Posts tagged ‘Andy Weir’
ANDY WEIR: PATRON SAINT OF SELF-PUBLISHING
ANDY WEIR: PATRON SAINT OF SELF-PUBLISHING
I nominate Andy Weir for patron saint of self-publishing. I sincerely think he has earned that title.
Weir’s work first caught attention when he published some work online. Next came his novel, The Martian, which he self-published. That novel made The New York Times bestseller list and was eventually made into what became a popular movie.
The reason I am writing this piece is because the novel was self-published.
The road from self-published to fame is less than certain, and that’s putting it mildly. First requirement for writing success no matter how much you desire publication is that you must be a competent writer, actually more than just competent. I once was a member of a writer’s group meeting at Barnes & Noble, and the moderator of the group was employed by the bookstore. She stated that the store did not carry self-published books because the quality of many of the books was embarrassing. There is no gatekeeper for self-published books. The only hurdle to getting a book published is money.
Now back to Andy Weir.
I’m sure he worked his ass off, riding around with a trunk full of books and taking every opportunity to make a sale. I’m also quite sure that he had friends who were willing to work their asses off to help with sales. He also must have had a great deal of confidence in his writing ability. I say this because to make an impact with a self-published book must require selling a large quantity of books which requires an author buying a large quantity of books which requires a large quantity of money.
After The Martian Weir came out with a second novel, Artemis. The only review I saw for that novel was not very encouraging.
Next he published Project Hail Mary which made The New York Times bestseller list and went on to become a very successful movie.
I hope this review of Weir’s work provides the reason I am considering Andy Weir the patron saint of self-publishing. Thousands upon thousands of self-published books exist, published by authors with varying purposes in mind. But as in religion where many believers try to model their lives after that of their favorite saint for life in the eternal. If it is possible for you to duplicate some of the elements of Weir’s career, you just might hit the bestseller jackpot.
THOUGHTS ON SELF-PUBLISHING
Self-publishing is very popular these days. A way to stroke your ego, and in most cases, involves little effort in producing a work which deserves publication.
One definition of an author is of a writer whose work has been published. With that meaning in mind, is a writer who pays someone to publish their work an author?
THOUGHTS ON SELF-PUBLISHING
In the past presses involved in self-publishing were known as vanity presses. For that is what they were. Getting a book published was a way to stroke your ego even if the only people who would see it were your mother, siblings, kids and close friends. The fact that there is no standard of quality centered on publication or gatekeepers makes it possible of getting a book connected to your name rather easy, if you have the money.
Not long ago I was looking for a publisher for my science fiction/horror novel. In the past Tor was one of the few, or perhaps only, major publisher where you could submit a manuscript without an agent with the qualifier that it needed to be at least 80,000 words long. Being a well-known publisher of science fiction and fantasy I began an internet search, something for which I do not have a great deal of skill. I was unable to obtain the information I wanted but somehow stumbled upon the publisher Dorrance.
Dorrance was the primary vanity press publisher in the past. Now they are a self-publishing press. From that stumble, and apparently for the next six months, every time I began to use the internet I was treated to an ad by Dorance saying that they wanted to read my book. What did they know about the book such as genre or length or whether it was fiction or nonfiction – nothing. What did they know about me as a writer – nothing. But they wanted to read my book.
I wonder how many books they ask to read they actually read; my guess is none. I wonder how many manuscripts they are sent and decide not to publish, my guess is none. With the advent of self-publishing this company does not stand alone. A later article will discuss why I think self-publishing has greatly expanded.
There are now a host of publishers who will publish your book. One ad which I have seen has a man lying on the floor in front of his laptop. There is a toddler sitting on his back and another sitting on the floor on his left. In this condition he is writing ‘for a higher purpose’. The ad is for a Christian publisher. If this works I need to hire a couple of toddlers and with a higher purpose in mind get my novel published. My purpose in the past must not have been high enough. My purpose was not high enough to get the job done.
Now, it is possible to have a book self-published and be extremely successful. Andy Weir, the author of The Martian, a bestseller and later made into a movie, is a prime example. Since publishing that book he has published two more. His latest book, Project Hail Mary, made it to the combined hardcover and paperback bestseller list in The New York Times.
To reach this level there are a few requirements. First, you must be one hell of a writer. Sad to say, there are a good number, maybe most, of self-published books where the author is not a very good writer. You must also be willing to be able to work your ass off peddling your book by any means possible. That means making a major investment by buying large amounts of books and keeping them around, in the trunk of your car, and try to sell them whenever an opportunity presents itself. Being a capable salesman probably also doesn’t hurt.
I have heard of another method in the past where writers have had publishers show interest in their books. But that was sometime ago and carries with it a certain amount of risk.
A blog is a great way to tell the world who you are and what you do, such as writing books. However, a blog has the same amount of gatekeeping as self-publishing has. In the past writers have posted chapters of their books on their blogs. These chapters stimulated interest in their readers and that interest gained the attention of a publisher. For this to be successful it does not hurt to have a large readership for your blog.
But here is the danger. Many publishers consider something having been published if you have posted on your blog. They will not touch something that has already been published, and they would consider those chapters as having been published. So, you are taking major chance going down that road.
Another thing you must consider is that your self-published book is going to have a hell of a lot of competition. Because self-published books have no gatekeepers, I feel that any book submitted to a publisher publishing those books will publish it. And the competition could be in the hundreds of thousands of books published every year. So, your book must really be able to stand out in a crowd. But it is possible for a self-published book to be a success. Look what Andy Weir was able to accomplish with a self-published book.
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