The Hardest Part of Self-Publishing Your Book
Posted by David Duhr in 
Since announcing our new publication assistance services, we’ve received more than the usual amount of questions about self-publishing, particularly: What is the hardest part of self-publishing your book and are there any easy parts?
We figured who better to pose these questions to than WriteByNight clients with real-world experience. Four helpful writers responded: Dana Frank, Assaf Raz, Dan Hays, and Marcia Drut-Davis.
We’ll tackle the “easy” part next week, but for this week we’re going to start with the hard stuff. read more
Here Comes 2019! And Why Do You Write?
2019 — and its attendant resolutions — is less than a month away.
That means you have four solid weeks to come up with your new writing goals.
If you partake of such things! Not all of us do. I go back and forth. Some years I set a vague goal such as “Get better!” or “Write more!” Some years, no goal at all. For 2018, according to this post where I, and some of you, shared our 2018 writing goals, I wanted to “complete a draft of the book I began writing in May.”
lol. read more
Congrats to WriteByNighters, Part 2!
While you’re heading back this weekend from your Thanksgiving travels, why not read up on some more recent success stories from your fellow WriteByNighters.
As you’ll recall, a few weeks ago we posted about some upcoming books from our talented clients, and asked if there were any others we should know about.
There are! And here are a few of them:
Caroline Bock‘s debut story collection, Carry Her Home, was selected by the Washington Writers’ Publishing House for its 2018 Fiction Award, which includes a cash prize and publication. The book was released in mid-October, with a book launch event at D.C.’s venerable bookstore Politics & Prose. (Which would be a great place to buy the book.) read more
Franzen Folderol
The other day LitHub published a piece titled “Jonathan Franzen’s 10 Rules for Novelists,” borrowed from Jonathan Franzen’s new essay collection.
It caused some hubbub.
Literary Twitter went nuts. Writers and readers piled on Franzen, calling his list pretentious, narrow-minded, and/or just plain ridiculous. Chuck Wendig, to the delight of many, went on a long rant.
Others argued that the piece is taken out of context and say that Franzen’s publicists were just trying to promote the book. Some even claimed the list is meant to be satire. (It may be. I’ve never read Franzen, so I’m not familiar enough to comment.)
Anyway, agree with the list (or parts of it) or not, there are two of them I want to dig into, especially here in mid-November, halfway through NaNoWriMo. read more
On NaNoWriMo, NaNoReMo, and Mo’
Show of hands: Who’s doing NaNoWriMo this year?
Before I got wise, I thought NaNoWriMo stood for National November Writing Month. Which doesn’t make a ton of sense.
But as most of you know, it’s really National Novel Writing Month, during which thousands of writers vow to write every day and have a first draft of a novel by November 30, a.k.a. my birthday, what should be a national holiday.
I won’t be NaNoWriMoing, but I will be NaShoStoWriMoing. My old accountability partner and I are restarting our thing, and my goal is to each week write a first draft of one new short story and revise one old story.
Roll call: Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? Have you done it before? Did it work? Tell us about your approach and process in the comments. read more
Observations on Books & Reading in Ireland
Justine and I spent a week in Ireland in mid-October, half in Sligo on the northwest coast, half in Dublin. We visited about a dozen bookstores and libraries and took note as best we could of the literary culture. Here are a few (hopefully not lame) observations:
1. Two of the Dublin bookstores we stopped at mark their books up from the cover price. I don’t mean hard-to-find first editions–I mean trade or mass market paperbacks of new or recent books. These stores place their own price tag sticker over the price printed on the book.
One book whose cover price was 10 Euro was marked 15.50. That’s a $6 markup!
Your turn: Have you ever seen this anywhere in the States? Is it a turn-off, or do you not mind? Share with us your thoughts in the comments below.
2. Few new releases in Ireland (and the UK, since that’s where most of them are published) seem to come in hardcover. Most of them are trade paperbacks that are just a little taller than the standard trade. I like this. They’re also less expensive than the U.S.’s $25-30 per.
Your turn: Do you like hardcovers or do you wish U.S. new releases came in paperback? read more
Congrats to WriteByNighters!
Continuing our series on publication and our new publication assistance services, we have a few fun announcements to make, and some congratulations to dish out to a few hard-working WriterByNighters.
First, congratulations to Bridget Farr! Bridget’s middle grade novel, Pavi Sharma’s Guide to Going Home, has been sold to Little, Brown & Company. Pavi is a foster child who starts her own business helping other foster kids navigate the system; but when a fellow foster kid is placed with a family with whom Pavi had a terrible experience, Pavi must help her avoid the same fate. Pavi Sharma’s Gide to Going Home is set for publication in the fall of 2019.
Bridget worked with WriteByNight’s Resa Alboher in book coaching, and is currently working on a new novel in coaching with Jessamine Chan.
