self-publishing
As self or indie publishing grows and grows, more and more of us compete for a buyer’s attention on the Internet on both retail and industry websites.
Nowadays authors are calling on CreateSpace, Lulu, and other places to design their own book covers. Others do it on their own, utilizing stock images and free fonts—I do a workshop for writers’ conferences on how to design a book cover for $50, and that includes sophisticated graphics software. Other indie writer/publishers utilize the services of independent designers such as me.
Cover design creative goals
I’m going to show you screen captures from how books are presented on the search pages of major online vendors but, before we get there, I want to give you some goals with which to judge the effectiveness of these covers.
I have a confession. When it comes to art or entertainment, I don’t like categories.
It wouldn’t occur to me to put the books, music, or art that I like into any category more specific than “stuff I like.” But I realize most of the world doesn’t think that way.
And the publishing business definitely doesn’t think that way.
So today I’d like to share some thoughts about how fiction is categorized, raise some concerns about the obstacles that these categories (or genres, in publishing parlance) can present, and explore how to make these categories work in your favor.
Why genre matters
Whether you’re pursuing conventional publication, or looking into self-publishing, you need to be aware of genre – and its importance to you as a writer. To an agent or editor, identifying your book’s genre helps them determine if and how they can sell your book.
Please notice the “if” in the previous sentence. If what you’ve written is difficult or impossible for agents or editors to categorize, you’re going to have a really, REALLY hard time getting them to go to bat for your book. Similarly, if what you’ve written falls into a genre that the agent doesn’t represent, or one that the editor doesn’t want or need in her catalog, then you’re in a “do not pass go, do not collect $200” scenario.
Don’t freak out about this; just do your homework. It’s not hard to figure out which genres specific agents represent, and paying attention to what kind of books the various publishing houses specialize in is good basic intel for an aspiring writer to collect.
On the upside, clearly identifying your genre can help agents and editors, by giving them a vision of how your book can be sold and marketed. (If “sold and marketed” seems backwards to you, I’m referring to selling the book to a publishing house, and then marketing it to readers upon publication.)
[pullquote]Clearly identifying your genre can help agents and editors, by giving them a vision of how your book can be sold and marketed. [/pullquote]
If you’re self-publishing, genre is still important, but for different reasons. While you won’t have to deal with the “gatekeeper” function that agents and editors serve in conventional publishing, you’ve still got to put real thought into how to market your book. Amazon only offers you a limited number of keyword “tags” to apply to your book, and those tags are very important in making your book visible to the right readers.
Most successful self-published authors do a fair amount of experimenting and strategizing when it comes to tagging their books, aware that it can make a big difference in their sales. Although Amazon’s tags are not limited to just popularly accepted literary genres, their function is still the same: to identify what kind of book you’ve written for somebody who has not yet read it.
Why genre can be a problem
Okay, those are some reasons why genre is important. But genre can also be an enormous pain in the ass. Here are four reasons why:
1. Genres are anything BUT universal.
Read some literary blogs, and you’ll see an amazing variety of genres discussed. You’ve got chick-lit, thriller, fantasy, coming-of-age, post-apocalyptic, romance, dystopian, young adult, new adult (which makes me wonder, is there an old adult genre?), science […]
One thing I’ve noticed since I became serious about writing is that there are a lot of supposedly universal truths about writers, writing, and the business of publishing.
The fact that many of these “truths” tend to directly contradict each other should be enough to raise an eyebrow, but I’ve found that even some of the least-contested assertions seem much more like myths than truths.
So I thought today I’d poke some holes in ten myths that may initially seem easy to believe, but which ultimately are hard to swallow.
1. Writers are introverts, more comfortable in their own little world.
It’s true, some of them are. But some of them are anything BUT introverted (particularly when alcohol is added to the equation). I’ve met a lot of writers over the years, and their personalities have ranged all across the spectrum, from wispy recluse to lampshade-wearing party animal.
I could see how writing might hold a particular appeal to people who are shy, as it puts them in total control of how they express themselves, with the luxury of editing and polishing their words before sharing them with others. But isn’t that something that could come in handy for all of us? I mean, I’ve often longed for a Delete key to press, or an Undo button to click – always a nanosecond after saying something particularly stupid.
2. The biggest-earning writers succeeded because “they knew somebody.”
It’s a popular gripe to attribute any conspicuous success by a colleague or competitor as yet another example of “it’s all in who you know.” While there may be many instances in life where this is true, there’s still only one thing that causes a book to succeed: people – whether they are agents, editors or readers – need to fall in love with it.
Can referrals and inside connections get your manuscript requested by an agent or editor? Yes, sometimes (probably less frequently than you’d imagine). But keep this in mind: they might read your stuff, but they won’t go to bat for it unless they think it’s going to sell.
Read MoreMy client Allison Winn Scotch recently wrote a terrific post about her experience moving to self-publishing from the traditional model. We’ve both received many questions from agents and authors alike about the agent’s role in that process, so I thought, as her representative, I’d tell you more about it from my point of view.
Allison and I have worked together over the course of 4 books and 3 houses, so coming to the decision to self-publish her 5th novel was very much a mutual decision made over the course of many conversations between us. It was Allison who ultimately made the choice to go that route, and I endorsed and supported her decision, which was made after speaking to many within the industry and also after much consideration over what we both wanted for her career and her books.
Of course, I wasn’t sure what my role in the process would be – this is the great unknown for agents right now. After all, I wasn’t shopping the book or negotiating on her behalf with a publishing house. I spoke to several agents who have self-pubbing arms within their agencies about what was involved in setting that up at Weed Literary, and truth be told that part of the business didn’t interest me. Neither did the idea of commissioning someone who was self-pubbing. I love the job of agenting. I love finding that gem of a book in my slush pile. I love connecting with editors and getting to know their tastes. I love shepherding books into editorial shape, matching authors with editors and shaping careers. But hiring copy editors and jacket designers and printers and the rest of it held no appeal.
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