Okay, so we're the bastards of publishing. What, we're going to stop writing?

Good afternoon friends!

It's been a bit since I've blogged, and there's a reason for that.

I've been down.

I've been very down.

My writing career has been up and down as many of you may know, but mostly it's been a career largely unknown to the vast majority of readers. I have worked with professional publishing companies, and I have published on my own, and my experiences with the professional companies have been 1 very good and 1 very not good.  I found out that a company that strokes my ego and asks for all of my books might seem like a good idea, but the end result can be disappointment.

So I'm back to 100% self publishing which puts me back the in the battle between those who are "legitimate" (Those who work with publishers and let publishers deal with marketing and cover art and all of that) or those who are not at all recognized.  (You know...those of us who are self published, the bastards of the writing world.)

Two things happened in the last few months that really got me down.

1) I found out that the person I'd paid significant cash to edit my novels not only didn't do a good job, they made things worse.

This was brought up by a customer at the farmers market where I've been selling my books for the last three years.  I put my trust in someone who was opening up her own publishing company and therefore I didn't go back and check her work. I should have been more watchful. The knock on self published authors is that the final copy isn't clean and I've long prided myself that my books are clean. This summer was humbling because I found out I'd been taken and some of my novels, indeed, were terribly edited.

Well, I've fixed that issue.  So there, no worries there.

2)  A customer of mine went to my local library asking if I could do some sort of event there. I've done library events before, but I've been hesitant to approach my own local library, probably because, well, I'm trying to sell books and libraries, well, they aren't so much with the selling.

And, in this case, they aren't so much with the self published.  It is their policy, they told my customer, NOT to do events with self published authors.  What they mean is this:  Self published authors are not real authors and therefore have no place in our precious collection of only legitimate publications.

Not much I can do about that attitude and that's had me down big time.  And, as we writers know, the mental aspect of writing is so vital. Being down means I haven't worked on any of my current works in progress for some time and I haven't blogged here.

The battle to be recognized as a legitimate contributor to the writing community may be a losing one for now. For the past eight years I've been self publishing and, this editing hiccup aside, I've put out some quality work.  Not my problem that publishers don't have the time of day to either look at or even acknowledge my submissions.  If I waited for permission (because that's what it is) from a publishing company to send my stories into the world, I would have exactly one book to my name and I would not be doing public appearances several times a year as I do now.

My own friends in writing look down on my work because they've got book deals with small presses and they are "legitimate." When the topic comes up I bite my tongue, I smile, and I say nothing because I'm not going away...and they aren't ever going to accept my work until I can wave a contract offering me 17% of the royalties if I sign away my rights to what I write.

Don't get me wrong.  If a publisher offered me the right contract, I would go.  But I've done enough wrong contracts (really, one is all you need) that I'm ultra careful about who gets to judge and/or reject my work.  Meanwhile, I'm not going to stop writing. And I'm certainly not going to wait by the phone (or email in box) like some desperate high school girl waiting for a boy to deign to call her and ask her out.  I'm going to continue to publish and I'm going to continue to sell my books.  I have a new editor now, one I trust completely and one who actually does a very good job.  My storytelling style is my own.  My content is what I want.  My covers are approved by me and only me. 

The people who read my work generally enjoy it.  I meet with book clubs and groups frequently and we have a blast.  I love the hands on approach, I love meeting people the way a local farmer or crafter would.  I'm proud of what I do, and I enjoy sharing it with others.

So, my self published friends, take heart. Yes, things are up and down in the world of self publishing.  And you're going to have to fight to be recognized.  But here's the thing: Things are up and down in the "legitimate" world of publishing, too.  I know authors who are published and guess what?  They have to work day jobs just like we do. They aren't world famous.  Most of them, the vast majority of them, continue to work and build what ultimately is a small reader base.

What's the difference?  Well, legitimacy comes at a cost.  Maybe it's up front fees. (I don't recommend that.)  Maybe it's the publisher taking the lion's share of the royalties.  But the only difference between many "published" authors and those of us that are self pubbed is this:  Someone looked at their work and said, "Hey, with a lot of rewrites this could be something. So turn over your rights to the book and we'll edit it, make a cover for it you may or may not love, and we'll take 80% of everything you make off the book."

Yeah, okay.

So my friends, those of you who are self published and those of you who are traditionally published, let me give you my battle cry:  I might just be one of those bastard children of publishing today.  But my work is out there, and I'm not going away.  What, you're going to make me stop writing?

I don't think so.

The one thing, my self pubbed friends, that you do need to be wary of is this:  Get the book edited properly.  Get an English teacher who knows how to spell (and read) to look it over. Do not trust spell check.  Contact your local high school or college and see if they have a teacher or a student willing to work for a small amount of money.  (Professional editors cost a ton.  And that's what I thought I was hiring...and I got screwed.  Don't be me.)  Make sure that the work you put out there is as clean as you can make it, editorially speaking.  YOU CANNOT LINE EDIT YOUR OWN WORK.  You just can't.

We, the growing army of self published authors, need to make sure we continue working, continue writing, continue making our voices heard.  We've come a long way, but there are still hearts and minds to change along the way. The goal, the focus, must always be on the reader.  Give the reader something good and you will always have a measure of success!