MY LIFE AS AN INDEPENDENT AUTHOR, AND WHAT I'VE LEARNED ABOUT SELF-PU*LI*HING (WITHOUT THE B.S.)

PART II
"VANITY PUBLISHING: THE PROS AND CONS, AND THE PRO'S THAT CON"

 

 

 

Having a finished novel was an exciting thing. I considered myself an author, and I felt a sense of accomplishment that had previously eluded me for nearly all of my life. All the way through the writing process, I told myself I was doing it for me - it was a personal achievement, and incredibly satisfying. I enjoyed telling the stories and I treated it as a hobby.

 

But there was always that... inkling. That nagging voice in the back of my head. "Look at J.K. Rowling," it said. "Look at Lee Child. Look at John Locke." I couldn't shake this idea, this... dream, that my book might actually be good enough to, y'know, make it. To be on sale. To be enjoyed by people all over the world.

 

Nah... surely not!

 

As a newbie to the world of writing, I had a very vague notion of what becoming published entailed. I knew you needed an agent, and it was their job to basically say whether or not your work was good enough. If it was, they contacted publishers like Harper Collins and Bloomsbury and tried to sell them the idea that giving me some money and printing my book so it goes in book stores around the country/world was worth doing.

 

Sounds simple enough, right?

 

I read, and read, and read my book, cover to cover, countless times - making sure it was as good as I could make it. And then I hit the Internet and started looking for an agent. I remember even now the feeling I got when I entered that first search on Google. It was a sense of drowning. There were hundreds... thousands, even! Some of them I'd never heard of; some of them sounded vaguely familiar; the odd one or two were known simply because the people on their client list were famous.

 

I had no idea what I was doing. I picked five or six companies that looked reputable and established, and followed the submission procedure on their site to send them my work. Typically, this requires a covering letter, a synopsis of your work and, usually, the first three chapters or the first fifty pages or something. The process itself seemed straightforward enough, so I spent a weekend submitting to literary agents, which I found exciting and made me feel more like a "real" author.

 

Now, I told myself it would take weeks to hear back, if I heard back at all. And I kind of expected them all to say No. I mean, those fairy-tale stories you hear about, where someone's first attempt at writing a book becomes an international bestseller and they make millions - they don't really happen to normal people... It's a well-known anecdote that J.K. Rowling was rejected by dozens of agents before someone took a chance on her book (some children's story about a boy who's a wizard, or something). But nevertheless, despite all the realism and self-deprecation, I couldn't help but dream. I mean, what if...

 

Which is why when the first rejection came through, I was crushed. No other way to describe it. Absolutely devastated.

 

"Thank you for taking the time to submit your work. After careful consideration, we do not feel it's right for us at this time. Good luck in the future."

 

But I quickly got over it. I mean, they were nice enough about it, and it could just be that they have too many submissions... I read somewhere that most agents get around 2,000 a day, so it's understandable that unless you're quite clearly the next Lee Child, they can't accept everyone.

 

But then I got another. And another. And they all said the same thing. It's like it's a stock answer all agents use, to let you down gently in the vain attempt to not crush your hopes and dreams as they tell you , basically, that your book isn't good enough to make any money.

 

I was mortified. I consoled myself by staying busy, writing the follow-up novel, Hunter's Games. But it still hurt.

 

I took to the Internet once more, feeling desperate to find a way to publish my book. My hobby was becoming more than just a hobby to me, and I wanted the approval of someone other than a family member to tell me what I was doing was any good.

 

Then I found a company. Well, lots of companies, actually. They offered a service, whereby they took the manuscript of your book, got it ready to publish on Amazon, in both eBook and paperback format, designed you a cover, made it look all professional and things, and then released it to the world on your behalf! I can remember the excitement I felt as it became clear that there was a way to get my work out there. And someone could do it all for me for a simple, upfront cost. Some were more expensive than others. Some a lot more. A handful said they reviewed your manuscript and wouldn't accept just any old drivel - fair enough. A small few said they would reduce the upfront fees, but would take a percentage of the royalties you made.

 

ROYALTIES YOU MADE...?!

