What has the publishing experience been like for everyone?

[DAgent]

First up, I've never even submitted so much as a short story to anyone or even sent a manuscript in any condition to an agent, and while I do have some of each completed to my own satisfaction I'm not sure if anyone else would care for them. I've seen plenty of horror stories about constant rejects from numerous sources on various facebook groups, so I thought I'd ask for peoples experience here.

What has it been like to try to publish your work, whether it's a short story novel or other project, either online on a website or in magazines or good old fashioned physical books?

If you've gone the self publishing route through the likes of Amazon (or anywhere else) how did you find the process and did it turn out as you thought it might? Did it lead to any offers to republish under a big name like Penguin?

Or there any other avenues of getting published outside of magazines, books, online or self publishing?

 

[alexvss]

As you already had you share of stories of rejection, I'll refrain from telling my own . I did sell a story to a e-zine though. I got paid after a month or so, and the rights will revert back to me in 90 days. That's when I'll try to sell it as a reprint. As I also write professionaly in Portuguese, I'll publish it in a collection on Amazon (project still on-going).

I self-published a novel and a short-story on Amazon. I earn some pennies and that's it. It's so little money I wouldn't even realize if they didn't e-mail me every time. But that's a story of failure. Some people are very succesful doing this, and they are able to publish a book every month or so. This simply wouldn't be feasible in the traditional route. But I don't think--and this is just an opinion--that someone would receive offers to publish traditionally by self-publishing, unless they're extremely succesful by doing so.

People on FB groups been talking about a platform called Simily. You submit your stories to them and get paid as they are read, kinda like Kindle Unlimited, and the rights remain with you all the time. But I didn't submit there myself.

A big chunk of Writing Excuses' sixteenth season is all about careers. You should check it out.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

All different paths are possible and interesting. I’ve been agented, dropped, self published, trad published with a small press, in mags etc. There are a zillion ways to do it, and I see it like giving birth. It’s nice to know where you want to go, but a rigid plan helps no one.
enjoy the Ride!

 

[Steve Harrison]

I've never been interested in self-publishing (it looks way too much like hard work) and it took me years of rejection until, having failed to secure an agent, I sold a book to a small traditional publisher. They also bought my second.

I have read a lot of horror stories about publishing, but I must say my experiences have been extremely positive in terms of the professionalism from the publishers and their staff, the services provided and the friendships I've made with them and my fellow authors at the company. It's a cliché to say they are like a family, but they really are.

If anything, the experience has made me even less interested in self-publishing

 

[Luiglin]

I've got one on Amazon which really needs to come off, I never publicise it, apart from a link off my WordPress site where I put a chunk of short stories and snippets. I did find the whole process quite straight forward. It did sell a few copies in the first instance and nothing since, mainly because it is nowhere in the rankings, so will never be found and I've never marketed it. The trick remains with Amazon though where you need to be a regular publisher in order to keep you anywhere in the rankings. That and reviews. I've not the time to do the former and the latter is like getting the proverbial blood from a stone.

I've entered three competitions, one of which I won a few years back and got published in Judge Dredd Megazine. This was reprinted in an Anthology that came out last year (and they found me through this very forum). Maybe I should do more.

As to traditional agents etc, I've tried submitting twice. Got what I thought was a nice personal rejection email from them until someone on this forum posted their own reply and it was word-for-word them same. Didn't hear anything from the second despite their site confirming that they at the very least send a confirmation of receival response. Not done it since.

I set myself a goal at the start of the year to complete a selection of short stories all connected by the same characters (not the Dark Lord btw). The plan was to get this done by August and start spamming agents, publishers etc. It's now August and I've not written anything due to work pressures.

The main issue I have is having no beta readers or funds for editors then I'm relying on my own writing skills to get noticed and, unless you are gifted, that isn't enough in my opinion.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I began by submitting a 130k word fantasy novel to every publisher I could find, and getting rejected by all (except a sneaky vanity publisher who had my heart rate up a little until I googled them!). Then I started trying to teach myself to write.

My first paid short story was with Kraxon Press, who are affiliated with this forum. Dave is brilliant, and very supportive of new authors. That gave me the confidence to submit more, and eventually I began getting more and more paid successes. It took hard work, and a determination to learn, as well as a really thick skin when people told me I really wasn't very good at first.

Now? Two traditionally published novels (by a big Indie publisher, not one of the big 5 trad ones), and the books are selling well. My publisher is brilliant to work with, and their editing teams are a joy. I can't advise on self-pub, but I know many people who have successful novels through this route. I understand it can be hard work, as you have to do all your own publicity, etc., but then you get a bigger chunk of the profits, too!

I've occasionally subbed to agents. Zero success. Zilch. Decided I don't care much for agents...

