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Right now you have room and time to play around with your writing - enjoy it!

7/31/2020

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In the imagined idyllic former days, writers would write – feverishly, secretly, devotedly – thinking of nothing but their work. Only when they finished after months or even years would they consider sending it out to an agent or publisher. Until that time they threw crumpled pages at the wall, drank too much, neglected their health, their friends and their families. But it was worth it because in this idyllic world they would send out manuscripts and receive letters back that they’re manuscripts had been accepted! Days later a box of their books would appear.

It only happened in the movies.

​Right now – meaning this very moment in the middle of a pandemic when no one knows how any industry will come out at the end of it – there’s no need for that fevered pitch. You still need to give your work your full attention. You may still neglect health, family and friends – but honestly, there’s no rush.

Which is a good thing. You have the freedom to take your time.

You can wallow in your character’s misery a little longer; realize that good guy has some sinister layer you were in too much of hurry before to see. You have time to add descriptions that engage the reader’s senses. You have time to make the dialogue sparkle and eliminate all the small talk stuff people say to each other which becomes even more tedious when it’s down on the page.

You have time to see if your book makes sense. And most important, if it’s interesting.
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With these long days that run into each other and endless weeks that never quite add up to what we used to call a month – you have time to sit down with your characters, with a cup of tea or a glass of wine and really get to know what makes them tick. Not just the side of themselves they showed you on that first draft, but what’s really driving them.

You have time to try different plot twists and change out the ending as many times as you need until it feels right.

In other words, in the middle of everything that’s going sideways, you have the time to enjoy writing.

I’m not saying it’s easy when there are so many worries and distractions and so many kids at home for what seems like forever. And spouses who want company. And somehow twice as much laundry to be done which makes no sense since no one is going anywhere. And trips to the market that feel a little risky.

But if you keep that drive to write, lose the sense of urgency, you might give yourself permission to enjoy the process. Room to roam a bit in your book. Stop thinking the book must be finished in time for – well does it really matter at the moment if it’s out in time for what may or not be the holiday rush?
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People want to read even if they can’t seem to concentrate. There’s something about the promise of a new book that can brighten an otherwise dreary weekend.
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So what I’m saying is – don’t stop. Don’t give up. Just don’t be in such a hurry that you take all the pleasure out of writing. It’s one of the few luxuries we have right now.
 
 Photo by Edu Lauton on Unsplash


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Yes. Writing is hard but maybe we ought to keep that between us?

7/17/2020

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Note: I wrote this before the pandemic and the whole world turned upside down. I was going to leave it but today on Facebook someone had one of those quotes about writing being hard work, so maybe it is still relevant.
 
True story:  I had a friend, a wonderful person and an excellent writer who published a book and was lucky enough to get several interviews. On the radio. He was so thrilled to be published, so happy to be interviewed that all he could talk about was how much harder it was to write a book than he’d thought it would be.  

I understood the impulse. It was harder than he’d thought and he imagined his readers were just like him - they, too, probably had no idea it was so hard.

But he learned too late - talking about how hard it was to write did not sell one single book. Listeners were probably on their way to work. Many most likely had difficult jobs. I could picture them muttering as they faced another endless commute - You want to know hard work, buddy? Just take my job for one day.

And to be honest, I’ve never heard a brain surgeon or a rocket scientist comment that their work was hard but it wasn’t like writing a novel, for godssakes.

Prospective readers want to know: what the story is about; will it keep them entertained, turning pages, staying up half the night? Are the characters quirky or sexy or evil? They want to be fascinated and there is nothing fascinating about the fact that you had to work hard.

This came to mind recently when I was reading an introduction to a book. A good, powerful work-in-progress written with the kind of honesty that takes courage. It was a very difficult book to write. It’s not easy to reveal yourself to strangers. And in his effort to be honest all around, he wrote that he’d had no idea writing the book would be such hard work.

I’m sure it was. I know he struggled for weeks and months trying to get it all down on paper. But his intended audience – emergency room doctors – knew about hard work.

Still, I hesitated to tell him the lesson from my friend - skip over the part about how hard you worked and tell the readers why they’ll like the book. Would advising him to make a few cuts feel like I was  minimizing his experience?

In the end, I did tell him and he took it well. But I’m still not sure if it was the right thing to do.
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What would you have done?
 
Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

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Changing a Book Cover? Here's What I Almost Forgot

7/10/2020

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​I could look at book covers for hours – yes, this was even before we were stuck inside. I’m interested in how styles have changed. Not so much from one year to the next, but maybe over a decade. Tastes are different; readers are more sophisticated. Sometimes the distinctions between genres starts to blur - what used to be a typical romance cover now looks very much like historical fiction. Or is it the other way around?

One of the most satisfying parts of running a very small press comes when the cover designer creates a cover the author is pleased with. And the cover designer I usually work with, Al Pranke, has a knack for getting what an author is looking for even when they don’t know and I had something else in mind.

So how did I end up with a cover on one of our books that just wasn’t right?

I have no idea.

Al produced his take on what I said I wanted for The Call House. A book about a high-class brothel that doesn’t have any sex. (I know. If you read the book you’d understand.) So I didn’t want to oversell the sexy part. Set in Washington, but it’s not political, and yet I wanted that Capitol dome somewhere in the background. You can probably tell I just wasn’t sure what I wanted and on top of that – the book is funny. So the cover needed a bit of whimsy and it had to indicate the setting was the 1940s.

Asking too much? Probably, but Al came up with a design that made sense - he’s got a great imagination and fine illustration skills. He produced a cover we both liked. I wasn’t in love, but maybe I wasn’t ready to be in love.

Here’s what happened.

Readers enjoyed the book. Lots of great reviews and a whole stack of stars. But. It wasn’t selling.

There are a few possibilities when that happens – but first among them is the cover just doesn’t appeal to people.

So I dithered and debated for months. Should I change the cover? Could I afford it? Was it worth the trouble and just how much trouble was involved?

What held me in back?

I operate Bacon Press Books on a shoestring. Less than a shoe string. No margin, no reserves. In other words, money is tight. Was there any chance the money spent on a new cover would actually produce new sales? (Forget the hype from authors who say they changed the cover or the keywords or the book description and sales skyrocketed. I don’t believe it.)

So I waited. Always in the back of my mind was the plan to re-do the cover when I had the extra money.

I held off until I couldn’t.

Al, had just created a cover for the latest book, Waiting for Next Week, that I love. And there is something different about loving the cover that makes you (or maybe it’s just me) feel really good about having your book out there. I wanted to feel that way about The Call House.

And as long as we’re being honest – what’s one more charge on a credit card I’m paying off slowly anyway?

Keep in mind this was all before the virus hit. When life was ‘normal.’

On top of that, I’d recently read somewhere that flying appendages don’t do well on book covers. As someone who’s always teaching writers not to use detached body parts–his eyes slid past me; I saw the top of his head bobbing down the stairs – you get the idea; I immediately understood why a flying appendage wasn’t a good idea.

So I saved up as much as I could and decided to take the leap.

I asked Al for a new cover for The Call House. We still had the same constraint – I didn’t want it to be too seductive despite the subject matter. But I wanted classy, clean, modern yet evoking 1940s. And we could lose the Capitol.

He did it. He created a cover I could fall in love with. It makes all the difference in the world. It’s like the book has been wearing all the wrong clothes and now it’s dressed the way it should be.

The best part about independent publishing is that you can change things immediately. And I did. Although Amazon is a little slow to catch on in matching the paperback and eBook.

I was all set until I opened the book.

This is the part I almost forgot

I couldn’t change the cover without changing all the title pages and chapter headings and section headings – the fonts that had worked before, no longer were right. Fortunately, the body text was compatible.

Even more fortunately, the terrific people at eBook launch who had done the original interior were able to make the changes at a reasonable price, even when it meant they’d have to purchase a new font to match the new cover. They were very responsive and did everything quickly.

That hard to explain thrill when something goes right and looks good

How many times have we seen the scene in the movies when the author works like crazy, sends off the manuscript, gets the book accepted by a publisher, and holds the book in their hands?

Now, thanks to social media, we can see the thrill of an independent author opening their first box of books. It doesn’t matter who publishes the book – it’s still a kick.

So I’m happy to send The Call House out in the world wearing its classy new cover. I’ll write again and let you know if it makes a difference in terms of sales.

But in the meantime, if you keep looking at your book and you keep thinking something just might be a little off, you might try a new cover.

Just remember to redo the interior as well. 

