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If you’re a traditionally published author, you must keep playing the same game, for years and aeons on end hoping to strike a win, with the level of insanity and addiction of an inveterate gambler.
In each writer group I’m part of, traditionally published authors work like lone beavers building dams: drafting, editing, querying, agent edits, going on submission, editing and marketing. It never ends, and none of it guarantees results. (Before I was published, I thought the hard work ends when you get a deal.)
Happiness or satisfaction or success in the writing life for a traditionally published authors often has the longevity of a shooting star, but no one outside the industry tells you that.
The combined rage, angst and frustration of trad-pubbed authors could power several hydroelectric dams (what’s with my dam metaphors today?).
And yet in popular culture we see writers casually scribbling a draft, shoving it in a drawer, a friend or equivalent finding it and showing it to power lit-agent over drinks, who immediately sells it to shark editor made of money who offers a multi-million dollar, multi-book deal including Hollywood productions, with billboards and TV interviews and book tours to said author.
The author now has a new wardrobe, house, and glamorous friends who own yachts.
No wonder many writers come to this biz hoping to rake in the gazillions, not knowing that to every J K Rowling there are a million mid-listers.
Meanwhile, here I am, beginning a supposedly author-ly day with a reality check: racoon eyes, unwashed hair, and painful wrists. No one’s invited me to the writing life so I have no one to blame for my addiction. I’ve spent the last couple of days locked in a battle with my manuscript, slashing and burning my way through thousands of words. And with thousands more looming ahead, the finish line feels like it’s getting farther away by the minute. 14,000 words done in the last two days. 20,000 more to go by the 20th of June.
Will this book sell? I’ve put 7 years of my life into it (with breaks in between when I drafted, wrote and sold 3 other books via traditional publication), and the book is on its 5th re-write.
In some ways, it feels like the hardest book I’ve ever written. It’s a new genre for me–upmarket book club women’s fiction. It doesn’t have the skeleton and supreme urgency of a crime thriller plot, and it’s difficult to distance myself from certain parts of it.
All that said, I have to be ready for whatever hand I’m dealt: sale or no sale, I’ll move on the next book once this one goes on submission. And this is why authors would never be treated fairly, because a huge number of authors are like me: driven to create irrespective of whether it puts any food on the table.
Traditional publishing is a capitalist enterprise–and like any business that sells art–movies, music, visual arts–the journey is littered with heartbreaks. It’s a part of the process: it’s not personal. Everyone in publishing is there because of the love of books, but they also answer to capitalist overlords. That’s just the nature of the beast.
I’m privileged because my husband supports my career–my traditional publising career has made money, but barely living wages, given the years it’s taken me to write my novels. THE BLUE BAR has earned out its advance, so here’s hoping the royalties would be enough to do more than buy my husband random gifts.
My agent is fabulous, so I’m crossing fingers she keeps finding homes for my work.
I know a lot of the readers of this site are self-published, and I have so much respect for you–the kind of stories I write would die a quick death in self-pub, because none of them hit a particular niche. So I must keep on keeping on, making sausages the traditional way.
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As a reader, do you ever wonder if a book is self-published or traditional? As an author, are you self or traditionally published? How is it working for you? Do you ever watch the overnight-success-author movies and laugh?
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If you’re looking for a literary thriller set outside the West, and love books by authors like Lisa Gardner, Tana French, Jodi Picoult, Mary Kubica, Ruth Ware, Rachel Caine, Ivy Pochoda, Louise Penny or Harlan Coben, check out my literary crime novels, The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon on Kindle Unlimited now. Add to Goodreads or snag a copy to make my day ! THE BLUE MONSOON IS ON A KINDLE MONTHLY DEAL FOR JUNE!
And if you’d like to read a book outside the series, you can check out You Beneath Your Skin. Find all info about my books on my Amazon page or Linktree. If you have an Amazon account, a Follow will really help my ranking stay afloat.
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Damyanti, it has been a privilege for me to know you and your written work. You are an excellent author, whether you know it or not, whether it brings you riches or not. Over the years of blogging and almost writing a story of my mother, I have come to know how much work (writing, research, editing, publishing, etc.) it is to put a novel out there for the rest of the world to read. I wish you continued and growing success and give your husband a high five from me for supporting your journey and passion in writing.
