How not to be Terrified the First Time You're Published.

When I was 24, I would have drank a six pack before reading any reviews of my novel. Thank God I'm past that stage in my life. I'm told the Japanese have a Casper the Ghost type bag they use in businesses. They go into a private room and pin the name of the person they're mad at on the bag. Then they beat the stuffing out of it. I may use that approach. Of course I'm going to get rave reviews, or maybe not.

An author could become paranoid starting out. Will people like my work? Will anyone but my good friends even buy the novel? Will I try to hunt down the b%@#*'s who pan my thriller? Come on now, everyone has those thoughts. So I ask for your prayers as I embark on my journey. Yes, I tell myself. I write because I have to, and I'd write if no one read my novels. Time will tell.

But you say, "Bill, you didn't tell us the formula for not being terrified." True. I don't have one.   

Room 1515 Coming in Three Weeks

Room 1515 is at the printers. Book Country, a Division of Penguin, walked me through the process. I designed the book cover, edited the text, picked the formatting, and set the pricing. Now I need your expert eyes to evaluate my book trailer. I've uploaded it for your review and added a questionnaire for you to rate the trailer. I was able to load the video, but not the audio. It's Mahler.

                                                 Countdown To Room 1515

Room 1515's rocket launch is counting down to lift off. I'm publishing with Book Country, a Division of Penguin in a shared cost agreement. The text has been download, the format has been selected, and the book cover has been designed. I'm using Windows Live Movie Maker to design and produce the Book Trailer. So far so good. Book Country's publishing guidelines provided excellent ideas on the How To and What not to Forget. An excellent resource for a first time author. To Be Continued. http://www.bookcountry.com  

I Don't Fear the 1%. I Fear the .0001%

The world economy is based upon greed. Individual versus individual. Nation versus nation. As an author, I research. And since I write international and political thrillers, I research subjects dealing with power bases. What I find is scary. I'm not afraid of most of the 1% the protesters go after. They are greedy, short-term thinkers. I'm not afraid of those who called themselves the 99%. They are a mix of the genuinely frustrated, the lazy, and the misinformed. I'm deathly afraid of the .0001%.

Who are the .0001%? Few people know. They are not celebrity world leaders. They are not in the spotlight. The media doesn't know who they are. They manipulate the greedy, pit nations against each other, and one day will control the world.

What are their beliefs? I don't know, and that is worrisome in itself.

What to they need to establish control? They need enough money to bring the world to bankruptcy. They already have most of the gold and are close to securing the rest. They need control of the world's military forces, and I believe they're manipulating world governments toward that goal. And finally, they need a cause for people to willingly rally to them. This cause can be manufactured, since the vast majority of the world's population has no ability to verify the facts on any issue. They are close to achieving their goals.

Can I prove any of this? No. But I ask you a question. Haven't you suspected the same thing? We sense this is happening, but we can't prove it. AND THAT'S FRIGHTENING.

Decision Made! Work Yet to be Done.

Thanks for bearing with me as I've struggled with publishing Room 1515. Today, I've made that decision. Before I tell you what it is, let me tell you what I've done. First, I've researched. If you go on the net and type in the critical keys words, you can spend days reading about the pros and cons of traditional publishing, self-publishing, and the pay-to-publish houses. I will not say anything bad about any of them. The decision must be yours based on your individual circumstances.

Second, I've tested Room 1515 by submitting it to critique partners and to OWFI's Mystery, Suspense, Thriller Competition where it won 1st. place. The third step was and is the hardest--continuous proofreading and layering. I'm lucky to have a friend who is a great line-by-line editor. I also have a program on my wife's computer called Zoom Text, that is a text to speech reader. I'm using this as my last copy correction, and I'm finding a few errors, even after many revisions. But I will honestly be able to say I've submitted the best work I can.

Fourth, I've built a website using Word Press which I will link to my blog, my Facebook page, and the YouTube trailer I'm in the process of developing. I'm adding pages to website as I go and will open the site to the public a few weeks before Room 1515 comes out. I have many ideas on marketing, but not for this blog entry.

Now, Ta da, I've decided to publish with Book Country, a Division of Penguin Publishing. Room 1515 will come out as an ebook and a paperback approximately seven weeks after I submit the manuscript. The cost to me will be between $500 and $700, depending on what I let them do and what I decide to do myself. I've decide to submit Room 1515 January 9th.

I wish to thank Chuck Sasser, Gloria Teague, Amy Shojai, John Biggs, Lela Davidson, and Carla Stewart for their comments and support. And if I forgot someone. Thank you as well. I'll let you know how things progress.  If you have other suggestions of things I can do before submitting my manuscript, please let me know.

First Things First

I’ve received a volume of input from my blog friends on self-publishing. Some of you cautioned me on the downside of not going the traditional route. Others offered valuable comments on preparing to publish whichever road I choose. They suggest I put everything in place I’ll need to market my book whatever I choose to do.

So I’ve decided to put first things first. I need a website linked with my blog, my Facebook, and the YouTube trailer I intend to create—or have someone create for me. One of the challenges I have is a lack of technical savvy. But I am a natural born marketer, so I’ll be using those skills to develop a marketing plan before my first novel comes out.

Reading all your comments, I realize no one path is right for all people. If I was 25 again, I’d be pulling out all stops (cliché) to find an agent, but I’m not 25. Agents know this as well when they look up during pitch sessions and see my gray hair.

The last agent rejection letter read something like this: “I’ve given serious thought to your work. I admire your creative imagination. But I finally decided to pass. I look at the marketplace today and don’t think I can devote the time it would take to sell it.” This agent had my manuscript five months.

My next steps will be to try a small regional publisher, publish myself, or use a traditional house’s subsidy publisher. Many are buying or creating them, i.e. Writer’s Digest and Penguin. But I have this dilemma. Small regional publishers don’t have the broad scope I’m looking for. Self-publishing has the same problem, plus the time it takes and money. Going the route of a Penguin subsidiary has advantages, except for the back end percentage taken.

If you have personal experience with the above, please share your valuable insights.

To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish - The Journey

I've been writing for six years. Why? Because I enjoy writing, but more importantly, I have something worthwhile to say and I want to share my ideas with others. My projects are receiving recognition. I added up my writing statistics. I've won a thriller competition, placed eighth in a Writer's Digest Short Story Contest, published, or am in the process of publishing, five shorts stories where I'm actually being paid. I've finished two novels that are ready for publication and three more in the process of layering. What now?

My writing mentors, all published authors, say, "Bill, you've worked too hard to go the self-publishing route." Well, have I mentioned I've spent--now wait for it--$5,375.00 on workshops, seminars, conferences, and professional editing services. Other writers I know have spent more. I've received fifty-one rejections from agents, most coming in the form of no response. 

The rise of Amazon and Barnes and Nobles' electronic readers have made self-publishing easier. Couple that with the tight economy creating problems for publishing companies, and there is an opportunity for new authors to market their work like never before. But the work has to be exceptional. So here is a question I'd like feedback on for my readers. In your opinion, what are the three major drawbacks to self-publishing?

Join me over the next few months as I share my journey, To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish. Please, sign up to follow my blog and receive automatic posts.