Reader Question: On Self-Publishing

Hello! I have a long, rather wordy question for you about self-publishing.

Say I’ve written a book, polished it up and gotten it as close to publishable as I think possible. Following preliminary letters to agents who would accept my genre, I send the requested portion of the manuscript out to all the agents with all the requested additions (synopsis, cover letter, etc). Perhaps some of them even request the full manuscript afterwards. But say I’ve done all of that and in the end I’m rejected by all of them, despite comments such as “well-written”, “readable”, “clearly talented” (things I dearly, dearly hope are honest and not just being said to ease the blow of rejection). I can’t resubmit, of course, because that’s not how things are done.
Would I be foolish, then, to NOT self-publish that work?

I’ve got many, many ideas for many different fantasy books, each quite different from the last, and once I’ve finished and polished up one book, I submit it to several appropriate agencies and move right on to my next idea, writing a brand new piece. I’m certainly not lingering on one book and afraid to move onto the next, so I’m hoping that something will peak the interest of an agent enough in the end to take a chance on me, so I’m wondering, if a book has been rejected and is not likely to be reconsidered, would self-publishing it do future book submissions good?

I’ve read several of your posts about self-publishing, and what I’d really like is as definitive an answer as I can get about whether it’s smart to do it or not, though I am fully aware that every case is different, with varying results. In general, would it help or hinder my efforts?

I never think you’d be foolish to self-publish a book. As long as you have a plan and the decision to self-publish fits into your career goals (which, by the way, will be constantly changing). 

There are a ton of different ways to go about building a career in publishing and one of the many ways is by self-publishing. If your true desire is to be traditionally published, but you have that one book that just hasn’t made it, I see nothing wrong in testing the market by self-publishing. However, the one thing to keep in mind, is that self-publishing that book may very well make it more difficult to find a traditional publisher for that particular book (not necessarily for anything else though).

So, here are my thoughts to your very specific questions….

Would self-publishing do future submissions good? Not necessarily. If you have absolutely amazing numbers it might push an agent’s or editor’s hand to read more or even offer if she is on the fence. And of course hopefully your readers will cross-over. But we are talking the need for amazing numbers. Thousands and thousands of sales at a competitive price point before a traditional publisher will really be impressed.

Would it hurt you? I don’t think so. Not in today’s market. Sure, I suppose there is still the editor that might be turned off, but they are few and far between these days.

So, if you’re asking my opinion based upon this question alone, go ahead and self-publish that book. It sounds like you’ve given it a huge effort and have a very strong belief that it’s time to move forward, but you don’t want to put this under the bed. So go for it. Self-publish that one book and move on to continue writing and querying your other books.

There is no linear career path when it comes to publishing, well when it comes to any business really. You have to follow your heart and trust your own instincts. You’re going to take some hits, you’re going to have failure and you’re also going to have success. The key is to keep going and trust in yourself.

–jhf

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