Don't even publish your book: Tolkien's option

With my recent conversation with Jim Rossi about self-publishing in mind, I turn again to J.R.R. Tolkien, whom I've been reading lately because of the publication of his Beowulf translation in May. He published The Hobbit and LOTR, and more besides these, but his translation of Beowulf never saw the light of publication in his lifetime.

Though complete, and though he generated a vast set of notes to go with it, it went into a file cabinet or a desk drawer.

It's an extraordinary translation. We're so lucky to have it.

So why the heck didn't he publish it?

There are at least three theories that different critics (including his son Christopher) have suggested:

1) his family's life was disrupted by his taking a post at Oxford just as he was finishing it 2) he became too engrossed in the writing of The Hobbit and didn't think about it anymore 3) his relationship to Beowulf was so special, and secret, that he didn't want to pollute it with publication

The first two make little sense to me. Few writers have disruption-free lives, right? And his Beowulf was done by the time he started The Hobbit. So reason 2 doesn't work either. All he needed was a brown paper package and some postage stamps to send it off.

But the third reason ...

... now that's appealing. The New Yorker's Joan Acocella offers this explanation near the end of her splendid recent piece about the translation. She describes Tolkien's relationship to Beowulf as "a secret love" that fed his imagination. It was so special to him that he kept it only for himself.

Can you imagine any writer today who'd spend enormous time and energy on a manuscript only to consign it to their files?

Unthinkable.

And incredibly brave.

I like Acocella's theory though I think another factor was behind it, too   -- something that his son understood as he prepared the poem for publication.

Christopher Tolkien writes, in the recently published edition, that he worked from a clean typescript that was all marked up by his father's margin notes about alternative phrasings and other ideas. His father never stopped tinkering with the poem. He was never satisfied with it.

Even though the text is complete -- to us -- for Tolkien it wasn't finished.

That's less romantic than Acocella's idea, I know, but for me it underscores how devilishly hard the craft of writing is.

As you fumble around with your own manuscripts, my friends, and as you feel discouragement, take heart. Tolkien experienced frustrations like yours. He understood, like you, why writing sometimes feels like this picture:

But he learned a lesson, which those marginal scribblings and tinkerings clearly suggest: You just have to keep going.

Keep that ball rolling.

AND DON'T FORGET:

• The Craft: Writers on writing at Call of the Siren

Why self-publish? Your book's a startup company, that's why

As promised in my previous post, here's an exchange that offers some interesting food for thought to any writer searching for a publisher.

For Jim Rossi, the answer is simple: Don't look on the web or in a guidebook for a publisher. Look in the mirror.

That's what Rossi decided as he prepared his forthcoming book, Crucible: The Mojave and the Quest for Solar Power. A contributor to a variety of publications (including book reviews for the Los Angeles Times Book Review during my tenure there), he declined the traditional route -- and a traditional publisher's offer -- to self-publish his first book, which is an examination of the possibilities and implications of solar energy in the 21st century.

When he first told me that he'd declined a traditional offer, I have to admit that I was a little surprised: Doesn't every author dream of such an offer? Huh?

Sort of -- if it's the right kind of offer, as Rossi explains below.

The following remarks certainly aren't the definitive last word on the subject. But I hope that you'll treat them as a fresh starting-point for your own journey as an author -- a provocation that may whet your appetite and inspire you to start thinking outside the box when it comes to the fate of your own manuscript.

And, as always, my friends, your thoughts are welcome.

 What is your book about?

The title of my book is Crucible: The Mojave and the Quest for Solar Power, due out in Fall 2014. Mark Twain said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”

I moved to UNLV from San Francisco in 2011 to study the evolution of the solar industry as it happens – environmental history and climate change, but also business, policy, and technology. How will the lessons learned here in the Mojave – with its ideal sun, open land, and transmission lines going to innovation-rich Southern California -- affect the future of energy around the world?

That's a terrific topic. Did you think of publishing in the traditional way – get an agent, get a deal, get published – or were you already thinking of the self-pub route?

