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Career Option: Writer? — 2 Comments

  1. Hi Stefon. Thanks for coming across my post. I completely agree that writers can choose both paths on a book-to-book basis. However, if you sign with an agent and they get you published traditionally, it’s not very likely you’ll be able to self-publish multiple projects while under contract. But sometimes helping authors self-publish certain projects is a better option, and that’s up to the writer and their agent to decide. My point was more about self-publishing being different from traditional in that it’s not a “gateway” to a traditional deal. Sometimes that happens, but it’s rare, so I think if a writer makes the decision to self-publish then they should know that’s what they chose. It’s unlikely a publisher will respond to a self-pubbed book unless it’s a bestseller. When self-pubbed authors want to switch to traditional, it’s a better idea to query a project that hasn’t been pubbed yet.

    • Hi, Sarah. Thank you very much for commenting! I definitely understand (and I hope other writers do too) that self-publishing a book eliminates it from consideration for traditional publishing, unless sales go beyond a pretty high threshold.

      If you don’t mind, I have a question. You said that it’s not very likely that a writer could self-publish multiple projects while under contract. Is there an exclusivity clause in most contracts? For example, suppose a writer signs a three book deal on the strength of one manuscript. The publisher accepts that first manuscript, so the writer still owes two more within a specified period of time. Suppose that while drafting a second novel, the writer compiles a book-length set of short stories. Does the contract require the writer to offer them to the publisher? If so, and the publisher declines them, would the contract require the writer to not publish them?

      Or am I over-complicating this? It occurs to me that it may be a simple question of time commitment. The traditional publishing process might require more time from a writer than I know to expect, and it might be all a writer can do to get the next book written.

      Thank you, again.

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