Author Emily Vajda

Blog

emailtwitterfacebookinstagram

Indie-Published? NOT The Kiss of Death. Impatient with Trad Publishing? GET PATIENT!

Sep 20, 2024

It is Day Two of the PNWA Writers Conference.

I just finished up a seminar titled, Inside Look at How Publishers Decide to Make an Offer on a Book, presented by Matt Rusin from Tor Publishing & Amy Collins from Talcott Notch Literary.

And the gears in my brain are turning, clicking.

Here are my biggest takeaways:

  1. Be Patient.
  • If you are out on submission to be traditionally published, be patient. Editors are backlogged on submissions by MONTHS. And then if an editor does want to acquire your book, they need to make a case for it and take it to the higher-ups, the marketing team—essentially, they need to sell your book before they actually buy your book to sell your book. This takes time. Easily upwards of 9 months. Yes, you read that correctly—9 months! So sit back. Be patient. And start writing something else.
  1. Start Writing Something Else
  • Editors & Agents want to know that you have more books in you. That it didn’t take you ten years to perfect your novel (it did!) and then you won’t be able to follow it up with another book when you have a deadline. START WRITING NOW!
  • TIP: Yes, they want a second book, but they don’t necessarily want the second book in a SERIES. Your book should be able to stand on its own. Series are hard to sell as a debut. So start another book, completely separate from your last. Or perhaps in the same universe, but can be a stand-alone.
  1. Being Indie-Published is NOT the Kiss of Death
  • I always thought if you self-publish, you’re dead in the water. So I’ve been holding out for traditional publishing. But I just learned today that the cost of paper is ASTRONOMICAL, and publishers and agents LOVE e-books. So if you Indie-Publish/Self-Publish, and then you are Traditionally Published, you can play the sales off of each other. What I mean is this—If your paperback book that is traditionally published makes it into Target or Barnes & Noble, then perhaps those readers will then look you up and BUY YOUR E-BOOKS AVAILABLE ON YOUR WEBSITE. Now you’re generating more sales.

I have more. But let’s start with these.

Happy Writing!

Happy Reading!

Emily