No one told me about this, I might have changed my mind.

The publishing industry has changed drastically over the last twenty years, and even more drastically since the explosion of the Internet. Gone are the days when Random House would offer a $100,000 advance and pimp your new novel for all it's worth. Today, even a seasoned, published, semi-famous writer can count on small advances and a vast decrease in publisher provided marketing and budget.

Forget even that if you're a new author trying to get your first novel published. Take luck and hope out of the equation because as the saying goes, "Hope is not a strategy" and neither is luck.

Today, conglomerates own the major publishing houses and their business models have changed drastically, not that I can fault them for some of it. Being a capitalist myself, I understand the need to pay attention to the bottom line, and the fact that only 1 out of 100 books published (I'm making these figures up, but they're close to accurate) makes the publisher any money, it's no wonder why the glory days are gone.

Now add in the latest trend. In order to get a big publishing house to look at your book you need to go through an agent (remember, luck and hope aren't part of this discussion). They use agents as a filtering process for the thousands of manuscripts that land on their desks weekly. That means finding a reputable agent who is interested enough in your work that they will honestly pimp your work to the big houses. Most agents are looking for sure winners, so unless your Paris Hilton writing a sex tell all, most aren't interested. I've heard too many stories of people signing with agents and two years later, nothing has happened. What the hell has that agent been doing? The same thing can happen at the publisher level. I recently spoke to a very recognized author where Tor asked for his manuscript explicitly. They've had it for two years and done nothing with it.

Overall, the traditional route of being published has become a vicious cycle with very few winners. I recently read a quote by a very famous author with over fifty published titles, and a few best sellers remark, "If I were just starting out today with the same material, I would never get published."

So, in the wake of this paradigm shift in publishing, many authors, even good ones with track records of well received published novels are turning toward the smaller, independent houses.

There are pros and cons to that decision, and there are too many for me to list and pontificate on here, maybe in another rant. The main con that I'm dealing with at the moment is marketing. As a new author and going through a smaller, independent publishing house, the onus, and primary budget, for marketing my novel is on me. I must however, give kudos to my publisher, Aisling Press, who doesn't have the budget to send me on a marketing blitz, is doing everything in their power to help and allowing me full access to their marketing knowledge and experience.

My novel is slated for publishing on August 28th, 2008, and it seems as though I should have started my marketing plan sooner. So, a word of advice to those embarking on the same journey, start learning and crafting your marketing plan six to eight months before your publication date. I recommend eight months.

Unless you have a background in marketing, and I mean a real background in marketing, there is a lot to learn. I thought I had a fair knowledge of marketing through all of my entrepreneurial enterprises over the years, but after reading a half a dozen books, countless web sites, I find myself lacking. The only thing positive I'm taking away from this is that the next time will be much easier.

In ending, if you’re a first time author, or even a somewhat seasoned one, keep in mind that you will be your marketing planner, staff, and publicists, and I suggest you start learning now, even if you've only finished your first draft. The reason I recommend this to even the somewhat seasoned author is from someone I met at my latest convention, another writer on the Aisling Press list. This exceptionally wonderful woman has been writing for 25-30 years and has pages of awards and reviews. Most of her work had been short stories, essays, etc. and she has recently had her first novel published. Let me assure you, the marketing arena had her just as baffled, but to her credit, she's learning it, and embracing it as part of her job.

Don't get caught out in the cold, start to understand what it means to be a published author in today's landscape.

Thanks all for letting me rant. Until next time.