Yep, it’s been a while since I’ve updated my page and not to make excuses, but I think I’ve got a legitimate reason. Maybe you’ll agree. Maybe not, but here goes. Some months back my manuscript for Deep Water was accepted by a publisher, which shall not be named in this post because to name it would give it validity it doesn’t deserve. The whole thing has been a fiasco best summed up by referring to it as a bad experience.
There is an upside to the whole thing and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that by signing with said publisher I had to step up my social media presence, which I had not taken the time to do. I was baffled by idea of creating a brand when I had nothing to peddle really. Just a couple of months prior to having my novel accepted, I had a short story snapped up for an anthology, but that was it. I don’t want that to sound glib; I was over-the-top excited about that, but I still didn’t feel like it was enough to start branding myself over. With this (holds her nose)
publisher, I had to look at things a little differently. I realized that while writing is a solitary experience, keeping to myself had limited my connections to the whole writing communities on FaceBook and Twitter to name a couple. Using these platforms to lay the foundation of a brand, writers can simply put themselves out there, mingle, listen and respond to other writers. Over time you become a familiar name and personality within the community, without a single person ever shaking your hand.
I’m in it now and I enjoy “meeting” like-minded people. Twitter actually enabled me to find Triumph Covers, a cover designer who has done one hell of a job on a new cover for Deep Water’s second edition. What? Second edition? But, the first edition just came out in paperback in March 2019. I know, right? Here’s the skinny.
After months of waiting for Deep Water to become searchable via the ISBN and not receiving any feedback from the “publisher,” I contacted the printer who informed me that the ISBN was never made public. Well no wonder people couldn’t find it. By leaving the ISBN private, this funneled all orders to this particular “publisher,” and this would have been fine, except I learned people who regularly buy books stick to suppliers they’ve come to trust; namely Barnes & Nobles and Amazon. This particular “publisher” gave validity to people’s skittishness by not filling paperback orders it did receive, but it didn’t mind taking their money. Yeah, it was a little off-putting.
Needless to say, I am no longer wasting my time with a middleman who doesn’t earn his/her keep. Like I mentioned though, there are take-aways from the whole ordeal. If I hadn’t gotten picked up by said publisher and gone through putting myself out there, I would have probably never considered indie publishing. But that’s where I’m at now. I decided to give it a go with Lulu and am in the wait mode for a proof copy. Unlike the first edition of Deep Water, the second edition will have page numbers. Yep, you read that correctly. Zero page numbers; thanks “publisher’ I won’t name.
Writer Lora Kempka 