I know a lot of writers are considering/doing the Kindle route these days.
I've got my eye peeled for news on that front.
Here's a good post about the pace of publishing on Kindle from Levi Asher at LitKicks.
Here's another post about self-publishing by Cory Doctorow. Particularly note the phrase: "I dramatically underestimated how much work this would be."
9 comments:
Interesting. My mother just finished a memoir. She's publishing it on Amazon, and even though she's retired (so has time to devote to the project) and highly energetic, it's taken two months from completion of ms to upload.
Thanks Janet, for the realistic advice. But for those who are "determined" it's just one day at a time.
And who was it that said, (besides my grandfather)
"Hard work never killed anyone."
Why, oh, why do so many people think indie publishing is the fast, easy way to instant riches and fame? That it isn't hard work?
And why would Cory Doctorow, of ALL people, buy into that thinking?
Doctorow is publishing in both paper and ebook formats including short-run high-end collectors' editions so it's no wonder he's overwhelmed. He also has a very successful career as a columnist and celebrity.
For someone like commenter Columbia's grandmother, maybe it's enough to have a completed memoir to distribute to friends and family and a few passers-by on amazon. I'm not sure a everyone who self-pubs wants to take on what's required to get a book sold in bookstores.
I've been running a series of posts about self-pubbed authors and the work involved blows me away.
I've been discussing this sort of thing for quite a while now over at my blog--there's formatting choices that creep in every turn. I swear, you blink, and four new errors just magically appear! Honest! But you learn a TON about what it takes to make a real ebook, and no gained knowledge is worthless. But I have learned one thing from the "professionally" produced ebook versions of books that I have: even the pros don't know what they're doing, and editing is something that most ebooks simply do not have. All the effort for editing goes to the print version, not the electronic. There are errors galore all over the place--from bad spelling, font choice (come on...get it right for once!) and oversized images for the ebook cover that don't jibe with most ereaders. The list goes on and on, and these are the professionals! I found that by fixing their mistakes, I make by ebook better, which is a better deal for the end-user. So for me, it's a win either way.
It took me 13 months to write the first pass at my book. Then another year (almost) for querying. Then more months for ebook setup. That's, roughly, one ebook every two years. Not stellar output. But when I release my ebook, should the last publisher I'm talking to decline, I will have an ebook that is (at least from an editing and formatting POV) superior to many professional ebook out there on Kindle or Nook.
Maybe--for the right price--I should be an ebook formatter...
"But I have learned one thing from the "professionally" produced ebook versions of books that I have: even the pros don't know what they're doing, and editing is something that most ebooks simply do not have. All the effort for editing goes to the print version, not the electronic."
I can only speak for the publishers I've worked with. These are e-publishers, not self-publishers or print publishers. They work the same way "traditional" print publishers work, only all their books are e-books. And I can tell you first hand that editing is a prime focus on all e-books published by e-publishers. The editorial process is extensive and goes many rounds before an e-book is ready to be launched. With one publisher I work with, there's a managing editor assigned to me, and then a copy editor. And it takes many rounds to edit the e-book before it's ready. It's a collaboration between author and editor down to the last detail. If there are mistakes, which do happen, they happen during the digital conversion, which I don't totally understand. But it's not because the e-book wasn't edited.
I spent several years writing my books, then several more sending out queries. In comparison, formatting my manuscript for epublishing was not all that hard. The first one took the longest. The second and third were practically a breeze. Since November 2010 I've sold more than 25,000 copies of my ebooks.
You can't lump all indie writers into a category of not being good or professional. I've read books by bad indie writers and others by very good writers, just like in traditionally published books. For a writer, I think the work is well worth the reward.
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