Over a year ago I received my seventy-fifth and last “Sorry, this isn’t for us.” letter from an agent.
There is an old saying that defines insanity as “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.” Granted, I had been constantly rewriting the manuscript and the present version is very different from the first, but the concept and plot haven’t really changed. It’s an adventure story about a sixteen-year-old who gets trapped in a parallel universe and her struggle to return home. It is also a Fool’s journey through the tarot major arcana, beginning with The Fool, Chapter 0, and ending with The World, Chapter 21.
The agents saw nothing new and therefore exciting about the story and weren’t sold on the concept of using the tarot major arcana to create the plot-line and so they decided it wasn’t worth selling. But whenever I give anyone the “elevator pitch” for the book, their eyes light up and they say something like “I’d love to read that. When’s it coming out?” Unfortunately my friends and casual acquaintances are not even close to what a statistician would call a “true cross section of America.” I have come to realize that FORGING THE BLADE is a niche book, and my niche is people interested in magic and tarot and young adults who are avid fantasy readers.
An agent can’t sell a niche book written by an unpublished author with no formal training in writing to a large publishing house–no matter how good it might be. I have come to understand this.
So what to do? Forget about publishing a manuscript that’s taken over ten years of of research, personal growth, and writing to produce? I was almost ready to do this, but Jessica Morrell, my editor, said “Forget about the agents. It’s a great story and it needs to to be out there.”
So I looked at other options.
A small publishing house might be willing to pick it up. But a small publisher wouldn’t give me any more help marketing my book than a large publishing house, and their marketing range would be much smaller. And I still would have to either pay them to publish the book and/or share a large percentage of the profit. And I still would have very little control over what the book looked like.
Or I could self publish.
CreateSpace, a subsidiary of Amazon, offers the following:
- Software to design book covers
- Software to convert a manuscript to book format
- The option to purchase your own ISBN#, which means you own all rights to your book.
- On demand book production and distribution
- Global marketing by Amazon
- All the profits
- Free upload of your book to Kindle.
I will have to market the book myself, but any published author will tell you that they also have to market their books.
For me, the choice was obvious.
FORGING THE BLADE will be out soon on Amazon!
11 thoughts on “FORGING the BLADE Will Be Out Soon!”
Hi, I totally agree with and support your decision. I just published my book: “Borderline, Narcissistic, and Schizoid Adaptations: The Pursuit of Love, Admiration, and Safety” with CreateSpace and Amazon instead of one of the Gestalt therapy small presses that had offered to publish it for me. I had the great Tarot artist Robert Place do my cover. I am beyond thrilled with my experience. I sold over a hundred books in the first month just by letting my colleagues know I was doing this. And, I earn a very fair amount for all the labor I put into my book. Contact me if you want to know more about my experience. I am happy to share.
Dear Dr. Greenberg: Thank you so much for your support and for giving CreateSpace and Amazon the thumbs up–you’ve made my day. I only know one other author who has published on CreateSpace and I didn’t get a chance to really ask him about his experience. Things are going well so far, and yes, it’s a ton of work. But, like you, I have some very talented friends and an excellent illustrator working with me.
My tarot group is studying Robert Place’s Alchemy and the Tarot. It’s fascinating. Fortunately we have an alchemist in our group to explain things and give us a bit of background information. And yes, Place is a marvelous, magically savvy artist. I’m dithering about whether or not to buy the deck.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write.
I am so excited for you, and to read, finally, Forging the Blade!!! Oh Chrissy, what a strange and wonderful joiurney you have taken. xxxooo Yv
It has, indeed, been a long, strange trip. And it’s not over yet!
Love and hugs to you.
Dear Chrissy,I think you made the right choice. You are going to have so much fun. Love you lovely lady!!!!
Wendy D.
Hope so! thank you for your vote of confidence.
I’m glad you’re going ahead with this. Onward and upward, and we can always hope Oprah will read it and say something cool about it.
Reading about your good and bad experiences with small presses influenced my decision. It would be nice if Oprah picked it up, but mostly I just want it out there so people can read it,
Many, many, many congratulations. Can’t wait to read the book! Namaste
P.S. This morning I clicked on C.Lavielle and saw the beautiful illustration and book summary. The art work is gorgeous and the story line compelling. This is so thrilling. It’s good to see publishing going in the same direction as music recording – writers can get their work out there without the blessing of a corporate entity. You go girl!
So glad you like the site!
Thank you for checking it out.
Happy Samhain.