I'm currently a student in a creative writing program, and as a senior project, we write a book. It's traditional in the program to self-publish that book on Amazon, buy some print copies, and give them to your friends to celebrate all your work in the program.
I'm just starting on my project, and I do really want to self-publish with my classmates and have the full experience. However, I've also read your blog enough to know that self-publishing should be done wisely. I know that anything I self-publish is unlikely to sell very well unless I put in a lot of extra time and effort.
Furthermore, I admit that my pipe dream would be to get a traditional publishing contract for this novel. But unless I chose to skip the self-publishing part of this program (which again, sounds really fun) I'd probably need to publish my project before any agents would even get back to me.
Which means I'd be shopping around a novel that's already been self-published. Aim at foot, shoot.
This program's project wasn't designed with these concerns in mind. Most kids my age probably don't care about future marketability. Me, though? I'm worried I'm going to self-publish a novel I really love and then have it haunt me forever.
Should I avoid self-publishing now, and hold out for a future traditional publish? Should I make peace with the idea that this book just won't go anywhere, and that I could sell something else one day? Should I take the leap of faith and see if anyone will pick up a previously self-pubbed book? Should I stop worrying about it, and (as I ended my question last time) put this whole publishing thing on a back burner and wait 'til I'm older?
Thanks again for all you do. It might seem like just a blog to you, but I truly learned so much from all of your writing. You really made a difference for me as a kid, and I hope I can put everything I learned to use one day.
You get an A+ for asking an interesting question.
I'm not sure there's a right/wrong answer here.
For starters, you didn't
mention if there's a downside, in terms of your grade for the
program, if you don't publish.
If it's going to mess with
your GPA, do publish. Your GPA now has a higher priority than something which might/maybe/not happen down the road.
If you do elect to publish (for whatever reason), you can wait a suitable length of time and then take the book off Amazon.
Yes, it will still be findable for those nosy Parkers who like to suss out every youthful peccadillo, but the hell with them.
IF you want to query this novel at a later time you can say:
An early version of this novel was published as part of a class project in my creative writing program. My mom bought the entire print run.
Publishing this before you query will NOT kill you, particularly if it's a class project.
Even I, purse-lipped rejector of previously published books, give young folks/students a break on something like this.
The reason for that is NOT that I am nice and kind (I absolutely am not.) It's that a project like this doesn't make me think you've exhausted the buyer pool. You probably aren't even IN the buyer pool.
Which means do NOT publicize this, tout it on social media, buy copies for your Christmas list, and DO discourage Mum from buying more than one copy (Good luck with that!)
Any questions?
There are always exceptions to rules and guidelines.
This is one of them.
