Ask any aspiring or recently successful author, and they will tell you exactly how difficult it is to get published in the current economic climate.
That is why several Vermont authors - Archer Mayor, Deborah Lee Luskin, Joyce Marcel, and Vincent Panella - have all chosen to take the road less traveled.
The four have experienced the ups and downs of taking responsibility for getting their own words into type, the type into pages, and the pages into books on shelves where readers can discover the work.
In the process, they have all done aspects of, or contracted and supervised, the behind-the-scenes functions like handling the design, printing, marketing, and distribution of their books.
“The industry is in extreme flux,” Mayor said. “More books are being published 'virtually' these days. It's confusing to separate people trying to make a living with people just trying to get published.”
But with new printing and publishing technology, and the possibilities for communication and commerce that have blossomed from the Web, authors have more options - options that, despite frustrations and challenges, let them retain control of their work and have new and abundant choices.
Following are some profiles of the four authors' experience with the business of selling their own words.
* * *
In 2007, renowned author Archer Mayor of Newfane decided to invest in self-publication of his own books, earlier titles in the Joe Gunther mystery series that had gone out of print.
“The reason [for choosing to publish independently] is because writing so many books over so many years, it was a body of work. Putting [a writer's work] out of print is like burning an artist's paintings. I got ahold of my publishers in New York and said, 'You've got books that you've let go out of print. Give them back [to me.]' I got rights reversions on 16 books, over time.”
In contrast to newer technologies, Mayor uses old-fashioned offset printing. “I have a warehouse of [my] old books,” he said.
Mayor hired editors and Brattleboro book designer Dede Cummings to create a new look for his books and reissue them under a new imprint, AMPress. He settled on a $15 trade paperback, a format he considers affordable.
“I set the whole thing up in the warehouse. Every month, I get a check,” he said.
He reports that his overall experience in this business has “only been positive.”
“There's a very small overhead - I only have a mortgage and I took out a few loans. I generate a small number of sales every month. There's no downside to my particular enterprise, and I have no employees,” he says.
Mayor describes his approach - “where the New York publishers “publish the new stuff, I publish the old stuff” - as unique.
“I'm a regional writer, writing about a regional topic,” Mayor said - a scenario that makes it possible for him to promote all the books in the Joe Gunther series, no matter who is publishing a given title.
“The key is that every year, a new hardback comes out from a different publisher,” he said. “I artificially prime the pump at someone else's expense. I do the [book tour] circuit, and it's all about the new book. I advertise AMPress, and people order back the books. The New York publishers advertise for AMPress, too.”
Mayor incorporates two methods of distribution of his formerly out-of-print books.
“[One is] online, at archermayor.com, using PayPal. The other is to go to an independent bookstore and find AMPress Books right there on the shelves,” he said.
“They're popular enough that independent booksellers see it to their advantage to store them,” Mayor said. “You can order books very easily. There's a special section for bookstores on the website. They are not for sale on any other venue.”
Mayor urges anyone considering self- or independent publication to be aware that the publishing world is unstable in this day and age.
“Don't put your own money into self-publication. It's very risky. The publishing world is in a very confused state. Anyone who tells you they've got a handle on it is either lying or delusional,” he said.
Despite the uncertainty, “I make my living this way,” he said.
* * *
Deborah Lee Luskin is the author of Into the Wilderness, published by the independent publishing company White River Press of Amherst, Mass. She worked for 16 years as a medical writer, now writing her novels in lieu of her previous niche.
“White River Press is a micro-publisher, a one-woman press,” she explains. “The pro [of using an independent publisher] is that it got my book out there. The cons are the huge amount of work. There is cost and energy involved in marketing. I had to set up all my reviews and events, and I've promoted the book incessantly for six months.”
Fortunately for Luskin, her dedication has paid off. Into the Wilderness continues to sell very well, according to the status reports she is sent by Amazon.com every week.
“It's really interesting to see its distribution geographically. People in Montana and Wyoming are buying it. These are small but critical victories,” she said.
“It's a huge learning process,” Luskin said. “I've made relationships with bookstore owners, librarians, and media outlets. I've had a huge education in marketing [this way] and have met wonderful people.”
Luskin offers insight into the world of independent publishing as she has experienced it.
“In the publishing world, the newest trend is print-on-demand (POD). POD quality is now improved. Lightning Source, a print-on-demand company, is a partner with Ingram, a large book distributor. My publisher has a contract with Lightning Source.
“The publishing industry is hugely wasteful of paper, oil, energy resources and effort,” Luskin continued. “My books don't get printed until they're ordered. There's no warehousing, and the book is directly shipped to the customer.”
Luskin feels that independent publication is not that different from self-publishing, even though she chose not to self-publish for her own reasons.
“Self-publishing is no longer as stigmatized; [however], the problem with quality control remains, and there are best-sellers that could use better editing,” she said.
“I didn't want to self-publish,” Luskin said. “I wanted a legitimate publisher. White River Press made [me] a beautiful book. [It has a] great cover, paperback, very readable.”
“My goal for Wilderness, beyond [finding] an audience, was to find a literary agent and/or a publisher who would offer me a little more support,” she said. Though Luskin has found an audience - “and that's gratifying” - she has not yet found a publisher for another manuscript.
So “I'm considering starting my own press,” she said, a venue that would let her publish Into the Wilderness in electronic form.
Luskin is very optimistic about her future in independent publication, given her success so far.
“While I don't earn a living from my writing, I do earn money from it. I've turned a profit on Into the Wilderness, even after all the expenses of marketing it,” she noted.
“Writing nonfiction is more lucrative and teaching more so again,” she said. “I am in a wonderful place, where my monetary contribution to our household is no longer necessary - for now.”
