Head Scratching

I sold my first book when I was in my twenties, which seems like a lifetime ago. That makes sense since the publishing industry ages in dog years. It was 1999. I wrote a cover letter, submitted to the University Press of New England (I was a teacher and thought selling a novel to a university press would be a feather in my academic cap). I received a letter back requesting the manuscript, and then negotiated (who am I kidding? I took what was offered) the contract myself (getting them to kick in to fly me to Bouchercon each year) and wrote five books in my first series for UPNE. Having “proven myself,” an agent took me on and sold my next series. Pretty typical.

(Photo: Corrigan Family Curling Excursion)  

That was then. This is now.

So much has changed. There are a variety of avenues one can traverse to publication now: self-publishing, hybrid publishing (different from vanity; the author shares production costs for higher royalties and retaining more rights than is typical with a traditional contract), traditional publishing with the “big five,” and traditional publishing with small houses.

Financially, the landscape has gotten confusing. It’s harder than ever to break in with a major house, which, of course, pays the largest advances. Many small publishers stopped giving advances at all but in a perfect world they still treat you like family. And hybrid publishing, if you can afford it and can hustle, might end up paying more than the other options.

Everyone seems to have a story or an opinion on the best route forward. I’d love to hear from the Type M community on all of this.