{"id":44,"date":"2018-12-31T10:31:54","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T10:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=44"},"modified":"2018-12-31T10:31:54","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T10:31:54","slug":"behind-the-spineindustry-insights-in-texas-books-and-publishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=44","title":{"rendered":"Behind the SpineIndustry insights in Texas books and publishing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"articleHeader\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"u6386\">\n<div id=\"u6388\">\n<div id=\"u6387-11\">\n<p><span id=\"u6387\">Sarah Negovetich<\/span> knows you don&#8217;t know how to pronounce her name and she&#8217;s okay with that.<\/p>\n<p>Her first love is Young Adult novels, because at seventeen the world is your oyster. Only oysters are slimy and more than a little salty; it&#8217;s accurate if not exactly motivational. We should come up with a better clich\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah divides her time between writing YA books that her husband won\u2019t read and working with amazing authors as an agent at Corvisiero Literary Agency. Her life\u2019s goal is to be only a mildly embarrassing mom when her kids hit their teens.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                           <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"140\" height=\"244\" alt=\"\u00a0Advertise your book in this space \u2028for less than \u2028a daily \u2028cup of coffee \uf0ca\uf0ca\" src=\"https:\/\/lonestarliterary.etypegoogle10.com\/sites\/lonestarliterary.etypegoogle10.com\/files\/description\/u6392-17.png\"  id=\"u6392-17\" \/>                                 <\/p>\n<div id=\"u6380-69\">\n<h1 id=\"u6380-2\">2.22.2015<\/h1>\n<h1 id=\"u6380-4\">Part 1: I am a self-publishing literary agent<\/h1>\n<p id=\"u6380-7\"><span id=\"u6380-6\">I have a confession.<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-12\">My name is <span>Sarah Negovetich,<\/span> and I am a self-publishing literary agent.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-15\"><span id=\"u6430\"><span id=\"u6424\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"270\" height=\"180\" src=\"https:\/\/lonestarliterary.etypegoogle10.com\/sites\/lonestarliterary.etypegoogle10.com\/files\/description\/negovetich%2c%20sarah_headshot.jpg\"  id=\"u6424_img\" \/><\/span><\/span>I don\u2019t mean I represent authors who self-publish (though several of my clients have self-published successfully). I mean I am a literary agent who made the decision to self-publish my own novel.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-18\">When most authors hear this, they naturally have a lot of question. The biggest one is always, why does someone who is part of traditional publishing decide to self-publish their own work?<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-21\">The answer for me is simple, and it should be the same answer anyone gives who decides to go indie: It was the right decision for me and my book.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-24\">But I\u2019m guessing you\u2019d like a few more details than that, so pull up a chair and let\u2019s talk.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-27\">It might surprise some of you to know that I have an agent and that self-publishing was not my first choice. It might also surprise you to know that it wasn\u2019t my last resort, either.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-30\">Being an agent means that I know just a tad more about how the publishing business works than your average person. Armed with that extra knowledge, I knew to be honest with myself about what I needed from a publisher and what I could give up. I also had to be honest with what I could do on my own and what would require a publisher to accomplish.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-33\">I highly recommend to every author approaching publication, regardless of your situation: sit down and make the same list. Publishing is a business, and while getting an offer can be an emotional high, your decisions need to be based on more than warm, fuzzy feelings.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-40\">My agent was actually able to find a publisher for my YA dystopian novel, <span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Rite-Rejection-Sarah-Negovetich-ebook\/dp\/B00P26DB08\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1414991100&#038;sr=8-1&#038;keywords=rite+of+rejection\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>Rite of Rejection.<\/span><\/a><\/span> To be honest, I was shocked. Not that I didn\u2019t believe in my work. But I\u2019m an agent and I know what the market is like. I know that even though readers are still clamoring for dystopian, publishing houses are looking to diversify their lists and editors just aren\u2019t willing and able to take any more of them.