I think I have an idea for an "I tried writing like" episode. Maybe "I tried writing like Suzzane Collins" in celebration of the launch of the new Hunger Games prequel?
My craziest writing/publishing dream is having a fandom around one of my books. I'd love to know people are drawing fanart, writing/reading fanfic, making memes (because every really good fandom has some memes) an discussing my stories and characters. My goal is to get something published eventually. Luckily, I think I have plenty of time...
Until very recently, I had never known that your protagonist of Project Purple was biracial, and I'm glad that you're questioning what to do about this book since you want to make sure other POC writers can be the ones to publish their own stories (whatever genre it may be in). Whatever you decide to do for Project Purple, I'm cheering you on! Also, love the origami folding!
Awww! When I first saw you playing your old video I was like... I know that apartment lol! Then you showed Snake and my heart hahaha!! I think being a hybrid is a great idea, best of both worlds. I'm a little jaded lol, but not against it at all hahaha!! Like I've said before I have a couple of close friends who are traditionally published who are very happy with that path. And omg! If any of my favorite authors read and liked one of my books... I would flip out!! That's totally a dream of mine too!!
With POC and LGBTQ characters, I always say 'write the characters, not their experiences.' I have plenty of novels with POC characters and I try to write them as just people. But it's such a difficult subject to traverse, and everyone has such varying ideas and opinions. I'm glad we're talking about it. I think my top dream as a writer is for someone to create fan art and head canons about my characters.
I've thought a lot about this because my protag in my debut novel is a living, fashion doll. She's also black and raised by a black family. The family and the rest of humanity are aware she's alive, thus they interact directly with her and vice versa. Therefore she's very self-aware of her problematic nature as a fashion doll, especially one of colour. The plot doesn't revolve around her race and culture, but it naturally comes up here and there. If I ignore those unique opinions and experiences because it's "not my place to portray," A) I'm not being true to the characters B) I'm still misrepresenting them by choosing to gloss past those aspects and C) I'm actively and intentionally wasting an opportunity to explore issues and themes unique to them, that I can't and SHOULDN'T explore with WHITE characters because it's not THEIR experiences. That not only hampers the characters and their stories but contributes to erasure. To be honest, one of the appeals of writing a character different from yourself is to explore how that difference affects them. One of the reasons I chose to write about a token BLACK fashion doll was because A) I'm yet to see it explored. And B) I KNOW it differs from the majority white dolls in some ways. How they're treated, marketed, represented. How they make their owners (as dolls) feel about themselves. Etc. Unfortunately, race in publishing is such a layered issue, there's no absolute, perfect solution. If you write only characters like yourself, you're contributing to erasure. If you write protagonists of a different race you risk misrepresenting them or taking an author of that background's spot. If you keep the pov protagonists like yourself and keep the characters of colour at a distance, you're sidelining them. Publishers have to be more open to ownvoices. They have to improve how they market those authors and their books. Unfortunately as authors, especially us newbies, there's little we can do to change the industry. It's not going to happen overnight. In the meantime, all we have power over is our own content. I want my young, black readers to feel seen and understood when they read my books. I want my protagonist to feel like she could be THEIR doll come to life for once. I can get close by researching and running it by sensitivity readers, to infuse that truth into my characters as best I can. Due to my lack of personal experience, I'm bound to miss the mark in some ways. But if nothing else, it'll start a conversation. My white and non-black readers will put the book down a little more informed than when they first picked it up. Black readers will (hopefully) see themselves and their experiences reflected at least a little. They can build on that representation, say "actually, for me it was more like this." Which is better than contributing nothing at all.
People are all different and unique. I am a full Asian and I cannot speak any language apart from English. Write for the character and try your best to make sure the context in which you place your character makes sense with personality and lifestyle. Research is always good and I think the fact that your character is half and half gives you more leeway.
Omg, as someone who is half Korean and half white, it makes me really happy that you’re writing a biracial Korean character, since I’ve only really seen that representation in To All The Boys I Loved Before so far. I love writing too, and still I’m nervous about writing POC characters even as a biracial, since everyone’s experiences are different, and because most people assume I’m white from my appearance. As long as there is more to the character than her ethnicity, I know you’ll do great!
This is how I feel as well. I am latina, and I just want there to be more stories with representation. I don't care who writes them as long as they write the characters as people and not stereotypes. Kate! You're not taking up space! Publish your story! Side note: I do hate it when white (or other ethnicity) actors play latinos (looking at you Lou Diamond Phillips).
I left a comment earlier, but I just wanted to come back to say that I just watched a video from Rachel Writes on the subject of Own Voices and it's incredibly well researched, well thought out, nuanced, and worth a good listen. I think her take on this is really really good, and I encourage anyone reading this comment to look it up and check it out.
I absolutely love those cranes! I might have to learn some origami now lol and omg I was writing when I heard you say my name and I jumped haha thank you so much for including me! I'm honored 😆 But I thought about hybrid pub for a while before coming to the conclusion that I just want to forever self pub. I'm not patient enough for trad pub lol and I like ownership. I want to own the rights to everything when it comes to my work. But I'm always consuming information about trad pub because it's such a fascinating process 😆😊
I'm excited to hear you talking about the idea of hybrid publishing. Literally just, like, two days ago I was telling my husband that I'm a little sad watching a bunch of your vlogs and really wanting to read all these books you're writing, but none of them are out yet. 😭 you have a lot of really great, unique ideas and I'm sure you have an awesome voice as well. I'd love to read your books. I honestly think you could be incredibly successful in indie publishing, considering the platform you already have here. It's tough to build something like this, but you've already done all of that hard work. I'm sure plenty of your viewers here would love to buy your books.
Kate, you can be a best selling author super easily with the following you have. The Wall Street Journals best seller list only needs you to sell 5k books during your launch and the New York times says 10k in a week. I know at least half of your subscribers can't wait for one of your books. Take advantage of that. Create a launch team or hire a digital marketing agency and boom launch. Best selling author status in a week! I know I would be one of the first buyers! Your platform is your way in girl!
I have always known I was going to self publish. I have always been a do it yourself person, and started so many businesses as a kid. Starting my own publishing company to self publish was a no brainer.
My wildest writing dream: turn my current project into a cartoon with a Japanese animation influenced style like A:TLA. On the writing a person of color bit, from the way you described your main character in Project Purple, you're on the right track. It sounds like you made her human with relatable flaws and a journey. That's all you really need to do. What hurts a lot of white writers is that some of their characters of color come across as caricatures rather than people. As long as you keep in mind that no group of people are monolithic in thought, appearance or behavior then you'll be fine. I think the perfect example of white writers writing a POC is Into the Spiderverse, there's nods to his biracial heritage with him speaking Spanish to his mom and listening to hip hop, but these are not the story's focus, they are just moments that add to his personality.
There's one thing that's interesting about your books. I noticed that you write women really well and really different. Where does that come from? Martin, rakish devil, replied: You know I've always considered women to be people. I feel the POC issue is in the same vein. While it would be insensitive to write on racial issues or have characters with the white savior complex, not everybody is white, and sometimes characters decide how they look. I think it’s more of an issue if everybody is white. I actually don’t think it’s your responsibility to forgo traditional publishing because a biracial author may lose their spot. I feel like In that case you would have the better book. You’re probably right about not trusting the publishing industry to publish fairly, but I also don’t think you should forgo an opportunity based on the color of YOUR skin.
Those origami cranes look so cute! I love these chatty videos of you! My view of selfpublishing has changed through authortube actually. I've published a few books traditionally (in the Netherlands, publishing works a bit different over here, an agent is not necessary), but I'd love to selfpublish in the future, so be a hybrid author. Especially because my published books are for a small market and I'd like to write in different genres. Your dreams and goals sound so awesome, and Project Purple sounds very interesting and I'd love to read it, but I also understand your struggles with it.
I really struggle with the conundrum of writing POC characters. As an aspiring author, I feel like it's my responsibility to write about a world that's diverse and features people of many different experiences. But as a white cis author, I worry about doing more damage rather than helping, as well as taking the opportunities of POC authors. I'm still not sure what the solution is.
I so admire people who self-publish. I don't think my imposter's syndrome would ever let me. I feel like I need someone in the industry to give my book a green light, so to speak, before I'll ever believe readers will want to read it.
I don't think authors should only stick to writing about characters that are like themselves. We need to promote writing about each other and hope that it promotes others to learn and empathize with people who are different than themselves. I enjoy reading and writing about characters that are different than myself. I don't think it would be fair to demand that authors only write about their own race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. I rather read about diverse/layered characters where someone researched and represented them the best way possible than everyone be restricted to only writing what they are themselves. Another way to look at it: I have a disability, authors who want to write characters with my disability don't need my permission! My disability doesn't belong only to me, my disability isn't what fully defines me, but it is a part of me. I would like to read more characters that have my disability. I myself don't stick with only characters that have my disability either. Authors can do their research or not; they could either do a good job or not, but in the end hopefully they learned something. It's nice to have representation. We should encourage diversity, not shy away from it. In general we need to promote diversity, more diversity in authors that are published because sadly it's predominantly white. That should change! We need to promote diversity in everything we do.
