Category: Marketing

Part 1 of this series shared three critical issues to ask any publisher before signing with them:

1. Marketing – how would the publisher get word of my book out to potential readers?
2. Distribution – how would the publisher get my book into potential readers’ hands?
3. Career Development – what would the publisher do to help me become a better author?

This post deals with publisher #6, and all cards on the table going in, publisher #6 is Northern Lights Publishing which is owned by a small group of investors and employees and led by myself and wife/partner/Princess Susan.

Susan and I got out of our last company in 2016 and vowed never to start another one. There are days we wish we’d stuck to our vow, and so it goes.

Also back in 2016, Susan said she’d never seen me happier than when I was writing my stories and, as we’d never have to worry about money again, she wanted me to write full-time.

Oh, gosh darn, do I have to?

After kissing her profusely, I went to work. I had several novels completed and some 10-15 more near completion, so my real task was finding a publisher I could work with.
Continue reading “A Tale of Six Publishers – Part 6 (finale)”

Part 1 of this series shared three critical issues to ask any publisher before signing with them:

1. Marketing – how would the publisher get word of my book out to potential readers?
2. Distribution – how would the publisher get my book into potential readers’ hands?
3. Career Development – what would the publisher do to help me become a better author?

This post deals with publisher #5, also mentioned in A Tale of Six Publishers – Part 5.1 and Part 5.2, who failed on all the above. A British based publisher, publisher #5 wanted to be everybody’s friend but doesn’t want to run a business. You can be friends with your publisher and in the end you’re in business together…especially if everybody’s goal is to make money!

Part 5.1 covered the publisher

• disappearing for extended periods of time and not responding to emails, txts, or phonecalls from anyone
• wanting funding but not wanting any of the responsibilities which go with acquiring funding.

Part 5.2 covered the publisher

• wanting to get more authors on their roster but not willing to take on the responsibilities of interacting with authors who want to know things like where’s the royalties, why aren’t I published, where the hell are you and how come I can’t get any answers from anybody
• not getting back in touch with interested authors even after initial discussions are positive on both sides

This post finishes the tale of Publisher #5. Enjoy.
Continue reading “A Tale of Six Publishers – Part 5.3”

Part 1 of this series shared three critical issues to ask any publisher before signing with them:

1. Marketing – how would the publisher get word of my book out to potential readers?
2. Distribution – how would the publisher get my book into potential readers’ hands?
3. Career Development – what would the publisher do to help me become a better author?

This post deals with publisher #5, another British based publisher who wanted/wants to be everybody’s friend but doesn’t want to run a business. You can be friends with your publisher and in the end you’re in business together…especially if everybody’s goal is to make money!

I mentioned publisher #5’s niceties in A Tale of Six Publishers – Part 5.1. This post deals with publisher #5’s inability to make business decisions. Except bad ones. Enough of those and your career dies with them.
Continue reading “A Tale of Six Publishers – Part 5.2”

Part 1 of this series shared three critical issues to ask any publisher before signing with them:

1. Marketing – how would the publisher get word of my book out to potential readers?
2. Distribution – how would the publisher get my book into potential readers’ hands?
3. Career Development – what would the publisher do to help me become a better author?

This post deals with publisher #5, another British based publisher who wanted/wants to be everybody’s friend but doesn’t want to run a business. You can be friends with your publisher and in the end you’re in business together…especially if everybody’s goal is to make money!

Start with the good: Publisher #5 accepted a fantasy piece I’d been sending around since 1987 for one of their anthologies.

(yep, I’m old, and the story, Morningsong is probably older than most people reading this post)

Not only did they accept it, they wrote back it was such a beautiful, wonderful, and moving piece of fiction they passed it around the office so everyone could give it a read.

And they wanted more. Did I have anything else? Their anthology series came out roughly every quarter, so please send what you have.

I sent The Little Flower (A Tale of the Woods). They took it.

I sent The Lonely Oak (A Tale of the Woods). They took it.

I sent Don Quitamo Sails. They took it.

I sent and sent and sent. They loved everything I sent. They invited me to become a regular contributor.

A regular venue for my work?

Well, Duh!, sure, of course, sign me up.

Publisher #5 and I began working together pre-Covid. They had a regular live pub crawl (remember, they’re UK based) meeting with their local authors every Thursdays after work. Covid hit and they decided to move the pub crawls to Zoom.

Not needing to limit attendance to local authors, they invited me to attend.

Wow, a chance to meet other authors? A chance to ask direct questions to editors and publishers re what they like, what they don’t, what works and what doesn’t?

As I wrote above, sign me up.

I loved it.

And it’s also when things began going sour.
Continue reading “A Tale of Six Publishers – Part 5.1”