 

[atsouthorn]

I've recently tried submitting my first novel. There was me thinking the agents in the Matrix were fictional

Did you submit directly to a publisher @Kerrybuchanan? I was under the impression this was a tad tricky unless you have a contact. I'm going down the Amazon/ePub/SellingMySoulOnSocialMedia route and the factors that go into marketing are crazy, but it's a fun journey nonetheless.

 

[SFMendes]

I've self-published two e-books so far in the Amazon Kindle format. The first one sold "hundreds" of copies with generally positive reviews. Then I saw a TV commercial for a publisher, offering their services to publish a paperback version, as well as its e-book on Kindle, iTunes, Nook, and Google for $3,500. They would first have their "experts" review the book, and if they thought it was worthy of being published by their company they would go ahead with it. They would do a press release of the book into all relevant channels, and I would have my own website. They did publish it on all e-book platforms as advertised, and I received ten copies in paperback. I sold TWO paperback copies, THREE e-book Kindle downloads, and TWO iTunes over a period of one and a half years! Needless to say that I didn't renew my contract with them. Then, I self-published again last month and have already had more downloads than I did while with the publisher.

But the worse experience was yet to come. At some point during the futile year-and-a-half with them, I was contacted by a magazine company. Perhaps, the problem I was having selling the novel must've been due to the fact that I needed more than just a publisher. I needed a company to promote it. The solution was to pay $1,500 to the magazine and they would promote the hell out of the book. They promised the Earth and the sky. But, in the end, all I got was a tiny miserable picture of the cover on just one edition of their magazine. It was in the bowels of the publication, under Indi Authors, together with other thirty or so book covers ... In other words, a worthless promotion attempt for $1,500! My calls and emails to the scumbag that was supposed to be my contact at the company went unanswered.

So, what I've learned from my very expensive lesson is that there are myriad companies out there preying on Indi authors. I still receive at least one weekly call from such outfits. They claim my book has been selected by a distinguished panel of experts as being a potential candidate for a movie. They, of course, have Hollywood contacts, and for a "fee", they will open the doors for you to become a household name and a best-seller author. In fact, I just got such a call today, which inspired me to share my experience with you. For a "measly" $3,000, my novel was going Hollywood!

Recently, I have self-published Book 2 on the Amazon Kindle self-publishing platform. For sure, I'm not going to retire on its revenue, but it's been fun writing and trying to figure out how to better promote my books. I am now working on Book 3 of the series.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I've recently tried submitting my first novel. There was me thinking the agents in the Matrix were fictional

Did you submit directly to a publisher @Kerrybuchanan? I was under the impression this was a tad tricky unless you have a contact. I'm going down the Amazon/ePub/SellingMySoulOnSocialMedia route and the factors that go into marketing are crazy, but it's a fun journey nonetheless.

I did submit directly to a publisher, but my published novels are in the crime genre (not that it makes much difference). I still have some fantasy novels shelved for now. One of them received a “rewrite and resubmit” from a small trad publisher, the only one I submitted it to after some major rewriting of my own, but my mum died shortly after, and I just sort of lost heart.
My own current publisher, Joffe Books, have been a dream to work with.

 

[DAgent]

I did submit directly to a publisher, but my published novels are in the crime genre (not that it makes much difference). I still have some fantasy novels shelved for now. One of them received a “rewrite and resubmit” from a small trad publisher, the only one I submitted it to after some major rewriting of my own, but my mum died shortly after, and I just sort of lost heart.
My own current publisher, Joffe Books, have been a dream to work with.

Ow, sorry to hear about your mother, that I think would make anyone lose heart.

 

[JS Wiig]

So, what I've learned from my very expensive lesson is that there are myriad companies out there preying on Indi authors.

Redirecting... writerbeware

 

[Astro Pen]

Two virtues needed seem to be persistence and patience. Pirsig had Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance rejected by 121 publishing houses.

For myself I have only this year started on the submission road. (I have rejected the idea of self publishing thus far)
So far five short stories published in printed anthologies and e.magazines and one being negotiated with the editor for word length adjustment (no names, no pack drill )
First novel has been submitted to a London agent. 5 weeks now so I expect a response soonish.
Two short story rejections so far, both deserved, I'm totally cool with that

I think the most important thing is to keep writing regardless and don't link your writing motivation directly to publishing. There is not a direct chronological correlation between when you write a story and when it gets taken up.

That said I made the mistake of stopping work on my second novel when I realised that covid was not a transient bug, but was going to trash our working society. I should have persisted with it last year because my mindset has now shifted somewhat and it is hard to get back into the 2019 feel that the book was started in.

ps Avoid vanity publishers at all costs. I won't name them but they know how to put themselves near the top of search engines.

