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I am curious how many of us have self published their books and how many have had their book bought by a publishing house or taken on by an agent? Also, how many of us have agents? Of those that did self publish, were the books fiction or non fiction and what company did you use?
For me I don't have an agent and haven't had a book published either by myself or anyone else. I've not thought about self publishing because I don't really know what's involved.
If you have a dig through the Talkback archives you'll find plenty of coverage on this topic! Try typing "self publishing" into the Search category and see what comes up.
For myself, I'm not a novelist, so the routes I have to take towards publication are quite different. So I won't be much use if I answer from personal experience! We do have a few Talkbackers who have had great success with self-publishing. Look up Gary; he's not on here often any more, but he runs a fantastic support network for independently published authors (complete with website and resources) and he's sure to be able to point you in the right direction. Helena Wotjcak (sorry Helena, I can never remember how to spell your name) has also self-published a magnificent non-fiction title that has deservedly won a few awards.
And for cautionary advice on self-publishing, Mike Coombes and Stirling are unsurpassed.
I'll have to let those with agented work, or who are currently pitching to agents, speak for themselves. But I hope these pointers are helpful to begin with.
Not sure whether you're interested in this, but I have a publisher www.bewrite.net but no agent. My books are available from bookshops (by order) and from online stores (e.g. Amazon). They're all fiction (that's what I tell my partner, anyway), and The Dandelion Clock has sold more than 1,000 copies. A Different Kind of Love was reviewed by Gay Times; and two of the novels were reviewed in The Sunday Express. For other reviews e.g. one from Ian McKellen, go to
http://www.bewrite.net/authors/jay_mandal.htm
(if you click on the excerpt to All About Sex, you get a video clip as well as an extract from the book. Don't panic - it's pretty respectable!).
How does it work with bewrite Jay. Is there a stockpile of your books or are they print on demand? I get so disillusioned sometimes about finding a publisher for my book.
PS I'm always interested in what you have to say because you remind me of my very good mate Dee.
Thanks, Zoe. The best thing is to look at the BeWrite site itself www.bewrite.net
As for my books, they're print-on-demand (not publish-on-demand), so there's no pile of them lying around anywhere. I've never had to pay anything - apart from books I've ordered myself - and I receive quarterly royalties and PLR (the latter is paid on books borrowed from public libraries).
BeWrite used to accept short story collections, but I think they just take novels now. Not sure about non-fiction or poetry. As with most publishing houses, it's good if you can help with publicity.
Comments
For me I don't have an agent and haven't had a book published either by myself or anyone else. I've not thought about self publishing because I don't really know what's involved.
For myself, I'm not a novelist, so the routes I have to take towards publication are quite different. So I won't be much use if I answer from personal experience! We do have a few Talkbackers who have had great success with self-publishing. Look up Gary; he's not on here often any more, but he runs a fantastic support network for independently published authors (complete with website and resources) and he's sure to be able to point you in the right direction. Helena Wotjcak (sorry Helena, I can never remember how to spell your name) has also self-published a magnificent non-fiction title that has deservedly won a few awards.
And for cautionary advice on self-publishing, Mike Coombes and Stirling are unsurpassed.
I'll have to let those with agented work, or who are currently pitching to agents, speak for themselves. But I hope these pointers are helpful to begin with.
http://www.bewrite.net/authors/jay_mandal.htm
(if you click on the excerpt to All About Sex, you get a video clip as well as an extract from the book. Don't panic - it's pretty respectable!).
PS I'm always interested in what you have to say because you remind me of my very good mate Dee.
As for my books, they're print-on-demand (not publish-on-demand), so there's no pile of them lying around anywhere. I've never had to pay anything - apart from books I've ordered myself - and I receive quarterly royalties and PLR (the latter is paid on books borrowed from public libraries).
BeWrite used to accept short story collections, but I think they just take novels now. Not sure about non-fiction or poetry. As with most publishing houses, it's good if you can help with publicity.