Desperately Seeking Contracts

Despite the freedom of indie publishing, there still exists an undercurrent within the indie community that seeks the validation of a traditional publishing contract.  Look, I get it – we all want validation, and getting it from those running the bigger system can make you feel great.  However, I feel that that’s just what the traditional publishing world is counting on to draw folks into a dying medium…or at least a diminished one.

Obviously, it has only been diminished because the gatekeepers have been bypassed.  Thirty years ago, there was nothing of quality or distribution to indie publishing.  However, with the explosion of digital marketplaces, anyone can publish a high-quality looking book(that can be both good and bad).  So the biggest obstacle, marketing, is really the only thing in the way.  And traditional publishers rely on newbie authors to market themselves while they reserve larger efforts on their part for more established/proven authors.

But there have been indie authors who have found success.  Andy Weir and EL James took indie novels to the heights of fame, and traditional publishing drew them in with promises of greater success(and success with that success, truth be told).  I don’t know that either The Martian or FiftyShades of Grey would’ve had movies made if they’d stayed in the indie world, so it paid off in those instances.  The traditional world has greater contacts with Hollywood and distribution channels than the indie world.  What I wonder is if it’s worth it.

Although there is the occasional The Martian or Fifty Shades of Grey, there are also numerous novels that didn’t find that success, but now they’re tethered to the traditional world(at least for that novel…and sometimes the next couple).  So they’ve sacrificed that freedom.  My advice would be to get the promises in writing first, despite a perception of a weaker bargaining position.  However, you still have freedom until you sign that contract, so use that leverage as long as you can.  And don’t be afraid to walk away.