Not Quitting, Just Changing Lanes

The list of complaints and obstacles for writers is long, and seemingly growing every day. Agents and editors retire. The market is flooded. Competition for the decreasing number of slots with the big publishing houses is stiff. Small presses working on shoestring budgets succumb to financial distress, or the exhaustion of a small underpaid staff juggling multiple roles.

When a small press closes up shop, the ripple effects spread across the entire publishing landscape. So many authors seem to be going through similar woes. The trials and tribulations of losing small presses are hitting us all hard.

Along with many other traditionally published authors, I'm exploring self-publishing options. My first experiment is with my co-author and daughter, Merida Bass. We just released book one of a YA science fiction series. Written under the pen name Ann Belice, Frayed Dreams begins the Tapestry Tales series.

I did some research on self-publishing before starting this venture, and learned that many authors are paying large sums to have their work edited, put into the proper publishing formats, given ISBN numbers, having covers created, and on and on. The folks offering this assistance are called hybrid publishers. An article on Reedsy stated that the cost of "self-publishing" a book can be as much as $10,000. Or more.

There's nothing wrong with this, if you have the money to pay for services, and the understanding that you may not recoup your expenses. But we decided if we're self-pubbing, we're paying for as little as possible. Yes, the learning curve was intimidating. I might not have attempted it if my daughter didn't have the tech savvy and desire to do most of that side of it herself.

I haven't abandoned traditional publishing. I will have exciting news to announce about a short story sale, after I have the signed contract in hand. And I might consider traditional book publishing again.

Honestly though, I'm ready to see what I can do in this new world of publishing. Having complete control over my novels is appealing. With that control, will my access to market or my sales suffer? We'll see. 

​I'm optimistic about new directions. 

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