Hello wonderful gamebook lovers! Today, we have Michael J. Ward creator of the awesome Destiny Quest series. Michael had quite a journey between writing books one and three (spoiler: it involved writing book 2) and here, he talks about self publishing and finding a publisher.
The
first Destiny Quest book was self published - why did you self
publish the book?
The
short answer – no-one wanted it! My agent at the time was taking
the manuscript around a lot of children’s publishers (which, with
hindsight, might not have been the best tactic). I got some great
feedback on the book but the answer, time and time again, was that
the gamebook genre was dead and it didn’t really fit with their
‘publishing lists’. In the end, I just simply refused out of
stubbornness to assign another manuscript to the bin, especially as I
felt I had something special and unique – so I took the brave step
of self-publishing the book myself.
Do
you have to pay a lot of money to self publish something?
Well,
it is certainly not cheap, although I guess there are more options
available now – more so than when I was self-publishing
DestinyQuest. I was very keen to have physical copies of the book. I
chose Matador as they also have their own book-selling team, which
help to get your book on shelves. Having a physical stock does mean
that you pay more upfront for the printing – but your book is more
likely to be taken on by highstreet bookstores. Print-on-demand is
another model, where the physical printing occurs when someone
actually orders the book. This is cheaper, but when I was producing
DestinyQuest I was turned off this idea as I had heard stories that
the printing wasn’t as good quality – and print-on-demand books
would often not show on bookstore databases (for the purposes of
ordering – as they would always appear as ‘out of print’). Now,
this was about six years ago, so I guess the industry has moved on
there, so print-on-demand is probably a better choice, and eBooks are
certainly a more viable model now, and cheap to set up. For me, I
tend to be a traditionalist – and I like the physicality of
‘owning’ an actual book. My advice to anyone who is
self-publishing is never pay more than you are willing to lose. There
are no guarantees you will sell any books, so be prepared for that.
What
kind of skills do you require to self publish a book?
Well,
being a good writer is one of them, obviously! Passion is all well
and good, but perfecting the craft takes a lot of time and practice.
DestinyQuest was by no means the first book I had written, so I had
experience to draw on when it came to the writing. If you lack that
experience, then always have other people read your work. Iron out
any problems and make sure it is as perfect as you can make it before
even approaching a publisher. It is much harder to make large scale
changes once the process has begun and your book is being typeset.
Being
a good proofreader is always helpful. Most self-publishers will offer
this service, although it can be costly. I proofread DestinyQuest
myself, which was no easy task as it is always harder to scrutinize
and pick up on errors in your own work. Again, an extra pair of eyes
can help. If you lack experience in this area, then paying for a
professional proofreader would be worth its weight in gold. There is
nothing worse than getting your printed book and spotting a glaring
error or two. They happen, but best to squash as many as you can.
Having
a good idea of how you want to present your work is also important.
When I produced DestinyQuest I wanted it to stand shoulder to
shoulder with professionally produced trade paperbacks. Back in the
day, self-published books did have (and still do, to some extent) a
stigma of being ‘lesser works’ – and nothing says that more
than a god-awful cover. Most self-publishers will offer book cover
design services but I would honestly avoid these like the plague
unless you want your book to have some ‘stock image’ slapped on
it. Also, if a family member or relative (or even yourself) purports
to be a fantastic illustrator, think long and hard about the quality
of the artwork that will be produced. Depending on your book, I would
always advise researching a good professional illustrator and getting
them to provide the artwork. Most illustrators work digitally, so
they could also do the type and other aspects of the cover design.
Presentation
also feeds into the rest of the book – the paper quality, choice of
font, size of font and so on. Look at the books you enjoy reading (or
are in a similar genre) and use those as a template. Don’t try and
reinvent the wheel – go with what is selling at the moment.
The
final skill you’ll need is resilience. Self-publishing can be a
long and drawn out process, particularly if you are doing your own
proofing, managing the cover design, and overseeing the other aspects
of your book’s production. I guess it’s possible to take a
back-seat on many of those aspects, but this is your
book and you want it to be the best that it can be, so sometimes it
pays to be quite OCD about its production. Like any project, it can
consume your life – but the end reward is worth it,
Did
you have to do the publicity for the book yourself?
