The Most Awesome Self-Publishing Success Story!
Hi there! š Hereās something you might find interesting. Itās the most awesome self-publishing success story Iāve read lately.
But hereās whatās really awesome about it. It didnāt even involve ebooks! Wow!
I dug this up while I was reviewing old episodes from Season One of the Crime Cafe podcast. So, this one comes straight from the horseās mouth. Except itās an authorās mouth, not a horse, okay? š Weāre not talking about Mr. Ed or Bo Jackman or Hugh Jackman or BoJack Horseman or Jackass or anyone else.
Anyway, this is an excerpt from my interview with Kenneth Wishnia. So ā¦ here it is:
Debbi: I want to tell you Iāve always being impressed by the fact that you were a self-published author in the pre-Kindle days. Can you talk a little bit about what it was like to publish your hardboiled mysteries before it became so āeasyā?
Ken: Yes. The world has suddenly changed. My first novel, 23 Shades of Black, was rejected by agents and editors for nine years before I gave up on the notion of commercial publication. It was self- published and nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award and the Anthony Award, so yes, I have a nice asterisk next to my name in the record book for that.
Iāll just say itās not something I entered into lightly. I really did try several rounds of submissions, and tried to do it right; queried people who I knew published things that I thought would appeal to the same audience, and only sent out manuscripts in response to a specific request for the manuscript. Every now and then, after sending the first three chapters, someone said, āOkay send the rest.ā This was the late 1980s; quite some time ago. Iāll just say the rejection letters got nicer as the years went by.
Iāll just say itās not something I entered into lightly. I really did try several rounds of submissions, and tried to do it right; queried people who I knew published things that I thought would appeal to the same audience, and only sent out manuscripts in response to a specific request for the manuscript.
Debbi: I know what thatās like.
Ken: Yes, you do. I polished the work a bit, I was more specific in targeting who I was writing to, but around 1995 or 96 I finally gave up. At that point you actually had to publish a physical book. I went to the Small Press Center in Manhattan to learn about how to do that, and it was advice such as, āYou need to print the title and your name on the spine, most books are displayed spine out.ā And Iām writing this stuff down. āHave a barcode. Just look professional.ā
At that point you actually had to publish a physical book. I went to the Small Press Center in Manhattan to learn about how to do that, and it was advice such as, āYou need to print the title and your name on the spine, most books are displayed spine out.ā And Iām writing this stuff down. āHave a barcode. Just look professional.ā
It wasnāt something I entered into lightly, but after nine years I just gave up on the notion because I really did feel, and you and your listeners might relate ā you send out a manuscript and everyone takes out their pen or their blue pencil and starts marking things that they donāt think are right or whatever. I just felt like I just need to make this a book. And you wonāt take out your pen. Youāll either read it or you wonāt.
At the time, yes, I actually had to do desktop publishing, prepare high-quality, camera-ready laser printed stuff, print it myself, and I actually did go through the motions of sending it out to the prepublication sources. I made my own ARCs and sent them out to Booklist and all the others. In fact, Booklist reviewed it. Somehow, somebody pulled it from the pile and maybe read a few sentences, and said, āGee,ā and the kept reading, so we had a legitimate review in Booklist.
At the time, yes, I actually had to do desktop publishing, prepare high-quality, camera-ready laser printed stuff, print it myself, and I actually did go through the motions of sending it out to the prepublication sources. I made my own ARCs and sent them out to Booklist and all the others.
When it was time to bind the book, I was able to use a real review from Booklist on it and I sent that out to the Edgar Allan Poe Awards Committee for Best First Novel. It was clearly a book from a small press, but it wasnāt obviously self-published. I did not know there was a rule against self-published authors at the time, but it was just sort of pragmatic, like they wonāt pay it any mind if they think itās self-published, but my goal was also to look professional for any market, and this was the book.
As I say, it was clearly a small press book, but again we had that Booklist review, so we had a genuine blurb. I guess Iāll just say that the strength of the work worked for us in that the book was actually reviewed. Then the key thing is distribution. What do you do? Youāve printed two thousand books and now theyāre sitting in your basement.
A representative from the Independent Publishers Groupāwhich distributes PM Press, which is publishing Jewish Noir ā actually called me up and the guy said, āThis is self-published, isnāt it?ā
So, thereās a lesson there. You can break the rules if you have something that, if someone would just open it and start reading it, they would realize itās good.
At the time, I was so naĆÆve. āHow could you tell?ā āWell, youāre a one-book publisher Iāve never heard of.ā But then he said, āI think you have a shot with this. We donāt normally distribute self-published stuff, but I think this is good enough.ā So, thereās a lesson there. You can break the rules if you have something that, if someone would just open it and start reading it, they would realize itās good.
*****
So ā¦ still think you got it tough? š
Oh, look! Here we are! Chatting about self-publishing and all that thang! š
PS: This is just one of the amazing stories I heard while interviewing other authors in my very own genre(s) on the Crime Cafe!
You, too, can get a complete copy of all the Season One interviews and more by supporting the podcast on Patreon!
PPS: Looks like someone is finally figuring out what I knew back in 2011! š
PPPS: Dear Harsh Writing Advice,
Nanny nanny boo boo! š