And okay, pick up a copy of The Call House - it's a good summer read. 

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Actually, Re-Issuing My First Novel is a Kick

3/24/2020

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It could have gone either way. I could have picked up my first novel after years of letting it sit on the shelf, read it,and been deeply embarrassed. Then I would have felt foolish even considering asking readers to take a look. But instead, I was pleasantly surprised. Much of it was unfamiliar but not unpleasant.

And then I got to choose my own cover. I picked one my designer, Al Pranke, had created for another book – fortunately, that author wasn’t as crazy about it as I was.

But the biggest surprise was unearthing old reviews. At the time, I suffered over one or two. Now I have no idea why – they're better than I remembered. And this time I could include them in the front pages of the book and on the sales pages. Unabashed vanity, I know. But sometimes you need something to remind you of what you’ve accomplished.

I’ve picked out the interior design by Lorie DeWorken, put together the back cover. All choices I didn’t have before.

As a result, I’m less nervous about sending the book out there. After all, what have I got to lose? The book wasn’t selling before anyway.

I’ve seen authors use a re-issue as a new launch, a new way to get readings and reader reviews. I’ve never been keen on public speaking, so I was going to shy away from lining up readings, even before that became impossible. Editorial reviews are less likely - it’s not a new book. But there are at least a dozen ways to offer my book to readers, especially if I’m willing to discount and spend a little money on promotions and ads.

And I'm offering all Bacon Press Books at $0.99 for as long as we're all stuck inside. 

Why Now? (I wrote this before the quarantining - otherwise my answer might be more specific)

I went into this as a kind of experiment. A fact-finding mission. If I’m encouraging other writers to re-issue their back lists, I needed to know what it felt like.

About a year ago, I self-published a new novel. To be honest, it didn’t feel nearly as good. I’m not sure why. All I know is that I was reluctant to do all the marketing I’d encouraged other writers to do. I felt funny pushing it. The reader reviews were great and still, I put off doing more to get exposure. It surprised me. And the sheer number of self-published books hitting the market overwhelmed and discouraged me.

More than that, it made me question whether it was fair to publish original fiction or nonfiction when I couldn’t honestly tell other writers I enjoyed the process.

That’s why I’ve become even more determined to shift the focus of Bacon Press Books to re-issues only.. And why I decided to re-issue Waiting for Next Week.

The good news is – so far I've enjoyed all of it. I have no idea if that translates into sales. But the process has been more fun than I expected. 

Give It a Try

It’s easy enough to do it yourself or there are other presses besides this one who can help.
You might want to dust off your back list and give it a try.
 

Pick up a copy
You can pick up a copy of the eBook of Waiting for Next Week for 99 cents. 

An Update

I started this piece long before the virus became our main preoccupation. I know so many people are too distracted to read or write while others will take any distraction they can find. I've already virtually-toured three of the national parks; watched the Northern Lights; and learned how to make roll-up French toast. 

So I offer both the suggestion of hauling out your back list and/or reading this book in case you're ready to look for something to do. 


Stay healthy
M. 



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All Bacon Press Books eBooks on Sale for 99 Cents

3/21/2020

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I keep thinking of that line from the movie Airport when Lloyd Bridges says – “Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.”

That’s what it feels like to launch a re-issue of my novel in the middle of a health and economic crisis unlike anything we’ve ever encountered. Anxiety is high. People are already too distracted to be able to appreciate distractions.

But maybe forgive me for going ahead with this? Like everyone else who’s self-employed or has a small business, I’m just bumbling through..

I’ll contribute to other causes where I can and at the same time I’m lowering the price on all Bacon Press Books eBooks to 99 cents. I’d give them all away, but that wouldn’t be fair to the authors.

