Why I Turned My Back On Big Publishers

Working with authors as often as I do, I find that many of them still haven't come to grips with the fact that the world of publishing has changed. Many publishers are finding it difficult to get on board with this as well. I work for a publisher, so I've seen this first hand.

The title of this post may give the impression that I am against publishers, which I am not. I applaud any author who finds success with a decent publisher these days, but the percentage of authors who find that success is becoming smaller and smaller because, like I said, publishing has changed.

My first novel was published when I was 17 years old, a medieval fantasy book for teens. It's not in print anymore so I have no reservations in saying that, well... it sucked. But it was my first experience with a publisher, and it wasn't a good one. Eight years later my second experience with a different publisher was better, but only because my marketing know-how had grown and my expectations were much more realistic. Still, the publisher was slow, not very communicative, and they didn't help my book at all apart from printing and design. I wrote a sequel to that second book and signed a contract with the same publisher. They sat on it for two years. The contract expired. I said, "Um, can I have my book back?" And we parted ways.

By this time, my disdain for publishers was growing.

Then Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series started becoming a cultural phenomenon. I had heard that the book was badly written, but I needed to see for myself just HOW bad it was. So I read it. Folks, it was more than bad. Ridiculous abusive relationship story aside, the narrative was bloated with some of the worst dialogue I've ever read, the biggest misuse of adjectives I've ever seen, and some absolutely embarrassing prose that left me shocked that any publisher would even consider printing this book. Moreover, this piece of so-called "literature" had millions of readers buzzing. How? Why? I mean... seriously? 

Twilight killed me zeal for writing for several years. That's how discouraged I was. And, honestly, I'm having a hard time not getting pissed off all over again with horribly written books like 50 Shades of Grey getting all the attention, but I've matured. Or maybe not. I don't know. That's beside the point.

To this day I am disheartened by the quality of books passing through mainstream publishers. There is no longer a focus on good writing, editing, or content. Publishers today are looking to fill a mold established by marketing executives who figure out what's popular, what will sell, who will buy it, and then search for the right manuscript to fill that prerequisite. Authors aren't picked by big publishing houses because they have amazing writing talent, they're picked because some secret focus group said so. It's all about the Benjamins, baby! 

On a recent 20-hour flight to Maui I had downloaded a bunch of free indie books to my Kindle for something to do on the plane. Most of them were pretty bad, but a few were, surprisingly, quite good. I mean really good! (I'll be posting reviews of some of these books in the future, so keep checking back.) These were books by writers who had taken the time to have their books professionally edited, proof-read, and designed. They had snazzy-looking covers and they were totally original, beautifully written, and unlike ANYTHING you'd find from a mainstream publisher.

These indie authors were onto something. They had latched onto the fact that the world of publishing isn't what it used to be. With so many writers elbowing for sales, and with print books becoming less and less in-demand, publishers aren't as willing to take risks on new and unknown authors. Thanks to Amazon's easy do-it-yourself publishing platform, authors now have more control of their work and retain more of their sales, but, unfortunately, that means they need to work harder and write more content in order to make substantial money. But the ones who do are the ones who thrive.