Someone asked me today if I would consider being picked up by a major publishing house after my book sold enough copies. The first thing you think is, "Of course, that's the dream, right?" but then after I thought about it, I decided I wouldn't. Nope. If I went with a publisher I would make a bunch of money, but I'd end up giving up my words. I'd end up being paid to do what they wanted me to do. I'd wind up like everyone else who does that; a tool. No, thank you.
I mean, I suppose if I had a contract that was iron-clad that read that no one could tell me what to write, how to write, when to write, etc., then maybe, but they don't do that. They want to be in full control, and they give you the advance for that control. Nope. I'll stay poor and keep my words. I know that sounds so stupid to most people, but I won't allow anyone else to edit my books for the same reason. I don't want them telling me I didn't do it right. Hell yes, I did it right. I did it MY WAY! It's MY DAMN BOOK, and if I choose to use contractions, or allow (by mistake) a misspelled word, or even make a total fool of myself by saying this author wrote that book, which is clearly not the case; that is ON ME.
It's OK if I stay poor. I'm not used to being rich. I may freak out or something if I had a lot of money. I can do poor. I'm very familiar with it. If no one buys my books I'm OK with that too. I write them to write them. I publish them to share them. If someone doesn't want to share them; that's on them. I made it available. I have read this book, Murder Book, four times now, because I'm making changes, going over it for editing, grammar, etc., and let me just say, I freaking love this book. That being said, I also really love "Of Kilted Pleasure". I have read it about eight times so far. I sometimes pick it up to see how Ewan and Aria are. I miss them.
The characters are mine. I made them. They live and breathe, die, fight, and get married. They have babies, and they eat sometimes. I created them and I know them. If I wanted to, I could just write a book as if I'm in the middle of their time period, and they could carry on a conversation with me. It may be more of a fan-fic at that point, but it's mine to do; why would I want anyone else having control of it? I don't.
Today, after reading it for the fourth time, I think I'm ready to set it down, and wait a week to read it one more time, go over it, and go through it one more time before I send it off to be published. First, actually, I have to send it off to be formatted. I'm in the process of interviewing folks who format documents into perfect bound trimmed files as well as EPUB files so I can upload them to the printer. They also need to create a cover for the book and the book for me. The formatting and trimming, as well as the cover, will be about $300, which is literally 1/4 of what I paid before. I was so silly to listen to people telling me that only certain places could do a good job. It's not true. There are dozens of Facebook pages full of editors and formatters.
There are dozens of people who are out of the country who do the work for a heck of a lot less, but I'm going to be a bit picky. I want to see evidence of their work, and have some sort of promise in writing; references, that sort of thing. Still, I'm pretty sure I can find someone in the U.S., U.K., Canada, or even Australia that I can trust. I have an idea now of what to expect. So cool.
Self-publishing is way cooler than having a book picked up by a major house if you're like me and you're a complete and utter control freak. If you're wanting to be rich and famous, that's a whole other story; a good story, don't get me wrong, but a story that maybe is suited for someone else. My characters are just as alive, just as wonderful, just as giving, caring, and sharing as anyone J.K. Rowling or Mary Higgins Clark can conjure. If they aren't as well known, well, I know them. I love them, and they know that. That's enough.
I think I may have mentioned before that I'm a little different than most. This is just one more way to prove it.
Photo Credit: Me.
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