 

You mean I could get paid? For writing? Holy Repetitive Strain Injury, Batman!

 

So I signed up! I mean, I'd be crazy not to, right? I found this particular company (who I won't name for obvious reasons) who said they would do all of the above for the modest upfront sum of £400. That was a lot of money to me back then. Hell, it's a lot of money to me now. But after an hour-long conversation with the guy, I was convinced it would be money well spent.

 

***

 

Now, I'm going to take a moment from my autobiographical-slash-advice column story to explain what you're about to read. The point of this blog series is two-fold: one - to simply tell my story of how I got into the writing/publishing business to anyone who might be interested, and two - to offer along the way tips, tricks and advice to aspiring authors, from things I've picked up myself on this journey that might be useful... things that I wish I'd known before I started...

 

One of those things is vanity publishing companies. As you're about to find out, my experience was not a pleasant one, and left me with a sour taste in my mouth. In the interest of keeping this blog post useful, as well as honest, I'll do everything I can to stop any personal bias from clouding the information. At the end of the day, simply because my experience was bad, it doesn't mean anyone else's will be. This could be the ideal route for many up-and-coming authors, and if you decide to go down this road, I genuinely wish you all the best. The post is designed purely to give you the full picture - the pros and cons - of choosing this method of publishing.

 

Okay, on with the story...

 

***

 

So, I parted with the £400 and sent my manuscript over to the guy. After a few days, he rang me, having read through it. He said he liked it, but had some suggestions to make it better. I was more than happy to discuss things with him, and I admit that whilst some things didn't make sense, a lot of what he said did. I took his comments on board, made the agreed changes, and he gave it another look. He said it was good to go, and he set about making the cover and formatting it for publication to Kindle, via Amazon. I just sat back, carried on writing Hunter's Games, and waited for Paradise Burns to become a reality.

 

I got the front cover back a week or so later, along with the formatted manuscript, which now had a table of contents, graphics, subsections... the works! I spent time looking at it, marvelling at the fact my novel was being turned into something real - like what other people have. I gave it another once-over, was happy with how it had been produced, so I gave him the OK to publish it.

 

A couple of nights later, about 8pm, I got a phone call telling me to look on Amazon. Excitedly, I do and... BOOM! There it is! My book was on sale! I couldn't believe it. I dropped to my knees and wept with joy. Honestly, I really did! It was an amazing achievement, and I felt so proud.

 

I thanked the guy for all his hard work, and he explained that what he does with his other authors is leave it a week, and then hand over the username and password to the Amazon Publishing site, essentially giving me control over the work. In exchange, he asks for 50% of whatever royalties the book earns going forward. He kind of slipped that one in there. It took me by surprise at first, but then I thought, it's not uncommon, and it's no different than a "real" publishing deal, except I still get a ridiculously high share of the royalties.

 

On a side note, I read somewhere once that, after all the costs of editing, printing and marketing have been taken away, a traditionally published author (the people you see in book stores) makes maybe 10% from an eBook sale, and 5% from a physical book sale. And those rates are being generous. If you self publish, Amazon pay you 70% from each sale! That's assuming your book is priced higher than £1.99 - you get 35% if it's cheaper, which is still good by comparison.

 

So, anyway, I agreed to the 50/50 split on the earnings. I don't honestly know what, if anything, my expectations were for success at that stage - I was just enjoying the experience. I asked if there was any contractual paperwork to sign, and he said no. He just asks for an e-mail saying I acknowledge the verbal agreement between us. Fair enough, I said. So I confirmed that each month, I would transfer 50% of whatever Paradise Burns made over to their account.

 

Let me take another moment to note that, at this stage, I hadn't signed anything officially with the company. The publication of my first book was a one-time thing, in terms of any obligations to the publisher I might have had. It was simply a service that I paid for upfront. And if I ever wanted to publish again, we would start another one-time service. Kind of like when you go shopping. Just because you go into one shop for something one week, it doesn't automatically mean I then have to go in that shop again next week, if I don't want to. That's important to understand, and you'll see why later on.

