‘There’s never been a better time to be a writer.’ I’ve seen this mantra frequently over the past few years in blogposts, conference reports and news items. And I don’t disagree there’s been a lot to celebrate.
But from what I see right now, this time is also tougher for authors than ever.
Indie authors feel it in their book sales. Hands up who is in a forum where the chief discussion is ‘what can I do about my dwindling sales?’ ‘Anybody else had a dismal month?’ ‘Should I drop my book’s price, put it on Kindle Unlimited, write something more popular, send out more emails, spend $$$ on a marketing course?’
The traditionally published authors I know are faring little better, with shrinking advances, ill-supported launches – even the authors who have awards to prove their worth.
Last week I was having an email conversation with a wise author friend. As we confided our worries and frustrations, I felt we were describing the state of the author 2015, and were probably echoing many other conversations going on behind closed doors.
So I thought I would open those doors. Come in. Come and see how authors are thinking about their careers right now. And see why, in spite of the rotten state of the book market, we keep the faith and stay true to our standards.
I have permission to quote my friend’s words, but he wanted to remain anonymous. So we’ll call him Oscar, in honour of the internet tradition of attributing everything to Mr Wilde.
…………
Oscar: I’m looking forward to Ever Rest.
RM: It will be a while before Ever Rest is fit to show. When it is, I’m going to look for a new agent. It’s so desperately hard to get fiction noticed, especially if you write odd-lit like me. I have friends in mainstream publishing who give me furious pep-talks about how I’m on a hiding to nothing by publishing literary fiction as an indie. Even my own husband says it. And they’re right. I need a way to prove myself to the serious reviewers and opinion formers.
An example. I recently applied to the Royal Literary Fund for a grant. I’d been assured by another sponsored author that they would consider a writer who had published two literary novels, but when I checked their rules I found they excluded self-publishing. Nevertheless, I wrote explaining my background, teaching credentials, why I’m indie (more about that here ). Their reply was ‘you haven’t commercially published sufficient work’ and they refused any further discussions. This is the hole we find ourselves in, trying to get indie-published work recognised.
Oscar: You’re a smart lady to be looking for an agent. I’m beginning to think the biggest part of the indie movement is to smack the big machines into better behaviour. They have the money and power to do what we cannot do.
The tides will turn. I watched it happen in photography. Just please keep doing what you’re doing. It’s needed. Without people like you, we could lose literary writing in this mess. And it is a mess. I can’t believe some of the things I’m reading from authors who make big money.
RM: Speaking of which, you’ve no idea how many people who say to me ‘can’t you just toss off a series to get some bestsellers’?
Oscar: I tossed off a series – and then I pulled the books. I felt dirty.
I have an agent friend. In 2014 he was flying high, making sales, getting high-profile assignments, negotiating foreign rights. He said all of that is over now. It’s hard to sell *anything* to a trad house because we’ve lost our attention span for long form. Everybody is on Twitter. No one has the time to read. He has always been a force of nature, enormously talented, confident that he can take on the world. This throws me for a loop.
I check in on Kindleboards now and again. Yesterday I saw an author who started out making $13,000 a MONTH on four poorly written books say she’s now ghosting for other indies to make ends meet. Another author posted about the publication of his new ‘novel’, which is 117 pages long with lots of white space (probably 15K words) and selling for $2.99. Everyone was fawning over him and his swift production.
I saw Joanna Penn remark that we aren’t in competition with each other, but with so many other forms of entertainment. People do *not* sit still for long, unless they’re binging on Netflix for hours on end. How are we to compete with that?
Some authors are doing exceptionally well. They crank out a book a month and direct it at a very young audience that does not yet know the value of a dollar. I know scads of young adults, and they read copious amounts of books, but they’ve got to be free. I nearly blow an artery when I hear them say how poorly written the books are, how many grammar and style errors there are – but they don’t care.
