The new way to publish
Today's New York Times has a feature on Montana fantasy author Christopher Paolini, the 19-year-old whose novel "Eragon" started out as a self-published venture. It's since been picked up by Knopf and become a bestseller.
Seems to be a lot of talk about self-publishing these days. It's a hot topic on the "Westlit" listserve, and I moderated a well-attended panel on the subject at the recent Montana Festival of the Book. (My expertise came from the fact that I've kept Small Town Bound in print through a self-publishing-style print-on-demand venture.)
The talk rather surprises me. Sure, publishers are middlemen who take a huge cut. But they do all sorts of marketing and distribution. The writer -- if he or she is focusing on writing -- has no expertise in these issues or time to pursue them. The publisher also acts as an independent legitimating body: as a reader I know I'm taking less of a risk by buying from Knopf than from some 19-year-old kid.
Technology makes it increasingly easy to self-publish: this blog is one example. But how do you get your book to a sizable, interested audience? How does your work enter the cultural conversation? How do you get to spend time on the craft of writing instead of the craft of selling? I met Christopher Paolini at last year's bookfest, and I cringed at the hard sell he was giving me. (Cringed because I'm not a reader of fantasy and so wanted him to stop; cringed because he seemed like a nice guy stuck doing the hardest kind of cold-calling.)
To me the best way to publish is still through old-fashioned publishers. Does Paolini's graduation from self-publishing to Knopf prove that self-publishing works? Or does it prove that traditional publishers still have a big, big role? The answer, of course, is both -- but it suggests how careful you have to be in framing the question.
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Seems to be a lot of talk about self-publishing these days. It's a hot topic on the "Westlit" listserve, and I moderated a well-attended panel on the subject at the recent Montana Festival of the Book. (My expertise came from the fact that I've kept Small Town Bound in print through a self-publishing-style print-on-demand venture.)
The talk rather surprises me. Sure, publishers are middlemen who take a huge cut. But they do all sorts of marketing and distribution. The writer -- if he or she is focusing on writing -- has no expertise in these issues or time to pursue them. The publisher also acts as an independent legitimating body: as a reader I know I'm taking less of a risk by buying from Knopf than from some 19-year-old kid.
Technology makes it increasingly easy to self-publish: this blog is one example. But how do you get your book to a sizable, interested audience? How does your work enter the cultural conversation? How do you get to spend time on the craft of writing instead of the craft of selling? I met Christopher Paolini at last year's bookfest, and I cringed at the hard sell he was giving me. (Cringed because I'm not a reader of fantasy and so wanted him to stop; cringed because he seemed like a nice guy stuck doing the hardest kind of cold-calling.)
To me the best way to publish is still through old-fashioned publishers. Does Paolini's graduation from self-publishing to Knopf prove that self-publishing works? Or does it prove that traditional publishers still have a big, big role? The answer, of course, is both -- but it suggests how careful you have to be in framing the question.
To receive these posts via email, write to johnclaytonoutreach-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. (You need not put any text in the message.)
