Friday, June 29, 2012

Do this, don't do that!

We have been working on getting published since 2009. We didn't know squat about doing it or how to go about it. So we hit the libraries, asked people, read magazines and anything else we could think of. We were told, 'Get an agent to represent you then all your problems will be solved!" o.k..  so we start looking into it. Write this way, not that way, put this in but not that, 3 lines, 5 lines, 3 pages or 5 pages. Submit in this font or as an attachment. No put it in the body. Everyone wants it differently. Jump through all the magical rings and maybe if you are really lucky you can get published! Well, that didn't pan out for us so we decided to go the indie route. Everyone said, you can do what you want, post what you want and be your own boss! Finally the golden ticket!
"ahem, excuse me but you can't post that on this blog, site, facebook page or myspace! Post this here, not there, like this place but don't be a drive by. visit often and post often, but don't promote on this site. O.k you can post on this thread but not on that one.

Why are you promoting here? you need to find your audience!

How do I find my audience?

We don't know, we just know it isn't here! Go to other sites, where they visit, but its not here. 
Don't spam anyone, help others out, but don't help yourself very much,
Make sure your book is polished to the best it can be! Make sure you have the right cover art! Make sure all your i's are dotted and your t's are crossed.

Does any of this sound like the old school way of getting an agent?

Wait a minute! I thought we were supposed to be independent! I thought we could post where we wanted! Be free of restricting confines of the same old routine of the old school ways?! I thought thats why we decided to go the indie route. This way we didn't have to jump through hoops and train trick ponies and do all the circus rigamarole! Wrong! It might be the "new and improved way" but it still has an aweful lot of feel of the old school ways. We still crave an agent to represent us and help us get into the big leagues. the brick and mortar buildings may not be there any more the confines of the walls haven't come down yet. 
No I don't know if there is a point to this blog other than an observation. We want the new and improved and yet we still use some of the same old fashioned rules. Maybe Amanda Hocking had it right in doing it the way she did. She wrote how she wanted to and published how she wanted to. She didn't conform to any rules. She just did it. typo's and all. Did people get on her about it? heck yes! but you know what? she sold an aweful lot of books and made an even bigger amount of money doing it her way. Yes she did get an agent in the end. Like I said, we are all aiming for that golden ticket. Right? 

Amanda Hocking did it, Other's have done it. Millions of us strive to do it. We try to do it the way Amanda did it and the way others did it. We follow and use anything we can to try and crack the code for that golden ticket. I'm not saying crank out the garbage of stories. But if you have a good story, people will see that, mistakes and all. They will know you have written a good story. O.k enough of my griping, I just wanted to make an observation and ask if anyone else has noticed how we seem to be still following the old ways even though we are supposed to be doing it a new way. It feels like we just went from the old time manual printing press, to the modern printing press to online print. Another way of making a book, still the same old hoops to jump through. Just something to think about as Independence day approaches. We fought for our freedom just to confine ourselves some more. Just a thought.

2 comments:

  1. Great post! Makes us think for sure! Indie publishing is a great way to go. It's hard work either way, so you might as well keep more of the control with what is happening!! Thanks!

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