I would think that for every published book in print, there are at least three others, one of which will be a better story than the one published, sitting on a shelf gathering dust. The reason is all to familiar. Agents for too long, have been selective in what they want to represent. Who can blame them for representing a nineteen year old pop singer who wants to write her biography. Money, irregardless of agents statements that they wish to represent 'only the best', is a big part of the decision making process. Publishers used to accept MS but not any more. They will accept an MS only with the recommendation of an agent. So what are the chances of being published the old way? Not very good.
What are the chances of getting published electronically? 100%. Now we have thousands of would be authors writing like mad and publishing as fast as their fingers can push buttons on the self publishing page of Amazon. And what about those writers who already have those three books up on the shelf? Well, we can go to Amazon like everyone else and self publish. But there is the problem. Supposing our books are at a fairly good editorial level, not good - but fair enough for a reader to want to buy more from that author. As a reader you want to buy a political thriller. You don't know what you want until you see it so you go to 'thriller' section. Now you look through hundreds of books. Chances are you will choose one from the first one hundred. That means that as a writer, your book MIGHT be picked, assuming it is listed in the top one hundred. Result. Your book is going to gather dust on Amazon as opposed to the shelf in your office. And the reader - well he just chose another unedited book and is very disappointed.
I have written four full length novels and only one got published. I wanted it in print so I got hold of Publish America. I chose the option for a full editing service, which was free (everything is free). A good deal you might think. Not so. They do not market or distribute the book. They print to order, normally to the writer. They forget to send a royalty check, even if it is for $25. Their standard of editing is a joke, this after taking four months to edit. Last year I purchased the publishing rights from them (they hold the rights for seven years) for the sum of $109. I then published the book on Kindle and guess what, despite advertising it I sold 2 copies. It is now withdrawn and I am going to publish it on 'Good Read,s' two tier system and see what happens.
We all want to be recognised and published. We are enthusiastic and like being patted on the head. That's great but not all we need in order to be published. We need to recognise that we are not that good that we can just edit our own work and then publish. We need another pair of eyes, not only looking for all the little things we missed grammatically, but those other bigger issues that make our work COMMERCIAL. We need someone to say, "You need to show that character's inner thoughts" or "How do you think your character feels after hearing the bad news". Injecting atmosphere and feelings into work is a very hard thing to do and I am learning that now.
The Story Mint is like a Phoenix rising out of the ashes of old style publishing. If we have the patience and the courage to write, submit, edit, and take time to re write and adjust, the result will be worth waiting for.
Readers are not going to turn away from an author who has produced a good book, and they will buy the next one, especially if they know they can make comments on their authors book and even communicate direct with the author. And the editing standard? You will see for yourself during the next two/three weeks. I'll post examples.
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