I
used Matador for DestinyQuest who do provide some basic PR services.
In the end, like with all books and publishers, the burden inevitably
falls on the author to do as much as they can. I contacted book
stores to arrange signings – I also set up my own DestinyQuest
website to provide a hub of information for fans. Of course, social
media is also a fantastic tool. If your book is aimed at a specific
genre, then make contact with people who are interested in that area.
They may be willing to mention your book or even review it. I also
ran some paid advertising in magazines. That can be costly, but it
really helps to raise the profile of your book.
After
your first book was a success, you got a publisher for later editions
and later books. How did that arrangement come about?
I
discovered that Gollancz was one of the few fantasy publishers that
accepted unsolicited manuscripts (i.e. you don’t need to approach
them via an agent). DestinyQuest was selling really well (I had sold
out of my first print run and was just about to print a second), so I
thought I had a strong case to pitch to a publisher. I put together
a detailed proposal, which included my self-published book and a
document that outlined my sales and my achievements to date.
Basically I wasn’t just selling the book, but also myself as
someone who was dedicated to seeing the success of my project. I was
lucky I guess, and Gollancz liked what I had done.
What
is the process of working with a publisher?
Once
the contracts are out of the way (and that can be a long and drawn
out process, and a little daunting if you don’t have an agent!),
you set about writing your book. You submit your manuscript, which is
then checked by your editor. You’ll then get it back with the
editor’s comments. Often these will just highlight narrative
elements that may need looking at (such as inconsistencies, or
clarification on what is happening in a particular scene). Once the
manuscript is submitted again, it is copy-edited, which is a more
ruthless check of the manuscript for any issues – and during this
stage, the text is tagged (so the typesetter knows what headings etc.
are used). You then get the manuscript back again to approve any
changes that were made. Finally, the manuscript goes to a proofer who
does a final check, then onto the typesetter. I then get the typeset
document to check before it goes to the printers – so that is the
last stage you can make minor changes. So basically, there is a lot
of back and forth, and yes you’ll be seeing and reading your
manuscript a lot!
None
of the above happens quickly. Sometimes it can be up to six months or
more from submitting a manuscript to getting the copy-editor’s
version. During this time, the publisher may have already started on
the cover; another process which you can be involved in as much or as
little as you like (for all of the DestinyQuest books I provided
sketches of exactly what I wanted on my covers and worked closely
with Dominic Harman on the final designs).
How
long does it take to go from a complete manuscript to a published
book?
It
can take roughly a year – perhaps a little more. It will depend on
your publisher’s schedule and where your book has been placed in
that schedule. They seem to have certain months when they release,
and often these can move around a bit (DQ3 was originally set to
release at Christmas time but was pushed back to March the following
year). You usually get your own copies of the book about two or three
weeks before the official release.
What
advice would you offer to someone who wants to self publish?
If
you’re passionate about your book and believe it has an audience,
then do it! Although, I would always advise self-publishing as the
last resort. Try agents and publishers first. If your work is great,
then it might find a home at a publishing house, who will do all the
hard work for you (and you’ll get paid, rather than the other way
round!). I know finding publishers isn’t easy, trust me (the
Artist’s
and Writer’s Yearbook
is invaluable here, by the way) – but their feedback might be
helpful in helping you to fine-tune your book further. And then, if
all doors still appear closed, then go for self-publishing and prove
them all wrong!
What
are you working on at the moment?
I’m
working on two book projects at the moment. The first is a thriller
(written under the pen name M J Eaton). I’m about a third of the
way through. It’s a very different book to anything I have written
before, which is why it seems to be taking me twice as long(!). But I
am very pleased with how it is shaping up. The second project is a
book proposal for a stand-alone fantasy book. Fans of DestinyQuest
will love the premise I am sure, so fingers-crossed that I can win
approval for it. If that goes ahead, then that will become my focus
for the rest of this year.
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