Jessica Russell's Blog - Posts Tagged "publishing"
Stop the Shouting
Just a short hit and run tonight. We hate to see it and it’s unfortunate when it happens, but we all know it’s a fact of life. Sometimes writers are the worst group of people when it comes to encouraging fellow writers. Why do we feel compelled to fight about everything?
We fight about whether an author should traditionally publish versus self publish, we argue about who the best publishers are, we argue about the best way to go about advertising and networking, and we defend our positions as if winning the argument is a life or death situation. It’s one of those weird occurrences that no matter how hard you think, you can’t come up with any reason why it should be happening. Bottom line is, it shouldn’t.
We should be encouraging each other, sharing each other’s links, and–Oh My!–actually reviewing each other’s books instead of getting envious every time another writer gets more reviews than we do. So state your reasons, defend your position, if you feel you must, and offer your thoughts and insights on the many different factors in our lives as writers, but don’t act like it’s the end of the world if someone disagrees. In this day and age of anger and hatred, it’s important to just be able to talk to each other without feeling like you have to change everybody’s mind.
The bottom line is, you can’t change anybody’s mind. And nobody ever changes yours either. We all do what we do for a reason, so let’s just respect each other’s choices and stop the shouting!
We fight about whether an author should traditionally publish versus self publish, we argue about who the best publishers are, we argue about the best way to go about advertising and networking, and we defend our positions as if winning the argument is a life or death situation. It’s one of those weird occurrences that no matter how hard you think, you can’t come up with any reason why it should be happening. Bottom line is, it shouldn’t.
We should be encouraging each other, sharing each other’s links, and–Oh My!–actually reviewing each other’s books instead of getting envious every time another writer gets more reviews than we do. So state your reasons, defend your position, if you feel you must, and offer your thoughts and insights on the many different factors in our lives as writers, but don’t act like it’s the end of the world if someone disagrees. In this day and age of anger and hatred, it’s important to just be able to talk to each other without feeling like you have to change everybody’s mind.
The bottom line is, you can’t change anybody’s mind. And nobody ever changes yours either. We all do what we do for a reason, so let’s just respect each other’s choices and stop the shouting!
No, Self-Publishing is NOT a Scam
I usually don’t leap into this fray because it’s highly controversial and authors seem to enjoy jumping down each other’s throats over it. However, something I saw today made me think that perhaps I can bring a bit of reason into this heated argument, or at the very least, be the adult in the room.
There’s an ongoing verbal fistfight, naturally, about which is better, traditional publishing or self-publishing. Ultimately, that depends on the writer. There are many reasons to gamble that you’ll get traditionally published one day, and there are many reasons to self-publish.
Today I saw a post in a writers group, which I usually stay out of because these groups are typically nothing more than writers fighting with each other about a lot of nonsense. But this post said the following: “If they charge you money, it’s a scam. PERIOD.”
Uh, not true. Not even close.
I know several people who work for self-publishing companies, and the majority of them are most certainly not a scam. They may be offering a service that YOU don’t think people should be interested in, but that does not make them a scam.
As previously mentioned, there are many reasons a writer may choose to have a company handle things if he or she wants to self publish. Perhaps the author does not want to do all the formatting, the editing, the work designing the cover, getting the book a Library of Congress number, adding it to multiple platforms once it’s ready, etc. etc. For those individuals, paying for these services is a good option.
Understandably, people can go the KDP route, but for reasons I’ll save for another blog, that option is quite limited.
Self-publishing companies offer packages that, for the right person, are very helpful and very affordable. The ONLY time such a venture becomes a scam is if the company tells you that they’re offering traditional publishing, but then asks you for money. THAT is a scam, simply because self-publishing and traditional publishing are two completely different processes. You never have to pay for traditional publishing.
However, if you elect to go the self-publishing route and the company does everything they say they will do, such as the things listed above, and they were upfront about the cost, then you simply paid for a service you wanted. That does not constitute a scam. So be careful when you run around saying that ANY company that charges money for publishing services is a scam, because you just might be spreading fake news.
There’s an ongoing verbal fistfight, naturally, about which is better, traditional publishing or self-publishing. Ultimately, that depends on the writer. There are many reasons to gamble that you’ll get traditionally published one day, and there are many reasons to self-publish.
Today I saw a post in a writers group, which I usually stay out of because these groups are typically nothing more than writers fighting with each other about a lot of nonsense. But this post said the following: “If they charge you money, it’s a scam. PERIOD.”
