Life as a writer is quite challenging and at times can be frustrating, to say the least. Writing, for one, can be a lonely existence because you spend a lot of your time with only your innermost thoughts trying to assemble them onto paper or an electronic computer screen these days.
But writing can also be a rewarding experience. I have found that the more I write, the more creative I am. It’s a fantastic process that gives back to me in many instances twofold of what I put out into the world in terms of creative energy.
I’ve been working on improving my writing skills since I was twelve years old, and the process of self-improvement has been ongoing. I believe that to become proficient in anything requires a lot of dedication and hard work.
Writing content, getting it published, and, last but not least, selling your work are three distinct things. The first two are not as challenging to accomplish as the last, in my view.
Once an author creates something they believe is of high quality and worthy of public exposure, they must decide whether to publish or not.
That brings me to the main point of this post, which is whether authors should self-publish or traditionally publish their works.
But before we dive into that can of worms, read the following article I came across:
Now that you’ve read the article above, here’s my two cents on publishing:
My Experiences with Publishing
Dr. John Reizer
Since the release of the Target List movie, I’ve had several writers contact me and ask for advice on writing and publishing fiction and nonfiction.
These authors wanted to know if it’s better to self-publish or traditionally publish their manuscripts.
Throughout my writing career, I have authored over twenty books, including both nonfiction and fiction titles. None of my published books has been traditionally published. However, I was offered a contract to publish my book Waist Away by a traditional publisher in 2007, which I declined because the terms offered didn’t make financial sense to me.
As you will discover in the above-reposted article, most traditionally published novels don’t sell many copies. According to some of the sources I have researched, hundreds rather than thousands of books sold is more the rule than the exception.
I have known for many years that the most challenging part of the book-writing business is not authoring the content; it’s marketing and selling books, which isn’t easy.
When I briefly negotiated with a traditional publisher in 2007, the company inquired about my social contacts, the organizations I belonged to, and my marketing plan for the future publication. They wanted to pay me a paltry percentage and have me do all the work while taking most of the profits. I reasoned that it would be foolish to agree to such a deal and published the manuscript myself.
From that point forward, I’ve been self-publishing everything I have authored.
Three of my novels have sold under 50 copies, others several hundred, and a few have sold a lot more than many traditionally published books, for sure.
Three of my nonfiction chiropractic books have sold thousands of copies over the many years they have been available. But some of those books were purchased in bulk by chiropractic colleges in the US when I was working as an associate professor of clinical sciences and brokered deals with different college bookstores.
My novel The Target List is my most successful story. I self-published that book in 2019. The story gained most of its exposure, however, when I met the screenwriter and molecular biologist, MJ Palo, and we co-wrote the screenplay for the story, convincing Mad Wife Productions to adapt it into a feature film. We estimate that several million people have watched the movie.
In my view, self-publishing is the most suitable option for my situation because it allows me to have my books printed when I want them released and receive higher royalties.
For others, self-publishing their books might not be a great fit. For some, traditionally publishing a book might be a better option. I believe that both avenues can work, but keep in mind that, whether through traditional publishing or self-publishing, earning a living as a writer of books and articles is not an easy road by any stretch of the imagination.
I hope this information is helpful to aspiring writers who are trying to publish their work moving forward.
The best advice I can offer to new writers is to write content, whether fiction or nonfiction, every single day. The more you write, the better you will become at your craft!
The Missing Novella by John Reizer
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“A hair-raising tale, I highly recommend.“
–An Amazon Reviewer!
When a young private investigator named Jessica Harris meets Billy Hayes, a groundskeeper at Evergreen Cemetery who has witnessed mysterious happenings on the property, the two team up and discover a hidden operation; they soon become entangled in a web of lies and danger. Will they expose the truth, or become just another pair of missing souls claimed by a diabolical biomedical corporation’s vision for the future?