Absolutely, yes. I initially thought of the traditional route.  Writers look forward to the day that they receive their first publishing offer for their first book.

What I never expected was that I would turn that offer down.

Why did you turn it down?

It was an academic publisher: small initial print run, high price, no e-book, and no marketing plan to reach the general reader – my natural market.

There are many fine reasons to write., but the only reason that ever turned my crank is to give as many people as possible the chance to read my work – to hopefully be entertained while learning something useful to them. The academic publisher could not offer that, so we amicably parted ways.

“Marketing,” said Peter Drucker, “is seeing the business through the customer’s eyes.” Once I started thinking this way – like a businessperson – self-publishing made more and more sense. What, exactly, could a publisher offer me?

Your decision makes sense the way you explain it. Your purpose and strategy just didn't mesh with what this publisher could offer.

Even so, I think it still takes courage and conviction to go it alone. What other factors were behind your decision?

Mainly, I spoke to four different people and found one book that helped me to make a business decision to self-publish.

The first person was Cosmic Ray of Flagstaff, Arizona. He’s a good friend who has sold over 200,000 copies of his self-published mountain biking and hiking guidebooks – headlined by Arizona Fat Tire Tales and Trails. He’s helped me with the nuts-and-bolts of selling books via Amazon and bookstores.

The second person was Dominic Marrocco, an e-commerce entrepreneur and Honorary Fellow at UNLV and another close friend. His advice, in a nutshell:  Treat my book like a start-up company. Why sell the rights when you can reach your customers yourself, selling them the exact book that you want to write, and keep the profits?

The third person was my buddy Jake Meltzer, a search engine optimization (SEO) guru in San Francisco. He’s taken a lot of the mystery out of how I can use internet search and social media to help potential readers around the world to find my book.

The fourth person was San Francisco agent Michael Larsen.  Larsen explained that big publishers market big names, and small publishers have small – or non-existent – marketing budgets. His advice, also in a nutshell: The publishing world has fundamentally changed. Why not publish Crucible on your own, market it yourself, and cut out the middleman?

Your strategy doesn't rule out eventually signing with a big, mainstream publisher, either.

That's right. If the book is successful, a big publisher can offer me a deal for an updated version or a sequel book. And it will be my choice.

And what about the book that you mentioned above? Which one inspired your decision? 

The book that got me thinking was Deep: The Story of Skiing and the Future of Snow by Porter Fox. Here was a writer with years of experience writing for big publications – just like myself – self-publishing his work of serious, journalistic nonfiction, and finding success. That was enough for me.

 RELATED:

• Author background: Profile of Jim Rossi at LinkedIn

•  Ebooks Econo 101: Cheaper is Not Always Better

Coming soon: Why you might consider self-publishing your book

The term "vanity press" is quickly going out of date -- it has far less to do today with ego or self-gratification than it does with practicality and an awareness of conditions in the publishing industry. Over the years, it's been exciting and encouraging to hear about many authors who have built successful careers and followings based on work that has been self-published. Once upon a time, self-publishing was considered a last resort, but now there are many advantages to this enterprise even though your work won't be attached to one of the big, laureled New York City firms. I recently talked to Jim Rossi, an L.A. Times book reviewer I worked with on many occasions, about his decision to decline a legit publisher's offer in favor of going the self-publication route. Jim's explanation is candid and insightful, and, if you happen to be a writer struggling to find a publisher, his solution might appeal to you.

Our conversation will appear at Call of the Siren once the upcoming U.S. holiday is over. (Sorry for the tease. I'm just too busy right now stockpiling firecrackers and skyrockets!)

Until  then, I'd like to whet your appetite for that conversation with a contrarian view in this embedded article by James McGrath Morris at The Santa Fe New Mexican, "Ebooks Econ 101: Cheaper is not always better." Morris is enlightening on the downsides of ebook publishing in particular, although the arguments contained in his article don't necessarily negate the choices that Rossi has made ... or that you might make one day,my friends.