As for craft and quality, in one forum I saw people asking others to stop putting out junk. The remarks degraded, as they always do, to people defending the ‘raw’ writing their fans demanded. Many admitted to using no editors at all, claiming it took the edge off.
RM: [Unprintable. Gentle reader, don’t ask.]
Oscar: My agent said there are precious few of us left with the attention span and appreciation of finely crafted work, and we need to hold on to each other dearly. That’s all fine and well, but how much longer can we continue buying each other’s books?
But it’s not all doom. My partner and I are deeply involved with theatre and have watched that die a slow death, and even Masterpiece Theater removed ‘Theater’ from its name so people won’t get turned off by it. We hang on because it is an eternal artform waiting to be re-born. I believe the same is true for longform, literary novels. It’s a cycle, and the cycles are moving faster.
RM: Right. Who would have thought, five years ago, that Hilary Mantel would be a household name? Listen, while publishing sorts itself out, we write. Have a look at this interview where the musician Sarah Kirkland Snider is talking to Porter Anderson about the sense of connection and completeness we have when we create good work. That’s what it’s about.
Oscar: There is a passage from Nevada to Utah called The Virgin River Gorge. It’s at least a thousand feet deep and so beautiful it makes one’s heart stop. It was carved by a small body of soft water that moved slowly and peacefully because it was the only thing it knew how to do, the only path it could take. With time, it created the impossible and a majestic beauty and monument to the power of unyielding persistence.
Be the water.
Do you have days like this? How has this year been for you in your writing and publishing career? My door is open.
Nail Your Novel 
Roz, one suggestion for you and any others who like to self publish but keep hitting these “commercially published” barriers. It is what I’ve done although in my case the foreign publishers contacted me asking for rights.
Use what credentials and contacts you have to persuade an overseas publisher to release your work in translation. Pay particular attention to countries where the story itself seems popular and give them a good enough deal to make it worth their while to take a chance on you.
As a result, you’ll not only have been traditionally published, you’ll have been translated. That’s doubly good.
As a bonus, it not only won’t hurt your English-language sales, it may help them.
–Michael W. Perry, co-author of Lily’s Ride
Hi Michael! That’s a good point you raise there with translation. I’ve had a few near misses there. A German publisher was interested in Nail Your Novel, but it didn’t go anywhere. And I had a literary scout track me down because a big Spanish publisher was interested in My Memories of a Future Life – but just as she found me, the editor who’d wanted the book left the company. Sigh.
But thanks for mentioning this option. It’s a good one if it pays off. And well done to you.
It has been a horribly tough time for me. Two years ago, I thought I was possibly going to *make it*. Now I am afraid I may go under, for the effort of jumping through hoops has such a bad effect on my mental health that… Well, let’s just say I try to avoid going near deep rivers if my clothes have pockets big enough to hold large stones. I do my utmost to support authors and poets whose work I think sterling and yet, it seems, as you have said, large swathes of readers prefer something quite other.
No, I won’t be tossing off a series in a genre that sells. I’m sure the choice of the word toss (with it’s *other* meaning) is quite deliberate; I’d rather be forgotten than be briefly notorious for work I see to be a pile of wank.
Please tell Oscar I admire his analogy of the river gorge.
Hi Viv! ho ho, I wondered who would be the first to enjoy that ‘toss’ reference.
I’ve noticed around the interwebs how you’ve been one of the people asking the soul-searching questions. I’m glad you spoke up here. We battle on, eh?
I’ll pass your compliments on to Oscar. I loved the gorge too.
I can usually be relied upon to be the first to respond to double entendre. Or the need for soul searching.
🙂
About ten years ago, I had a small business (which is a bit of a stretch but what else can you call it?) working as a reflexologist. I was good at it, had satisfied clients and it was slowly building by word of mouth. Then we relocated to the Midlands and while I managed to gain some new and loyal clients, the business did not grow no matter what I did or how excellent my references were. One reason was that a local further education college in Loughborough, some 8 miles away, ran courses training people in holistic therapies so three times a year, a new influx of reflexologists hit the streets. It (along with a couple of other therapies) had become the *in* thing to offer. Most therapists offered a range of therapies (many of which are dubious in the extreme) so having just that one to offer meant I missed out. People demand choices like never before, and anything that demands anything of the client is only going to appeal to a limited sector of people.