Exactly! 100% agree! This shouldn't be an either-or discussion. We can either have ownvoices OR people writing "outside their lanes." Really it should be BOTH. It kinda NEEDS to be BOTH to really have an impact. We are all a part of each other's world, let's fully embrace that in our stories. I hate to take opportunities away from marginalized people to publish their own stories. But if all the white authors throughout North America, Europe and Australia all decide to just write within their lanes, we'll have an influx of white protagonists and whitewashed worlds that'll drown out the ownvoices stories even more. Leaving another generation of poc scrambling for representation and understanding. That's not going to help anyone.
@@marcellacassab4331 I agree. I feel if everyone stayed in their own lane it would cause more harm than good. I couldn't have said it any better myself.
I looooove how lisa halliday deals with "how can you write a character that is nothing like you" AND "writing a character that is basically a novelization of you" at the SAME TIME in asymmetry!!!! Would highly recommend
Honestly, for the trilogy I'm working on right now, I don't even know if I wanna go the traditional or self-publishing route. Technically self-publishing would be easier since it's a series, but there's still that tiny voice in my head which wants me to try it traditionally. But hey, I can always query it and if it doesn't work out, go the other way. As for POC characters, I think as long as you don't try to only address their issues in society, it can be done right. In book 2 of my trilogy one of the POVs is by a black girl, but her societal issues are not dependent on her skin color but because she has angel wings and therefore cannot show herself to humans. I'm technically still commenting on societal issues, and one could see her struggle as an analogy, but in the end, it's fantasy, she's an avenging angel
My writing group is half trad pub and half self pub (although only the self-pub folks are, like, published). Interestingly (to me anyway), that split is entirely on gender lines, as in the women in our group are the ones pursuing traditional publishing. And thank you for talking about your plans around project purple. As the publishing industry (and also esp. our relationship to it) evolves, responding and adapting to the inequities can be difficult but it's also super important.
You cracked me up when you sang fly fly Little Crane in the tune of little Sebastian from Parks and rec 😅 My author dream is 1) for someone to turn my book into a movie and 2) for Kate to create an "I write like Sarah Jordan video." You'll love my routine: highlights includes working on multiple projects, a 2-hour nap with my dog, plenty of almond butter and chocolate chips (for breakfast!)...
I loved some of the conversations in this video. I just took a class on Young Adult Literature last semester, and we learned a lot about the minority world in terms of publishing, and the amount of work about poc (as well as other minority groups) by cisgender, straight, white people is astounding. Only a small portion of books (at least less than half in all cases) published about minorities are actually written by those minorities and it isn’t necessarily a trend that’s getting better over time, either. As a white person myself, I feel bad writing books about poc and possibly taking that away from someone else, and it’s cool that you addressed that. I’d love for this to become a bigger topic on author tube as well as in traditional publishing.
I tend to have a writing group of friends outside of AuthorTube. I actually had these friends way before even discovering author tube as we all wrote on Wattpad and became friends through this one girls book who created a group chat. I think having friends who are authors as well helps a lot when writing since they're able to help more than the friends who don't really write at all. I do have my friends who aren't authors read over some of my work to get a sense of ideas on how its going since they won't really nitpick anything more just help with letting me know how the flow is doing but it is very beneficial in my opinion
I so appreciate this conversation. As someone who is pursuing a hybrid publishing career, hearing someone broach these questions and concerns, especially in trad publishing's current state, is incredibly helpful. There aren't a lot of writers pursuing traditional publishing in my social circle, so thanks for talking about both paths.
Hi Kate! I have a question which you may have answered in a previous video and I just missed it, or maybe you could answer here or in another video! Question is: How did you/do you come up with your story and books ideas such as The Meridian Maps. Thanks Kate! Love your channel! 😊
A great reward for completing my first 700 words of the day: a new Kate Cavanaugh video! Indie publishing is my preference. Self-publishing originally referred to the world of paper publishing and brings to mind a slew of poorly written how-to books and personal family histories, etc. Indie publishing can include paperbacks but started out as a digital ebook kind of thing. (My observation. Your mileage may vary.) At this point in my life, although I’d love to sell a few options (for possible movies…don’t care if the movie is made, just would love the option money, LOL), I have no great desire to be traditionally published. Indie publishing earned me the USA Today Bestselling Author title (for the first boxed set of my Colorado Billionaires series) and yes, I use the heck out of it! :D Would I ever go the traditional route? I’m more comfortable with the idea now that I have an Intellectual Property attorney and could run everything past her. But I dislike the idea of giving a publishing house the rights to my characters and my universe(s). (New contracts may have changed, but in the pre-digital age, the publishing house owned your creation until the day they reverted the rights to the author, which almost never happened.) Sorry, I’m babbling. But Authortube is one of my few remaining sources of outreach with other writers (don’t care if you haven’t pubished yet either…writers are writers). All the writers’ groups and organizations I’ve joined in the past were very focused on traditional publishing. I prefer talking to forward-looking writers who view both aspects with an open mind. Love your video!
My writer's dreams are definitely to see others cosplay my characters and go as them for Halloween. I fantasize about passing them by and what they would look like every time I go to comic con. Next to that, since I'm writing middle grade and my protag is a doll, I hope to see kids holding the actual doll, smiling proudly like it's all they wanted for Christmas. Gosh, I will actually cry if/when that happens.
Thank you for talking about these important subjects, Kate! I agree with your views. As for my publishing dreams, I want very much to be traditionally published. While I have nothing against self pub, after everything I've learned about it, it's just not for me at this time. Were I to write something that would do better in that market, I'd want to wait until after being trad published to go hybrid so I'd have some experience to fall back on, and would also have some money saved up, as well as hopefully a bigger audience to market to.
I would like to finish at least one of the multitude of books I have started. Now as far as publishing, I am publishing one of my memoir parts on my blog. I am not looking to publish either traditionally or indie publishing. I am writing for fun. My "books" are all very short so someone suggested I finish them up as novellas. I know you are writing one. I just can't seem to find enough words to write a full-length book. I am a blogger and short story writer mainly. It has been suggested to write a poetry book or a short story book. I don't know, we will see. I have been sprinting almost non-stop this week including starting my very own live sprints I have done 2 so far and it is weird feeling like I am talking to myself although I did have 2 watchers on both LOL! I am getting used to making videos so now I just have to get used to the live sprints.
You mentioned self-publishing and traditional publishing, but have you thought about actual indie publishing (aka with a small, independent publisher) as another alternative? Many of them can give you a mix of the benefits between the two, aka more control over edits and cover designs than traditional with more business connections and marketing access than doing it yourself. I ask because so many talk about self or traditional without knowing there is a whole mess of publishing opportunities in between.
this was a great chat! I've been always intrigued by self-publishing vs. traditional. Hybrid sounds like a perfect in between for me. I used to think that it was traditional publishing all the way for me, but I am now thinking some projects in my brain might work best as self-published entities. So who knows! also omg! complete sidenote but i own that dress too and it is my favourite thing. :)
My biggest writing dream is to make enough money as an author that I don't have to do any other job outside of that. That's the main goal I'm working toward. Aside from that, I just want people to love my books. Any message I get from friends and family who love my books makes my heart so happy. It's even better from strangers though, because I know they owe me nothing and don't have any kind of feeling of needing to say nice things in order to spare my feelings. Of course a lot of other things would be cool, like fan art and fanfiction and stuff like that, but mostly I just want to see people enjoying my stories and I want to be able to spend more time writing instead of working.
For me, I want to traditionally publish, but only with a small publisher that I like. Not just because my stuff is extremely niche, but because the places I want to publish with/to are super cool.
*What are your wildest publishing/writing/platform dreams and goals? Wildest? To make enough writing to write from where I want to write and to not have to work a side job to support myself. Oh, having some highly respected source tout me as "The next Terry Pratchett" or "The next Douglas Adams" Writing studio either in the woods or on the beach, with a pool to swim in to "get the brainwork done" (you said wildest) To have fan mail/email from people who love my work and took time out of their life to write and tell me that. *What do you think of being a hybrid author? Have your goals regarding self or traditional publishing flipped over time? I've always wanted to be traditionally published but if I could get enough demand for my traditionally published books I wouldn't mind doing some indie publishing. I just know myself and I'm not a sales or marketing guy, nor do I want to be, so I'm hoping the traditional publications would help me mitigate that. *Do you have a writing social circle outside of authortube? How represented are the different publication options? I have two. In one it's mostly indie publishing and the other is a mix of indie and traditional pub. I think you're right,that in the future there will be many more hybrid authors. Also, unrelated to the above, I was glad to hear you speak about writing POC. I am a white straight male and I have thought a lot about how I can represent diverse worlds without taking away from an author who has direct experience. So far my best hope is to have sensitivity readers and to always ask myself "Why am I the best person to write this characters story? Is there someone who could write it better and more genuinely than I?".
