Total Read Time: 2 minutes
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| ["segul in the air" by angood] |
So I had this epiphany the other day (while I was in the shower, of course). One minute, I was washing my hair and the next, I was seeing all these possibilities open up by becoming my own publisher.
I'm not sure why I didn't realize it before. I saw the ways I had been compromising my writing in the hopes of attracting an agent or publishing house. The unspoken rule for unpublished writers is to keep your work within 'standard length' for your genre. Don't rock the boat unless you have an established publishing history.
How many of my own projects had I dismissed as being 'too long' or 'too short'? I hate padding work that's concise, and sometimes, long novels can't be stripped down any further. While I've followed a detailed planning process with each new book, writing isn't an exact science. New ideas and tangents emerge as the story evolves, and some characters and plotlines fall by the wayside. You rarely end up exactly where you planned.
Another issue I struggled with when I first started submitting was to create novels that were self-contained. Agents and publishers are unlikely to commit to an entire series from an unpublished author. This is very challenging in the fantasy genre, since most books are at least a part of a trilogy... When I have a story idea, it's never on a small scale. For years, I've been writing stand-alone books, while secretly plotting prequels and sequels if I ever got my foot in the door.
Going independent isn't just going to change when I publish, it's also going to change the way I write. Now that I have no gatekeeper, I can indulge in those cliffhanger endings that lead into the next book, and create long-term, serial projects. With ebooks, length becomes almost irrelevant. It's a virtual product that I can price accordingly.
While I don't know whether I will succeed using these 'unconventional' methods, at least I can write without restriction.
Then the market can decide.
A friend recently sent me this article about self-publishing ebooks:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/01/self-published-author-amada-hocking_n_829906.html
@NatalieYeah, Amanda Hocking is pretty much the poster child of indie writing success. If I can do anywhere near as well as her, that would be awesome...
ReplyDeleteSounds like me. I love the cliffhanger, wtf ending to books, but the word around the commercial publishing world was always "no, no" because it might be a year-plus before the next book came out.
ReplyDeleteI also tend to write short and I hated to pad writing too. I put "padding" (extra scenes and such) in a novel I intended to try on the commercial route. Now I'm currently working on it, and I cut all that out plus some that got in the way of a stream-lined story. It works so much better.
That's why I think self-publishing is gonna be freeing for many folk.
Jodi
@SphinxnihpS of Aker-Ruti
ReplyDeleteIt's frustrating when you have to drastically shift your book structure to fit the confines of traditional publishing, especially when you feel like it's not beneficial to the story...
Good luck with your project! Have fun. :)