And frankly, my dears, I'm ready to have something out there.
If that means waiting and working until my novel is done and ready to be sent forth, then that's that. But I couldn't sleep last night because I had this idea come to my head that I couldn't stop thinking about and over-analyzing and wondering why I hadn't thought of it before: why not take the stories I already have and publish them myself as a collection?
I would love to have even something small out there, as sort of a calling card. I would love to have something to offer all y'all so that you have some idea who I am as a writer. I would probably keep two or three stories back for further lit mag submissions, and then publish the rest (at least the ones that fit together) as a collection. I definitely plan to go the traditional publishing route for my novel, but best case scenario doing a short story collection now would get me readers and connections that would only help with that. And I could maybe even start making a little cash selling words, which would be fantabulous.
But. But. What if it backfires? What if people don't take me seriously afterwards? Is it a bad idea to start this way, and should I wait for the traditional route? I know short story collections never do particularly well, even traditionally published ones, and I'm okay with that because this would be more like a calling card, beginning sample type thing, like I said. I know, too, that self-publishing means doing my own marketing, and I feel like I'm ready, or at least anxious to try my strength as far as that goes. But what if I, heaven forbid, lose readers or potential connections because of it? I do have every confidence in these stories, and believe they represent my best work and who I am as a writer. But going without the traditional publishing filter still feels risky, no matter what I'm putting out there.
Perhaps it feels more risky because with self-publishing, whether it goes extremely well or extremely not, it all comes back to you. And with these stories and at this point, I feel like that's a risk I'm willing and ready and anxious to take...but I thought I'd get your thoughts first. I want to make sure I'm thinking this through thoroughly, seeing it from every angle, taking the most positively calculated risks.
So. A self-published short story collection. Good idea? Bad idea?
Sarah Allen
15 comments:
Personally I'd love to see some short stories, partly because I have been mulling over the same issue myself.
A more tricky thing is to decide how you define success or failure. How many sales equal success, how many equal failure, over how long a period?
in some respects just having something out there is a success, it shows you can droit and for you it will be a best seller, in other words once you have sold one, it will have sold better than any previous collection of your stories. I will buy one, so that's guaranteed.
Hi Sarah
Yeah, short stories can be wonderful creatures, but not really saleable.
Before jumping down the self-publishing route, may I suggest you keep an eye out for short story competitions? There may one that's a great match for a darling of yours. A prize or a place in a comp can look good on the c.v.
Otherwise, you can publish them singly as e-books. I recently did so on Amazon. It's currently priced at 99c, but it was free for about 2 weeks and attracted nearly 1000 downloads. Clearly I'm not in it for the money, but thought it might give me a profile within the industry.
You may wish to release them one at a time (eg, one per month), with the first few free, then the others at a low price, once you have built a following. But get them checked over by a crit partner before you launch them.
Good idea. BUT. You should release them all separately at a low price and also release them collected at a higher price.
There is no professional downside to self publishing. Traditional publishers don't care if you've self published. They've actively sought out successful self published authors to publish on several occasions. Many, many professional authors with long careers in the industry are jumping into self publishing. There isn't anything to lose.
Self publishing is risky. But only because you are entirely responsible for your own success. You can't blame anyone else when you are in charge.
I've wondered the same thing myself. I'm sorry, I have no advice to offer. Only to say, I am ready to read what you have to share. I hope you find the best way to send your work out in the world :)
I'm with Melissa - no advice on the subject, but if you do so, I'd LOVE to read all about your journey.
My unprofessional, inexperienced opinion is that it sounds like a great idea, but I think the promotion side would be the hardest. Then again, that's me - I don't like having a sales pitch and thinking about the numbers side of things.
I think a collection of short stories would be a great way to show people what you can do and how talented you are. Of course the traditional route is ideal, but until that happens, I think this would be a great way to keep the ball rolling.
the-creationofbeauty.blogspot.com
The only way that I could see you losing readers is if the stories weren't well written or entertaining. And we know that won't be the case :-)
Ok, I'm liking this advice guys. And the support. It's helping a ton.
@Sarah McCabe: Interesting idea, I hadn't thought of doing it that way. Does it make a difference in how it sells? Why is that a better option then just selling them all together for a cheap price?
Sarah Allen said...
"@Sarah McCabe: Interesting idea, I hadn't thought of doing it that way. Does it make a difference in how it sells? Why is that a better option then just selling them all together for a cheap price?"
If I might jump in, it increases virtual shelf space = visibility. It appeals to people who just want to sample work (buy one story), and people who are looking for more of a bargain (the collection, prices slightly cheaper than the stories could be purchased separately). Problem is, if you don't keep up that visibility with more regular releases, you will lose the momentum and go back to baseline with visibility. (Speaking from the experience of doing it both ways.)
First, you need to decide what it is you want to do, and then steel yourself and do it. Are you wanting readers, reviews, praise, money, contracts, validation... Define your goals for yourself and adjust to what happens to meet those goals.
You will have people that do not like what you offer, no matter how wonderful it is. It's like trying to figure out why some people don't like chocolate and all you sell the best chocolate in the world.
Don't worry about loosing readers. You can't loose readers you don't have yet.
I'm not an expert, but in the last six months I have learned a lot from self publishing. If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer based on my experiences.
There are a ton o' pluses and minuses to self-pubbing. The minus was the way I went about doing it, while the plus is if you do a lot of research and check out a few e-books that have been self-published in the past couple of years to see how they were done.
I know quite a few writers who have self-pubbed some short story collections and singular short stories and they have done it not only with definite goal but with a lot of thought as well.
If you have the chance to visit my blog this coming Wednesdat, I will be putting up a post on this very subject, with about a half dozen links to writers who have gone the self-publishing route.
Good luck.
I've been contemplating this myself. I originally wrote these short stories as a writing exercise but I ended up really enjoying writing them. I would definitely love to see some short stories from you, but you have to do what you believe is best for you and your career!
Samantha
Writing Through College
What Margo said. Plus it's just good sense to give people as many ways to buy something as you can.
But even if you don't keep adding to your self published works (though there's no reason not to keep writing and self pubbing short stories on the side while you work on your novels) and the sales never really take off, it's still better than having them just sitting in your computer generating no income at all.
Yes you should publish them, and that is what I am going to do with mine. I have already put out a short story, and a poem collection out. I wanted to self-publish short stories, poems, and novellas because I wanted to get my foot in the door. Agents will actively seek out successful self-published authors, and give them traditional deals. That is why you should do it, and I will definitely buy your work if you do.
You should also check out http://www.smashwords.com/ It's a good place for epublishing. I think getting yourself out there is definitely for the best!
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