UPDATED: What I Can Say Right Now
There's some buzz on the internet about me, and I'm not at a point where I can say much about it.
But here's what I can say - I'm writer. I want to be a writer. I do not want to spend 40 hours a week handling emails, formatting covers, finding editors, etc. Right now, being me is a full time corporation. As I said before in my post - Some Things That Need to be Said - I am spending so much time on things that are not writing.
I like writing. I even like marketing, especially when it comes to interacting with readers. And I don't mind editing. I just don't want to run my corporation, because that takes away from writing and everything else that I actually enjoy doing.
Also, I have not had time to get Lost Without You ready yet. I have a book that is almost ready to publish, but because of everything else going on, I have not had time to get it ready and publish. THIS is a problem. I am a writer, but that doesn't mean anything if I can't get a book to readers.
There's several factors that go into my decision making about any possible future endeavors. The biggest factors are my readers and the longevity of my career. My goal has always been to put the highest quality product I can out in a way that is the most accessible to readers. My goal has never been to be the "darling" or the "poster child" for any movement.
I currently have self-published 9 books, and I will continue to self-publish books in the future. Lost Without You will be coming out self-published sometime in April or May (I'm hoping for April, but as I said earlier, other things are taking over my life).
To put some things in the indie vs traditional in perspective, I'm going to post something that the fantastic Nathan Bransford posted on his blog only two weeks back (to read the whole post, click: here):
Also, you should really check out my older blogs: Indie vs. Traditional (especially the part about Ann Author) from February, or even Some Things That Need to Be Said from earlier this month. And here's a post from way back in August called My Thoughts on Indie Publishing.
UPDATED: Even though I specifically said in this blog that I enjoy marketing and editing, and I know that regardless of how I publish in the future, I will have to continue to market and edit, people think that's what I'm referring to when I say I'm spending time on things that aren't writing.
No. I'm not. I'm referring to staring at the computer for ten hours straight trying to get the margins just right on the book cover, because no matter how many times I check the rulers, Createspace insists that I got it wrong. Or getting a thousand emails from people offering to help edit, and then since I need the help, weeding through them for hours to try to find people that would be the best fit. Or working with people on various tasks only to find that for whatever reason, you're not going to work well a person, and I have to fire them. Do you know much it sucks to fire people?
That's what I am talking about. I have no problem with marketing or editing. I will continue to do both things. I think both of those tasks fall under the umbrella of being a writer. I think desigining covers, firing people, formatting books, hiring and firing people - those fall under the heading of publisher. And I would be happy to relinquish more of my publishing role.
So that's my clarification.
But here's what I can say - I'm writer. I want to be a writer. I do not want to spend 40 hours a week handling emails, formatting covers, finding editors, etc. Right now, being me is a full time corporation. As I said before in my post - Some Things That Need to be Said - I am spending so much time on things that are not writing.
I like writing. I even like marketing, especially when it comes to interacting with readers. And I don't mind editing. I just don't want to run my corporation, because that takes away from writing and everything else that I actually enjoy doing.
Also, I have not had time to get Lost Without You ready yet. I have a book that is almost ready to publish, but because of everything else going on, I have not had time to get it ready and publish. THIS is a problem. I am a writer, but that doesn't mean anything if I can't get a book to readers.
There's several factors that go into my decision making about any possible future endeavors. The biggest factors are my readers and the longevity of my career. My goal has always been to put the highest quality product I can out in a way that is the most accessible to readers. My goal has never been to be the "darling" or the "poster child" for any movement.
I currently have self-published 9 books, and I will continue to self-publish books in the future. Lost Without You will be coming out self-published sometime in April or May (I'm hoping for April, but as I said earlier, other things are taking over my life).
To put some things in the indie vs traditional in perspective, I'm going to post something that the fantastic Nathan Bransford posted on his blog only two weeks back (to read the whole post, click: here):
- The reality: This is still a print world and probably will be for at least the next several years. Even as some publishers report e-book sales jumping to between 25% and 35% in January, the significant majority of sales are still in print. As I wrote in my recent post about record stores, over a decade after the rise of the mp3 the majority of revenue in music is still in CDs.
- So let's not get out of hand (yet) about the scale of this e-book self-publishing revolution, if it is indeed one. Yes, this is real money we're talking about. Yes, these authors deserve all the credit in the world. And yes, these authors are also making money in print as well.
- But we're still a ways away from self-published Kindle bestsellers making Dan Brown, James Patterson, Stephenie Meyer, J.K. Rowling kind of money, the old-fashioned way, through paper books in bookstores. It's not as exciting a story to remember that traditionally published franchise James Patterson made $70 million between June '09 and June '10, but it's still worth keeping in perspective.
Also, you should really check out my older blogs: Indie vs. Traditional (especially the part about Ann Author) from February, or even Some Things That Need to Be Said from earlier this month. And here's a post from way back in August called My Thoughts on Indie Publishing.
UPDATED: Even though I specifically said in this blog that I enjoy marketing and editing, and I know that regardless of how I publish in the future, I will have to continue to market and edit, people think that's what I'm referring to when I say I'm spending time on things that aren't writing.
No. I'm not. I'm referring to staring at the computer for ten hours straight trying to get the margins just right on the book cover, because no matter how many times I check the rulers, Createspace insists that I got it wrong. Or getting a thousand emails from people offering to help edit, and then since I need the help, weeding through them for hours to try to find people that would be the best fit. Or working with people on various tasks only to find that for whatever reason, you're not going to work well a person, and I have to fire them. Do you know much it sucks to fire people?
That's what I am talking about. I have no problem with marketing or editing. I will continue to do both things. I think both of those tasks fall under the umbrella of being a writer. I think desigining covers, firing people, formatting books, hiring and firing people - those fall under the heading of publisher. And I would be happy to relinquish more of my publishing role.
So that's my clarification.
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