 

Okay, so, the book was on sale. I immediately took to Facebook, posting to friends and family about my achievement. Loads of people texted me or rang me with their congratulations and promises that they would purchase it to show their support. And they did. I had 30+ sales in the first 24hrs! I could name every single person who had bought a copy, but that didn't matter!

 

The next day, I spoke to the publisher who said we'll be running a promotion on the book. This means that, through Amazon, we'll make it free for 5 days, get it out there in front of as many people as we can, so we can get reviews. He explained it's reviews that help get the book more visible online - what made sense to me at the time. So I agreed with everything he had planned. We discussed keywords - which he explained to me were what helped the book show up in people's searches on Amazon. He put it all in motion and it went free on a Monday morning in late November 2013.

 

It did just under 800 downloads, which I was blown away by. He called to say it was going well - not the best performing promotion he's ever arranged, but it was good for a first run on a debut novel. Great, I thought! I was happy with the numbers. He told me about another author on his books that did 6,000 in his promotion week. That, to me, sounded like the unattainable holy grail of publishing!

He said to sit back and wait for the reviews to come in.

 

A few days past... nothing. Then the odd one trickled in. I think I got three 3* reviews, saying it was an enjoyable read, but nothing much more than that. I was happy - real people were actually reading my book, and they liked it! That's an awesome feeling! And again, it's a feeling that never goes away. Even now, if I receive a 5* review, I do a little somersault inside!

 

But then a few more reviews started coming in. 1* and 2*. Saying how the author and editor should be ashamed of themselves for putting out such an amateurish novel. I think one person actually referred to it as an embarrassment.

 

I was on the phone to him straight away. He tried to reassure me, saying everyone gets 1* reviews - even Stephen King. He said it's purely people's opinion, and I shouldn't take it to heart. And yeah, he was right to an extent. You can't please everyone, and you do have to develop a thick skin for this kind of thing, especially if you're putting yourself out there at the mercy of other people.

 

But, to quote Adrian Hell himself, my spider sense was tingling.

 

They weren't saying it was a bad book, they were saying it was badly edited. And it wasn't just one person's opinion. It seemed to be everyone's opinion. There comes a point where you can't ignore general consensus.

 

So I read the book again. Not on my PC, scrolling through the manuscript like an author. I read it on my Kindle, like a reader.

 

I wept again.

 

It was... well, I'll be honest, it was crap. The amount of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors in there was shocking! If I'd bought someone's book and it was in that state, I'd get a refund. No wonder I was getting those reviews! I was back on the phone, relaying my concerns to the guy.

 

And it was that conversation that signalled both the beginning of the end for Paradise Burns, and kick-started my dislike for vanity publishers as a whole.

 

He said to me that because I'd told him I'd completed an online proofreading course, he didn't commit much time to the editing process, because he assumed I would've done that before I sent it to him.

 

Wow.

 

A publisher said that. An actual person who publishes books for a living told an author that they purposely didn't offer to edit a book before publishing it, because they assumed the author had done that already.

 

I say again... Wow.

 

He went on to say how his full-on editing service was extra, and he assumed I wouldn't want to pay the "big bill" for it. Even at that stage, with my severely limited knowledge of the business, even I knew that writers can't edit their own work. It's not possible. Because my brain knows what the manuscript should say, it will very rarely pick up instances where it doesn't say it properly. I say again, (and this is the first bit of advice I'll give to you), NO AUTHOR CAN EDIT THEIR OWN WORK.

 

Also, he bottom-lined it by saying it was ultimately my decision whether or not to publish. But from an author's point of view, you kind of expect a little guidance at the very least, especially at the beginning. Having read through the book more than once himself, he must've seen at least some of the glaring errors... Why advise someone to publish when the book is in that state?

 

I spent a couple of weeks thinking about it, but eventually I decided to pull the plug. I dropped him an e-mail saying that I understand people have their opinions, but I believe the book is simply not ready to be sold, and I'm making the decision as the author to take the book off sale. I also said I was having a busy time personally, and didn't want to commit to trying again in the future. I admit I mostly said that because I felt awkward essentially telling someone I no longer required their services! He tried to talk me out of it, but my mind was made up. I unpublished the work, and I made sure when the payment came in that I transferred him his 50%, as promised.