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-43\">The publisher was a good mid-sized house that has produced some great books. They do very well with ebooks, but their distribution for print is not as fantastic. Print may not be a big deal for some genres, but in YA it\u2019s still a significant part of the market.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-46\">Print is also one of the last great barriers for indie publishers. I knew that if I wanted to see my books on the shelves of Barnes &#038; Noble, I needed fantastic distribution. This wasn\u2019t it.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-49\">So I had to decide. Did I take a chance with this publisher in the hopes that my book could get picked up by the big buyers? Or, did I give up on print distribution, and risk it on my own for a bigger share of the profits?<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-51\">*Spoiler Alert* I decided to go Indie.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-54\">I\u2019m not going to lie. It was hard to walk away from a publishing deal. Even as the indie direction has become more acceptable, there is still a slight stigma out there that self-publishing is for authors who couldn\u2019t hack it. Every time someone asked who my publisher is, I felt the need to explain that I walked away from a deal in order to self-publish. Maybe I felt this more because of my work in the publishing industry.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-57\">Even so, I have never regretted my decision. And not because I\u2019m raking in the dough (though I\u2019m doing pretty well). I\u2019ve been able to avoid regret because I made my decision based on what I needed as an author.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-60\">So what does that mean for future books? Who knows. I\u2019d still love to find a home at one of the Big 5 for some project down the road. I know how hard it is to self-publish and I\u2019m willing to give up some of my profits for someone to take over that aspect. But I know that I can do it myself, which means I don\u2019t have to take just any offer put on the table. I can hold out for what I really want and need.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6380-63\">And that\u2019s the beauty of the current state of publishing. There is an option out there for every author. It\u2019s all about deciding what you need and going after it.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"pu7331-9\">\n<div id=\"u7331-9\">\n<h1 id=\"u7331-2\">&gt;&gt; Read Part 2:<\/h1>\n<h1 id=\"u7331-7\"><span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lonestarliterary.com\/sarah-negovetich-022215.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">I am a <\/a><\/span>mythical unicorn<\/h1>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"pu6384-29\">\n<div id=\"u6384-29\">\n<h1 id=\"u6384-2\">About<\/h1>\n<h1 id=\"u6384-4\">Sarah Negovetich&#8217;s Rite of Rejection<\/h1>\n<p id=\"u6384-7\">Straight-laced, sixteen-year-old Rebecca can\u2019t wait for her Acceptance. A fancy ball, eligible bachelors, and her debut as an official member of society. Instead, the Machine rejects Rebecca.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6384-10\"><span id=\"u6443\"><span id=\"u6437\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"107\" height=\"171\" src=\"https:\/\/lonestarliterary.etypegoogle10.com\/sites\/lonestarliterary.etypegoogle10.com\/files\/description\/negovetich%2c%20rite%20of%20rejection_cover_sm.jpg\"  id=\"u6437_img\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"u6384-22\">Labeled as a future criminal, she\u2019s shipped off to a life sentence in a lawless penal colony.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6384-24\">A life behind barbed wire fences with the world\u2019s most dangerous people terrifies Rebecca. She reluctantly joins a band of misfit teens in a risky escape plan, complete with an accidental fianc\u00e9 she\u2019s almost certain she can learn to love.<\/p>\n<p id=\"u6384-27\">But freedom comes with a price. To escape a doomed future and prove her innocence, Rebecca must embrace the criminal within.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Ghost-Horse-Thomas-H-McNeely\/dp\/192858991X\" id=\"u6394\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"readableLinkWithMediumImage\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"148\" height=\"254\" src=\"https:\/\/lonestarliterary.etypegoogle10.com\/sites\/lonestarliterary.etypegoogle10.com\/files\/description\/lsll_givalad021315.jpg\"  id=\"u6394_img\" \/><\/a>                                              <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sarah Negovetich knows you don&#8217;t know how to pronounce her name and she&#8217;s okay with that. Her first love is Young Adult novels, because at seventeen the world is your oyster. Only oysters are slimy and more than a little salty; it&#8217;s accurate if not exactly motivational. We should come up with a better clich\u00e9. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}