When we relocated to Suffolk, I no longer had a practice room so I gave up entirely and apart from friends and family, I don’t use those skills any more; in fact, now my hands are useless because of my JHS, I can’t.
When supply outstrips demand, there’s a time when the glut means that no one can really see what is quality and what is imitation.
Hi Roz, in my eyes you are super successful. I admire your writing and look forward to reading Ever Rest. Big sales is not an indicator of literature, often the opposite, if one can mention the slimy shady grey eel currently plaguing the bookshops 🙂
Hi Grisha! Aw, thank you. And yes, there are many frightening things in bookshops at the moment.
It’s incredibly hard to get noticed because there are incredible number of new books coming out every month (I wish I could remember the numbers, but numbers don’t stick in my head. However, I do recall being very impressed). Since you’ve invited personal thoughts, I’ll have to admit that the ruthlessness and nearsightedness of traditional publishing, not to mention the state of the entire industry has depressed me for years. It’s felt like an enormous struggle against enormous odds.
About a year ago I just gave up — not writing, but gave up all the jumping up and down and hoop-jumping. The interesting thing is that my book sales have not budged from the (very) modest pace all my frantic efforts produced. I might even venture to say that they’ve been rather reliable since I turned my back on the frustration. I think Oscar has a good point — although I might add that following your course may not guarantee eventual spectacular achievements. However, the peace and satisfaction achieved by staying true to your “inner river” definitely has merit.
Hi Susan
What an interesting arc you describe here. I also had a period where I wondered what to ‘do’ about sales – and then I thought, since I don’t know, I’ll stop worrying. I do the blogging, guest posting, podcasting, Undercover Soundtrack and social media because I like the contact and community. And there’s a pleasure in putting a post together, watching it appear on the blog and thinking ‘I made a new thing’ (while in the background I make a much bigger thing).
Oscar’s river is a strong idea, but you’re right that it doesn’t guarantee the river will ever be found, or be found at a time that rewards you. There are plenty of writers – Jane Austen, for instance – who had modest sales during their lifetimes, and only became widely read after their deaths. Hmm, that’s possibly not an optimistic note to end on.
It’s interesting what Susan Schreyer says about giving up jumping through hoops. I find that when I’m not on social media, I make no sales. It’s as simple as that. However, it doesn’t really matter what I post. It can be a blog that has taken me hours to write, an interview that has taken 7 hours to respond to, or a cat photo. Yes, it feels cheap, but I often do the latter. Five years in, the ebook market is where Mark Coker predicted it would be. We are writing for smaller and smaller audiences. (I too self-publish literary fictions.) The writing itself, I feel is good (although I’m lucky to fit in 2 hours in any 12 hour day.) I read my whole back catalogue twice through for my new editions and, at 6 novels, it is looks – and reads – like a substantial body of work. In fact, it made me laugh taking them into Waterstones this week and being asked for my comparative authors. It’s something I find very difficult to answer but now I have reader reviews to quote from. The manager said, ‘That sounds excellent. We’re looking for middle of the road stuff.’ The cross-selling is good. I had hoped for more, but it was a thrill last week to realise that an American lady had posted a review in the last week of July and a review in every week of August. She was reading my books back to back! I managed to make contact with her to thank her. I offered her a free e-book, but she has already bought the last 2. If only I could replicate this. She wanted to know when the next one is coming out. I aim for a book a year, but I won’t release something until I feel it is ready. To date, selling paperbacks has cost me dearly. Now that my ebook sales have plummetted by 80%, I really have to address the fact that I have made an average loss of £5 on every book. (Selling to bookshops at the required discount, delivery, travel, parking, the cost of having a pitch at a book fair – not to mention the fact that I am often expected to speak free in return for the ‘opportunity to sell my books’, so there will have been hours of prep for each even.) I have now halved my production costs and am focusing on local events.