I have noticed most people here on authortube plan on self-publishing, I personally would like to publish traditionally (honestly, because self-publishing sounds like a lot of work ahahha) (this doesn’t mean I won’t ever want to self-publish, though, being a hybrid author does sound interesting). Publication seems so far away that I don’t have that many dreams ahahaha although having people do fanfics and fanarts are definitely there! I hadn’t thought of the airport thing but.... yes, that too 😂 I can’t wait to read your books when you start publishing 💛
Something I heard recently during all of these discussions re: writing POC POV really struck me that I thought I’d share. It’s not just about taking up the space for someone who is an ownvoices (though that is definitely a super important point), but also about the impossibility of being able to represent their lived experience in an authentic way. So like, you can learn all you want about their culture and make them unique characters, but until you’ve been in their shoes, you don’t know how they experience the world and their space in it. You don’t know the looks or the feelings or the micro aggressions they face on a daily basis in a country and society predicated on institutional racism and inequality, nor could you ever. So by writing an experience without those, you not only misrepresent the lived experience of POC, but you put into the world a false understanding of what their lived experience is, which it turn makes it harder for them to explain their experience so that people see that it needs to change. I hope that made sense but that point really hit home with me about why we shouldn’t be doing the POV of oppressed or marginalized groups.
This is such a great point, though I wonder how this applies to stories that don't deal with the world we live in today; like fantasy worlds and scifi. In genres like these we deal with a completely different world to our own and poc characters may not have the race-specific experiences in those worlds like they would in ours, because race might not be as big of a factor. And it makes me wonder, that if the poc character doesn't have those experiences, if the author still needs to have them or not. I don't know if this comment makes any sense or not, I'm trying to put my thoughts into words but my brain is not always cooperating .😅Just wanted to bring this up and hopefully hear some opinions on it. 🤔
re:Project Purple, have you read Hank Green's An Absolutely Remarkable Thing? (its sequel A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor came out this month, btw) Project Purple doesn't sound similar in plot, but AART has probably the best examination of social media and fame I've ever read (which makes sense, considering the author!), so it might be of interest to you.
When I was younger, I only wanted to be traditionally published (before I knew self-publishing was a thing and for a few more years after). Then I wanted to be hybrid (especially after I self-published my first book). But now I’m having the same concern as you and am not sure I want that anymore. HOWEVER, I want to WORK in publishing as a literary agent. And while being an editor would probably have a greater impact on the issues we're seeing, I believe having more diverse agents would still be helpful in moving the needle in the right direction.
How do you fancy writing like Ray Bradbury? His main writing length was a short story. His schedule is below: Monday: He wrote the first draft of a new story. Tuesday: He second drafted. Wednesday: He gave it a third draft. Thursday: You guessed it. He went through a fourth draft. Friday: Fifth draft Saturday: He mailed out the sixth and final draft to the magazine he wanted it to be published in. I've tried it and depending on the length of your story it can work.
I haven't heard the plot for project purple before after all of these months, and I love it. Just a thought, how do you approach those topics with your sensitivity readers? I guess as a young minority reader, I am hoping you are making sure you aren't harming any communities with your stories. Edit: I see more smaller publishers be more open minded with stories rather than focusing on the quota you mentioned.
I waffle over traditional vs indie. I have little patience for the business side of things, but I'm also a bit of a control freak. Definitely my other writing circles are much more focused on traditional publishing.
i've been debating hybrid publishing. I know that I want to use traditional for my main series, but I was thinking maybe self publishing my writings that's in a different genre
My originally writing goal was to be traditionally published. I am now considering hybrid but I still want to be traditionally published before I start publishing hybrid. It is till a long while off.
I’m currently struggling with wether or not I want to try to trad publish my novel. I don’t like the idea of not having total control but I also don’t want to be limited to what I can personally manage marketing and self-publishing wise. I would love to see fan art of my characters, it would make me so happy to see that. And goals for my channel, i dont know, I like the community i have at the moment and I just want that to grow.
My goal is to become a hybrid author as well! I will probably try to start traditionally to learn as much as I can and then self publish some things (also I need some money to self publish...) I feel like doing both can really show you what you want and what you don't want. And why not? With all the possibilites you have right now, I feel like it has never been easier to self publish (that is a pro and a con, too :D )
Was thinking about getting traditionally published but I've heard a lot about the selection process and it's concerning. I'd do self publishing except for the fact that I don't have any marketing skills and I heard it's more expensive to get my book out there. I've heard traditional publishers go through piles of queries in a single day and the chances of people's manuscripts being seen isn't close at all. Also that now a days they prefer authors/ writers with an online presence. I don't have an online presence. I'd start a UA-cam channel except that I suffer from anxiety and can't pour out sentences. I'm better with putting my words on the paper than actually speaking. My first goal is to be published. I'd like to think that's a big step for now.
I think my biggest dream is to have a fandom where people make edits or graphics for my books and characters? I think about it a LOT. lol. But I really like the idea of hybrid publishing? When I was younger, I thought you HAD to be traditionally published to be a real author but now I know that's not true. So, I plan to self-publish the series I'm working on and try to traditionally publish standalones and maybe a duology or trilogy? I don't know a lot of other writers but I have made it a point to ask whether or not they want to idie or traditionally publish because I think its good to talk about and get into the pros and cons of it so we can help each other navigate.
I am not published yet but something I want to do in the future is have a tattoo on my back representing each book I publish. So like, for book one of my Mutania trilogy, it follows a pyromancer and a shapeshifter so the tattoo would be a snake circled around a fire. And as I publish more and more, each book would add to this collage of tattoos. My wildest dream would be to have so many tattoos that the collage continues on my arms or chest.
I have no plans on publishing in the near future, but if I do I think I’ll stick to trad pub since I don’t trust myself. I am a POC (Bengali-American) so I do hope that when I’m ready to try to traditionally publish, the industry has changed so I see more diversity in the industry and that someone’s ethnicity, sexuality, etc. isnt the main part of the story.
So, I'm in a bit of a weird situation publishing wise. While I do wanna be mainly traditionally published, I'm not a native english speaker, from an European country or white. I write half my books in english and half in my native language, besides also doing translations of local books that have yet to be translated to english. My native language stuff can be traditionally published here, if I ever get enough money... However, publishing a book in english is going to be extremely hard. Which leaves me with the only option of indie publishing. So, in short, I'm directed towards hybrid publishing, but not by choice.
Hey Kate. Firstly thank you for answering my question on your birthday stream! Secondly this is a long way down the road but after I finish my first draft and the drafts after that is there ever a chance that you could beta read my novel? That is you know if Im even good enough to finish it lol
You know, I never dreamed of winning awards or becoming a classic author or even being a NYT best seller. My crazy author/writer dream would be to write something that spawned a bunch of memes -- like it happened when Avengers came out, you know? Or like it still happens with HP or Twilight. I want to create something that becomes part of the cultural lexicon -- either be it a book or a movie that I write. That's my shoot-for-the-stars crazy author/writer dream!
Have you read The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg? That series was optioned by Disney for a movie deal so getting a publicity event at one of the parks might be possible :)
I always wanted to traditional publish, but over the years, I find it less attractive. It some ways it reminds me of old Hollywood and the studio contracts where if you wanted to act, you had to do what you were told, when you were told to do it and only some people will breakout to be a star. I would rather be successful on my own merits and then if some publisher finds my books and wants me, I can choose what I want to do from there. I guess that's my goal/dream though I hadn't really thought about it in years. Most of the publish authors I know personally are all traditionally published with exception of one and she tends to write in a genre not easy to find in a trad pub house. She self published a M/M paranormal fantasy where her characters are usually Japanese or Korean so it's a bit like your comment about a white author writing a POC.
I love that your thinking of POC writers while considering traditional publishing. My thing is that I have to first write the book then think about tradpub. I'm to lazy to do selfpub. Let's be real. Lol. Mad respect to people who are successful at selfpub tho. I could never.
I have a question for Kate (and any other authors who might read this and have an opinion). So I'm hoping to start querying agents soon on an MG Fantasy I've written. In the meantime, I'm working on an adult Occult Fantasy Thriller as well as an adult Urban Fantasy with a much lighter and more irreverent tone. Basically, I have 3 very different books on the go with very different voices/audiences (although I think my MG and adult Occult book have a similar voice, my UF is WAY different!). My problem is that a lot of the agents I'm looking at submitting to have very specific MSWLs and some of the agents I've been most excited about submitting to specifically say they're looking for books like my MG one or my adult Occult one, but have no interest in books like my adult UF. I guess my question is, what happens if you land an agent but they hate some of the genres of book you want to write? Do you hold out and try to find an agent that believes in you whatever genre you want to write in? And what happens when you want to self publish some books and trad publish others but you have an agent? There's probably no easy answers to this but I'd love to hear some other people's opinions since it's making my brain explode!
My my writing dreams and goals are kind of mixed together. My reality is that i would love to publish my trilogy fantasy series Project Helios, but my dream is to publish the remaining novels that follow after Project Helios. The long series is Project Death. It's kinda confusing but basically the Main Series is call Project Death and within that series are four parts (Project Helios being part one) with each part having 2-4 novels each. so that would total out to being around 14 novels, which is a lofty undertaking. The fear that I have with that dream is that I won't be able to write to the depth that I would like before my inevitable end.
