Came across a great interview on LinkedIn lately, from three-decade journalist Porter Anderson about trends in publishing. I was cheering out loud when I got to this section:
The advent of the Internet has made almost everybody who can crawl over to the National Kitchen Table and hoist a Bic pen feel that he or she is a writer. People who wouldn’t for a moment think of themselves as accountants or automotive engineers or acoustical designers are convinced that they’re writers, capable of handling some of the most sophisticated linguistic tasks known. No training needed. No years of hard experience to worry about. “The Internet is here; we’re all writers now.”
These are the writers who are so easily misled by motivational and inspirational bloggers, the ones who want you to start each day with a tearful singing of Lena Horne’s “You have to belieeeeeve in yourself.” If everyone belieeeeves in himself or herself fervently enough, we’re told, then he or she will be a great writer.
This, of course, is crap. Writing is not self-confidence. It’s skill and talent and intelligence.
Amen.
Now, don’t hear this as discouraging would-be authors from getting their work out to the world. Well, on second thought, maybe I am, if those writers have sub-par skills and haven’t given the first thought to what it’s going to take to be successful.
It’s hard work. A lot of hard work for a very long time (and that’s assuming you’re a great writer. If you don’t have strong writing skills, you darn well better shore ’em up before getting in too deep…).
Our society cherishes its notion of the vaunted “work/life balance.” And it’s a fundamentally healthy concept. Yet, if you want to achieve something notable in any arena, and writing/publishing a book definitely fits that bill, I assert you’ll have to embrace a work/life imbalance for a certain amount of time. It’s totally fine if you’re not willing to do that; but you’re unlikely to get where you want to go without it.
I just love it when I get asked – as I’ve been countless times – “How do you go about writing a book?” As if it’s a truly divine mystery, involving a magical formula or a sprinkling of fairy dust on a blank page. My reply?
“Well, for starters, you turn off the TV one night, and spend 2-3 hours working on it, and if you do that night after night after night, for a really long time – voila! – eventually, you end up with a book. Adios, work/life balance.” Not too many folks like hearing that.
And yes, while access to “publishing” venues is greater than ever before in history, that very access leads to the “easy” creation and dissemination of mountains of dreck. Sure, it’s heady to live in times when you no longer have to go through a publishing gatekeeper to get your book out in the world. But, if you want to do something other than crash ‘n burn in spectacular fashion, it’s an opportunity that comes with the responsibility of having to educate yourself.
And as I explored in an earlier post, what so many of these new authors forget, as they smugly diss traditional publishers, is what these folks actually do pretty darn well the vast majority of the time: create a superior product – by virtue of professional editing, design, typesetting, etc. We can learn an enormous amount from the traditional publishing world, even if we won’t/can’t go that route.
Because a traditional publisher makes nary a penny until they sell a boatload of books, they have to be exceptionally picky about the books they take on. But even those they DO bring into the stable are tirelessly molded and reworked to whip them into the neighborhood of viability. And then, of course, the physical packaging – design, layout, printing – must be superior.
And even after all that, by some estimates, 9 of 10 books a publisher releases will lose money, while the 10th makes it all worthwhile. Ponder that for a moment. All that effort and commitment to a superior product, and overwhelmingly, it still doesn’t pay off. So, what in the world gives these nouveau artistes the ludicrous notion that they can dispense with all the above and still be successful? It’s delusional.
Yes, there are the rare cases where a marginal author cranks out low-quality stuff, but has built such a following of undiscerning readers that he or she ends up highly profitable. Certainly not the first time mediocrity has found a lucrative niche (think rap music or uber-modern art; and I know I’ll hear from someone about that comment), but overwhelmingly, those are exceptions. A quality product is still your best bet for commercial success. Surprise, surprise.
But, back to the subject… The mere existence and burgeoning growth of these low-barrier “publishing” platforms no more translates to easy success as a publisher than having a web site translates to tons of traffic to your cyber-door. You still have to learn your craft, the industry, and how to get people to come looking for your book.
But when technology enables someone to do something that, heretofore, was the exclusive domain of a whole class of gatekeepers, the predictable result is as Anderson says above.