 

[AlexH]

I've made around 80-90 short story submissions plus a few poems. All rejections, but I accept that's part of it and there's so much competition. Most are form rejections but I've had personal feedback from first readers and even the editors which I ALWAYS appreciate. Most magazines don't have time to give individual feedback given the hundreds or even thousands of submissions (some, like Beneath Ceaseless Skies, always give feedback). Once an editor made suggestions and asked me to resubmit, but I still didn't quite sell the story as it wasn't close enough to the theme of the magazine.

I've mostly submitted to magazines that pay pro-rates so far and given I've been close a couple of times, hope I'm not far off selling my first story.

 

[TWErvin2]

I started out writing a SF novel and put it out on submission, then a fantasy novel. When they got rejected, went on to the next market. While I was doing that I wrote about a dozen short stories and got them published, mostly in small magazines, ezines and a few anthologies (eventually, when the rights reverted to me, my current publisher put them all in a collection--Genre Shotgun).

After striking out with the big houses (having gotten out of the slush pile twice and passed up to the managing editor, I never quite crossed the line), a smaller house picked up my fantasy novel. Since then I have written and had published 3 novellas (one co-written) and have one standalone SF novel and nine novels (scattered among three running series--along with two of the aforementioned novellas).

I make a steady, but nowhere near large, stream of income, with occasional bumps with new releases and marketing campaigns through my publisher. It's a fun and interesting ride. I enjoy attending cons and other events, getting to meet readers and other authors.

Currently, I am collaborating (early stages) with an artist on a comic book series based upon one of my novels. We'll see of that effort comes to fruition.

 

[Laura R Hepworth]

I went the self-publishing route. While there's a lot of steps to it, it really isn't that difficult. The hard part comes after when you're having to figure out how on earth to actually market and promote it. I've not made a ton of money, but I have made some. I've only one book out so far and, since it was released almost 4 years ago, I've sold 86 copies (4 paperbacks, the rest ebooks) with minimal advertising. I also have it in KU as I thought that might encourage some readers to take a chance on a new indieauthor with few books.

 

[reiver33]

I started out with stories in Mythaxis and Kraxon, then a novella submission to Eggplant (now sadly defunct), which became a 3-book contact, although only 2 were released before they closed. I went down the Amazon self-publishing route to 'draw a line' under what I'd written, as opposed to it (them?) serving as a tinkering distraction. I've spent more on professional covers than will ever be generated in sales - and that's fine, it was part of the 'send off'.

I don't market or promote - other than the odd mention here, Absolute Write and Facebook - as the modern paradigm requires a degree of on-line presence I find alien. I haven't approached an agent, other than John Jarrold for his editing service, and his accompanying description of the publishing world put me off promotion as a lost cause (from my perspective). I have had 2 older novellas professionally (in the sense of paid) reviewed, for the perspective, which I always find interesting. Having said that, some of the short story reviews I've received via Tangent seemed to be of a completely different narrative than what I'd written!

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

Just a quick question, and not to derail the thread, but is it common to get a novel printed and stash it in free lending libraries/ random locations? It seems that there is little input from the online distributors, and loads of sweat by the authors. I know some of the religions do this with their stuff, but am not sure if it's a SFF thing too (It's something I've been thinking of doing and would like to know the pitfalls etc., or even if it is normal practice ...love the idea of stories of unknown origin floating about, plus it gives two fingers to the platforms)

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

I submitted a number of SF and fantasy stories to various magazines decades ago with little success. The nearest I got was selling a story to the UK print magazine 'Far Point' which promptly folded. I briefly had an agent for a couple of my early fantasy novels but they didn't find a publisher.
I have more recently self-published a number of books and attempted to sell and promote them online, but sales have been so poor that I feel unable to find the energy to put any further effort into online sales. My books actually outrank most of the Amazon catalog, indicating that the majority of titles there have sales that are even more useless than mine.
I have met a number of traditionally published authors, mostly living locally but I have yet to meet a really successful self-published author.

Just a quick question, and not to derail the thread, but is it common to get a novel printed and stash it in free lending libraries/ random locations?

Nothing to stop you donating a copy to your local council library. Often they are quite happy to accept and catalog books from local authors.

 

[AllanR]

meet a really successful self-published author.

A friend of mine is quite successful at this.
His wife works full time as his publicist/editor and he makes enough to support a family (kids are grown and out of the house).
He writes 4 to 6 books a year and only started maybe 5 years ago. (he had a 40 year long history as a gm is pen and paper role playing games before novel writing)

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

Thanks @Cosmic Geoff -was chatting to the librarian and he was up for sticking a copy on the shelves, said they couldn't take the audiobook as they're tied into a platform. I was more thinking of a sort of an experiment to stick the story about the place in random locations. Will give it a shot and post back here if anything comes of it (some of the characters have well known local names and might generate a bit of curiosity/ theories around it being an allegory ...or the copies might as easily just get trashed!)