Getting Published in the Twitter World
Let's start with the traditional way an new author gets published:
This method gives the author a low chance of success and very little control. I've been in some form of corporate management for about 15 years. Let's say someone came into my office and said, 'Greg, I'd like you to invest tremendous time and resources on a project with a very slim chance of success and you get almost no control.' Who'd agree? No, in business we pick our projects carefully. I choose efforts where can I best use my resources to maximize my chance of success.
The traditional model of query letters and cold calling agents does not pass my smell test. It feels like a waste of time.
So this is why I got discouraged. It is why so many writers get discouraged. I mean, why freaking bother? But there was really no other option, so you sent your query letters, attended local writing workshops, and tried to network at writing conventions. And a massive percentage of us failed - good and bad writers alike. So I gave up and left my novel collecting dust on my hard drive.
Then I discovered Mur Lafferty, Scott Sigler, and JC Hutchins. And my world changed.
These authors are at the forefront of the changing media dynamic. I'm sure there are more, but these are the three I found and followed. They had the exact same frustrations as I did with a single exception. They are way smarter than I am. Like Einstein compared to, well, to me I suppose.
Anyhoo, they decided to ignore the traditional publishing method and use emerging social media instead. Instead of going through layers of agents and publishers to reach their audience they decided to go directly to their potential audience. And their approach horrified old school publishing.
They decided to give stuff away for free.
Next Up: How'd They Do It?
- Write novel
- Create a one page query letter to sell the concept
- Mail that letter cold to a ga-zillion agents
- Hope that your letter stands out from the dozens they get each day
- If you get lucky, hope that your agent can convince an editor to try and sell your novel internally
- Hope that the editor is successful and they agree to publish
This method gives the author a low chance of success and very little control. I've been in some form of corporate management for about 15 years. Let's say someone came into my office and said, 'Greg, I'd like you to invest tremendous time and resources on a project with a very slim chance of success and you get almost no control.' Who'd agree? No, in business we pick our projects carefully. I choose efforts where can I best use my resources to maximize my chance of success.
The traditional model of query letters and cold calling agents does not pass my smell test. It feels like a waste of time.
So this is why I got discouraged. It is why so many writers get discouraged. I mean, why freaking bother? But there was really no other option, so you sent your query letters, attended local writing workshops, and tried to network at writing conventions. And a massive percentage of us failed - good and bad writers alike. So I gave up and left my novel collecting dust on my hard drive.
Then I discovered Mur Lafferty, Scott Sigler, and JC Hutchins. And my world changed.
These authors are at the forefront of the changing media dynamic. I'm sure there are more, but these are the three I found and followed. They had the exact same frustrations as I did with a single exception. They are way smarter than I am. Like Einstein compared to, well, to me I suppose.
Anyhoo, they decided to ignore the traditional publishing method and use emerging social media instead. Instead of going through layers of agents and publishers to reach their audience they decided to go directly to their potential audience. And their approach horrified old school publishing.
They decided to give stuff away for free.
Next Up: How'd They Do It?
Posted by Gregory Lyons at March 2, 2010 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: audiobooks fiction advice urban novel podcast writing publishing
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: audiobooks fiction advice urban novel podcast writing publishing
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