Bryan Cassiday's Blog, page 24
November 8, 2013
Self-publishing vs. Traditional Publishing
I keep getting asked why I chose to self-publish. Here’s one answer I give.
Self-publishing is more immediate than the traditional route. Immediacy is a main reason I’m doing it. If you go the traditional route, it could take years before you find an agent, more years before that agent sells your work (if he does), more years for the agent to submit your work to publishers, and then more years after a publisher finally decides to publish it (if one ever does). I could easily die before my book would be published in this manner. The entire process of publishing could take ten or more years when an author submits his manuscript to the major New York publishers. On the other hand, if you self-publish, you can have your book up and running on Amazon as soon as you finish writing it, copyediting it, proofing it, and getting a cover for it.
The advantage of having a traditional publisher is you’ll receive an advance–but it probably won’t be a very big one if you haven’t been published before. You’ll also have the cachet of a major New York publishing house. That won’t necessarily sell your book, however. The major publishing houses publish books all the time that manage only meager sales numbers–and, in fact, most of their books lose money. Nevertheless, getting published by a New York publisher will grant a writer more respect than if he self-publishes. The stigma attached to self-publishers is changing, though, as readers realize many self-published books are just as well written, if not better written, than those produced by the major publishing houses.
A major advantage of self-publishing is you, the author, retain all rights–including digital rights, which account for a hefty percentage of income for writers. A major publishing house will never grant their writers all rights. You’ll also earn higher royalties as a self-publisher both on your print copies and on your e-books.
If you decide to self-publish and manage to sell a lot of books, it might catch a traditional publisher’s eye and he might become interested in publishing your works, if for some reason you need a New York publisher for validation of the quality of your book.
Every author has a different take on the subject of self-publishing. There aren’t any hard and fast rules to publishing anymore. Three cheers for that!
November 6, 2013
Horror Society Stories Volume One
It looks like the horror anthology Horror Society Stories Volume One will be released at the end of November or at the beginning of December 2013. My zombie story “The Invisible Enemy” will be included in this book. As soon as I know the exact date of publication I’ll let you know. Here’s a preview of the book cover.
October 28, 2013
Horror Society Stories Volume 1
It’s official. I just signed the contract with the publisher of Horror Society Stories Volume One. My zombie horror story “The Invisible Enemy” will be included in this anthology of horror short stories. As soon as I know when the book will be published, I’ll let you know.
Audiobook for “Poxland”
James Killavey has been contracted to produce the audiobook for Poxland, my zombie apocalypse thriller, which is the fifth in my Chad Halverson series. We hope to have the audiobook ready for sale in early December. The paperback version is being released on November 26, 2013, and is available for preorder now at Amazon.
October 19, 2013
First Horror Short Story Sale
The sale of my horror short story “The Invisible Enemy” is my first sale to a publisher. Even though the sale was for a mere $25 (which I will use to buy a hamburger dinner), it represents a moral victory to me, since I’ve been sending out short stories on and off for over forty years without any luck in placing one.
I remember sending out my first short story to Esquire forty years ago when I was attending college in quest of my BA degree in English. The magazine didn’t accept it, but scribbled on the rejection notice to send more stories to them, which I did. In fact, I sent scores of stories to them, none of which they ever published. But it wasn’t just Esquire that I sent stories to. I sent them, as well, to many magazines–to0 numerous to mention–all with the same results.
I used to keep my rejection letters, notices, and postcards stuffed inside 9″ x 12″ manilla envelopes, but when I moved I decided to ditch the whole kit and caboodle of them because they were filling up boxes, and I could see no reason to haul them around with me any longer. What was the point? The vast majority of them were form rejection letters with nothing written on them by human hand.
Meanwhile, I continued writing stories and novels and submitting them to publishers, who, without exception, rejected them. About seven years ago I tried a different tact. I started self-publishing my novels, instead of submitting literally thousands of query letters and sample chapters to agents and publishers like I had been doing for so many years.
Even as I self-published my own works, I continued submitting short stories and novels to publishers. And now I have finally sold a story and await my payment with a kind of disbelief mixed with astonishment that I actually accomplished my goal, no matter how small the remuneration and no matter how long it took me to do it. As Samuel Johnson famously said, “No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.”
October 16, 2013
Bryan Cassiday’s Horror Short Story “The Invisible Enemy”
Good news! I just received news today that my zombie horror short story “The Invisible Enemy” has been selected as one of the ten stories that will be included in Horror Society Stories Volume 1. Here is the announcement at the Horror Society.
October 11, 2013
“Poxland” Cover
Here’s the cover for Bryan Cassiday’s upcoming dystopian zombie thriller Poxland.
Poxland is available for preorder at Amazon.
October 9, 2013
Giveaway of “Poxland” at Goodreads
Goodreads is now holding a giveaway of Bryan Cassiday’s forthcoming new zombie apocalypse thriller Poxland. Three copies will be given away free. Poxland is Book 5 in the Chad Halverson zombie apocalypse series. Poxland will be released on November 26, 2013.
September 26, 2013
Book Review System Is Running Amok
I’m hearing from other authors that reviews of their books are being posted on Goodreads even before the book has been made available for reading, even before the book is finished. This is just another example of how book reviews have become overrated. In the case of this writer, the posted review was a one-star review, which devastated and infuriated the author at the same time. Why should anybody be allowed to write and post a review of a book they could not possibly have read?
Writers, in fact, are so desperate for good reviews that they will pay for them. Kirkus charges over $400 for reviews for self-published books. Publishers Weekly charges $149 for a self-published book, but doesn’t even guarantee writing a review, either good or bad.
It’s a sad reflection of our Internet-dominated times that book reviews are becoming more important than the actual book. It’s getting to the point where some writers feel suicidal when a series of bad reviews appear with their books. Whether rightly or wrongly, they feel a raft of one- and two-star reviews can sink their books in terms of sales.
The fact of the matter is, reviews are overrated. Does the reading public really care what these reviewers say? Shouldn’t we credit the reading public with more intelligence than that. Can’t they make up their own minds about what they want to read without having to read a hundred book reviews posted on Amazon?
The fact of the matter is, some reviews are hatchet jobs, and, yes, some are politically motivated. And there’s no law against that.
Not that I’m against posting reviews. I’m not. Everyone has a right to his opinion and a right to voice it. I just think reviews should be taken with a grain of salt. If a reader is going to buy a book simply on account of its reviews, he ought to read a variety of reviews, both good and bad, before making his choice. That said, I would not buy a book simply on the basis of its reviews. I would like to read samples from it, as well, before I made my choice.
