I've traveled quite a journey during the publishing of my books. My first book was published through AuthorHouse, a subsidy publisher. As subsidy publishers go, AuthorHouse is probably one of the better ones, and I do have a few good memories with them, but mostly the experience was a disappointment for me. Like all publishing houses where you hire them to publish your book, for a rather high fee, if you ask me, they run your baby through their mill and "BAM" you have a book, but really, what exactly do you have? Here is something of what I ended up with.
If you know what you're doing, AuthorHouse can do you good, especially if money isn't much of an issue, but my journey wasn't so simple. You can get a small taste of it here. AuthorHouse puts out a good quality book, mine happened to be error free, and there were a few things their editor caught that had slipped past me. However they did not go any farther than they absolutely had to. My baby was merely $$$ to them and nothing more. I got a cover that could have been better with a tiny bit of coaching on their part. Also with a modicum of effort along the line of word find and replace, they wouldn't have left behind the formatting errors I found AFTER the book was already approved and published.
This book was my first - I mean I knew nothing at all about writing let alone publishing, I was hoping to learn something. Boy, did I. My very expensive lesson? Don't pay for publishing. Don't pay for advertising. And if you are joining a publishing house, don't pay for copying fees, editing, not even the cover. If you are being asked to pay for any of these things, you better also be paying an independent contractor hired for the service BY YOU. If a publishing house offers these things at all, it should be free. A real publishing house makes their money from book sales, not from the writer.
Living in the wilderness can present problems in this writing/publishing journey, so I took my new knowledge and my new internet access and started searching for something that would work for me. I was blessed to find a very understanding publisher who has since published the first two books of my trilogy. Book 3 is due out next summer, and the next book is already sitting there waiting it's turn. It seems he either likes me or he likes my writing - hopefully both.
With this small victory under my belt, I confess to being a little impatient. Without actively searching, I still kept an eye peeled, and upon the recommendation of a friend of mine, I went ahead and submitted to yet another publisher, and low and behold, they too accepted and the publishing process was under way again. Now, while this publisher was a fine publishing machine, I find I preferred the more personal approach I got from my first publisher. I'm not sure I'll publish through them again. Sales haven't been all that great either, while my trilogy is doing very well by comparison. So, is it the publisher? Their advertising? Or is it the book, classified science fiction rather than general fiction? I have no way of knowing. They are all sold on Amazon.
To round out my publishing venture, I took the plunge and, thanks to a very generous donation, I was able to buy an awesome cover for my blog novel. Now that I had a cover, I wanted to turn it into a real book. I tried very hard to make reading the blog as easy as I could, but a blog is what it is, and unless you actively keep up with a blog novel, catching up is kinda awkward. It's still there though if any of you care to take a look. Just follow the link on the right.
At any rate, I couldn't afford an editor so I did it myself with utmost care, and then off to CreateSpace I went with my manuscript and my cover picture. I discovered that it was incredibly easy to do, just follow the directions. The most important part is to take your time and make sure it looks like you want it to. You are given the chance to flip through the pages and check every one. It is my advice that you look at EVERY SINGLE PAGE. Doing so allowed me to discover a tiny mark up near the title of one chapter. I was going to ignore it, it was just a little line, but then I found a couple other little things so I backed up and fixed it all. It's a year old now and so far no one has informed me of finding any errors (whew). The best part, even though I priced it nearly as low as I could, sales were good enough to pay for my internet for two months in a row. It's kind of settled down among the slush pile now even though I advertise every day, but with every new book, the older books seem to awaken a little, and every new friend I make on Facebook just might see my advertising and check out my books, and MAYBE they'll tell their friends and so on.
And so it grows, slowly but steadily. I plug away at expanding my platform. Of late, I've taken to offering what I've learned to anyone who might be interested. I know the value of another pair of eyes and officially offer the service on my website. Most recently I've added ghost writing as well, thanks to negotiations with a friend. I am fully aware that starting writers are seldom financially comfortable, and hopefully I charge accordingly. I'm not trying to get rich, just trying to earn enough to pay for my next cover or to pay for my next book to be edited.
This is my journey so far. Share some of yours.
Showing posts with label Whiskey Creek Publisher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Whiskey Creek Publisher. Show all posts
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Friday, January 18, 2013
The Speed of Dreams - a sample
Since I'm working on what the editor sent back to me, I'm going to forgo a witty post and give you a sample instead. This is from about a quarter of the way into the book. I hope you like it.