Hi Jane! I wondered if you might drop in. That’s terrific what you’ve managed to do at Waterstones, and I’m going to be looking for your longer posts about that.
Your American fan is one of those little incidents that gives us hope. We are reaching strangers, slowly. I recorded a podcast interview last night with a guy who said he’d read Nail Your Novel when it first came out and had used it as his writing bible ever since. That’s years. He was sitting there quietly, working through his book and reading mine until it was in tatters. Then he starts a podcast and says ‘I’ve been your fan for years.’ You don’t know who’s out there. The ships that pass in the night on the internet sea.
I agree, the most important thing is to build a body of work. I can’t manage a book a year like you, but I’m doing what I can!
The subject is depressing, Roz, but it’s encouraging to find other writers sharing the same angst. I try not to take too much notice of sales and concentrate on the positive reactions of the readers who do find my books. I ‘try’ not to, but can’t help feeling depressed at the lack of sales.I suppose there are just too many new books coming out all the time. Despite feeling depressed at a number of aspects of indie-publishing, I can’t face the whole hoopla of agents: ‘Yes, I love your writing’, ‘The characters are great’, ‘The story is compelling’ – ‘No, I can’t take it on’ again. I’m about to bring out a new book, which will make three (discounting the four in the drawer!) and hope, as Jane says, the satisfaction of achieving a body of work will be enough to sustain me while I tackle another novel. Sustain me emotionally, although certainly not finanacially!
Hi Lindsay! Gosh, four books in the drawer as WELL as another coming out. Thanks for stopping by. And I’ll see you soon in Venice!
One of the fundamental problems we have as writers is our reluctance to allocate a time and means to promote and market our writings. It is almost the same problem with theatre artists. The typical theatre artists spend ninety-five percent of the time available between rehearsals and production on only rehearsals and technical details of putting some play on stage; then, with the rest of the time, they go ahead to do some quickie marketing for that play. The result is always the same: Another loss! Another wrong Investment! Another ‘bad mistake’ – as if any mistake was ever good! We need to take promoting and marketing our writing seriously. Bigtime publishers are only interested in the John Grishams and J.K. Rowlinses of this world; but, believe me, you too can become the best-selling author of your own smaller target market. You only need to identify that market and go for it. You know that market better than anyone else; so, think! Cover those tracks that need covering and let both the word and the book go round. I know what I am talking about; but there is no one-size-fits-all formula. I guess I am qualified to say this because I have a book that has sold over one million copies; yet, I’ll bet my last trousers none of you ever heard my name! Money is another matter entirely. At my expense, book pirates filled their vaults with monies from my work on my side of the world. Hmmm… Bad news. . .but I am the smarter for it now. One of the major problems with us writers is that we don’t stay with one book long enough. No, we must run away to go and make another one! The world is made up of over six billion people, not the few guys you have in your corner of the world! Into how many languages have your would-be bestseller been translated? How many bookshops in your country/the world have your title(s) on their shelves? I don’t think selling is as much of our problem as presence of our title(s) over a wide network. In furtherance of our goal, we may need to found a bulk book-distribution company that will take our individual titles and give them both the national and international spread and exposure they deserve. The few giant publishing houses and book distribution companies can’t go round. In their absence, a writer can allocate up to three months for marketing and promoting his own title or titles every year. Six to seven months of serious writing should be sufficient in twelve months! The remainder can serve as your annual leave from work. We may need to come together and float such company(ies) in our smaller enclaves. Writers need to be real. The time for living in a lap of the much-imagined luxury and gambolling around the world in private jets can come after this. Let us stop waiting for Godot!
Ho ho. This reminds me of the Monty Python sketch about how to play the flute. ‘Blow down one end, run your fingers up and down the holes.’
