Can you like self-pub and traditional pub at the same time, or are they always exclusive? Then I welcome Tracy Hickman back to the show and he tells of his upcoming projects and his courses he offers at Scribes’ Forge*!
The dogs were a bit feisty during this interview. Apologies.
ISBW #214
- 00:34 State of the Mur: released Escape Pod #300, working on GFL story for Scott Sigler, Earth (part of The Afterlife Series) now available in ebook format.
- 02:10Promo: Grimmer than Grimm by Michele Roger
- 02:48 Self-publishing versus traditional publishing.
- 17:01 Promo: Tuesday Terror, the Scott Sigler FanFic Podcast
- 17:48 Interview: Tracy Hickman
- Current projects
- Writing Workshops at Scribes Forge*
- Plans for writing fiction, incorporating the history of language
- Teaching
- Writing a novel for DC Comics, Wayne of Gotham
- Persistence in the face of changes in publishing: talent, craft, and discipline
- Physical books vs. ebooks
- Dragons Bard, future plans for “dime novels”
- Changes in the author-publisher relationship
- Find Tracy on Facebook or Twitter
- Gen Con and Dragon*Con
- Have hope.
Credits: Producer: Patrick Hester, Quasi-reliable show notes writer: Carrie Kei Heim Binas, Theme song: John Anealio
* (Affiliate link)
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5 Responses to ISBW #214: Self Pub vs Trad Pub War / Tracy Hickman Interview
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ISBW Endorsed Programs
New from the Murverse- ISBW Special #46 – Stonecoast Writer’s Residency January 31, 2012
- ISBW #230 – Feedback January 30, 2012
- Short Story Alert- Gimme Shelter January 27, 2012
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I love this podcast because I believe in the importance of understanding both (or all) points of view about an issue without having to put the other side down.
13 weeks ago, I self-published my sweet historical Western romances, and yesterday I hit 10,000 sales, without much marketing on my part. In three months, I’m made roughly $8,000. So I’m a big fan of self-publishing. I’m also a fan of traditional publishing, even though I’m not traditionally published in fiction, although I am in nonfiction.
Many people are against self-publishing because they feel threatened by change. That’s a normal reaction. Yes, there are a lot of bad self-published books. They will sink under the weight of bad reviews. Good self-published books will rise to the top. Authors now have choices they didn’t before. Eventually, more and more will realize this, regardless of what they do with that choice.
Why am I having success with my self-publishing? I think it’s because I’ve hit two niches that weren’t being serviced by traditional publishing–historical Western romances and sweet, meaning not sexy, romances.
My first book won an Romance Writers of America Golden Heart award in 2001, and I assumed a sale would soon follow. But two agents tried to sell the book to no avail. Sweet and Historical Westerns–two subgenres that New York assumes won’t sell. And maybe that’s true they won’t sell the numbers a New York publisher needs. But they will sell enough for an individual publisher like me.
It’s worth keeping an open mind about. It’s worth researching, then making the right choice for you, which may be different from anyone else’s choice.
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