Let's get to the "published at all author" list, and then we'll think what happens next.

@nonameless2

5 жыл бұрын

Meeee

7:00 The Kingdom of Authors: - Apex List: one person in a palace - Highlisters - mansion - Midlisters : the third floor suite - lowlisters : small flat with a long walk to the Laundromat - Underlisters - undergound tunnels covered in fan fiction newspaper clippings. No lights. Dark. Smells of alcohol. Sometimes raided by Vampires. A dead end lifestyle. Easy to get lost and never find the entrance. -

I think becoming a midlist is way more realistic than becoming jk rowling.however i do agree that its tempting to go beyond just being a respectable author. im no expert, just somebody who wants to write a great story one day and i really benefit from this information from an expierienced author. Thanks for the explanation :)

Now I am intrigued about the authors under the midlist-tier...

Hi Alexa, I'm a long time lurker, first-time commenter. I just wanted to say your publishing videos are super interesting and informative. The fact that you come from a fan-fiction background and isn't ashamed to admit it is so heart-warming. Keep being you!

Thanks for this! It's not often that people chat about midlist even though often that's where more people sit, like you said, because of the bell curve. But I think it's great to know about because being a solid midlist author is definitely still a great place to be.

Oh wow! I had no idea about this, but yeah, the name is quite logical. Thank you for sharing this.

This is such a fascinating topic, and just goes to show how much about publishing isn't common knowledge to the general public... as well as how many career options there are with regards to writing and publishing books. Thanks so much for this "crash course" video! :)

Very interesting to hear about! I'd just assumed mid-lister meant people who weren't getting huge advances; I hadn't considered the perks that went with it.

Yes, favorite authortuber coming in clutch as always, thanks girl

I've been watching your videos for a while now and my Lord are they extremely informative. I love your attitude when you're explaining what everything is. Very mature and you actually sound like you know what you're talking about, unlike most other youtubers in this category😂

I just found your channel a couple days ago and I'm binging (instead of writing). I was looking for ways to get focused and less distracted. I have the ideas and the inspiration, but a serious lack of self-control and focus. I'm about a third of the way through book 1, and doing everything else in the house besides writing. This, I know, is an internal block. This video, though. This is exactly what I want to achieve. I want to tell my stories, get paid for them, and not worry about whether the money will run out before the book is done. I want to entertain, not necessarily be rich. I want the batshit crazy number of ideas in my head to get out onto paper (or digitally), so all these storylines can stop expanding inside my head.

@mr.scarytheterry5039

5 жыл бұрын

You don't set a goal on what others have done. Set a goal on what you can do. 10-5 pages a week is all you need to start your habit. The habit will become more than a habit, eventually you will have enough rough work to go over the 2/3/4 draft etc... It's not a sprint. Baby steps are there so you can stop crawling and start walking.

@JayceMaxwell

5 жыл бұрын

@@mr.scarytheterry5039 I think that's what I did. I heard something Stephen King said about his daily goals and I tried to match them. I did pretty well for a month, but kept falling behind, then I pretty much stopped for a few weeks. A new idea jumped into my head for a much more marketable book in the same world as the book I'm working on, so I've started working on that this morning, and I'll save the 1/3 book for later. Today's work is actually going smoothly and slowly, and the words are flowing again. I think that looking at these channels and what other writers find realistic as goals is helping me chill out a bit on my writer's panic.

Thanks for another informative video! I think I fall into this category and I agree on all of your points. I’m so glad you brought up imposter syndrome because I get it in the regular. It’s a strange feeling when I get a contract where I’m like “why do they want me since I’m not a ‘breakout’?”It’s so weird LOL it’s also a great point that as a midlister you have a better shot of earning out. Again all good points and can’t wait for your next video ☺️

You explain publishing so realistically - if you're not yet in the business everything is a mystery, and information like this helps aapiring authors have realistic goals. I'm sure you've been told this before but it really is super helpful!

You know, I actually think I'd be happy making midlist. I mean, I'd LOVE to have a huge blockbuster with movie options etc. but, I'd also be just as happy just writing, selling, then writing some more and selling some more.

Thank you! I always wondered what this category in publishing meant exactly. Also, I was wondering.. Can you do a video on how to write flashbacks correctly? It's a tough thing and I'd be interested in what your thoughts are.

