Work – [and vote] - as if you live in the early days of a better nation
The sacred day is upon us. I ponder often the above quote, which was popularised by Alistair Gray. He always said, it’s by the Canadian Dennis Leigh.
I’m trying to keep this Substack party politics free. I hope you make your choices, and that whatever happens, let’s remember what we owe each other and what we owe ourselves.
Democracy is more than one X every five years. I want to talk less and do more. The work to give our children a future, and to save the only planet we know supports life must continue, whoever wins.
My writing priorities half-way through 2024
I’m sixty-something and I want to get the balance right between
getting my writing ready to share
getting it out there so you can read it
and you know, everything else important in life.
For reasons, I recently dipped back into Our Child of the Stars and it was oddly enjoyable. Writing is what I do now. Both books widely available.
DEAR HEART
It’s been four months since I stopped editing Dear Heart and began submitting to agents. I’m doing a reread with a fresh eye, and good news - it’s standing up really well.
So far, I’ve querying UK agents picking those who look suitable or who come recommended. Several people I want to try are not open for submissions. (Tip if querying: have other projects.)
The US is a big, competitive market, and a UK based author getting a US agent is perfectly possible, but tricky.
I’m enjoying reading Victorian-set books looking for comparisons. Ghosty Victorian crimey stuff is clearly a thing. On the other hand, there’s nothing that’s exactly like mine.
Direct to publishers
My definite second option is direct submissions to publishers – I’m keen on this. There are at least six who look well worth trying and I’ve talked to two. Some prioritise digital copies.
Should I self-publish?
I’m looking at it. Modern self-publishing offers opportunities we didn’t have 20 years ago. It offers complete editorial control and a faster route to getting a book out there.
Advocates will emphasise that the self-published author gets a higher proportion of the book sale price. Against which, self-publishing imposes significant upfront costs and is obviously more work.
Here are some things I would probably pay for if I self-publish.
A good developmental editorial eye “Why not cut the Joe subplot?”
A copy editor to pick up continuity and clumsy writing.
Proof reading
Formatting (although you can DIY)
eBook is essential but I’d also want a modest print edition to sell and send to reviewers who want them.
A decent cover is essential – it’s your branding, it needs to stand out on Amazon, the web, and on a book-shelf.
My estimates are it could cost £3000-3800 for a 90k book before I sell a copy. However, these are fixed costs so if you sell enough books, that becomes much less of an issue. 500 books, the fixed costs would be more than £6 a book! 100,000 books, about 3p a book.
An audiobook could easily be £2k if you use a professional actor and proper edit.
In short, I see just what an investment my old publisher made in me.
Charles Ulrich, The Old Village Print Shop, via artvee
Promotion and distribution
Hundreds of thousands of different books are published every year.
How do you get yours seen, and into shops, and how much of your waking hours do you want to spend doing it? And what promotion reliably shifts the books?
Possibly only certain types of paid ads. The self-publisher needs to be a bit of an advertising expert as well. They do get real time information on which ads work and invest accordingly. A traditional author has very limited data.
You can crowdfund.
You run a promotion to raise the money in advance to produce the books. It can work really well. It’s an enormous amount of work and the majority of crowdfunded projects don’t make target.
Ultimately it’s about finding readers. Picture is Jan Brito, Inventor of Printing in Bruges (1893) by Albert Frans Lieven De Vriendt, via artvee
Where am I?
UK agents and submissions to UK publishers, yes.
US agents and publishers maybe.
Self-publishing and crowdfunding. I guess I’m on the fence.
The successful self-publisher must write fast and well, usually write to a specific market, generally in series, and be good at the business of self-publishing. They can build lists of their readers which will support future books.
So I am where I usually am with self-publishing. Never say never. It’s not my first choice, but I’m not surprised so many people go there.
A self-published eBook highlighting my work would be a useful promotional tool though…