The Publishers: Why are our midlist authors selling so poorly??? Publishing: Doesn't put in any effort to promote midlist authors. Doesn't offer or help with oppurtunities. Doesn't even budget in marketing. The Publishers: It's the writer's fault.
I read that some publishers want a 50k+ following on SM before considering an author. Andy Weir has, to date, 48k (on Twitter), and he has multiple best selling novels and a hugely popular film starring Matt Damon under his belt. There's something wrong with this system.
Welp, I felt this in my soul lolllll. The gaslighting is SO REAL. (also looking at my 50 minutes of mush on this topic like lol I am incoherent how do I edit this)
ROFL oh man, it took me hours to script this. And if I hadn't, I can't imagine what would've come out of my mouth rambling at the camera. 😂 I can't wait to see your vid about this!!!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor ... I outlined but not well enough and I'm currently seeing whether I can salvage it or if I need to rerecord haha. I can at least save the practical half--it's half "advice on social media in 2021" and half Author As Brand Is Both Terrible And Good Discuss. I love how you zeroed in on the gaslighting part though b/c that's really the heart of the issue w/ the publisher side.
@@AlexaDonne Girl I scripted this one because I knew that even if I had an outline, I'd end up with like...two hours of footage rofl. But that video sounds excellent and I could use the advice!!! (And yes to the gaslighting. Feels like it's getting worse these days...)
This is exactly me. Only I got my book cover very late, no physical arcs, no blogger outreach, no social support from my publisher, no submissions to online…anything, not even trade reviews. No… nothing. Not even a local book signing tour. And I didn’t even get a hardback. Paperback only. The only thing my publisher has done was make a cover, format, print, and distribute the book. It’s coming out soon. No one has heard of it, unsurprisingly, so I’m not expecting sales to be great. How could they? I was set up to fail from day 1. Now they already may have book 2 come out a year later. Big surprise. I’m slowly working on book 3, which, no surprise, this publisher will NEVER get. PS: This is with a “big 5” publisher. That label means nothing.
I have always wanted to trad publish, but the more I hear about it the less I want to. Too many horror stories. :( But I don't think I can do my book the justice I want all by myself. Ugh. It'a frustrating.
I'm sorry, Chelsea! I know these types of stories/videos can be discouraging, and that's really not my intent. You should absolutely still go for it. There's a lot of good to be said about trad pub (another video topic I'm planning, actually!!)
It's so disheartening to hear this, honestly. Almost as if we can't win whether we take a crack at submitting the traditional route, or have the mindset of 'if you want it done right, do it yourself" and go indie. When I began writing, I did it because I loved WRITING and NOT marketing, being a social media presence, researching algorithms and keywords, building a 'street-team' , scheduling giveaways and events etc etc. I didn't go to college for a business degree. I'm not a 'salesman' personality type. I don't 'write to market'. I write what I'm passionate about. Why the hell do we have to wear so many hats? Can't we just let our storytelling speak for itself? Jeez!
Excellent video. These are all part of the reason I gave up on traditional publishing. I've sold over 330,000 titles since 2011 as an indie author. The money has been uneven and the algorithms have been crazy making. But I know my characters and universe are my own, and I don't have to worry about anyone else's deadlines (except my professional editor...gotta get the books to her when she is ready for them). This year I left Kindle Unlimited (it took 3 months!!! to get all my titles off that platform) and I'm going wide. Re-building my sales numbers, inch by inch. But I'm also letting myself write the books I thought I would be writing 20 years ago when I dreamed of getting published. Also, I'm too old and somewhat mobility impaired and I don't want to do travel and all that jazz. It's nice to know I made the right decisions for myself. Love your videos! Sending hugs and best wishes.
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Thank you! You're the only person I've shared those figures with because the way Amazon has worked over the years, you never really knew how you were doing, especially since they removed Author Ranking from their Author Central pages. I felt they were decent numbers, for a one-woman project, but hearing you say so makes me feel even better. A nice dose of energy flowing now. :D
@@reginaduke7451 You are very welcome - and you're killing it!! Also, wow, I somehow had no idea they removed the author ranking. When did that happen??? How odd!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor It was at least a year ago. Now they have a new look and a new setup with book rankings and an option to get rankings for ebooks (which is new). But there are what? over 5 million titles on Amazon now? so it doesn't really tell you much to know your romance is in the 400K rankings. More useful to check the sub categories now. A book with a 400K overall ranking may be at 5K in the romance category. Still trying to work out how they apply those rankings. SMH
I think if published authors want to change this kind of environment, they're going to have to use labor organization to do so. Authors from the same publisher need to come together and strike to demand better distribution of resources, because there's no incentive for publishers to change anything unless it gets in the way of their bottom line. I think it's hard because a lot of unions nowadays have been coopted (if theres even any author unions), and we're systematically taught to repel worker organization, but that's what authors are- workers- and until they start viewing themselves and their publishers in that dynamic, all of the power lies with the publisher.
Could I BE more pissed off!? Bahaha Michelle! This was such a wonderful and entertaining way to talk about something very un-wonderful. Thank you so much for talking about this!
I feel like so much of what you said speaks so much to why publishing has this disappearing midlist issue-from existing in the Rachel and Monica extremes. I think my biggest learning thus far is that I came in with the assumption that I just wouldn’t get certain things, but then when I pushed myself to ask, some of those things I could actually get and my pub was very willing to do. But since I was constantly told that I would get dirt if I wasn’t a lead, it took me a bit to even bother asking. I definitely agree that there is a gaslighting issue, especially in this idea that your personal social efforts can do anything near the level that a pub can do with their connections. I think that asking for your marketing plan is a great tip as well as just asking for everything you want and seeing what can be done for you
Man, the disappearing midlist issue is so real...and these houses are doing it to themselves! This is a problem of their own making. I'm with you - I assumed I wouldn't get much for my first few books and I never asked for anything. Once I started making requests, I didn't get everything but I definitely got more! And you're right - asking for ALL the things you want is a GREAT approach, because more often than not, they'll give you at least a few things on that list!
THIS. It can be empowering (and sometimes fun) for an author to be involved in their books' marketing, but feeling like it's all on their shoulders to make a book a success--when really, the publisher's marketing is what can move the needle--leads to a lot of disappointment and frustration. More transparency would be really helpful in managing expectations--and time. Thanks for making this!
Thank YOU for watching! 😄 And yeah, I have a lot of fun with some DIY publicity stuff. But it's never really had any tangible/sales results for me, so I don't want to hear that it's my book's only chance for success! Fingers crossed we all get more transparency in the future.
This is soooo frustrating. I have wanted to traditionally publish forever. I write book club fiction -- I NEED traditional publishing. But every day I learn new things that make me want to quit writing altogether. Is there ANYTHING -- Any. One. Thing. -- positive about the traditional publishing industry?
I hear you, Melissa! Yes, there are lots of positive things about the industry. I mentioned a few in my video last week about salaries and burnout. For example, after five Macmillan employees organized a protest last summer, the CEO stepped back and now the US branches are run by a diverse 13-person committee. The houses really are making positive changes, they're just happening slowly (and tend to get buried in the bad news).
This video took me on a JOURNEY. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!! I'm traditionally published (2020 debut, welp), and I promoted a lot because I genuinely do enjoy it. Most authors don't, and it's quite unfair to treat them this way. The gaslighting needs to stop.
Ah! Congrats, Amparo! And also...holy crapola, what a year to debut. o.O That must've been quite the ride. I find a lot of promotional stuff fun, too - namely school visits. But yeah, to each her own and nothing should be required!