My year, and the year before it, have been years of waiting for my small publisher to prepare my first novel for a launch. I have reasonable hope it will happen within the next few months and my patience will have been worthwhile. At least I continued writing, sequel finished and working on a third novel, doing what I most enjoy. I admire people who self publish, I’m technically challenged, and unable to afford the final professional support to do honour to my work.
Hi Ashen! Best of luck with your launch and your subsequent titles. Perhaps you won’t have to wait so long to see the publication of book 2.
Thanks for your kind thought, Roz ☼ ☼ ☼
Thanks for a good post, Roz. I think one thing that may help optimism is the rise of the small publisher/editor. Editors used to be working in the proverbial basement, but the democratization of digital publishing has allowed them to flourish. A good small publisher/editor that offers a competitive royalty (I get 40%) can help you market and take the thumb off your stress (to some degree). It’s not traditional publishing, it’s not self-publishing, but it *is* commercial publishing.
TJ (not quite sure how to refer to you here!) – that’s interesting. When you say ‘small publisher/editor’, is this a different arrangement from a small imprint? Do flesh this out a little more. It does indeed sound good, with expert help, curation and other support. I’d like to know more.
Don’t know quite what to say about this with all the excellent stories and accounts posted above!
I had to turn down a deal from a partnership publisher last week — they wanted $5000 to produce my book, which I don’t have — now I’m looking at self-publishing on Amazon again.
I’m stubbornly sticking to the belief that there is an audience for good writing, whatever genre that writing may belong to.
“Oscar” is right, Roz. If literary fiction is what makes words form on your fingertips, stick with it. I’m writing what I write because my subconscious demanded I do it, after all. Some writers can write anything — good for them! I like what I write and eventually I think others will too.
Hi Tom! Eek, $5k to produce a book. While book production isn’t cheap, you probably don’t have to pay that much if you shop around – and if you know where to shop around. You can also do it in bites to spread the cost – rather than pay it in one whack – so get a developmental edit, then when finances have recovered, get a copy edit etc.
I’m wary of one-stop shops as they don’t necessarily give the most personalised service. I’ve seen paperback interiors that look as though they were done on a CreateSpace Word template. You can do that yourself without paying anyone. Oh, and it looks horrible.
Another downside of these partnership publishers is if they use freelances. The freelances rarely get their proper professional rate. Or if they do, the publisher adds a big mark-up. Either way, the paying author doesn’t get the full value of that expert’s time.
It’s interesting that you used the term ‘book deal’, which makes it sound as though there was a selection process. Could you elaborate? If there was a selection process and you got through, was there kudos in being on their list? That might be part of what they’re charging for.
(After you’ve written your literary quota for the day, of course. That’s the important thing.)
Aw, maybe “book deal” is wishful thinking on my part. They wanted to see my first and third chapters and a summary. I sent that along with a brief outline of future books in the series. It took them awhile to reply (“fifteen business days,” their initial reply time, was closer to three months) but eventually they came back and said I’d been selected for their spring lineup. I guess that’s a selection process, but kudos for being selected…? Once upon a time I was a proofreader for a publishing company, so copy/line editing is nothing new to me. I can do it myself; it’s nice to have professional help, though. That’s one thing I’ve learned from my writers group as we’ve all grown in ability over the years. Now I’m going back to editing! Hope you’re doing well.
This is a bit off topic, but I thought I’d post it here before it slips my mind. Roz might evem want to do a entire posting about this.
Designing movie posters is an art form that is extremely demanding. Huge sums of money ride on getting that poster just right. And if you think about it, they’re often marvelously well done.
Why does that matter to authors? Because a movie poster is much like a book cover. It must represent in a single picture with accompanying text what a movie/book is about and motivate people to spend their money. It’s also typically done in portrait mode just like covers. Learn how to design a movie poster well and you’ve learned how to design a good book cover.
