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The Joys and Sorrows of Self-Publishing: My Story So Far...

Frustrated novelist tells his tale of rejections, discovering print-on-demand publishing, and the effect on his "writing life."

by Andrew Paul Abrams

I had an inside track, a friend from college who is a successful author. He was very happy to hear from me and forwarded my manuscript to his big-time New York agent in May 2002. In November I got the manuscript back. No note, no comments, no nothing. I had rewritten the novel based on criticism of trusted friends while I waited in vain for the agent's response, but I had not done a thing in terms of trying to get published, naively hoping for the best. In the next three months I wrote hundreds of query letters differing in tone, style and approach. Not one agent was willing to even look at the novel. I was angry and baffled. Writing the book had been difficult; getting it published seemed impossible.

Although I never studied the craft, I have been writing all my life. Professionally I've written documentaries, medical films, advertising copy and screenplays. Privately I've written poetry, countless short stories and quite a few aborted novels. About three years ago I left the entertainment industry to dedicate myself to becoming a novelist. I took a job as a substitute grammar teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School Department, to supplement our income and give me time for writing. Nine Lives took me two years to complete - not very long, but I had been working on various drafts of it for nearly 20 years. It was not easy to write, but it wasn't until I tried to get it published that I really hit a wall.

After facing the absolute unwillingness of the traditional publishing industry to even have a look at my novel, I decided to do a little research into on-demand publishers on the internet. That was in February 2003. I chose Lulu.com, and within a month my book was in print. Since then several hundred people have read Nine Lives. This is a small but real victory. I've had it reviewed in very minor publications, and I've gotten some great feedback. I even made a little money, with which I've continued my query letter blitz. Newly armed with reviews and limited success, I actually got three agents to read it. All three liked it, and one actually wanted to represent me - if I was willing to send him $500 to cover his expenses. No thanks.

What else have I done to sell copies of my book? I've e-mailed thousands of innocent victims my glorious Nine Lives promo. (Net sales: 3. Net profit: $13.20.) I've had book signings. (Net sales: 11. Net profit: $44.00.) I ordered lots of copies and sold them cheap to friends and acquaintances. (Net sales: 50. Net profit: maybe a hundred bucks.) I've given copies as gifts to friends and family members. (Net loss: most of what I made selling them.) Self-promoting for me, as you can see, has been a real windfall.

That is where I now stand with Nine Lives. People can go to any bookstore and order it or buy it from Lulu.com or Amazon, and more than a couple actually have. My mother is proud of me, and my friends are impressed. I'm still trying to figure out how to make a living as a novelist, and my wife is holding our ship afloat.

What else am I doing? I'm well into my next novel. I'm participating in writers' conferences and an advanced novel workshop at UCLA. I write every day and continue to promote Nine Lives as often as I have the heart to face rejection. I write every day. Because of that, I have hope and pride and continue to believe in myself as an author. My work is good; it's probably not great yet, but practice makes perfect. I am determined to become the best writer I can become - to write excellent, provocative, readable, enlightening books. But enough about me...

A FEW WORDS TO THE ON-DEMAND/SELF-PUBLISHING INDUSTRY:

Open source self-publishing works on the idea that more information is better, and anyone and everyone should have the opportunity to publish their work. This is a wonderful principle for a company like Lulu.com to uphold, and they have been very successful maintaining it. Unfortunately there is a threshold that a book must get past in order for it to leap into a sphere where it can have impact and be read by more than a handful of readers. Getting writers over that hump is the area in which I believe Lulu.com and others of their ilk have to focus much more attention.

The print-on-demand world is going to have to catch up to traditional publishing methods if writers are going to be successful using it for more than just a stepping-stone into traditional publishing or to appease their vanity. I want to believe this will happen because the old process is failing both readers and writers. Too much crap is sold because it sells, and too much good work is going unrewarded.

The publishing industry is going through very hard times, and companies like Lulu.com are in the position to have great success because of that. I believe Lulu.com, while staying free of exclusivity, would be well served by utilizing some of the tried and true methods of the traditional publishing industry, such as selection and screening, editorial advice and direction, multifaceted promotion and wide-ranging distribution, in order to advance their clients. I think these are important things for on-demand publishers to consider integrating into their business practices if part of their mission is to have their clients be successful authors.

TO MY FELLOW FLEDGLING NOVELISTS:

Keep writing. Subject yourself to criticism. Find writing classes at your local universities and take them. Attend writer's conferences. Send query letters relentlessly, as daunting a prospect as this is. As things are, it is still our best hope for enduring success. Examine your expectations. Go to Lulu.com and get yourself published. Self-promote in any and all of the ways your creative mind can think of. Go to book fairs. Coerce your friends into buying your book. Send queries to magazines and newspaper book reviewers. Set up book signings. Put ads in your local Sunday review of books. Last but not least, don't quit your day job - not yet. I have found that I cannot write, self-promote and earn a living at the same time. I try to, but it's difficult. If you have the energy, God bless you. When I face the choice, I choose to write and help pay the bills.

If getting published is your prime goal, it is now quite easy, affordable, painless and pretty damned satisfying.

If becoming a successful novelist is your ambition, that is still difficult, but as we all know, there are a number of mediocre to lousy novels in niche genres making their authors, agents and publishers tons of money. If John Le Carré were dead he would roll over in his grave thinking about the junk that passes for spy novels these days. If you simply want to succeed, write mystery, romance, western, ghost or detective stories, but please, write really good ones - there is enough crap on the market.

If writing terrific novels that enjoy real commercial success is what you're dedicated to, then you are in for a long, hard struggle. To do anything well we first have to be willing to do it badly. There is nothing you are good at today that you weren't bad at when you started - eating, walking, playing a musical instrument. We have to realize that we are not so very good and strive to improve. When we get good at something, we have to try to get even better; we have to seek criticism and listen to advice. A few of us will become truly competent writers with something to say and a unique way of saying it. A few of those few will break through the barriers and become best-selling authors of work that is admired by their peers, enriches lives and inspires change. And you know what? That is a great thing, a great dream, and enough to keep me hard at work.

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Andrew Abrams is the author of Nine Lives, a romantic comedy, psycho-thriller, and an investigation of love, sex and mores. It features problematic parents, young artists and their work, alcoholism/addiction and recovery -- and lots of laughter.

Available at Lulu.com.

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