Such a brilliant illustration of this problem! I loved Kacen’s post on this topic, too. And truly, writers’ job should be to WRITE. The book industry would not exist without us, and we should be treated accordingly.
I read that post and it only reassured me that not showing my face on my platform is the BEST thing I can do. I really want a literary agent so, my "funny-looking eyes" should stay out of the picture. I don't even feel like I have a voice in the matter because I am still unagented, I should be careful. So thank you for making this video.
Thank you for watching, Dal! Um, you have lovely eyes?? No negative self-talk!! :) But I know what you mean. I have a lot to say about all of that in another video. It's all so infuriating.
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor thank you, Michelle. No negative talk, really, that's why I used the quotations. I'm fine with my eyes, I was born that way, so I'm alright with my looks buuuuut...I know what planet I'm living in. I have a lot to say on this subject too, because I already went through the whole ordeal during my musician/songwriter days and it wasn't pretty. So now I'm cautious as a writer. Looking forward to your next video. 💜
Hopefully we can get this to change, because I want to see more disabled authors and neurodivergent authors so others like me/us can feel represented and know "yes you can make it in this industry", just like bipoc authors are helping people like themselves feel seen and heard. Able bodied, neurotypical, and white has had the spotlight for long enough. We need our representation too, and visible representation at that. 😁💜
@@kanashiiookami6537 thank you, and yeah hopefully...but I am realistic/pessimistic (chronic depression is a thing). If I get an agent, it is a miracle and pigs are indeed flying, so if I get one, you better run, you better take cover. LOL. I'm not in the States, I'm not Ameircan, or European, or any "important" nationality (that's another issue).I'm not "just" disabled, those who have ever seen my stuff know that I am all the minorities combined, so I know I am "too diverse" for the current narrative and I am not considered "real" since, having "too diverse characters" is now also a bad thing....whatever. So many things to say about the whole minorities in publishing issue. But again, I am unagented, so eh, I cannot really talk that much. :)
@@DalCecilRuno "too diverse" is the representation we need! Hopefully others will see that. It's like being called "too disabled" or "too neurodivergent", which is insane because you don't hear "no, sorry, you're too able bodied/neurotypical to be considered good representation for our publication". I wish you luck! (Whether in getting an agent and traditionally published, if that's what you are going for, or in getting your stories to as many people as you can by yourself.☺)
Hearing these truth bombs are painful but also reassuring. As a midlist author who experienced a lot of this with both of my trad book deals it feels good to know I'm not alone. Thank you. ❤️
Oh man, I'm so sorry you've had to deal with this too. But I hear you - I felt so validated when I read Kacen's post. The more of us talking about this stuff openly, the better! (Also, thank you so much for watching! 😊)
More people need to talk about this. Thank you for shedding more light and giving action steps instead of the rage we feel inside when it happens, unless it’s just me?? 🤣😭
You get a Subscribe for this. Thank you. I'm a long-established author and I've had BOTH sides of this story, both successful and unsuccessful, and this is spot-on.
I've always felt drawn to self publishing. I never really understood why traditional publishing just didn't feel right to me. Well, this video pretty much answered my gut feeling. Haha
I used to work in traditional publishing as an assistant editor in the oughts. At that time, it was pretty standard for us to build the author a website and encourage them to start posting. (Social media existed, but was...less.) I remember going to one of the author's websites and seeing that one his posts had a lot of comments. Yay! Then I clicked in and saw that it was all him--having a discussion with himself between the voice of the author and the voice of the main character. Adorable, but. Not helping. I think one of the big things re gaslighting is (a) it costs the editor nothing to tell the author to do social media and hey, maybe it'll help! and (b) we didn't have any metrics at all to tell us if that was working. No one brought sales numbers to editorial meetings, it was all kind of by gut. So the two things I'd say you'd left out of your analysis (at least as of a decade ago) are maybe it's just that the editors don't know social isn't going to work. And also--you focus on things that are free. Even free things take the editor time. When I was an editor, I made so little I had a whole bunch of side gigs, too. I did not have time. The expectations to spend my weekends and vacations reading submissions and editing my authors were grueling. I was taking days off to meet deadlines for my freelance projects. Neither of those are excuses, just more problems with the system.
Thank you so much for this comment! That story about your author's post is really cute 😂 And you make a really great point about why editors tell authors to do this. I know in most case (certainly in mind; my editors are nice people!) any gaslighting isn't deliberate - especially if we're talking several years ago. The editors and marketing folks I've spoken to more recently all privately acknowledge that they know an author's social media isn't going to move the sales needle much - but I get how offering this suggestion to an author is better than saying "sorry, nothing you can do." You're 100% right that it's a system problem. The next video in this series is going to be about pub house salaries and the workload because it's absolutely outrageous!!! (If you'd like to chat more privately and/or if you have any info you'd like me to include anonymously, feel free to email me! schustermanworkshop at gmail)
I am so nervous. I have my very first talk with a publisher who had shown interest in one of my books on monday. It's just a really small independend German publisher, so I don't see big advances, IF we agree to work together (right now I am self-publishing most of my works), but what I do expect are at least minimal efforts to promote me. If they don't do this then I don't want to even consider the traditional way. Without them taking over the marketing, trad pub is just more work for me - trad publishers of course have diffrent standards on content, I can't be as free and experimental as a debut author (probably not even as an experienced one), so I would have to rework some of my ideas and characters, probably. Which, again, is fine, if I get something in return.
I have this nagging feeling that the single dislike is not a loyal publishing insider, rather I feel that this is a consumer cynically seeing this as authors whining and deflecting responsibility for their struggles. And, somehow, that makes it markedly worse.
The main reason that I want to be published traditionally is that I want help with the marketing. I mean, help with editing, covers and all that is good, too, but the marketing is what scares me. I dont have a social media presence as such (my target audience for my channel is writers, not necessarily my readers), and I have no clue how to promote things ... so here's to hoping I can get that help from whatever publisher I end up at 😅 And/or that the industry can make a change, because this is all so sad ...
Saaaaaaaaame here! I just do not know much about marketing and while I could study it, I'd rather write fiction. :/ I'm really hoping that as it becomes clearer that giving an influencer with 2 mil followers a huge book deal pretty much never pays off, pubs will back away from this whole "DIY social media campaign" phenomenon.
I'm on that same boat, Markus. I can't market my stuff. I can try, but trying is not enough, so I'm looking at traditional publishing because hey I need help with marketing.
Don't be shy -- literally the only reason anyone wants to be with traditional publishers is because of they're reach. If they're not doing the work of putting you in readers' hands, then what is the value added?
I gotta say, a large part of me regrets working in-house (designer), because sometimes you just don't want to see how the sausage is made. Like, I just have so much resentment wrt sales/marketing. So much resentment.
Thank you so much for sharing these thoughts, Michelle! I’ve also noticed how social media engagement doesn’t always translate into book sales with my poetry chapbooks, so I try as best I can to focus on my satisfaction with my craft and the personal connections I make with readers via email, readings, etc. Hearing authors like you discuss these topics also helps me set realistic expectations as I’m on sub with my first YA book-thank you!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Thanks so much, Michelle--will do! I actually got a rejection this morning--what a way to start a Monday! lol But it was thoughtful and full of compliments, which is what I'll take to heart. Onwards from here!