So if you’re looking for some good reading, please consider:

Short Story Collections
You Won’t Remember This: Stories by Kate Blackwell
Blues for Beginners: Stories and Obsessions by Judith Podell
The Man Who Built Boxes and other stories by Frank Tavaris

Short Novels
Man from the Sky by Danny Wynn
The Call House: A Washington Novel  by CP Stiles
Waiting for Next Week by Michele Orwin

Novels
Sigga of Reykjavik by Solveig Eggerz
Getaway by Maureen Brady
Identity Thief by JP Bloch
Landfall by Joseph Jablonski
Sunset at Rosalie by Ann McLaughlin
​The Clear Blue Line by Al Sprague

Nonfiction
Letting Go: An Anthology of Attempts edited by M.E. Hughes
The Lost Town: Bringing Back Trochenbrod by Avrom Ben-David Val
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Career/Business Books
In Search of the Fun-Forever Job by Ellis Chase
Networking: Career Strategies that Work by Ellis Chase
 
 
 
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Writing takes a series of small steps of courage

2/18/2020

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At first, the hardest part is just sitting down to write.
But that isn't as hard as letting someone else read your work
Which is easy compared to deciding it's time to send out your manuscript
Which turns out be a piece of cake compared to sending it back out after you've gotten one rejection
Which is nothing compared to trying again after the 10th rejection or the 50th

Standing on the edge of that formidable chasm with no good choices - giving up or going on?
Do you dare to publish yourself or endure a dozen more small deaths of the spirit until someone else acknowledges your merit?

It isn't easy that first time you say I'm good enough,
My work is good enough even if I'm the only one who knows it right now. 

​Until you take the leap
and the sail catches you and the wind carries you
and your realize you're in good hands after all -
​your own. 





Photo by 
Nicolas Tissot on Unsplash
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Wearing several hats - changes at Bacon Press Books

2/13/2020

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Multi-tasking 

It makes me think of a juggler trying to keep three balls in the air or four plates spinning. It’s hectic and harrowing. And yet. Sometimes the best way to get one thing done is to do two. (Or am I getting that confused with the advice about how to improve a short story by writing the next one?)

Bacon Press Books is making some changes and they’re all good.

Here’s what’s different

Bacon Press Books is now concentrating only on helping authors re-issue as paperbacks and eBooks, titles that have already been published in hard cover. When the author has regained the rights.

While we’re really proud of the original fiction and nonfiction titles we’ve published and grateful to their authors for taking a chance on us, we want to stick with our original mission.

So with that in mind, we’ve revamped our website so authors can see clearly what it would cost to re-issue a book with us. Check it out.

At the same time, we’re offering another service that’s totally separate from the press.

Book coaching
Fiction, nonfiction, novel, memoir, beginners, pros – I’m happy to help.  No matter where you are in your journey, I’ll join you.

Fortunately, there’s no crossover – no promise to publish because clearly you can’t be working on a new book and re-issue it at the same time.

You can read about the service here and if you know anyone who’s looking for help, please pass it on.

No Newsletter

I know. I should have been collecting email addresses and writing a newsletter – but to be honest, the newsletters I receive tend to be a bit disappointing. They’re personal and interesting and I do take the time to read them, but it’s kind of like podcasts, and blogs, and all of these content-heavy new formats for communication. Sooner or later, people run out of material. In my case, I know it would be sooner.

So I’ll update this way from time to time and keep you posted on how these new changes are working.
 
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Writing was never meant to be a beauty contest

2/11/2020

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Why it’s not such a bad idea to take a chance on re-issuing your own books

hat's so great about waiting to be picked?

For some people deciding to re-issue your own book is hard. I know, I’m the same way. It’s so much easier if someone gives you an offer. Who doesn’t like to be chosen and to be paid on top of it? Only a lot of us know by now that doesn’t always happen. And yet. If your book was good enough to be published in the first place, isn’t it still good enough to be available to readers in different formats?

Not rocket science, not even brain surgery 

I should have numbers and graphs showing how much it costs one of the Big 5 publishers to bring out a book in paperback, but the numbers I keep coming across are misleading. And in the end, does it matter? If your publisher tells you you didn’t sell enough hardcover books to warrant a paperback deal – do you really care how much it would cost them?

It’s archaic, a little medieval, unfair to writers. Just when you thought you’d survived the toughest parts – writing the book, revising and editing, getting an agent, and then a publisher. You’ve even survived reviews or lack of reviews. Readings in empty bookstores or no arranged readings at all. Just when you think there are no more hoops and hurdles, comes the news that your book didn’t sell enough so, sorry, no paperback deal.

Given how easy it is to get books out there using print on demand – this makes no sense. Wouldn’t it be more cost-effective to make your book available at a lower price if you want to reach more readers? How many people are willing to shell out upwards of $25.00 for a hardcover book? And if they do spend the money, how many books will they buy at that price? That’s one of the reasons paperbacks became so popular. Not just at airports or on beach vacations. Serious readers were more likely to pick up a paperback or two at half the price they’d pay for the hardcover.

