As an English teacher at Summit K2 High School, I have had the pleasure of getting to read hundreds of samples of student writing. I genuinely enjoy seeing students express themselves in infinitely creative ways. Occasionally, students approach me to ask what it was like to write a book. They share that they think about it, and maybe have even started writing their own novel or collection of short stories. Often, these students ask me about the publishing process, which I commend and encourage. While it is difficult–much like selling your own art or starting your own business–it is uniquely rewarding. Here are three key steps I took to publish my writing
1. Know What You Want to Say.
Every good speaker or writer has a purpose. Identify a clear purpose before you start writing. What will your writing add to the world? Will you influence a narrative? Will you show what life is like in a place that has not been featured before? Seek to have a clear answer to these questions. As students in AP English in 11th grade hear me often say, if you as a reader cannot identify a writer’s purpose, then either it was so very complex that you need to spend more time on it, or–more likely–they did a bad job and wasted your time.
For me in my personal process, I knew I had two purposes: 1) I wanted to affect a negative cycle of tourism in a place I loved, Zanzibar, and 2) I wanted to express a complex and traumatic experience I shared with others and in doing so, find healing. In this way, for me my book was a little like therapy. This is not uncommon for any artist who expresses difficult feelings or observations about the world through their art. Therefore, that is not unique to me. The part that stands out about my purpose was its focus on a specific place. That focus is what guided me and my process. I worked closely with numerous friends and adoptive family to ensure that my book best featured that community and that it would do so not only in word but in dollar once published. Whatever unique purpose you hold, that should be what guides you in all the choices you make–rhetorical and business, alike.
2. Write, Write, Revise, Edit, Edit, Write.
This is the part where you humble yourself. First, write everything that flows out and don’t stop to overthink or to change anything yet. It is always easier to edit things down than to add later, so do yourself this favor and do not limit yourself at the beginning. Write everything that comes to mind, even when you think–no, when you know–that it is not perfect.
As part of editing, welcome a second set of eyes to your work. However, this is your art; so, if you can afford it, seek a professional editor. If you cannot–like me when I was writing–seek a friend you trust. Also, do this only after you have enough that any reader would understand something about what you are trying to say or feel at least part of what you want them to feel by reading your writing. Unless you are already a master, no one is going to understand your entire book’s purpose from reading the first two pages. When you ask someone to read, do not lead them on with any questions; rather, welcome all their fresh opinions and interpretations. If they do not understand what you wanted them to understand, then that is a valuable signal to revise and refocus. Remember, your goal is to achieve your original purpose.
Repeat this process as many times as you need. Just like any artist–like painters, musicians, or sculptors–writers also take hours, days, months of work before they recognize the finished piece they hoped to create. For me, I occasionally experienced the infamous writer’s block and felt stuck in my process. At first, I tried to map out my story with discipline, creating charts and plot diagrams. This helped me refine my writing, but really the best way to get out of this was changing the scenery around me or breaking up my own routine with spontaneity. I wrote while taking long train rides between Chicago and Saint Louis. I found a different coffee shop every time and listened to music that reminded me of the setting I was writing that day. Or, I took a weeklong break from writing altogether and returned with a fresh mind later. Whatever you do, do not discourage yourself–that is the rest of the world’s job. Be kind to yourself, in all things, including writing.
As a writer and a teacher, I am passionate about encouraging everyone to write. Capturing your own story and elevating your voice are deeply important. That said, when it comes to publishing in order to sell your writing, you begin to enter the world of business. You take a work of art and move it from expression into marketplace. Thus, you want it to be marketable–for there to be a demand for it. If that does not interest you, then maybe publishing is not the path you want to take: Maybe your writing exists just for you, and that is okay! But, in this line of thinking about marketability, remember that every human wonders and muses privately to themselves about the world around them. If you decide you are uniquely the best at wondering, or if you decide you are ready to write a memoir before age 70, good luck to you. To put it in more blunt, harsh terms; unless you are Frida Kahlo, Charles Darwin, or Anne Frank no one wants to read your diary. The highest demand for written work ebbs and flows with trends, but consistently it is for what you would think–good writing. So, before you do anything else, practice! Challenge yourself to write something every day, even if it is just one page or even one line. Build your skills so that when you are ready to share whatever great expression worthy of publishing, the work of writing it will not be the obstacle.
3. Three Publishing Options to Consider.
On to the part that should be the obstacle: publishing. When I finally finished writing, revising, and editing I explored three options to publish.
First, it is important to note that in the past the main route to publishing a book was sending one’s manuscript off to publishing companies and meeting with agents and scouts. The publishing house used to pour over thousands of submissions and the best and luckiest writers would get picked up, receiving an offer to buy the rights to the book upfront. This route means less profit in the long run as the company holds the rights to your book, but in the short term a hefty paycheck when that deal is first made. After the dawn of e-books, e-readers, and Amazon, this has changed. Publishing houses do still accept manuscripts, but in knowing that any amateur writer can publish an e-book without their help, they now tend only to seriously consider submissions from writers who already have a resume of published work; they can search up your book sales and if nothing is there, they know that they are taking a financial risk in picking up your first-time book. Therefore, to be frank, unless you are already famous, the old-school route of submitting a manuscript and getting a book deal with a publishing company is next to impossible.
Financially speaking, option two is almost the exact opposite of the old-school publishing route. For this option, there are smaller, boutique publishers who can work with you to get your book into print, and most provide professional editors to look over your manuscript and catch any typos or inconsistencies. These services do not come free-of-charge, but in just a couple of months, your book is guaranteed to hit shelves, or at least website inventories. This is the route that I personally took. I did so because I decided it was worth paying the editing, printing, and service fees upfront in order to get my book into print; and, if you can secure a good deal, the percentage profit from each copy is usually higher since the boutique publisher is not buying the rights to your book; rather, you retain those. This allows you to have more freedom in the future if sales grow enough that a larger publisher becomes interested and makes an offer to buy it later. This option was the best for me since I wanted a higher percentage of profit from each individual sale in order to share that with my business partner in Zanzibar.
The last option is the most affordable. By going through Amazon, any writer can self publish their book straight to a digital version made available through the website. Fees for this are far lower than those a boutique publisher charges, but the default means that your book will only be available on e-readers. To print it, you will still need to pay a higher fee. Essentially, Amazon acts as the “boutique” publisher for you. If you recognize the irony of an unfathomably large corporation acting like a small publisher, then you–like me–might question the trustworthiness of this route in the long run. That said, it is by far the most affordable, and can ensure that your book is available quickly. It is also the route most writers now take, allowing them to build their searchable published works so that they have a proven resume when they later submit a manuscript directly to a publishing company who will peruse those Amazon book sales when deciding how viable that submission is.
In the end, if you love writing enough to be at all interested in publishing as an option, you are already ahead of the crowd. Take pride and joy in what you are doing, and keep doing it. Know that someone in the world will receive your work and that it will be meaningful for them, often in new ways you never even anticipated.
(Cover Photo Credit: Timothy Hoffelder, 2017)