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They entered the bay and saw a girl sitting on the floor in front of the hatch. She had short black hair and dark eyes. Kaz recognized her at once and he wasn’t all that pleased to see her here.
She rose to her feet at their appearance. “Kaz,” she said with a smile. She was acting as if he was a long lost, old and dear friend.
“What are you doing here, Jat’Lyn?” asked Kaz, his voice cold.
“Kaz, aren’t you pleased to see me?”
Rice looked surprised. “I’ll be going now.”
“No, please, Rice. Stay a while, I would like to talk with you more,” said Kaz.
Rice nodded and stood aside.
“Is this one of your little friends?” asked Jat’Lyn.
Kaz didn’t reply; he thought the remark ludicrous considering the fact that Rice was nearly twice her size.
“Come on Kaz, I thought you would be pleased to see that I was one of the pilots who were chosen for this mission, and one of the few who survived. Aren’t you pleased? I didn’t know you were here too, until Nathyn came back and told me. He was in such a fuss.”
“So Hae’Nathyn sent you to see what I was doing,” said Kaz coldly.
“How can you say that?” she asked indignantly.
“I can say it very easily. Ever since he let you know who my parents were and you left me to go with him.” Kaz’s voice grew even colder if that were possible.
“Oh Kaz, you don’t think I have feelings for him, do you?”
“I don’t think you have feelings for anyone. You just stood to gain more rank from matching with him than if you had stayed with me. And now that we’re here, you think you’ll do better by matching back with me, don’t you? Go back to Hae’Nathyn; you’ll not get another chance with me.”
“I’m sorry to hear you say that, Kaz.” She backed away. “Oh no!” She moved quickly away from him.
The rest of the pilots entered quickly through the hatch and then spread out; one of them lingered long enough to make sure the hatch was locked. Hae’Nathyn grabbed Jat’Lyn by the arm and thrust her violently away and to the rear of their group.
Kaz went to his ship’s hatch and slapped the panel. “Rice, get inside.” He helped his words by thrusting him into the ship. “Ship, don’t let him out until the fight’s over.”
Before the hatch closed, Rice saw two of the others close in on Kaz’s back and then just as quickly, one of them lost at least half of his face and the other just dropped out of view. “Ship, what’s going on out there? Let me out. He doesn’t stand a chance against all of them alone.”
The quiet voice of the computer frustrated Rice in his near panic. “Pilot Aaitt’Kaz’s fighting record is exceptional and he has sparred against almost all of the pilots that are here. There is a twenty-nine point four percent probability that he will be able to deal out enough initial damage to cause the others to back down and acknowledge his superiority.”
“Let me call the bridge and get security down here.”
“I am sorry, Corporal Rice. This fight must be settled here and now. If this fight was to be interrupted, and another encounter was to occur, his odds of success would be much less.”
“What are you talking about? If he gets killed out there, who will be your pilot then? Who will rank then?”
“You are correct; my next pilot will be the victor of this fight and will therefore rank among this group.”
Rice thought about that for a moment during which time he heard someone slam against the bulkhead near the hatch. “If Kaz dies, then I declare myself your next pilot.”
“You are not a pilot. You do not know how to fly.”
“You’ll just have to teach me.” Rice paced the three steps available for such an activity.
“As you wish, Pilot Rice, but you should know that it is likely one or more of these pilots will challenge you for that right.” Another body met the bulkhead and a muffled cry of pain could be heard through the hull.
“Oh, well then, let’s just pray he survives. What’s going on out there? Isn’t there some way I can see?”
The screen came to life and a high view of the docking bay floor could be seen. A few steps from the hatch stood a tattered and bleeding Kaz with his right hand tucked into his waistband. Around him lay several bodies; it was impossible to tell if any of them were still alive. As he looked, three more closed in with him while other tattered fighters hung on the perimeter waiting to see the outcome.
Rice watched in astonishment as Kaz met one of his attackers with a foot in the throat. Another attacker received his hand in his chest—Rice had to look closer. Yes the left hand actually entered the man’s chest. The third attacker was forced to hesitate when his eyes were filled with blood… Where did the blood come from? …and then his feet were swept from under him. Kaz then leaped to straddle him and drove his hand down onto the man’s chest hard enough to break every rib; Rice could see the man’s chest flatten and bulge unnaturally. The others backed away to the bay doors. As the bay door opened, a flood of men entered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thirty pages to go - might have it done tonight - and then it's back to the editor.
Due out next month
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A box will be mailed out to me at the same time.
