The Decision to Self-Publish

Most of you have probably seen me throwing up links and talking about my alter-ego.  It's less an alter-ego and more a pseudonym.  Along with my love of all things Urban Fantasy, I have quite the adoration for Regency Romances.  I'll admit it, I'm not much of a historian.  I love them simply for the sap.

For those of you that don't know, I've recently self-published a short novella under the pen-name Diana Connell.  Along with the novella, I have plans for a quartet that I'm going to be spending the next couple years working on.

Does that mean I've stopped writing other things?  Nope!  Not hardly.  This year alone I've written four novels, nearly finished a fifth (stupid Nano-novel, I'm still procrastinating diving in and finishing it) revised two, written a novella, revised the novella, published the novella.  It'll take a little juggling, which I've gotten good at this year, but I should be able to produce two RR novels a year, and still get other things written.  I'm still planning on subbing my young adult to agents.  I'm still going to resume subbing FAERIE BAD LUCK to agents.

I still want to go the "traditional" route to publication.  But, let's face it.  The publishing landscape has drastically changed in the past few years, and if I really want this to be my career, I can't really sit around and wait to be picked up by an agent, then wait some more before a publisher decides I'm worth a shot.  The best way to get my stuff out there, right into the readers hands, is by self-publishing.

Now, I'll admit it, because I'm an honest sort of person, a couple of years ago, I wouldn't have considered self-pubbing.  There was still a big stigma surrounding it, and it was the mark of an amateur, a clueless plebeian of the writing community.  To admit to being self-published was to guarantee you didn't get picked up by an agent.  A lot of that had to do with the quality of tripe that was being self-published, because anyone that produces a book can do it.  That's still true, but the publishing community has come to realize that not all self-pubbed books are crap, and not all self-pubbed authors are clueless.  Actually, there's quite a few of them that are REALLY GOOD.  Like, six figure deal with one of the big six publishers kind of good.

There's actually been several cases where successful self-pubbed authors have gotten their stories picked up by a traditional publisher.

The publishing industry is changing.  The whole damn world is changing.

Am I self-publishing with an eye to make millions quick?  Hell no.

Do I expect to become a best seller and have my romances picked up by one of the big six, or even a smaller traditional publisher?  Nope.

Then why am I self-pubbing?

Why, for you, dear reader.

I have stories to tell, and the big thing about being a writer (at least for me) is sharing those stories.  I was happy for a long time just writing for myself, sharing things with my younger sister, but now I want more.  I want a wider audience.  I want more people to experience the worlds I visit in my head, meet my characters.  Have a laugh, shed a tear, get angry.  Books should make you feel, and I'm not going to inflict emotion on anyone by keeping my books to myself.

Well, maybe money factors into it a little bit.  There's something about earning royalties that makes you feel like a real writer.  An author.  Frankly, I'm happy with the little I've made.  Which, to date, has been about enough to cover the cost of purchasing the stock images I used on the cover.

If you've been dying to read the books I rant and rave and complain about in the archives of this blog, then I'm sorry to disappoint.  You'll have to wait a while.  But please, feel free to go and take a peak at that pen-name of mine (she's on facebook and twitter, too) and maybe take a gander at the sample available for the novella.

Women in Urban Fantasy

Women protagonists are a huge trend in urban fantasy literature. Most all of them are bad ass, wise ass, kick ass women who don't wait for the men to come riding in on their white horses. More often than not, it's the woman riding in to rescue the man.

My critique and writing buddy has told, whenever I'm bouncing ideas off her, that Jacky is too passive. That things happen to her, but she doesn't really do anything for herself. Last night, I finished a book by an author I truly enjoy, who writers female protagonists, but now, I'm sure she writes strong women.

For example, the main character was ambushed by the evil villains and taken far from anyplace where people could get to her, rescue her. The evil villains tortured her, and finally, the men come riding in to the rescue. The thing that bothered me is that in her purse, which the evil villains had conveniently taken with them, were the means for her to save herself. But she didn't even try. She just laid there and let them do horrible things to her, waiting for someone to come save her.

In so many books written by this author, the main character has changed, as characters will. However, I think in that one crucial point, she missed a big chance for a huge change. This character has always relied on others to help her fight her battles, has always waited for others to come save her. Except for one memorable book where she did the saving all by herself. By not trying to save herself, with her purse there in the same room with her and her torturers, by letting them do really awful things to her, the author placed this character in a position for personal conflict. How is she going to deal with recovering? How is she going to cope surviving something so horrible?

Yeah, okay, that's all well and good, but honestly? I find it disappointing. Because that's what happens to her all the time. For once, I want to see her crawl over to the life saving purse and kick some ass. I want her conflict to be something other than coping. It'd be nice to see this character realize she's stronger than she thinks she is, that she doesn't have to wait for her knight in shining armor to come save her every time she's in trouble.

Jacky, you and me girl. We've got some growing to do, and some bad spots to get into. But most of all, we've got some learning to do. We're going to learn how to be stronger.