We see the criticisms every day. The publishing industry isn’t promoting diverse voices for the diverse audience of readers out there in the world. They consistently underfund authors of color, lower classes, older and younger age groups, LGBTQ+, and more. They’re only now beginning to make efforts closing the gender pay gap. How long will it be before they make real strides in all of these areas? At least a generation. But in the meantime, thirteen-year-olds still want to read about a main character like them by an author who has been there.
These inadequately represented communities are open knowledge, but what’s less well known are the pressures being put on publishing employees. Much like the rest of the economy, publishing is seeing a labor shortage that is kept quiet from the author community. More agents, editors, assistants, designers, and publicists are leaving their positions for inadequate compensation and unfair working conditions. Check the job boards and you’ll see more openings than ever.
But why does this mean good news for authors? Keep reading to find out.
Traditional Publishing is Producing Less Competition
The juggling of books already in the pipeline from agent to agent and editor to editor caused by high turnover is lengthening timelines and bogging down the system. It’s getting harder to query and taking longer to receive replies from representatives because they simply can’t get through their existing signed authors. With an already streamlined editorial process, there’s not much they can do beyond making cuts to how many books they’ll put out for the year.
Cutting Corners on the Editorial Process
Have you heard the story of Dostoevsky’s relationship with his editor? His editor once sent back a 3rd-draft manuscript asking him to cut down a scene where two strangers had a conversation on a train. Dostoevsky returned his next draft having doubled it. After several more exchanges, the world was introduced to The Idiot, in which the conversation became the inciting incident for the entire book.
It may seem impossible, but this level of editorial development used to be standard for publishers. In the focus on growth capitalism requires, publishers have slowly whittled away at this process to the point where authors are expected to have a book ready to sell just short of a single round of edits. But agents and editors being put in the dire constraints they are now will have to keep finding ways of narrowing the process, giving more preference to existing authors and even less patience to debuts authors who need more help getting there the first time.
Now You Can Build Your Own Editorial Team
So, traditional publishing is giving fewer and fewer opportunities. And if you’re part of one of the underserved communities mentioned at the beginning, it’s likely you’re going to be underpaid for your work as well. But there is some light created by this situation through self-publishing.
A labor shortage caused by poor working conditions means there are more freelance professionals with editorial experience on the market than ever before. Need an editor? A cover designer? A book coach? A publicist? They’re available for hire freelance now, and they have the knowledge necessary to help you self-publish or improve your query to beat the competition in the rising standards for traditional publishing. Plus, you are the driver of the creative train, not a publishing house. So, like Dostoevsky, you can take creative risks and rebuild as you see fit.
Growing Support Local Culture
The push to support local and small businesses has been a growing trend for nearly 20 years now, but the economic shift set off by the panorama has reinforced it more than ever. Everyone has a close loved one who chose to forego the safety of traditional power structures to build their own businesses. Self-publishing is no different. If you come out and market yourself as an indie author, people will still take notice. We’re not in the same publishing landscape we were 10 years ago. There’s a lot of pride in it. Billie Eilish has produced 4 Grammy-winning albums as an independent artist, and the same opportunities are on the rise for independent authors.
If you have been considering self-publishing your novel, 2022 may be your year. The atmosphere is ripe with opportunity, and that’s just the beginning. But you’re going to need a well-strategized plan to get there. Reach out to our team for initial insights for success free of charge if this is your first foray into self-publishing or you're wanting to up your game.
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