Official Book Trailer
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A Goodreads Reviewer…
Old-World Exploration YouTube Channel
Replay of Show
Watch the Cancer Cure Movie Big Pharma Doesn’t Want People to See
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Watch Target List on YouTube
NoFakeNews 
Excellent information! Thanks for writing the article and sharing your experiences.
Megan Parker
You’re welcome, Cassie! I greatly appreciate your feedback and kind words.
John
It’s truly amazing and greatly appreciated that you’re willing to share your behind-the-scenes experiences with publishing your creative content, John.
You are a beacon of light within the truth-telling movement and someone I have come to trust as a source of reliable information for many years now.
Thank you!
Cassie Everett
Wow! What a significant share, Roark. It goes to prove what Ashley and I just wrote about. The controlling powers have cornered and control the entertainment and other related markets.
Software writings are no different. Evidently, everything is closely monitored and must go through a gatekeeping process.
I applaud your tenacity and desire to continue to push forward, regardless of any resistance the industry might provide in keeping independent creators outside the big game.
Thank you again for sharing your thoughts and personal experiences on this subject. 👍🙂
BTW, your creation sounds amazing!
John
The most important thing, Lisa, is that you put in the hard work to write the manuscript and then took the next step to self-publish the book. And it’s a great book that, in all likelihood, no one would ever see if you waited to secure a traditional publisher.
Who cares about the money anyway? 🤣
Sure, we all want to sell copies of our works, but at the end of the day, it’s all about writing good content and delivering what you can to whatever size audience you have, regardless of its size.
When I began writing and publishing articles on NoFakeNews, I had a tiny audience. Still, over the years, it has grown substantially, despite numerous attempts to shadowban my platforms and published works.
And you are welcome! It’s my pleasure to display your book on my website. It’s a story worth reading, in my opinion, and one which many people can identify with.
John
Well, John, I certainly haven’t made much money from my one and only book self-published book Subtle Sabotage. I have no idea about how many copies have been sold. But based on the tax report at the end of each year it looks like I have made approximately an average of $50.00 to $60.00 each year since I published it in 2019.
But I didn’t write it to make money. It actually started out as just a venting venture. But for some odd reason I decided to publish it. I guess I wanted people to understand the challenges parents with an autism child go through, and how I believed vaccines were responsible.
Additionally, I wanted people to understand alcoholism better, and how it can take over your life. But also how it’s possible to recover and live your life without it.
I don’t believe that my book ever even gets seen by most shoppers on Amazon. I think it remains hidden. However, except for when I sign up for the free five day promotion once every 3 months. And I always do that.
That is probably the only time that my book gets seen, and it is the most exciting part for me. Because my book always does very well there. There are 100 ‘free’ books that make the list from under different categories. Under the category of ‘parents with disabilities’ my book comes in at an average from 15 to 25. Although on a few occasions it made it from 5 to 10.
But under the category ‘alcoholism’ it mostly always makes it to number 2. And it has been number 1 on a few occasions as well.
So, that does me proud, and that’s all I need! 🙂
Also, if it wasn’t for writing my book I wouldn’t have ended up on the same book review service Pubby.co as you, John, back in 2019. And I can’t remember all the details of how that exactly works anymore, but it’s where different authors read one another’s books for reviews on Amazon. But not necessarily each others.
I remember coming across The Target List by John Reizer on the site. Least to say, I gave it an excellent review. I even raved about it to my friends.
I wanted to find more books written by this author. Then I became so interested in what he had to say that I found his website NofakeNews.
Well, that lit a fire for me, and now here I am years later still regularly sharing my two cents.
Not to mention I also became involved in the Target List movie. 😀
And thank you, John, for always sharing Subtle Sabotage here on NofakeNews.
Lisa
You may recall John, I have been developing a software program that makes it fun to compose music!
As Ashley mentioned the music industry, which is truly a phenomenon of its own in terms of success allegedly requiring some contracts to be signed in blood in blood. The software industry is another one!
As a kid I was thrilled with the idea of making and then selling software. Electronics were difficult to prototype, requiring all the components, boards, wires and solder. But software was much easier to develop within the confines of one’s own home, without the huge expense of mass producing the final product or building prototypes!
