I came home from work this past week to find a message on my answering machine. Before we get to the message: yes, I have an answering machine! No, I don't have a smartphone yet. (Insert amazed gasp from the audience here.)
I guess it's ironic that I write science fiction, which involves changes in technology that I haven't always embraced myself. My characters fly in a spaceship and I'm still using an answering machine. I never said I always make sense!
Anyway, the message was rather hard to understand but it appeared to be a publishing company. This gave me an instant rush of excitement: this was my big break! Next stop, New York Times Bestseller List! Fortunately, I do have some common sense, so I looked up the company online. I then realized it was not a publishing company, but a publishing service. They want me to pay them to format, design and market my book. (I'm not going to name the company since I decided not to go with them.) Thanks, but no thanks.
It made me think, though. If an actual publishing company called, would I go with them? At first, I thought, "Heck, yes!" But then I thought more about it. It's true that my marketing attempts are feeble and would be wildly improved by a national publisher, but that's one of the few benefits they could offer. Right now, I control my future and my novels. No one else has told me how to format the next novel or when to release it. No one else has told me what to blog about or what I need to put on my Facebook page. No one else has told me what my next story should involve. Those are the advantages of self-publishing.
I'm definitely not saying I wouldn't change my mind. If anyone at Tor is reading this, for example, I'd love to hear from you! But you'd better have a very good offer. The one thing a big publisher could do for me is this: they could spread the word and interest a whole new group of readers. I'd like that.
For now, I'm on my own. And that's okay.
For those of you who have been asking, I'm hoping to release the next novel in January. Thanks for your continued patience!
P.S. Happy Flag Day!
I have a friend who publishes via the old-fashioned way with an agent and all of that. As you say, pros and cons. One of the cons is a lot of cooks in the kitchen. Another is everybody gets a piece of the action (profits). Pro is a lot of expert advice and at least some marketing help, although you do a lot of it on your own even with a traditional publisher. BUT, having said that, Random House should feel free to call me up. -- Bill Zahren
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