Your bookshelves might not look as grand. But that kind of thinking went the way of cheap walk-up apartments in the West Village.

The point is: all authors, once they get their rights back, now have the ability to decide for themselves if they’d like to publish their backlist books in paperback and eBook. It’s not hard to do and it doesn’t cost that much.

It's OK to Be Proud of Your Work

Often it’s just a question of getting over the hurdle of being the one to decide it’s okay.
The thinking used to be, if readers read a book by an author they liked, they’d go looking for other books by the same author. I’ve done that. Even when it meant slogging through all of Ernest Hemingway and John Updike or breezing through Alice Adams and Alice Munro. Even when I didn’t love every single book.

But now, unless I’m looking for the work of a popular genre author, I can only find backlist books for sale at used bookstores. Sometimes with very good prices. And sometimes I’ll buy them. But I’m more likely to pick up an eBook, just for the convenience.
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I subscribe to a few discount book sites with special offers every day. I’m amazed at how many feature books from 20-30-40 years ago. Now in digital.

What’s the benefit of re-issuing your backlist?
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  • One real possibility - the books might not sell at all. You’ll have spent the money with no return on your investment unless you put some value on the fact that now your books won’t be lost. Your friends and family can find them, anytime. And they weren’t selling anyway. 
  • But I’ve also seen old books get a new life. A new launch. New reviews. New readings. One book went from 2 reader reviews to 102 reviews. Another brought the author a series of readings just when she was feeling a bit lost between books she was writing. And another still, finally got the cover she wanted, not the one the publisher had decided on without her approval.
  • A little harder to measure but not to be overlooked, is just reminding yourself of your accomplishments. That’s worth something in today’s market where a book is lucky if gets what used to be the usual 3-6 weeks of shelf-life in a bookstore. If there even are bookstores where you live.
  • Plus. It’s a kick to see your book out there again. No one can put a price on what that’s worth to you, but surely it’s got to mean more than just the idea of being chosen by someone else.
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My own rocky journey

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 I started Bacon Press Books with the  intention  of helpi ng authors re-issue their out of print books in paperback and digital. Because it looked so easy. And yet. I didn’t have the courage to take a chance.on my own novel. 

  Even though I had everything in place – an  imprint, a stack of ISBNs with Bowker, accounts with Amazon KDP and IngramSpark; a wonderful editor Lorraine Fico-White (Magnifico Manuscripts), a terrific cover designer, and a just as terrific interior designer. An account with the Library of Congress. A few good companies that could scan books. My own websites, blogs, and so many social media accounts I can’t keep track of which ones to use. I even had a YouTube channel. And yet, I didn’t do it. 


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  • I didn’t want to spend the money and then I didn’t have the money to spend.
  • I didn’t want the press to be a ‘vanity’ press. Even though I’ve met other small publishers who do nothing but publish their own books

 Here’s my progress so far

 First, I had to find some of my old books for sale somewhere since I only had one   copy.( I   know. D umb.) Then I sent the cleanest hardcover to Blue Leaf Book Scanning.. I’d used   them before and had liked their work. I’d also used another company and wasn’t as   pleased. blue Leaf returned a pretty clean copy – the proofreading didn’t take long and I   resisted the urge to make too many changes. I could save money on editing since my   original publisher, Henry Holt & Co. had given me a great copyeditor. 

 Then I asked Al Pranke of amp13 to design a new cover. The original cover was unusual   for its time. All white with the author’s name in large type. Unheard of for an unknown   author. Al’s designs are always striking. I confess, I really love this one.

 I’ve just sent it off to Lorie DeWorken of Mind the Margins for the interior. This time, I was   able to add a few pages upfront with the good reviews I’d gotten. Being able to add   reviews  friends and family had never seen made me smile.

 Now I’m waiting to get back the finished interior. Then I’ll figure out how to condense the   jacket copy to fit on the back cover. Set a price. Come up with a short blurb. Decide on a   pub date, add it to my website, and that’s it.   

