Last week, Susan Oleksiw discussed what Five
Star/Gale/Cengage authors are doing now that all the fiction lines except Westerns
have been killed by that publisher. We discussed how we mourned the loss but
as a group have continued our writing in many directions. I want to consider
this topic further.
First, let me say that I have been published by
countless small presses and several larger ones as well. It’s never easy when a
publisher goes out of business, drops the line you write for, or simply won’t
publish your future work. There are many reasons for all of these sad situations.
Mostly, they are business-related. The publisher didn’t sell enough books and
didn’t make enough money to justify continuing publication. It’s hard not to
take it personally, but it is a business decision and really doesn’t reflect on
the quality of writing. So many great writers were unknown or unsuccessful
during their lifetimes. But of course that doesn’t help the writer in this
lifetime.
So what is the answer? What should you do when your
publisher dumps you? There are several possibilities. One is to look for an agent who will
represent your work to major publishers. If you already have an agent who
doesn’t seem to be working for you, it could be time to part company and start
querying others. Publishers Lunch is a good source to follow in this regard.
Agents are listed as to recent sales.
Another
possibility is to send your work out to smaller publishers on your own. Do some
googling to see which ones are publishing work similar to yours. Then send out
query letters.
Can’t find another publisher for your book? Perhaps
you need to revise
it, especially if an editor or an agent has given you useful suggestions.
Finally, if none of this works, you can always try self-publishing. Hire
your own editor, cover artist, etc.
For me, it’s been best to find new publishers for my
writing. So I will have a new mystery published by Encircle in April followed
by a YA novel with Black Opal. I’ve also sold several new short stories and
articles to various publications.
On November 8th , THE BURNING, a novella I wrote, was published
by Annorlunda Books. To celebrate, I’m giving away at least one print or
digital copy of this new release. Drop a comment on my current personal blog if
you want to be entered:
We
writers simply need to carry on with work that matters to us and never give up.
What suggestions do you have for writers in this situation? Five
Star authors, what are you doing at this time? What new possibilities do you
see for yourself?
Your comments most welcome here!!
