But Really, What Format?

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

As a writer, I find my use of format almost automatic.  This book is only an ebook, this book ebook then print, my print always 6”x9”, and so on.  I’ve recently been experimenting with zines and magazines, which is refreshing for getting me slightly outside my comfort zone.

When I speak about writing, I can easily rattle off the usual formatting advice.  This as an ebook, this as a picture book, audiobooks can be great but are risks, etc.  There’s so much that is “the usual,” and I didn’t see it until I read Joe Biel’s People’s Guide to Publishing.

In time I’ve come to realize that a lot of us writers choose formats for any reason but actually meeting the goals we have.  There’s so much expected, so much taught rote, and so much that supposedly works I don’t think many of we writers put thought into what format works best.

For instance, for years I focused on my worldbuilding eBooks.  They were fast, easy, and I figured the books were a quick read.  It was much later when I looked at physical book sales and considered how my audience may want to reread that I considered physical copies.  I could imagine half a shelf taken up in an indie bookstore with just my stuff.  I imagined how people might gift five or six of my small books to a friend.

But I just did ebooks because, uh . . . well simple stuff is supposed to be ebooks, right?  I didn’t ask the questions we should all be asking:

What are my goals?

What does my audience want?

The formats we choose should reflect those goals – and honestly, your goals should be first.  I mean if you don’t want to physically format a 200 page color photobook I sort of get it.  But at least consider it.

When it comes to formats, we writers should ask what really meets our goals.  Yes, you could format a book on Amazon, but if you’re only going to sell local maybe just print off 100 copies at a local shop.  You could do an elaborate print book, but maybe your audience wouldn’t pay $75.00 for it – but would love a $10 ebook.  Maybe, as Biel noted (and inspired me) you just want to do a zine, or a magazine, or something else.

You also don’t have to do every format.  I’m thrilled we’re in an age where people have stopped saying everyone needs to do an audiobook.  Sure you probably want an ebook and a physical book, but maybe not – and maybe not hardcover and softcover or whatever.

This was a refreshing realization.  As I plan the next stages of my writing career now that I’m like 40 books and more in, it helps me see many more options ahead of me.  Free of “format assumption” I can see the many choices I have.

I just have to make sure I am really aware of my goals.

Steven Savage

Legacy And Transition

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

By the end of 2023 I’ll have written one book shy of forty books.  That’s the kind of thing to make one think.  Add the covid crisis, a world in the midst of change and turmoil, and a few life milestones, and I’m thinking a lot.

Somewhere in those thoughts is looking at those forty-minus-one books and asking “what’s next?”

I could write more of course, and doubtlessly will.  However I feel myself gripped with a desire to cultivate and consolidate my existing writing to do the most good.  It’s like I suddenly inherited a portfolio of book rights, only I inherited it from my younger self.  So what do I do with it?

It’s a lot of responsibility that I’ve dropped in my own lap.  Here’s what’s gelling in my mind:

Some books, I think, just are out of date and should be retired.  I could just make them free, maybe updated with a message, but there’s no reason to promote them or publish physical copies.  Perhaps I’ll print out 10-20 copies and donate them to close the door.

I just hate the thought of these being gone but past is past.  The responsible thing is to not to have it worry me.

Some books deserve a second or third edition and maybe a new cover.  They’re worth it, especially with some tweaking, updating, and a new look.  Some are even worth a rewrite every five or ten years.

Some of my works address specific needs and can keep evolving.  Updating them seems both responsible and kind of fun!

Finally, I want to take most if not all of my ebook only books to print.  That’ll take effort, especially as I’m looking to explore other ways to publish and get into bookstores.  However it’ll be worth it to create a physical legacy for my work – especially the Way With Worlds minibooks.  Part of me imagines an indie bookstore with a bunch of those minibooks on a shelf waiting for writers . . .

This builds a legacy and increases the reach of my work, and arguably some of my best work.

The above is not a simple effort.  However it feels worth it (or most of it feels worth it).  Maybe the next year or two will involve a larger focus on updating my catalog instead of expanding it.

Thirty-nine books isn’t enough.  But maybe I’ll take some time to do right for most of them – and the books to come.

I look forward to people’s opinions.

Steven Savage

For Our Writing To Matter

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve’s Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

I see an obsession with some writers about “having it last,” that thing that ensures your book has an impact.  They want the physical copy everyone is reading on the airplane, the wide distribution, becoming a classic.  That’s very understandable, we humans are social creatures, and we want to affect people.

I get the desire for impact.  But I’d argue that many things we use to say “my work has an effect” don’t really mean we will.  At least not a good one or a lasting one.

A physical paperback in stores, all over the world?  Well, maybe people read it, but also perhaps no one buys it, or it costs too much.  A small, cheap ebook might reach more people faster, especially specific audiences or via libraries.

Wide distribution?  Well, maybe you’ll reach people and change them.  Or maybe your book clogs the shelves of used book stores and library donations.  Maybe your book is spread out so wide that the right people don’t get reached. 

Becoming a “classic?”  A longshot, but also a chance your work is consigned to dusty academia and forced on students, meaning your work is isolated, hated, or both.  Taxidermy isn’t immortality.

(There is of course the chance that all you do means you get all the wide distribution and become a classic, but you wrote something that doesn’t make a difference.)

I’m not saying this is easy; I’m saying that if you want to change the world, make sure you’re doing it in a way that works for you and your goals.  Following someone else’s recipe for success doesn’t mean it’ll work for you.  In the writing world we’ve got so much advice that if it all worked, a lot more of us would be successful.

Serdar and I often discuss how we know people who were deeply affected by our writing.  Not a lot of people, but those who experienced profound changes.  Would we rather give 100 people a fun read or five people a life-changing event?  It’s a question to ponder.

I don’t have an answer for you – I just want you to ask the question what is the best way to matter.  Your  ideas may be wrong.  You might not even care and just enjoy writing so if you’re happy, you are the target audience.

In closing, let me share an experience. I do books on Worldbuilding, the Way With Worlds series.  Though there are two large start books, most of the series are small, cheap ebooks that focus on very specific subjects.  You grab a book for $2.99 America, read through fifty questions, and get on with writing.

These books are my best sellers by far and people seem to like them.  No one is going to list them as classics, no one’s entire writing career will be defined by one book.  The small books aren’t even available in print, though I’m thinking of changing that to help more people.

Apparently, they have an impact.  It’s not big or flashy, but judging by reviews and discussions, they help.

Maybe they’ll even change the world indirectly.  Some future hit book that makes a difference may have in its literary DNA one of my tiny guides.  It won’t be many writers’ definition of success, but it definitely is one of mine.

Steven Savage