By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
My self-published Myrtle Clover series started out as a traditional release through Midnight Ink. They published the first book in that series before deciding against a second book in the series. That’s when I got my rights back (well, the ones that I could get back), and self-published the rest.
Now I’ve got the Southern Quilting mysteries which will be dropped by Penguin after the upcoming June release of book five in the series. I’ve gotten those rights back and will be embarking on the same process soon.
These were good decisions for me and for my series. But there have definitely been some bumps in the road.
Issues I’ve run into:
Bundling. This is currently a migraine-inducing pain in the neck for me. I’ve decided to create a bundle of several Myrtle Clover titles, since I’ve got eight books in the series. Luckily, I’ve written my series so that each book functions as a standalone and with no continuing storyline. But it still sort of stinks that I’ve got to bundle what are basically books 2, 3, and 4. To get around this, I asked the designer not to even put book numbers on the box set cover. We’d just call it Myrtle Clover Bundle Volume I. It’s the best I can do. I wouldn’t attempt this with the Southern Quilting mysteries, not having the rights to books 1-5.
Continuing with a series brand without infringing on cover copyright issues. This wasn’t quite as much of a problem with my Myrtle Clover series since there was only one traditionally published book in the series. It promises to be more of an issue with the Southern Quilting mysteries since there will soon be a 5th traditionally published in that series and I’m continuing with them, as self-published books, starting in 2016.
Readers don’t understand inconsistencies within the series. They email me that Pretty is as Pretty Dies isn’t in an audio book format or that it isn’t available (why, I don’t know) in ebook format at Nook. I just briefly reply that I don’t have the rights to the book. Sometimes they complain about the print price of the title (which is now out of print). I do have the print rights converted to me now, and I probably need to get on the stick with putting it up on CreateSpace. This will likely give their digital format of the title a run for the money…considering my CreateSpace print price and their ebook price will probably be comparable.
Was There a Trad Pub Boost Originally?
Can starting out in trad-pub give your series a boost? The answer is…sometimes. I think it did for my books because my readership is a bit older and they did shop in physical bookstores for their books. I’ve had readers say that they’ve picked up my books at the drugstore or the Books-a-Million, etc. Each day I believe that more readers are trying out e-readers, though.
Whether or not you get a boost from starting a series in trad pub (or are successful in trade publishing at all) depends on a variety of factors. These include publisher marketing efforts, distribution, and the all-important cover.
One accidental benefit to my first Myrtle Clover being traditionally published is that the ebook prices for my other books in the series look like steals next to the trad-pubbed ebook price.
Looking back
I will never regret taking my Myrtle Clover series to self-pub. I’d advise other writers who have their series dropped by traditional publishers to self-publish additional books for their series, whether they have lots of readers or not. My only regret is that my Myrtle Clover series started in trad. publishing, especially since it was only the one book. It’s made things complicated, especially with the bundling/box set issue that I’m working through now.
Any other hybrid writers out there who want to weigh in?
Self-publishing a series that started out as trad-pubbed: Share on X
As an update (I think I was dreaming about bundles/box sets all night…grr), I just asked the designer to put “Myrtle Clover *Sampler*” on the box set instead of “bundle”. Truth in advertising. Hopefully this is a better plan and I can actually sleep tonight. :)
Thanks, Elizabeth, for your thoughts on this. I can certainly see the advantage of self-publishing if you already have some recognition for a book or two in a series. As you say, there are a lot of bumps, and I’m glad you’ve shared them. But it seems to me that from the reader’s perspective, it’s a smooth (well, relatively!) way to keep series they love going. And I’d guess it keeps the author’s brand out there too.
Margot–Thanks! And that’s what I hope most for…that the behind-the-scenes stuff isn’t making any trouble for the readers.
Will you ever get back the rights to that first Myrtle Clover book?
Bundling is a good idea. That’s something I need to push for. If only we had more hours in the day.
Diane, I don’t think the ebook rights are ever going to be up for grabs for the first book. :( But I did get print.
This looks like such a process. Good luck Elizabeth! I can’t wait to see what you come up with :)
Kate–Thanks! And thanks for coming by.
I Just went to the Myrtle Creek Nursery… link provided – http://discovermyrtlecreek.com/
They make the most delicious Myrtle Berry Pie. You should ask them for the recipe for your website.
You do so much for so many, a little in return.
