publishing

Just Get It Out There

by

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

Are you a writer? Good, get your work out there in the world, even if you have to change it up later.

The world is on fire, history is being made, and we’d like it to stop, thanks. Get your book or zine or whatever get out there now so people can experience it. You’ll figure out how to do better later if you need to.

I came to this conclusion while debating putting out print versions of my worldbuilding minibooks. These small guides to specific worldbuilding questions are maybe 55-75 pages in print, the kind of thing that is usually just an ebook. However, since I could see people gifting these, taking notes in them, etc. I started exploring how to put them into print.

That wasn’t as easy as I thought.

I could do them through Amazon, which has a great POD setup that parallels their easy Kindle system. But I could do IngramSpark and get them into bookstores (though It’d cost me). I then began debating my choices . . .

Suddenly I remembered Zine culture and its rapid, DIY aesthetic. Zine-makers often aim to get things out, sometimes against the odds. Putting something into a usable form makes it more likely it gets used, and Zine culture emphasized getting stuff to people.

Then looking at the state of the world, I realized that if I wanted to get my work into people’s hands in print, I should just do it. I didn’t know what the future held, but I knew what would let me get my work out in print before too much future happened.

So I decided to go to Amazon. Any other debate aside, it would let me do it faster and with a system I knew. I could always change up later.

I implore you, as a fellow writer, to get your work out there in whatever reasonable way you can. Maybe it will just be an ebook; perhaps you’ll decide to go with IngramSpark and pay the fees to get to bookstores, or maybe it’ll be self-printed. Just do it before you don’t have the chance to.

Hell,  getting your work out there in these crazy times might make the times less crazy. I’m not saying ramming your book out through Draft2Digital will save the world, but you might save it for some people. It’s far better than whatever you’ve written sitting there unappreciated and unread.

Steven Savage

Unborn Authors

by

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Once I had a few books out, I realized how easy it is to publish (well, self-publish). I began speaking about it, advising, and helping out in writer’s groups. So many people want to write and I wanted to help!

Then I realized that many people say they want to publish books (or say they do), but the books rarely materialize. It’s frustrating to watch talent and enthusiasm never pay off, even when there are moments people do get their book out. Somehow the successes don’t reduce the pain of seeing the failures.

My fellow authors and I commiserate about this. There’s a pain that comes with seeing people like us not realize what we have. There’s an unpleasant mix of empathy, disbelief, and frustration that tugs at us.

We share stories about it, trying to understand how we might help. The person who sees writing as a path to wealth but doesn’t understand how writing usually pays the bills. The author who can’t push the button. The writer who can’t start, and the other who can’t finish.

We talk about them but rarely do we find solutions. The pain stays with us because these authors are us, and there are things to tell. You can sense that book waiting to be born in someone.

I’ve realized it’s not the book being born that’s the problem. The problem is the person hasn’t yet been born as an author.

Writing is not just wordsmithing or plotting or self-publishing. It’s a lifestyle and the commitment and desire to get your work out. You don’t become an author by publishing; you become an author by becoming the kind of person who can get a book out.


This may mean writing better, learning software, taking classes, or going to therapy for issues. It means honing your art and moving forward. In many cases, it means getting the book out even if it’s bad so you can write the next one. Author is a verb way more than it is a noun.

So many unrealized authors haven’t gone all the way being authors. Stuck daydreaming or stuck afraid to push the button and publish, many are still stuck. They’re not born yet.

Maybe this is what we need far more than another grammar guide or plotting guide – advice on being an author as a person. I hope this helps my fellow published authors help others. It will certainly guide my future advice.

Who do you need to be in order to become an author?

Steven Savage

Way With Worlds Update 4-4-2016!

by

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, www.SeventhSanctum.com, and Steve’s Tumblr)

Been awhile since a Way With Worlds Update!  So let’s find out where we are on my essays-rewritten-and-now-a-book on worldbuilding.

First, there’s a web page for the first book that gives you some idea of what I’m up to.  You can also see the sample cover art – and you’re going to love the final cover!

I also got the book back from my editor.  My editor is a “word of God type editor” – when it’s edited it’s done.  So I spent an entire day going through her edits for the first book.  After about ten hours of work, I have a book that is mostly ready for publication.  One more read through and it’s ready for publishing (which itself is going to take a few months).

This brings up a really good lessons – there are several kinds of editors and you have to know how to work with them.  Some are like a friendly guide with advice.  Others are the Word Of God.  Yet others are instructional.  Each is different and you have to figure which works for you, your works, and your goals.

For instance, these books, though being creative and chatty are instructional.  I needed a Word Of God editor on them.

On the other hand, some of my more intimate career books need a lighter touch as an editor.  They’re chatty and friendly.

My upcoming Sailor Moon book has yet a different editor, a fansourced editor with an academic background and a fandom background, which seems perfect.

Now there’s also been a few schedule changes, so let’s recap!

  • The First Book is out end of July as planned.
  • The Second Book is out the end of October.  It was originally August, but between the editor’s needs, my schedule, and the fact it’s damn stupid to put a sequel out a month later.
  • After that is still a special surprise.  Stay tuned.

I think you folks are going to love the books.  It’s really my near-final word on Worldbuilding, and there’s a wealth of worldbuilding advice.

– Steve