Your Top 6 Questions About Publishing
After last week’s announcement of our three new publication assistance services, a few readers reached out with questions about publication, and we answered ’em, because that’s why we’re here.
But when it comes to publishing, many writers have questions, and many writers have the same questions, so I grabbed the six most popular (actually, it’s kind of seven; I’m cheating a little) to answer here today.
Some are about self-publishing, some are about traditional vs. self- vs. hybrid, some are about WriteByNight’s role in the process (spoiler alert: We don’t publish books! But we can help you find a publisher). All of them are questions we’ve heard more than a few times each, so chances are that you’ve wondered about one or two of them yourself.
If you have any questions about publication that we haven’t answered here, leave ’em in the comments and we’ll respond. read more
New Publication Assistance Services!
We have some exciting news: We’re expanding our publication assistance services!
In addition to our existing services designed to help you on the path to traditional publication, we’re adding three new options for those of you interested in self-publication or hybrid publication, or for writers deciding which route to publication is the best fit:
1) If you’re considering self-publishing your book and want some guidance on how to deal with this overwhelming option—the costs, the technology, the marketing, and beyond—our new Self-Publishing Coaching will teach you the ins and outs in as little as one session.
2) We’ve partnered with hybrid publisher Atmosphere Press in order to help you bypass the slush pile and fast-track your query straight to the executive editor — longtime WriteByNight coach and consultant Nick Courtright!
3) If you’re not sure whether traditional, hybrid, or self-publication is the right path for you, our new Publication Consultation will help guide you. We’ll read your manuscript carefully and then meet with you one on one to discuss its prospects for publication and to plan a course of action for turning those prospects into reality. read more
Who Are Today’s Top Horror Writers?
I’ve just finished (and loved) reading Frankenstein for the first time, a discussion of which you can listen to for Yak Babies (my books podcast) October Spooktacular, a series of episodes about horror books, movies, games, and more.
Now I’m in the mood to read more horror, both old and new, as Halloween approaches. But I need help.
I have a few classics I’ve never read but plan to, including Dracula, The Haunting of Hill House, and Dorian Gray.
I might also revisit a few American gothic favorites such as Edgar Huntly, Sleepy Hollow, and maybe some Hawthorne short stories.
As for contemporary horror, I’m looking for some new names. That’s where you come in. read more
Should You Use Obscure Words & Jargon?
Within the past month I’ve had conversations with two people expressing opposite viewpoints on a (not) hotly debated topic: Using big and/or obscure words in your writing.
On one these people, Andrew, bemoaned the fact that so many writers, particularly in literary fiction, will sometimes spend an entire paragraph describing the intricacies of, say, the woodworking that went into making an end table.
To paraphrase: “They use all this esoteric jargon to describe this thing, using all these words I don’t know, rather than just describing the thing in everyday language.
“Or,” he continued, “not describing the thing at all. Why does it matter that there’s an end table, if it’s not significant to the story? And even if it is, who cares what sort of tools or whatever the woodworker used? It’s so masturbatory. Why do I need three pages about an end table when I can get the same effect with one line?”
Andrew went on to talk about how annoying he thinks it is to come across words he doesn’t know, because he has to either stop reading and look up the word or continue reading without fully understanding what’s happening.
But Daniel would call that lazy reading. read more
Your 2018 Goals: Rounding the Third-Quarter Pole
It’s been almost half a year since we last checked in on each other’s 2018 writing goals — remember, so long ago, completing the sentence “In 2018 I will” and leaving a comment on this post or emailing me privately? — and so, with autumn fast approaching and three-fourths of the year gone, what better time to check in on those goals?
Are you achieving your 2018 literary goals? Have your goals changed? Do you have new goals? Let us know in the comments below.
Or if you’d rather talk this over privately, drop me a line: david[at]writebynight[dot]net.
Here’s the fun part where I ask some of you in public how you’re doing!
Barbara M., you shared that you wanted to finish an audiobook over the summer. Have you had the chance to do so?
Dot D., you wanted to complete a draft of your novel and get some editing done on another book. How’s it looking?
David L., you completed that sentence with “publish ‘Intrusion’ and ‘Dave’s You Must Be This Short To Enter’ this year.” Mission accomplished?
As for me, I wrote that in 2018 “I will complete a draft of the book I began writing in May [2017].”
Welp. read more
Packing Books for Vacation
I’ve been on vacation — a beach vacation, at that — for ten days now and I’ve read not even half a book.
Before we left, I asked Justine to be my book sheriff: “Don’t let me bring more than two books,” I said. Because usually I get out of control when packing for a trip. I always think I’m going to do nothing but read, and so I bring the number of books that aligns with constant reading.
Like, a book per day. read more
Seasonal Reading Habits & You
With autumn fast approaching, it’s almost time to put away our summer books and look to the fall.
