Hi Amy, thanks for your comment and question. It’s true, traditional publishing does prefer a large platform. Something else to keep in mind, in case you do another book that you want to go traditional with, publishing any part of it on line will also take you out of the running.
In regard to my take on hybrid publishing, I’m not too knowledgeable on it. Luckily we have someone who is @Brooke Warner and she just did a recent post on it. I think you will find her other posts helpful as well. I put a link below.
I’m speaking of the Big 5. There’s always the outliers like Amanda Hocking and others that have previously published on Wattpad or self-published and have a large following.
Having worked at Simon & Schuster and Harcourt, as well as sold books to publishers like Blackstone, as well as imprints of Amazon, the contract that is signed attests that no part of the book has been previously published.
I sold a book to a mid level publishing years ago where the author didn’t tell me they had sold it to a small press a few years before and despite the fact not one book sold and the rights returned the publisher I secured wanted to cancel the book.
What if a short story based on the main protagonist from a manuscript had been published in a literary magazine? (The short story might be that character's backstory or something unrelated to the manuscript plot, but still part of the world). Would that disqualify the entire manuscript from traditional publishing?
Noor - that's not a deal killer. You're fine there.
Even a very small percentage might be OK. I just never take that chance. Publishing is difficult at best. It's not worth it to put up additional obstacles.
there are so many *how to* publishing posts on Substack, I get dizzy and sometimes overwhelmed. your posts speak clearly to me, and I’m happy to have found you. your clients are fortunate to have you in their corner :)
I spent a decade in talent acquisition as a recruiter—the equivalent of an agent. It was hard for people to understand that I never had the ultimate power. There was so much nuance just like the publishing process. This is a good reminder to myself not to take rejection so personally.
I’ll also +1 joining a writing group. I joined my local one for the first time last month and was floored by the feedback I received. Good and bad. Writing can be such a solemn experience so it’s nice having this group of 12-15 people to regularly interact with 🙂
Thank you so much Renee for sharing your expertise in the publishing industry. I've finished 2/3rds of my memoir and have published it on Substack. I like that you mentioned self publishing because that's what I planned on doing. I am not famous, and I don't have hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
I know in my case, traditional publishing is a long shot. I'm curious what you think about hybrid publishers. Is this a legitimate way to go? I appreciate your posts, and this one had just the right tone; supportive, but not too "rah, rah".
Hi Amy, thanks for your comment and question. It’s true, traditional publishing does prefer a large platform. Something else to keep in mind, in case you do another book that you want to go traditional with, publishing any part of it on line will also take you out of the running.
In regard to my take on hybrid publishing, I’m not too knowledgeable on it. Luckily we have someone who is @Brooke Warner and she just did a recent post on it. I think you will find her other posts helpful as well. I put a link below.
https://open.substack.com/pub/brookewarner/p/the-definitive-difference-between?r=2qsmnk&utm_medium=ios
Maybe it depends on the publisher? I found this article by Simon K Jones that seems to think it's okay to serialize online first:
https://open.substack.com/pub/simonkjones/p/does-publishing-online-ruin-your?r=39usm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I’m speaking of the Big 5. There’s always the outliers like Amanda Hocking and others that have previously published on Wattpad or self-published and have a large following.
Having worked at Simon & Schuster and Harcourt, as well as sold books to publishers like Blackstone, as well as imprints of Amazon, the contract that is signed attests that no part of the book has been previously published.
I sold a book to a mid level publishing years ago where the author didn’t tell me they had sold it to a small press a few years before and despite the fact not one book sold and the rights returned the publisher I secured wanted to cancel the book.
What if a short story based on the main protagonist from a manuscript had been published in a literary magazine? (The short story might be that character's backstory or something unrelated to the manuscript plot, but still part of the world). Would that disqualify the entire manuscript from traditional publishing?
Noor - that's not a deal killer. You're fine there.
Even a very small percentage might be OK. I just never take that chance. Publishing is difficult at best. It's not worth it to put up additional obstacles.
Thanks for that info Renee!
Wow! Thank you so much for the clarification. I really do appreciate your expertise 🙏
Thank you so much for this information!
there are so many *how to* publishing posts on Substack, I get dizzy and sometimes overwhelmed. your posts speak clearly to me, and I’m happy to have found you. your clients are fortunate to have you in their corner :)
That’s very nice of you to say. I try to provide different info and as actionable as possible. So I’m glad you find them helpful.
I spent a decade in talent acquisition as a recruiter—the equivalent of an agent. It was hard for people to understand that I never had the ultimate power. There was so much nuance just like the publishing process. This is a good reminder to myself not to take rejection so personally.
I’ll also +1 joining a writing group. I joined my local one for the first time last month and was floored by the feedback I received. Good and bad. Writing can be such a solemn experience so it’s nice having this group of 12-15 people to regularly interact with 🙂
The subjectivity of publishing and writing in general is so challenging. Best of luck with your writing group.
Thank you so much Renee for sharing your expertise in the publishing industry. I've finished 2/3rds of my memoir and have published it on Substack. I like that you mentioned self publishing because that's what I planned on doing. I am not famous, and I don't have hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
I know in my case, traditional publishing is a long shot. I'm curious what you think about hybrid publishers. Is this a legitimate way to go? I appreciate your posts, and this one had just the right tone; supportive, but not too "rah, rah".