FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Every aspiring author wants to be able to publish their work at some point in their professional career. Not every writer will have the chance with the gatekeepers called Publishers. Before the invention of the printing press a writer was tasked with penning manuscripts by hand and could not deviate in the slightest. As Richard Nash puts it in the article "What Is the Business of Literature?", "...the role of the writer before Gutenberg was simply to transcribe." (Nash) going on to say, "Writers were the machines through which the word of God was reproduced and disseminated. Or, at most, the knowledge that humans had accumulated thus far--the myths, the legends, what is now called "folk wisdom." (Nash)With the invention of the Printing press came a new generation of writers. Enter the business of publication where the company that prints and distributes the manuscript turned book pick and choose who should and should not be published. Even the greatest writers had been rejected at one point or another by this system. Lin Grensing-Pophal stated in his article "WHO NEEDS A PUBLISHER?", "Stories abound of frustrated authors who faced rounds of rejection before finding a home for their work--or simply giving up. Some of those rejected had truly brilliant insights and, ultimately, popular prose to offer. Notable among them are Stephen King, George Orwell, and J.K. Rowling." (Grensing-Pophal). Is it hard to become a published author? Not with today's technology. To start let's look at the issues that have been plaguing writers for years before the advent of the internet and the ability for many new authors to publish their work.

PUBLICATION PITFALLS

After a manuscript has been written, and it's time to publish, there are a few gates to traditional publishing that determines if a book should be published. For starters, most big named publishers won't accept unsolicited material and require the writer to pay a publishing agent. This is known as the Agency process. Jeremy Camacho explains the process in the article "Is the E-Reader Mightier? Direct Publishing and Entry Barriers." By stating that "The agency process refers to the author's need for an agent in order to gain acceptance at a trade book publisher. Absent an agent, most publishers ignore first-time authors." (Camacho) Since a Publishing agent can be costly the second course for traditional publishing is through acceptance from a publication that is willing to accept unsolicited manuscripts. In the same article mentioned, Jeremy goes on to explain this process by stating that "The acceptance process refers to the further need for a trade book publisher to accept a manuscript. A trade book publisher accepts less than half of agented authors' works for publication and even fewer first-time authors' works, whether they have an agent or not." (Camacho) Between these two methods both are indicative of a notion that publication will be given to those who already have a name as they are guaranteed to sell. To publish a book is an investment to publishing companies and they tend to only publish what they believe will sell. As Richard wrote, "From a publishing standpoint, one can sell Pride & Prejudice more cheaply than gibberish because people already know Jane Austen." (Nash). Most well-known authors had been rejected multiple times before they were picked up for publication, such as: Stephen King, J. R. R. Tolkien, J. K. Rowling, and John Steinbeck to name a few. For writers on a budget, or new authors, there is an alternative.

ALTERNATIVE

Self-publishing is the alternative to Traditional by allowing first time writers the ability to publish their work. There is a drawback as most self-publication avenues are not free. From the need to pay an editor to cover design to making an investment in advertising it is a long, dedicated process. Today's New York Times Best Sellers tend to feature at least one self-published novel. This process is beneficial to first time authors who have limited funds that would allow a novel to be published instead of paying for an agent who can't guarantee a publisher will hear of a new authors work. In his Article Lin states "An obvious benefit for those who have content they would like to distribute but who have been unable to convince the traditional gatekeepers of the value of that content is the ability to do it themselves." (Grensing-Pophal) Even if the publication is not read just getting published has a benefit for the writer. With having a small publication, it boosts a writer's confidence and a drive to improve on their skills and style. Just as Jeremy wrote, "Essentially, writing itself can benefit the writer in more ways than just his wallet. Even if the product doesn't affect the market substantively, a person may find self-improvement upon publishing a book." There are various avenues available for self-publication.

DIFFERENT AVENUES

There are varying ways to self-publish and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The most notable avenues are Vanity Press and Direct Publishing. Each is unique in its ability to help a writer's content get out to the public and have been known to hold a stigma among traditional publishers. This has not stopped new authors from being acquired for later publications after they had self-published.

VANITY PRESS

The Vanity Press is one avenue to pursue though not looked on as kindly as other methods of self-Publication. This publication service holds a stigma as the publishers that offered their services did so as schemes to take a writer's money and produce nothing offered. Many believed that the Vanity press was more for writers of a niche style or genre. Others felt it was a way for writers to produce copies of their work to hand out to their friends. All of this was noted by Timothy Laquintano wrote in his article "The legacy of the Vanity Press" that "Although some vanity publishers have served authors with niche audiences, others ran such notorious scams that they helped stigmatize the business of author-subsidized books." (Laquintano) Even Jennifer Alsever wrote in the article "The Kindle Effect", about the vanity press saying, "For decades it was dismissed as the desperate refuge of authors rejected by publishing houses, wannabes who paid a fee to a musty vanity press that would dutifully typeset their words and transform them into a few boxes of books that the "writers" could hand out to their friends." (Alsever) Today, however, there are multiple reputable vanity press companies, such as: Publish America, Smashwords, Lulu, and CreateSpace.

