- Most people who write a book will never get it published; half the writers who are published won’t see a second book in print; and most books published are never reprinted. What’s more, half the titles in any given bookshop won’t sell a single copy there, and most published writers won’t earn anything from their book apart from the advance.
- It wasn’t long ago that if you wanted to be published, there was only one route: submitting to a traditional publisher, a gatekeeper who paid an advance to you as an author. If you are lucky enough to have your manuscript accepted, you will get an upfront amount of between $5 and $10, 000 or anything up to $50, 000.
- It’s almost impossible for a new writer or author to get published here in Australia by ‘the big 5’ unless an agent is involved. And it is just as difficult to gain an agent as it is a publisher. Pan Macmillan, Penguin Australia, Random House, Hachette, Harper Collins and Simon and Schuster are busy representing established authors, or taking on famous people such as presidents, sports stars and politicians.
- The good news is that there are more options for writers these days. As Amazon released its first eReader, the kindle, in 2007, I became interested in the emerging ‘Internet’, and the opportunities it brought to writers everywhere. I became fascinated with the concept of blogging, digital marketing and self-publishing. My own blog The Art of Creative Writing, I began, with help, as a complete Internet newbie. It gives advice to other writers about the skills of creative writing and how to get published.
- I found it takes a village to write a novel. You need a community of helpers and back-ups, such as reviewers and cover creators. Enter the Internet. In my seventies, I taught myself how to upload an ebook to Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform [KDP]. It proved to be tricky at first and I’m still a rookie in the field of marketing.
- The truth is that you and I will still go on writing and enjoying writing because of the passion involved. And you might find that your writing improves greatly, when you are freed from the pressure of seeking a publisher. Plus, there are nowadays other options to the traditional approach.
- Enter such platforms as Medium. You can publish freely on Medium if you so choose, and there are many other sites to choose from. You can even decide to apply for earning money on these sites.
Take Away: As writers, we write often because we have to. Even though it is difficult to be accepted into the Traditional Publishing Industry, this is no reason for giving upon our dreams of being published. There are many options, as suggested in this article. One of these is self-publishing. And there are many shorter forms of writing to focus on rather than novel or memoir writing.
