...and This is Why I Have Control Issues

You know, nothing can wreck someone’s life, work, and all things between quite like ... someone else. Ah, other people. Can’t live with them, can’t continue the human race without them. Damned indispensable others!

Seriously, I do like other people. Really, I do. But when they’ve goofed mightily and taken me down the drain with them, I start to think about saving my money and buying my own island to get away from the whole bunch.

You may ask, what’s setting you off THIS time, Queen Whines-A-Lot? Well, let me tell you – the long awaited re-issue of my first book, The Willow and the Stone.  Oh, how I’ve longed for this day (which is actually still three weeks away). I have chafed in my bonds to its publisher, much like a new pair of panties chafes a first-time thong wearer. This thing has been riding uncomfortably up my butt for three years. Is it any wonder I’m eager to tear free with giddy cries of relief?

Being published was a long-cherished dream. I was so happy when I signed that contract. At last! The book that I’d submitted to one house after another had finally found a home. I danced. I laughed. I made merry. This wasn’t one of my naughty books ... this was the serious book, the mainstream one that I could attach my real name to and not get shocked looks from decent churchgoing ladies (at least not for my writing, anyway – they give me shocked looks for other reasons that I am delighted to own).

The book came out. I got my copy. Bursting with enthusiasm, soaking in euphoria, and not having yet discovering the chafe, I opened it. And just like that, my balloon burst. My butt began to throb.

There is a reason I self-publish now, even though it means more work and less people taking me seriously. It stems from The Willow and the Stone and the other five books I signed contracts for at about the same time. What happened through their publisher turned a laid-back, let-it-ride-because-it-will-all-work-out chick into the Wicked Witch of Total Control.

I don’t know who fell asleep at the wheel. This publisher had released five previous books with no problems whatsoever. My Alt-Tam identity quickly became a known name in erotica circles. Why shouldn’t I have trusted them with more books, including the mainstream titles?

Unfortunately, someone in that organization turned to drugs or alcohol or smoking funny stuff through the hookah pipe and chewing on the Caterpillar’s mushroom. Something happened, and it wasn’t anything deep like asking existential questions like “Who are you?”  Nope, it was more along the lines of “Who gives a shit?” 

Starting with The Willow and the Stone, the publisher sent out all but unreadable books. The formatting was so messed up, one couldn’t tell where one paragraph started and another ended. In places they were run together. Sometimes a new paragraph was started in the middle of a sentence. Even the ebook versions of some books were in bad shape. Worst of all, my pleas to get the mess straightened out fell on deaf ears. There were assurances of, “We’re working on it, we’re fixing it, just a little longer.” But no, these books were not fixed. It was so bad that some vendors, like Barnes & Noble, stopped carrying the books altogether.  

So for the last three years, I have looked at my babies languishing out there, mutilated beyond recognition. I’ve cringed to think of people buying them and trying to read them ... and associating my name with the Frankenstein monsters they were turned into.  

A writer pours herself into her creations. Hours and angst fill every page the reader encounters. The Willow and the Stone has earned more angst than I ever dreamed it would. Soon, however, it will be made right. The contract expires the last week of this month, and I am so happy to fix the mess those others made. At that point, all shortcomings are mine, all mistakes to do with that book are on me. 

That’s perfectly fine. The Wicked Witch of Total Control would not have it any other way.

Traditional vs. Self-Publishing

I’ve now had the opportunity to have my books traditionally published as well as trying out the self-publishing route.  With Willow in the Desert (the sequel to the award-winning The Willow and the Stone) now in the hands of my proofreaders, I’m faced with the question of which one I’d like to go with.

Here’s the issue with traditional publishing in my opinion:  it’s like a brand name label you slap on a product.  People perceive that if a publishing house puts it out, the writing and story are automatically good.  The literary gods have smiled upon that writer and deemed them worthy.  The editing and marketing will be top notch and the work is destined to be a bestseller. 

Wrong.  Even the big publishers are becoming a mockery of themselves these days.  For one thing, when a book is initially released, they make even the e-book version stupidly expensive.  Yes, it’s a business.  Yes, they have to make money.  But it feels like a slap in the face to have publishing houses digging greedily into my wallet, drooling for every penny they can find.  I refuse to pay more for an e-book than what a paperback goes for. 

Next fallacy about the traditional publishers:  that they will market your writing.  Wrong, unless you’re Stephen King, John Grisham, or J.K. Rowling.  Nope, if you’re a midlist writer, all the promoting and marketing is up to you.  You’ve got to draw the readers in and make them take notice.  At least half your time (if you’re serious about this stuff) is spent marketing.

My biggest bitch about the traditional publishing world:  editing.  I’m a fan of the Sookie Stackhouse series (upon which the HBO series True Blood is based).  I have every single book except the latest one -- because the ebook is still at the hardcover price.  Now this is a bestselling series with a large well-known publisher.  So I’m horrified when I see the many editing snafus present in these books.  In certain places, it’s like the editor was drunk when they looked it over.  It’s awful.

The hard, cold truth of it is being traditionally published is it’s like paying contractors a huge amount of money ... more than half of what your work will earn ... to present your thousands of hours of writing to the public in such a way that they will buy it.  Sure, there are plenty of books that publishers will spend more to produce than they’ll make back.  I know that.  In too many cases however, you’re paying for crap.  When there are massive formatting errors, a cover that doesn’t represent the story at all, and poor editing, why would anyone bother to sign a contract?  It’s like having your work spit on.  And you’re essentially paying them to do it with the tiny percentage you receive on sales.

My own two books, finally accepted by a small but established publisher, were similarly mistreated.  The formatting for both the print and e-book versions were completely horrid.  The e-books were eventually straightened out, but who knows how my sales were affected in those first days before they were?  And the publisher has mis-categorized them both as ‘Romance’ with no apparently no interest in correcting that.  Also a sales killer.  Now the books are out of print, and I found out about it by accident ... no one from the publisher bothered to tell me this was going to happen. 

I’ve checked into what it takes to do this publishing thing right, and quite honestly it’s not that difficult.  Unfortunately, I signed a three-year contract for both books, so it will be awhile before I can get them back and start over.

So I’m going to self-publish Willow in the Desert, coming out in the new year.  I already have a cover artist who is amazing at what she does.  The rest I will be doing myself and the results are going to be much better. 

The biggest problem will be that for many, self-published writer = hack who’s not good enough to be traditionally published.  So be it.  I’m proud of my writing.  I worked very hard on it, and those who have read my books and talked to me about them have had nothing but praise.  Heaven knows, traditional publishing has been a big disappointment, so as far as I’m concerned, I have nothing to lose and a lot of happiness to gain.