Wednesday 3 September 2008

I can't do everything

The trouble with going it alone in the publishing business is the numerous roles needed to be filled, all fall upon the loner.

The writing bit was good. Writing a book is definitely good. But now I have to promote and market. I need to be a publicist and agent. This is where I struggle. The whole idea of self publishing was that it allowed me to avoid the industry. Allowed me to operate outside the industry. No need to speak or have any contact with publishers, publicists, agents, editors who would turn sun saluki into a product, prepped and ready for market, not recognisable as my original creation. Part of the plan was to write with the freedom and knowledge that nobody would be able to change it. If it was a bit rough round the edges so what? Not everything benefits from being stripped and polished. Herein would be the unique quality, the charm.

But now I have to sell it. I am the one who needs to turn it into a product. I am the one getting their hands dirty prepping it for market. The way I've been speaking about it, I no longer recognise sun saluki as my original creation.

But what can you do? If I do nothing nobody will buy it and I won't achieve my goal of breaking even and preventing it all from being one big vanity project. Also, I still think people will enjoy it. So I will have to continue heading up every department, I'll be a salesman for a while, a marketeer, and that will be fine just as long as I remember the writing is what matters, sun saluki is what matters.

So roll up, gather round, there's this book, and I'm telling ya, you NEED to own this book...