Stop by my event or go straight to my website to order your copy of any of my books and I'll sign it for you. Hope to see you there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They entered the bay and saw a girl sitting on the floor in front of the hatch. She had short black hair and dark eyes. Kaz recognized her at once and he wasn’t all that pleased to see her here.
She rose to her feet at their appearance. “Kaz,” she said with a smile. She was acting as if he was a long lost, old and dear friend.
“What are you doing here, Jat’Lyn?” asked Kaz, his voice cold.
“Kaz, aren’t you pleased to see me?”
Rice looked surprised. “I’ll be going now.”
“No, please, Rice. Stay a while, I would like to talk with you more,” said Kaz.
Rice nodded and stood aside.
“Is this one of your little friends?” asked Jat’Lyn.
Kaz didn’t reply; he thought the remark ludicrous considering the fact that Rice was nearly twice her size.
“Come on Kaz, I thought you would be pleased to see that I was one of the pilots who were chosen for this mission, and one of the few who survived. Aren’t you pleased? I didn’t know you were here too, until Nathyn came back and told me. He was in such a fuss.”
“So Hae’Nathyn sent you to see what I was doing,” said Kaz coldly.
“How can you say that?” she asked indignantly.
“I can say it very easily. Ever since he let you know who my parents were and you left me to go with him.” Kaz’s voice grew even colder if that were possible.
“Oh Kaz, you don’t think I have feelings for him, do you?”
“I don’t think you have feelings for anyone. You just stood to gain more rank from matching with him than if you had stayed with me. And now that we’re here, you think you’ll do better by matching back with me, don’t you? Go back to Hae’Nathyn; you’ll not get another chance with me.”
“I’m sorry to hear you say that, Kaz.” She backed away. “Oh no!” She moved quickly away from him.
The rest of the pilots entered quickly through the hatch and then spread out; one of them lingered long enough to make sure the hatch was locked. Hae’Nathyn grabbed Jat’Lyn by the arm and thrust her violently away and to the rear of their group.
Kaz went to his ship’s hatch and slapped the panel. “Rice, get inside.” He helped his words by thrusting him into the ship. “Ship, don’t let him out until the fight’s over.”
* * * *
Before the hatch closed, Rice saw two of the others close in on Kaz’s back and then just as quickly, one of them lost at least half of his face and the other just dropped out of view. “Ship, what’s going on out there? Let me out. He doesn’t stand a chance against all of them alone.”
The quiet voice of the computer frustrated Rice in his near panic. “Pilot Aaitt’Kaz’s fighting record is exceptional and he has sparred against almost all of the pilots that are here. There is a twenty-nine point four percent probability that he will be able to deal out enough initial damage to cause the others to back down and acknowledge his superiority.”
“Let me call the bridge and get security down here.”
“I am sorry, Corporal Rice. This fight must be settled here and now. If this fight was to be interrupted, and another encounter was to occur, his odds of success would be much less.”
“What are you talking about? If he gets killed out there, who will be your pilot then? Who will rank then?”
“You are correct; my next pilot will be the victor of this fight and will therefore rank among this group.”
Rice thought about that for a moment during which time he heard someone slam against the bulkhead near the hatch. “If Kaz dies, then I declare myself your next pilot.”
“You are not a pilot. You do not know how to fly.”
“You’ll just have to teach me.” Rice paced the three steps available for such an activity.
“As you wish, Pilot Rice, but you should know that it is likely one or more of these pilots will challenge you for that right.” Another body met the bulkhead and a muffled cry of pain could be heard through the hull.
“Oh, well then, let’s just pray he survives. What’s going on out there? Isn’t there some way I can see?”
The screen came to life and a high view of the docking bay floor could be seen. A few steps from the hatch stood a tattered and bleeding Kaz with his right hand tucked into his waistband. Around him lay several bodies; it was impossible to tell if any of them were still alive. As he looked, three more closed in with him while other tattered fighters hung on the perimeter waiting to see the outcome.
Rice watched in astonishment as Kaz met one of his attackers with a foot in the throat. Another attacker received his hand in his chest—Rice had to look closer. Yes the left hand actually entered the man’s chest. The third attacker was forced to hesitate when his eyes were filled with blood… Where did the blood come from? …and then his feet were swept from under him. Kaz then leaped to straddle him and drove his hand down onto the man’s chest hard enough to break every rib; Rice could see the man’s chest flatten and bulge unnaturally. The others backed away to the bay doors. As the bay door opened, a flood of men entered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thirty pages to go - might have it done tonight - and then it's back to the editor.
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