DIRECT PUBLISHING

Direct publishing allows a writer to publish albeit without a hard copy of the content. This is good for authors who wish to publish on the Kindle or Nook specifically. Both Amazon (with Kindle Direct Publishing) and Barns and Noble offer this service directly without the need to go through a third party. For a better understanding of what direct publishing is Jeremy, again, states that "Direct publishing constitutes uploading and disseminating a finished work through an online service, such as Amazon or Smashwords, where it will be exclusively available as an e-book." (Camacho) Although, as stated, it has its downside. From distribution to editing after release. Jeremey continues his article stating, "Direct publishing has three primary entry barriers: limited promotion, limited market, and limited editing." (Camacho) While the limitations on editing and promotion are true the limited market is debatable. Though Jeremy makes a very positive point in the article when discussing royalties. Of course, direct publishing provides much higher royalty percentages than traditional publishing. For example, Smashwords's online services offer authors 85 per cent of net proceeds on products sold through its site." (Camacho) Some of the Vanity Press publishers provide Direct publication but how does self-publishing compare to traditional publishing?

COMPARISON

To help better understand the difference between traditional and self-publications the different avenues have been broken down to show the positives and negatives to each.

TRADITIONAL PUBLICATION

Traditional publishing is a sacred right of any author wishing to be published, assuming they can get past the hurdles that determine quality and what the market is in the mood for consuming. As stated before even much known authors have been handed rejection letters before reaching publication. To requote Lin "Stories abound of frustrated authors who faced rounds of rejection before finding a home for their work--or simply giving up. Some of those rejected had truly brilliant insights and, ultimately, popular prose to offer. Notable among them are Stephen King, George Orwell, and J.K. Rowling." (Grensing-Pophal). Mostly this route consists of paying a monthly fee to a publishing agent to solicit a manuscript to multiple publications with no guarantees of success. Even getting published shows little sign of success. Richard puts the cycle of failed sales as such, "The book is printed, shipped, shelved. It sits for six to eight weeks until our little game is uncovered by the stores, at which point it is re -cartoned and shipped to a warehouse, then sent to be pulped." (Nash) While publishers only publish well known authors and are skeptical of new, or up and coming writers, they don't know what will and will not sale. Even well-known authors of certain book series have been canceled despite a following or even a television series based off the completed works (L. J. Smith; The Vampire Diaries). Richard furthermore states in his article, "The downside, aside from rejections are the business marketing side where publishers print what they think will sale, however, this point is countered by Richard when he wrote "November of last year. Publishing has no particular ability to discern what is good or not, what is successful or not. This is true not just at the level of predicting commercial success, but also at predicting critical success."" (Nash)

SELF-PUBLICATION

While self-publication had, or has depending on who you ask, a stigma to traditional publication companies it is not without its merit as some big named writers have moved from traditional to self-publication. Some of the greatest books on the market, the ones in the New York Times Best Seller List, have been self-published. One book series to note, having made it to the big screen, is Fifty Shades of Grey by El James. Jennifer notes the better financial side of self-publication by noting, "Independent authors enjoy more creative control and far better royalties: They keep 50% to 70% of book sales, vs. 15% to 25% royalties for traditionally published books. So-called independent books increasingly land at the top of bestseller lists, are optioned to be Hollywood movies, and generate real money for their authors." (Alsever) There is a downside to self-publishing in the form of advertising or shelling out of pocket for services such as editorial work. When a publishing agent or publisher isn't involved in the process to allow a writer to focus on their passion of writing then the entire process falls on the authors shoulders to work every aspect themselves distracting the writer from creating more content. The biggest issue with self-publishing is the growing concern over quality of content. Lin quotes Jared Kuritz, director of the La Jolla Writer's Conference of San Diego, ""One of the great things about having all of these different publishing methods is that there will be more products on the market," says Kuritz. "But, that's a double-edged sword because there's also a lot of junk in the marketplace.""

DECISION

There is no right or wrong in publication as it's a matter of perspective. While traditional offers a barrier into a profession that few are fortunate to receive popularity status. Yet, with the advent of the internet with places like KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), CreateSpace, LULU, ECT; anyone wanting to be a published author can fulfill their dream with the ability to grow in skill in hopes of one day reaching their target audience. Never give up the passion of writing despite the traditional publication barriers. There is always a choice in how to publish and readers want the latest stories constantly.

Works Cited

Alsever, Jennifer. "THE KINDLE EFFECT." Fortune Vol.75 (2017): 32-34.

Camacho, Jeremy D. "Is the E-Reader Mightier? Direct Publishing and Entry Barriers." Journal of Scholarly Publishing; Vol. 44 Issue 4 (2013): p327-339. 13p.

Grensing-Pophal, Lin. "WHO NEEDS A PUBLISHER?" EContent Vol.35 (2012): 12-18.

Laquintano, Timothy. "The Legacy of the Vanity Press and Digital Transitions." Journal of Electronic Publishing, Vol.16 (2013): 4-5.

Nash, Richard. "What Is the Business of Literature?" Virginia Quarterly Review; Vol. 89 Issue 2 (2013): p14-27, 14p.