Luskin, however, eventually wants to earn enough money from her fiction to allow her husband, Dr. Tim Schafer, to retire in about 10 years.
Her advice to other writers who are considering independent or self-publication is not to rush into it.
“The first thing is to have a really high-quality product,” she said. “I urge people not to rush into self-publishing.”
Other venues exist, Luskin said, including print-on-demand-at-the-bookstore services at Boxcar and Caboose in St. Johnsbury, or at Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center.
“There are many online companies that will format and print your book,” she said. “But then there's the issue of quality [to consider].”
* * *
Vincent Panella felt that his short story collection, Lost Hearts, would fare better if it was self-published.
“I decided to self-publish because it's a book of short stories, [which are] difficult to sell with traditional publishers,” he explained. “These were stories I dearly loved, [but I] didn't think I'd be able to publish with a traditional publisher.”
Panella said that “it worked out OK, and I have no regrets, but you have to do all the work yourself, [such as] design, marketing, and/or paying for it. [You have] the independence of being self-published and you can do whatever you want with it.”
Panella has his own self-owned and operated publishing house, Apollo's Bow.
“I have my own imprint and bring other books out on it. Except I'm a writer, not a publisher. You can't do much of your other writing because the promotion is time-consuming. There is an increasing number of authors who are self-publishing.”
Panella has had his share of difficulty introducing Lost Hearts, a book which “appeals to an urban readership,” into bookstores in Vermont.
“It's a struggle to get a book into bookstores. [It's been an] uphill battle for me to get the book into Vermont stores. Reviews are hard to get [as well.] There's a subsidiary industry for buying reviews on the Internet.”
Panella categorizes his success as getting his books into Barnes & Noble stores. He characterizes his biggest challenge as the lack of reviews.
“I've sent out about a hundred books, gotten maybe five reviews. I don't think it's that bad an average. I wish I had more, but those are the hardest parts,” he said.
“A lot of stores won't take self-published books,” he said, noting they are “inundated” with such requests.
In the end, Panella said, “I'm doing it to keep my name out there, and I think these stories deserve to be published.”
“I don't expect to make a profit unless a publisher picked up my book. My goal is to have people read my work. But if you read about self-publishing, there are some who have been very lucky to have traditional publishers, which can relieve you of all the promotional work. Short stories are kind of a hard sell.”
As for whether or not the experience of self-publishing was worth it, Panella seems to think so. “I'm glad I did it.”
His advice to potential self-publishers is to get outside their comfort zone.
“Get ready to figure out ways to promote your book, through websites and through traditional online book outlets,” he said, noting that Lost Hearts is now available electronically for Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook e-book readers.
“It gives me more sales, but has to compete with so many other books,” Panella said. “It's going to be quite a bit of work, and you'll learn quite a bit. I wouldn't discourage anyone from it.”
* * *
Joyce Marcel, now a monthly columnist for The Commons, started out as a writer for the Brattleboro Reformer, and made the bold decision to collect and publish the best of her weekly column back in 2006.
“Newspapering is an immediate thing. You write something and have the instant gratification of seeing it in print,” she said. “With so many people telling me how much they loved my weekly column in the Reformer, I thought I would collect the best of them and make them more permanently available. I didn't think there would be any national publisher interested in the material, so I decided to publish the book myself.”
Despite the unpopularity of print-on-demand at the time, Marcel reports that her endeavor into self-publication started out positively.
“In 2006, print-on-demand was just beginning, and books like mine were looked down upon and called 'vanity' publications. So I was on my own. I have to say, I didn't care. I loved everything about the process of making a book,” she said.
“Also, I was lucky. A friend told me about Five Corners Press in Plymouth, Vt. They were an amazing resource and did a spectacular job of guiding me into print. My book looks, feels and reads professional. I'm still proud of it,” Marcel said.
Unfortunately, Marcel found the self-promotion part of publishing more difficult than she'd expected.
“The benefit was total control over the end result. The drawback was marketing. Most writers are shy creatures, best suited to working alone. Blowing my own horn was difficult, which meant that I didn't like doing marketing,” she said.
“On the other hand, marketing is something writers have to live with,” Marcel added. “Most publishing firms will not invest in publicity for any but their top best-selling authors, so you will end up having to do your own marketing even if HarperCollins puts out your book.”
Marcel blames her lack of marketing skill on the failure of her book to sell.
“The more serious problem is that the time you spend marketing is time you can't spend writing. Eventually, I had to go back to writing to earn a living. So I'm a total failure as a marketer. I don't seem to have the gene.”
Still, the experience was not without its positive moments. Marcel describes working with an audience as “addictive.”
“On the plus side, I learned that I loved talking to audiences about my work. It's the best. The first time I made a group of people laugh I felt higher than I could ever feel on drugs. Give me an audience any time, please!” she said.
Marcel says she would publish a book again, but her “biggest mistake” was “overestimating the audience for my work.” As a result, she now has many extra books in her attic.
She counted 1,000 e-mails from fans who had discovered her column on two websites. She calculated 11,000 copies of the daily paper in readers' hands and used an industry statistic of 2.5 readers per paper to anticipate an audience for her book of more than 25,000 prospective buyers.
But, she said, “I printed 1,000 copies and sold 300.”
On-demand publishing is definitely the antidote to this.”
Her advice to people considering self-publication is to use a four-step process.
“One, invest in a P.R. person. Two, learn social networking, if you haven't already. Use it. Three, do on-demand [publication] so you don't wind up with extra copies in your attic (anyone want to buy a book?) Four, plan to devote a year to marketing. Forget about doing any serious writing during that time.”