THE
PRESIDENT’S PAGE
(August
2010)
At our August meeting, Karen Estes spoke about writing and
self-publishing her book Plane of the
Ecliptic. Her detailed explanation
of the process she went through in dealing with iUniverse was informative and well received by those in
attendance. The information she provided
is sure to help others in deciding how and where to publish their work.
Russ Davis introduced us to Andrew Corder who is now the
senior editor for Gray Dog Press. Andrew
will be taking charge of most of the day-to-day publishing efforts, while Russ
will concentrate more on the marketing end of the business. We also met Stan Penny, who formerly worked
in law enforcement. He is hoping to
write about his experiences.
Lee Moore proudly showed us the special handmade card she
is making for her grandson Scott. It
features the Scottish Terrier Scooter, Scott’s constant companion. Chuck Lehman told us a little about his new
book, and as well put in a plug for the cover designer (of all his books), Greg
Lehman. Paul Lecoq announced that August
27th would see the release of his book, Cruel and Unusual Punishment at Auntie’s Bookstore. Lastly, Jim Parry told us that up to six
authors from Gray Dog Press would be at
Once again we had a bumper crop of door prizes, all donated
by SASP members. Russ and Andrew donated
two copies of the latest Spoke Write. They were won by Ana Alvarez and Bob
Manion. Karen Estes provided a copy of Plane of the Ecliptic, for which Soul
Karriem had the winning number. Jim
Vasquez re-donated a copy of a book he had won a year or so ago. Paul Lecoq took home a copy of Patrick
McManus’ The Double Jack Murders. Lastly, Maggie Alvarez (attending with her
parents) and Damon Bauer each won a pack of Lee Moore’s handmade greeting
cards.
We also mentioned that many members still need to write and
submit a member’s bio for the web-site.
A call also went out for reviews for members books, again for posting
upon the SASP web-site. Please forward
bios and reviews to Dave McChesney at daveeva@comcast.net so they might be included.
Our next speaker will be Shirley Penna-Oakes of the
Outreach for the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society. She will talk about genealogical research
when writing family history. Be sure to
join us on 2 September for what is sure to be an interesting presentation.
A call for guest bloggers:
Recently a Live Journal Friend posted some comments and
questions about self-publishing. The
remarks were not unkind or prejudicial but were written from the viewpoint of
one published in the more traditional manner.
His basic argument was that the process of obtaining an agent, selling
the manuscript to a publisher, and the many revisions required along the way
help produce higher quality work. My
reply was that self-published authors can (and should) take advantage of every
opportunity to fine tune and perfect their work before it goes to print.
Rather than keeping up a dialog about this in the comments
of his post, I plan to post my thoughts on self-publishing in the next few
days. If any of you would like to
present your ideas on the process, send them along to me and I’ll post
them. Perhaps a little insight as to why
you decided to self-publish might be enlightening as well. I’ll also include one or two as a part of
subsequent President’s Pages on our web-site.
I’d suggest no more than 250 – 300 words, about a page in standard
format. You can send your thoughts on
the matter to me at daveeva@comcast.net.
My Live Journal is at http://vespican.livejournal.com/ You can click on “friends” and scroll down, or you can go to http://eriksdb.livejournal.com/263452.html to see the original post. (If you have had trouble linking to Erik’s post, I’ve just discovered that I had listed a portion of the URL incorrectly. It is correct now.)
Write on,
Dave McChesney, SASP
President
P. S. Below is the main body of what I’ve posted at
http://vespican.livejournal.com/48200.html
regarding my views on self-publishing.
Thoughts
on Self-Publishing
It is often thought that self-published work isn’t good
enough for a traditional publisher to consider.
Likewise, it is a common belief that self-published authors haven’t learned
the ways of the publishing industry or haven’t bothered to work with the
business. These assumptions may be true
in some cases, but in many others they are not.
Publishing professionals tend to look for work that fits
into specific categories or genres. They
need to know how to market a work before taking it on. Thus a work that cannot be easily classified,
no matter how brilliant, may not be given much consideration for publication. After all, publishing is a business, meant to
make money for those engaging in it. If
people in the industry cannot figure out how to market a product, why would
they consider marketing (publishing) it?
Many writers finish their work with the dream of being
published by the big time traditional industry.
They diligently set about learning the ropes and follow the established
procedures. They submit query
letters. They go to writers conferences
and pitch their work to agents and editors.
More than likely they are asked to send partial or even complete manuscript
submissions. Often the agents praise the
quality of the writing, but find the work unmarketable, and do not offer
representation. While these writers
understand that gaining literary representation can take some time and result
in many rejections, there comes a time when they realize that their work isn’t
what traditional publishing is looking for.
Perhaps then it is time for that writer to look at alternative ways of
being published. While they might
explore the possibilities of working with an independent or university presses,
it is also quite logical that writers in this situation might consider
publishing the work themselves. While
some may argue that one more query, one more pitch, one more submission may be
all that it takes to secure representation and an eventual publishing contract,
the particular writer may decide that it is more important to be published,
rather than how he/she is published.
Maybe a writer knows from the very start that his/her work
is not destined for a large market. If
the work is only interesting to a small segment of the population the
traditional industry is not going to consider it. If the market for the book isn’t large
enough, there isn’t any profit in publishing it, so why bother? An author of a work meant for a small group
of people is probably considering self-publication right from the start. He/she has done the homework, understands the
book marketing business and has no illusions about big time publishers taking
on his/her work.
Self-publishing offers some advantages. It allows the writer/publisher to have much
more control over the finished product.
Of course, this can be a detriment as well. One of the knocks against self-published work
is the quality of the product, both in regards to the packaging and the writing
itself. Those seeking traditional
publication read, reread, edit, and revise as they seek representation and
eventually a publishing contract. Their
first readers, agents, and editors work with them to make the work the best it
can be, and to clean up and eliminate all grammatical and typographical
errors. Self-published authors are not
forced to go through this gauntlet of revision and correction, and often send
out to the world work that isn’t quite ready.
Therefore, the responsibility of producing a high-quality work lies squarely on the shoulders of the self-publishing author. He/she must take the time to ensure the work is of the best quality possible, even if it means spending a little money to have a professional go over it in detail. It also means taking the time to allow trusted friends and colleagues to review, critique, and edit the work. A determined self-published author should be capable of producing a work indistinguishable from one from a traditional publisher.
&
Self-Publishers
Page revised 08/26/10 DAM
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