So I did the college thing and dropped out along the way to make a video game for the Commodore 64 before going back and getting the degree.
Despite graduating from a respectable school, my career was not a great fit. Wearing a tie and working in a cubicle, doing “the corporate thing” was not for me. The job market was soft in 1992 which didn’t help and I found myself temping and doing Quality Assurance.
In 1998/1999, I self-published a software tool that made databases accessible on the Web. For over 10 years, someone would purchase a copy every few days!
Long story short, between all the Norton and McAfee anti-virus fear mongering, not unlike COVID, the industry has made it nearly impossible to sell a product outside of their “walled garden” stores.
As an example, many have come forward and said they barely make enough to pay Apple the $100+ annual fee to be in the App store.
What’s clever and annoying is that the popular operating systems have been wired in the past 10 years to essentially discourage and in some cases disallow anyone from installing software that hasn’t been approved, on their own PC!
Of course there are valid sounding claims of malicious software (risks) but it used to be you could find a software application on the Web and if you trusted the website, you could download and install software of your choice on your personal computer!
I suspect as Ashley mentioned the music industry, the software industry has become an exclusive club of sorts, determining who sells and becomes successful.
My music software provides one of the most enjoyable and fun experiences possible, yet it may not see the light of day. I have made efforts to convert from Windows to Mac and Linux.
Both Microsoft and Apple require software applications to meet stringent, although sometimes silly and / or needless requirements, just to be listed in their app stores, which may be rigged like the search engines, to promote certain publishers over others, for whatever reason.
Still, John, I write software and see where it goes! 🙂
Thanks for your honest and open share John!
Roark
No doubt about it, Ashley, the entertainment businesses are all tightly controlled by the- powers-that-shouldn’t-be, but obviously are. We know from direct experiences that the content that truly goes viral and captures everyone’s attention is not organic, but rather influenced behind the scenes. We, independent writers, are merely fighting for the crumbs left behind. 😎
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and also for the kind words.
John
You’re welcome, Chris! 👍🙂
I hope that sharing my experiences here will help others who are navigating these uncharted waters. It’s undoubtedly a very unforgiving business, as you are obviously well aware.
The most important thing for me was to figure out early on a way to sustain my existence with an alternate way of earning an income. I was a practicing chiropractor for over 35 years, and my profession provided me with the opportunity to write leisurely without worrying about generating an income from writing content on various platforms.
Secondly, I had to establish an online presence, as having a large social media following is of paramount importance in selling books. I am not on any social media platforms, but my website, NoFakeNews, has become my primary web presence, replacing the need for Facebook and other social connections.
Most importantly, keep writing every day, regardless of what else is happening in your life. Writers need to write; everything else in your writing career will only come about if you create content. 🙂
Finally, don’t ever let others tell you that you’re wasting your time. Ignore the naysayers and keep typing on your keyboard.
John
Thanks for sharing your publishing experiences. It’s incredibly frustrating as an author to try to get others who have had some degree of success in our field to discuss their pathways to achieving it.
I have submitted unsolicited work, acquired an agent, and self-published in the past. Each one is a daunting task on its own. Publishing is one thing, and selling copies another altogether.
Your numbers are encouraging, and I am still trying to figure it all out.
Thanks again!
Chris
This is great information, John. And, based on what I have witnessed, and heard, over the years, the same reality applies to those seeking (and obtaining) record deals. Even major stars have completed albums that have never seen the light of day, for whatever reason.
I think, in one way or another, it all points back to the military/intelligence/industrial/evangelical/arts & entertainment complex: They have long controlled what (and who) succeeds at a high level, and who doesn’t (based on their control of the media, the bookstores, etc.). That being said, you should be EXTREMELY proud of the major (organic) success of Target List! What you (and MJ, and your whole team) have done is truly EXTRAordinary in this day and age. And I think you personally, are a great role model for those who want to write: Just write! Where it goes from there, it goes. 🙂
Ashley