Why is it so hard to break into writing field?

[mathinspiration]

The only one to get your work published is to pay for it?

 

[musicalpilgrim]

The only one to get your work published is to pay for it?

try amazon Self Publishing | Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing

 

[truefiction1]

The only one to get your work published is to pay for it?

Self publishing is almost always a huge waste of time and money. I did it once and wouldn't bother doing it ever again.

If you are an expert at some specialized know-how that is in high demand, then publishing an E-book covering the much sought subject matter to be sold on your website may earn you some profits. But if you're writing novels, memoirs, or the like, then you have to do it the very hard way, I'm afraid.

 

[Freedom~Sprite]

Here's a list of active seekers of manuscripts in the Christian book publishing field.

For general self publishing, not Christian genre exclusive, there is LuLu press. They've been around for years. I have a few of their published works in my own library.

Here is a Google result list for the keywords, free self publishers.


For anyone looking to self publish this Blog article may help as a warning first.

Many blessings in your quest.

 

[JAM2b]

It is a very competitive business. The amount of authors is enormous. Many publishers only want to spend funds and efforts on authors/manuscripts they are certain will turn a profit, so that limits their resources to already-known writers or agents that they trust. It is hard to break into traditional publishing.

 

[JAM2b]

Another pitfall is that because writing is so competitive, this has compelled many authors to write for cheap or free, just to get their foot in the door or at least some return for their effort. This lessens the value of work, and the person who wrote it, and makes it more difficult to earn a living at doing this. There is this culture existing now that feels like authors, especially new or lesser known writers, should be thankful for the privilege to write and get credit/portfolio/experience alone.

Unless I'm writing something for my church, I will not write for free. And I have not ever written for a low compensation (yet, ugh). My words are worth paying for. My time and effort is worth paying for. As a person, a fellow human, I'm no less deserving of an income than the next person.

#don'tworkforfree

 

[Moonrise Lu]

It is a very competitive business. The amount of authors is enormous. Many publishers only want to spend funds and efforts on authors/manuscripts they are certain will turn a profit, so that limits their resources to already-known writers or agents that they trust. It is hard to break into traditional publishing.

Definitely this. I'm sure there's many good authors out there that just haven't gotten lucky with a publisher that thinks their book will sell enough. (Even J.K. Rowling was rejected many times before she found someone who would publish her Harry Potter book, and look how popular that turned out to be.) Sometimes, it is just the tastes of the current readers that might prevent a book from selling. Moby Dick and Edgar Allen Poe's works are a couple that come to mind that weren't popular until after the author's death. It's just something where "you never know," and the publishers take only the one's they are most confident in. It doesn't mean not being published or popular means a person's writing is bad, though. It's something you have to continue chasing and not get disheartened.

 

[seekingmuch]

Self-publish and promote the heck out of it. You have to build a following. My plan is five years of work.

Hate to tell the one up there that doesn't like self-publishing, but self-published books are where the action is. Traditional publishers tell you what to write, what to do, etc. Small book imprints don't promote the books they publish, either. Traditional publishers don't take many risks on new writers at all. I read they may publish 1 new writer out of 10,000. It's akin to winning the lotto.

 

[JAM2b]

It's all about trends and building reputation. Very few authors are rich and famous because of their writing. Think about well known works and ask yourself who wrote them. Chances are, you might not even know.

Who wrote Rambo? Did you know Rambo was a novel before it was a movie?
Who wrote Tarzan? Did you know it used to be a comic book?

Most people can't answer these without googling it.

As far as traditional vs self publishing, or a hybrid of the two, they are both difficult. If you self publish, you are guaranteed to have a book, but you aren't guaranteed sells or exposure without paying for it or making it happen yourself. Traditional is hard to get into, but they foot the bill for printing and have some investment in getting the books off the shelf. How much they put into it will depend on the publisher and their goals.

When self publishing first came about it was not popular and traditional publishers and established authors ridiculed it. Now so many are flocking to self publishing that traditional publishing often gets snubbed. Self published authors are a dime a dozen. Some make a living off of it, some make only a little from it, and many make nothing. People's opinions change over and over.

No matter which route you go, there is a lot of time and effort that you will need to invest into it, and your results will vary.

 

[seekingmuch]

It's all about trends and building reputation. Very few authors are rich and famous because of their writing. Think about well known works and ask yourself who wrote them. Chances are, you might not even know.

