Jennifer Goebel's Blog: Adventures in Self-Publishing
October 11, 2013
August 20, 2013
On Not Being a Salesperson and Getting Reviews
The thing about me, and I'm guessing a lot of other writers, is that we are introspective introverts who are happier conversing with our imaginary characters sometimes than we are with real live people. Especially when we are supposed to sell something to these real live people. Like our books.
I'd like to think that the book is good and should sell itself. That's how it should be, right? Stands on its merits. The cream will rise to the top.
But, as we all know, there's plenty of execrable stuff that gets published and promoted while many wonderful stories languish on the shelves, or in slush piles, or, when we are just too depressed to send yet another manuscript out the door, in our hard drives.
Writing books is art, and selling them is business, and that is a tough bridge to cross personality-wise. For me, anyway.
Anyway, now firmly into month 2 of self-publishing, we are trying hard to get reviews. Emailing bloggers, Amazon reviewers, librarians, soccer clubs, you name it, trying to get people to read the book and say something about it. Post a review, please! Tweet it, please!
So many rejections, mostly noted by the sound of crickets, but sometimes actual "I'm too busy" responses or just, no.
So, working on toughening the skin, keeping the tone of desperation in check, and going back for more.
Good news - NerdGirl will do a review, so hoping that may reach an audience. In the meantime, the emails requesting reviews go out in spurts.
The thing is, I believe in our book. I really do. So I'll keep on plugging away.
I'd like to think that the book is good and should sell itself. That's how it should be, right? Stands on its merits. The cream will rise to the top.
But, as we all know, there's plenty of execrable stuff that gets published and promoted while many wonderful stories languish on the shelves, or in slush piles, or, when we are just too depressed to send yet another manuscript out the door, in our hard drives.
Writing books is art, and selling them is business, and that is a tough bridge to cross personality-wise. For me, anyway.
Anyway, now firmly into month 2 of self-publishing, we are trying hard to get reviews. Emailing bloggers, Amazon reviewers, librarians, soccer clubs, you name it, trying to get people to read the book and say something about it. Post a review, please! Tweet it, please!
So many rejections, mostly noted by the sound of crickets, but sometimes actual "I'm too busy" responses or just, no.
So, working on toughening the skin, keeping the tone of desperation in check, and going back for more.
Good news - NerdGirl will do a review, so hoping that may reach an audience. In the meantime, the emails requesting reviews go out in spurts.
The thing is, I believe in our book. I really do. So I'll keep on plugging away.
August 14, 2013
"Categorically Not Interested in Self-Published Books"
That's what I heard yesterday from a YA publisher who I had high hopes might pick up Tournament. Ha! So much for that.
I admit to harboring fantasies about one day meeting him at a conference, after we've sold the movie rights of course, and saying to him, a la Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, "Remember me? You wouldn't look at my book because it was self-published. Big mistake. Huge!" And then I will waltz off, in a brown polka-dot dress to a Polo match.
Yup, that'll happen. ;-)
So why this stigma attached to self-published books? I mean, look at everyone's favorite self-publishing Cinderella story, Fifty Shades of Grey. Or, right now PW has Violet Duke occupying two of the top 10 iBook slots with "Choosing the Right Man" and "Falling for the Good Guy." There are a lot of success stories out there, some authors who self-published and then got picked up by a major publishing house, and others who just prefer to self-publish.
I've looked for reviewers on dozens of blogs, and many of them say they don't accept self-published books for review. It's always frustrating to see that. Publishing is an industry that's changing, and struggling with this change.
Readers are also struggling with the change. Of the dozen or so "freebies" I've downloaded through promotions on various outlets, I've found most of them unreadable. I get easily distracted by poor formatting and the inability to use a comma correctly, so it's partially me.
As more and more of us enter this brave new world of self-publishing, the importance of Goodreads and amateur reviewers will continue to grow. It will be interesting to see how the major publishers adapt to the new world order, and how long professional publishers will say they are "categorically not interested in self-published books."
I admit to harboring fantasies about one day meeting him at a conference, after we've sold the movie rights of course, and saying to him, a la Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, "Remember me? You wouldn't look at my book because it was self-published. Big mistake. Huge!" And then I will waltz off, in a brown polka-dot dress to a Polo match.
Yup, that'll happen. ;-)
So why this stigma attached to self-published books? I mean, look at everyone's favorite self-publishing Cinderella story, Fifty Shades of Grey. Or, right now PW has Violet Duke occupying two of the top 10 iBook slots with "Choosing the Right Man" and "Falling for the Good Guy." There are a lot of success stories out there, some authors who self-published and then got picked up by a major publishing house, and others who just prefer to self-publish.
I've looked for reviewers on dozens of blogs, and many of them say they don't accept self-published books for review. It's always frustrating to see that. Publishing is an industry that's changing, and struggling with this change.
Readers are also struggling with the change. Of the dozen or so "freebies" I've downloaded through promotions on various outlets, I've found most of them unreadable. I get easily distracted by poor formatting and the inability to use a comma correctly, so it's partially me.
As more and more of us enter this brave new world of self-publishing, the importance of Goodreads and amateur reviewers will continue to grow. It will be interesting to see how the major publishers adapt to the new world order, and how long professional publishers will say they are "categorically not interested in self-published books."
Adventures in Self-Publishing
Hello, out there. As a public service (no, not really), I thought it might be fun (or depressing) to document what we're doing to market our self-published book and how it's going. Would love to hear
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