Your last point really made me stop and question how publishers make us authors think they're doing *us* a favour by publishing us. Like holy crap was that a "seriously? Wait- what?!" moment because I hadn't even realised it, despite how completely obvious it seems now. The sucky part, though, is that if authors tried to wield that power to gain equality and fairness in publishing it would probably backfire somehow. Like their publishing slot being given to someone who doesn't want to make waves. Good for that person, bad for progress, unless it was the big money making authors who got behind this and helped us little guys out....though, I gotta wonder what contracts those authors are under, like if it's anything that can keep this from happening....🤔 There's lots to think about, and I'm glad you let us know so we can go in prepared. Question, though, (publishing related, not gaslighting): if an author takes years to write and perfect their first novel before submission and the publisher likes it enough to have them do that 2 book deal, how do the publishers expect the author to turn out as great a book in limited time, especially if it's the publisher forcing in their two cents on plot and character interactions? (Like say if the authors original idea for a second book went x way that they plotted out, but the publisher has them scrap that because x other author is already slotted to publish a novel with that general outline) Because it seems to me that a first time author wouldn't be able to turn out an amazing sequel in that circumstance in so little a time, at least not one that captures their voice and plot if they have to work with an editor to churn it out by the date the publisher wants it. Just thoughts.😅
Exactly right! Authors are supposed to be grateful, as if pubs have done them a favor - not the case at all. I've had the same thought about pubs looking for authors who don't speak up...but already, I've seen so many cases to the contrary, authors who are vocal online about inequality and they're still getting deals and selling books. And LOL, that is such a good question and I think it's the reason the sophomore novel is such a terrifying experience. On the one hand, you do have less time to write the draft, and there's more pressure. On the other hand, now you have an editor to help you from the beginning! Editors are often sounding boards for authors when they're first developing an idea, and that helps the whole process move along so much faster. But yeah, it becomes a different world after that first book comes out! This would be a great topic for another video, tbh. :)
This is how I feel at time. I am a self-publisher. And it's hard to get some company to even look at my book. Its a lot of work and sometimes I just want to cry.😭😭😭
This is something i've only scratched the surface of in my journey to become a published author but I can say from my limited (and failed) experience with small publishers, this super hits home. And I wanted to call out when you said "authors try to go the traditional publisher route rather than self-published route because they don't have the time, the knowhow, the skills, or the desire to market themselves". That hits the nail on the head for me and is one of the huge reasons why I decided to try at submissions. Developing a social media and marketing plan in general is so. much. work. Thank you for this enlightening video!
Thank you so much for watching, Lyndsie! And same here - I'm really attracted to the idea of self-publishing but my marketing skills are non-existent, so it really feels like it's just not an option.
This was so great! I appreciate you sharing your wisdom on this important topic! As a self-published author, I do ALLLL THE THINGS, but didn't realize that in the traditional world ALLLL THE THINGS aren't done for everyone, all the time... or I guess, that some authors are given the "Rachel treatment". Thanks for educating me so that when I do get to the Traditional world, I know how to better advocate for myself.
Thanks so much for watching, Amanda! Yeahhhh the houses SHOULD do alllll the things....alas! 😂 But hey, it's awesome that you have the skills to handle the marketing side of things (even though you shouldn't have to on the trad pub route!)
Great video. There's so much pressure to build a huge a social media following. I've even heard stories of agents rejecting first-time authors because they don't have a large enough social media following. Is that another form of gaslighting?
Thanks so much, Carrie! And wow, yeah, I would say so. It's just so misleading. Is Susanne Collins anywhere on social media? Nope. Yet somehow her books are a household name. Go figure. >.>
I think a lot of my trouble with social media, is I made the mistake of following one of those profiles where they constantly promote self-publishing banners, but don't really interact. So my Twitter got kind of bloated long long before I was ready to promote anything. So I had these flood of followers who weren't actually interested in my book, but simply there to promote their book. I ended up creating a seperate one for the promotion, and one for the networking just to keep my sanity. Making your own website ( rather than hiring a designer ) is worth it if you have the skills. Where I have trouble: figuring out what hashtags are best to promote in. I would have liked to do YA ( though I do New Adult now ) but find it...extremely overwhelming.
I bet you aren't alone there! I know back in my Twitter days, my feed was super bloated with that kind of stuff because we all thought it's what we were supposed to be doing.
This was such a helpful video. I'll be trying my hand at trad publishing after years of being indie so this was eye opening. Thank you for the great content!
Thanks for this powerful reminder of why I haven’t prioritized writing a third under-funded, under-publicized novel. My experiences with the first two pretty much mirrored Rachel’s story.
Excellent video, Michelle. Yeah, those good looking and charming personality types are usually the ones who fit the few suits left over (on the A list for any actual promotional package) after the top tier talent. That’s universal in the entertainment world. The unfortunate thing about everything being united under a large corporate umbrella is exactly what they consider to be “cost effective.” Because I’m sure you’ve seen them do their dance and get newcomers without experience-or stellar talent-on the best seller list who fit that particular suit. The downside of corporate is they always bank on what they can hold within their tight little fist. And it’s always a very small percentage. From that percentage they might make a whole lot of money...but for big business, that’s not very big thinking. Why only about 5%? Why not 7, 10, or 15%? The amount of money they could potentially make could be staggering. They could totally expand and be able to afford more editors exponentially as they went along. But no, they are always trying to make more with less. And it always hits that wall where they’ve stretched themselves too thin and they aren’t making the cash they once did. Then entire lines of business are cut like dead branches because stepping back shows a weakness, or that they were wrong. So it doesn’t happen. And they’ll give you dozens of artificial reasons why it can’t be done. But wait...didn’t you turn many mediocre writers into money makers when the suit was to your liking? Haven’t you patted yourselves on the back countless times for your ability to sell the public crap and make them like it?
"But no, they are always trying to make more with less." /holds up lighter/ Yeah, you nailed it. This really is an issue they've created that doesn't actually need to exist. I'm constantly thinking "well, I don't know much about running a business so I'm sure there's plenty about this I don't understand" but you know...I think I actually CAN recognize a bad business model when I see one, and this model sucks. lol I would love to see what would happen if a big house took 10% of the marketing budget for one Big author and evenly dispersed it into marketing for the other 90% of the authors on that list. Just 10%, that's all. I bet the Big author would sell exactly as well and the midlisters would see dramatic improvement.
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Agreed. Y’know...if all the would be writers and mid listers put up $5 each, we could start our own publishing company and have enough left over to pay employees for the next year (probably a lot longer) until we got something going...LOL!
We have everything from big names like Neil Gaiman to debut authors from tiny presses speaking at the writing convention near me (I think it’s the biggest in the country). I had just assumed this was the norm. Perhaps it has something to do with NZ being a tiny market, with local publishers generally choosing stories with an NZ focus 🤔
I feel like this is a dumb question, but how do books actually sell? I've heard most people buy books on recommendations from their friends who read, but it must be more complex than that.
That isn't a dumb question at all, Kathleen! That's THE question. A lot of it is just money - when a book has a huge marketing campaign, tons of buzz, and prominent placement in bookstores/featured placement on Amazon, it's probably gonna move. And yes, lots of books break out in a more organic way via word of mouth, but that's relatively rare and hard to predict!
My boundaries are firmly drawn on doing ANY marketing. Nope, I'm out. I don't like social media, I would rather swim with hungry alligators with 24857328363 needles jabbed in each eyeball than spend 0.000000000000000000000000000000001 seconds on any social media. So I pay someone to deal with all that for me :)
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor It really was. I appreciate y'alls openness and for lack of a better word - bluntness. I understand that. I don't understand people who beat around the bush about things. Thanks for being so open.
