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These past few months, I’ve had a secret.
A book shaped one.
I’ve spent the last few years coaching undergraduate and graduate students on their academic writing. I never expected to have so much fun in my job. And I never expected to be so disappointed in the books I could recommend my students.
Now that’s not to say there aren’t excellent academic writing skills books out there. It’s just that none of them were quite what I was looking for. What folks need, I thought, is a book that tells students how to have fun with their academic writing.
Oh, there are plenty of books that teach grammar in a fun and interesting way (Mignon Fogarty’s work is a great example), but grammar, important as it is, is only the polish on a piece of writing. To truly love writing, you must think first not about the details, but about the big picture. I wish I could say I jumped right on it…
But I didn’t. It was just… too big. I might tackle this project, I decided, someday.
Yet the idea wouldn’t leave me alone. I found myself composing passages out loud to myself on my commute, outlining sections idly in notebooks. Finally, I had to concede. This book was happening. It is happening. Drum roll, please:
YOU CAN LOVE WRITING: A GUIDE FOR NEW AND NONTRADITIONAL COLLEGE STUDENTS will be released May 2, 2014. Cover coming soon.
Yay! Confetti!
Now for the second half of the post. For years I resisted self-publishing. Why am I doing it now?
Well to answer that question, it’s important to know why I once ruled it out.
1. I thought it would totally rule out a traditional deal for all time.
That’s just not true anymore, if it ever was true to begin with. Abysmal sales of a clearly unprofessional self-published book might make an agent or publisher back off, but self-publishers who do it well can demonstrate they have what it takes to sell books. Have a gander at Wool or 50 Shades of Grey.
2. I thought my first book would be fiction.
Fiction is much harder to sell than nonfiction. Period. Self-publishing only makes that challenge greater. Yet, that too is changing. Still, this book being nonfiction made it an easier decision.
3. The stigma
It’s still there to some degree. The difference is that more and more self-publishers are treating their books like what they are: a business. Self-published books can have the same quality–in writing, in editing, in design–as traditionally published books. Nowadays it’s the quality a buyer can see when browsing books that attaches a stigma… or makes that buyer purchase.
Here’s why I’m doing it. You know, besides all those reasons listed above.
1. Profitability
There’s no denying authors get a bigger cut per sale when they self publish. If they can market well (and that’s still a very big IF), it can be much more lucrative, and, therefore, more likely to become a career.
2. Rights
Self publishers own all the rights to their books and can do what they please with them. They never have to go out of print if they don’t want to.
3. Time
Traditional publishing can take years from the contract to the book’s appearance on the shelves. Self publishers can work at their own speed.
4. Entrepreneurship
I gotta admit, this was a big swaying factor for me. Once upon a time, people got a job young, rose through the ranks and retired from the same organization. Now such a smooth career path isn’t so easy to come by. If you want to do something, go out and make it happen. You’re in charge! In Rise of the Machines, Kristen Lamb compares self publishing to a small bakery. No one questions why other small businesses open their doors, her argument goes. I agree.
There are more reasons than this, but I couldn’t possibly cover all of the considerations of such a big business decision in a single post. Suffice it to say, these are the major factors.
Take it away, commenters. Have you self published? Do you know anyone who has?
Also, if you are a blogger looking to connect with an author or vice versa, please sign up at Dahlia Adler’s author-blogger connection! Some connections I’ve already made will be appearing on this blog soon.
