SELF-PUBLISHING

Don't allow the lure of publishing on your own tempt you to circumvent necessary steps in your progress as a writer.  We see many writers assume they are ready for publication when in fact they are really at the beginning of their development as a writer, or perhaps somewhere else in the early stages.  Sometimes overconfidence can lead a writer to jump into self-publishing and to wasting an awful lot of time and money, when in fact what they should be doing is perfecting their skills and refining their concept.  The fact that you are interested in the concept doesn't mean that others will be.  Rather than jump into self-publishing too soon, spend time creating multiple works of fiction and getting lots of feedback.   There are many websites where writers can do this, including our favorite, Textnovel.com.  If you decide to proceed with self-publishing, make sure you follow the necessary steps to get your book in shape.  There should be NO ERRORS in the text.  There should be no grammatical deficiencies.  Hire a good editor and get lot of feedback from smart and thoughtful readers BEFORE you spend money publishing the book. 

One thing to keep in mind is that with self-publishing, you are launching what is essentially your own small business, centered around a product that is your novel.  You will need to learn and understand and manage marketing, sales, website development and management, customer relations and many other  things that small business owners do.  Some writers enjoy this.  Others find it overwhelming and prefer to focus on what they love -- writing.

ON AGENTS

Once you think you have a concept that is worthy of publication, and once you are reasonably confident you have the skills to create a work that will be compelling for others to read, consider getting an agent rather than self-publishing.  If you have the gift and have a good and marketable book concept, and have devoted the necessary time to character and plot development, you should be able to find an agent.  If an agent isn't interested, it may be that your concept needs some work.  Or it may be that you need to keep looking until you find an agent that catches the vision for what you are trying to create.   Some agents focus on a particular type of fiction -- for example, while we consider almost any type of fiction, our specialty is young adult and literary fiction. 

If you would like to submit your work to us, send it to stans@soperagency.com. 

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