Thursday, October 22, 2020
Why I self published
In my view, literary agents and publishers are very conservative. I don't blame them for that. They must receive thousands of novels each year to be evaluated and considered for publication., many of varying quality. They cannot publish them all.
If we add in the decline in the number of people reading books, the costs of marketing, and other expenses, it must be very difficult to make any sort of profit from publishing fiction.
I suppose that is why much of the work actually being sent to book shops is by well-known authors with an established following, the J.K. Rowlings, Geoge R.R Martin and Philip Pullman's of this world, who have film and TV exposure to boost sales.
And then there are TV stars who have turned their hand to fiction, some with more success than others, the TV chat show host, the dancer on Strictly Come Dancing, the super model and the TV quiz host. Their books, some of which actually are very readable, sell because they are by well-known names.
In writing this, I do not want to dismiss the very high quality fiction that is being published. A great many novels are being accepted on their merits, it is just that many are not.
When I wrote my first two novels, I bought a guide to getting them published and spent a year sending them to agents. Despite getting some praise, none of them felt the books were for them.
I would have persisted if it had not been for two conversations I had, one with a author who explained to me how easy it is to self-publish using KDP, and another with a well-known publisher.
The latter conversation came about in Buckingham Palace, where I was receiving a CBE for political service. Amongst my group was Dame Carmen Callil, the founder of Virago Press. I told her I had written a novel. She told me that the publishing business had changed dramatically since she had started out and she advised me to self publish.
I came home and did precisely that. My two novels can be bought here, and I am making progress on my third. Please buy them.
If we add in the decline in the number of people reading books, the costs of marketing, and other expenses, it must be very difficult to make any sort of profit from publishing fiction.
I suppose that is why much of the work actually being sent to book shops is by well-known authors with an established following, the J.K. Rowlings, Geoge R.R Martin and Philip Pullman's of this world, who have film and TV exposure to boost sales.
And then there are TV stars who have turned their hand to fiction, some with more success than others, the TV chat show host, the dancer on Strictly Come Dancing, the super model and the TV quiz host. Their books, some of which actually are very readable, sell because they are by well-known names.
In writing this, I do not want to dismiss the very high quality fiction that is being published. A great many novels are being accepted on their merits, it is just that many are not.
When I wrote my first two novels, I bought a guide to getting them published and spent a year sending them to agents. Despite getting some praise, none of them felt the books were for them.
I would have persisted if it had not been for two conversations I had, one with a author who explained to me how easy it is to self-publish using KDP, and another with a well-known publisher.
The latter conversation came about in Buckingham Palace, where I was receiving a CBE for political service. Amongst my group was Dame Carmen Callil, the founder of Virago Press. I told her I had written a novel. She told me that the publishing business had changed dramatically since she had started out and she advised me to self publish.
I came home and did precisely that. My two novels can be bought here, and I am making progress on my third. Please buy them.
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Due to your background you have more ideas than I have had hot dinners.!
It taxed my brain just writing my essays and dissertation at Uni.
I have ideas for short stories but it is about finding the time and determination to put pen to paper (oops laptop keyboard to print out).
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It taxed my brain just writing my essays and dissertation at Uni.
I have ideas for short stories but it is about finding the time and determination to put pen to paper (oops laptop keyboard to print out).
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