It's taken me over 2 and a half years to build my brand, but it's resonating. Other Indie authors ask me for advice. One of my books is in a huge national contest. My reviews are multiplying and things are happening even to my website. You can make it as an Indie author, but you have to produce books and grow an audience. It's all-time consuming. I figure I have been working 80-90 hours a week for the last 2 years, 8 months and have churned out 16 novels from 15,000 words to 110,000 words. The sweet spot for erotic novels is 25,000 words. My 10,000 word shorts are really selling. I'm slowly getting discovered and people love my stuff. You have to do it everyday. No breaks. It really is five years of slogging along. But, I figure if I churn out 12 short novels over the next year, I'll have 28 quality works for people of all tastes to read, and make them check out my other stuff. God is helping, too. I claimed that promise that God will turn your work to gold and am seeing it happen.

And, as an Indie author, I answer to no one but my readers. Amazon gets 65%, but I get 35%. Not 15% like in traditional publishing. Yes, if you are JK Rowling, you get their marketing muscle. But, 50 Shades of Grey made it huge with no publisher. And, it isn't that well-written. I can drop a book anytime. No year waiting for it to open.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

The only one to get your work published is to pay for it?

Or, wait upon the Lord. Don't try to get anything published. Just find honest work to do to meet the needs of others, and write as you are able to, if you want to.
If Yahweh (G-d) wants it published, no one will be able to stop it.

 

[seekingmuch]

Also, did you know traditional publishers are reading Indie books with abandon trying to discover the next big thing?

JAM2b may criticize us Indie authors, but the ones that produce like I do are a peculiar lot. A lot of people write one book. Indie authors that produce one book are a dime a dozen.

Here's a tip for buying Indie books: look at the author page to see how much they have for sale. If they have a bunch of books, buy a cheapie and give them a shot. Most are only $1-2 bucks. Mine are all 99 cents right now. Traditional publishers want $10 a pop. You could buy all 8 of my real name for $8 bucks and read all summer long. My pen name also has eight. $16 bucks for a year of reading. That's cheap. Indie authors that produce one book are a dime a dozen.

What do I want? To see people happy and have a long career. A review lights me up, not a sale. Nothing would suit me more than doing it full-time. Money is not my object. Quality is.

If you are writing for money, you won't go far. If you write for the enjoyment and to make people happy, you will succeed in time with lots of effort.

 

[JAM2b]

JAM2b may criticize us Indie authors

I feel that my view is neutral. Both indie and traditional is difficult to get into.

Many people have to carefully consider all aspects of both forms because they have to make a living and they have family and community obligations as well. Either they depend on their writing for income or they have another job or career to support themselves or their families. If what you are saying you do is true, then it's not going to work out for most people.

Not every thing you are saying adds up. If you are writing as much as you say are, I have sincere doubts about the quality of it. If you are truly spending 80-90 hours a week on your writing and promoting, then that means you have no other job and possibly don't need the money for financial support. Either you don't have a family, or someone else is taking care of them.

80 hours a week working, and say 8 hours a night to sleep, only leaves 32 hours per week for everything else life requires. That's about 4.5 hours per day for hygiene, grooming, meals, chores, errands, interacting with humans... forget church or a social life...and this is on a week that gets 80 hours instead of 90 focused on your writing goals.

I'm sorry. I'm just not buying it.

 

[mama2one]

The only one to get your work published is to pay for it?

got a chapter published in a book but all I received was a free book, author bio in it, plus now can say am a published author

attended many local writing conferences but they stopped a while back
sometimes they had well known authors as main speaker such as Mary Higgens Clark

the last local author gathering I attended was at the library
since hadn't attended anything for a while, went to see what was new
there were maybe 8 authors there and they all spoke
all had their books self-published except one author

one person's book was a testimonial book (how they came to Christ), couple books of poems, one a true story about an accident that had happened to their son/how he recovered, and rest were fiction stories
the one person who'd published both ways, spoke about the advantages/disadvantages of both

although I like to write and did get that one chapter published have no desire to publish any of my stories as would not like to promote/sell anything

one church writer grp I was in, one of the women has self published one book and has a website promoting it and attends local author events and now has several e-books
she writes a blog related to the content of her main book

another local author had a book signing at a church event and she read her children's book and had craft's for kid's

a local author that spoke at one of the writer's conferences yrs ago wrote for several magazines; he had lots published and been writing for yrs but he admitted it was nearly impossible to make a living at writing

you must be willing to promote which seems to me would be much more work than actual writing unless you're an outgoing person and don't mind being a speaker at local author events
and selling your book wherever you go

best to you

 

[seekingmuch]

I feel that my view is neutral. Both indie and traditional is difficult to get into.

Many people have to carefully consider all aspects of both forms because they have to make a living and they have family and community obligations as well. Either they depend on their writing for income or they have another job or career to support themselves or their families. If what you are saying you do is true, then it's not going to work out for most people.

You view wasn't "neutral." You clearly said Indie authors are dime a dozen. )

One of my books is up for a national award. ) Yes, I truly do spend all my time at home working and promoting. It is not for everyone. I'm single and have no other obligations. Yes, I work at a job, too. It's business just like any other. You have to work it to get ahead. Publish or perish means just that.

