How Not to Get Published

There’s nothing more gratifying for a writer than seeing their name in print.  Obviously, anybody can get published online, but when your work appears in print, and even better, when you get paid for it, you know that a string of professionals have deemed your work print-worthy.

In the past, when freelancing was a casual avocation, I was fortunate enough to have all but two of my submitted articles published. Significantly, I think, those were two that I deliberately wrote with only one end in mind: to make money. The rest either came from the heart or were follow-up articles after having gotten my foot in the door.

Writing web content is something I fell into out of dire necessity: it was either that or go hungry. I live in a country where people die all the time because they can’t afford the basic necessities of life and my ‘status’ as a foreigner with no previous experience with destitution does not exempt me. Yes, I could have pulled out my VISA card, bailed out back to Australia and gone on the dole and free medical care, but had I done that, my Cambodian family would have suffered far more than I was willing to accept. Fortunately, after 3 years of struggle, things have turned out okay. I have steady work for clients I like and respect and am making enough to support myself and my family.

My last big freelance assignment was a book. The topic was centred around the internet’s negative affect on the job market in the U.S. and other developed countries. A week ago, I could have told you the title and given the book a plug, but just yesterday I received a token payment in exchange for removing my name as co-author. The only other option I was offered was to pay a portion of the money the chosen publisher demanded for publishing the book. To my way of thinking, that’s not the way to get published.

The Self Publishing Alternative

Self publishing used to be a dirty word amongst writers, but it is slowly gaining respectability. The internet is responsible for this. Between inexpensive print-on-demand platforms and eBook publishers, anybody can do it, but after that, you’re on your own. Today, anybody who has strung together enough words to fill a few chapters can say, “I’ve written a book.” There’s nothing to it. Very few, however, can say, “My self published book is selling” and even fewer can say they have self published a book that readers recommend to others.  That’s where self publishing respectability comes from. In order to gain that respectability, you have to do two things:

1. Write a book that entertains and/or informs your reader (ideally both).
2. Learn how to market your book.

I can’t think of a single genuinely good book that hasn’t been written with passion and conviction. This includes so-called “pulp fiction” and non-fiction. Occasionally, a writer’s passion stems from a desire to make money, but only rarely, because there are a lot of easier ways to make a living. When it does spring from money, it’s usually because the writer has no other recourse or is appalled by the thought of making money any other way.

Marketing a book, too, has to spring from passion or conviction or you won’t be able to go the distance. That’s one of the reasons why I declined the “invitation” to pay a portion of the publishing fee. Publishers are in it for the money and if they are not willing to assume any risk, they are not going to market with passion. They are “vanity” publishers who prey on writers’ desire to see their name in print. There’s no respect in that. I don’t want to see my name on that book even if it does find its way on to the shelves and sells more than the 5000 copies that have to sell before the author starts to receive any royalties.

Nice to get that off my chest. Now, back to work!

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Tags: book publshing, ebooks, freelance writing, print-on-demand, self-publishing, vanity press, writing