Lisa Regan – Top 10 Pet Peeves About the Publishing Industry @Lisalregan

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Top 10 Pet Peeves About the Publishing Industry

by Lisa Regan

1. The waiting. When you’re looking for an agent, you’re constantly waiting. Then when you get an agent, and your agent is pitching to publishers, you’re waiting. Then when you get a contract, there is more waiting until your book finally comes out. It can be maddening if you don’t have the patience of a saint.

2. Those rejections you get during the submissions process that come with no explanation whatsoever. Even a simple: “I didn’t connect with this” is better than complete silence.

3. Resistance to new things. I understand that publishers want to stick with what makes money but I think there are a lot of new things that they could be capitalizing on. I was happy to see that the New Adult genre is making such great strides in the industry since there are so many great NA books out there.

4. When publishers charge more than $7.99 for an ebook. There is simply no reason to charge more. I’ve had to stop reading most of my favorite authors because I just refuse to pay $12.99 or $14.99 for an ebook. It’s not like they have to print them or create them each time they are purchased. I think this is a blatant slap in the face to loyal readers.

5. Major reviewers and other organizations that snub indie writers, even those with royalty-paying publishers.

6. Did I mention the waiting?

7. Ebook piracy. This is relatively new, of course, with the dawn of e-books. Authors work incredibly hard on their novels. I don’t believe others should steal that hard work and give it away for free. Authors or their publishers should make the decisions as to who gets copies for free.

8. How little writers make from the finished product. Writers make the smallest percentage from their own books. I think the new age of Indie publishing is so exciting because now writers are able to collect the majority of the profits instead of a few cents on the dollar.

9. Trying to find a balance between social media obligations and actual writing. I love social media, don’t get me wrong. I’m a bit of an addict. But it’s hard to turn it off sometimes and just write.

10. The waiting. I said that, right?