You may or may not know that I have a book sitting in the drawer. It’s been there for a few years. I sent out 11 or 12 submissions, gave it to another half dozen people to read, and, despite excellent feedback from friends, acquaintances and three publishers, there it still sits.
Until…
…June 1, 2012!
That’s the day when my first novel, In the Fool’s Footsteps, will be available on Amazon.
That’s right, I finally got a book deal. And it’s a doozy. Sure, I have to do all the marketing and promotion myself and there’s no advance, but that’s standard these days. Without an agent, I was able to land a deal where I get 70% of the royalties rather than the usual 10%, I retain all copyrights and get full creative license. Pretty sweet.
In today’s publishing climate, where advances have evaporated and struggling traditional publishers can scarcely afford to take a chance on a new author (let alone devote resources to marketing), I took a deep breath and signed a book deal with myself.
The decision came out of a conversation with my old friend Shaun Proulx, who first challenged my notions about publishing (including how those notions related to my ego), then followed up a couple of days later with an email that linked to an article called Why Every Entrepreneur Should Self-Publish a Book. I have an entrepreneurial spirit and I have a book. So, I read it, did some research, and made my decision. I also subscribed to the Writer’s Guide to E-Publishing (WG2E), an excellent resource and cheerleader for indie authors.
So here I am with exciting news and a big job ahead of me. I had always assumed that someone else, i.e. a publisher or agent, would take care of the business around selling my book, but that was never realistic. Even less so now. Instead of waiting on “someone else” I’m diving in.
I’ve already hired an incredible artist, Matthew Marigold, to design the cover. The book is mostly formatted (typeset in the old lingo), and I have a logo under development. (Branding oneself is a fascinating process.)
You can check out a sample of the book here. I’d love to hear your thoughts. In the meantime, I’ll keep you updated on my progress as the calendar counts down to June 1. Fasten your seatbelts…
Simpl●City 