Thank you for this. And bonus for it being funny and engaging as well. Well funny in that laughter through tears sort of way. So how much freedom does the author have to use some of their advance money for marketing if their publisher won’t do a campaign for them? Does an author have to get approvals for that kind of thing? You had me wanting to curl up into a ball and cry when you said not all publishers will tweet/gram out a cover reveal, or even just do something shareable when a book is released. Is that the norm?
Thanks so much, Barrett! Authors can use their advance money (or any money) to promote themselves...but in certain cases, particularly when it comes to festivals and cons, their house might frown on them essentially pitching themselves to be on a panel or have a signing booth, because they have their authors they want to send and there's limited room. I've heard of authors getting kind of chewed out by their publishers for that - for literally paying their own way to promote their books. It's...depressing. I honestly can't say if that's the norm, but back when I was on Instagram fairly frequently, I saw most houses just post about the same handful of titles over and over again. :/
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Wow. Okay! Thank you for this advice. Good to know that can be frowned upon. Reading Kacen’s blog post you shared gave me an eye opening look behind the curtain of Publishers Gaslighting. Love your content. Thanks so much.
@@BarrettLaurie @Barrett Laurie Wasn't Kacen's post fantastic? I'm so glad authors are talking about this more often. And thank you so much for watching!!
I'm not sure what a publicist at a house would say in answer to that (very excellent) question, but to me it's because offering suggestions to the author is better than simply saying "we aren't doing any marketing for you." Sounds much more positive to offer the author suggestions like form a street team! tweet! bookstagram! etc. Either way, their focus is on the big names/titles - I don't actually think they expect midlisters to break out because they tweeted a whole lot. It just sounds proactive.
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor that makes sense! And then if the book flops, they can say, well, you didn’t market yourself enough. Even though that’s not our job.
I think Monica was probably a hell of a lot better writer from the get go. I don't think many authors can expect the kick off she got unless the publisher thinks they got a major hit going for them. Where was the other woman's agent???
Great video! I have a question: a publisher wants to publish my first novel. She just bought the publishing house back in December and she’s busy, it’s a small editor. She’s telling me we’re gonna meet, my manuscrit has been read by her readers she’s want to release it in fall this years but everytime i send her a mail to start working on my novel she’s never answer me. She told me that she’s super busy i get that but we first talk back in February and i hadn’t seen my manuscript yet only talked to her to the phone or by email. What do you think? Thank you.
Thank you so much, Lily! And that's really exciting news - congrats on finishing your first novel! To be honest, I do think it's a red flag that this editor isn't responding to emails. Have you searched for her name and/or the publishing house with Writer Beware? I think that would be a good place to start looking: accrispin.blogspot.com/ and also www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/ Since she just bought the house recently there might not be a lot of info about the house itself, which is why I'd suggest searching for her by name and seeing if any other writers have had experiences with her. It might all be perfectly innocent, but it doesn't hurt to dig around a little bit! Keep me posted, okay? I really hope this works out for you and your book!!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor thank you so much for answering. Yes it’s a well known publisher and she’s been a publisher for over 20 years. It’s in QC. The last time i got news it’s because i called her on the phone. She kept saying she’s was sorry for not replying and start telling me that we need to find the right audience for my book, that i needed to write my bio for the website that we’ll gonna have a zoom meeting but i wrote her the next week to send me my manuscript with all the things i need to change/improve because on the phone she told me that we needed to finish working on my novel for June and no answers till then 😔 sorry my English is not fluent
@@Alexandra-ew3ep No prob! It might be that she's genuinely overwhelmed right now, having just bought the house and actually being a publisher for the first time. Of course, that's no excuse for not replying to her authors - but it doesn't necessarily mean there's anything shady going on. Consider reaching out to authors she's worked with as an editor and asking them to chat about what it's like working with her. This is something authors do all the time when considering whether to sign with a particular agent or editor. (And no apologies necessary, your English is great!)
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Hi! I just wanted to let you know that i called my editor today (again) and we’ll have a meeting on Tuesday. I’m relief and i wanted to thank you again for your words and support and answering so quickly
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor I meant as a more healthy option for authors. Authors will depend only on themselves. I think that's the way to go right now. As an independent author you would need the same as a traditional author: social networking, doing your own promotion and so on; but you will be the boss and the royalties are much better. I guess, I am just a wannabe. Have you got any video about selfpublishing? What are your thoughs about it?
@@aurematic Ahh, I see your point. I don't have self-pub experience - but I did put up a new video today about marketing in traditional publishing. Next Monday's follow up to that one is going to get into how self-pubbed authors and trad pubbed authors are actually running up against the same problems when it comes to marketing. It's all very interesting (and frustrating!)
Awww I'm sorry Nina! I'm actually planning a "here's what's great about tradpub" video because the news is so often bleak, haha. But there's lots of positive stuff to say, too!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor I appreciate not sugar coating it. I know we all hope we’ll be a Monica, but it’s not realistic. My goal is traditional publishing still, I appreciate the glimpse into reality.
@@NinasNook It's definitely best to know what you're getting into! But as a solidly midlist author, I promise there's still so much to love about the traditional publishing process. (Although I hope you'll be a Monica too!! :)
The Publishers: Why are our midlist authors selling so poorly???
Publishing: Doesn't put in any effort to promote midlist authors.
Doesn't offer or help with oppurtunities.
Doesn't even budget in marketing.
The Publishers: It's the writer's fault.
^^an accurate summary
Yep, this, absolutely.
I read that some publishers want a 50k+ following on SM before considering an author. Andy Weir has, to date, 48k (on Twitter), and he has multiple best selling novels and a hugely popular film starring Matt Damon under his belt. There's something wrong with this system.
Welp, I felt this in my soul lolllll. The gaslighting is SO REAL. (also looking at my 50 minutes of mush on this topic like lol I am incoherent how do I edit this)
ROFL oh man, it took me hours to script this. And if I hadn't, I can't imagine what would've come out of my mouth rambling at the camera. 😂 I can't wait to see your vid about this!!!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor ... I outlined but not well enough and I'm currently seeing whether I can salvage it or if I need to rerecord haha. I can at least save the practical half--it's half "advice on social media in 2021" and half Author As Brand Is Both Terrible And Good Discuss. I love how you zeroed in on the gaslighting part though b/c that's really the heart of the issue w/ the publisher side.
@@AlexaDonne Girl I scripted this one because I knew that even if I had an outline, I'd end up with like...two hours of footage rofl. But that video sounds excellent and I could use the advice!!! (And yes to the gaslighting. Feels like it's getting worse these days...)
@@AlexaDonne I look forward to seeing these videos. :)
This is exactly me. Only I got my book cover very late, no physical arcs, no blogger outreach, no social support from my publisher, no submissions to online…anything, not even trade reviews. No… nothing. Not even a local book signing tour. And I didn’t even get a hardback. Paperback only. The only thing my publisher has done was make a cover, format, print, and distribute the book. It’s coming out soon. No one has heard of it, unsurprisingly, so I’m not expecting sales to be great. How could they? I was set up to fail from day 1. Now they already may have book 2 come out a year later. Big surprise. I’m slowly working on book 3, which, no surprise, this publisher will NEVER get. PS: This is with a “big 5” publisher. That label means nothing.
Oh my god. I'm Rachel. Traditionally published, here. it's like word for word----VERBATIM-what I was told . That is some scary sht right there. Scary
I have always wanted to trad publish, but the more I hear about it the less I want to. Too many horror stories. :( But I don't think I can do my book the justice I want all by myself. Ugh. It'a frustrating.
