GReat NEws!

Happy spring break/Easter!!

We took the opportunity to travel to sunny Southern California for spring break. We spent all our savings at Disneyland (and that was just for the food), but we had a great time so it was all worth it. And after today's trip to Manhattan Beach, we are nicely baked to a well done and ready for the 11+ hours car ride home.

And here's the great news!



While we were zippidy do-da-ing at Disneyland, my book became available as a paperback!!!



This is super happy news. I am adding a link if you are interested in buying it. From the link you can also buy it from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.



Copy and paste link to order a copy of The Sand Bar!

http://outskirtspress.com/thesandbar



Leave a review if you liked it!

Self-Publishing Pros and Cons

I am writing this morning with a lot of fire in my chest. Probably not the best time to put my thoughts out there in the blogger world, but to me it seems necessary.

First, a recap and update on the self-publishing journey.

Remember what I said about there being no perfect solution in the world of Self-publishing? Well that needs to be underlined. I've had a very bumpy road to say the least. I'm actually beginning to think that I'll try querying again after the experience I've had with Outskirts Press.

Here's the bad news.

I don't know about other self-publishing companies, but Outskirts Press has treated me like a number in some huge, gray and cold warehouse. When my representative submitted the wrong version of my story, she insisted that she was not at fault, and if I wanted to resubmit the correct version I could do so for an additional 100 dollars! And have a good day.

Why would I do that? She had the correct version, even she admitted that, but it was not the version that was used in the final galley review. I dug my heels in. I knew that she had made the mistake, not me and I wasn't going to pay the additional amount. All I wanted her to do was submit the correct version. She wanted me to resubmit and pay the money. "Cha-ching cha-ching" I had to take it to the president of the company, who was very gracious and promised to fix the problem right away.

Only one problem. I didn't get his email. It went straight to my trash box. Sometimes I think there is an unseen force out there trying to keep me from succeeding. In his email that I didn't receive, he suggested I make all additional corrections and then resubmit it for free. Well,by the time I discovered it, (he sent an additional email stating he hadn't heard from me and I went digging) I had already sent it back to his supervisor uncorrected.

Doing it his way would have been a great thing. You see, going through and making corrections would have saved me a lot of time and money in the long run, but I was trying to play by the rules. I didn't want them to think I was trying to cheat them. So I missed an opportunity to make corrections. Bummer. That wasn't anyones fault, except the unseen force that sent his email to trash. So I went to the Galley review to make the corrections and found that they had skipped ahead to the second Galley Review.

What is the significance? The first Galley review offered 25 free edits. Not only were we two weeks behind schedule because of this misunderstanding, but I also lost those 25 free edits! It was such a pain to get them to see my way the first time that I just gritted my teeth and paid for all the edits. (turned out to cost me an additional 200 dollars)

On the last edit (The Fourth Review) I discovered they had given the wrong person credit for the cover photo. I went ahead and paid for it and did not argue with them because again, it didn't seem worth it. Believe it or not I don't like confronting people. It makes me very uncomfortable. On the other hand, even I have my limits. Anyway, in making the correction, since I don't know where the copy sign is on the computer I used an @ sign as an example of what I wanted, thinking that they would clearly understand what I was getting at.

Wrongo! These people are not really people, they are computer robots. They must be.

Well, you can guess what happened next. They copied it exactly the way I had written it. So now instead of a copy sign it has an @ sign. Is anyone confused? So I fixed it and stated that it was their mistake and I expected to be credited for the cost.

This morning I got an email stating that I would not get a credit. That "they copy it exactly like I write it and to have a good day!"

Have a good day? Blimey! I feel like screaming!

When I corrected it I stated "Put copy symbol here" If they really do "copy it just like you write it" then that is going to look really stupid and I was better off with the @ symbol.

This has been a very frustrating experience. I ignored several of the editors mistakes, realizing that she was human, just like I was and ignored the fact that they gave credit to the wrong person and paid for the change myself, and it did nothing to help me.

Am I weird? Okay, don' t answer that, but really, maybe it's because I'm from a small town, but I assume that people have common sense,and will recognize that they make mistakes, and admit it when they do. For something so small I would expect a little neighborly kindness. But no. This company is all about the dollar. I mean, they are really all about the dollar. Every change, edit, whatever, comes with a price tag. And talk on the phone? Are you crazy? Time is money, and we've got to publish 100,000 books this year!

Plus I hate their logo! It is huge on the back cover. It looks like a self-published logo. I hate it. It's bigger than my name.

I'm so done with Outskirts Press. I will probably use Abbot Publishing with my next book because at least the guy called me on the phone. I didn't realize how RARE that was.


Here's the good news.

