Hello, friend! Welcome to another post in The Creator’s Roulette. Today I have Elizabeth Gilliland with me today. You may remember her from What Happened on Box Hill, the excerpt and the interview. She is the co-founder of Bayou Wolf Press with her husband, Mike. In this post she will sharing her experiences in starting her own press with some tips for anyone who wants to do the same. Let’s learn more about her and then read about the process.
Elizabeth Gilliland teaches at the university level, putting as much Austen into her syllabi as she can get away with. In 2018, she earned her PhD from Louisiana State University, where she wrote her dissertation on Jane Austen adaptations, and fever-dreamed this series in a caffeine-induced haze. She has worked as a ghostwriter, closed captioner, copywriter, beef jerky manufacturer, and a lot of other weird jobs in between. She is a proud member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, and excerpts of the Austen University series have won awards through JASNA and Jane Austen & Co/The Jane Austen Summer Program. She lives in Alabama with her husband and son.
On Starting Your Own Press
A guest post by Elizabeth Gilliland
When I made the decision to self-publish, my biggest fear was coming across like I had no idea what I was doing. Which is, of course, bound to happen in some way, shape, or form, the first time you self-publish, because it’s the first time you’re doing it. No matter how many blogs I read or videos I watched or tips I wrote down on Twitter, I was bound to make mistakes, and to hopefully learn from them, then make new mistakes, and so on.
Being something of a perfectionist, however, I wanted to reduce those mistakes as much as possible. Luckily for me, I happen to be married to a fellow author, who also happens to be an insightful editor, and who also wanted to take the plunge and self-publish. I also have some experience with working for indie presses and doing freelance editing/proofreading work, so I knew at least the very basics of what to expect.
You don’t need to be married to a fellow author to start your own press, but it might be nice to have a trusted partner in your corner. Maybe it’s a friend, a trusted beta reader, someone with a great eye for proofreading, or someone with mad graphic design skills. Writing is often a solitary effort, but publishing takes a community, and I knew I would feel more comfortable starting this journey with a solid home base to work from.
We are still very much figuring out how to best run the press, but so far we have both released our debut novels, and we are both actively looking for new authors to join our publication. (Seriously, submission info here.)
If you’re thinking of starting your own press, here are some aspects you might want to consider.
- A press is usually more ambitious in scope than just putting out your own work. A press suggests a team of individuals, even if it’s just a small one, who are signing off on all the decisions being made toward publication.
That comes with the benefit of getting outside input (and another pair of eyes is a writer’s best friend, in my opinion), but it also means that sometimes you will be playing second fiddle. Your time and effort will sometimes need to go toward helping the others in your press succeed, just as you hope that they will offer their support to you. It can be time-consuming to focus on helping someone else launch their novel while you’re trying to work on your own, but having the support of a team can mean everything in an industry with so many rejections.
- A press should have a cohesive message. You and your partner(s) might not be putting out the same exact genre of book, but there should be something unifying your overall books so as you build readers over time, they will know what to expect from your work.
For example, my husband writes more literary fiction, and his recent novel The Chapel St. Perilous has elements of horror, magical realism, and noir. My debut novel is a modern retelling of Jane Austen that combines all of her characters into one story and throws in some murder for fun. So, not exactly the same types of books.
HOWEVER, what we have in common as writers is that part of what made us choose to self-publish was frustration over traditional publishing’s insistence on clearly defined genres. We both love to blend genre, and our books are often qualified by readers as a little “weird.” Thus, our publishing mantra reflects this mission: “We publish books with freckles and glasses.” Our books might not be “conventionally” appealing, they might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the people who dig ‘em will really dig ‘em.
- A press has to cover many aspects of the publishing process. When you self-publish on your own, chances are that you’re going to outsource for services like editing, proofreading, cover design, marketing, and so forth. As one person, it would be very difficult to take on ALL of those things, and it probably wouldn’t be in your best interest to do so if you want to put out something that’s good quality.
We’re small enough now that we still outsource some things (such as cover design and proofreading, because we are both terrible at design, and I think you can never get too many proofreaders). However, since we both have degrees in writing and literature, we act as each other’s editors; we format our own books (using Vellum); and we are doing our own marketing. Again, it’s a lot of work, especially when you’re trying to do it for more than one author, but it’s allowed us the freedom that comes with self-publishing with some of the comfort of small-press publishing.
I hope this has been helpful for anyone interested in starting your own press. Good luck, and don’t hesitate to reach out – if I’ve learned anything so far from indie publishing, it’s that it’s all about building community and supporting each other.
Have you considered starting your own press? What questions do you have about the process?
We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
Thank you for hanging out with us today. Connect with Elizabeth on Goodreads, Twitter and check out her press website for updates. You can follow the Press account on Twitter @BayouWolf3 and email them at bayouwolfpress@gmail.com.
Cover image: Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
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