In 2009, now semi-retired from my teaching position, I decided that I would try, once again, to publish Maids of Misfortune, the first book in my Victorian San Francisco Mystery series. This time, however, having learned my lessons well, I decided that I needed to do two things first. I needed to rewrite the manuscript one last time—making sure it was as polished and ready to publish as possible. While doing this, I needed to thoroughly research the current state of publishing, including the new opportunities for self-publishing I had heard about.
The first task required that I go back and jettison the draft I had written to satisfy that second agent I mentioned in my last post. She’d had me rewrite the manuscript in only one point of view—that of Annie Fuller, my female protagonist. I did as she requested because at that time I believed that getting her to sign me was the best way to get the book accepted by a publisher and out into the world. But I hated this version. One of my inspirations for writing this series had always been Dorothy Sayer’s Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane mysteries, and I wanted Annie and my male protagonist, Nate Dawson, to have a similar relationship—struggling to understand each other and accept each other as equals, as they solved crimes together. This meant it was important that the reader understand what Nate was thinking and experiencing, and that the books wouldn’t just be presenting Annie’s perspective. In addition, when I had to change Nate’s experiences from real time action into him “telling” Annie about what happened, this slowed the pacing of the story. In short, her advice had weakened the book, not strengthened it. So, in my rewrite, I joyously returned to giving both characters scenes from their own point of view, a decision I have never regretted.
The second task required me to investigate how ebooks and Amazon’s online book store were affecting the publishing industry. I bought a Kindle to check out the experience myself (and loved it) and began to read as much as I could about traditional and self-publishing. Nothing I read––from either authors, agents, or editors––suggested that the problems I had witnessed with traditional publishing had been solved. If anything, the chances of getting a contract were diminishing for first time, mid-list authors. I also learned that traditional publishers’ responses to ebooks and online selling were downright hostile. They had taken to “windowing,” which was the practice of delaying publishing the ebook edition of books for at least a year or more after the print edition. Publishers made the argument that their first priority was to foster their relationship with brick and mortar bookstores, who viewed ebooks and Amazon’s online store with alarm. That was also the argument for the high prices they charged (and still do) for those ebooks––despite the fact that the electronic editions cost much less to produce than print.
Consequently, I began to focus more on self-publishing. In 2009, most articles about self-publishing were really describing vanity publishing (which had been around for a long time and were seen as the kiss of death for any reputable author.) However, there were a few authors who were writing about how they had been able to publish their books themselves, using print on demand services to format and publish print books (and avoid the problem of a garage full of books that never sold) and KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) and Smashwords to upload and distribute electronic copies of their books. At this time, the most influential author in explaining the possibilities of self-publishing was Joseph Konrath on his blog, Newbies Guide to Publishing.
Konrath was a successful traditionally published author who had turned to self-publishing books he’d not been able to sell (nowadays he would be called a hybrid author). More importantly, he shared real numbers in terms of sales and revenue for both his traditionally published books and his self-published books. On his blog, Konrath showed that if you priced your ebooks lower than regular print prices, you could sell more books, and if you published these ebooks yourself, you could make a whole lot more money. Lower prices meant an increased volume of sales. Publishing the ebooks yourself meant keeping nearly 70% of the revenue--rather than 15-25% under a traditional contract. In addition, unlike traditionally printed books, these ebooks weren’t going to disappear from book shelves by being remaindered or going out of print. This meant rather than 2-4 months to make any revenue from a book, an author could generate revenue…forever.
The second thing I learned, from authors like Konrath and April Hamilton, who published the Indie Author Guide, was that a person with a reasonable level of technical ability (ie, could use a computer, write a manuscript in word, and read simple how-to instructions) could publish a book themselves, quickly, and with a very small initial capital outlay.
I think the “quickly” may have been the most important determining factor for me to give self-publishing a try. There were a lot of other reasons I decided to self-publish, which I will detail in the next post, but the truth of the matter is, I was tired of waiting.
I was about to turn sixty. I had wanted to be a published historical fiction author since I was twelve. I had conceived of my idea of a series of historical mysteries featuring the working women I had researched for my dissertation thirty years earlier, and I had written the first draft of Maids of Misfortune twenty years earlier. I had the outline for a second book, which was to become Uneasy Spirits, but I was hesitant to spend the time writing it until I had some assurance that it would be published and read. But if I went the traditional route (even if I skipped an agent, and got a book contract right away) the most optimistic estimate was that the print edition would be out in two years, the ebook edition in three. I simply wasn’t willing to wait three years to see if my dream of series was viable.
So, a month after reading Konrath’s post comparing his traditional and self-publishing revenue, I formatted my manuscript, using April Hamilton’s instructions, uploaded the word document to Amazon’s KDP and Smashword. My cost, $150 for the cover, and $10 for Hamilton’s how-to book. Within 24 hours the ebook edition of Maids of Misfortune was on line and available to read. My wait was over.
I just checked, I bought Maids of Misfortune in 2012. After we both read it, husband also being a fan of historical fiction, we went on to find the rest of your published stories. It's been great fun to follow Annie and Nate's relationship. When you added in adventures of the rest of the family, it gave us, your readers, a broader vision of the society at the times. The biggest seller for me was setting it in San Francisco. I love San Francisco and consider it the best big city ever! Thanks for all your creativity.