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Everybody's an author now.

robert eggleton said:
Self-published books are not "authored" and don't count. If one cannot get at least a small press to publish one's book, it is not a book -- it is a term paper, a journal, an English assignment, etc.
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I disagree. It's "published author" that can't be used as a label for a self-publisher. I've had four books published by small press, but had to resort to self-pubbing my historical novels since no agents or small publishers were interested.
 
The general assumption I would make as a reader is that a 'published' book has been through some form of quality control.
 
That's what I assume also, but small publishers don't have a budget to promote. I think that once one self-publishes, unless established, it becomes more difficult to find an actual publisher of any size. And, if it is a self-published masterpiece, that a huge loss to literature because enough people will never read it and it won't be in Libraries or used in schools. That's why I waited until I got a commitment from a real publisher for Rarity from the Hollow.
 
Rarity from the Hollow was edited twice by different professionals. However, I still found a typo in the first chapter. I think that it must have been an error made by the typesetter.
 
I don't know anything about the process; and, I don't know anything about promotion, as you may have noticed. There is a typesetter listed on the inside of the front cover along with publisher, copyright numbers, etc. But, maybe, especially since it was published in England, typesetting may be a term still applied within a new technology. (I was a paperboy in the 50s for a local newspaper that used lead letters and a big press -- very impressive.)

If it wasn't for the fact that this project raises money for abused kids, I would have given up a long time ago and either people read my stuff or not. I probably should take a class on how to promote in cyberspace without any money. Do you know of any online free classes? Almost everything that I run across is a rip off.
 
robert eggleton said:
I don't know anything about the process; and, I don't know anything about promotion, as you may have noticed. There is a typesetter listed on the inside of the front cover along with publisher, copyright numbers, etc. But, maybe, especially since it was published in England, typesetting may be a term still applied within a new technology. (I was a paperboy in the 50s for a local newspaper that used lead letters and a big press -- very impressive.)
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Typesetting is still used for high volume book printing albeit traditional methods had been long superceded by computers by the time I left the industry. Typesetting is preparation for a factory process, publishers do a lot more.
 
Craftsmanship

A friend lost his job as a typesetter for the State of West Virginia a few years ago. He mixed ink to make the correct colors and everything. At the time, although I'm a psychotherapist by trade, I ran our Division of Culture and History. I'm the least cultured person I know, but it was a Governor's appointment that I didn't know how to turn down. When a new administration came in with a new Governor, I went back to my profession. Before I did, I advocated for that press to be placed in our State Museum. The next admin instead took it apart and trashed it. My friend loved it so much he would have put it in his living room. Maybe it was typeset and more valuable than I realize.
 
I always thought that if I ever get round to writing the novel I've wanted to write for years that I would want to go down the traditional publishing route. That said, I've been speaking to a very passionate writer who has been trying for two years to get a publishing house to pick up her story and none are interested. It must be incredibly demoralising to receive rejection letter after rejection letter.

In addition, I have seen some self published authors picked up by publishing houses after their book became popular - I've seen this happen a few times with Kindle authors. That said, with all the competition I also think it comes down to how well you can market yourself and your book rather than how well you can write (in 99% of the cases)...
 
I agree 100%. Times have changed. But, your friend must not have written about Batman, vampires, werewolfs, or some traditional theme that the Houses prefer. In any case, good marketing skills does not promote the advancement of Literature, netither does good sales of a novel or positive author proceeds. If all you are in this business for is to make money, no offense, but please quit and get a job at Go Mart. This is a sad day for English reading generations.
 
I didn't know there are bestselling Batman novels. Cool. Have to say I've never seen one on bestseller lists or in bookshops, but I'm sure they exist.

In any case, good marketing skills does not promote the advancement of Literature
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I thought you came here to self-promote? If you were to improve your marketing skills, do you not think that would promote good (or at least your) literature?
 
robert eggleton said:
I agree 100%. Times have changed. But, your friend must not have written about Batman, vampires, werewolfs, or some traditional theme that the Houses prefer. In any case, good marketing skills does not promote the advancement of Literature, netither does good sales of a novel or positive author proceeds. If all you are in this business for is to make money, no offense, but please quit and get a job at Go Mart. This is a sad day for English reading generations.
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I hope this post wasn't supposed to be personal as it comes across as quite hostile.

The majority of people who write books do so to have their stories read by others. In order to do this they have to get them published, either down the publishing house route or the self publishing route (and yes I agree with you regarding vampires and zombies). I don't think any new author sends manuscripts off with the aim of being a millionaire (okay maybe some do) but they do want to see their book in print and other people reading them.

In the self publishing market, marketing is essential in my view. Just think how many authors publish an eBook every day. To get it noticed you have to market it online. Otherwise it will end up hidden amongst all the other books and won't make a sale and no sales = no readers.
 
Laura, Sorry for the tone. There was no hostility intent within my prior comment. I agree with you, and maybe that contributes to my frustration. If I made recommendations on stock purchases, writing seminars, the self-publishing industry, and the associated paid advertising companies that prey on the self-published would be considered as good investments. In this recoverying economy, maybe that's the "up side" of the demise of literature as we have known it.
 
An article from NPR on self publishing success stories: Self-Publishing: No Longer Just A Vanity Project : NPR

The comments from the self pubbers exalting the leveling of the playing field are humorous, even the ones who are cleverly plugging their own books. One of them, while commenting on self editing, made a typo.

Most of these self pubbing success stories have a common thread; there was some catalyst that got the sales started. Some paid for reviews from Kirkus, some got mentions from Goodreads, and the guy in the story above had a blog that just happened to be followed by a book reviewer. So it appears to me that you have to have more than a good, well written story, you need a catalyst, some type of break to get started.
 
Yeah, an unqualified candidate got...

a new job as the Human Resources Manager for a major company because her friend was sleeping with the CEO. This HR Manager was a recent college grad who majored in criminal justice and had less that six months of actual work experience in a job that paid a little better than mnimum wage where I also work. She came by to visit recently and bragged.

I'll stick to my guns -- the fight against giant publishers has to be waged through small, well respected publishers combined with the author doing as much self-promotion as the always changing cyberspace rules allow. What hurt me the most was turnover. I'd established good relationships with folks that owned forums, review sites, etc. and too soon these sites were gone. There seems to be constant turnover in domains. I ran across a list of Science Fiction (I write SF/F with Lacy Dawn always playing the protagonist) active and defunct sites the other day and guess which list was longer.
 
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