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It's been a good long while since I've posted anything new to this or any of my other blogs. If you're wondering why its because, frankly, I tapped myself out writing my book, then exhausted myself completely trying to get it published.
Its a humbling thing to try so hard to make a childhood dream come true and to fall short of the finish line. I could blame it on having to compete with AI now, or writing a niche novel, or any number of other things, but placing blame doesn't change the fact that I wasn't picked up by a literary agent. Nor will it get me a contract with any major publishers.
So I'm going the Indie route!
If you've ever wondered about self-publishing, you have several options. Amazon and Barnes & Noble each have their own deals, but I'm using an aggregator called Draft2Digital. D2D is a POD service, or print-on-demand, meaning that they will print and deliver my book only when someone purchases it online. They partner with Amazon and many other retailers, meaning that my book will be searchable on all of their websites!
However, there's a catch. I make money off of royalties, and the size of my book has forced it to a high price point. All in all at the end of the day I'm only making $4 per physical copy and $6 per digital copy. So I wont be seeing my money back anytime soon, if at all.
And while we're on that subject, I am solidly in the red over this novel. I went into this knowing I probably wouldn't make money, but I never realized just how much I'd have to spend. I had to pay for an editor. I had to pay for cover art. I had to pay for ISBN numbers, which every book needs (and you need separate ones for ebook and printed versions.) And then I have to pay for marketing campaigns or similar expenses in an attempt to boost visibility, which I probably wont end up doing simply because I can't afford to.
To be frank, I think that corporate America realized that they could make more money off of indie people like me who must throw money at things in the hopes of being noticed than they could in selling the actual books. (Read the article, "Are We Eating Each Other Alive in the Indie-Lit World?" if you're interested in what I mean by that.)
So yeah, its been frustrating. But every cloud has a silver lining. 5 years ago I was in a rough period of my life, fresh out of college and working for a job that didn't care about me. One day, on my drive to work, the song Serity by Vallis Alps came on the radio and washed through me, sending goosebumps up my arms and putting my hair on end. With it came the first inklings of what would become my story. So once I finished writing the book and held the first ever physical copy in my hands, I tweeted at Vallis offering to send them free copies as tokens of my appreciation. Not only did they say yes, they invited me as a guest to one of their shows! That's pretty dang amazing! It may be that the public at large will never read my story, but the artists who inspired it will. What more could I ask for?
But where am I at now? Well, the website for my novel is up, which you can visit if you'd like to read the first two chapters of my book. You can also use the site to sign up for my newsletter if you'd like more regular updates from me (since I mostly won't be updating this blog for the foreseeable future) or you could find me at ChrisWritesNow on twitter. I also have a professional book review coming in July, so stay tuned for that!
Lastly, after many years of work, my novel will release on September 1st, 2023!
On one final note, I feel as though I've just about reached the end of this road. Maybe I'll write another novel after I've rested; I've already got a few ideas. Maybe I'll finish writing Death & Jane. For now though, I don't think I'll be writing too much for this platform. I need time to replenish my drive and I feel as though I've earned a break.
This has been Chris, signing off. Happy reading and writing!
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