8 Questions: Catherine Ryan Howard

Photo courtesy of Catherine Ryan Howard

EIGHT QUESTIONS is an interview series which David Wright has done for various websites as far back as 2000. We’re thrilled to bring it here to Ghostwriter Dad, where we will be interviewing some of today’s most popular writers, to get a more in-depth look at the people behind the words and find out what has worked for them and what hasn’t. We hope you enjoy our first installment!

CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD is a twenty-something writer, blogger and coffee-drinker from Cork, Ireland. She’s the author of four self-published books, Mousetrapped: A Year and A Bit in Orlando, Florida, Backpacked: A Reluctant Trip Across Central America, Results Not Typical: A Novel and Self-Printed: The Sane Person’s Guide to Self-Publishing (one of my favorite two books on self publishing – Dave) Find out more on her blog, Catherine, Caffeinated or follow her on Twitter @cathryanhoward.

1 – How did you get started self-publishing?

In November 2009 I’d been submitting Mousetrapped to agents and editors for a little over a year, and was about to retire it as the main obstacle I faced was a lack of a market for such a book, which was pretty insurmountable. Then a friend sent me a link to Lulu (although I ended up going with CreateSpace) and I thought, well, it might as well be up there and for sale as a POD paperback than stuck in a drawer. I thought maybe I’d shift a few copies, selling them to family, friends and maybe other seasonal workers who’d gone to Florida on the same visa program as I had. The week between ordering my proof copy and it arriving, I saw someone tweet about something called Smashwords, and went to investigate; that’s how I ended up publishing e-books. I was really figuring everything out as I went along in the beginning, but one thing really stood to me: I knew a lot about the traditional publishing world. I’d spent a decade reading every “How To Get a Six-Figure Deal by Lunchtime Tomorrow” book and haunting writing workshops, agents, etc. Looking back now, I see that even though I knew nothing about self-publishing, knowing far too much about traditional publishing and “real” books was a lot more useful to me. It ensured that my book cover wouldn’t have a border on it, or that my inside pages wouldn’t be in Comic Sans! It also helped keep my expectations in check.

2 – In March 2011 you explained why you’re still pursuing traditional publication. Have you shifted any more towards (or away) from this goal since you wrote the post? (and if so, what’s changed?)

I am almost totally focused on trying to get traditionally published at the moment. My goal in 2011 was to release three more self-published books (which I did; Mousetrapped is the only title I released in 2010) and then get everything—my books, my blog, etc.—into a position where I could basically sit back and let the momentum carry it over. I don’t mean sit back and relax—I’m still blogging and tweeting, obviously—but on a day-to-day basis I don’t spend any time on self-published books. Instead, I’m working on a new novel that I hope to use to get an agent. An editor at a major publishing house here in Ireland is waiting for a look. That’ll be my focus for much of 2012, I suspect, but of course I do intend to self-publish more in the future.

Getting traditionally published has always been my dream and will be until (if!) it happens. Self-publishing is a parallel that keeps me in coffee, but success in self-publishing was never my goal. It’s nice and it’s great and I’m really happy things took off, of course, but I could sell 10 million self-published books and it still wouldn’t “do”, I’m afraid.

3 – What is your writing and production schedule like?

I write full-time, so at least eight hours every day is free for things like social media, planning, promotion and of course, writing the books themselves… I don’t really have a set daily schedule, which is something I’m really going to try to work on in 2012, because it’s so easy to lose a day to the internet.

All the books have had different histories, for instance Mousetrapped was written between the summer of 2007 and 2008, rewritten a number of times through 2009, copyedited in early 2010, and then self-published in March of that year. But in contrast Backpacked had a cover design and a website before I even started writing it, and as soon as it had been edited and proofread, off it went. The first draft of Results Not Typical was written in about 6 weeks back in 2009, but then worked on with a manuscript critique service for a few months after that, and not self-published until a full two years after I’d started writing it (although that was partly because I’d subbed it to agents and editors in between).

4 – Your writing is varied by genre: memoir, self-publishing, and most recently, fiction with your book, Results Not Typical. How did you differ your marketing strategy for each genre? Was there anything in particular which worked brilliantly for one type of book but failed for another?

I’m really learning as I go along, so I definitely didn’t start out with any strategy for my first book, Mousetrapped, which was non-fiction. When I released Results back in October I honestly thought fiction would be much easier to sell than non-fiction, but I was so, so wrong! Despite a 16-stop blog tour, Goodreads giveaway, and great reviews from prominent book bloggers, Results was a damp squib on release. Hilarious really, considering Backpacked got nothing but a couple of blog posts from me and sold about 300 copies in the first month (and has now sold more than 1,000 copies since September 1st; took me a year to do the same with Mousetrapped). I changed the cover just before Christmas and used Amazon KDP Select to give Results away for free for 5 days over Christmas, and nearly 4,000 copies were downloaded. Will that help sell copies of it in 2012? Too early to tell yet, but we’ll see.

