I’ve never self-published before. I’m old enough (50) to remember when readers at large frowned upon self-publishing. You’re not good enough for the Big Leagues. Why should I bother reading your crap?
Fortunately, that stigma, while not entirely gone, has been taken down a few pegs. Some of the most popular books (Legends & Lattes, Dungeon Crawler Carl, The Martian, We Are Legion [We Are Bob]) were all first self-published and are now massively successful. There are several other examples I could name.
So, it’s not that they’re not ready for the Big Leagues. They had to prove they were. And boy did they.
Many other authors got followers through independence, built a fan base, and were later picked up by the Big Five. It’s possible.
But when do you pull the trigger? At what point do you convince yourself that it’s you and nobody else?
I’m not there yet, but I am open to it. And I’d love to hear about when people reached their breaking points and hit publish on their own.
Is there anybody out there? (Say it like Roger Waters did from Pink Floyd’s The Wall.)
As of right now, I have 51 subscribers on WordPress and fewer than that on Twitter/X/Evil Elon. I have an Insta account, but I don’t post photos of meals I’m about to eat (I like to paint, so I post them on occasion). I have no idea who most of you are, but I thank you sincerely for sticking with me after years of inactivity. There’s a reason I’m poking my head out of my shell: I’m an author who hopes to get a book deal this year. I know, join the club.
I’m previously published through independent presses and even garnered praise from several New York Times bestselling authors and Bram Stoker Award winners. I’m also terrible at publicity, but I would like that to change. I mentioned a book I hope to get published. It’s humor-based, and that’s my calling. I’ve written supernatural thrillers, horror, and straight crime thrillers. Most, if not all, of them had elements of comedy in them, but stayed more along the serious side. This new one, a Krampus novel, is rooted in satire and humor. The sophisticated kind, not the lazy bathroom variety.
My options are as follows:
Query literary agents (which I’m currently doing);
Submit to independent presses that accept unsolicited manuscripts (also in the works);
Go it alone. Take the plunge. Become a true Indie Author and publish it myself.
The third option is the most daunting because I’ve never done it before. Fortunately, though, writers have this option. If you’re an indie filmmaker, you need to buy/rent a bunch of equipment, scout locations, hire actors, and probably a million other things I cannot think of. How do you distribute the film without studio backing? I have no idea, but filmmakers do it because they love it and want to share it with the world. Do they want to make money? Sure, that’s part of it, but not the primary motivator.
That’s where I am. I’ve written a book I love and believe is funny, and I want to share it with the world and give it the best chance to reach readers. The Big 5 publishers are the best way to do this. But like with everything in life, that ain’t easy. You need a literary agent to get your work in front of them. And it’s challenging to get one. But it’s not impossible. I had one years ago for a book I wrote, but we weren’t able to get a deal. That’s fine. It’s called dying on submission. Happens all the time. I ended up getting it published without that agent (who literally vanished on me).
I’ve neglected this blog for years, and it’s my New Year’s Resolution to post something every day. (That’s not difficult, actually. I mean, I could post a sentence that reads “This is my post for the day,” and it would qualify.) But I’d like to share this daunting journey of rejection and hopeful acceptance with readers. And if I go it alone, I will explain what I’m doing and why I hope it works. If you’re an indie author reading this and have thoughts, advice, or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you. Likewise, if you’re an agent reading this, I’ve probably queried you or someone in your agency. Hello.
The one thing you won’t get from me is complaints about the publishing world, like, it’s so unfair!
Grow up!
If you’re endeavoring to succeed in the arts or any competitive field, you will be rejected. Be professional about it. Don’t act like Johnny Fontane.
Please give it a look and feel free to subscribe/follow if it strikes your fancy. And if you’d like me to follow back, please contact me, leave a comment below. I’d be happy to chat. It’s a vast world out there, and I hope to meet a few of you.
Don D’Auria, myself, and a really patchy beard, at BEA 2015 last spring in NYC
Tonight I drink to Don D’Auria.
I rarely drink. I originally planned on having a beer tonight to celebrate the release of my newest supernatural thriller, Sentinels, from Samhain Publishing, where Don was my editor. I say “was” because Don informed his stable of writers he’s leaving the company this Friday. Why and how this came about, I can’t say. Samhain turns 10 years old this month, and for a majority of that time has published romance, lots of it, and has even seen a few of its titles make The New York Times bestsellers list. Don was hired in 2011 to start a horror line, and he’s done so quite ably. Three of his edited works have been nominated for the coveted Bram Stoker award presented by the Horror Writers Association. He discovered a bunch of eventual Bram Stoker-winners during his days with Dorchester Publishing, where my history with him began.
Don plucked me out of Dorchester Publishing’s creaking slush pile in 2010. I’d written a straight crime thriller and Don offered me a small advance to make the book part of Dorchester’s Leisure line. I agreed, and then promptly saw the deal collapse—and Don laid off—a few months later because Dorchester went bankrupt. I stayed in touch with Don and heard he’d landed with Samhain. I couldn’t follow him there because my book wasn’t horror, but I kept him in the back of my mind, and when I got the idea for my Krampus novel, The Dark Servant, in 2012, he was the first guy I emailed—Don’s primary method of communication. He expressed a few concerns, nothing major, and was enthusiastic to see what I could do. He encouraged me to write, making no promises, and to send him some sample chapters. A line from his email, which I saved: “I have no doubt the book will be well written, unless you’ve had some serious head injury you haven’t mentioned.”
Don believed in me, and that was important. And what I’d hoped to have happen in February 2011 (a book with Dorchester) happened a few years later in December 2014 (a different book with Samhain). And I’m eternally grateful to have earned Don’s trust. He’s easy to work with, states up front his concerns about a character or a plot point. And he’s an exceedingly nice man. I was fortunate enough to attend BEA 2015 in New York just this past spring, and Don was there. We caught up, discussed horror, the publishing industry in general, and it was simply nice to finally see, after five years, the first editor to appreciate my work and offer to pay me for it.
So what now? Here’s my message to the Big 5 publishers: Hire this man. He knows what he’s doing and will bring talented authors with him. I’m not the only author who’s reeling upon learning about his unexpected departure. But I’m also not the only author who believes that Don will land somewhere else and succeed. I have a feeling I’m going to work with him again.
My beer is Michelob Ultra. Don’s apparently a martini fellow. (Sorry, I can’t do that.) But I will be drinking my beer tonight and celebrating two published novels, and an upcoming Krampus novella, Twelfth Krampus Night, which drops in December. I’m proud to say Don D’Auria helped make them happen.
I have a bookshelf of Samhain Horror works by Jonathan Janz, John Everson, Tamara Jones, Brian Moreland, Hunter Shea, and Glenn Rolfe, and I’ll be adding more in the months ahead. (Russell James, Ron Malfi, you’re on notice.) And tonight I’ll drink to all of them and to the man who edited them—Don D’Auria, who gave me my start. Cheers.