Thomasz Opasinski is one of the world’s premier movie poster designers, having creating hundreds of them of major-release films. And Adobe, through their Inspire magazine has posted an article on his “Tricks of the Trade,” including some three-minute snippets of useful techniques and an almost-hour-long webinar. You can find that here:
http://inspire.adobe.com/2015/8/18/how_to_design_a_movie_poster_featuring_tomasz_opasinski.html
You can find illustrations of his work here:
http://www.tomasz-opasinski.com/
Click on the arrow on the right to view each category. They are most impressive. Perhaps you can find an idea for your book cover there.
Michael, although this reply is off topic, I love it. Even if most authors don’t design their covers, they have to communicate with designers and understand how cover design works. I’ve had a number of posts recently about the topic so I’m not ready to tackle it again just yet. In case anyone’s interested here they are:
Including how I nearly got it wrong…
And how I got it right…
Too many books are being published that simply aren’t of merit. Indie authors decry trad publishers and their gatekeepers. Unfortunately the gatekeepers are not vigilant and trad publishers also produce of dubious merit. I don’t like book awards and often feel that shortlisting can be the sign of a book I don’t want to read. I doubt that there can ever be an independent body that vouches for the quality of new titles. That, however, is my dream.
Welcome, Peter! An independent body that vouches for the quality of new titles? If only. Yes, that would be good indeed.
An independent body that vouches for the quality of new titles does exist. It’s called Awesome Indies Books – they evaluate books and showcase those that meet criteria for excellence.
On a personal note, I feel the same way, Roz, but like some of the others here, I’ve found that giving up the struggle has been good for my sales, in that they started again after having virtually stopped. I think it’s because rather than thinking, “I must do some marketing” I’m just going to blogs and groups I enjoy and interacting with people, and it seems to me that it’s people getting to know me that are making them interested in my books.I guess that wouldn’t be enough if you’re not writing about things you’re naturally interested in, though.
I even gave up writing. But as soon as I gave up, I got another idea for a book, and somehow it got written. Worlds Within Worlds, I thought was far too out of the box to sell, but it’s selling (very small numbers, but it is selling and with no effort on my part). And there’s another Prunella Smith book on the way. I thought about going to an agent with the new one – The Locksmith’s secret – but honestly, apart from the daunting prospect of hoop jumping, I seriously doubt that my work is what mainstream publishers would consider marketable in the kind of numbers they want.
So we keep on writing because we can’t not write, and somehow the integrity of sticking with ‘our’ thing, whatever it is, ensures that those readers who have enjoyed our work will read our next one. I, for example, will read anything you write because everything you’ve written is excellent.
I guess the point of this ramble is that in this climate, those of us who write lit fic and niche market genres need to be satisfied with small readerships, and we’ll get them by being true to ourselves. But don’t be too depressed by this because small readerships can grow. We just need to not connect our sense of worth with the number of books we sell.
Tahlia, thank you for such a lovely comment (and not just the compliment, but the spirit of staying true to your vision). I was particularly interested by your various modes of ‘giving up’. Give up the conscious marketing and enjoy yourself, and you find people who are a more genuine fit for your work. Give up striving for something to write, and a truer idea comes. Bravo.
Reblogged this on Notes from An Alien and commented:
I’ve said it a number of times in this blog—it’s easier to publish then ever before in human history…
However…
Selling books is just as hard as it ever was—some say harder than ever…
Today’s re-blog has Roz Morris revealing how a writer—well-published and savvy—is coping with the ups and downs of the BookWorld.
Reblogged this on Mona Karel Author and commented:
Be The Water.
Oh, yes. What perfect timing for me while I trudge…no, work…through writing a deeply emotional book, all the while ensuring my grammar is the best I can use. Revel in this, fellow writers. Rub it along your emotions and use it to support your dreams.
Now, I’m back to my book.
Reblogged on http://mona-karel.com/2015/11/16/writers-stay-true-to-your-standards-long-night-of-the-literary-soul/ to remind myself and others who want to stay true that we are not alone in this endeavor.