TAKING IT ON THE CHIN: BEING SELF PUBLISHED AND MY OWN SALE’S REP
Hey Karen, this isn’t the 90s anymore. Don’t judge a book by its lack of “cachet” that traditional publishing brings. Authors are already gluttons for punishment getting into an industry with the lowest profit margins in the world. We don’t need to be knocked down anymore than where we are trying to move up…
I market my own books and that’s how I have gotten in to over 100 stores the past 3 years. But, sometimes I’ll come across a doozy of a buyer who will tell me who I am without even knowing me. This one I spoke to over the phone today blanketed all self-published authors and illustrators as subpar. “Oh the covers of self published works just don’t stand a chance next to my traditionally published works — they’ll never sell.” I was laughing inside. First, she had not even seen my work (or knew I was a professional fine artist outside of my children’s books) before making that brazen proclamation — could you just give this girl the benefit of a doubt or do you not have any semblance of self awareness?, was my inner rhetorical question. According to inperson feedback and online reviews by numerous wholesale shop owners and retail customers who have bought my books, I am a breath off Downey-fresh air in comparison to the other children’s books out there (see point #6 from this blog post I wrote).
That woman was living in the “safe” old school mindset of “big name = great product.” The movie industry comes to mind for me: some of the most profound films were not done through a big production house or studio sets, nor with well-known silver screen actors. So, could we please get that notion out of our heads? For instance, even on Medium I think, why are some of these people not writing for Vanity Fair or Outside magazine? Like a B list movie, they will shine eventually — coming out of the shadows of mainstream large publications that have little soul left to them. We live in such an independent entrepreneur world, too — a hefty amount of Millenial and GenZ creatives can’t be bought. Holding a candle to our prowess in our respective fields, it would dumbfound the ones who have more clout or signed with more money. Alternative routes are the way, but I digress, back to this woman…
To stop my blood from boiling over and repremending her ignorance, I chose to take it all in and pity her understanding of the world today. There are alot of great reasons to self publish that trump traditional and visa versa. But it’s not like I didn’t auditon for the big leagues of publishing — oh, in my favorite 3 words from Wendy Williams, BELIEVE ME YOU! I actually reached out to over 40 literary agents in my niche and I got very few replies back. What I gathered is if you are not writing DEI/woke content, are a no-name person, or don’t have nepotism going for you, then step in line of the HUNDREDS of people vying for a spot to be traditionally published. It was nauseating to keep vying for the affections of Monstro (yes, I name the traditional publishing industry after the whale in Pinocchio) that did not see my worth. Plus, either digitially or IRL, I really hate standing in lines. You’ll never find me waiting in line at a rollercoaster park with over-priced $10 nachos (probably manufactured cheese, too) or waiting to get on the plane (I will watch with my head cocked at these peope scrunched up together trying to board a flight as I purposefully wait to be the last one on the plane.). This probably has a lot to do with how I was raised: with a self-employed dad ina 3rd generation commerical fishing family in the middle of nowhere .
I can’t believe I spent all of those dozens of hours researching these literary agents and then it was a whole let down which made me go the self publishing route. Nonetheless, it was a blessing in disguise now that I look back on it: I’m FREE. I don’t have some editor breathing down my back, telling me what to add or omit. When I come across a buyer now, I confidentally tell them I am self published and it’s their loss if they are not even interested in SEEING my work to consider I might just have my own cachet after all. Like trying to get a rose on the bachelor, that’s what it’s like trying to get into stores: sometimes I get far with Brad, other times I’m like some of the other women he rejects the first day. Oh well, no one recruited Michael Jordan during his highschool years so everybody likes a good underdog story — I know mine has always felt like an Underdog, 36 years in the making right now….