 I know. There’s all that tacky self-promotion and marketing and begging for reader   reviews. I’ll let you know how that works out. If I’ve come this far it would be silly not to try   to get some exposure. But I’ve been known to make bad choices before. Especially when   it comes to putting myself out there.
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 In the meantime, I’m actually enjoying the process.
 And more convinced that Bacon Press Books can offer a real service at affordable prices   to authors who want their books re-issued but don't want the hassle of doing it   themselves.. 

 We're working on  packages to accommodate as many author preferences as we can.   Writing shouldn't be a beauty contest - your work should be judged on its merits and   often, authors are the best ones to know what they are. merits and often, authors are the   best ones to know what they are. 
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Writers' Reticence or About That Backlist

1/11/2020

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No one needs to tell me writers tend to be a bit reticent.

So I should have known it would be a challenge to open a press for authors who want to decide if and when their books get published. But I still think the idea behind why I started Bacon Press Books is pretty good.

Here’s what I was thinking six years ago:
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I knew a lot of writers (myself included) who’d had books published but only in hardcover. We never got that paperback deal. And our books were published way before eBooks. So we were missing out on a whole new world where books are more affordable and never go out of print.

On top of that, many authors who didn’t make a fortune on their latest book, often earned money from their backlist. Only some were discovering their backlist books were no longer available.

At the time, I’d been reading about new ways people could publish their own books. I figured if I learned how to do it, I could teach other writers or do it for them, and we’d all be drowning in sales.

I was excited by the idea that writers no longer had to wait to be chosen, accepted, anointed – we could make our books more available to readers without first getting someone else’s approval. We could do it quickly, fairly inexpensively.

I wasn’t out to compete with the Big 5. I didn’t want to decide who should or shouldn’t be published. I just wanted to make already published books available to readers in other formats.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t rich. The only way I could do it would be to have the writers pay for the interior and cover design and editing when necessary. I would create an imprint, take care of all the little annoying stuff. The authors would file for copyright, keep all rights, and would get most of the sales receipts as royalty payments.

Since I’d be re-issuing books that had already been published and authors would only be paying for services, this wouldn’t fall under the dreaded vanity press label.

Early on a friend put me in touch with another friend who’d been in the publishing business for years. He told me my business model was a recipe for not making money. If books had gone out of print, he said, there must have been a reason. Like maybe they weren’t selling.

To be honest, he was a little smug and condescending with a touch of mansplaining thrown in. I wanted him to be wrong.

My friend, neighbor, and dedicated writer, Judith Podell, had published a small collection of very funny stories. Her publisher had gone out of business. She agreed to let me practice on her book, Blues for Beginners: Stories and Obsessions. It was too short to put out in paperback, but it was perfect for an eBook. She did the artwork for the cover then we had an artist polish it. I found someone to do the interior layout. I learned how to publish on Kindle and Smashwords and I was in business.

The cost wasn’t all that much - I can’t remember what but I’m pretty sure together we spent less than $500.00.

Judith was happy to have her work out there again, and I was pleased that this publishing thing seemed doable.

But the path kind of veered in other directions. There was one nonfiction book I wanted to publish if the author didn’t get an agent. And another author asked about publishing his collection of stories so he could interest a publisher in his novel. Three authors had terrific novels that needed a home.

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Three Brave Early Adapters

​Six years and fifteen books later, only 3 of the 15 books I’ve published have been re-issues. You Won’t Remember This: Stories by Kate Blackwell; Blues for Beginners by Judith Podell; and Sunset at Rosalie by the late Ann McLaughlin.

Every day I see older books promoted on the two discount lists I receive by email – BookBub and Book Gorilla. I’m often temped to pick up a copy of a book I’d meant to read or an author I want to know more about. Backlists are selling.

It’s a tough business. Unfortunately, so far that friend-of-a-friend has been  right – my business model has not led to financial success.  

But there were other successes. Some authors have used the re-issue to have another launch which has led to more readings, more reviews, and more exposure while they hammer out their next books.

And along the way I was lucky enough to find an amazing editor – Lorraine Fico-White (Magnifico Manuscripts); a wonderful cover designer – Al Pranke (Amp13); and a terrific interior designer – Lorie DeWorken (Mind the Margins). I’ve worked with some very talented writers. They’ve made this whole journey worthwhile. But I need to do better.

​So I’m doing a re-set. Maybe what I should have done at the beginning. I’m taking my own older novel – Waiting for Next Week - published ages ago by Henry Holt & Co. and re-issuing it in paperback and eBook.  

