Has Self-Publishing Finally Become Cool?

You know, it's one thing when you see blog posts like this one from indie-turned-Big Six published author Karla Brady (whose book THE BUM MAGNET has led to a deal with Simon & Schuster) that ask whether self-publishing is in. She raises many good points about the opportunities that have opened up for the self-published (or indie, if you prefer) authors. She encourages writers not to think of self-published as second best or disadvantaged. Quite the opposite.

But what really got my attention was a couple of posts from Alan Rinzler, who writes a blog called The Book Deal: The Inside View of Publishing. (Rinzler is a "consulting editor" who -- as you can see from his bio -- qualifies as an industry insider.) The first post, called "The Last Laugh: If Self-Published Authors Owned the Midlist," made such amazing statements as the following:

"Mega publishers like Simon and Schuster and Random House could someday cede the midlist to a vast army of self-published authors.

"In that scenario, they'd focus instead just on blockbuster books by brand-name authors and celebrities.

"All the rest — the literary fiction, the cookbooks, the self-help books, the bread and butter midlist books that now make up 80 percent of every publisher's list — those books they'd cherry pick from self-published authors who'd already tested the market and had the credible sales to prove it."

Whoa, Nellie! This from a publishing industry insider. But wait -- keep reading:

"If you're tired and exasperated at waiting, waiting, and then waiting some more for agents and publishers to wake up and pay attention to your book…take a look at self-publishing.

"It's not what it used to be. Self-publishing has grown exponentially and achieved an unprecedented degree of legitimacy.

"This approach has emerged as a powerful and effective way to prove the quality of your content and show that you can self-market.  And most significantly, if you can achieve a threshold of sales, say from 5-10K copies on your own, a traditional publisher may offer you a deal to take over the book for their list.

"This isn't some future-tense scenario hyped up by self-pub marketing enthusiasts.  It's real, and it's happening now.

"I know this because I'm starting  to receive more agented submissions of books from self-published writers.  And I've signed up several."

OMFG! I feel faint. This is an industry insider talking! Stop and take a breath before I swoon. There. Much better.

But I must push onward to the post he wrote after that, with a title nothing less startling than: "Literary Agents Open the Door to Self-Published Writers."

Oh, dear! Not again. (Where are my smelling salts? LOL) Anyway, here's what Rinzler had to say about this startling development:

"The top dog at one of the most successful literary agencies in New York says he's in hot pursuit of self-published books to represent to mainstream publishers.

"'Absolutely, yes!'  That was Jim Levine’s unequivocal answer when I asked him recently if he was accepting self-published submissions.

"Levine is a founding partner at Levine Greenberg Literary Agency, among the top five overall most active agencies in the business, according to Publishers Marketplace.  And he's on the crest of a wave of agents beginning to represent authors who've self-published and are seeking mainstream commercial publication."

Jeez Louise! Have I died and gone to indie author heaven?

But wait. Gotta keep going because there's more:

"Levine's attitude is a notable shift, since in the past, most agents shunned self-published books as tainted goods and a tough sell. Levine says that's changing.

"'Usually when we take on a self-published book we sell it,' he said. 'We sold Jason Kaplan's Things That Suck to Andrews McMeel Publishing, Jeff Rivera's Forever my Lady to Grand Central, Dane Sanders' Fast Track Photographer to Random House, and Ivan Sanchez's Next Step to Simon & Schuster. And that's just off the top of my head.

"'So we're happy to take a look at self-published books. Of the more than 10,000 proposals we get every year, a few hundred are self-published and that number is growing. Sales track is key. If the author has sold 5,000 copies in the previous year, it interests publishers.  And if an author has sold that many, she or he probably has some sort of platform.'"

Did you see that? "Happy to take a look at self-published books." (Pinch me. I must be dreaming.)

I wonder if they'd be interested in a novel that's at the top of the hardboiled mystery category on Amazon (including several weeks at #1) and that's sold almost 10,000 downloads since June 2, 2009. Hmm ... now, which one could I mean?

Hint, hint ... :)

Quotation for the Week of September 26

"I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places."
-- Henny Youngman

A Golden Age of Entrepreneurial Writers?

With the sea changes in writing and publishing of all types, you have to wonder if this is indeed a new golden age of entrepreneurial writers.

Apart from the rise (in number and status) of self-published fiction authors (which Karla Brady notes in her blog post called "Self Publishing is ... IN?"), there's also a new place for the entrepreneur in journalism. This is evident, not only due to new and unusual college journalism programs that focus on the business aspects of writing, but also the fact that these days buying a newspaper or radio station is seen as akin to investing in a biotech company.

But one of the most telling indicators is the amazing success of fiction authors like Seth Harwood and Karla Brady (and, BTW, I love the name of Karla's old blog :)), both of whom have landed publishing contracts after self-publishing. And, of course, the amazing success story of Joe Konrath who as of Sept 21, 2010, sold 103,864 ebooks!