I am almost finished! Hopefully by today or tomorrow I will push the button that says "Go to publish" That is the good thing. That is the hopeful thing. No matter what has happened with the publishers, I am going to get my hands on my very own book. And then I will promptly turn to Createspace or Abbott Press and publish my second novel "Escaping Bubble Land"

So that's it. And now the real work begins, the marketing, and book launching parties, and signings. I have dreaded this part. Just so you know, self-promoting is way out of my comfort zone. I hate it. If I didn't I would be a famous movie star by now. But I really hate talking myself up. I hate it when other people talk themselves up too; Really get's under my skin.

Have a great day!

The ART of SELF-Publishing mingled with singing and dancing

Yesterday was a very happy day for me. ( Me kicking my heels) Why? Well, I'll tell you. Yesterday the preliminary cover of my debut novel, "The Sand Bar" was sent to me. I squealed in delight when I saw the mock-ups. I did. I admit it. I squealed. This book has been a long time coming and to see it was very exciting to me. To celebrate, we watched an Indian movie called "Lagaan" and danced to all the Bollywood songs. Even Dan, the husband. The guy who moans and groans when I ask, beg, plead for him to dance with me. It was amazing. And now he is going to be embarrassed that I've just published the fact that he enjoyed dancing.


Anyway, with the dancing and singing behind us I can move on and describe my journey towards self-publishing.

It hasn't been an easy decision. I've written several books, sent queries out, gotten a few nibbles and then nothing. Crickets. It's a horrible way to live. Always hoping, waiting, waiting and waiting. Send ten queries out, wait, check your email. Wait.

Get excited when one asks for more,
wait some more and then have your hopes dashed upon a sharp rock when they later respond that it just didn't work for them.

Then there are the horror stories;I have a friend who got an agent, the agent then left the agency and took my friends book with her, so then she had to fight to get her book back. What a mess. Don't get me wrong. There are many who have gotten an agent, sold the book to a publisher, and then had it published and distributed to thousands of book stores, like my friend and former classmate Jen Wolf is about to do. It can happen. And to those who succeed down this path I cheer emphatically for them. But I decided that I needed to take my books future in my own hands, and make it happen.

So I spent several months comparing self-publishing companies. It was painful and confusing because somewhere along the way the publishing company is going to make money off you, whether it is on the front end, making your actual book or on the other end, distributing it to bookstores online and the brick and mortar type. I was so confused I asked my father-in-law, whom I consider to be one of the smartest people I know, to help with the research. I actually felt better when he made the comment that "This is very confusing." as he studied the different plans. I knew then that it wasn't just me.

I finally decided that there wasn't one golden company out there. You just have to find the one that works best for you, and good luck!

One great reference for comparing companies is dogearpublishing.net. They do a great job comparing several different self-publishing companies and helping you think of questions that might come up later. I didn't end up using their services and I'll explain why in a second.

So it came down to four companies: Dog ear, Create space, Outskirts publishing, and Abbott Press. Dog ear and Abbott were a little more expensive on the front end, but touted cheaper book publishing costs on the other end. Abbott is affiliated with Writer's Digest. This, to me, is a good thing as I take a lot of classes from Writers Digest and read their blogs and get their newsletters. What I didn't like was the royalty package. I think after all the costs I would make 50% of what was left in the kitty. I was going to make literally pennies unless I sold the book for more money than I knew even my mother would spend for it. Not an option since my name isn't Nicholas Sparks or Jodi Picoult. The next company, "Create Space" seemed like a great option if you want to take out the middle man or do things on your own. I mean, they're Amazon; seems like a no-brainer, right? You can do it all yourself, or buy into one of their packages.

In the long run you make more money per book with Create Space, but I didn't feel like they were interested in marketing my book beyond putting it on their site. And to be honest, I have a soft spot for the little guy. And Amazon is nothing if not gargantuan.

This leads me to Outskirts Publishing, located in Parker, Colorado. Cheaper on the front end, Outskirts leaves a little more money in your pockets so you can buy into their plethora of marketing packages. They have thought of everything from putting your cover choices on their blogs for people to vote on, thereby building buzz about your upcoming book, to sending your book on a worldwide book tour, to creating your own book trailer (all for a price, of course). They do most correspondence by email, but you can call them if you have a concern. I'm not much of a phone person so this works great for me.

So far they have been very attentive, punctual, and have honestly surpassed my expectations. On Friday, my Representative, Colleen asked me to send any photo's I hoped to use for the cover, and to give the ideas I had about the look of the book. By Friday afternoon I had sent off my ideas. When I received an email Monday afternoon with two Great mock-ups all ready to go I was shocked and so excited!

They listened to everything I said, maybe to their detriment, as the one I had imagined in my mind was not the favorite of those I polled late last night. The looks are very different. A reminder that designing a book cover is an art form in itself.

Anyway, I am very excited. And now, showcasing the winning cover (minus a few changes to be made) May I introduce my first novel titled "The Sand Bar" YIPPEE!!!