We have one dream in common! If someone were to write fanfic for one of my stories (especially bad fanfic because that might mean it was a *new* writer) I would be so freaking happy.
First: I simply wanted to thank you because your videos discuss important topics in a non-stressful way. The conversational tone you create in your videos (your editing choices help create this vibe too) helps this viewer feel like I’m chillin’ and having a chat. Second: thank you for bringing up the notion of writing POC characters because I think this topic should be discussed more. As an author who is a part of the LGBTQ+ community, but also am living and learning about my white identity, it is a process. A process that will be (should be) a life-learning process, and maybe authors should work together to be positive, proactive part of that learning. We could be a cohesive voice that fights against the reality of the world? Okay: I shall stop babbling now. Thank you again.
As a novice writer with a dearth of confidence it's a dream of mine to have just one other person be excited about my characters or story. I'm entering a flash fiction contest tonight and I'm terrified.
Clarification, I am white, and I know we all need to do better. White authors need to use the platform they have to shout out black authors, UA-camrs, and so on because the media is involved in systematic racism. We cannot say we are improving if we do not give them the publicity they deserve. Even I need to do more than I am. I love the topics spoken about in the video. I half knew the truth of how terrible traditional publication has been over the years. I didn't realise it was this bad until now. Shout black UA-camrs out at the end of the video or black authors. They deserve the platform. They deserve a voice. List of black and diverse authors: Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche Maya Angelou Marlon James Colson Whitehead Tananarive Due Charlotte Nicole Rena Barron Tomi Adeyemi Nicky Drayden Suyi Davies Okungbowa Dhonielle Clayton Akwaeki Emezi Cadwell Turnbell L.D. Lewis Victor LaValle Black UA-camrs: Cherita Explains It All SimplyNessa15 Jackie Aina www.blackenterprise.com/27-black-youtubers-from-around-the-world-you-need-to-follow/
Don’t you lose your rights with a hybrid publisher? You pay for everything but they keep the rights. (Im not sure, I actually just started looking up publishers this morning and your video arrived right on time 😂 ). Edit: I might be confusing hybrid author with hybrid publishing lol
People get mad if you make your characters Caucasian. People get mad if you make your characters POC. Can't we write out characters the way we envision them, do our best not to be offensive, and just focus on making good stories that will bring people joy?
I'm going to say something and I probably shouldn't say it publicly, but I'm going to say it anyway. I don't think traditional publishing is ever going to change. It's just like Hollywood is never going to change. Right now Traditional publishing is going to pretty much virtue signal and minority writers are going to be the darlings. They are going to get the hype. Not because they have seen the error in their ways, but because of the current situation it will make them money in the short term. It's capitalism and they should use the current want for minority authors to have the limelight because these voices should be heard. However, in the say next 5 years, when the market is saturated with minority authors, sales for those books will go down-- just like when the market was flooded with traditionally published vampire novels sales went down. I think having more Independent published books by minorities would be great. It's a topic for another day, but I think a great way to counter and possibly change this is to push the importance of reading and literacy in inner-city schools. I know that reading at home and for enjoyment is not pushed in minority communities and a lot of libraries in these neighborhoods don't have books written by minorities or have main characters who are people of color. Again this is something that can be discussed on a different day. Why do I say this? It comes back to what I said about Hollywood. Back in the early 2000s, there was a big push to diversify the Oscars and by extension the Studio system. In 2002 when Denzel Washington won Lead Actor for Training Day and Halle Berry won best Lead Actress it was known that that year the selection committee pushed for the top awards to go to specifically Black actors. Yet, it hasn't changed its ways. In 2003 when Lost in Translation there was a call on why the non-comedy "Black films" were never greenlit by the studio. I think it was Tyler Perry, but please don't quote me on it I couldn't find the interview to make sure but I remember it as Tyler Perry speaking out about how the only movies with black leads were comedies and there are good scripts by black writers being passed over. Even with all this we still don't see diversity in anything coming out of the Studios and it's been 17 years. Again, I shouldn't say this, I know I shouldn't say it. It's like saying the NYT best books list has nothing to do with the sales of books. But Hollywood and the traditional publishing industry aren't going to change because they don't want to.
Eliza, those are pretty much my thoughts too. I'm traditionally published and I was a We Need Diverse Books volunteer back when that initiative launched. The organization has accomplished incredible things, but there's this feeling of lip service from the big houses, of boxes being ticked, of virtue signaling. Ultimately, the problem is that the houses themselves are largely made up of white straight cis able-bodied people. Unless you're at the very top, the salaries aren't nearly what they need to be for Manhattan's (or pretty much any NYC borough's) cost of living. The result is a whole lot of editors, sales teamers, and publicists with other means of wealth and a ton of privilege. To be fair, there are many who aren't wealthy and who do things like live well outside of the city and deal with a huge commute, or live with several roommates...but the point stands, if you want to work at one of the big 5 and you also want your own place, a reasonable commute, and you don't have a trust fund...it ain't happening. :/ And as well meaning as I'm sure many of these editors etc are, they don't represent the diversity of the US -- so of course the books they acquire don't, either. And the recent focus on diversity, while great, also leads to things like American Dirt and books getting cancelled. Until the people who acquire, market, sell, and publicize books are diverse, the change we need isn't going to happen. Which is super depressing - but there's a part of me that's really, really hoping the awfulness that is 2020 will in the long-term shove the industry in the right direction. I mean, they're finally learning that work can be done virtually...maybe they can start hiring people who live in more affordable places than NYC (aka literally anywhere??). That'd be a start! Kate (f you make it to the bottom of this ridiculously long comment haha) Project Purple sounds fabulous and I really hope you find a home for it one day. Also, I'm selfishly happy authortube is made up of a lot of self-pubbed authors because I'm interested in going hybrid and watching their videos has been SO educational for me! This was a great video, and Duke is the freaking cutest. :)
Hybrid publishing really interests me...what holds me back for sure is that I don't read much indie-published work! So I think my first goal is to seek out and read more indie/self-published work before I settle on a potential path :) The one thing that's a sort of "barrier to entry" for me is how can you predict what self-pub books will be high quality (or ones you enjoy!)? I've read a lot of traditionally published books I do not like due to pacing/craft problems so I definitely don't buy-in to the idea that traditionally published books are necessarily better - but I do think it's harder to know where to look for self-pub books (at least, since I'm not "in the world", I don't know the places to look yet!)! Anyway...to end this ramble; thank you for chatting about these different publishing paths - it definitely gets wheels turning :) also OMG I LOVE Meg Cabot!
And if you don"t write POC characters then people will say that you are too white and there is no diversity in your book. Shouldn"t men write women characters and vice versa?
My book that I'm currently querying has two POC POV characters, which really has me worried right now. The book isn't ABOUT their races, but still, it is contemporary. If I do get an agent and publishing deal for this book, I guess I see two options. 1) Change the races of the characters (which I don't want to do because, like you said, I imagine them to be these races and it's hard to let go of my mental image of them) or 2) leave their races as is and in the future make an effort to only write white POV characters until we see a change in publishing. I just don't want to pull it from the trenches. If this is my "in", so to speak, then I just can't let that go, you know? I've been getting a decent amount of positive responses and requests and stuff. So yeah. Tricky situation.
It's definitely a difficult area to navigate, and I'm glad that's its something you consider, many authors never even question if it's a story they have the authority to tell. Although I must say, I really think project purple sounds awesome and would greatly look forward to reading it
Wildest writing dream: Actually finishing a bloody project.
I think I have an idea for an "I tried writing like" episode. Maybe "I tried writing like Suzzane Collins" in celebration of the launch of the new Hunger Games prequel?
When your favourite author is not even published yet... strive for your dreams Kate!
My craziest writing/publishing dream is having a fandom around one of my books. I'd love to know people are drawing fanart, writing/reading fanfic, making memes (because every really good fandom has some memes) an discussing my stories and characters.
My goal is to get something published eventually. Luckily, I think I have plenty of time...
Until very recently, I had never known that your protagonist of Project Purple was biracial, and I'm glad that you're questioning what to do about this book since you want to make sure other POC writers can be the ones to publish their own stories (whatever genre it may be in). Whatever you decide to do for Project Purple, I'm cheering you on! Also, love the origami folding!
Awww! When I first saw you playing your old video I was like... I know that apartment lol! Then you showed Snake and my heart hahaha!! I think being a hybrid is a great idea, best of both worlds. I'm a little jaded lol, but not against it at all hahaha!! Like I've said before I have a couple of close friends who are traditionally published who are very happy with that path. And omg! If any of my favorite authors read and liked one of my books... I would flip out!! That's totally a dream of mine too!!
With POC and LGBTQ characters, I always say 'write the characters, not their experiences.' I have plenty of novels with POC characters and I try to write them as just people. But it's such a difficult subject to traverse, and everyone has such varying ideas and opinions. I'm glad we're talking about it.
I think my top dream as a writer is for someone to create fan art and head canons about my characters.
