I’m in an investigative mood this month, and I’m hoping you all will help me out with an examination of two different areas of publishing.
1. Publishing Connections
Some of you may remember my original look at the publishing connections myth (i.e., the theory that you have to know someone to have a shot at getting published) which was, wow, more than six years ago now. The original data seemed to prove that the majority of published authors sold their first book with no connections necessary, but people pointed out a few concerns–that I hadn’t been able to break it down by genre, for example, or by what year people had sold their debut in. That myth/theory about needing connections still seems to be hanging on, possibly even more so with all the changes in the industry over the last six years, so I’ve been meaning to take another, more thorough run at the subject. So here we are! Let’s find out to what extent, even right now, for any given type of book, you’re likely to get published without knowing anyone in publishing at all. 🙂
If you have sold a book-length work of fiction (for any age group) to a traditional publishing house (of any size) at any time, whether with connections or without, I would greatly appreciate it if you took a few minutes to fill out my new Publishing Connections survey. By traditional publishing, I mean a publishing house that offered you an advance and/or royalties to publish your book and provided editorial guidance, cover and interior design, and some level of marketing and distribution at no cost to you. All individual responses are completely anonymous. I’ll keep the survey open until mid-November and then present the results. Please share widely with any traditionally published authors you know if you’re inclined to!
2. Self Publishing Numbers
A whole lot of traditionally published authors I know are starting to dip their toes into the self publishing world or are curious about doing so, with out of print backlist titles and/or new projects that don’t seem suited to traditional publishing for whatever reason. I’ve found in my own research (for Those Who Lived and the forthcoming re-release of Give Up the Ghost) that definite answers are hard to come by, especially when the self publishing landscape is shifting so regularly. So while I had my subscription to the survey site, I thought it’d be a great time to gather some data.
If you have self published at least one book-length work of fiction (for any age group), new work or re-release, I would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to fill out my Self Publishing Numbers survey. The survey collects data on sales numbers and income across genres, series vs. standalone books, price levels, promotional effort, and a variety of other factors, mostly within the past year. I hope it will reveal some patterns people will find useful in deciding whether to self publish a given book and what strategies to use if they do. All individual responses are completely anonymous, and if you are uncomfortable sharing any specific data, you may skip those questions without answering. This survey will be open until mid-November, after which I will present the results. Please share widely with any self publishing authors you know if you’re inclined to!
If you have any questions about either survey, feel free to ask in the comments on this post or to email me directly. And huge thanks to everyone who participates!