I'm sorry, Chelsea! I know these types of stories/videos can be discouraging, and that's really not my intent. You should absolutely still go for it. There's a lot of good to be said about trad pub (another video topic I'm planning, actually!!)
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Looking forward to it!!
“I mean....how many authors are actually extroverts anyway?”
Chuckle!!!!
😄 It's true though!!
It's so disheartening to hear this, honestly. Almost as if we can't win whether we take a crack at submitting the traditional route, or have the mindset of 'if you want it done right, do it yourself" and go indie.
When I began writing, I did it because I loved WRITING and NOT marketing, being a social media presence, researching algorithms and keywords, building a 'street-team' , scheduling giveaways and events etc etc. I didn't go to college for a business degree. I'm not a 'salesman' personality type. I don't 'write to market'. I write what I'm passionate about.
Why the hell do we have to wear so many hats? Can't we just let our storytelling speak for itself? Jeez!
Saaaaaame here, to all of that, Brynna! It really is so frustrating!
Excellent video. These are all part of the reason I gave up on traditional publishing. I've sold over 330,000 titles since 2011 as an indie author. The money has been uneven and the algorithms have been crazy making. But I know my characters and universe are my own, and I don't have to worry about anyone else's deadlines (except my professional editor...gotta get the books to her when she is ready for them). This year I left Kindle Unlimited (it took 3 months!!! to get all my titles off that platform) and I'm going wide. Re-building my sales numbers, inch by inch. But I'm also letting myself write the books I thought I would be writing 20 years ago when I dreamed of getting published. Also, I'm too old and somewhat mobility impaired and I don't want to do travel and all that jazz. It's nice to know I made the right decisions for myself. Love your videos! Sending hugs and best wishes.
That is PHENOMENAL, Regina!!! WOW. Those numbers are seriously staggering. You definitely made the right call!!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Thank you! You're the only person I've shared those figures with because the way Amazon has worked over the years, you never really knew how you were doing, especially since they removed Author Ranking from their Author Central pages. I felt they were decent numbers, for a one-woman project, but hearing you say so makes me feel even better. A nice dose of energy flowing now. :D
@@reginaduke7451 You are very welcome - and you're killing it!! Also, wow, I somehow had no idea they removed the author ranking. When did that happen??? How odd!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor It was at least a year ago. Now they have a new look and a new setup with book rankings and an option to get rankings for ebooks (which is new). But there are what? over 5 million titles on Amazon now? so it doesn't really tell you much to know your romance is in the 400K rankings. More useful to check the sub categories now. A book with a 400K overall ranking may be at 5K in the romance category. Still trying to work out how they apply those rankings. SMH
@@reginaduke7451 Iiiinteresting. And frustrating! I wonder why they made that change...
I think if published authors want to change this kind of environment, they're going to have to use labor organization to do so. Authors from the same publisher need to come together and strike to demand better distribution of resources, because there's no incentive for publishers to change anything unless it gets in the way of their bottom line. I think it's hard because a lot of unions nowadays have been coopted (if theres even any author unions), and we're systematically taught to repel worker organization, but that's what authors are- workers- and until they start viewing themselves and their publishers in that dynamic, all of the power lies with the publisher.
Agreed. The Author's Guild is really excellent and I've been meaning to join for ages.
Could I BE more pissed off!? Bahaha Michelle! This was such a wonderful and entertaining way to talk about something very un-wonderful. Thank you so much for talking about this!
Thanks so much, Kate! :) Friends is the ideal sugar coating for even the yuckiest topic lol
I feel like so much of what you said speaks so much to why publishing has this disappearing midlist issue-from existing in the Rachel and Monica extremes. I think my biggest learning thus far is that I came in with the assumption that I just wouldn’t get certain things, but then when I pushed myself to ask, some of those things I could actually get and my pub was very willing to do. But since I was constantly told that I would get dirt if I wasn’t a lead, it took me a bit to even bother asking. I definitely agree that there is a gaslighting issue, especially in this idea that your personal social efforts can do anything near the level that a pub can do with their connections. I think that asking for your marketing plan is a great tip as well as just asking for everything you want and seeing what can be done for you
Man, the disappearing midlist issue is so real...and these houses are doing it to themselves! This is a problem of their own making.
I'm with you - I assumed I wouldn't get much for my first few books and I never asked for anything. Once I started making requests, I didn't get everything but I definitely got more! And you're right - asking for ALL the things you want is a GREAT approach, because more often than not, they'll give you at least a few things on that list!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor yuupp they need to fix that midlist issue
THIS. It can be empowering (and sometimes fun) for an author to be involved in their books' marketing, but feeling like it's all on their shoulders to make a book a success--when really, the publisher's marketing is what can move the needle--leads to a lot of disappointment and frustration. More transparency would be really helpful in managing expectations--and time. Thanks for making this!
Thank YOU for watching! 😄 And yeah, I have a lot of fun with some DIY publicity stuff. But it's never really had any tangible/sales results for me, so I don't want to hear that it's my book's only chance for success! Fingers crossed we all get more transparency in the future.
Agreed. I never understood why publishers with $$$ for marketing can't be bothered to do the marketing. WTF?
This is soooo frustrating. I have wanted to traditionally publish forever. I write book club fiction -- I NEED traditional publishing. But every day I learn new things that make me want to quit writing altogether. Is there ANYTHING -- Any. One. Thing. -- positive about the traditional publishing industry?
I hear you, Melissa! Yes, there are lots of positive things about the industry. I mentioned a few in my video last week about salaries and burnout. For example, after five Macmillan employees organized a protest last summer, the CEO stepped back and now the US branches are run by a diverse 13-person committee. The houses really are making positive changes, they're just happening slowly (and tend to get buried in the bad news).
This video took me on a JOURNEY. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!! I'm traditionally published (2020 debut, welp), and I promoted a lot because I genuinely do enjoy it. Most authors don't, and it's quite unfair to treat them this way. The gaslighting needs to stop.
Ah! Congrats, Amparo! And also...holy crapola, what a year to debut. o.O That must've been quite the ride. I find a lot of promotional stuff fun, too - namely school visits. But yeah, to each her own and nothing should be required!
Such a brilliant illustration of this problem! I loved Kacen’s post on this topic, too. And truly, writers’ job should be to WRITE. The book industry would not exist without us, and we should be treated accordingly.
Thank you so much, Shante - and YES. Agreed. It all gets pretty frustrating!
I read that post and it only reassured me that not showing my face on my platform is the BEST thing I can do. I really want a literary agent so, my "funny-looking eyes" should stay out of the picture.
I don't even feel like I have a voice in the matter because I am still unagented, I should be careful. So thank you for making this video.
Thank you for watching, Dal! Um, you have lovely eyes?? No negative self-talk!! :) But I know what you mean. I have a lot to say about all of that in another video. It's all so infuriating.
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor thank you, Michelle. No negative talk, really, that's why I used the quotations. I'm fine with my eyes, I was born that way, so I'm alright with my looks buuuuut...I know what planet I'm living in. I have a lot to say on this subject too, because I already went through the whole ordeal during my musician/songwriter days and it wasn't pretty. So now I'm cautious as a writer.
Looking forward to your next video. 💜
Hopefully we can get this to change, because I want to see more disabled authors and neurodivergent authors so others like me/us can feel represented and know "yes you can make it in this industry", just like bipoc authors are helping people like themselves feel seen and heard. Able bodied, neurotypical, and white has had the spotlight for long enough. We need our representation too, and visible representation at that. 😁💜
@@kanashiiookami6537 thank you, and yeah hopefully...but I am realistic/pessimistic (chronic depression is a thing). If I get an agent, it is a miracle and pigs are indeed flying, so if I get one, you better run, you better take cover. LOL.
