Traditional Publishing vs Self-Publishing
A filmmaker's POV
A New Path for Me
As some of you may know, for the past two years, I have been learning how to write novels. I’m not new to writing, nor to storytelling, since I have been a writer/director for years, but I had never tried my hand at novel form before. I needed a long crash course.
I consider the first two manuscripts that I wrote during that time to be learning exercises only. But as I start my third draft and feel (a bit) more knowledgeable about the process, the question of my goals and, more specifically, how I would release the book invariably comes up.
Traditional Publishing?
Of course, I’m tempted to go the traditional way and roll the dice with agents and glory. Wouldn’t it be nice to be a ‘real’ author and have a status badge confirming it? For sure it would help my mum to see that I was right to choose art rather than law. (I tried with the Substack bestseller badge, but that didn’t cut it.)
It would also feel sweet to have people looking up to me like some kind of reference because the industry has made me a chosen one. It’s clear from the publishing industry that the only truly respected authors are the ones who go through that gauntlet of selection. For the rest, there remains a huge stigma.
One of the assumptions, I am guessing, is that someone who self-publishes must have failed to get an agent and a book deal. That their book wasn’t good enough to really ‘make it’ and therefore was only self-published. Self-publishing is seen by many as a scourge, a blob of bad books diluting the good ones in a formless mass. Reviewers will refuse to review, literary prizes will refuse to consider, and so on and so forth.
The Difference with Film
I’m coming from film, a place where independent filmmakers are not frowned upon like in publishing; for me the question of self vs trad publishing is a genuine one.
For the past ten years, I've applied to countless funding opportunities and festivals—a process not so different from querying agents. While I haven't done it directly in publishing, I have plenty of experience with the ups and downs of pitching projects. I've been part of the lucky few to get selected several times, but I've also faced my fair share of rejections.
The one thing I have learned during these years is that the moons need to align for a project to get greenlit. It’s partly because of the quality of the script, sure, but not just. You need to take into consideration the slate of projects that the structure has in parallel, and the profile of the filmmaker as well.
There are also fashion and trends, momentum, and like I said, these days, there is a quest for the story of the author himself, his or her identity, what it means in the grand scheme of things.
Substack
One thing that has really changed my perspective is blogging. Before Substack, I didn’t really have a social media account. I was that guy writing like a monk and sending out my projects only to the best possible opportunities around.
I had very little interaction with people, let alone my audience. It was really something that I didn’t know I missed, but publishing on Substack, or should I say self-publishing on Substack, has really opened my eyes.
It has made up for the loneliness of the writing existence and got me to realize that my main motivation in publishing is to find a readership, just like it is on Substack to connect with people.
Of course, I have nothing against trad publishing. I’d love to get a book deal, an agent, like everyone else, but I will not be going this way. At least not at first.
My Goals
This whole process has got me to reflect a lot about my own ego, whether with film or now with my novel. It’s really hard to completely be freed of ego, but hey, at least I’m trying. With my novel, I’ve decided to approach it gently, like an artisan baker preparing his bread.
I’m not trying to impress people, or to be massive, I just want to write a good book that will find its way into people’s hands.
I also want to make a living off writing. That’s, I think, important, as I write a lot, but right now I’m making the majority of my money from directing and producing.
In that context, chasing a book deal for years, just to be able to comfort myself that I’m finally a real writer, is of no help.
My goal is to not get slowed down by the gatekeepers. Just like I’m doing on Substack, I want to keep hitting that publish button. It will not only get my work out there, but also make me a better writer in the long run.
Funnily enough, as I’m writing this, I’ve been working for two years on the same manuscript… So I guess I’m not exactly slamming that publish button quite yet!
A Positive Choice
I really want to see if I can reproduce in publishing what I created on Substack, and develop my own community of readers. I like the idea that the only gatekeeper is the actual reader (and of course the quality of the book).
There is a sense of control, of making my own wins and fails, that I really crave, coming from a world where control is scarce.
In a way, I wish film had a self-publishing form, as it would make me so much happier, but film requires too much money and too many people involved to truly consider anything truly self-made.
At the end of the day, I see self-publishing as a positive, self-affirming act, rather than a failure, but of course it will be interesting to see the reactions around me. Thankfully, my main activity is still filmmaking, so it’s much easier for me to park my ego with the novels.
This article is, by the way, not to say that people chasing their dreams and a publishing deal are wrong, or misguided. I think they are eminently right and if they succeed, it will be very rewarding for sure. But I like the idea of being a crafter, an artisan, rather than seeing myself as an artist with a big A.
That’s, by the way, why I’m choosing to write genre novels. My book will be a sci-fi thriller with a slight touch of the literary. I also think that for anything in the literary genre, self-publishing is probably not the right choice as it would be hard to sell, but for genre fiction, I believe there is an audience.
I also think that success in this field could lead to opportunities with agents and the like, but that I’m not sure about. I don’t know the industry enough. It would seem foolish to me for an agent to pass on someone already with a readership just for the stigma, but what do I know?
I’m really interested in hearing everyone’s perspective on this contentious topic. I know that the main complaint about self-publishing is that there is a mass of bad books, poorly written, badly edited, with dreadful covers, and for sure this is the case. Any random person can publish these days. But so is the case for film. There are plenty of bad independent films and yet some of them are absolute gems and will make it into big festivals.
The Stigma
I wish the stigma wasn’t so strong, but I assume that the sheer existence of self-publishing threatens the gatekeeping ecosystem, so it should come as no surprise that it tries to reject it.
If I hadn’t discovered Substack and experienced what it feels like to have a community, I don’t think I would have considered self-publishing, because of that stigma. But blogging has changed everything.
Personally, I think the future is in hybrid publishing. Just like in film, nothing should stop an author from releasing a book with a traditional publisher (a studio movie) or doing a personal project (an indie film).
I think the stigma on reviews and literary prizes is simply ridiculous. It reminds me of Cannes not wanting to screen films made by Netflix as a matter of principle. How calcified a thinking is that?
What do you think?
I would love to hear your thoughts , whether you have experienced either (or both?) of these paths. Please share in the comments!
R x
I think that the egos of artists are too big for this little planet. Publishing is not as difficult as it seems. The truly, really, indeed difficult thing is to write an outstanding book, something so good that it kindles the will to read it, a work so valuable that no one could deny it. Let's get down to work!
A lot has changed in the last five years. The trade publishers are suffering and the mood in the industry is pretty dark. Many redundancies, frozen wages, imprints folding at a high rate. People I've spoken to in the industry sound like insiders at Meta or X - depressed and pessimistic. Nowadays, a trade publisher's not going to even consider taking you on unless you've already established a sizeable following on TikTok or Instagram and can demonstrate sales. The stigma on self-publishing you're talking about is a thing of the past. It was true ten years ago, not any more. Get seen, get read, get known, any way you can. Then approach trade publishers with your stats to back you up. That counts more than the material itself now. It's a completely different game, so far as I can tell.