I've thought a lot about this because my protag in my debut novel is a living, fashion doll. She's also black and raised by a black family. The family and the rest of humanity are aware she's alive, thus they interact directly with her and vice versa. Therefore she's very self-aware of her problematic nature as a fashion doll, especially one of colour. The plot doesn't revolve around her race and culture, but it naturally comes up here and there. If I ignore those unique opinions and experiences because it's "not my place to portray," A) I'm not being true to the characters B) I'm still misrepresenting them by choosing to gloss past those aspects and C) I'm actively and intentionally wasting an opportunity to explore issues and themes unique to them, that I can't and SHOULDN'T explore with WHITE characters because it's not THEIR experiences. That not only hampers the characters and their stories but contributes to erasure.
To be honest, one of the appeals of writing a character different from yourself is to explore how that difference affects them. One of the reasons I chose to write about a token BLACK fashion doll was because A) I'm yet to see it explored. And B) I KNOW it differs from the majority white dolls in some ways. How they're treated, marketed, represented. How they make their owners (as dolls) feel about themselves. Etc.
Unfortunately, race in publishing is such a layered issue, there's no absolute, perfect solution. If you write only characters like yourself, you're contributing to erasure. If you write protagonists of a different race you risk misrepresenting them or taking an author of that background's spot. If you keep the pov protagonists like yourself and keep the characters of colour at a distance, you're sidelining them. Publishers have to be more open to ownvoices. They have to improve how they market those authors and their books. Unfortunately as authors, especially us newbies, there's little we can do to change the industry. It's not going to happen overnight. In the meantime, all we have power over is our own content. I want my young, black readers to feel seen and understood when they read my books. I want my protagonist to feel like she could be THEIR doll come to life for once. I can get close by researching and running it by sensitivity readers, to infuse that truth into my characters as best I can. Due to my lack of personal experience, I'm bound to miss the mark in some ways. But if nothing else, it'll start a conversation. My white and non-black readers will put the book down a little more informed than when they first picked it up. Black readers will (hopefully) see themselves and their experiences reflected at least a little. They can build on that representation, say "actually, for me it was more like this." Which is better than contributing nothing at all.
People are all different and unique. I am a full Asian and I cannot speak any language apart from English. Write for the character and try your best to make sure the context in which you place your character makes sense with personality and lifestyle. Research is always good and I think the fact that your character is half and half gives you more leeway.
I can't wait to write fanfiction for your books! On my reader-writer bucket list
Omg, as someone who is half Korean and half white, it makes me really happy that you’re writing a biracial Korean character, since I’ve only really seen that representation in To All The Boys I Loved Before so far. I love writing too, and still I’m nervous about writing POC characters even as a biracial, since everyone’s experiences are different, and because most people assume I’m white from my appearance. As long as there is more to the character than her ethnicity, I know you’ll do great!
This is how I feel as well. I am latina, and I just want there to be more stories with representation. I don't care who writes them as long as they write the characters as people and not stereotypes. Kate! You're not taking up space! Publish your story!
Side note: I do hate it when white (or other ethnicity) actors play latinos (looking at you Lou Diamond Phillips).
I just love that Ranbow army you've made! And this was an awesome video
I left a comment earlier, but I just wanted to come back to say that I just watched a video from Rachel Writes on the subject of Own Voices and it's incredibly well researched, well thought out, nuanced, and worth a good listen. I think her take on this is really really good, and I encourage anyone reading this comment to look it up and check it out.
"If I say it enough, will it change?" We are MANIFESTING this year👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I absolutely love those cranes! I might have to learn some origami now lol and omg I was writing when I heard you say my name and I jumped haha thank you so much for including me! I'm honored 😆
But I thought about hybrid pub for a while before coming to the conclusion that I just want to forever self pub. I'm not patient enough for trad pub lol and I like ownership. I want to own the rights to everything when it comes to my work. But I'm always consuming information about trad pub because it's such a fascinating process 😆😊
I'm excited to hear you talking about the idea of hybrid publishing. Literally just, like, two days ago I was telling my husband that I'm a little sad watching a bunch of your vlogs and really wanting to read all these books you're writing, but none of them are out yet. 😭 you have a lot of really great, unique ideas and I'm sure you have an awesome voice as well. I'd love to read your books.
I honestly think you could be incredibly successful in indie publishing, considering the platform you already have here. It's tough to build something like this, but you've already done all of that hard work. I'm sure plenty of your viewers here would love to buy your books.
Kate, you can be a best selling author super easily with the following you have. The Wall Street Journals best seller list only needs you to sell 5k books during your launch and the New York times says 10k in a week. I know at least half of your subscribers can't wait for one of your books. Take advantage of that. Create a launch team or hire a digital marketing agency and boom launch. Best selling author status in a week! I know I would be one of the first buyers! Your platform is your way in girl!
I have always known I was going to self publish. I have always been a do it yourself person, and started so many businesses as a kid. Starting my own publishing company to self publish was a no brainer.
My wildest writing dream: turn my current project into a cartoon with a Japanese animation influenced style like A:TLA. On the writing a person of color bit, from the way you described your main character in Project Purple, you're on the right track. It sounds like you made her human with relatable flaws and a journey. That's all you really need to do. What hurts a lot of white writers is that some of their characters of color come across as caricatures rather than people. As long as you keep in mind that no group of people are monolithic in thought, appearance or behavior then you'll be fine. I think the perfect example of white writers writing a POC is Into the Spiderverse, there's nods to his biracial heritage with him speaking Spanish to his mom and listening to hip hop, but these are not the story's focus, they are just moments that add to his personality.
There's one thing that's interesting about your books.
I noticed that you write women really well and really different.
Where does that come from?
Martin, rakish devil, replied:
You know I've always considered women to be people.
I feel the POC issue is in the same vein. While it would be insensitive to write on racial issues or have characters with the white savior complex, not everybody is white, and sometimes characters decide how they look. I think it’s more of an issue if everybody is white.
I actually don’t think it’s your responsibility to forgo traditional publishing because a biracial author may lose their spot. I feel like In that case you would have the better book. You’re probably right about not trusting the publishing industry to publish fairly, but I also don’t think you should forgo an opportunity based on the color of YOUR skin.
Those origami cranes look so cute! I love these chatty videos of you! My view of selfpublishing has changed through authortube actually. I've published a few books traditionally (in the Netherlands, publishing works a bit different over here, an agent is not necessary), but I'd love to selfpublish in the future, so be a hybrid author. Especially because my published books are for a small market and I'd like to write in different genres. Your dreams and goals sound so awesome, and Project Purple sounds very interesting and I'd love to read it, but I also understand your struggles with it.
PS: How many origami cranes did you make? :D
I really struggle with the conundrum of writing POC characters. As an aspiring author, I feel like it's my responsibility to write about a world that's diverse and features people of many different experiences. But as a white cis author, I worry about doing more damage rather than helping, as well as taking the opportunities of POC authors. I'm still not sure what the solution is.
I so admire people who self-publish. I don't think my imposter's syndrome would ever let me. I feel like I need someone in the industry to give my book a green light, so to speak, before I'll ever believe readers will want to read it.
Ugh ur such an inspiration to me!!!!!!!!! I cannot wait to read project Purple one day 💞💞
Great conversation to have and be thinking about. Appreciate your insight!
I don't think authors should only stick to writing about characters that are like themselves. We need to promote writing about each other and hope that it promotes others to learn and empathize with people who are different than themselves. I enjoy reading and writing about characters that are different than myself. I don't think it would be fair to demand that authors only write about their own race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. I rather read about diverse/layered characters where someone researched and represented them the best way possible than everyone be restricted to only writing what they are themselves.
Another way to look at it: I have a disability, authors who want to write characters with my disability don't need my permission! My disability doesn't belong only to me, my disability isn't what fully defines me, but it is a part of me. I would like to read more characters that have my disability. I myself don't stick with only characters that have my disability either. Authors can do their research or not; they could either do a good job or not, but in the end hopefully they learned something. It's nice to have representation.
We should encourage diversity, not shy away from it. In general we need to promote diversity, more diversity in authors that are published because sadly it's predominantly white. That should change! We need to promote diversity in everything we do.
Exactly! 100% agree! This shouldn't be an either-or discussion. We can either have ownvoices OR people writing "outside their lanes." Really it should be BOTH. It kinda NEEDS to be BOTH to really have an impact. We are all a part of each other's world, let's fully embrace that in our stories.
I hate to take opportunities away from marginalized people to publish their own stories. But if all the white authors throughout North America, Europe and Australia all decide to just write within their lanes, we'll have an influx of white protagonists and whitewashed worlds that'll drown out the ownvoices stories even more. Leaving another generation of poc scrambling for representation and understanding. That's not going to help anyone.
@@marcellacassab4331 I agree. I feel if everyone stayed in their own lane it would cause more harm than good. I couldn't have said it any better myself.
