Tahlia Newland, author

Recently a blog post written by a traditionally published author accused self published books of being not truly published because they didn’t have to pass a set of standards evaluated by people independent of the author. (I haven’t provided a link because I don’t want you to waste your time reading something based on ignorance and designed to increase prejudice. The link is on the Awesome Indies blog though.) The post received over 300 comments. Many of them pointed out the false assumptions of the writer and defended the rising quality in self-published books, while others showed that the old view of self-published books as inferior is alive and well and plenty of people don’t want to give it up despite all evidence to the contrary. However, if you cut away the emotionalism on both sides, he did have a point.

Ouch. Put down those rotten tomatoes and listen before you react. I am not agreeing that self-published books as a matter of course don’t pass the same standards as set by publishing houses. I am saying that it’s important that they do. It’s true that a self published author doesn’t have to pass such standards before being published, but it’s also true that they can easily make sure that they do. It is, of course, up to the author. Some will make sure they have this quality control and some won’t. The Awesome Indies lists those that do, and there are a growing number of them.

I’VE RECENTLY READ SEVERAL BOOKS PUBLISHED BY MAINSTREAM PUBLISHERS THAT WOULDN’T MAKE THE AWESOME INDIES LIST, so what does that say about the supposedly inscrutable standards set by the big publishers?

I consider myself an Indie publisher rather than a self-publisher because  with Catapult Press, I don’t make the final decision on whether a book is publishable or not. But a self-publisher could also do this by finding, or paying someone they trust (the tougher the better – pay me, pay me!) to make that decision for them.

The basic standards to ensure a professional product that I have to pass before publishing are set out on the front page of the Awesome Indies site as follows…

• the plot is strong and engaging
• the characters are well developed and their dialogue and interactions with others are believable.
• the book is not excessively wordy, particularly, no rambling descriptions, dumps of information, unnecessary repetition or irrelevant scenes.
• changes in the point of view of the writing are clear, specifically no ‘head hopping.’
• the author knows how to show the story rather than tell it, so that the writing is immediate and engaging.
• the grammar, spelling and punctuation are correct.

What I don’t have to do is

• fit a style, or genre, or fashion box made by mainstream publishers that not only says what the public wants, but also ensures that it’s what the public buy by not  providing anything else.
• find a publisher
  • at exactly the right time, when their book quota in my genre for the coming years isn’t already full.
  • who is as passionate about my work as I am
• convince a marketing department that my book isn’t too difficult for them to sell.

None of the above points has anything to do with quality. They have to do with timing, the personal taste of a publisher and their perception of what the public wants.

Here is the process I went through with Give Me a Break to make sure that it was of a publishable standard. The assessments of all these people are independant of  their relationship with me.

1. My business partner assessed the basic idea. We discussed it. He read the second draft and gave feedback on the large things, character, dialogue, plot etc. He’s particularly good on plot.
2. My daughter (presently doing a communications degree) read it and gave feedback. She’s particularly good on dialogue and character.
3. I sent the book to beta readers, who gave me the same kind of feedback I’d get from an editor looking at the structural elements. Give me a Break’s beta readers included 3 other published writers whose work I respect, (one of them won an award for literature,) a professional editor, and someone with a degree in creative writing.
4. I rewrote it until I’d solved the problems my beta readers pointed out.
5. My partner read it again. At this stage for Give Me a Break, he made me rewrite the middle two chapters three times before he approved it. (Yes, my partner is my husband, but that doesn’t make a scrap of difference. No way is he going to let me put anything out there that isn’t up to his exacting standards. He’s already completely canned one book.)
6. He approved it and I’m leaving it to sit for a month, then I’ll print it out and look at it again. I’ll fix up anything that jumps out at me, then I’ll send it to an editor for copy and line editing.

So, does my book have to pass professional standards evaluated by people independent of me before it’s published? I think so. Is this is adequate quality control? Read Give Me a Break when it comes our and see what you think.

Terri Giuliano Long,  author of the novel In Leah’s Wake, has written a related feature “Sticks and Stones: The Changing Politics of the Self-Publishing Stigma”  on the IndieReader and Huffington Posts websites. It’s a great article, make sure you read it. There’s a bit of background on the article on the Awesome Indies blog as well.