Once again, I am planning my next novel. If I go through with this process again, it will be my fifth self-published novel. I am sure that if I am like most writers, I start with thinking this new one will be my best. We also have this fantasy that our self-published novel will be big and somehow be noticed. It's good to have dreams but also to temper those dreams with the reality of self-publishing. I’ve been down this road before.
Writing a book is a long, lonely and frustrating task. I often wonder why I even do it. Why add more stress to my life? Why do something when there is no tangible success in it? I guess the answer to this question is that I feel compelled to do it. There's a story in my head that needs to get out. I have a lot of awesome stories in my head, but the challenge is to get them from my head into the world.
If you are impressed that I have published books - don't be. I'm not rolling in royalties from my book sales. My last book had ONE sale and it was the copy I bought for myself.
Disappointed? Of course. I won't lie and say it doesn't bother me. When you self-publish and have a limited or non-existent budget to promote and market it, chances are good that it won't get a lot of book sales. I have learned a long time ago that just putting a book on Amazon doesn’t magically translate into book sales. Honestly, there is a lot of competition out there.
You might be asking -- "Why don't you get published by a traditional publishing company?"
I have tried that - many times. First, most publishers today won't even read a manuscript unless you are represented by an agent. I have hundreds of rejection email responses from agents who have determined that either it isn't quite right for them or that they have too many manuscripts to go through. So - yes - I have always pitched each book manuscript to literary agents first before choosing to self-publish. There are also publishers - like WestBow - which is one of the largest Christian book publishers who will publish anyone's book, but the cost of publishing is paid by the writer. I don't exactly have thousands of dollars to spend to publish a book.
The next thing I have struggled with is what kind of genre do I want to write? When I first started, I wanted to be a Christian fiction writer. I enjoyed reading C.S. Lewis, Frank Peretti and other Christian fiction authors. When I browse the Christian fiction section of a bookstore, I can never find a book that I want to read. I don't want it to be too preachy and I don't want the book blurb to start with some kind of murder. Today it seems the only Christian fiction on the bookshelves are Amish Romance genre. Seriously, how many ways can you spin those storylines?
I have jumped around different genres in trying to find the best one for me.
My first novel was a medieval romance novel (Knight of Redemption) because I wanted to write a knight and princess story. It took me about two years to write it. I was very naive in thinking that all I had to do was to put it up on Amazon and the royalties would roll in. They didn’t. I will say that receiving that first hard copy of the book was very satisfying. I also learned not to freely give out copies to friends or coworkers because they are quick to find mistakes in the book to point out to you. I will also tell you that everyone thinks they are an editor.
Very few books will ever be completely without errors. If you love the story, you can overlook it. I mean I honestly try to find all the mistakes, but it isn’t humanly possible to avoid it. Even now I can read one of my books and find an error or think of another way I could have written it. The best part of writing is the first draft. The worst part is editing. My last book went through 10 revisions. It is a long, painful process.
My second book was a Christian sports fiction book (Passing Toward the Prize) which I enjoyed writing the most. I love football and I felt like it had a good plot. My wife has told me repeatedly that she thinks I should keep writing about football because she can tell in my writing that I enjoy it.
My third book (Lover's Dead Mother) stepped WAY out of my box as I went in a totally different direction.
I have jumped around different genres in trying to find the best one for me.
My first novel was a medieval romance novel (Knight of Redemption) because I wanted to write a knight and princess story. It took me about two years to write it. I was very naive in thinking that all I had to do was to put it up on Amazon and the royalties would roll in. They didn’t. I will say that receiving that first hard copy of the book was very satisfying. I also learned not to freely give out copies to friends or coworkers because they are quick to find mistakes in the book to point out to you. I will also tell you that everyone thinks they are an editor.
Very few books will ever be completely without errors. If you love the story, you can overlook it. I mean I honestly try to find all the mistakes, but it isn’t humanly possible to avoid it. Even now I can read one of my books and find an error or think of another way I could have written it. The best part of writing is the first draft. The worst part is editing. My last book went through 10 revisions. It is a long, painful process.
My second book was a Christian sports fiction book (Passing Toward the Prize) which I enjoyed writing the most. I love football and I felt like it had a good plot. My wife has told me repeatedly that she thinks I should keep writing about football because she can tell in my writing that I enjoy it.
My third book (Lover's Dead Mother) stepped WAY out of my box as I went in a totally different direction.
The inspiration for the book was based on a tour we took of the Belmont Mansion in Nashville and the story of Adelicia Acken and some of the ghost stories associated with the mansion. I wrote a paranormal romance. It wasn’t because I believe in ghosts but mostly that I don’t, and I was able to write it easily. I also loved the cover I created for the book. It is my favorite book cover so far.
Finally, I returned to Christian sports fiction for my last book (For A Game Such as This) which was a sequel to Passing Toward the Prize. It was fun to evolve the story from the first one. Writing a fiction story about women’s football is something I wanted to promote because I think women should play tackle football.
So, do I really want to put myself through this again? I’m asking myself that a lot as I put together my chapter outline for the next book. Here I am again ready to start another one. I have learned that writing a book is a marathon. You have to pace yourself. There will be days that the inspiration will flow and then there will be days it will be a struggle. I guess I enjoy it, or I wouldn’t feel this desire to do it.
Finally, I returned to Christian sports fiction for my last book (For A Game Such as This) which was a sequel to Passing Toward the Prize. It was fun to evolve the story from the first one. Writing a fiction story about women’s football is something I wanted to promote because I think women should play tackle football.
So, do I really want to put myself through this again? I’m asking myself that a lot as I put together my chapter outline for the next book. Here I am again ready to start another one. I have learned that writing a book is a marathon. You have to pace yourself. There will be days that the inspiration will flow and then there will be days it will be a struggle. I guess I enjoy it, or I wouldn’t feel this desire to do it.
Before I blaze ahead with the first draft, I will have some time to reflect on my writing and do some soul searching over the next couple of weeks about this whole process. I will examine whether or not I can make to the commitment to the task ahead of me.
Oliver Markus Malloy said: "When you self-publish a book, not only are you competing with millions of other books, you're also at a disadvantage because your book is self-published, and a lot of readers are unwilling to try your book because they've had so many bad experiences."
