El Segundo Author Fair  

I guess it's a New Year thing, or boredom...Whatever.

I like the clipboard effect. Hope you do too. Kind of like a detective's notepad.

The title of this posting refers not the kind of mold that grows on your shower door...tbut he kind that people think you should be in so you can get a "real" publisher. This came home twice to me this week in both very different ways.

The first was at work. We order popular fiction titles through a service called McNaughton. They buy the titles from the publisher and then "lease" or "rent" them to libraries. In the catalog they send, we can pick so many titles per month. After a year we can buy those titles at a steep discount. In the past we have only selected "popular" titles and authors, never really giving others a chance (small presses, unknown authors). We had a change in librarianship for that duty three, almost four years ago when the librarian passed. I am part of the selection process now since I had a feel for what she chose (I processed the returns and keeps for 15+ years). With a new group though we're giving other authors a chance. So what providence was it when two titles came up on the list from a publisher that turned me down almost 3 years ago because my book was good, but not good enough to generate sales.

I passed the book around to a few people and the concensus was my story was better than the story this publisher backed. Honestly, I did not prompt anyone; I told them after the fact. They were also quite surprised that they had turned me down. So do I regret my decision to go with author-originated publishing? Not now.

The second thing that happened to me this week was a co-worker was complaining about the new mysteries and how violent they are. I pointed out to her that that's apparently what sells (I know this first hand from the story above) and explained that that was why I can't get published traditionally, because I don't have the "elements" that make a contemporary mystery sellable. So she said, "well if you re-wrote your story to be 'more Christian' you could sell it to a Christian publisher since your story is so "Clean and non-violent." I think I about lost it. I emphatically (yet calmly) told her NO, I am not re-writing my story so I can sell it to a Christian publisher (she looks on horrified that I would diss her suggestion). Yes, I refer to attending church, don't brandy around sex, and probably have only two mild cuss words in the whole thing, but according to her I would need to add more "God" into it so I can sell it. I flat out told her, that although I am a Christian, I would not compromise my story just to get it "sold." And why would I want to rewrite something that is pretty okay as it is, just to make someone else happy?

Isn't that what many writers eventually do at some point? Compromise their writing to get published. They want it SOOOOOO badly they will change characters, point of view, locations, even the murder itself to get their story (what was their story) published? Now I know that there are editors who don't change the story but tighten it up, tone it shall we say, and that's fine. But there are too many authors who sell their souls just to be in print by one of the big 10.

So if I have sold out by not holding out, and my story is worthless because I didn't publish traditionally then maybe in the long run I am better off...and so is Lydia.

Well since Christmas I've had a computer take the big dive, I've ordered a new computer which was on the slow UPS truck from Ohio and I got reamed for trying to help. I think that there are some weeks when no matter what you do it just isn't right...ever have those?

I got my 4th book revised a bit, changed the locale and it really made a difference. I have more enthusiasm for the project now, when I get the chance to work on it!

I didn't get the postcards out to the genealogical societies, nor the genealogical magazines like I planned, but I did get all the scrapbooks caught up finally.

So my next goal is to get working putting out A Commitment to Murder. I've still got goals, but like my load at work (that was a part of this incredibly long week too...) I have to take it one thing at a time!