Lauren–Thank you! What a sweet thing to send along…and what a gorgeous place Myrtle Creek is. And thanks for the tip…I’ll have to get in touch with them. And I wish I could attend their succulent gardening workshop. We are *usually* drought-prone here (not like CA, of course), although lately we’ve been very damp. I’ve got a few succulents out back that are really beautiful and require basically no care. And perennial, too.
Hi Elizabeth,
You bring up an interesting point people should consider when thinking of going traditional. It might be better to stick with a series traditionally and think of doing separate series self-pub right from the beginning. It also exemplifies how quick this game is changing. I look forward to hearing how your books do once they are self pubbed. I’m sure you will do much better for it.
Silas–It could be, yes. Or, ensure you’ve got a multi-book deal when you go trad so that way your series doesn’t get dropped after book one. I didn’t have an agent at the time (this was negotiated in 2008) and so…no multi book deal.
I do much better with self-pub, for sure. Last year my self-pub earnings were more than double my trad pub, for fewer books. :)
Last year my self-pub earnings were more than double my trad pub, for fewer books.
And still, authors all over the place are wasting time hunting up an agent to hunt up a publisher for them.
I’m just too lazy to do twice the work for half the money.
Joel–I think if someone goes into trad publishing, they really need to understand exactly what they’re wanting to get out of it. Because there is better money to be had, for sure.
Hi Elizabeth – interesting … it looks like those who are starting now could do well in the self-publishing business without for the time being worrying about print: also we have not lost the rights … we just need to negotiate the warm up paddock before getting to the start line with our first book/prepared series …
Thanks for highlighting these ‘choices’ or not – depending where we start … cheers and have a happy weekend – Hilary
Hilary–Right, I’m just not sure that getting distributed in print is worth the loss of income from self-pub. *Especially* if the author has a young fan-base (YA, e.g.). Hope you have a great weekend, Hilary! Saw there was some exciting news from your end of the pond this morning. :)
Baby – I guess!!! She almost passed me by .. I was busy finishing something off – well that was the theoretical idea – failed, but I’ll start again shortly .. but still the little Princess popped out into our world …
Cheers – and enjoy your weekend … Hilary
I just thought of something. Could you write a new book 1 for your Myrtle Clover series. New in every way…new cover, new story, new title…ties things together so it fits as book 1, but give it the subtitle “The new book 1”. As long as it’s new, and you change the subtitle as well, I can’t see a copyright problem. Just an idea.
Silas, that’s a very interesting idea. I’d have to pull out that old contract again, but I can’t imagine it would interfere with it. Hmm. I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone doing that before. Thanks for the suggestion!
I bet your followers/fans would love it, too. An alternate beginning. :)
Silas–It’s a great idea! :)
Elizabeth, I’m in the same leaky boat as you are–and unfortunately, I probably shall be for some time to come with my Kiki Lowenstein Mystery Series. However, I’ve come up with a few solutions! I’ve continued the series. When I left MI, I had six titles published. I now have a dozen, with six I’ve published on my own. I’m working on another series, which would make abandoning the initial Kiki series seem sensible, but I don’t want to leave my Kiki fans behind, and I like the income. Instead of coming up with a new #1, I wrote a Kiki book that comes between #2 and #4 (and it’s now #3). On Amazon, the numbering now includes my new book–and I practically give that one away. But I am thinking of writing a prequel. As you’ve mentioned, one problem is that people don’t have any clue what’s up–and why the paper releases are not in sync any more. I’ve kept my ebook prices the same as Midnight Ink has, but I’ve also released 30 some short stories at much lower price points. I make more money than I did before. Did trad pub give me a boost? I think I’d need to share another blog post to answer that!
Joanna–Now that’s really interesting about the price point. I don’t know, I have a feeling my Myrtle readers might balk at the nearly $9 ebook…but sounds like you haven’t run into any issues! Something to explore, for sure. I’ve been focusing on volume sales, but maybe I could work out a middle-of-the-road pricing solution.
I do like the idea of a prequel, too.
I’m a lousy short story writer, although I can turn out novellas easily.
Food for thought here! Thanks.
Some of what I call “short stories” are novellas. I just don’t care about the strict definitions. I tell readers they are short stories because they need to know these aren’t full novels.
The question of pricing has to do with your long range goals. Lower prices make your work available to more readers. Higher prices, well, you have to justify those. We did run a p & l spreadsheet, and really, that was informative.