 

And that was it. My first venture into the world of publishing didn't end in the fairy-tale I hoped for. For me, I soared to the highest high for a few hours, and then crashed and burned. So I gave up. I kept re-reading the first draft of Hunter's Games, more for something to do than anything else. I had the plan in my head for a third book, but didn't intend writing it at that stage. I was done.

 

And then I wasn't. I had an epiphany, of sorts. I woke up one night, about 4am - my mind working overtime. That guy published my book for me... He's not an author, but he could still publish books through Amazon. There must be a way of doing it, right? He's not a big-time author or one of the "Big 5" publishing houses, so essentially, me and him are no different. If he can learn how to do it, why couldn't I? I don't have to set up as a vanity publishing company, I could just do it for me.

 

And like a dog with a bone, that was it.

 

I spent the next few weeks looking back over my first book. I decided from the get-go that Paradise Burns was, in fact, a really bad title. I wanted to rename it, so it was all mine, and bore absolutely no relation or similarities to the previous version that had been published for me. I spent countless hours re-working the story, eventually adding almost 6,000 more words, which completely changed the dynamic of the book. It felt good. Each read-through was better than the first, and having split my time between editing and researching how to self-publish online, I was very slowly starting to get a feel for how I should be writing the book.

 

I'll skim over the process of the re-launch here, because I'll cover that in a later post. That's where I can really start to impart some knowledge and advice.

 

The final part of this tale focuses on what happened after I re-published my first book, under its new name, Crucible. I received an e-mail. A somewhat disgruntled e-mail, from the guy who ran the vanity publisher I'd used previously. He wasn't happy, and felt deceived - his first assumption being that I simply gave him his marching orders and jumped straight into bed with another company to publish the same book. He started saying how he was going to take the high road by not involving his solicitor about my breach of our agreement. That would be the verbal agreement where I said he could have 50% of whatever Paradise Burns made, which I upheld without question.

 

But that book wasn't on sale. Crucible was on sale, and that's a completely different book. None of the formatting from Paradise Burns remained. None of the graphics. The story had changed enough that it could be justifiably classed as a different story. It was published under a new title, and written under a different pseudonym.

 

I went back and explained literally everything I just said here - I did it myself, there was no deception intended, and there was no obligation on my part to his company. He was paid £400 to provide a service, which he did. I simply chose not to use that service again. Like I said before, using UK supermarkets as a metaphor here - just because I shopped in Tesco one week for my food, it doesn't mean I can't go in Asda the next week, does it? You do what's best for you, and doing it all myself was absolutely the best thing I ever did.

 

The last communication from him came a week before I released Hunter's Games, saying he wished me all the success as a human being. Incidentally, I released Hunter's Games and promoted it myself, and I got 6,500 free downloads in my opening week. Even now, 18mths later, it continues to be my bestseller.

 

The moral of this story is simply this:

 

If you're self-publishing a book, you have two options. One - you can pay someone to do all the heavy lifting for you. Or, two - you can take the time to learn the ropes, and do it all yourself.

 

If you take option one, just make sure exactly what's included in the upfront cost before you hand over the money. Also, check the terms and conditions regarding future obligations you may have to the company by agreeing to work with them. Some people insist on splitting future royalties. There are some that actually say you have to give them the rights to your book. But there's no denying it's easier and quicker than doing it yourself, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to focus on the writing and have someone else do the rest of it.

 

If you take option two, there's no doubt it can be daunting at first. It's a lot to get your head round, and a lot to think about, and you'll definitely split your time 60/40 with writing - and writing will be worse off! That said, you are not alone. There are countless websites and blogs that offer services and advice that you can use to further your self-publishing career. As I said, despite my bad experience with a vanity publishing service, the guy did give me some useful information. But every single thing they told me, I later found for myself online. For free.  It just takes a little legwork.

 

As you will soon read, going it alone was the best thing I ever did. But like I've said, in this game, you're never alone.

PART III

COMING SOON!