It would have been useful to define "break out" and "mid-range" and "modest". What range of sales is a break out? What does it mean that your advance is modest? What number of sales defines a modest result? I always get the biggest smile when I get your alerts. It stops everything in my office. So many sad faces, except for mine. muahahahaha!

@AlexaDonne

5 жыл бұрын

Breakout means selling a ton of copies and/or becoming famous/award winning and thus becoming a Name in publishing. It's dangerous to cite specific advance numbers because it does range. But a writer should expect that modest advances means NOT 6 figures for any one book. I know some midlisters who healthily earn 35K per book. But it's far easier to earn out a lower advance, more in the 15K-25k range.

@LindsayPuckett

5 жыл бұрын

Almost all of my fav books are from midlist authors ❤️

@JayceMaxwell

5 жыл бұрын

@@AlexaDonne I'd kill for a 15K advance. It would mean being able to write for another year as a job. Probably even longer, since I can stretch a dollar pretty far.

Yes, girl. I have been waiting for this video. I aspire to midlist!!

Your channel is so great!

Well, I guess I want to become a midlister now. Sounds steady and dependable :)

I don't really need to know this. I am going from total obscurity to Triple-S-tier overnight. Like that is not an unreasonable expectation, right guys? *voice echos into the lonely darkness*

@musicalneptunian

5 жыл бұрын

Like a Robbie Kneivel motorbike jump over 40 trucks, you will begin with hope, ascend and then crash. For a moment you were flying high. For a moment you brushed the sky.

At least at my publisher, we literally categorize books in this way. They have labels in our database. :/

@leech1355

5 жыл бұрын

What other labels are there? :)

Imposter syndrome? I've already got that. Been writing about normal, successful relationships and realized that I have no experience.

Plenty authors are midlist initially. Think about Hilary Mantel writing historical romance, GRRM writing genre fantasy/ scifi, etc. Everyone starts someplace

Midlist sounded kinda bad at first. Turns out it's pretty swell

can you make a video about the backlist?

This might be a dumb question, but what are the tiers of publishing exactly? Mid list implies there is also something below it, and I know there are breakouts above being a mid list, but are there more levels that that?

@AlexaDonne

5 жыл бұрын

Nothing official. Mid-list is the only firm and specific tier that anyone ever talks about.

Thanks for this! I always tell people to buy books from midlist authors to support them and they look at me funny...

I'll take a 500k failure any day lol

As a teen, I can honestly say I'm breaking out... but it's acne and it won't go away pls send help

„Pubilshing“ 😄 Nice video though!

I'd prefer to be a mid-lister than someone with a mega hit that blocks me into one specific thing. Think Jk Rowling would have a real chance if she had something else published under her name when people would be screaming for more Harry Potter type stuff? Her books would sell just because of who she is, but she'd be hearing from a lot of people about how that's not what they wanted. Sometimes too much success can block you into something. I don't write with the goal of fame or money or anything. I write for the love of writing. I'm sitting on some finished books right now that I do believe in very much, but I can't be bothered to start querying when I'd rather be writing another book. It's the process of creating that pulls me into this. If I were a mid-lister with a steady stream of books that sell well enough for publishers to want more, awesome. If I were a blockbuster with a book that publishers wanted more of exactly, I think I'd end up sinking back into depression. This is a creative outlet for me, a way to get out of the corner real life and politics have backed me into. I don't need my happy place to become a trap as well for the same of lots of money and being a household name. As it is, the small business I have has enough fans that I have been recognized by fans overseas. That's trippy. Cool, but I like doing my own thing. If I never sell a book, I don't care. If I don't get around to publishing these books I'm sitting on right now, eh. I started my own independent publishing company (ISBNs, baby! Without the publisher being Createspace or having to spend a benny per). Whatever. It's about the writing Well, the writing, and my betas telling me they hate me for not giving them the next chapter right away. :D I admit I do love that part. And sending one part of a chapter to someone who don't know about the stories, and the emotional reactions being exactly what I wanted. Since I like to take things that aren't supposed to be doable, and do them, this is fun. The writing is fun. That's the part I care about. So I would prefer to be a mid-lister.

Why Would I Want to be Average?!