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| Maia Walzak RKL Photography |
I have a new idea for a children’s picture
book. The book is clear in my mind. I have already started writing the story. A
few of my readers are already anticipating the release of my next book. I want
to release it this year so that my readers have a new book to enjoy (…well I
hope they enjoy it! :) ). If I wanted to I could have the whole picture book
with writing and illustration ready in the next few months. And once it’s readyI’ll be itching to show it to my readers…and the world! But the problem is, how
do I get it out there?
I have three options.
Option 1 is the way I started my career,
which was by providing the stories for free online. Whilst this was great for
getting people to know about my work, and people from all over the world having
access to these free resources, it did mean a lot of time and effort from me, but
no money in return. Like I said in my recent blog post on my own blog money isn’t the measure of success. However, on the practical
level, money earned from doing what you love does mean you can carry on doing
what you love, as opposed to spending your time and energy on a job that has
nothing to do with what you love. If you don’t have the time or energy left to
create stuff, you’re less likely to create stuff.
Putting out more free resources is not just
a thing I would love to do because I myself am fond of free stuff and love the
fact that so many people have had access to my work because of it, but because
it’s the easiest way for me to get my work out there – I can do it straight
away without going through any paperwork – and the cheapest way – I can put it
all up and out there for free, without paying someone to produce it for me.
Option 2 is approaching lots of agents and
publishers with my new book and waiting a standard of three to six months for a
response…be it a rejection or an acceptance letter. I’ve gone down this route
before, and I do still intend to go down it…but most people know how frustrating
this option is. Say I started properly working on this book now and had it
ready and finished in June, then I’d write to publishers and agents, then I’d
wait many months for a response. Say I was lucky and got an acceptance letter within
the first 6 months, it would still be another year or two before the book was
actually produced and available on shop shelves. My point is that this option
is long and tedious…but of course potentially pretty great if you do find a
publisher.
Option 3 is self-publishing. This is
something I have done a few times, most recently with my ebook
The Black Hat. This option is awesome if you want to take control of
your own work and are not in the mood for waiting around on fate with
traditional publishing. But the biggest problem with this option – more so for
people who aren’t financially well off - is the risk factor. You invest money
out of your own pocket and wonder if you’ll ever make it back. I can’t even
begin to describe how frustrating this option can be, and how disheartening it
is when you don’t make the money back. But then again there are a fair few
people who have really done well for themselves from this option.
So my point is, I have a new children’s
picture book I’m itching to make and in theory I could have it ready for my
readers to see and enjoy very soon…but in practice I have no idea when they’ll be
able to see it. I’ve tried all the above options, and each has its pros and
cons. It’s a funny situation, like a strange wall standing in the way of
something that should seem so simple. I’m sure I’ll find my way round it
somehow! :O)
by Maia Walczak
Brit Writers
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ReplyDeleteHi Maia! Have you considered doing options one and two together? Option one would show publishers that you are committed to the 'cause', as well as give you something to do whilst you wait for option two to come to fruition. Then, failing all that, you've got option three to fall back on! ;-) x
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