Editor’s Disclaimer: I’m blogging right now on no sleep and lots of caffeine, so forgive me if I run off the reservation a little.
The Other Sister is officially available on Amazon, Barnes and through us (claps! drum rolls!), but it truly takes Herculean efforts to make things happen.
Of course, I recognize that part of it involves the infamous learning curve (more on that later), with us being a new publisher and all, but the other part is the difficulty in breaking through an industry that’s experiencing an identity crisis–and an abundance of titles on everything under the sun. I’m amped about the release of The Other Sister, but I wanted to share some of the things that go on behind the scenes (and why I’m about thisclose to bringing an assistant or intern on board to help out with things).
I’ve blogged before about our process, but it goes a little something like this:
1. Submission comes into inbox, we mark it by date and read it when we get to it. And yes, we read everything. Which leads to our first lesson: we gravitate toward the stuff that meets our guidelines. It makes life easier and shows a commitment from the writer. But I’ve backed away from personal responses to every single email because it would take all day, every day to do so. Still trying to figure out a way to keep things personal and connect with aspiring writers, so I welcome your suggestions on this one.
2. I stew on submissions that pass inspection. I ponder the potential, even if, in my mind, there are problems. Of course, this is all very subjective, but it can take me months to pull the trigger. And I am the one to pull the trigger, even when others don’t like a particular title. I’ll blog later on how, as much as I love reading and love curling up with a stack of submissions and edits, I’ve developing a severe case of cabin fever.
3. If I want it, we negotiate. As a small pub, this process isn’t involved as it probably would be if we were say, Random House, but we work to offer writer-friendly terms.
4. The real work begins with edits. I think our authors probably hate to see an email from me during the editing process, but we put a lot of work in and this also takes months. And a new eyeglass subscription. I’m actually behind at the moment on edits–way behind–and lesson number two for me is you can’t do it all. I’m struggling with this though, because I think this is my strong suit (tell me if I’m wrong PP authors!), but going forward I’m wondering if I will have to cut back on my line by line edits for every manuscript we acquire to keep pace.
5. After edits comes production. This has been a challenge for me so far, and the truth of the matter is that this tends to be the point where our schedule begins to take a hit. This is hard for me because I like schedules and deadlines. But creative types are notorious for missing deadlines because inspiration hits when it wants to, and it’s always a challenge to find a cover that works for me and the author.
Along the way, I’ve learned why the big boys just send the author the finished cover or edits without input from the writer, but I’m not ready to do that. We’ve also been trying out freelancers, and I’m having a challenge here as well, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will get easier as we grow. I will say, however, that I’ve acquired my own copy of the Chicago Manual and Adobe design products because a good indie pub needs to be able to handle things on the fly when things hit the fan.
6. David meets Goliath. I like David. A lot, and I draw inspiration from his story, But facing this publishing giant is a …*struggles for a word that doesn’t start with “m” and end in “r.”*
I keep telling myself that as we get bigger, things will come easier, and that part of this for us is establishing our street cred. But this has been more difficult as more people self-publish under their own banner. I don’t knock self-publishing (hell, I’m technically doing the same with my own book), but it makes it harder to get reviews, face time, market positioning and the like. One must grind harder, and that’s where our learning curve has been the sharpest in overcoming the needle in a haystack syndrome.
Case in point (and Cheri, forgive me for using you as an example): With The Other Sister, we had a bit of a kerfuffle getting this out on time and on Amazon and it all stems from the fact that I found a big ole’ glaring typo on the back cover. I mean, staring me right in the face, like it hadn’t been there the entire time I’d been staring at the proof. But when did my tired eyes see it? A couple of days before the release, and Lawd Jesus things really broke loose. I’m talking coffee sprays out of mouth and heart leaps out of chest type drama, and my life became a mad dash to fix the problem and get the book ready to go.
But as we missed deadline and anxiously waited for the book to show up online, I wondered how the wheels would have moved if I were one of the big boys. First of all, I wouldn’t have to give up as much of a discount as I do to get listed (different convo for a different day, but I encourage you to buy direct from us!), but I honestly believe that if we were bigger or more established, things could have happened much faster than they did. Maybe I’m wrong to take issue in light of the circumstances, and maybe these things take time because we are new, but the past two weeks have been incredibly frustrating.
7. Social media is not really social. Facebook, blogging, tweeting, emails, where does it end? To do all of these things to promote takes work, and given the amount of time required, I’ve actually decided to pull back a bit until we get over the hump of our first list. Over the next few months, our energy will be directed toward marketing Southern Discomfort, The Other Sister and the remainder of the titles we’ve committed to, though planning ahead is unavoidable and I’m carrying a stack of edits and submissions in my tote as we speak.
But as my relationship/situation? takes blow after blow because of my schedule, I miss holidays at home and I long to go on a real vacation with no laptop, Blackberry or Droid, I’ve realized that…
I wouldn’t have it any other way. Although though things have been a bit overwhelming, talking to people like Cheri and LaTonya and being part of the process to get their stories out–as imperfect as it may be–or meeting people who have their own dreams of writing and publishing makes it all worth it, sleepless nights, stress and all. I’m decluttering some parts of my life because I know that the final key to making this all work is to make my media more social, and to take more time for myself even as I work harder. I’m keeping the faith that we have our breakthrough moment soon, because we’re all working really hard. In fact, I know we will, and thanks to those of you supporting us along the way.
Congrats Cheri. We’ve only taken the first step.
TNH