I didn’t like traditional publishing for many of the reasons you cited, Damyanti. I thought it would be easier and more lucrative than indie publishing but soon found out that wasn’t the case at all. It’s good to hear that it’s working for you, despite the tremendous effort it requires. Best of luck on your WIP!
Hello, I hope all is well. I just published a women’s fiction novel, suspense, narcissistic relationships, “Meghan Tilley” at B&N and Amazon.
That’s incredible, congratulations! I’m excited to check it out.
Congratulations for your novel 😊 I am a new writer and I really don’t know how to promote myself 😭
Thank you so much! When it comes to promotion, it’s definitely a difficult game. I haven’t completely figured it out yet, and it still comes with its fair share of challenges, but I do have some resources on my blog if you’re looking for advice. There are also plenty of incredible authors out there with free articles and promo tips for new writers — when I first started out, I learned so much from looking at other writers’ experiences. Workshops and seminars are helpful, too! Wishing you all the best with your writing!
I admire you for reaching out to connect with other writers, who, in turn, share their interesting experiences.
After years of working for caring agencies as a psychotherapist, I did a film degree in the late 1990’s, as a mature student, to re-kindled my creativity. In an earlier life I used to work on film-sets as a stills photographer.
Later, I much enjoyed the co-editing of an unusual book, ‘Heart of a Sufi,’ financed and published in 2010 as a limited hardback edition by a group of friends. We recouped the expenses, not taking the actual work into account. Still, it was satisfying.
My first novel, ‘Course of Mirrors’ initially received over 900 positive responses on the former Authonomy site (Harper Collins,) where writers shared chapters of their MS in progress. The term ‘exquisite’ popped up frequently, which encouraged. And I got invaluable support from my editor friend and a Beta reader.
By chance, a small publisher loved ‘Course of Mirrors.’ Unfortunately they folded due to financial stress. So I decided to self-publish in 2017, putting my home at risk. I was not keen to submit and wait for months-on-end for a response from trade publishers – not getting any younger.
Last year, my son (bless him) helped me to publish the SF sequel, ‘Shapers,’ also with Troubador. A great page-turning story.
So far, expenses have not been recouped. Writing is a costly passion – a labour of love.
Presently, my third MS in the trilogy, ‘Mesa,’ sits idle. I’m dire at self promotion, having been brought up not to blow my own trumpet. Possibly, the review of a well known celebrity would bring my novels to public attention. So I wait for a miracle, aware that lots of wonderful writers linger in the same limbo land.
There is a biting arrogance in the publishing world about self-published books. The Royal Society of Authors, for example, will only grant associate but not full membership to a self-published writer.
Thank you, I really appreciate your comment. Connecting with other authors is probably one of my favorite aspects of being involved in the writing industry and I’ve learned so much from it, both as a writer and as an individual. The sense of fellowship and support is something which has kept me going through the highs and the lows, and I don’t know what I would do without the community.
Your journey is such an interesting one, and it’s incredible to read about the different forms your creativity has taken over the years, what with the transitions between photography, psychotherapy, film, and writing. I’m sorry to hear about your potential publisher and the losses you faced when self-publishing. As I’ve often experienced while dealing with publishing, it’s so difficult to know what to expect and almost impossible to stay fully prepared against all possibilities. But, like you said, writing is a labour of love. I believe I would still keep writing, even if I had no audience and no opportunity to put my work out into the world, simply because I’m compelled to do so. Many authors I know feel the same way. I hope the miracle you’re wishing for arrives soon, and that your work receives the attention it deserves.
Your books sound really interesting! It is really good to hear about your experience, thank you for sharing. I hope your book goes well and your wrists feel better soon. 🙂
Thank you so much, that’s so kind of you!
You’re very welcome! 😀
upmarket book club women’s fiction
That’s a genre! Sounds more like a Dewey decimal system
🤣🤣🤣
Yep; mine are the ones that die a quick death in SP!
So sorry to hear it’s so difficult & stressful even for someone like yourself, who has proven success and good sales figures. I’m currently struggling with Amazon ads (and wondering why I bother!)
Maybe I should give up – I hate the time and stress trying to promote my books takes. Oh, but then I love writing the books! As I’m unlikely ever to make any money at it, I’m beginning to wonder whether the sensible approach, for me, is to self-publish in small quantities, and give copies away to people I know will want to read them. That way I get to do the fun part (writing) and my work gets seen – if only by a limited audience. Whatever we do as writers, I’m inclined to think we need to take as much of the stress out of it as possible.