I looooove how lisa halliday deals with "how can you write a character that is nothing like you" AND "writing a character that is basically a novelization of you" at the SAME TIME in asymmetry!!!! Would highly recommend
Honestly, for the trilogy I'm working on right now, I don't even know if I wanna go the traditional or self-publishing route. Technically self-publishing would be easier since it's a series, but there's still that tiny voice in my head which wants me to try it traditionally. But hey, I can always query it and if it doesn't work out, go the other way. As for POC characters, I think as long as you don't try to only address their issues in society, it can be done right. In book 2 of my trilogy one of the POVs is by a black girl, but her societal issues are not dependent on her skin color but because she has angel wings and therefore cannot show herself to humans. I'm technically still commenting on societal issues, and one could see her struggle as an analogy, but in the end, it's fantasy, she's an avenging angel
My writing group is half trad pub and half self pub (although only the self-pub folks are, like, published). Interestingly (to me anyway), that split is entirely on gender lines, as in the women in our group are the ones pursuing traditional publishing.
And thank you for talking about your plans around project purple. As the publishing industry (and also esp. our relationship to it) evolves, responding and adapting to the inequities can be difficult but it's also super important.
You and me both Kate! I'm multi-tasking too! (You also made me want to buy origami paper and start-up making paper cranes away.) lol
You cracked me up when you sang fly fly Little Crane in the tune of little Sebastian from Parks and rec 😅 My author dream is 1) for someone to turn my book into a movie and 2) for Kate to create an "I write like Sarah Jordan video." You'll love my routine: highlights includes working on multiple projects, a 2-hour nap with my dog, plenty of almond butter and chocolate chips (for breakfast!)...
Your channel is one of a kind. ❤️
I can't wait to watch this later. I still don't really know if I even want to be published as an author or if my writing is simply for myself to enjoy
I loved some of the conversations in this video. I just took a class on Young Adult Literature last semester, and we learned a lot about the minority world in terms of publishing, and the amount of work about poc (as well as other minority groups) by cisgender, straight, white people is astounding. Only a small portion of books (at least less than half in all cases) published about minorities are actually written by those minorities and it isn’t necessarily a trend that’s getting better over time, either. As a white person myself, I feel bad writing books about poc and possibly taking that away from someone else, and it’s cool that you addressed that. I’d love for this to become a bigger topic on author tube as well as in traditional publishing.
I tend to have a writing group of friends outside of AuthorTube. I actually had these friends way before even discovering author tube as we all wrote on Wattpad and became friends through this one girls book who created a group chat. I think having friends who are authors as well helps a lot when writing since they're able to help more than the friends who don't really write at all. I do have my friends who aren't authors read over some of my work to get a sense of ideas on how its going since they won't really nitpick anything more just help with letting me know how the flow is doing but it is very beneficial in my opinion
I so appreciate this conversation. As someone who is pursuing a hybrid publishing career, hearing someone broach these questions and concerns, especially in trad publishing's current state, is incredibly helpful. There aren't a lot of writers pursuing traditional publishing in my social circle, so thanks for talking about both paths.
Hi Kate! I have a question which you may have answered in a previous video and I just missed it, or maybe you could answer here or in another video!
Question is: How did you/do you come up with your story and books ideas such as The Meridian Maps.
Thanks Kate! Love your channel! 😊
A great reward for completing my first 700 words of the day: a new Kate Cavanaugh video!
Indie publishing is my preference. Self-publishing originally referred to the world of paper publishing and brings to mind a slew of poorly written how-to books and personal family histories, etc. Indie publishing can include paperbacks but started out as a digital ebook kind of thing. (My observation. Your mileage may vary.)
At this point in my life, although I’d love to sell a few options (for possible movies…don’t care if the movie is made, just would love the option money, LOL), I have no great desire to be traditionally published. Indie publishing earned me the USA Today Bestselling Author title (for the first boxed set of my Colorado Billionaires series) and yes, I use the heck out of it! :D
Would I ever go the traditional route? I’m more comfortable with the idea now that I have an Intellectual Property attorney and could run everything past her. But I dislike the idea of giving a publishing house the rights to my characters and my universe(s). (New contracts may have changed, but in the pre-digital age, the publishing house owned your creation until the day they reverted the rights to the author, which almost never happened.)
Sorry, I’m babbling. But Authortube is one of my few remaining sources of outreach with other writers (don’t care if you haven’t pubished yet either…writers are writers). All the writers’ groups and organizations I’ve joined in the past were very focused on traditional publishing. I prefer talking to forward-looking writers who view both aspects with an open mind. Love your video!
OMG, Sing more! I loved all the singing in this one!
my dreams and goals are to be part of authortube, FINISHING SOMETHING, and then being published in a small trad house, and just keep writing forever.
My writer's dreams are definitely to see others cosplay my characters and go as them for Halloween. I fantasize about passing them by and what they would look like every time I go to comic con. Next to that, since I'm writing middle grade and my protag is a doll, I hope to see kids holding the actual doll, smiling proudly like it's all they wanted for Christmas. Gosh, I will actually cry if/when that happens.
Thank you for talking about these important subjects, Kate! I agree with your views. As for my publishing dreams, I want very much to be traditionally published. While I have nothing against self pub, after everything I've learned about it, it's just not for me at this time. Were I to write something that would do better in that market, I'd want to wait until after being trad published to go hybrid so I'd have some experience to fall back on, and would also have some money saved up, as well as hopefully a bigger audience to market to.
I would like to finish at least one of the multitude of books I have started. Now as far as publishing, I am publishing one of my memoir parts on my blog. I am not looking to publish either traditionally or indie publishing. I am writing for fun. My "books" are all very short so someone suggested I finish them up as novellas. I know you are writing one. I just can't seem to find enough words to write a full-length book. I am a blogger and short story writer mainly. It has been suggested to write a poetry book or a short story book. I don't know, we will see. I have been sprinting almost non-stop this week including starting my very own live sprints I have done 2 so far and it is weird feeling like I am talking to myself although I did have 2 watchers on both LOL! I am getting used to making videos so now I just have to get used to the live sprints.
who's watching this while waiting for the evergreen writing oasis to start ❤
And now I'm casually commenting on this during the middle of the first sprint of the Evergreen Writing Oasis hahahah.
You mentioned self-publishing and traditional publishing, but have you thought about actual indie publishing (aka with a small, independent publisher) as another alternative? Many of them can give you a mix of the benefits between the two, aka more control over edits and cover designs than traditional with more business connections and marketing access than doing it yourself. I ask because so many talk about self or traditional without knowing there is a whole mess of publishing opportunities in between.
this was a great chat! I've been always intrigued by self-publishing vs. traditional. Hybrid sounds like a perfect in between for me. I used to think that it was traditional publishing all the way for me, but I am now thinking some projects in my brain might work best as self-published entities. So who knows!
also omg! complete sidenote but i own that dress too and it is my favourite thing. :)
This video just makes me feel better in general
My biggest writing dream is to make enough money as an author that I don't have to do any other job outside of that. That's the main goal I'm working toward.
Aside from that, I just want people to love my books. Any message I get from friends and family who love my books makes my heart so happy. It's even better from strangers though, because I know they owe me nothing and don't have any kind of feeling of needing to say nice things in order to spare my feelings.
Of course a lot of other things would be cool, like fan art and fanfiction and stuff like that, but mostly I just want to see people enjoying my stories and I want to be able to spend more time writing instead of working.
For me, I want to traditionally publish, but only with a small publisher that I like. Not just because my stuff is extremely niche, but because the places I want to publish with/to are super cool.
*What are your wildest publishing/writing/platform dreams and goals?
Wildest?
To make enough writing to write from where I want to write and to not have to work a side job to support myself.
Oh, having some highly respected source tout me as "The next Terry Pratchett" or "The next Douglas Adams"
Writing studio either in the woods or on the beach, with a pool to swim in to "get the brainwork done" (you said wildest)
To have fan mail/email from people who love my work and took time out of their life to write and tell me that.
*What do you think of being a hybrid author? Have your goals regarding self or traditional publishing flipped over time?
I've always wanted to be traditionally published but if I could get enough demand for my traditionally published books I wouldn't mind doing some indie publishing. I just know myself and I'm not a sales or marketing guy, nor do I want to be, so I'm hoping the traditional publications would help me mitigate that.
*Do you have a writing social circle outside of authortube? How represented are the different publication options?
I have two. In one it's mostly indie publishing and the other is a mix of indie and traditional pub. I think you're right,that in the future there will be many more hybrid authors.
Also, unrelated to the above, I was glad to hear you speak about writing POC. I am a white straight male and I have thought a lot about how I can represent diverse worlds without taking away from an author who has direct experience. So far my best hope is to have sensitivity readers and to always ask myself "Why am I the best person to write this characters story? Is there someone who could write it better and more genuinely than I?".
I have noticed most people here on authortube plan on self-publishing, I personally would like to publish traditionally (honestly, because self-publishing sounds like a lot of work ahahha) (this doesn’t mean I won’t ever want to self-publish, though, being a hybrid author does sound interesting). Publication seems so far away that I don’t have that many dreams ahahaha although having people do fanfics and fanarts are definitely there! I hadn’t thought of the airport thing but.... yes, that too 😂 I can’t wait to read your books when you start publishing 💛
Something I heard recently during all of these discussions re: writing POC POV really struck me that I thought I’d share. It’s not just about taking up the space for someone who is an ownvoices (though that is definitely a super important point), but also about the impossibility of being able to represent their lived experience in an authentic way. So like, you can learn all you want about their culture and make them unique characters, but until you’ve been in their shoes, you don’t know how they experience the world and their space in it. You don’t know the looks or the feelings or the micro aggressions they face on a daily basis in a country and society predicated on institutional racism and inequality, nor could you ever. So by writing an experience without those, you not only misrepresent the lived experience of POC, but you put into the world a false understanding of what their lived experience is, which it turn makes it harder for them to explain their experience so that people see that it needs to change. I hope that made sense but that point really hit home with me about why we shouldn’t be doing the POV of oppressed or marginalized groups.
