BY KATHI KAMEN GOLDMARK AND SAM BARRY

The Author Enablers are here to answer your questions about writing and publishing. Together, Kathi and Sam have more than 25 years of experience in book publishing. Kathi is an author, radio producer and former publicist; Sam is a marketing manager at a major publishing company and a freelance editor. They are also proud members of the Rock Bottom Remainders, the all-author rock band founded by Kathi in 1992.

Going your own way

Dear Author Enablers,

Nine years ago, I met an Australian guy online and we became pen pals. He sent me his comedy science fiction novel called Spindle, and it was so hilarious and smart, I decided to marry him! We've now been married seven years and have three kids. We've sent Spindle to numerous publishers, but every one responded one of two ways: either "We love it but our catalog is full for the next three years" or "Is comedy-science fiction really a genre?" So my plan is to publish Spindle myself using a print-on-demand (POD) publisher, with an initial review/endorsement mailing followed by a bigger printing marketed through sci-fi conventions, newsletters and websites. My question: is Spindle destined to be unsuccessful because it's self-published? —Karen Hatch Taylor

Before you self-publish, there are a couple of questions you should ask yourself: Do I care if my book never gets reviewed in mainstream publications or distributed to bookstores? And do I have enough of a platform to sell this book outside of traditional bookstores without losing my shirt? If you're hoping to land on the cover of BookPage and see your book on the bestseller lists, self-publishing is not the best route. If you don't care about bookstore distribution and you have a viable plan for finding your audience, self-publishing can make sense.

Our guess is that you are a good candidate for self-publishing. You know how to locate sci-fi conventions and review publications. You are savvy enough about marketing to begin with an initial small review mailing that will produce endorsements that you can then include in subsequent larger print runs. And you managed to get your book title in a one-paragraph letter FOUR times. We're not worried about you, or Spindle. We just want to know where we can pick up a copy.

Dear Author Enablers,

Can you give me some insight into the pros and cons of self-publishing? Is it normal to wonder if the world really needs to hear what I have to say? —On The Fence

The benefits of self-publishing are: faster turn-around on production; keeping your artistic vision intact (in other words, no fights with your editor because you are your editor); and far greater return on each book sold, without having to wait for unintelligible royalty statements or money held against returns. The benefits of working with a publisher are: editorial direction (something most of us actually do need); copyediting; sales/distribution/marketing/publicity that you couldn't possibly do for yourself; and—almost inevitably—a nicer looking finished product. Plus you won't have to find space in your garage for the boxes of books that don't sell.

As for the world needing to hear what you have to say . . . we don't know a single author who doesn't worry about that. You are allowed to indulge in no more than 10 minutes of this self-doubting nonsense per day. Then sit down and keep writing.

Dear Author Enablers,

I am writing a book review for my history class. It is on the art and culture in early Greece. How do I find out what the main theme is? It talks about history and what happened throughout that time. Thanks. —Struggling Student

Finding the main theme of a written work is good practice for any writer. But your teacher has expressly forbidden us to do your homework for you, and we don't want to get detention.

Thanks for writing,
THE AUTHOR ENABLERS

When the Sparrow Cries . . . We got a LOT of entries in the writing contest for our fictional book title, and are still going through all of your wonderful paragraphs with our two celebrity judges, author Roy Blount Jr. and novelist Jason Headley. Winners will be announced as soon as we pick 'em. But here's the thing—a publisher has expressed interest in a collection of these paragraphs (no promises, it's just an idea, for now). So, although the original deadline has passed, we invite you, BookPage readers, to keep 'em coming. The minimal rules: write the first paragraph of an imaginary novel titled When the Sparrow Cries Wolf and send it to authorenabler@aol.com with your contact info.