As some of you know... I have been working on this series for a few years now. I spent the first two (after the second book was written back when I thought it was going to be the first, until I wrote the first lol) searching HIGH and low for a literary agent that would fall in love with the characters as much as I have. They would then magically deliver it to the biggest publishing house dealing with Teen Fiction and they too would love it and in a matter of a few weeks I would be able to go to any book store and see In the Company of Dragons sitting perfectly and invitingly upon several shelves, while the crowds flock and buy them all up in one day.... and then reality slapped me hard...really hard right up side the back of my day dreaming head and said.. ya, no that IS NOT how it works! I had to take a long hard look at the WHY's of my seeking this avenue out and completely disregarding the world of self publishing.
Here is a list of the why's and the why not's:
WHY's :
1)So that someone who knew what they were doing could lead me by the hand and show me what to do next (what am I...3?)
2)So that All the expenses would be taken care of
( I was under the impression that they would pay for EVERYTHING, and I mean everything and I could just sit back and watch it happen...and go where and when they told me to without much thought...funny, sounds like a robot.)
3) So that I could see my books on a shelf (this happens to be one of my biggest dreams. I always told myself that when that day came I had finally made it)
WHY NOT's :
1) I'm a writer, not a editor, artist, computer technician, proof-reader, formatting genius, publicist, marketing guru, and book store.
2) I'm broke
That about sums it up......
To my (now delightful) surprise, I was completely wrong on many levels. The only things I was not wrong about was my why not list, but because I actually am a very resourceful person and not a 3 year old robot, many of the 1st why not's can be found through fellow writers and the internet. My biggest shock was learning that the world of publishing through the big houses has actually changed A LOT in the past few years, one of the biggest being that they no longer offer a market budget to new authors! Another thing I learned is that there is a new train in town (well it's not really that new) called Amazon, and if you haven't noticed they are dominating the industry, so the visions of seeing my books on a shelf might be an impossibility soon anyway. R.I.P. to all the book stores that have gone or will be gone in the future because this train takes no prisoners. Now...I can either curse at this train and throw tomatoes at it or I can embrace it and jump on it and take it where it travels.... let's just say, Mamma didn't raise no fool! So, now that I have completely submitted to the fact that I will self-publish my work (since I have to promote it anyways) my other eyes have been opened. The eyes that are on my wallet.
The cost of editing, layout/formatting, proof-reading, cover and poster art, printing books, promotional material, site rental for book signings and web site and design are not cheap! Especially when you stack them all together! To accomplish all this on my budget alone would take years. Now I am not one not hold things in (I'm sure all of you that know me well had a little chuckle on that admission) and I was venting this to a good friend of mine and she asked me if I had ever heard of a website called Kick Starter. I said no and she went in to the description of it and I thought, "huh, i really need to check this out". I ended up researching it for almost a week before I decided to pursue this course of action so to speak. It took me a few weeks to create a video that would help explain the story and why I needed help, list the rewards that will go with each pledge, and tell enough, but not too much about the jist of the story. Then I sat on it for a week...A WEEK! I have never had more anxiety over something that could be so wonderful in all my life. It was like I was putting a photo album of my kids asking you to judge them. UGH! I actually had breathing problems right before I clicked on the "Launch" button! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??? wait... don't answer that haha!
I settled on the amount of $8,000. Why you ask? Well, many have asked if that is how much it is going to cost to have my book available for sale. No, it will only be about 20% of that. What's the other 80%? That Marketing budget I referred to above. I could publish it without all the bells and whistles and probably fall flat on my face as an author. Think about it. Have you ever downloaded one of the cheaper "Indy" books onto your e-reader and found multiple errors in the grammar and punctuation categories? Or you are reading along and all of a sudden the lead character's name is changed? Well I have and even if it is a great story, those are excitement killers and will most assuredly get you a bad review. In other words.... they did not take the time to publish a quality product. Just because I am not going through a publishing house, doesn't mean I can't make my book look like it did. That takes time and money. Now, I after I accomplish that, the question is, do I sit back and wait for the word to spread? Or... do I help it spread by getting myself out there? The obvious answer is the latter of the two, but that also costs money. Nothing is really free any more (well except this blog, but then you would have had to purchase the computer in which you are reading it on so no I guess it isn't?) lol and that my friends is WHY I chose Kick Starter. I need help. The really cool part about asking for help this way, instead of maybe trying to get a bank loan? With most of the pledge amounts, there is a reward for your help! All the bank would get is MORE of my money that I could spend on securing a book signing in your area so I could personally hug you for helping! :)
I have been asked for a better description as to why I went the kick starter route and what settled me on the dollar amount and I really hope I have answered most if not all of your questions, but please please please, if I have not.... feel free to drop me a line here, email or on Facebook. There is no such thing as a stupid question! And a HUGE thank you to all that have supported me either through pledges or sharing this with their friends and family!! The more we share the greater the chances of this coming to fruition and being able to get the book out to you!!
