Why I am Self-Publishing Again

To paraphrase Joel Cairo in The Maltese Falcon, my experiences with the publishing industry have not been such that I am eager to repeat them.

In no particular order:

·       After negotiating a release date for an e-book version of a novel (like it wasn’t already bad enough they weren’t released together), the e-book did not come out on the agreed upon date. When I asked why not the publisher said, “I changed my mind.”

I would have liked to have been told. As a courtesy, if nothing else.

·       A magazine accepted a story of mine but never told me when it would run. I assumed it hadn’t until I tripped over it months later.  When asked why they snuck it in without telling me, I was told they consider it the author’s responsibility to keep up with things like that.

·       Receiving quarterly statements annually.

·       I gave a publisher an exclusive, during which time they dithered for well over a year, made several suggestions – which I adopted – then, when my agent and I pressed for a decision, blew me off with a two-sentence e-mail that contained misspelled words and grammatical errors.

·       I spent hundreds of dollars on a promotional campaign and would have spent more but could not receive any sales figures when I requested them so I had no idea how effective the campaign was.

·       Probably not very, as I was informed later the new hire/intern (I forget which) assigned for the social media campaign forgot and the entire venture was uncoordinated

·       A Hollywood producer who expressed enough interest in the Penns River series that I

o   Wrote a pitch.

o   Wrote a draft screenplay.

o   Traveled to Western Pennsylvania to look at locations

before he apparently lost interest. Last report I had was that Netflix did not pass, but said we needed an experienced showrunner. He either couldn’t find one, or didn’t want to. Either way, after saying things might be sidetracked because he had a possible new gig lined up. I never heard from him again, not even to say he accepted the new job.My track record has shown I am more than capable of fucking things up all by myself. I was kind of hoping these guys might be more helpful.

I now own all the rights to all my books and will re-release the Penns River novels with new covers between now and the end of the year. There won’t be a big campaign, as nothing will be new except the covers and I don’t want to confuse people.

Here are the benefits I see in returning to self-publishing:

·       I write what I want, when I want to. In fairness, my previous publisher did not restrict me in this regard.

·       The books come out on my schedule. If I want it in print six weeks after I finish it – two weeks after I finish it, the day I finish it – it will happen.

·       I can set my own pricing, within certain guidelines. There is no way I can win if a reader has to choose between a Michael Connelly book and mine if mine is more expensive.

·       I can get sales and revenue figures any time I want. Literally 24 hours a day 365 days a year. (366 days on leap years.)

I also won’t have anyone else to worry about. I know I shouldn’t, but I always felt bad a little when my books didn’t sell any better than they did. I knew the publisher had invested time and effort in me that some other writer could have used and would have appreciated. I felt a sense of obligation. Now the only person I have to worry about pleasing is me, and my loyal cadre of readers.

What do I lose?

·       Free editing. (I know an excellent editor if I need one. I’ll just have to pay for it myself.)

·       Free covers. (The Beloved Spouse™ and I have come up with ongoing cover schemes we like that are unique and will unify the books in each series.)

Bookstores never stocked my books when I was commercially published, so no loss there.

Last but not least, I can’t possibly make less money. Having to pay for editing is an added expense, but whatever I do with that, my sales numbers will not suffer. They can’t, and I mean that literally.

Could I find another publisher? Probably. While my sales suck, I’m respected enough that another small press would likely pick me up. Do I care? Not really. I don’t want to cast aspersions on all publishers; there are a couple I think I’d be quite satisfied with. If I were twenty years younger I’d be all over them.

Here’s the thing: I’m not twenty years younger. I’m 68 years old and have enough books I want to write I doubt I could have them all written by the time I’m 75 even if I never have another idea, and the ideas seem to come quicker all the time. If I went with a publisher those books might take ten to twelve years to see the light of day, if they’re published at all.

The Western drop in the fall; the next Nick Forte no later than spring of 2025. I expect to put out at least three books every two years after that as the Forte series continues, the Penns River series concludes, and a handful of standalone ideas come to fruition. The books will still be as good as I can write them, even without adult supervision. When I don’t think I can invest the same effort as I always have, I’ll stop writing them.

So the short answer to “Why am I self-publishing again?” is, “It’s time.”