To Query or Not to Query...
Working Title: An update on my query process AND info to help you choose your path to publication.
Book Bound Coaching is still closed for the summer as I help my husband through the loss of his mother. Please check back after September 3rd, when my free coaching sessions will start up again. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
The short, cold days of winter have come and gone, along with my old life. When I posted about querying my book back in January, I had no idea what 2024 would bring. I hoped a publishing deal was in my future. It seemed the most cost-effective means of getting an updated version of my debut novel Rowena’s Song into reader’s hands. Dreams of gardening and helping others write their books also floated about my head. The future held a lot of promise.
It still does! But the future I’ve manifested appears VERY different from what I thought I wanted at the start of the year.
After sending out three batches of query letters in January and February, fifteen in all, life got busy as I waited for responses. I took a marketing class only to learn I hate marketing; put in a flower garden in honor of my late Grandmother only to have my HOA make me tear it out; decided HOAs are not my jam and moved into a project house; learned my mother-in-law was ill. I continue to help my husband through his grief after her passing.
When I finally received a rejection from my dream agent, over five months after getting a request for a full manuscript, I wasn’t nearly as upset as I would have thought. It was a personalized letter, which is considered a badge of honor in some ways. It was the last email I read in my old house before I packed up my laptop and desk.
My fresh start is here. Yes, its a mess. There are half-unpacked boxes every which way I look, unfinished stories on my laptop, and countless take-out cartons strewn around what will become my new office. But the Greeks said creation comes from chaos.
And I’d much rather be in control of what I create rather than trusting my stories to anyone else. Rowena, Hengest, Brennan, Catigern and the gang are as dear to me as my real-life friends and family.
So I am grateful that going through the query process has FINALLY given me the courage to properly self-publish and market the Rowena’s trilogy. Of course, this is a pretty massive undertaking. Going the indie or self-pub route and being successful has much in common with starting a business, whereas traditional publishing is more of a partnership. I already own a book coaching business and write a blog. Why not add a publishing division to my endeavors?
I feel confident in my writing goals going forward. For those of you who are still unsure about what path to take when your story is finished, I’ve included some points to ponder to help you make the best decision for you.
Traditional Publishing: Pros and Cons
For many aspiring authors, nabbing a traditional publishing contract is not just a goal, but akin to attaining the holy grail. A quick look at some stats illustrates why. Of all the manuscripts submitted to agents, less than 1% will result in a deal. According to wordsrated.com, the chances of being offered representation are between 1 in 3000 and 1 in 6000. Of course, those chances increase if you are a celebrity or come with a built-in audience.
With the chance of success so low, why would anyone bother?
A traditional deal, especially with a large publisher, comes with a number of perks:
There are no upfront costs to submit your story to an agent, unless of course you count the time it takes to write and polish your submission materials.
The publishing house covers the costs of editing, proofreading, fact-checking, layout, cover art, and production of the physical book.
The publishing house will ensure your book is in brick-and-mortar stores.
You will feel a real sense of accomplishment knowing that your story has been vetted and validated by professionals in the field.
However, access to the resources of the publishing house comes at a cost to the author:
Signing on with an agent still does not guarantee that they will be able to sell your story to a publishing house. Just like you had to pitch the agent, they in turn need to pitch editors.
Timelines in traditional publishing are slow. I waited five months to get a rejection from the agent. The pace at the publishing house isn’t much better. Expect to wait at least one year to see your book in reader’s hands AFTER the agent sells your story.
The author signs over the rights of their intellectual property to the publisher. If your book does not sell well, they keep the rights to any future volumes set in the world, precluding you from publishing any remaining stories set in the same world.
Editorial disagreements can arise. Authors often write to express the story in their soul. Publishers, on the other hand, want to make money. Because they hold the purse strings, you may be forced to cut or change your story in ways you do not want to in order to meet the publishers’ vision for your book.
Royalties are paid at signing, and then again at the one year mark. Your agent takes a portion of the profit, usually 15%.
Assistance with marketing is scant at best.
Self-Publishing: Pros and Cons
Considering the success rate for becoming traditionally published, you should look into self-publishing unless you are somehow assured a contract due to an “in” with the industry. Despite the somewhat negative connotation surrounding self-publishing, many of those opinions are based on a false belief that the gatekeepers of the traditional presses only allow the best books to market.
