The uproar over Harlequin’s new vanity press line (similar to Thomas Nelson’s) and the reaction of RWA, SFWA, MWA and others to it has caused a lot of authors to wake up. I’ve been in this business for 20 years and the one thing I have always seen is a subtle lack of respect for authors on the part of many publishers, agents and editors. I read Michael Hyatt’s blog where he mentions ‘authors ripping off publishers’ because their books don’t earn out. I constantly see agents tweet or blog about how hard it is to wade through the un-professional queries they receive. I guess that’s called work. Like writing on spec is work.
I’m not saying they are bad people or are consciously doing this, but there is a pervasive attitude that authors are replaceable cogs in the publishing machine. And since most writers are so desperate to get published, there are many cogs standing in line.
I would submit the following to you: Editors and agents usually start off as interns in the publishing business. Or at the very least, at an entry level job. They learn about the business and work their way up. They are not thrust suddenly into selling or buying a book the first day on the job.
Authors are thrust into the business the first day on the job. And no one teaches them a thing. I’d like to ask this: Is there any agent or editor who has a formal training program in place for new authors? Where they educate the author on how the business works?
“We don’t have time” every agent and editor I mention this to, replies. But you do have time to have a 90% failure rate on first novels? I suggest considering making the time or outsourcing the training. Because the current economy is not going to allow such a business paradigm to survive.
As it is now we have the “osmosis” training model for authors. Go to conferences. Join writers groups. Talk to other authors. All a hit-miss proposition. The biggest problem is a new author doesn’t even know the right questions to ask.
I started my Warrior Writer program by using the business template that the elite Special Forces uses to train the best soldiers in the world and applying it to being an author. I use 20 years and 40 books published and 20 years as a Special Forces A-Team leader, operations officer and instructor at the JFK Special Warfare Center & School, to develop a nine-step program that focuses on writers developing a career plan; examine their personality and how it affects their writing and their interaction with the publishing world; conquering fear; effective marketing; taking command of their own fate; and so on.
I think self-publishing (NOT vanity like HQ and Thomas Nelson are offering) is a viable option for some non-fiction authors who have a platform and a unique hook. Bottom line for fiction authors: forget about it. Yes, you can cite one or two examples of unique success, but 99.9% of self-published fiction is a waste of time and money.
A lot of people are going to waste a lot of money at HQ and Thomas Nelson using their vanity press arm. And HQ and Thomas Nelson are going to make a lot of money off these wanna-be writers—not readers. Makes you wonder what kind of business template that is.
To all you wanna-be authors. Caveat Emptor.
And yes, I have a traditionally published title coming out next week from St. Martins: Wild Ride, co-written with Jennifer Crusie. But I also have my first, original title, coming out from Who Dares Wins Publishing: Chasing The Ghost that I’m very proud of. Along with, at long last, the Warrior Writer book.
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I do think that selfpublishing are useful when it comes to keeping old, out of print books available to readers. But, it is not a good idea for a new author to try, since it requires readers to be succesful.
But that just my 2 cents
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Great post, Bob. I find it sad that publishers seem to be taking the authors that will accept the lowest advances instead of investing in building authors the way they used to. And agents are letting their authors sell books for less than they are worth. It all leads not only to a deterioration of the authors confidence, but to a deluge of less than stellar books on the shelves.
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A rousing post, Bob.
Lest we forget, it’s about the money.
Quick money. The quicker the better.
And as long as there are desperate writers willing to feed said Vanity Presses, those lush green-backs will churn into publishers hands with very little effort (read overhead) required.
I am convinced that America (corporate, academia, government, you name it) no longer wishes for a future, for she has eyes only for today and what she can scuttle out of it. A sad commentary, tis true. The question The Wise Man (or woman) will ask is this. Can she be salvaged or has the time come to blaze trails anew?
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You know..I follow the ePub/self pub route with my non-fiction, but the more traditional route with Fiction. I suppose because I feel like I can control my results and target my market better with the non-fiction.
As a READER? Hey, I read what’s recommended by friends…or the authors I love to follow…and the book jacket blurbs.
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Bob, it’ll be very interesting to see how your venture into self-pubbing goes. Having kept track somewhat on how J.A. Konrath has been doing with his, it would seem you have a reasonable shot at being successful to some degree. The fiction that sells this way seems by and large to come from the ranks of already published, who have some kind of readership built in. Keep us posted!