Just Another Whiny Indie Pub Rant

It appears that the American Christian Fiction Writer's Association is jumping on the bandwagon. 

The Indie Author bandwagon, that is.

It's not surprising.  One by one,  industry moguls are moving over to the other side of the Indie publishing debate.  Self-publishing has come of age.  

One of the latest big shifts came when Jerry Jenkins, best-selling author, with Tim LaHaye, of the Left Behind Series finally "saw the light."  

Some months ago, on Facebook, I jokingly suggested to him that he review my indie-published novel in exchange for the pre-publication review I gave one of his new police thriller manuscripts.  He wrote back with a "no" to the review request (surprise, surprise), a passionate diatribe in support of traditional publishing, and a categorical relegation of all indie published books to the file 13 slush pile.  

"If your book is really good," he said, "you should find a traditional publisher."

I thanked him for his advice.  I didn't bother telling him I was foot-sore from pounding the pavement to the doors of traditional publishers, and on crutches from getting that same foot smashed by those doors, which always slammed halfway through the first sentence of my elevator pitch.  

Then, lo and behold, in March, 2013, we get a news flash.  Jerry Jenkins has started his own self publishing company.  He actually said, on Facebook, "I saw the light."  Now he's charging big bucks to help independently published authors "prove their worthiness in the market."

I wish I could say he saw the light because he saw my manuscript.  Alas, he hasn't read it yet, and I can't afford the fee he would charge me to do so. But his conversion experience is indicative of where the industry is going, and has been going for the last several years.  

So back to the ACFW.  Below are excerpts from an e-mail they sent me this morning in response to my recent cancelation of my membership in their organization.  If you're a Christian Indie author you might be interested.
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Dear Ginny,

It’s great to connect with you again through email. Whether your affiliation with ACFW was long-term or short-term, please know you have been missed.

Life sometimes takes us in different directions than we expect, or even different from what we want. That may have happened to you. But sometimes it brings us back full circle. If you’re still interested in writing Christian fiction, consider joining ACFW again. ACFW continues to offer quality skill training for novelists, as well as education in the industry.

We wanted to make you aware of some recent and upcoming changes in ACFW that are tailored to meet a wider range of needs.

When ACFW first began, the organization focused solely on helping authors improve their craft with the goal of signing with a traditional publisher. Times have certainly changed! Many authors are now either publishing independently or are “hybrid” authors—involved in both independent and traditional publishing. The ACFW Executive Board agreed ACFW needs to be an organization that helps all novelists, regardless of which path they choose.

In full recognition of changes within the industry, independently published books will be allowed entry into the Carol Awards beginning in 2015.
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This is a good first step.  It might be useful to some Indie authors. But it's only encouraging if you've already done, by yourself, the marketing work a traditional publisher would normally help you do.  

Read on. 
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In fairness, independently published authors must also meet a certain standard to enter the Carols: a “Qualified Independent Author” status. The QIA status will require the author to show proof of a minimum of $4000 earnings within a consecutive 12-month period on one independently published Christian novel. Once the status is reached, it is permanent.

These requirements are in keeping with standards currently used within the independent publishing industry. And they are designed to level the playing field between traditionally published authors, whose path includes successfully navigating through professional channels, and independently published authors who successfully navigate the challenges of publishing on their own.

The same qualifications for the Carol Awards will apply for those wanting to list their novels on Fiction Finder: traditionally published books must be released by an ACFW recognized publisher, and independently published books must be from an author who has achieved the Qualified Independent Author status.
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I'm not complaining about these stipulations.  There's still a need to screen self-published books and the ACFW needs such guidelines to maintain professional standards. If they didn't they'd be in danger of becoming bedfellows of vanity presses.  

But it's still hard for those of us who have well written books and don't know how to get them noticed in the marketplace.  It's not our manuscripts that are being screened in this case, it's our marketing success level.  

And that's fair too.  We can't expect anyone to lift us out of the promotion difficulties every author, and publisher--traditional or indie--has to deal with.  And I'm not knocking the ACFW either.  It's a great resource and support for any Christian writer, as Robin points out.   

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ACFW is the place to be if you’re writing Christian fiction. Veteran writers and relative newcomers are improving their craft, understanding the needs of the market, and going on to publication and award honors.

We’d love to have you rejoin the circle and help form part of this vital community focused on fiction.

Robin Miller
ACFW Executive Director 
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Next post I'll give my reply to Robin's invitation, explaining in greater detail some of the difficulties Christian indie authors face, and talking about my experiences with editors at ACFW conferences.

Top Thirteen Things I Learned During my 36-hour Trip to Denver

This is a report on my ACFW conference experience last weekend. And, yes, the number 13 is significant.

What I learned on the way to the conference:

1. If you’ve had radiation treatments any time in the last three months, you may set off radiation detectors at the border that will delay everyone within a two mile radius while the officers try to discover which one of you is trying to smuggle uranium into the United States.

2. Never even hint to a border crossing officer that you might be missing your flight in Seattle. It only slows them down.