I'm not in the States, I'm not Ameircan, or European, or any "important" nationality (that's another issue).I'm not "just" disabled, those who have ever seen my stuff know that I am all the minorities combined, so I know I am "too diverse" for the current narrative and I am not considered "real" since, having "too diverse characters" is now also a bad thing....whatever. So many things to say about the whole minorities in publishing issue. But again, I am unagented, so eh, I cannot really talk that much. :)
@@DalCecilRuno "too diverse" is the representation we need! Hopefully others will see that. It's like being called "too disabled" or "too neurodivergent", which is insane because you don't hear "no, sorry, you're too able bodied/neurotypical to be considered good representation for our publication".
I wish you luck! (Whether in getting an agent and traditionally published, if that's what you are going for, or in getting your stories to as many people as you can by yourself.☺)
Hearing these truth bombs are painful but also reassuring. As a midlist author who experienced a lot of this with both of my trad book deals it feels good to know I'm not alone. Thank you. ❤️
Oh man, I'm so sorry you've had to deal with this too. But I hear you - I felt so validated when I read Kacen's post. The more of us talking about this stuff openly, the better! (Also, thank you so much for watching! 😊)
More people need to talk about this. Thank you for shedding more light and giving action steps instead of the rage we feel inside when it happens, unless it’s just me?? 🤣😭
Thanks, Katlyn - and LOL you definitely aren't alone re: the rage!!! 😂
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor what a relief!! 🤣
You get a Subscribe for this. Thank you. I'm a long-established author and I've had BOTH sides of this story, both successful and unsuccessful, and this is spot-on.
Thanks so much, Jane!! :)
I've always felt drawn to self publishing. I never really understood why traditional publishing just didn't feel right to me. Well, this video pretty much answered my gut feeling. Haha
Yup, I absolutely get the appeal of self pub! Each path has its perks, for sure. (Also, thank you for watching!! :)
I used to work in traditional publishing as an assistant editor in the oughts. At that time, it was pretty standard for us to build the author a website and encourage them to start posting. (Social media existed, but was...less.) I remember going to one of the author's websites and seeing that one his posts had a lot of comments. Yay! Then I clicked in and saw that it was all him--having a discussion with himself between the voice of the author and the voice of the main character. Adorable, but. Not helping.
I think one of the big things re gaslighting is (a) it costs the editor nothing to tell the author to do social media and hey, maybe it'll help! and (b) we didn't have any metrics at all to tell us if that was working. No one brought sales numbers to editorial meetings, it was all kind of by gut. So the two things I'd say you'd left out of your analysis (at least as of a decade ago) are maybe it's just that the editors don't know social isn't going to work. And also--you focus on things that are free. Even free things take the editor time. When I was an editor, I made so little I had a whole bunch of side gigs, too. I did not have time. The expectations to spend my weekends and vacations reading submissions and editing my authors were grueling. I was taking days off to meet deadlines for my freelance projects. Neither of those are excuses, just more problems with the system.
Thank you so much for this comment! That story about your author's post is really cute 😂
And you make a really great point about why editors tell authors to do this. I know in most case (certainly in mind; my editors are nice people!) any gaslighting isn't deliberate - especially if we're talking several years ago. The editors and marketing folks I've spoken to more recently all privately acknowledge that they know an author's social media isn't going to move the sales needle much - but I get how offering this suggestion to an author is better than saying "sorry, nothing you can do."
You're 100% right that it's a system problem. The next video in this series is going to be about pub house salaries and the workload because it's absolutely outrageous!!! (If you'd like to chat more privately and/or if you have any info you'd like me to include anonymously, feel free to email me! schustermanworkshop at gmail)
I am so nervous. I have my very first talk with a publisher who had shown interest in one of my books on monday. It's just a really small independend German publisher, so I don't see big advances, IF we agree to work together (right now I am self-publishing most of my works), but what I do expect are at least minimal efforts to promote me. If they don't do this then I don't want to even consider the traditional way. Without them taking over the marketing, trad pub is just more work for me - trad publishers of course have diffrent standards on content, I can't be as free and experimental as a debut author (probably not even as an experienced one), so I would have to rework some of my ideas and characters, probably. Which, again, is fine, if I get something in return.
I have this nagging feeling that the single dislike is not a loyal publishing insider, rather I feel that this is a consumer cynically seeing this as authors whining and deflecting responsibility for their struggles.
And, somehow, that makes it markedly worse.
ROFL!!!
The main reason that I want to be published traditionally is that I want help with the marketing. I mean, help with editing, covers and all that is good, too, but the marketing is what scares me. I dont have a social media presence as such (my target audience for my channel is writers, not necessarily my readers), and I have no clue how to promote things ... so here's to hoping I can get that help from whatever publisher I end up at 😅
And/or that the industry can make a change, because this is all so sad ...
Saaaaaaaaame here! I just do not know much about marketing and while I could study it, I'd rather write fiction. :/ I'm really hoping that as it becomes clearer that giving an influencer with 2 mil followers a huge book deal pretty much never pays off, pubs will back away from this whole "DIY social media campaign" phenomenon.
I'm on that same boat, Markus. I can't market my stuff. I can try, but trying is not enough, so I'm looking at traditional publishing because hey I need help with marketing.
Don't be shy -- literally the only reason anyone wants to be with traditional publishers is because of they're reach. If they're not doing the work of putting you in readers' hands, then what is the value added?
Loved the Friends references! 😄😄
I gotta say, a large part of me regrets working in-house (designer), because sometimes you just don't want to see how the sausage is made.
Like, I just have so much resentment wrt sales/marketing. So much resentment.
I bet. :/ You definitely aren't the first publishing person I've heard say this.
Thank you so much for sharing these thoughts, Michelle! I’ve also noticed how social media engagement doesn’t always translate into book sales with my poetry chapbooks, so I try as best I can to focus on my satisfaction with my craft and the personal connections I make with readers via email, readings, etc. Hearing authors like you discuss these topics also helps me set realistic expectations as I’m on sub with my first YA book-thank you!
Thank you so much for watching, Emily - and wow, you're on sub!!! That's so exciting! Please keep me posted. My fingers are crossed!!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Thanks so much, Michelle--will do! I actually got a rejection this morning--what a way to start a Monday! lol But it was thoughtful and full of compliments, which is what I'll take to heart. Onwards from here!
Your last point really made me stop and question how publishers make us authors think they're doing *us* a favour by publishing us. Like holy crap was that a "seriously? Wait- what?!" moment because I hadn't even realised it, despite how completely obvious it seems now.
The sucky part, though, is that if authors tried to wield that power to gain equality and fairness in publishing it would probably backfire somehow. Like their publishing slot being given to someone who doesn't want to make waves. Good for that person, bad for progress, unless it was the big money making authors who got behind this and helped us little guys out....though, I gotta wonder what contracts those authors are under, like if it's anything that can keep this from happening....🤔
There's lots to think about, and I'm glad you let us know so we can go in prepared.
Question, though, (publishing related, not gaslighting): if an author takes years to write and perfect their first novel before submission and the publisher likes it enough to have them do that 2 book deal, how do the publishers expect the author to turn out as great a book in limited time, especially if it's the publisher forcing in their two cents on plot and character interactions? (Like say if the authors original idea for a second book went x way that they plotted out, but the publisher has them scrap that because x other author is already slotted to publish a novel with that general outline)
Because it seems to me that a first time author wouldn't be able to turn out an amazing sequel in that circumstance in so little a time, at least not one that captures their voice and plot if they have to work with an editor to churn it out by the date the publisher wants it.