But, I suppose it’s not terribly surprising that our cultural love affair with shortcuts and taking the easy way out has infiltrated this arena as well. I long ago lost track of how many people have emailed me questions beginning with various and sundry versions of, “What’s the easiest/fastest/best/most important/first/top three things/ways to _____?” And when you reply that there are no shortcuts, they vanish.
Accessibility has been confused with ease-of-process, and nothing could be further from the reality.
If you self-published, what was the rudest awakening about the whole process?
Have you self-published, only to realize you it was a LOT harder than you expected?
If you’ve been published by a traditional house, what did they do right and what did you learn?
If you have gone the traditional path in the past, and have since self-published, are you glad you had that initial experience?
What do you see has been the outcome of the collision of technology with human nature?
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Peter, this article should be required reading for anyone who is thinking of publishing a book… self or otherwise.
Just because the tools are there, and the barrier to entry is WAY lower than it used to be… doesn’t mean you should be writing a book.
Another analogy that may be easier to picture is:
Just because you can pick up a wrench and a screwdriver doesn’t mean you should open up an automotive repair and diagnostic shop. It’s hard to diagnose and repair cars (the right way).
Thanks Joseph,
Appreciate the kudos! I’m going to assume you were talking about my post being required reading, as opposed to the article to which I refer…;) Either way is fine!
And good analogy. Though I suspect there are fewer non-writers who decide to become authors simply because there are more easy-access paths to “publication,” than authors who are clueless about everything that goes into the creation of a marketable book.
That said, given how much crap is being “published” out there, maybe there’s not much difference between the two…;)
Thanks for weighing in!
PB
I had my first book published by a traditional publisher in the 90s, and a few years ago I had the rights reverted back to me so I could self-publish it under a new title. I really learned a lot from the experience (and from your writings, Peter). It’s true that the traditional publishing process can be tedious and slow, but part of the reason for that is the attention to detail that editors, proofreaders, designers, and marketing people are giving to the project. When you self-publish, you are taking on the work of that entire team, so you need to be competent at all those roles. The first time I self-published, I underestimated the time it would take and the details I would need to oversee.
I will still choose self-publishing over traditional publishing these days, because I enjoy the work. But I go into it with my eyes open now. And knowing that self-published books have a reputation for being lower quality than traditionally published books makes me all the more determined to make sure mine can compete.
And I like to believe that the same internet democracy that makes “everyone a writer” will also one day allow the best writers to gain the following their skill and hard work deserve.
Thanks Melanie,
Good stuff. And yes, having that firsthand experience with a publisher will give you a front-row seat to everything that needs to happen to, NOT ensure your book succeeds, but just to give it a fighting chance to do so.
And yes, there is a lot to oversee as a self-publisher, but (and this is probably what you meant), when it comes to design, and proofreading, and editing, I don’t have to be competent at those things – I just have to find people who are! Just overseeing all that can be a big job.
Simply put, as a SP’er, I just think of myself as an entity that does everything a publishing house does (i.e., overseeing the whole process, finding and contracting with the resources – whether in-house or freelance, to get it done, and keeping in mind that I make no money until I sell a lot of books, so I’d better do a good job).
And speaking of SP’ing being a big job, one thing self-publishing four books has done for me, without question (and I’m smiling as I type this): it’s cured me of my perfectionism. 😉
You categorically cannot be perfectionist if you want to self-publish. There are just so darned many tasks you have to get through along the way, that if you tried to get everything single one of them perfect, you’d simply never get it done.
My mantra, more often than not (and don’t hear this as a call to mediocrity, but rather a solid survival strategy…), was “Good enough is good enough.”
And it’s just not that hard to have your book compete with conventionally published ones if you commit yourself to doing these things right (if not optimally perfectly…), so I applaud your quest to do just that.
And yes, the good books (assuming one markets them effectively) will always rise to the top, and always benefit from strong word-of-mouth – something the mediocre works will never enjoy!
PB
Great minds run in the same track.
I recently had an article published at The Future of Ink website on exactly the same theme, and I hadn’t seen your article then (https://thefutureofink.com/10-steps-publishing-digital-content/). It is also a warning that we shouldn’t let the lowered entrance barriers lull us into publishing mediocre content. If we do, we risk turning the reading public against self-published work.
Thanks for helping to raise awareness about this. I also agree, by the way, with your suggestion that perfectionism can be taken too far as to impede taking action and getting anything published.