Do I Make a Fresh New Play for the Traditional Publishing World?

This question of publishing – self or traditional – might not be one and done.

For a time, in the late 90s, I had a literary agent.

I was thrilled to have an agent. It meant I had a much better chance of getting published.

However, fantasy – the finished work I had for publishing – was not his forte. Thus, nothing came of this.

An acquaintance of mine was a professional writer and editor. After much discussion, I hired her to edit Seeker. She cost me the most out of the editors I’ve used – and was worth every penny.

This editor didn’t just edit my book. She taught me lessons that massively improved my overall writing approach, as well as made me into a decent editor. Everything she taught me was invaluable.

I parted ways with that agent and, for the next 10 years – with my newly professionally edited text – sought another. I also submitted my novel when publishers of fantasy were accepting submissions.

Suffice it to say – rejection after rejection came. While it was disheartening, I still sought out and submitted inquiries to agents.

A literary agent is an often necessary gatekeeper to traditional publishing. Lots of the bigger publishing houses don’t accept unsolicited queries or submissions – but agents can open doors.

Many famous writers accepted lots and lots of rejections before finding an agent and/or publisher. Mindful of this, I kept at it.

The world changed. Self-publishing via vanity press gave way to inexpensive, self-directed options. Createspace – the predecessor for Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) – provided all the necessary tools. All I needed was a finished text to put out there.

After a little experimentation with some nonfiction, I decided the time had come to take the next step. I self-published Seeker for Kindle and paperback in October of 2014.

Ongoing self-publishing

After I published Seeker, I published the second Source Chronicles novel, Finder, a year later.

There were some different challenges with this. For several reasons, I couldn’t use the same editor. Though Seeker had gotten some attention from friends and others, as well as some reviews, Finder didn’t share that success.

During the next five years, I self-published a few more nonfiction and unusual genre fiction works. During this time I also began to work on an epic sci-fi/sci-fantasy story.

As COVID-19 brought the world more-or-less to a halt, I decided that to truly be the writer I desired to be, I needed to publish more. So, I took that epic sci-fantasy work and divided it up into multiple novels. From there, the Void Incursion series was born.

In 2020, I had assembled and published the first two Void Incursion novels. I also assembled and published a stand-alone fantasy, Infamy Ascending.

For 2021, I continued to self-published the Void Incursion novels. Additionally, I began a wholly new series – my clone sci-fi Forgotten Fodder books. The first 4 novels, containing one overarching plot, will all be published before the end of November.

I used two different editors to get these novels completed. Unlike self-publishing my prior work, for these, I hired a cover artist. Despite the adage – people DO just a book by its cover. I wanted decent covers for these books (and had the covers for Seeker and Finder were redone, too).

In 2 years, I will have self-published 9 novels. Taking my new approach to planning begun with Forgotten Fodder, I have plotted out 11 more books.

*The first four of the five Void Incursion novels*

Keep at it – or try something new?

The 11 new books I’ve plotted out include the fifth and final Void Incursion novel; a new story arc for 4 more Forgotten Fodder novels, and 6 novels for a new sci-fi series called Savagespace.

As of this date, I am working on the final Void Incursion novel – Check and Mate. It will be published in 2022. I’m also giving one more edit to Harbinger – the third Source Chronicles novel – before sending it to an editor. That should also be published in 2022.

But what about the new Forgotten Fodder novels and this new sci-fi series? Do I continue to self-publish – or take another stab at the traditional publishing route with Savagespace?

With two complete series of novels under my belt – do I have more ammunition to convince an agent or traditional publishing house to take me on?

There are some major advantages to traditional publishing. The biggest of these is marketing. Traditional publishers will invest time and effort into marketing. Additionally, there is still considerable added weight as a writer when you’re traditionally published.

But traditional publishing also yields some control. Profit is no longer entirely yours – you give shares to the publisher and probably a literary agent. Traditional publishing houses also tend to have a more vested interest in the content of your work – which can be good and bad.

Despite the tools available – being traditionally published still has added value and weight. It also appears – and maybe I am just not in the know enough to see otherwise – that traditionally published authors are taken more seriously.

And of course, for the sake of outward appearances, being able to name your publishing house might impress skeptics of your authorship.

Is traditional publishing still worth it?

To be perfectly blunt – I don’t know. As a self-published author, ALL of the aspects of my writing are on me. I am not just the author of these books – I’m the brand and business. MJ Blehart – Author – is also the publisher (using the name Argent Hedgehog Press for added oomph), marketing and sales executive, promoter, publicist, and all other entrepreneurship elements.

If I don’t promote and advertise my books – nobody else will. It’s up to me, as a self-publisher, to do all I can to build up brand recognition.

And that’s not easy. It takes time, effort, trial and error, and like it or not – money.

Even with the numerous free options for publishing – editors, cover artists, and advertising campaigns on Facebook, Amazon, and elsewhere cost money. I am still working on getting a good return on investment (ROI) for the works I’ve published thus far.

Perhaps the hassle, rejection, and challenges of taking the traditional publishing route might be worthwhile. However, I also know that the author still has a tremendous amount of responsibility for marketing and promotion.

At this stage, I need to seek out some successful authors – both self and traditionally published – and see if they will give me some advice. I’m open to getting help because I know that for all I DO know – there’s exponentially more I DON’T know.

Though I have been self-publishing for almost 10 years, I might want to reconsider the traditional publishing process. Thus, this question of publishing – self or traditional – might not be one and done.

No matter what I choose going forward – writing will continue apace. I already know that while I have 11 new novel plot outlines in my queue – there are more inside my head, too.