Publishing and E-Publishing

But Really, What Format?

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

As a writer, I find my use of format almost automatic.  This book is only an ebook, this book ebook then print, my print always 6”x9”, and so on.  I’ve recently been experimenting with zines and magazines, which is refreshing for getting me slightly outside my comfort zone.

When I speak about writing, I can easily rattle off the usual formatting advice.  This as an ebook, this as a picture book, audiobooks can be great but are risks, etc.  There’s so much that is “the usual,” and I didn’t see it until I read Joe Biel’s People’s Guide to Publishing.

In time I’ve come to realize that a lot of us writers choose formats for any reason but actually meeting the goals we have.  There’s so much expected, so much taught rote, and so much that supposedly works I don’t think many of we writers put thought into what format works best.

For instance, for years I focused on my worldbuilding eBooks.  They were fast, easy, and I figured the books were a quick read.  It was much later when I looked at physical book sales and considered how my audience may want to reread that I considered physical copies.  I could imagine half a shelf taken up in an indie bookstore with just my stuff.  I imagined how people might gift five or six of my small books to a friend.

But I just did ebooks because, uh . . . well simple stuff is supposed to be ebooks, right?  I didn’t ask the questions we should all be asking:

What are my goals?

What does my audience want?

The formats we choose should reflect those goals – and honestly, your goals should be first.  I mean if you don’t want to physically format a 200 page color photobook I sort of get it.  But at least consider it.

When it comes to formats, we writers should ask what really meets our goals.  Yes, you could format a book on Amazon, but if you’re only going to sell local maybe just print off 100 copies at a local shop.  You could do an elaborate print book, but maybe your audience wouldn’t pay $75.00 for it – but would love a $10 ebook.  Maybe, as Biel noted (and inspired me) you just want to do a zine, or a magazine, or something else.

You also don’t have to do every format.  I’m thrilled we’re in an age where people have stopped saying everyone needs to do an audiobook.  Sure you probably want an ebook and a physical book, but maybe not – and maybe not hardcover and softcover or whatever.

This was a refreshing realization.  As I plan the next stages of my writing career now that I’m like 40 books and more in, it helps me see many more options ahead of me.  Free of “format assumption” I can see the many choices I have.

I just have to make sure I am really aware of my goals.

Steven Savage

For Our Writing To Matter

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

I see an obsession with some writers about “having it last,” that thing that ensures your book has an impact.  They want the physical copy everyone is reading on the airplane, the wide distribution, becoming a classic.  That’s very understandable, we humans are social creatures, and we want to affect people.

I get the desire for impact.  But I’d argue that many things we use to say “my work has an effect” don’t really mean we will.  At least not a good one or a lasting one.

A physical paperback in stores, all over the world?  Well, maybe people read it, but also perhaps no one buys it, or it costs too much.  A small, cheap ebook might reach more people faster, especially specific audiences or via libraries.

Wide distribution?  Well, maybe you’ll reach people and change them.  Or maybe your book clogs the shelves of used book stores and library donations.  Maybe your book is spread out so wide that the right people don’t get reached. 

Becoming a “classic?”  A longshot, but also a chance your work is consigned to dusty academia and forced on students, meaning your work is isolated, hated, or both.  Taxidermy isn’t immortality.

(There is of course the chance that all you do means you get all the wide distribution and become a classic, but you wrote something that doesn’t make a difference.)

I’m not saying this is easy; I’m saying that if you want to change the world, make sure you’re doing it in a way that works for you and your goals.  Following someone else’s recipe for success doesn’t mean it’ll work for you.  In the writing world we’ve got so much advice that if it all worked, a lot more of us would be successful.

Serdar and I often discuss how we know people who were deeply affected by our writing.  Not a lot of people, but those who experienced profound changes.  Would we rather give 100 people a fun read or five people a life-changing event?  It’s a question to ponder.

I don’t have an answer for you – I just want you to ask the question what is the best way to matter.  Your  ideas may be wrong.  You might not even care and just enjoy writing so if you’re happy, you are the target audience.

In closing, let me share an experience. I do books on Worldbuilding, the Way With Worlds series.  Though there are two large start books, most of the series are small, cheap ebooks that focus on very specific subjects.  You grab a book for $2.99 America, read through fifty questions, and get on with writing.

These books are my best sellers by far and people seem to like them.  No one is going to list them as classics, no one’s entire writing career will be defined by one book.  The small books aren’t even available in print, though I’m thinking of changing that to help more people.

Apparently, they have an impact.  It’s not big or flashy, but judging by reviews and discussions, they help.

Maybe they’ll even change the world indirectly.  Some future hit book that makes a difference may have in its literary DNA one of my tiny guides.  It won’t be many writers’ definition of success, but it definitely is one of mine.

Steven Savage

Just Get It Out There

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

Are you a writer? Good, get your work out there in the world, even if you have to change it up later.

The world is on fire, history is being made, and we’d like it to stop, thanks. Get your book or zine or whatever get out there now so people can experience it. You’ll figure out how to do better later if you need to.

I came to this conclusion while debating putting out print versions of my worldbuilding minibooks. These small guides to specific worldbuilding questions are maybe 55-75 pages in print, the kind of thing that is usually just an ebook. However, since I could see people gifting these, taking notes in them, etc. I started exploring how to put them into print.

That wasn’t as easy as I thought.

I could do them through Amazon, which has a great POD setup that parallels their easy Kindle system. But I could do IngramSpark and get them into bookstores (though It’d cost me). I then began debating my choices . . .

Suddenly I remembered Zine culture and its rapid, DIY aesthetic. Zine-makers often aim to get things out, sometimes against the odds. Putting something into a usable form makes it more likely it gets used, and Zine culture emphasized getting stuff to people.

Then looking at the state of the world, I realized that if I wanted to get my work into people’s hands in print, I should just do it. I didn’t know what the future held, but I knew what would let me get my work out in print before too much future happened.

So I decided to go to Amazon. Any other debate aside, it would let me do it faster and with a system I knew. I could always change up later.

I implore you, as a fellow writer, to get your work out there in whatever reasonable way you can. Maybe it will just be an ebook; perhaps you’ll decide to go with IngramSpark and pay the fees to get to bookstores, or maybe it’ll be self-printed. Just do it before you don’t have the chance to.

Hell,  getting your work out there in these crazy times might make the times less crazy. I’m not saying ramming your book out through Draft2Digital will save the world, but you might save it for some people. It’s far better than whatever you’ve written sitting there unappreciated and unread.

Steven Savage