This isn't to say that all self-published authors will land publishing contracts (or even want to). This isn't to say that all self-published authors can repeat Joe Konrath's absolutely stunning ebook sales success.

This is only to say that writers (of whatever sort) have more viable options now for getting their work out than ever.

Writers, in fact, have more power than ever. Time to exercise it.

Quotation for the Week of September 19

"Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something."
-- Robert Heinlein

Opportunities to Submit Fiction and Enter Contests

I recently discovered a really awesome blog that asks fiction periodical publishers six questions about their submission processes. The blog recently featured The Back Alley (where my Derringer-nominated short story "The Right to Remain Silent" (click on the link and scroll down to hear the podcast) was published last year; the same story that was reprinted this year in my anthology, FIVE UNEASY PIECES (note the awesome cover to the left) -- okay, commercial over :)) and Spinetingler Magazine, which are both approved by the Mystery Writers of America (i.e., if your story is published there, it qualifies for Edgar Award consideration, plus the money you earn counts toward full MWA membership-- nice perks).

And, if you're into writing short stories, don't forget the Writer's Digest Short Story Competition is coming up. The deadline is November 1, 2010, so prepare to enter your 4,000-word or less short story (in one of five specified genres) soon.

Finally, MediaBistro is holding an eBook Summit Book Pitch Contest. If you're a self-published author seeking an agent or publisher and looking to hone your pitch, you may want to consider this. If nothing else, it'll give you an excuse to take a trip to New York City and hang out with a bunch of publishing people. Hey, it's a write-off ... :)

Quotation for the Week of September 12

"If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?"
-- Abraham Lincoln

Anyone Else See the Irony?

I'm old enough to remember when USA Today published its first edition. I was in journalism school at the time, and as I recall, people were treating it as some kind of harbinger of doom.

You'd have thought the sky was falling, because USA Today had the temerity to produce a newspaper made up primarily of short articles. (The paper earned the moniker McNews that way.) It used colored ink and featured splashy color photos on the front page.

As budding journalists, my fellow students and I found this shocking, disturbing even. I'm sure our professors and professional journalists were equally rattled. Boy, we had no idea what the future had in store, did we?

Now USA Today is the one scrambling to catch up and remake itself as a digital operation. How ironic is that?

Even a former USA Today reporter can spot the irony. Toni Locy states in the article, "USA Today used to be the trendsetter in the business ... Nobody had color before USA Today. Nobody had a weather map. And USA Today has lost a step in the last five or six years. So I think they’re right to try to regain the ground they’ve lost."

And if that isn't ironic enough, try a print article that says the Web is dead, which got a lot of buzz after it was posted online. Hmm.

And, even if this isn't particularly ironic, I thought it was interesting that you can buy a newspaper business for a buck these days. Especially if it's the Washington Times, I guess. (Or Newsweek???)

Got a buck? To paraphrase Charles Foster Kane, it might be fun to run a newspaper.

Quotation for the Week of September 5

"Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing."
-- Redd Foxx

Last Chance for Free Business Cards!

While I don't normally post here on Saturday, I wanted to spread the last-minute word about a contest my friend Kathy Kehrli is holding on her blog. Kathy's blog is called The Irreverent Freelancer. Well, that's the nice name. :) Actually, it's called Screw You! -- the daily (or thereabouts) diatribes of a frenzied freelancer.

Anyway, Kathy's got a contest to win free business cards going on there. So don't miss out. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Monday (Labor Day here in the U.S.). Check Kathy's post for details.

And have a great Labor Day weekend. That is all.

The NOTY Award

I found out about this through an unsolicited email. A press called CovingtonMoore Publishing House is accepting queries for the Novelist of the Year (NOTY) Award. Well, this is a new one on me.

I Googled CovingtonMoore Publishing House and could find little help there. So I checked Preditors & Editors and Writer Beware. I could find no mention in either place. That doesn't tell you much, does it?

I can tell you that CovingtonMoore Publishing House appears to publish only works by an author named Ara 13 who (according to his bio) won an IPPY Award for "Outstanding Book of the Year" (doesn't say which year, but you can verify here that his book DRAWERS AND BOOTHS won a bronze for "Story Teller of the Year" in 2008).

And I see that the Writer Beware blog suggests here that the IPPY is a "more established" award geared toward "independent publishers and self-published authors." Well, that's nice for Ara 13. However, that same post cautions against paying steep entry fees like $75 per title to compete in another contest, called the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. But like I said, nothing specific there about NOTY that I could find (and I wish there were a search function on that blog).

So I checked out the NOTY entry guidelines. The $80 fee isn't exactly chicken feed. Especially for a contest I've never heard of sponsored by a publisher who I've also never heard of that seems to publish only one author.

And the prize for winning? You guessed it. A publishing contract with CovingtonMoore Publishing House.

Um, okay. I'll leave it to your judgment. But I'm taking a pass on this one.

And, of course, if you have any information on this, please feel free to leave a comment.