Just thoughts.😅
Exactly right! Authors are supposed to be grateful, as if pubs have done them a favor - not the case at all. I've had the same thought about pubs looking for authors who don't speak up...but already, I've seen so many cases to the contrary, authors who are vocal online about inequality and they're still getting deals and selling books.
And LOL, that is such a good question and I think it's the reason the sophomore novel is such a terrifying experience. On the one hand, you do have less time to write the draft, and there's more pressure. On the other hand, now you have an editor to help you from the beginning! Editors are often sounding boards for authors when they're first developing an idea, and that helps the whole process move along so much faster.
But yeah, it becomes a different world after that first book comes out! This would be a great topic for another video, tbh. :)
Scary how accurate this is.
Yes to this completely! All of it, and I completely agree even tho I'm not traditional
It's a whole mess, isn't it? lol
This is how I feel at time. I am a self-publisher. And it's hard to get some company to even look at my book. Its a lot of work and sometimes I just want to cry.😭😭😭
I am so glad you said, “You didn’t buy a lottery ticket” I am sure it can feel like winning the lottery after months of trying. Thanks for this video.
It absolutely can feel that way! Thanks for watching! :)
That comment really hit home.
This is something i've only scratched the surface of in my journey to become a published author but I can say from my limited (and failed) experience with small publishers, this super hits home. And I wanted to call out when you said "authors try to go the traditional publisher route rather than self-published route because they don't have the time, the knowhow, the skills, or the desire to market themselves". That hits the nail on the head for me and is one of the huge reasons why I decided to try at submissions. Developing a social media and marketing plan in general is so. much. work. Thank you for this enlightening video!
Thank you so much for watching, Lyndsie! And same here - I'm really attracted to the idea of self-publishing but my marketing skills are non-existent, so it really feels like it's just not an option.
This was so great! I appreciate you sharing your wisdom on this important topic! As a self-published author, I do ALLLL THE THINGS, but didn't realize that in the traditional world ALLLL THE THINGS aren't done for everyone, all the time... or I guess, that some authors are given the "Rachel treatment". Thanks for educating me so that when I do get to the Traditional world, I know how to better advocate for myself.
Thanks so much for watching, Amanda! Yeahhhh the houses SHOULD do alllll the things....alas! 😂 But hey, it's awesome that you have the skills to handle the marketing side of things (even though you shouldn't have to on the trad pub route!)
Oh my god😢I am speechless
You just said it all 🥺
It's a lot, lol. Thank you so much for watching, Rania!
Great video. There's so much pressure to build a huge a social media following. I've even heard stories of agents rejecting first-time authors because they don't have a large enough social media following. Is that another form of gaslighting?
Thanks so much, Carrie! And wow, yeah, I would say so. It's just so misleading. Is Susanne Collins anywhere on social media? Nope. Yet somehow her books are a household name. Go figure. >.>
I think a lot of my trouble with social media, is I made the mistake of following one of those profiles where they constantly promote self-publishing banners, but don't really interact. So my Twitter got kind of bloated long long before I was ready to promote anything. So I had these flood of followers who weren't actually interested in my book, but simply there to promote their book.
I ended up creating a seperate one for the promotion, and one for the networking just to keep my sanity. Making your own website ( rather than hiring a designer ) is worth it if you have the skills.
Where I have trouble: figuring out what hashtags are best to promote in. I would have liked to do YA ( though I do New Adult now ) but find it...extremely overwhelming.
I bet you aren't alone there! I know back in my Twitter days, my feed was super bloated with that kind of stuff because we all thought it's what we were supposed to be doing.
This was such a helpful video. I'll be trying my hand at trad publishing after years of being indie so this was eye opening. Thank you for the great content!
Thanks so much for watching!! And wow, that's really exciting. Please keep me posted on how it's going!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Will do! 😊
Thanks for this powerful reminder of why I haven’t prioritized writing a third under-funded, under-publicized novel. My experiences with the first two pretty much mirrored Rachel’s story.
Ugh, I'm sorry to hear that, Lynn. It's so frustrating!
This is so true. Thank you for making this video👍new authors will be more aware. It is even worse in my country where publishing is so disorganised.
Thank you so much for watching, Ashwini! I hope it gets better, both here and internationally.
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Yes I hope so too🙏
Excellent video, Michelle. Yeah, those good looking and charming personality types are usually the ones who fit the few suits left over (on the A list for any actual promotional package) after the top tier talent. That’s universal in the entertainment world. The unfortunate thing about everything being united under a large corporate umbrella is exactly what they consider to be “cost effective.” Because I’m sure you’ve seen them do their dance and get newcomers without experience-or stellar talent-on the best seller list who fit that particular suit. The downside of corporate is they always bank on what they can hold within their tight little fist. And it’s always a very small percentage. From that percentage they might make a whole lot of money...but for big business, that’s not very big thinking. Why only about 5%? Why not 7, 10, or 15%? The amount of money they could potentially make could be staggering. They could totally expand and be able to afford more editors exponentially as they went along. But no, they are always trying to make more with less. And it always hits that wall where they’ve stretched themselves too thin and they aren’t making the cash they once did. Then entire lines of business are cut like dead branches because stepping back shows a weakness, or that they were wrong. So it doesn’t happen. And they’ll give you dozens of artificial reasons why it can’t be done. But wait...didn’t you turn many mediocre writers into money makers when the suit was to your liking? Haven’t you patted yourselves on the back countless times for your ability to sell the public crap and make them like it?
"But no, they are always trying to make more with less."
/holds up lighter/
Yeah, you nailed it. This really is an issue they've created that doesn't actually need to exist. I'm constantly thinking "well, I don't know much about running a business so I'm sure there's plenty about this I don't understand" but you know...I think I actually CAN recognize a bad business model when I see one, and this model sucks. lol
I would love to see what would happen if a big house took 10% of the marketing budget for one Big author and evenly dispersed it into marketing for the other 90% of the authors on that list. Just 10%, that's all. I bet the Big author would sell exactly as well and the midlisters would see dramatic improvement.
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Agreed. Y’know...if all the would be writers and mid listers put up $5 each, we could start our own publishing company and have enough left over to pay employees for the next year (probably a lot longer) until we got something going...LOL!
@@storydtechtiverobertjones464 YES. Or put our collective money into hiring a publicity team to work for the entire group...
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor That could work as well :)
I love this video!!! Can I hug this video?!!
Of course you can! :) Thanks so much for watching, Esther!
Wow. Yes, to all of this, 100%. Thank you, Michelle, for spelling it all out.
Tara! Hey!! :D Thanks so much for watching. I won't lie, making this was pretty cathartic! lol (Hope you're doing well!)
We have everything from big names like Neil Gaiman to debut authors from tiny presses speaking at the writing convention near me (I think it’s the biggest in the country). I had just assumed this was the norm. Perhaps it has something to do with NZ being a tiny market, with local publishers generally choosing stories with an NZ focus 🤔
I love that! Wish more festivals did the same!
This video was fascinating and the friends characters were the icing on the cake. Subbed and bell’d!
Aw, thank you so much!! I really appreciate it! :D
Poor Chandler! I had no idea that happened, thank you for letting me know so I can be aware
You're welcome, and thank you for watching!!
This is a great, informative video. I'm glad I stumbled on it.
Thank you so much for watching! :)
Wow. Thank you so much for sharing. This is a really important discussion to have and worth more investigating.
