I didn’t know what to title this. With so many recent losses – George Michael, Carrie Fisher, and Debbie Reynolds just in the past week – what I have to post about seems rather unimportant, though it marks a passing in its own way.
My first publisher is closing its doors at the end of the year, which is only three days away. I received my reversion letter today, releasing Misfit Prophets Beneath a Bankrupt Sky, 1KRV5, and “Persephone Is Bleeding” back into my hands.
I’d mentioned that this publisher was closing before in passing. I can’t say it came as a surprise, though now that it’s here, I’m left wondering what to do. I haven’t received any royalty announcements since January, so I don’t know how well my sales have been doing. Not that they were ever impressive, mind you, but I was curious how the audiobook of 1KRV5 was selling and have no knowledge other than a few good reviews on the Audible site. But, as any writer knows, reviews don’t always translate to sales.
It’s not so much about the money as it is the sense of so much time…I don’t know – wasted isn’t right. It was definitely a learning experience. They got me started on the professional writer’s path. I’ve got books I can hold in my hands and ebooks I never can, all because they accepted that first novella I sent on a whim. I found that I make more from selling short stories than I do novellas, which was a turning point all on its own. I know more of what I want and what I should look for in a publisher. I’m thankful to Gabriel who, with one flattering phone call, buoyed my confidence enough to make me think that, yeah, one day I could be a “real” writer. I still think of it when I need a boost to keep going.
My first babies – my first books – aren’t even three years old, and their first go-around already has come to an end. I won’t rate their first outing as a success or failure, but I will do what any first time parent does – hope like hell that I can can do better with the next one.
S. Zanne 