Rejection sucks! I feel like so many people just want to tell friends and family the book is published and here it is. But if nobody ends up reading it, then what was the point? Here’s hoping someone sees your book Sonal and grabs it!!
Every time I think of self-publishing, I quail at the amount of marketing involved. I don’t know if everyone appreciates how much work it is to promote your book. Sure, I likely will need to do that if I publish a book with an established publisher, but I won’t need to know all the intricate nuts and bolts in the same way. I really don’t have the ability to be a social media manager, and I think that’s what self-publishing boils down to.
Sonal, thanks for this wise and thoughtful exploration. I'm about to launch my novel as a serial here -- starting mid-January. I'm pals with a few indie authors here who have made the leap to physical printing of serialized novels. One, with an agent and publishing house, and one truly indie. Definitely food for thought.
Also - have to say, I've been using the "Save the Cat" beat sheet on it, having practiced with several short stories. It's so helpful! I've had a couple of significant breakthroughs on the early Act 1 chapters that will make the story worlds better. Thanks!
Your highlighting of Virginia Wolfe’s involvement with the writing community of her time and place and the networking that writers did pre- online-everything stood out for me. It takes privilege to be so involved and yet there is something to be said for how community-building supports a book — traditionally published or not.
Community is so very, very important. And yes, it's harder in many ways to be in community now, but also easier in others. But it absolutely supports a book
Makes me think: we focus on authors, who pump out a lot of books. But, for many of us, (maybe I’m talking about myself here) perhaps a book is a culmination of a chapter or an act in life and therefore the necessary “platform” to launch is more organic than we think. Hence, the brilliance of Substack to attract a like-minded community. And the idea that a “book” is a far bigger endeavour than most of us imagine.
I hadn't really talked about serializing a novel above, perhaps because for me, the task of writing something well-suited to serialization adds another layer of daunting over and above the general daunting nature of the novel itself. Although perhaps that's a case of me overthinking the issues. But yes, the idea of a kitemark sounds good... the difficulty is in implementing some sort of agreed upon standard amid so many indie authors.
But in any case--kudos to you for taking on serializing your work.
Right now, it seems early in the novel serialization world for me to have a good sense the pros and cons of it, but I do agree that substack lends itself very nicely to serialized novels. Best of luck to you.
Rejection sucks! I feel like so many people just want to tell friends and family the book is published and here it is. But if nobody ends up reading it, then what was the point? Here’s hoping someone sees your book Sonal and grabs it!!
For real. The friends and family pressure, although unintentional, is real. Because they don't know how long it can take to get a book into the world.
And thank you! Fingers crossed.
Every time I think of self-publishing, I quail at the amount of marketing involved. I don’t know if everyone appreciates how much work it is to promote your book. Sure, I likely will need to do that if I publish a book with an established publisher, but I won’t need to know all the intricate nuts and bolts in the same way. I really don’t have the ability to be a social media manager, and I think that’s what self-publishing boils down to.
I think we all wish that "If you write it, they will come" was true, but unfortunately not!
I also think given how many half-baked indie books are out there, the marketing effort for new indie writers can be a pretty steep uphill climb
Sonal, thanks for this wise and thoughtful exploration. I'm about to launch my novel as a serial here -- starting mid-January. I'm pals with a few indie authors here who have made the leap to physical printing of serialized novels. One, with an agent and publishing house, and one truly indie. Definitely food for thought.
Also - have to say, I've been using the "Save the Cat" beat sheet on it, having practiced with several short stories. It's so helpful! I've had a couple of significant breakthroughs on the early Act 1 chapters that will make the story worlds better. Thanks!
Serializing novels is an interesting idea, and I am so curious to see how it works out. Best of luck, Julie!
thanks, Sonal!
Your highlighting of Virginia Wolfe’s involvement with the writing community of her time and place and the networking that writers did pre- online-everything stood out for me. It takes privilege to be so involved and yet there is something to be said for how community-building supports a book — traditionally published or not.
Community is so very, very important. And yes, it's harder in many ways to be in community now, but also easier in others. But it absolutely supports a book
Makes me think: we focus on authors, who pump out a lot of books. But, for many of us, (maybe I’m talking about myself here) perhaps a book is a culmination of a chapter or an act in life and therefore the necessary “platform” to launch is more organic than we think. Hence, the brilliance of Substack to attract a like-minded community. And the idea that a “book” is a far bigger endeavour than most of us imagine.
Dear Sonal, I'd value your take on this - a piece I wrote for The Bookseller - Do we need an Indie Kitemark?
Posting a like to your article here for anyone else who wants to read and weigh in.
https://www.thebookseller.com/comment/do-we-need-an-indie-kitemark
I hadn't really talked about serializing a novel above, perhaps because for me, the task of writing something well-suited to serialization adds another layer of daunting over and above the general daunting nature of the novel itself. Although perhaps that's a case of me overthinking the issues. But yes, the idea of a kitemark sounds good... the difficulty is in implementing some sort of agreed upon standard amid so many indie authors.
But in any case--kudos to you for taking on serializing your work.
Right now, it seems early in the novel serialization world for me to have a good sense the pros and cons of it, but I do agree that substack lends itself very nicely to serialized novels. Best of luck to you.
Thanks, and I recommend playing with serialisation here on this platform. It’s taught me a huge amount.