Ulysses Press contacted me before Rosh Hashanah (I always get big publishing news like a couple hours before a major Jewish holiday; it's sort of a thing) to say that all their Regency romance titles are declining in sales, probably because the market is glutted (that's my own assessment of the obvious) and they're not buying any more titles in that area. I have no reason to believe that this was not a totally honest reason why they didn't pick up book 5, which was sad news but not the end of the world. On the advice of my agent, of all people, (because agents only make money when books sell to real publishers) I'm heading into self-publication. I have some experience with it before with both Pemberley Shades and Other Tales, so the news is both good and bad for me.
The good: I will have total editorial control and price control. The paperback will be whatever price is reasonable because books do cost something to produce, probably in the $15-20 dollar range, hopefully on the low end of that. The eBook will be at least half of that, and I can post it lower and have sales. I also control the cover and publicity content, which has been one of the more frustrating ends of publishing for me. Also, I can get it out much faster than a publishing company.
The bad: I have to put money up to have things done that the publisher would do, like copyediting, layout, and cover design. I know enough about publishing with other books I've put together or things I've seen put together at work to know I'm not a graphic designer or copyeditor and I should pay professionals to do these things and not skimp on it. Also, complete editorial control means that I don't have a professional editor catching mistakes or giving me advice. I do have Brandy, who is practically a publishing professional at this point, but another layer of editorial is missing. And in the end I have no idea if I will even recoup my expenses; I may lose money on the book and much more money in lost work time on other material.
It's a gamble, but it's a gamble worth taking. For you guys, the only change is that it won't be available in stores and they won't be able to order it in; if you want a hard copy you will have to get it from Amazon. I stand by my pledge that if you buy a hard copy and want me to autograph it, you can mail it to me and I will sign it and pay to mail it back to you. And if it's a success, I see no reason why there wouldn't be book six in Fall 2012 and then so on and so on. So no waiting years between books.
I will try to have some contests leading up to the publication day - if you help me title the book, or come up with some art, or just win a drawing, you will get a copy of the book or of previous books in teh series. So you should really follow this blog and/or the Fans of Marsha Altman group of Facebook to check up on that. I am more than happy to give away things to loyal fans.
Wish me luck, guys! I'm going to need it.
9 comments:
Can't wait I just finished reading book 4 and loved it finished it in a week ( would have been less but kids are so demanding) LOL!! Wish you all the luck! I will re-read books 1 through 4 while I wait!!
Sarah
Yes, it does sound like good and bad news. I find it hard to believe Regency Romace is declining, probably because I love it and spend a fair amount of money on books. At least your not at the publishers mercy now and I wish you every success! Please let us know when you get a firm date because your fans cant wait!
It's not that Regency Romance is declining, it's that there are the same amount of readers for the most part but far more books, which means less of a chance of each book being bought. It's all about market share. There are at least double the amount of Pride and Prejudice fanfics available through Amazon either as a paperback or an eBook than there were, say, two years ago. More competition, especially when people who self-publish tend to underprice their material.
The no waiting for years between books is fabulous for your fans. I truly hope you realize a profit from self publishing. I personally would much rather pay a little more for a book from an established proven author like yourself. Good luck Marsha, keep us up to date!
I just want to ask if you can please make book 5 the same height and width as the first 4 so they line up nice on the bookshelf :-) My biggest pet peeve is that a lot of the book series I read have switched from the mass market paperback to the easy reader size and they don't line up as pretty on the shelf now.
It will be about the same size, but probably closer to book 4 than books 1-3, as Sourcebooks used an irregular size for their books.
Hello Ms. Altman I am huge fan of your books and am ecstatic for you next book. I was reading your blog post and went to your publishers site and saw some newly published regency romances. Do you know anything?
I can't tell you about other people's books. Mine is coming out but not through Ulysses Press.
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