would have purchased my book and my wife and I would be relaxing on a sunny beach, preparing to write the next book and repeat the process. Yep, it was time to kick back and watch the sales roll in.
What? It has to be published first? Well, that’s simple. I’ll just call up the local publishing company, let them know it’s ready to go, and in a couple of weeks the world can start reading. Publishing companies take care of everything and usually provide a huge advance to their writers, right? OK, so maybe it will be a little slower than I expected, but the literary promised land is just over the next hill.
What? Publishers have huge backlogs, have little interest in new authors, provide next to no marketing support, and take as much as two years to get the book to market? Gee, that’s not quite as glamorous as it sounds. I didn’t really sign up for this part, God. All you told me was that I’d be writing novels and spreading the message you wanted delivered. You failed to mention the part about getting published. Aren’t You supposed to handle the delivery of the baby after I dutifully went through the gestation period?
How can I possibly do all of this, God? It’s just not fair. How, how, how?
What’s that, Father? I must not have heard you right. It sounded like you said “Slowly.” Slowly would mean that this is going to be another learning process, looking to You for guidance as I go. Haven’t I already learned enough? So, success isn’t going to happen overnight, Father? Sigh. Why do things always have to be so difficult?
That’s when God opened my eyes to the world of indie publishing. If I had gone the standard publishing route, I would have to market the novel anyway. First time authors don’t get much support. This was the best route. This was a route where I could go at my own pace and learn the ins and outs of self-marketing without being prodded and persuaded by a literary agent and a publishing company. This was the route where I would make the most friends and have the biggest impact on others in a personal way (and them on me).
So far, I have no regrets. God is keeping His promise and guiding me through the process. I am learning every day, trying to avoid the land mines and figuring out how to market the book.
Does that mean that I won’t ever go with the standard publishing route? Not at all. In the future, God may lead me to His intended publishing house to provide the correct solution at that time. However, at this stage in my learning process, God made it clear that indie is the best way to disseminate His intended message and have a chance to learn the ropes along the way.
God knew all along, I just had to come around to His way of thinking. Amazing how He waits. And gently prompts. And waits. And finally we see what He saw from the very beginning.