If you write for money awards, you'll be disappointed quickly. You have to love it. I truly outdo myself with each new book. And, I am seeing success happen. It was a long slog, and still 2 more years to work an insane amount, but it'll be worth it. My earlier works are getting discovered now. I have a strong feeling two of them will explode eventually in sales.

There are 168 hours in the week. I work about 12-13 hours a day. That's 80-90 hours. That leave 78-88 hours to sleep, eat, bathe, etc. I am NO different that someone building their own company. It takes blood, sweat, tears and dedication---and desire to be great at it. No where did I mention money. If it could net me $100,000 a year so I could churn out 1-2 books a month (20,000 to 30,000 words each), I bet I'd be perfectly fine with it. I hope I die writing.

Jamb2 - it sounds like to me you want it easy. Big publishing deal without the work involved. Those deals are 1 in a million, literally. The innovative stuff I've read in the last 5 years or so has been Indie stuff. I won't even buy a traditionally published book anymore. I support fellow Indie authors instead. They need the money and support and reviews like I do.

 

[JAM2b]

You failed to mention the negatives I pointed out for traditional publishing. I get it. You feel like you are successful and you're feelings got hurt. It doesn't change facts that both methods are tricky and difficult for most people to become successful in.

I didn't say I wanted it to be easy. I was just pointing out how hard it is, no matter which path you try to take. I think you are skimming through and just latching on to what you want to comment about and making assumptions to fill in the holes where you missed or didn't consider something.

I'm a mom, usually working full-time, and have every household responsibility, errand, and appointment that everyone else with a family has to do. Most people are in similar situations. What you say you are doing will not work for most people. This means they have to choose carefully, and it will take a long time for them to see success most likely.

I still don't believe you put that much time into it, unless you don't need to work for money or something is suffering... your other job, your quality of writing, your health, your relationships, or whatever else there is for you. A lot of people could do that for a little while, but no one can maintain that for years straight without hitting a wall somewhere.

Most good authors do not write that many books in a year, quality over quantity. Most good writers will not try to publish quickly after finishing a manuscript. They will sit on it and let it simmer, read it, do any revision or editing that's needed, then submit/self-publish. It's not about the number of books or churning out words. It's about doing it well.

If you get enough out there, the reviews will stack up overall. One thing about reviews, they still count whether the reviews are positive or negative (no such thing as bad publicity, right?). Maybe you do have some gems. Maybe you are winning a competition. That does not mean what you are doing is typical or always going to work out well for most people.

 

[JAM2b]

You're not consistent in what you are saying, and I still believe you are exaggerating.

It's taken me over 2 and a half years to build my brand, but it's resonating. ... My 10,000 word shorts are really selling. ...I claimed that promise that God will turn your work to gold and am seeing it happen...Amazon gets 65%, but I get 35%. Not 15% like in traditional publishing. Yes, if you are JK Rowling, you get their marketing muscle. But, 50 Shades of Grey made it huge with no publisher. And, it isn't that well-written. I can drop a book anytime. No year waiting for it to open.

Here's a tip for buying Indie books: look at the author page to see how much they have for sale. If they have a bunch of books, buy a cheapie and give them a shot. Most are only $1-2 bucks. Mine are all 99 cents right now. Traditional publishers want $10 a pop. You could buy all 8 of my real name for $8 bucks and read all summer long. My pen name also has eight. $16 bucks for a year of reading. That's cheap.

....

And then this:

No where did I mention money.

 

[faroukfarouk]

got a chapter published in a book but all I received was a free book, author bio in it, plus now can say am a published author

attended many local writing conferences but they stopped a while back
sometimes they had well known authors as main speaker such as Mary Higgens Clark

the last local author gathering I attended was at the library
since hadn't attended anything for a while, went to see what was new
there were maybe 8 authors there and they all spoke
all had their books self-published except one author

one person's book was a testimonial book (how they came to Christ), couple books of poems, one a true story about an accident that had happened to their son/how he recovered, and rest were fiction stories
the one person who'd published both ways, spoke about the advantages/disadvantages of both

although I like to write and did get that one chapter published have no desire to publish any of my stories as would not like to promote/sell anything

one church writer grp I was in, one of the women has self published one book and has a website promoting it and attends local author events and now has several e-books
she writes a blog related to the content of her main book

another local author had a book signing at a church event and she read her children's book and had craft's for kid's

a local author that spoke at one of the writer's conferences yrs ago wrote for several magazines; he had lots published and been writing for yrs but he admitted it was nearly impossible to make a living at writing

you must be willing to promote which seems to me would be much more work than actual writing unless you're an outgoing person and don't mind being a speaker at local author events
and selling your book wherever you go

best to you

Well, you got your foot on the rung, so to speak...