Career Option: Writer?
A few days ago, I ran across a blog post by New York literary agent Sarah LaPolla, Damn Yankees, in which she talks about the too common us-them mentality of writers who self-publish and those who publish traditionally. She makes some very good points. For example, that those who self-publish should focus as hard on the quality of their work (all aspects of their work) as those who publish through traditional means.*
Something bothered me about her post though: she spoke of self-publishing and traditional publishing as entirely different career paths for a writer. I respectfully disagree. The career path in both cases is the same: writer. Everything still comes down to spending time at a keyboard and putting words on a page. The only difference is that a writer who chooses to self-publish has to handle a lot of other tasks as well (and outsourcing is handling).
This distinction is critical, because ultimately a writer is not self-published or traditionally published – a book is. Stop and think about that for a second. The choice between pursuing traditional publication or self-publication can be made on a book-by-book basis (contracts permitting).
To use myself as an example. I have on my desk a 349 page printout of a 78,000 word novel, ready for a final once-over before I send it out into the world. I have every intention of getting it traditionally published.**
I also have several stories, essays and poems that have been published in journals and magazines – as you can see if you click on the Writings button in the upper right-hand corner of this page. I fully intend to self-publish compilations of such works, because nothing I have seen of the traditional publishing avenues persuades me that I should do otherwise. They’re good pieces, and I see no reason to let them sit on my hard drive doing nothing when they could be finding their ways to readers who might just love them.
Writing is a tough way to try to make a living. I think we writers should keep our options open to as many income streams as possible. Dean Wesley Smith came up with a wonderful analogy called the Magic Bakery, referring to the way rights and income can work on a writer’s behalf (slices of pie that can be sold, and in some cases re-sold).
Right now I am also in the process of drafting another novel, this one the first of a trilogy. Suppose for a moment that I get that book traditionally published, and book two after it. Suppose then that, for one reason or another, the series gets dropped by the publisher. Odds are that by the time that decision were made, I would have already outlined the final book, and might even be drafting it. I would probably choose to self-publish the third book of the series, to finish the story and to make the ending available to the readers who might want it.
Technology has given writers options for publishing and distribution beyond anything ever seen before. We owe it to ourselves to consider all our options before choosing the option that best suits us, and to revisit those options throughout our careers.
*It saddens me that saying that seems to be necessary, but a lot of people are willing to self-publish works that aren’t ready for print.
**Full disclosure – I have already spoken to an agent about it. Do not interpret that as me being anywhere near having an agent or a contract as yet. It’s just that I’ve shown some of it to an agent who is willing to look at a revision.
