Author Cindy Sample had what every writer hopes for: a happy relationship with publisher who worked well with her, two successful mystery books on the market, and a third nearly ready for publication. She was working on final edits and selecting cover art for “Dying for a Daiquiri” when the whole scenario came crashing down and she was left scrambling for solutions.
Sample’s publisher, a small traditional house, closed in summer 2013 when one of the partners died. The authors who were publishing with the company retained copyright ownership of their material, so Sample still had her books; she just had no publisher!
Laurel McKay, the protagonist in Sample’s romantic mysteries, tackles problems head-on. Sample chose the same reaction to her own problem. She put the manuscript for “Daiquiri” aside for the moment and turned her attention to getting the first two books back in the hands of the reading public.
Some of the authors from the closed publishing house chose to seek out other publishing houses, which can take six months or longer. The book must go through the entire editorial process before the publisher is ready to get the book out. Sample didn’t want to lose the momentum she had built over the past three years. She’s worked hard to establish a recognizable brand and wanted to keep it going.
“Publishers have a long list of books they have to put out,” she noted. She didn’t want her books to get lost in the stream.
Although she owned the rights to the books, she didn’t have the final edited manuscript that was published. Those were locked up in the late partner’s computer. So she went back to the last electronic copy that she had of each and compared it the final print version, word by word, line be line.
Sample acknowledges that self-publishing can be scary. All of the responsibilities fall to the author, from writing the book and line editing, to formatting and cover art. She’s re-edited the two earlier books, and feels that in doing so, she’s improved the quality of them.
“You’re in control of everything, which is great. But you’re in control of everything, which is bad. At least before, if there was something I didn’t like I could whine about it to the publisher,” she chuckles.
Selecting the images for the new covers of “Dying for a Date,” her first book and its sequel “Dying for a Dance” took longer than she expected. She wanted something that would tie the three together stylistically yet make each book individually identifiable. The clip art images she ultimately selected give hints of the mayhem within the pages without becoming a gore-fest.
Her revamped, republished books hit online booksellers in September. Both print and electronic versions are available. “Daiquiri” comes in print at this time, with electronic to follow.
For Cindy Sample, going from publishing house to self-published has been an intense experience. She‘s taken advantage of the opportunity to fine-tune her earlier works and prepare her audience for the third. The official launch for “Daiquiri,” scheduled for Oct. 13 at California Backyard, will also celebrate the victory of a determined author to save her brand in the face of unfortunate and unexpected events.
Sounds rather like something Laurel McKay would do!
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