It's now been signed up by Atria books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, for immediate release as an ebook with print books to follow.
Hugh Howey is the successful self-published author whose novel Wool is to be made into a film with the director Ridley Scott. He said on Kindleboards, on a thread about indies being picked up by traditional publishers:
"You wanna know what's interesting? I started threads about this possibility on another writing forum and was laughed at, mocked, and bullied right out of there. [Lexi: hmm, no prizes for guessing which forum that was.] One thread was about the possibility that agents would begin scouring the bestselling indies for clients. I was ridiculed. I suggested that self-pubbing was always the best way to begin one's career, no matter the quality of the work. My argument was that flawed works were better off published at all rather than in slush piles; mid-list quality work was better off with a lifetime trickle rather than a few months spine-out in crumbling bookstores; and stellar work is better off in the author's possession when it makes it big with readers. There's no work of any quality that is better served on the traditional route, not with the disparity in rights and royalties."
Anyone still in denial about this?
Very nice.
ReplyDeleteI just did an interview with someone who got a pile of agent and Big 6 offers after rocking it with a Kickstarter campaign for a steampunk book. Agents/publishers are *definitely* paying attention to indies on the bestseller lists (and elsewhere). They want anyone who's already proven he/she can sell--it's as close as the industry gets to a sure thing.
No prizes? What kind of blog are you running here?
ReplyDeleteLindsay, I get the feeling that agents and publishers in the US are ahead of the UK in this regard.
ReplyDeleteAlan, here is a virtual prize just for you. (Don't drop it on your foot, it's heavy. Or wave it in the air, that's just asking for trouble. Best to put it at the back of a wide shelf in a room few people frequent. And lock the door.)
Much to my astonishment, I was contacted a while ago by a New York agent and offered representation - quite a well-known agent, as I found when I climbed back on my chair and did some research. I'm not exactly a household name, and this was back when my sales were a lot more modest than they are now. I chose not to take it any further, but I'll admit that it gave a fillip to my confidence - most of all because said agent said to consider him/her (I'm being deliberately vague here, as I've never asked permission to share the name) a fan.
ReplyDeleteIf an agent can seek out an unknown Kiwi author like me, it does show a willingness to look at indies even beyond the exceptionally high sellers.
Shayne, more proof that US agents are adapting faster. With the great success of your books, I'm only surprised more agents haven't tried to sign you.
ReplyDeleteLess discreet than you, I blogged about it when approached by Trident Media :o)
I wonder if one of the reasons that book snobs are so critical of indies, is that many of them have writing aspirations and don't like to be reminded of the fact that now, the only thing standing between them and publishing a book, is themselves.
ReplyDeleteRosen, that sounds terribly plausible. I bet you're right.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the prize. I am humbled and frankly confounded. Or confoundedly frank, the tear stains on my speech are making a few of the lines all but indecipherable. But let me say, in all honesty, that I would like to thank the academy, if there is one associated with this honor. And to all of the little people who, for some inexplicable reason, still harbor the delusion that they were somehow instrumental in helping me achieve this pinnacle of prize winning, I say this: Get your own prize.
ReplyDeleteAlan, if ever I win an award, I may be obliged to steal this speech. It says it all.
ReplyDeleteHugh Howey is awesome. After reading WOOL, I am a total fangirl. Have you read it yet? What did you think?
ReplyDeleteMargaret, I'm ashamed to say I started Wool but haven't finished it yet. I found it just a tad slow to get going, but this is no doubt more a reflection on me than the book. I will try to find time to read the rest.
ReplyDelete