5 – What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made self-publishing (if any) and what did you learn?

The biggest mistake I made—so far, anyway!—was ordering stock. I did it to have a book launch in a local bookshop here in Cork, to sell to friends and family and to sell through my website for a short time. It was a huge headache, and it ended up costing me money instead of making it for me. If I had my time over again, I’d upload the book to CreateSpace and say to everyone, “If you want it, it’s on Amazon.” I think in the beginning when someone says, “Oh, I only read paperbacks” or “I never buy books online” you feel a bit panicky (“Have I just lost a sale??!?!!”) and you run off to get that person a book whatever way you can, but you don’t need to. Someone else will take their place, and they’ll buy your book from Amazon or download the e-edition. Don’t worry about it. Going forward the only physical stock I want to see are the proof copies I need to check, and the finished copy I order for myself. (You can send review copies and competition prizes direct.)

6 – While the self-publishing process has become easier than ever, there still seems to be a lot of room for improvement. What improvements would you most like to see in the process?

I would love to see the likes of CreateSpace offering free cover creation software that doesn’t stink of a cat’s litter tray, and a hardcover option would be nice too. Other than that though I’m pretty happy with the way things are. I’m thankful every day for all the amazing services at self-publishers’ fingertips.

On a less technical note, I would also love to see everyone shutting the hell up with this Us Vs Them attitude to self-publishing versus traditional publishing. It’s not a war; it’s a business. Everyone’s here to make at least some money and isn’t the biggest “Man” of them all Amazon, who we’re all happy to sell our books through? I just think the whole “debate” is beyond pointless.

7 – What are you working on next?

My focus now is finishing the novel I hope to get published. After that, I’ll be updating Self-Printed.

8 – What’s the most important piece of advice you’d give to someone just starting out in self-publishing?

GET YOUR BOOK EDITED BY A PROFESSIONAL. I harp on about this all the time, but some self-publishers just don’t listen. They won’t listen. They say they can’t afford it (then don’t self-publish; would you open a restaurant if you couldn’t afford to…?) or they think they can “have a go” because they’re under the mistaken impression that editing is about spelling and grammar (would you “have a go” at brain surgery? Because an editor has to train professionally too).  It’s fine to have a go at editing your own work if you’re giving it away for free. If you’re charging people to read it, it’s a product, and a product has to adhere to higher standards. What really drives me up the walls is when people say, “Yeah but, traditionally published books have errors! I’ve seen them.” Um, SO FREAKIN’ WHAT?! I’ve read some terrible traditionally-published books. Does that mean I think it’s okay if my book is bad? Why aspire to the lowest common denominator? I just don’t get their attitude. It makes no sense to me.

And here’s the thing: I’ve paid for a professional to look at every single book I’ve released, but when only the author and one other person sees a manuscript, you’ll still find errors. I’ve lost count of how many different people saw Mousetrapped before it went out into the world, and yet there were at least two errors in the final product—an “it” that should’ve been an “if” and an inconsistent spelling of someone’s name. It’s just what happens. At a publishing house, a number of people go through the manuscript a number of times and in a number of different formats; it’s very hard for a self-publisher to replicate that, even if money isn’t an issue. So the moral of the story is: it’s extremely difficult to get your book perfect WITH professional help. Imagine what state it’d be in if you didn’t.

I read a blog post recently that basically said telling self-publishers they have to get editors and book designers is insulting their intelligence, i.e. can’t they learn those skills? Well, they can, but even the world’s top brain surgeon can’t perform brain surgery on his or herself. You’re too close to the material; you need a stranger’s eyes, and that stranger has to be a professional in the field.

I know this is two pieces of advice but I think it’s important to fully realize and accept your starting off point as a self-publisher. The world, by default, doesn’t give a rat’s behind about your book. Nobody cares and why should they? That’s the question you need to figure out. Why should people care about this book? If you don’t have an answer, you don’t have a book that people will buy. If you have one, next step is to figure out how to make them care. I often see self-publishers clicking the “Publish” button, tweeting, “My book [insert details] is out now!” and then sitting back, expecting us to form an orderly queue. Books are like that. You have to get my attention, then interest me, and then persuade me to buy. It’s a lot of hard work and if you’re not prepared to do it, I wouldn’t even bother starting.

That’s a terrible note to end an interview on so let me just also say this: love and bubbles and puppies and stuff! Viva la self-publishing revolution, etc. etc. And good luck!

Find out more on Catherine’s blog, Catherine, Caffeinated or follow her on Twitter @cathryanhoward. 

COME BACK NEXT WEDNESDAY FOR EIGHT QUESTIONS WITH DAVID GAUGHRAN.