In part, I’ve avoided doing this because I was a little reticent. And I didn’t want to run into the accusation of starting a vanity press. But honestly, I’ve discovered all of that doesn’t matter. What does matter is  - if I think this is such a great idea for other authors, then I really ought to do it myself. Right?

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I’ve taken the first steps – I had my hardcover book scanned. And right now I’m proofing because scanning can be a little wonky. I haven’t read it in years and was a little worried about re-reading and hating it. But it’s like finding old essays from college and being surprised that I ever knew so much about the Renaissance. Some of it’s not bad. Did I used to have a better imagination?

I’ve asked my favorite cover designer for a new, clean, modern cover. And my favorite interior designer will put it all together for paperback and eBook. There are fewer steps with a re-issue since it was heavily edited (I do remember that part); I already hold the copyright; and the book has a Library of Congress number. I’ve got a block of ISBNs and accounts with both Ingram and Amazon.

With any luck, the book will be out in March.
Stay tuned. 
​
​

A quick note: Right  after I published this I read Mike Shatzkin's
​2020: Zero year thoughts about the changes in book publishing 
https://www.idealog.com/blog/2020-zero-year-thoughts-about-the-changes-in-book-publishing/ 
that talks about what's happened to backlists over the years. 
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There's something about summer reading . . .

7/10/2019

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What is it about summer reading that can bring out the best and the worst in our reading habits?

There’s that pull toward hedonism – a Kindle full of light reads, grizzly detective stories and heart-stopping thrillers on the one hand. And that tug toward the aspirational reading list – finish Bleak House, War and Peace, read all of Jane Austen, Virginia Wolfe and what about that collected works of William Trevor that’s been on the shelf for ages? And there are all the new highly praised books for the past 5 or 10 years we’ve been meaning to read?

How bad is it when a T-shirt slogan speak the truth? Too many books, too little time.

I confess, my Kindle is stocked with breezy cozies and a few of what’s called Chick Lit, contemporary writers I’m embarrassed to admit I haven’t read yet, and then each summer a project. One year Graham Greene, another year William Faulkner. Don’t ask how far I’ve gotten. I’m tempted by short light reads and determined to counterbalance them with serious literature. Then suddenly it’s the end of August and I vow to do better next year.

So how can I ask you to make room in your reading list and pick up a copy of Sigga of Reykjavik by Solveig Eggerz? It’s an old-fashioned good, serious novel. A strong female main character who endures more hardships than many of us will ever know. In Iceland of all places during a span when Sigga’s fight for Independence runs parallel to Iceland’s fight to break free from Denmark’s dominance. It’s not a book you can read in one sitting.

But. For those of us who don’t have the money to travel, reading is the cheapest way to be transported to another place, another time. And Solveig Eggerz does a masterful job of both.

Sigga of Reykjavik has received great reader reviews

Here are just a few:

Sigga is my kind of heroine: unpredictable, hot-headed, confident yet blind to those closest to her. There is nothing she won't tackle. Her story is atmospheric, full of Icelandic weather, (terrible) Icelandic food, folklore, and fascinating history. I loved being immersed in her world.
 
Solveig Eggerz is a master storyteller, giving us an extraordinary level of detail and dramatic action. I loved getting a sense for Iceland’s recent history and learning it from the perspective of a woman’s life.
 
Striking characters, evocative imagery, and vigorous action flow in a torrent as Sigga's story unfolds, impelled by her self-sacrificing determination to make a family and a home for those she loves. The careful historical setting highlights parallels between Sigga's struggles and Iceland's precarious perch at the edge of the violence engulfing Europe as Fascism and Communism simmer and explode. Rich and authentic in its details, its emotions, and its judgments, this book is a very rewarding read.
 
Of course there are more. But how does an excellent writer with a small (okay micro) press break out and get the attention her book deserves? If you’ve got answers, please leave them in the comments. I know even more people would like the novel if they knew about it.

So we’re discounting the eBook for two weeks.

Starting July 11th, you can pick up an eBook copy of Sigga of Reykjavik for 99 cents.

Even better, if you can get the word out to your friends, we’d be very grateful. Good writers need all the good readers they can get.

Pick up a copy and enjoy. 
​
Thank you. 

Photo by Markos Mant on Unsplash
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