Thank you for watching, Jason! Agreed - I hope the conversation continues.
I feel like this is a dumb question, but how do books actually sell? I've heard most people buy books on recommendations from their friends who read, but it must be more complex than that.
That isn't a dumb question at all, Kathleen! That's THE question. A lot of it is just money - when a book has a huge marketing campaign, tons of buzz, and prominent placement in bookstores/featured placement on Amazon, it's probably gonna move. And yes, lots of books break out in a more organic way via word of mouth, but that's relatively rare and hard to predict!
This video is genius! So informative and entertaining. Thank you so much, I have subbed. You got an awesome personality.
Aw, thanks so much!! 😀
Wow, this is an excellent video. Thank you.
Thank you so much for watching! :)
Thanks for this very helpful and honest information. Subscribed!
Thank you so much, Erica! :)
What are your DIY publicity boundaries? What do you enjoy doing to promote your books, and where do you draw the line?
My boundaries are firmly drawn on doing ANY marketing. Nope, I'm out. I don't like social media, I would rather swim with hungry alligators with 24857328363 needles jabbed in each eyeball than spend 0.000000000000000000000000000000001 seconds on any social media. So I pay someone to deal with all that for me :)
@@tanahutton2681 ROFL yup yup yup, I'm with you!
@Michelle schusterman, I found you after watching Alexa on pretty much the same topic. Youre cool. Ive subscribed.
@@tanahutton2681 Aw thanks! so much I watched Alexa's vid last night - it was excellent. :)
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor It really was. I appreciate y'alls openness and for lack of a better word - bluntness. I understand that. I don't understand people who beat around the bush about things. Thanks for being so open.
Thank you for this. And bonus for it being funny and engaging as well. Well funny in that laughter through tears sort of way.
So how much freedom does the author have to use some of their advance money for marketing if their publisher won’t do a campaign for them? Does an author have to get approvals for that kind of thing?
You had me wanting to curl up into a ball and cry when you said not all publishers will tweet/gram out a cover reveal, or even just do something shareable when a book is released. Is that the norm?
Thanks so much, Barrett! Authors can use their advance money (or any money) to promote themselves...but in certain cases, particularly when it comes to festivals and cons, their house might frown on them essentially pitching themselves to be on a panel or have a signing booth, because they have their authors they want to send and there's limited room. I've heard of authors getting kind of chewed out by their publishers for that - for literally paying their own way to promote their books. It's...depressing.
I honestly can't say if that's the norm, but back when I was on Instagram fairly frequently, I saw most houses just post about the same handful of titles over and over again. :/
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Wow. Okay! Thank you for this advice. Good to know that can be frowned upon. Reading Kacen’s blog post you shared gave me an eye opening look behind the curtain of Publishers Gaslighting.
Love your content. Thanks so much.
@@BarrettLaurie @Barrett Laurie Wasn't Kacen's post fantastic? I'm so glad authors are talking about this more often. And thank you so much for watching!!
Wait, so... maybe I missed the explanation but WHY do publishers expect authors to have platforms if it doesn’t help with sales? What’s the point?!
I'm not sure what a publicist at a house would say in answer to that (very excellent) question, but to me it's because offering suggestions to the author is better than simply saying "we aren't doing any marketing for you." Sounds much more positive to offer the author suggestions like form a street team! tweet! bookstagram! etc. Either way, their focus is on the big names/titles - I don't actually think they expect midlisters to break out because they tweeted a whole lot. It just sounds proactive.
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor that makes sense! And then if the book flops, they can say, well, you didn’t market yourself enough. Even though that’s not our job.
Big claps for this! 👏
Does a low advance pretty much equal the publisher's lack of support? (asking before I watch the whole video so may delete lol)
I think Monica was probably a hell of a lot better writer from the get go. I don't think many authors can expect the kick off she got unless the publisher thinks they got a major hit going for them. Where was the other woman's agent???
great video!!
Thanks, Eddie! :)
Great video! I have a question: a publisher wants to publish my first novel. She just bought the publishing house back in December and she’s busy, it’s a small editor. She’s telling me we’re gonna meet, my manuscrit has been read by her readers she’s want to release it in fall this years but everytime i send her a mail to start working on my novel she’s never answer me. She told me that she’s super busy i get that but we first talk back in February and i hadn’t seen my manuscript yet only talked to her to the phone or by email. What do you think? Thank you.
Thank you so much, Lily! And that's really exciting news - congrats on finishing your first novel! To be honest, I do think it's a red flag that this editor isn't responding to emails. Have you searched for her name and/or the publishing house with Writer Beware? I think that would be a good place to start looking: accrispin.blogspot.com/ and also www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/
Since she just bought the house recently there might not be a lot of info about the house itself, which is why I'd suggest searching for her by name and seeing if any other writers have had experiences with her. It might all be perfectly innocent, but it doesn't hurt to dig around a little bit! Keep me posted, okay? I really hope this works out for you and your book!!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor thank you so much for answering. Yes it’s a well known publisher and she’s been a publisher for over 20 years. It’s in QC. The last time i got news it’s because i called her on the phone. She kept saying she’s was sorry for not replying and start telling me that we need to find the right audience for my book, that i needed to write my bio for the website that we’ll gonna have a zoom meeting but i wrote her the next week to send me my manuscript with all the things i need to change/improve because on the phone she told me that we needed to finish working on my novel for June and no answers till then 😔 sorry my English is not fluent
@@Alexandra-ew3ep No prob! It might be that she's genuinely overwhelmed right now, having just bought the house and actually being a publisher for the first time. Of course, that's no excuse for not replying to her authors - but it doesn't necessarily mean there's anything shady going on. Consider reaching out to authors she's worked with as an editor and asking them to chat about what it's like working with her. This is something authors do all the time when considering whether to sign with a particular agent or editor. (And no apologies necessary, your English is great!)
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor thanks again ☺️
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor Hi! I just wanted to let you know that i called my editor today (again) and we’ll have a meeting on Tuesday. I’m relief and i wanted to thank you again for your words and support and answering so quickly
More indie publishing ✊🏾
Self-publishing is getting there.
You mean with the gaslighting??
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor I meant as a more healthy option for authors. Authors will depend only on themselves. I think that's the way to go right now. As an independent author you would need the same as a traditional author: social networking, doing your own promotion and so on; but you will be the boss and the royalties are much better. I guess, I am just a wannabe. Have you got any video about selfpublishing? What are your thoughs about it?
@@aurematic Ahh, I see your point. I don't have self-pub experience - but I did put up a new video today about marketing in traditional publishing. Next Monday's follow up to that one is going to get into how self-pubbed authors and trad pubbed authors are actually running up against the same problems when it comes to marketing. It's all very interesting (and frustrating!)
So, damned if you do, and damned if you don't... Well... DAMN! lol
That's pretty much the whole of it! 🙃
Well, I think I’m depressed now. LOL
Awww I'm sorry Nina! I'm actually planning a "here's what's great about tradpub" video because the news is so often bleak, haha. But there's lots of positive stuff to say, too!
@@MichelleSchustermanAuthor I appreciate not sugar coating it. I know we all hope we’ll be a Monica, but it’s not realistic. My goal is traditional publishing still, I appreciate the glimpse into reality.
@@NinasNook It's definitely best to know what you're getting into! But as a solidly midlist author, I promise there's still so much to love about the traditional publishing process. (Although I hope you'll be a Monica too!! :)
THANK. YOU. Ugh. This is sooo frustrating!
It really is! (And thank YOU! 😀)