This is such a great point, though I wonder how this applies to stories that don't deal with the world we live in today; like fantasy worlds and scifi. In genres like these we deal with a completely different world to our own and poc characters may not have the race-specific experiences in those worlds like they would in ours, because race might not be as big of a factor. And it makes me wonder, that if the poc character doesn't have those experiences, if the author still needs to have them or not. I don't know if this comment makes any sense or not, I'm trying to put my thoughts into words but my brain is not always cooperating .😅Just wanted to bring this up and hopefully hear some opinions on it. 🤔
re:Project Purple, have you read Hank Green's An Absolutely Remarkable Thing? (its sequel A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor came out this month, btw) Project Purple doesn't sound similar in plot, but AART has probably the best examination of social media and fame I've ever read (which makes sense, considering the author!), so it might be of interest to you.
By this point, if 'It's pink, it's fine' doesn't appear on the front cover of the Project Purple book I will be disappointed.
Maybe not front cover, but I'll have to work it into the Acknowledgements, at the very least bahaha.
@@KateCavanaugh This makes me so happy. It's totally something I would do :p
Unrelated to content: My wife (not a writer) loves watching your videos solely because you make her laugh. She has two words for you: finger guns!
*pew pew*
I think it's a little different in YA with a fantasy aspect, isn't it? In terms of traditional publishing, I mean
Yaaay a 20 minutes video! Now I can get my sandwich and orange juice ♡
When I was younger, I only wanted to be traditionally published (before I knew self-publishing was a thing and for a few more years after). Then I wanted to be hybrid (especially after I self-published my first book). But now I’m having the same concern as you and am not sure I want that anymore. HOWEVER, I want to WORK in publishing as a literary agent. And while being an editor would probably have a greater impact on the issues we're seeing, I believe having more diverse agents would still be helpful in moving the needle in the right direction.
How do you fancy writing like Ray Bradbury? His main writing length was a short story. His schedule is below:
Monday: He wrote the first draft of a new story.
Tuesday: He second drafted.
Wednesday: He gave it a third draft.
Thursday: You guessed it. He went through a fourth draft.
Friday: Fifth draft
Saturday: He mailed out the sixth and final draft to the magazine he wanted it to be published in.
I've tried it and depending on the length of your story it can work.
I haven't heard the plot for project purple before after all of these months, and I love it. Just a thought, how do you approach those topics with your sensitivity readers? I guess as a young minority reader, I am hoping you are making sure you aren't harming any communities with your stories.
Edit: I see more smaller publishers be more open minded with stories rather than focusing on the quota you mentioned.
I waffle over traditional vs indie. I have little patience for the business side of things, but I'm also a bit of a control freak. Definitely my other writing circles are much more focused on traditional publishing.
i've been debating hybrid publishing. I know that I want to use traditional for my main series, but I was thinking maybe self publishing my writings that's in a different genre
My originally writing goal was to be traditionally published. I am now considering hybrid but I still want to be traditionally published before I start publishing hybrid. It is till a long while off.
I’m currently struggling with wether or not I want to try to trad publish my novel. I don’t like the idea of not having total control but I also don’t want to be limited to what I can personally manage marketing and self-publishing wise. I would love to see fan art of my characters, it would make me so happy to see that. And goals for my channel, i dont know, I like the community i have at the moment and I just want that to grow.
My goal is to become a hybrid author as well! I will probably try to start traditionally to learn as much as I can and then self publish some things (also I need some money to self publish...) I feel like doing both can really show you what you want and what you don't want. And why not? With all the possibilites you have right now, I feel like it has never been easier to self publish (that is a pro and a con, too :D )
Was thinking about getting traditionally published but I've heard a lot about the selection process and it's concerning. I'd do self publishing except for the fact that I don't have any marketing skills and I heard it's more expensive to get my book out there.
I've heard traditional publishers go through piles of queries in a single day and the chances of people's manuscripts being seen isn't close at all. Also that now a days they prefer authors/ writers with an online presence. I don't have an online presence. I'd start a UA-cam channel except that I suffer from anxiety and can't pour out sentences. I'm better with putting my words on the paper than actually speaking.
My first goal is to be published. I'd like to think that's a big step for now.
I think my biggest dream is to have a fandom where people make edits or graphics for my books and characters? I think about it a LOT. lol. But I really like the idea of hybrid publishing? When I was younger, I thought you HAD to be traditionally published to be a real author but now I know that's not true. So, I plan to self-publish the series I'm working on and try to traditionally publish standalones and maybe a duology or trilogy? I don't know a lot of other writers but I have made it a point to ask whether or not they want to idie or traditionally publish because I think its good to talk about and get into the pros and cons of it so we can help each other navigate.
I am not published yet but something I want to do in the future is have a tattoo on my back representing each book I publish. So like, for book one of my Mutania trilogy, it follows a pyromancer and a shapeshifter so the tattoo would be a snake circled around a fire. And as I publish more and more, each book would add to this collage of tattoos. My wildest dream would be to have so many tattoos that the collage continues on my arms or chest.
Its so cute how you say toronto like an American sports caster. TOE RON TOE. HAHA as a torontonian we say chur-ah-nah lol
I have no plans on publishing in the near future, but if I do I think I’ll stick to trad pub since I don’t trust myself. I am a POC (Bengali-American) so I do hope that when I’m ready to try to traditionally publish, the industry has changed so I see more diversity in the industry and that someone’s ethnicity, sexuality, etc. isnt the main part of the story.
So, I'm in a bit of a weird situation publishing wise. While I do wanna be mainly traditionally published, I'm not a native english speaker, from an European country or white. I write half my books in english and half in my native language, besides also doing translations of local books that have yet to be translated to english. My native language stuff can be traditionally published here, if I ever get enough money... However, publishing a book in english is going to be extremely hard. Which leaves me with the only option of indie publishing. So, in short, I'm directed towards hybrid publishing, but not by choice.
Are you using Clever Fox??
Is she using Clever Fox??
I love Clever Fox. They have such high quality planners.
Hey Kate. Firstly thank you for answering my question on your birthday stream! Secondly this is a long way down the road but after I finish my first draft and the drafts after that is there ever a chance that you could beta read my novel? That is you know if Im even good enough to finish it lol
You know, I never dreamed of winning awards or becoming a classic author or even being a NYT best seller. My crazy author/writer dream would be to write something that spawned a bunch of memes -- like it happened when Avengers came out, you know? Or like it still happens with HP or Twilight. I want to create something that becomes part of the cultural lexicon -- either be it a book or a movie that I write.
That's my shoot-for-the-stars crazy author/writer dream!
Okaaaaaaaay, I'm stealing this too bahaha.
@@KateCavanaugh Yes!!!! You have my blessing! Steal it!!!!
Have you read The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg? That series was optioned by Disney for a movie deal so getting a publicity event at one of the parks might be possible :)
Ooooh, I have not! But I'll have to check it out now. Thanks for the rec and validating that my dream MIGHT be possible bahaha.
I always wanted to traditional publish, but over the years, I find it less attractive. It some ways it reminds me of old Hollywood and the studio contracts where if you wanted to act, you had to do what you were told, when you were told to do it and only some people will breakout to be a star. I would rather be successful on my own merits and then if some publisher finds my books and wants me, I can choose what I want to do from there. I guess that's my goal/dream though I hadn't really thought about it in years. Most of the publish authors I know personally are all traditionally published with exception of one and she tends to write in a genre not easy to find in a trad pub house. She self published a M/M paranormal fantasy where her characters are usually Japanese or Korean so it's a bit like your comment about a white author writing a POC.
I love that your thinking of POC writers while considering traditional publishing. My thing is that I have to first write the book then think about tradpub. I'm to lazy to do selfpub. Let's be real. Lol. Mad respect to people who are successful at selfpub tho. I could never.
I have a question for Kate (and any other authors who might read this and have an opinion). So I'm hoping to start querying agents soon on an MG Fantasy I've written. In the meantime, I'm working on an adult Occult Fantasy Thriller as well as an adult Urban Fantasy with a much lighter and more irreverent tone. Basically, I have 3 very different books on the go with very different voices/audiences (although I think my MG and adult Occult book have a similar voice, my UF is WAY different!). My problem is that a lot of the agents I'm looking at submitting to have very specific MSWLs and some of the agents I've been most excited about submitting to specifically say they're looking for books like my MG one or my adult Occult one, but have no interest in books like my adult UF. I guess my question is, what happens if you land an agent but they hate some of the genres of book you want to write? Do you hold out and try to find an agent that believes in you whatever genre you want to write in? And what happens when you want to self publish some books and trad publish others but you have an agent? There's probably no easy answers to this but I'd love to hear some other people's opinions since it's making my brain explode!
i don't know what my dreams are, at this point is just publishing something at some point in my life. That would be pretty good.