3. Twenty-year old Buicks can cruise along very nicely on the straight-away at 65 or 70 miles an hour if they have to, even though they might be burning up the gas faster.

4. Best Value is a good, cheap motel on International Boulevard that also offers shuttles to the airport 24-hours a day.

5. If you want to fly standby, you have to arrive at the airport two hours before the first flight (which goes out at 6:00 am) to give the airlines people time to figure out what you’re doing and arrange it.

6. All flights are always full, and everyone who has paid for their ticket shows up, often at the last minute just as your hopes for a successful stand-by ticket have risen to new heights. Everyone, that is, except people who have missed their flights the day before because of border delays.

7. Do not eat chili at any time during a 12-hour layover in any airport, even though it seems like a good idea at the time.

8. If you want to read or sleep during 12-hour layovers in airports, don’t strike up conversations with race car mechanics sitting next to you in the gate area. But if you would enjoy meeting interesting characters like Les, who has a daughter named Summer Breeze (named after the song) and a son named Talon, and if you would like to learn a whole lot of other interesting things on a 12-hour layover in the airport, go for it.

9. The reason you have to change the oil in your car often is because oil contains additives that keep your gaskets supple. The additives burn up after awhile, so you need to change the oil to get fresh ones.

10. If you’re smoking anything with your buddies around a campfire in an empty lot anywhere near the Seattle International Airport runway (or any airport runway, for that matter), and it occurs to one of you that it would be a good idea to add some old tires to your campfire, don’t. It scares the tower people when they see their planes descending through a cloud of black smoke.

11. If you haven’t played Sudoku in a long time, you’ve lost your edge and will have to learn to win it all over again.

12. Coffee should be consumed only when you want to stay awake for a long time after you drink it.

13. No obstacles in your writing journey will prevent God from doing what He wants to with your writing, and one ten-minute conversation with an editor can make the whole trip worthwhile, even if you arrive when the conference is half over.

Stranger Than Fiction

My trip home from the ACFW conference was an eleven-hour “planes, trains and automobiles” affair. I flew from Minneapolis to Seattle, took a shuttle from Seattle to downtown Vancouver, and then rode two city buses to get to my front door. It was a good trip. Gave me time to debrief my conference experience and make plans for the next “final” revisions. Gave me time to pray about publication perplexities. I wasn’t disappointed that I hadn’t found a publisher. I’d been through the process before and knew what not to expect. But it had been a long writing journey and the conference had seemed like the last opportunity for publication. I was out of options. Angie Hunt’s exhortation to walk obediently, day by day, trusting God with our dreams, was a comfort.

I arrived in Vancouver, midnight-tired at 10:00, and boarded the first of my two city buses. It was crowded. I dropped into one of the few available seats, behind the driver and across from a lively little man—one of “God’s odds.” He grinned at me.

“What’s the suitcase for? Goin’ away somewhere?”

“No, I’ve been. I’m heading home.”

“Where’d ya go?”

“To a conference.”

“What kind of conference?”

“A writing conference.”

“Oh. You’re a writer, are ya? What’d ya do at the conference, write?”

“No, I went to workshops and talked with editors to see if they wanted to buy my book.”

“Did any of them want it?”

“No. No one wanted it.”

“Why didn’t they want it? Not good enough?”

I was sure our fellow passengers were thinking, like I was, that this was too much information, but I didn’t know how to stop the flow without being deliberately rude.

“No, it’s good enough. They just didn’t want it.”

The dialogue continued, covering such diverse topics as: My husband: “Why would he let you go off by yourself?” My blue jeans: “Everyone can wear blue jeans. Old people. Young people. Doesn’t matter.” My kids: “Why does your son live so far away? Don’t ya get along?”

I finally reached my stop, said a fond farewell to my new friend and thanked the driver, who grinned up at me as I left. The second bus was not crowded, but for some reason I ignored the larger empty spaces and sat down next to a young woman.

“You did a good job talking to that man,” she said. I hadn’t seen her get off the other bus. “I was interested in your conversation about writing. I’m a writer too.”

We traded pitches. After hearing mine she said, “I’ve got a friend who’s a publisher. I think he might be interested in what you’ve got. He publishes books with spiritual themes. I’ll introduce you to him if you like.”

Later that night I sat at my computer, checking my e-mail. Her midnight posting, giving me her publisher’s web address, was at the top of the list. I looked at his offerings. Several fantasies—not too dark. An historical or two. And another book about a gay man who “stops at nothing to find a perfect love, and hope for a perfect peace.” I’d love to tap into this market audience.

I have a strong suspicion this publisher won’t want me either, but it’s the thought that counts. God’s thought. I see his hand so clearly in the serendipity of my bus encounters. He’s showing me that he can pluck a publisher out of a hat in my backyard if he wants to. He’s reminding me that a loving God is at work in our world. His purposes will be fulfilled, through the small, everyday occurrences of our lives. I’m warmed by the thought, and delighted by the unexpected reminder, on my way home, that God’s ways can sometimes be stranger than fiction.