Hugs and Fairy tales!!
Barb
Here is a list of the why's and the why not's:
WHY's :
1)So that someone who knew what they were doing could lead me by the hand and show me what to do next (what am I...3?)
2)So that All the expenses would be taken care of
( I was under the impression that they would pay for EVERYTHING, and I mean everything and I could just sit back and watch it happen...and go where and when they told me to without much thought...funny, sounds like a robot.)
3) So that I could see my books on a shelf (this happens to be one of my biggest dreams. I always told myself that when that day came I had finally made it)
WHY NOT's :
1) I'm a writer, not a editor, artist, computer technician, proof-reader, formatting genius, publicist, marketing guru, and book store.
2) I'm broke
That about sums it up......
To my (now delightful) surprise, I was completely wrong on many levels. The only things I was not wrong about was my why not list, but because I actually am a very resourceful person and not a 3 year old robot, many of the 1st why not's can be found through fellow writers and the internet. My biggest shock was learning that the world of publishing through the big houses has actually changed A LOT in the past few years, one of the biggest being that they no longer offer a market budget to new authors! Another thing I learned is that there is a new train in town (well it's not really that new) called Amazon, and if you haven't noticed they are dominating the industry, so the visions of seeing my books on a shelf might be an impossibility soon anyway. R.I.P. to all the book stores that have gone or will be gone in the future because this train takes no prisoners. Now...I can either curse at this train and throw tomatoes at it or I can embrace it and jump on it and take it where it travels.... let's just say, Mamma didn't raise no fool! So, now that I have completely submitted to the fact that I will self-publish my work (since I have to promote it anyways) my other eyes have been opened. The eyes that are on my wallet.
The cost of editing, layout/formatting, proof-reading, cover and poster art, printing books, promotional material, site rental for book signings and web site and design are not cheap! Especially when you stack them all together! To accomplish all this on my budget alone would take years. Now I am not one not hold things in (I'm sure all of you that know me well had a little chuckle on that admission) and I was venting this to a good friend of mine and she asked me if I had ever heard of a website called Kick Starter. I said no and she went in to the description of it and I thought, "huh, i really need to check this out". I ended up researching it for almost a week before I decided to pursue this course of action so to speak. It took me a few weeks to create a video that would help explain the story and why I needed help, list the rewards that will go with each pledge, and tell enough, but not too much about the jist of the story. Then I sat on it for a week...A WEEK! I have never had more anxiety over something that could be so wonderful in all my life. It was like I was putting a photo album of my kids asking you to judge them. UGH! I actually had breathing problems right before I clicked on the "Launch" button! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??? wait... don't answer that haha!
I settled on the amount of $8,000. Why you ask? Well, many have asked if that is how much it is going to cost to have my book available for sale. No, it will only be about 20% of that. What's the other 80%? That Marketing budget I referred to above. I could publish it without all the bells and whistles and probably fall flat on my face as an author. Think about it. Have you ever downloaded one of the cheaper "Indy" books onto your e-reader and found multiple errors in the grammar and punctuation categories? Or you are reading along and all of a sudden the lead character's name is changed? Well I have and even if it is a great story, those are excitement killers and will most assuredly get you a bad review. In other words.... they did not take the time to publish a quality product. Just because I am not going through a publishing house, doesn't mean I can't make my book look like it did. That takes time and money. Now, I after I accomplish that, the question is, do I sit back and wait for the word to spread? Or... do I help it spread by getting myself out there? The obvious answer is the latter of the two, but that also costs money. Nothing is really free any more (well except this blog, but then you would have had to purchase the computer in which you are reading it on so no I guess it isn't?) lol and that my friends is WHY I chose Kick Starter. I need help. The really cool part about asking for help this way, instead of maybe trying to get a bank loan? With most of the pledge amounts, there is a reward for your help! All the bank would get is MORE of my money that I could spend on securing a book signing in your area so I could personally hug you for helping! :)
I have been asked for a better description as to why I went the kick starter route and what settled me on the dollar amount and I really hope I have answered most if not all of your questions, but please please please, if I have not.... feel free to drop me a line here, email or on Facebook. There is no such thing as a stupid question! And a HUGE thank you to all that have supported me either through pledges or sharing this with their friends and family!! The more we share the greater the chances of this coming to fruition and being able to get the book out to you!!
Hugs and Fairy tales!!
Barb
