My book is with Balboa Press which is owned by Hay House, which has been acquired by Penquin Random House. Every once in a while I get an email regarding the book Eva’s Journey. A publisher wants to move my book from my existing publisher to theirs, or someone wants to interview me, or someone wants the rights to the book to make a movie. At such times, I face my weakness. I can sit for hours in my pajamas and write and I have. What I struggle with is knowing what to do post publication. It is a whole different world separate from the realm of writing, unfortunately requiring someone much more extroverted than I am.
I’ve learned a lot about writing and publishing through trial and error. In childhood and my early adult life I read voraciously. In high school I didn’t see myself as a writer, and my grades reflected that. I was better in science, math and art, but I was blessed with a great English teacher who did her best. I did not envision that I would ever write a book even as I was writing it and yet eventually a book emerged. Eventually means twenty years of alternating between writing and not writing it.
My book has been on the back burner since I moved back to Colorado in 2018. In fact, following that analogy, it is not even on the stove, but stored in the attic. I don’t think Eva’s Journey would have ever been written if I had lived in Colorado the years I was writing it. Living in California after growing up in Colorado allowed the detachment and reflection I needed to write.
The character Brandon was actually named Todd for most of the book’s writing. It was in the last couple of years before publication I changed the name to Brandon because I knew someone named Todd at the time and didn’t want him to think the character was referring to him. Shortly after the book was published, someone named Brandon came in to my life at a Toastmasters club, so that doesn’t really work anyway. I suppose in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter. People are used to finding their names in novels.
Publishing was an experience of trial and error, and I made many errors. The biggest was, I published my book print on demand with over 300 pages. I learned after publishing that a print on demand novel should not exceed 250 because the price to the public is set by the page count. The average 250 page novel sells for about $14 to $16. Mine was priced over $20… for a paperback… of a debut novel… My $20 debut novel would sit alongside classics selling in paperback form for $14 to $16. I talked Balboa down to $18 but still that is high, and they wouldn’t budge below that because they had to comp their expenses and make their profit. So, anyone reading this and considering publishing, I recommend you don’t make that mistake.
I can truthfully say, my awkward tumbling forward into the publishing of a book, was one of the best decisions I have ever made. My ‘humble beginnings’ from publishing in 2016 are becoming the ‘humble middle.’ The more I learn the more I understand how much I don’t know, but each day I enjoy the process. I still feel like a beginner, but my faith and confidence have grown.