Uh, not true. Not even close.
I know several people who work for self-publishing companies, and the majority of them are most certainly not a scam. They may be offering a service that YOU don’t think people should be interested in, but that does not make them a scam.
As previously mentioned, there are many reasons a writer may choose to have a company handle things if he or she wants to self publish. Perhaps the author does not want to do all the formatting, the editing, the work designing the cover, getting the book a Library of Congress number, adding it to multiple platforms once it’s ready, etc. etc. For those individuals, paying for these services is a good option.
Understandably, people can go the KDP route, but for reasons I’ll save for another blog, that option is quite limited.
Self-publishing companies offer packages that, for the right person, are very helpful and very affordable. The ONLY time such a venture becomes a scam is if the company tells you that they’re offering traditional publishing, but then asks you for money. THAT is a scam, simply because self-publishing and traditional publishing are two completely different processes. You never have to pay for traditional publishing.
However, if you elect to go the self-publishing route and the company does everything they say they will do, such as the things listed above, and they were upfront about the cost, then you simply paid for a service you wanted. That does not constitute a scam. So be careful when you run around saying that ANY company that charges money for publishing services is a scam, because you just might be spreading fake news.
Choose Wisely
Connecting with like-minded people is one of the best ways to find solace in this crazy industry. However, don’t make the mistake that so many writers make and join every “writing community” that you can find. If you do so, you will probably quickly discover that many are nothing more than a source of aggravation. Not because the groups themselves have something wrong with them, but because you don’t belong in all of them, pure and simple. There are many stages in careers. I’ve been a professional web content writer for about 16 years, so this whole writing for a living thing is old hat to me. While it’s true that last year was the first time I published a novel length work of fiction, I’m not new to the industry. Therefore, when I look to join writing communities or follow Facebook pages geared toward writers, I admit, I search for ones with members who make their living as writers and have been kicking around in this line of work for a long time.
The reason is because I have things in common with those people. Sometimes I’ve ended up in groups where a young person would come on and post “I’d like to write a novel, what should it be about?” And I’ve got my head bitten off for saying “If you don’t know, WE don’t know, LOL,” until I realized that the entire group was young, aspiring writers, most of whom were not even out of college yet. Well, there was nothing wrong with that person’s post, I just didn’t get it because “Writers Group” to me meant other people like me, who earn their living this way and can’t get RID of all the ideas for novels in our heads if we tried.
Bottom line, that just wasn’t the group for me. When joining communities and following pages, sometimes less is more. Hone in on the ones that offer you the most rather than making the mistake of joining everything and anything. If you’ve been at it for a long time and know the ropes, the best groups you can join are ones made up of other people just like you. They’ve been in the trenches for decades, they know how the novel publishing game is played, and they have the experience to understand what you’re talking about without you having to leave continuous explanations.
It works the same way with newbies. They are best off in groups where they can express the common frustrations that occur when someone is first breaking into the business. It’s not that any writing organization or forum is “wrong,” it’s just that a group might be wrong for YOU. Be selective! Discover where your peers are and join those groups. You’ll be glad you did! You’ll find yourself in interesting conversations, sharing good advice, and offering and getting support from people who “know what you mean.” Write on!
The reason is because I have things in common with those people. Sometimes I’ve ended up in groups where a young person would come on and post “I’d like to write a novel, what should it be about?” And I’ve got my head bitten off for saying “If you don’t know, WE don’t know, LOL,” until I realized that the entire group was young, aspiring writers, most of whom were not even out of college yet. Well, there was nothing wrong with that person’s post, I just didn’t get it because “Writers Group” to me meant other people like me, who earn their living this way and can’t get RID of all the ideas for novels in our heads if we tried.
Bottom line, that just wasn’t the group for me. When joining communities and following pages, sometimes less is more. Hone in on the ones that offer you the most rather than making the mistake of joining everything and anything. If you’ve been at it for a long time and know the ropes, the best groups you can join are ones made up of other people just like you. They’ve been in the trenches for decades, they know how the novel publishing game is played, and they have the experience to understand what you’re talking about without you having to leave continuous explanations.
It works the same way with newbies. They are best off in groups where they can express the common frustrations that occur when someone is first breaking into the business. It’s not that any writing organization or forum is “wrong,” it’s just that a group might be wrong for YOU. Be selective! Discover where your peers are and join those groups. You’ll be glad you did! You’ll find yourself in interesting conversations, sharing good advice, and offering and getting support from people who “know what you mean.” Write on!
