Indy Publishing To Traditional: Why?
First, before we get into the messy world of publication—and my bemusing path through that world—let’s talk about free audiobooks.
The Cruelty of Magic borders the subgenre of grimdark. It’s epic high fantasy reminiscant of some of my favorite traditional fantasy authors with multiple points-of-view, and here’s a link to get the audiobook for free! Be quick, it can only be redeemed once, and I’d greatly appreciate you leaving a review when you’re done!
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Now, let’s talk about it.
Going Traditional
Why did I take a traditional contract, and, likely more important to many of you, how did it happen?
The why is simple. I’m so bad at marketing. Moreover, I hate doing it.
I needed connections and understanding in the industry. Where should I take a short story? What is it about the story that lacks something like chracter voice, development, pacing, or anything else?
Sure. I paid the editors. I had the beta readers and the ARC readers suggest story changes. But I found a different kind of conversation available to me through this publisher with my editors. They gave me feedback and market knowledge that I didn’t even consider, and isn’t part of an editor’s job.
Honestly, that’s probably when I was sold, when they told me an audience I didn’t know of, and when they gave me feedback concerning how the start of the novel could be improved . . . feedback I had just told Jaymie the day before!
They read it. They loved it. They saw the same holes I did, and they were excited to help.
Not to mention, the contract negotiations were smooth. Hardback, paperback, audiobook and ebook will all release on the same day, and we even worked out the narrator beforehand.
Beyond that, they were quick to help with my other fiction. They had an oppurtinity to take the selfish route and try to grab at a short story I’m finalizing for a novella. They instead directed me to submit to short story competitions for notable awards, and guided me to those awards . . . and offered to edit the story—the story, which I’ll remind the reader, that they are NOT publishing or making any money on.
Talk about support, am I right?
Now, let’s talk about the how.
How Did The Story Get Picked Up?
Many questions have appeared in my inbox regarding this of late.
“Did you query?”
“Did you have an agent?”
“Did they approach you?”
“Did your platform matter?”
“Was it because of the writing?”
So, so many questions, and I don’t blame a single one of you for asking. Here’s the answer: Yes.
At first, I queried nearly 50 agents—all came back as rejections. I aso queried publishers, and you guessed it—rejected. Though, this was nearly two years ago.
I became dejected. I’ve told stories and I knew I was a decent writer, so I wanted to pursue anyways. I heard of self-publishing and finally put the research into it, and decided that, as a control freak, that seemed to fit my personality.
***Tik Tok entered the chat***
In comes Between the Pages. At first I was just trying to be another booktoker that endlessly shills their own content, and quickly realized how much I hated seeing that content on my own FYP. Then, I tried to find a way to contribute, a way to engage with a broader range of people about writing, rather than talking about my book.
I started engaging with lives, following every creator I could, and really immersing myself into the app. A few people were very great friends, people who I did not previously know (Pebbles and Megan).
When I initially told Pebbles I was going to start interviewing authors, she didn’t even ask me for permission, she just sent me branding for this Between the Pages thing we didn’t even talk about. They pushed me to make it a podcast, record the episodes and provide them on Spotify.
Then, Megan pushed me to create a BTP Discord, and the community grew.
Everyday more and more people joined the live, joined the Discord, started interacting with authors. Everyday my followers grew and the live thrived, and this trend continues to this day.
Then I caught the eyes of a few agents, and we did some interviews. Next, publishers started interacting with us.
An agent asked me for a query, even though they were closed to queries.
Three publishers asked me to query, and all three of them negotiated, but only one of them won.
So, yes, I queried, but it didn’t help until I was asked to query them directly.
Yes, they intially reached out to me, but it was to engage with the platform, and then relationships grew.
And yes, the platform mattered, for I would not have any of the connections I do without it.
Finally, yes, it was because of the writing. They got back to me with a full literary analysis and a plan moving forward for marketing before I even signed the contract. They were invested.
My path to traditional publishing is not the traditional path, but I hardly ever do things in a simple manner.
If you have more questions, please leave a comment! Stay tuned for the next code to get a free audiobook!