School starts tomorrow.
Part of me is going YIPEE! and the other is a little sad. I know my children are not disappearing but I'll miss their noise. Even with these mixed emotions, I did take a week off work to enjoy some peace and get my ass in gear for the coming year.
I'll be blogging about my goals on Paranormal Romantics on Monday and have a few days to think about it still. I'm not sure what I want.
When I started on this journey the only goal was to get an agent and go NY. Then ebooks were born. It was exciting and I loved this option and embraced it with all my heart. Yet, a small part of me still looks to NY. At this point in my career, I can afford to take the time and shop a novel around the agent circuit but do I want to?
Will I make more money going NY or make the same?
NY is offering smaller advances with poor % on royalties in comparison to ebooks and then there is the agent's cut to subtract from it. Is it worth it to go that route anymore?
I've struggled with this all summer. I finished book one of a new series and need to find it a home. Where should I look?
5 comments:
Hi Annie, can't you do both? And what is NY? New York?
NY does stand for New York, where all the big paper publishers are mostly based.
I could do both but is it worth it?
I get the impression that things arenot going well in NY but that's just hear say.
I haven't heard of many authors signing with agents lately. Is it because they're not subbing to them or is it agents not taking a risk on new blood?
Annie, no one can decide what is right for you but you. Like you, I still have the dream of the NY contract and holding my book in my hands. I haven't given up that dream. But I also realize that I may never achieve that dream...and I am making a good living through self-publishing e-books. I don't think there is any one size fits all answer here. After I have another book written that I can use to query agents and editors with, I'm planning to test the waters and see what flies, given the success I've had through doing it myself...but it will take a very, very good offer at this point for me to decide to go that route instead of self-publishing.
Mindy
Thanks Mindy, I don't expect anyone to makethe decision for me but would love to hear others opinions and experiences so I could make an informed one.
Like you made a valid point. I don't have to accept an offer if I don't like it. I think?
How does that work with agents? If they get an offer and the author thinks it's terrible do they have to take it?
Annie
Depends on the agreement you've got set up with your agent. You can have them make those decisions for you, if they think they're in your best interest (and if you trust them to have your best interests in mind). Or you can insist that they run all of those decisions by you before anything is agreed upon.
I'm a lot more leery of things these days, after learning how disgruntled a number of my traditionally published friends are with the NY publishing industry, and after seeing the sales numbers of some of my e-published friends have had, and then after seeing how things have gone in the self-publishing arena. If I do try the NY route again, it will definitely have to be the RIGHT agent and the RIGHT publishing contract, or I'll continue doing what I'm already doing. Like I said, I'm making a good living from my writing right now. I wouldn't be able to say that, I don't think, if I'd signed a deal with a traditional publisher. It just plain takes too long to build up an income that is self-sustaining that way.
Whatever you decide to do, really spend some time thinking about your motivations. What are you doing this for? Is your main goal to pay the bills and/or be able to quit the day job? Is your main goal exposure? Is your main goal to hold your book in your hands after it has been polished by a team that is behind you? Look at what it is you really want, and make your decisions based on that.
Mindy
Post a Comment