I can assure you that is not the case. Just this week I finished a romantasy published by Harper Voyager whose underlying structure and character development was terrible. A gorgeous cover is not enough to make up for bad editing. In my opinion this is unforgivable. But I digress…
Self-publishing is not for the faint-of-heart. Getting a physical book or e-book into the hands of readers requires a number of steps. If you are not prepared to invest time and money, you might want to consider a platform like Wattpad to grow an audience and begin monetizing your writing there. (The jury is still out on Substack. While it has proven profitable for bloggers and journalists, I don’t yet see it as a home for fiction writing, let alone romantasy).
So why would this more expensive approach appeal to writers?
Self-publishing guarantees your book is available to readers:
There are no gate-keepers in self-publishing. Anyone can upload and publish their novel. With that said, there are rules and codes of conduct. Clearly the work must be original and not plagiarized, and platforms like Amazon forbid content that crosses a moral boundary (for example: hate speech.) For more information about this, see Amazon’s policy and Ingram Spark’s integrity guidelines or send me a message here on Substack.
Self-published authors have 100% creative control over every aspect of their book, from the font, to the title, to the cover art.
The author retains all the rights to the work. Want to sell swag? There is nothing to stop you!
The author earns a larger portion of the proceeds, and platforms like Amazon usually pay royalties out monthly. If you sell your books through your own storefront, you can make an ever larger profit.
Time to press is as fast or as slow as the pace at which you work.
However, this freedom comes with caveats to consider:
Just because you can publish your story doesn’t mean you should. Prior to uploading your novel to a self-publishing platform, you must have other eyes on the story. Your first book sells your second book. A weak underlying structure, poor editing, and a cheap cover will doom your writing career before it can begin.
Professional editing, layout, and cover design services are costly. Why? Those professionals had to pay for their training and deserve to make a living wage. They will transform your writing from good to great, and readers will notice the difference. If cost is an issue, considering hiring someone who is newer in the field and hungry to work. For example, I am still a newish developmental editor, and I charge $1000 USD to write up a manuscript evaluation, which is similar to a developmental edit. I paid $6000 to have a developmental edit done on Rowena’s Song when it was 165K words. Why the price difference? My editor has worked on books that have landed on the NYT Bestseller’s List. The volume of her business means she has to pay for an entire team of assistants. Someday I will be able to say the same. Until then, my prices reflect the difference (and are low because I understand that even 1K is a really big investment for the average writer).
You are your marketing team, even more so than with a traditional publisher. I am using Substack to get my name and talents out there. Unfortunately, I am also aware this is the least successful route. When it comes to selling books, TikTok and Bookstagram are you best social media options, followed by a podcast. Blogs come in a dismal third. So, you may be asking, “Will you be recording your blogs in the future to reach a wider audience?” You betcha, at least until I become less camera shy.
It will be up to you to monitor your novel and make sure it doesn’t end up on an illegal pirating site. I will discuss this in more depth in a future post.
I hope this information helps you as you move closer to getting your novel—romantasy or otherwise—into the world! Even as I type this, I am getting together the funds to get Rowena a proper copy edit—a step I thought I could skip but have since learned was a newbie mistake. Yes, self-publishing is an investment. But also, I believe in my story and think the cost is worth it. I hope yours is as well ❤
Hey Ivy, my business coach/ mentor actually really advocates using Substack to market your business. He thinks that even if you don't use social media, you can use the Substack recommendations, networking, asking friends to spread the word, etc. to do it. Networking includes writing thoughtful comments on other people's posts, which gets your name out there! Though this is a time consuming process. (Though networking is necessary anywhere!) I actually enjoy using social media---Twitter and LinkedIn for me---so I'm using that. And I have Convertkit and Medium, haha.
Yes, I greatly prefer indie publishing, but I do have a bit of financial privilege. I'm not rich by any means but am able to save up. I'm also picky about book covers so I'd rather hire my own designers to make it, haha. (Yes, I hired designers on 99Designs for Anastasia's covers. You saw one of them on Wattpad!)
Maybe one big reason is that I've gotten to the point where I no longer need validation from traditional publishers...Not saying I don't need to improve my writing, obviously, LOL. But just saying that I'm confident enough that people generally enjoy my work, though I will also keep learning and working on my weaknesses. I also lost interest in putting my book in physical bookstores or libraries, since Amazon suits me just fine, haha. Most of my book purchases are from Amazon anyway.