Brian Drake recently gave us his
dollars-and-sense version of self-publishing. This time around, he takes a
second look at the true rewards of self-publishing, which have nothing to do
with money…
THE REWARDS OF
SELF-PUBLISHING
BRIAN DRAKE
When we
last spoke about the costs of self-publishing, even I had to admit what I
described didn't look very good. But after that piece went to press, I started thinking. I may not have any large
monetary reward for my DIY publishing efforts, but I have something a little
more valuable – to me, anyway. I wanted to do this follow-up to show you that
something similar can happen to you, too.
I
wouldn't be writing these articles for Paul if it hadn't been for my
self-publishing, because that's how we met.
He featured Justified Sins on his
blog, made some nice remarks about Bullet
for One on Amazon, and we then connected through Facebook. All of that was
a prelude to his invitation to write a Fight
Card story, which I did entitled Copper
Mountain Champ (What? You missed it? It's a good one, check it out).
Then
there's James Reasoner. You should know who he is. When I started my blog back
in 2010, he commented frequently, which was how we connected. He allowed me to
do some guest posts on his blog to promote my books, and when he and Stephen
Mertz (you should also know who he is) started the Blaze! western series, I sent James a note asking if I could
audition. He told me to send my idea... and maybe. Well, he and Mertz liked my
idea, and now I have a book due to them. It's also my first western. I've
wanted to write a western for the longest time, and now I'll be edited by two
writers who have been doing western since before I was born. You can't buy that
kind of education.
Let's go
back to Paul for a moment. Paul knows a guy named Tommy Hancock, editor and
publisher of Pro Se Productions. You should really know who he is. Together they
created some fresh pulp characters for an anthology and invited writers to do
the stories. Tommy invited me based on what Paul told him. Somehow, I guess, I hadn't
embarrassed myself to much along the way. I was happy to write Never Enough Corpses for Pulse Fiction Vol. 1 (You missed that
too? We really need to have a talk).
None of
these connections would have happened without the calling cards of my self-publishing projects. Years ago, like every
writer starting out, I couldn't get any attention with my work. What magazines
still existed back in the '90s didn't want hard-boiled. The web and crime zines
laughed at me. And Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery
Magazine sent not only rejection letters, but eventually a restraining
order – I framed it.
After a
few more years of typing quietly and not sending anything out, I decided to do it myself, and now I have all these
new friends. What they've done is given a young writer (well, not so young
anymore) what every young writer wants to hear – We think you're good enough to work with us. And Paul and James in
particular know posers when they see them. Somehow I passed muster.
Somehow
you might, too. Once your work is out there, you never know who will see it.
That's why it's important your writing be as professional as possible. Since
getting a Kindle recently, I've gone crazy downloading free books, trying to
find the hot new talent, and sampling some of the self-publishing heroes to see
if I can learn anything from them. I've deleted nine out of ten books because
the writing screams amateur – even those
writers look at as heroes of self-publishing
have problems. I once disagreed with Lee Goldberg and his Tsunami of Crap theory, but now I think he has a point.
Everything
I needed to learn, I learned from all the dead authors I’ve been reading for
decades. This isn't amateur hour. If you're going to do this, you need to know
your craft, and where commas go. Ignoring basic grammar out of some misguided
attempt at style only makes you look
like a fool, but somehow in our meme and text message centered world, the
basics don’t matter.
That’s the
bright side to the not-so-pretty-picture I painted in my other article, and I
hope you get something from it. Self-publishing is worth it, but you may find
the rewards come in a different manner than you were expecting.
And the
Corvette is still for sale.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Brian Drake lives in California and hopes to one day do an interview where all of his answers somehow incorporate Taylor Swift lyrics. You can reach him at briandrake88@yahoo.com
AMAZON
I agree with all of the above. Even if the royalties weren't there (and thankfully, they are), I've made contact with a lot of very talented - and friendly - folks in the last four years.
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