I bother with it because I write for an audience in mind, and when it comes to novels, publishing is still the best way for an audience to find my work. Also the submissions process isn't impossible, just difficult, and for some people the money involved is acceptable for their needs and desires. - ThreadSky

scalzi.com • 144 days ago

I bother with it because I write for an audience in mind, and when it comes to novels, publishing is still the best way for an audience to find my work. Also the submissions process isn't impossible, just difficult, and for some people the money involved is acceptable for their needs and desires.

Reposted from Janeishly (she/her)

Good grief. Why does anyone bother with publishing when it pays so badly, even for people who've "made it"? You might as well just write for your own pleasure and never go through the all but impossible submissions process or the hell of trying to market your self published book.

Comments

devinoch.bsky.social•143 days ago

I mean, there are other ways to do it. I make a comfortable living writing purely for Patreon, but I'm also still trying to break into publishing as well, because why limit yourself?

justingwallace.bsky.social•144 days ago

Thank you for continuing to write!

rainyknits.bsky.social•144 days ago

Thank you for what you do. I have 33 min left on Starter Villain audiobook and am enjoying it immensely. You clearly write with your readers in mind and I am truly grateful.

storiteller.bsky.social•142 days ago

I had the exact same reason for publishing my book and doing so through a small, but traditional publisher. (I sadly didn't make much money - but I have a day job writing, so that was fine.) I really wanted it to reach as many people as possible though and trad publishing would help me do so.

masontmatchak.bsky.social•144 days ago

Exactly. I don't think I'll ever make a living writing, but I've been trying to get published for 22 years and I'm not giving up because I want my books out there for people to read.

Also, I'm absolute crap as a salesman and I'm not self-publishing because that would be like a third job.😖

janeishly.bsky.social•144 days ago

Oh, I wasn't questioning your reasons - you're one of the success stories! But there must be many people who can't afford to even try to make writing part of their income, people with interesting stories we'll never hear. I can't decide if that matters, in the scheme of things.

foozzzball.bsky.social•144 days ago

So I am brutally realist about this. Like. I do the math on how much the publishing industry brings in vs how many authors it's trying to attract.

And, books saved me. The escapism of a chunky trilogy on my shelf made my life better. I have a manic drive to be that escapism-savior for someone else.

janeishly.bsky.social•144 days ago

That's a really great reason to write!

libbyann13.bsky.social•144 days ago

I tried for 40 years - from 15 to 55 - and earned a total of $600, and $500 of that was a writing scholarship in college. Finally gave up. It's hardly worth all the struggle for that little money.
I do kind of wish I'd found out sooner I wasn't meant to be a writer. I'd have done something else.

empressnorton.bsky.social•144 days ago

As a much less successful author, I bother with the submissions process for the bragging rights when I get an acceptance, and for the bragging rights when, even if I don't get an acceptance, I hit my rejection goal.

janeishly.bsky.social•144 days ago

That's a great attitude! My view of the whole thing has been coloured by watching someone write a bunch of good books, fail at self marketing and eventually have everything they wrote deleted by KDP for a spurious reason. Even publishing has been enshittified!

postingtreyf.bsky.social•144 days ago

The fucking irony of a translator asking that question when the state of the translation industry isn’t exactly high paying itself (I’ve got friends who are translators and interpreters) is wild.

janeishly.bsky.social•144 days ago

Oh, quite. The difference is that when it hadn't been decimated by MT, you could make far more as a translator than many writers. (Admittedly, not if you were a literary translator, that's another part of the publishing industry that pays terribly!)

Is it just that we need to pay more for books?

postingtreyf.bsky.social•144 days ago

Actually, yes. Publishers should also return to doing more mass market paperbacks. The PPB is lower and they sell more units since the prices are lower than regular paperbacks.

mkfshard.bsky.social•144 days ago

I can't imagine doing self-publishing, honestly. That's just screaming into the void with higher stakes, and I've been too long on the internet to believe I have any chance of getting a good amount of people to look at my stuff alone.

dilliontony.bsky.social•144 days ago

good

fuzcat.bsky.social•144 days ago

The authors I know personally want to tell stories and have them read. They also want to make “enough”. That kinda varies.

janeishly.bsky.social•144 days ago

Yeah, I get that, but it's a very hard and unpredictable way to make "enough", and how many great stories do we lose when people simply can't afford to take the gamble?

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