I’m sorry to hear that! You’re right, the satisfaction of writing a book is certainly much more enjoyable than the process of publishing it. At times, I wonder why I put myself through the stress, too. Your idea of self-publishing and giving away copies is something that a friend of mine did, and it worked for her — she got to continue pursuing her passion for writing books without the publishing pains, while knowing that the published copies would go to people who appreciate and treasure them. I wish you all the best with whichever path you choose!
Thank you
Thank you for commenting!
Great read, Damyanti — informative, personal, and just the right amount of wit.
Thanks so much, Mitch, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
The angst of the self-published is different: will I figure out how to market this when I’ve decided it’s finished and ready for prime time?
I love the control. The Pride’s Children trilogy is definitely “upmarket book club literary fiction” – I’m happy to say that some of my best readers and reviewers are men – and the women are no slouches.
There are, of course, no advances for the SPA. I’m ‘retired’ and we can afford to live, and this is what I want to spend my time on. Currently, I’m wrestling with LIMBO, the third volume, and I will publish when I, and only I, am willing to call it ready (my energy is so unpredictable due to ME/CFS and brain fog that I’d probably drive a traditional agent and publisher nuts).
Aside from the Amazon imprints you’ve been fortunate to land, Amazon holds no fires to my feet, and has no deadlines I wouldn’t be able to meet, so the pressures can all be artistic (and physical), not set by a limit I couldn’t fulfill.
There’s also NO marketing help beyond what Amazon has for all SPAs, and I’m trying to get a bit of that help that would work for my kind of books, which takes time, and hasn’t been particularly successful yet, but I asked for that by choosing to accept the challenge of this story, knowing how genre is much easier to market for indies than the meatier upmarket/commercial/mainstream/literary fiction.
Traditional publishing, alas, is NOT an alternative to most indie authors. You choose to SUBMIT (notice the word used); THEY choose who to accept, and it’s a very tiny percentage of authors who go through the cattle call. The articles which claim to help authors pick between the two are clickbait, looking for credulous newbies who have no clue how it works.
I have the same feeling you do when TV or movies offer ‘the author and their life’ as a subject, because those scriptwriters are living in an alternative universe which panders to what the ordinary person thinks of as ‘the writing life.’ It’s hilarious, ludicrous, and hideously incorrect.
Ask me again when LIMBO is finished, and I’m marketing a complete trilogy. Ask me again when I’ve figured out how to take advantage of the quality of the weird bird I’m nurturing (probably a cuckoo nestling). Ask me again when I’m famous, or when I no longer care because I’m no longer here.
Meanwhile, the very best of opportunities for you, and the very best of the luck which aids some writers. Hope you get what you want, soon.
Yes, the process of publishing is inevitably such a complex, and often challenging one. Thank you for sharing your journey with me. The writing life is so specific to each author, and I’m always grateful to be able to read about other writers’ experiences. That’s one of the ways I’ve been able to learn so many incredible new things and cope with all the hurdles writing and publishing involve. You’re right, the level of control which comes with self-publishing can feel so freeing. But, like you mentioned, it does have its disadvantages. When I first started out, I was definitely one of the credulous newbies with little to no knowledge of how the industry works, which area to get into, who to go to, and how many steps it would take to get my writing published. I’m lucky enough to have made my way out of the mist, thanks to all the people who helped me along the way. Thank you so much for your support and kind words, and the same to you! I hope you win the wrestling match with LIMBO, and I’m looking forward to asking and hearing your answers again in the future. Wishing you all the best!
I have to admit that I thought traditional publishing was a little easier than that. You get a contract and they take care of the rest for you. Still, congratulations on achieving that success.
That was what I thought, too, until the traditional publisher who signed me didn’t honor the provisions of the contract.
I’m so sorry to hear that, Liz. It’s such a discouraging feeling when a so-called source of support betrays one’s trust. And it makes the process of finding a new representative so much harder, too, especially when we’ve become aware of the potential risks and repercussions.
After that experience, I went indie.
Thank you, Thomas! I only wish traditional publishing were as easy as it might at first appear. It would really help ease up some of the stress of trying to sell a book.