That’s a thing, right? Don’t our reading habits shift with the seasons?
I’m going to take a stab at diagnosing myself as a reader — what kinds of books do I turn to in which seasons — and then afterwards I’ll consult my reading list to see how wrong I am.
Your turn: How about you? Do you read different kinds of books in different seasons? Let us know in the comments. read more
Share Your Rejection
The #ShareYourRejection hashtag on Twitter has gotten a lot of action lately, and in no surprise, writers are among the most vocal.
Many of these responses are inspirational tales of books that were rejected dozens of times before finding a publisher, like Arianna Huffington’s, Jill Orr’s, and Dea Poirier’s.
Other writers flash some humor within the trauma, like Hannah Khalil, Erin Vincent, and Joseph Finder.
And then there are the anecdotes that are truly horrific and/or weird, like this one from A.N. Devers.
As writers, rejection is folded into our lives. So many thousands of agents, publications, and publishers reject so many thousands of projects and writers each year. It’s just math. read more
Story Club: “The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket”
I think it’s high time we all read a short story together again.
I’ve been reading a ton of Stuart Dybek’s short fiction lately, and I’ve also been talking your ear off about it. I won’t do (much) more of it here, I swear!
But Twitter friend Kelly Luce took a class with Dybek, and we had a back and forth about that experience, in which she mentioned that Dybek’s favorite story might be Nobel winner Yasunari Kawabata’s “The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket.” Kelly says that Dybek “still cries every time he reads it.”
I’d never read Kawabata, but this recommendation was good enough for me. So I read it, and enjoyed it, and I thought it might make for a fun discussion for us. read more
Micro Fiction Challenge: Musical Edition
It’s been an entire half a year since we last did a micro fiction contest! (See: The Excellent Gimmick.)
A few weeks ago we talked about whether we listen to music while we read and/or write. That discussion coincided with a Yak Babies episode in which my personal pals and I talked about music and song lyrics in fiction: When it works, when it doesn’t, and why.
Shortly after that I wrote a story in which a song features prominently, just to see if I could do it.
Now it’s your turn!
Your task: Write a short story in fifty words or fewer that includes a music reference: song title(s), artist(s), lyrics, whatever you want. read more
Literary vs. Genre Fiction: Your Reading & Writing Habits
For this week’s new episode of Yak Babies we discuss so-called literary fiction: What does the phrase mean, is it little more than a marketing term, how is it distinguished from genre fiction, etc.
Growing up, I read only genre fiction, except for assigned books. Like I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, I started with the Hardy Boys, and then eventually moved into Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Clive Cussler territory. On the podcast I speculate that all teenagers are drawn to genre fiction, and then I say something like “No teenager wants to read Ann Beattie.”
It would’ve been more accurate to say “Few teenagers” rather than “No teenager.” Of course there are teens out there who love Ann Beattie. But I think the spirit of what I’m saying is true.
But here’s your chance to prove me wrong!
Your turn #1: As a teenage reader, were you drawn more to genre fiction or to literary fiction? Why? read more
What Is Your Desert Island Book?
The other day I was watching the episode of The Office where Ryan starts a fire and the gang mills around in the parking lot playing “Desert Island.” Each person gets to choose three books, and Jim reminds them that these are the books they’ll be forced to read over and over again for the rest of their lonely lives, barring rescue.
Dwight chooses the Physician’s Desk Reference, but then goes on to say that the book is hollowed out, and inside he has matches, a knife, whatever other survival gear. And then, “in case I get bored,” he also chooses a Harry Potter book.
Like these things do, it got me to thinking about what my desert island books would be. And when I think of anything related to books or my own writing, I naturally wonder about all of you too.
Choosing three books seems too easy. Choosing one is difficult.
Your turn: What is your one desert island book? And, most importantly, why? read more
Music While You Read, Music While You Write
In this quick Yak Babies bonus episode, my personal pals and I discuss whether or not we listen to music while we read or while we write.
I do not. At least, not if I’m reading or writing at home; I won’t put music on.
But if I’m doing those activities in public, at a bar or coffee shop or what have you, I don’t mind the music. It doesn’t distract me. In fact, I think it adds to the experience; I imagine I’d struggle to write or read in a quiet, musicless bar. (Musicless. What a weird-lookin’ word.)
I’ve tried listening to music at home, and it just doesn’t work. Why, then, does it help me when I’m in public? I dunno. It’s just woven into the experience, I suppose. It’s part of the ambiance.
Your turn: Music while you read or while you write, yes or no? If no, why not? If yes, what kind? Headphones or not? And what purpose does it serve for you? Let us know in the comments. read more
- If you’ll pardon me for a few minutes, I’m going to go trim my ear hair so my AirPods can fit in there.
- RT @IndivisMadison: Dem senators asked for a break in the Senate hearings because they don't even have copies of all the bills. How is any…