I guess my wildest dream is being able to translate properly my own writing in English... and obviously traditional publish it in both languages
My my writing dreams and goals are kind of mixed together. My reality is that i would love to publish my trilogy fantasy series Project Helios, but my dream is to publish the remaining novels that follow after Project Helios. The long series is Project Death. It's kinda confusing but basically the Main Series is call Project Death and within that series are four parts (Project Helios being part one) with each part having 2-4 novels each. so that would total out to being around 14 novels, which is a lofty undertaking. The fear that I have with that dream is that I won't be able to write to the depth that I would like before my inevitable end.
We have one dream in common! If someone were to write fanfic for one of my stories (especially bad fanfic because that might mean it was a *new* writer) I would be so freaking happy.
Hybrid hopeful here.
My goal is to be published by Jimmy Patterson Books. My DREAM is for a specific celebrity to read my book and say something about it.
First: I simply wanted to thank you because your videos discuss important topics in a non-stressful way. The conversational tone you create in your videos (your editing choices help create this vibe too) helps this viewer feel like I’m chillin’ and having a chat.
Second: thank you for bringing up the notion of writing POC characters because I think this topic should be discussed more. As an author who is a part of the LGBTQ+ community, but also am living and learning about my white identity, it is a process. A process that will be (should be) a life-learning process, and maybe authors should work together to be positive, proactive part of that learning. We could be a cohesive voice that fights against the reality of the world? Okay: I shall stop babbling now. Thank you again.
I wonder if there are going to be a thousand cranes at the end of the video.
I just want to finish my book and have someone read it. Only goal.
Does anyone have a suggestion on books that help with writing dialogue, because I am sorely lacking in the convo area.
"I'm as white as a human can be"
no I'M as white as a human can be....like I'm almost translucent
As a novice writer with a dearth of confidence it's a dream of mine to have just one other person be excited about my characters or story. I'm entering a flash fiction contest tonight and I'm terrified.
OOOH GOOD LUCK! You got this. :) Actually entering is a step that a lot of people never reach, so you're crushing it!
@@KateCavanaugh AAAAHH thank you Kate! Your videos help me so much!
Clarification, I am white, and I know we all need to do better. White authors need to use the platform they have to shout out black authors, UA-camrs, and so on because the media is involved in systematic racism. We cannot say we are improving if we do not give them the publicity they deserve. Even I need to do more than I am. I love the topics spoken about in the video. I half knew the truth of how terrible traditional publication has been over the years. I didn't realise it was this bad until now.
Shout black UA-camrs out at the end of the video or black authors. They deserve the platform. They deserve a voice.
List of black and diverse authors:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
Maya Angelou
Marlon James
Colson Whitehead
Tananarive Due
Charlotte Nicole
Rena Barron
Tomi Adeyemi
Nicky Drayden
Suyi Davies Okungbowa
Dhonielle Clayton
Akwaeki Emezi
Cadwell Turnbell
L.D. Lewis
Victor LaValle
Black UA-camrs:
Cherita Explains It All
SimplyNessa15
Jackie Aina
www.blackenterprise.com/27-black-youtubers-from-around-the-world-you-need-to-follow/
Don’t you lose your rights with a hybrid publisher? You pay for everything but they keep the rights. (Im not sure, I actually just started looking up publishers this morning and your video arrived right on time 😂 ). Edit: I might be confusing hybrid author with hybrid publishing lol
People get mad if you make your characters Caucasian. People get mad if you make your characters POC. Can't we write out characters the way we envision them, do our best not to be offensive, and just focus on making good stories that will bring people joy?
I don't think the point is to please everyone. I think the point is to make writing a safe, equitable space for everyone.
I'm going to say something and I probably shouldn't say it publicly, but I'm going to say it anyway. I don't think traditional publishing is ever going to change. It's just like Hollywood is never going to change. Right now Traditional publishing is going to pretty much virtue signal and minority writers are going to be the darlings. They are going to get the hype. Not because they have seen the error in their ways, but because of the current situation it will make them money in the short term. It's capitalism and they should use the current want for minority authors to have the limelight because these voices should be heard. However, in the say next 5 years, when the market is saturated with minority authors, sales for those books will go down-- just like when the market was flooded with traditionally published vampire novels sales went down. I think having more Independent published books by minorities would be great.
It's a topic for another day, but I think a great way to counter and possibly change this is to push the importance of reading and literacy in inner-city schools. I know that reading at home and for enjoyment is not pushed in minority communities and a lot of libraries in these neighborhoods don't have books written by minorities or have main characters who are people of color. Again this is something that can be discussed on a different day.
Why do I say this? It comes back to what I said about Hollywood. Back in the early 2000s, there was a big push to diversify the Oscars and by extension the Studio system. In 2002 when Denzel Washington won Lead Actor for Training Day and Halle Berry won best Lead Actress it was known that that year the selection committee pushed for the top awards to go to specifically Black actors. Yet, it hasn't changed its ways. In 2003 when Lost in Translation there was a call on why the non-comedy "Black films" were never greenlit by the studio. I think it was Tyler Perry, but please don't quote me on it I couldn't find the interview to make sure but I remember it as Tyler Perry speaking out about how the only movies with black leads were comedies and there are good scripts by black writers being passed over.
Even with all this we still don't see diversity in anything coming out of the Studios and it's been 17 years.
Again, I shouldn't say this, I know I shouldn't say it. It's like saying the NYT best books list has nothing to do with the sales of books. But Hollywood and the traditional publishing industry aren't going to change because they don't want to.
Eliza, those are pretty much my thoughts too. I'm traditionally published and I was a We Need Diverse Books volunteer back when that initiative launched. The organization has accomplished incredible things, but there's this feeling of lip service from the big houses, of boxes being ticked, of virtue signaling. Ultimately, the problem is that the houses themselves are largely made up of white straight cis able-bodied people. Unless you're at the very top, the salaries aren't nearly what they need to be for Manhattan's (or pretty much any NYC borough's) cost of living. The result is a whole lot of editors, sales teamers, and publicists with other means of wealth and a ton of privilege. To be fair, there are many who aren't wealthy and who do things like live well outside of the city and deal with a huge commute, or live with several roommates...but the point stands, if you want to work at one of the big 5 and you also want your own place, a reasonable commute, and you don't have a trust fund...it ain't happening. :/
And as well meaning as I'm sure many of these editors etc are, they don't represent the diversity of the US -- so of course the books they acquire don't, either. And the recent focus on diversity, while great, also leads to things like American Dirt and books getting cancelled. Until the people who acquire, market, sell, and publicize books are diverse, the change we need isn't going to happen.
Which is super depressing - but there's a part of me that's really, really hoping the awfulness that is 2020 will in the long-term shove the industry in the right direction. I mean, they're finally learning that work can be done virtually...maybe they can start hiring people who live in more affordable places than NYC (aka literally anywhere??). That'd be a start!
Kate (f you make it to the bottom of this ridiculously long comment haha) Project Purple sounds fabulous and I really hope you find a home for it one day. Also, I'm selfishly happy authortube is made up of a lot of self-pubbed authors because I'm interested in going hybrid and watching their videos has been SO educational for me! This was a great video, and Duke is the freaking cutest. :)
Hey Kate how are you today.
I’m indie published
Where do you find the time
Hybrid publishing really interests me...what holds me back for sure is that I don't read much indie-published work! So I think my first goal is to seek out and read more indie/self-published work before I settle on a potential path :) The one thing that's a sort of "barrier to entry" for me is how can you predict what self-pub books will be high quality (or ones you enjoy!)? I've read a lot of traditionally published books I do not like due to pacing/craft problems so I definitely don't buy-in to the idea that traditionally published books are necessarily better - but I do think it's harder to know where to look for self-pub books (at least, since I'm not "in the world", I don't know the places to look yet!)! Anyway...to end this ramble; thank you for chatting about these different publishing paths - it definitely gets wheels turning :) also OMG I LOVE Meg Cabot!
And if you don"t write POC characters then people will say that you are too white and there is no diversity in your book. Shouldn"t men write women characters and vice versa?
*The* *algorythm*
THE ALGORITHM.
My book that I'm currently querying has two POC POV characters, which really has me worried right now. The book isn't ABOUT their races, but still, it is contemporary. If I do get an agent and publishing deal for this book, I guess I see two options. 1) Change the races of the characters (which I don't want to do because, like you said, I imagine them to be these races and it's hard to let go of my mental image of them) or 2) leave their races as is and in the future make an effort to only write white POV characters until we see a change in publishing.
I just don't want to pull it from the trenches. If this is my "in", so to speak, then I just can't let that go, you know? I've been getting a decent amount of positive responses and requests and stuff. So yeah. Tricky situation.
It's definitely a difficult area to navigate, and I'm glad that's its something you consider, many authors never even question if it's a story they have the authority to tell. Although I must say, I really think project purple sounds awesome and would greatly look forward to reading it