Objects in Mirror

I thought of so many possible titles for this post, probably because there are so many angles to how I feel about this story.

Bottom line: Objects in Mirror is back home.

Most of you know this, but for new readers, Objects is my first book. It was published by a traditional publisher in the spring of 2013.

While many writers think a traditional publishing contract is the be-all-end-all, their heart’s desire, all you need to launch you to writing success … let me just say, not for everybody. And definitely not for me.

I realized very quickly all the reasons traditional publishing wasn’t for me, and by Christmas 2013, I had decided my second book would be self-published.

That book is Appaloosa Summer, and for many people, it feels like my first book. For many of my readers, APS was the first book of mine readily available on Kindle. It was affordable, at $2.99. They tried it, liked it, and have become loyal followers.

I was always sad that many of those people hadn’t read Objects, but I didn’t blame them. I would never urge them to pay the $12.99 list price my publisher wanted for the eBook. I would never have paid that much.

So, sales and reviews for APS and the other Island books mounted, and Objects languished. It was inappropriately priced. It had a nice-enough cover, but not one that really captured the spirit of my writing or the story. The basic attention-getting elements weren’t there, and nobody was promoting it – not even me because of the much-too-high price.

I felt like Objects was a kid who fell between the cracks when a marriage broke up. I moved on, I had my own new roster of books to deal with, and with me gone and no more books coming from me under their imprint, the publisher no longer had any drive to sell Objects.

I always wondered about getting the rights back to Objects, but I didn’t know how. Maybe, as more and more authors want to undo their publishing contracts, there will be more support and advice about how to do so, but right now it’s not that “Googleable.” When The Writers’ Union of Canada asked if I was going to renew my membership, I asked if they’d help me get the rights back from my publisher. Not so much. I didn’t renew.

I asked lawyers, I read all I could find, I thought about it. I finally wrote a registered letter to my publisher asking if we could please work this out and – sparing you all the twists and bumps along the way – I finally have Objects back with me where I’ve commissioned a new cover for it, and lowered the price, and now I’m promoting it to all of you.

Oh, and I’ll be writing a book to follow Objects, called After Lucas, and I hope to publish it before the end of 2017.

It’s been a long journey – I’ve learned a great deal. I’ve been warned off, questioned, and accused of being “unprofessional” and “misinformed.” But my little book is back and even before I told anybody – any of you, my great supporters – about it, it started selling copies. In just a few days, with no promotion, it’s already sold about a quarter of the eBook copies it sold in its entire time under the imprint of the old publisher.

I hope you’ll give it a chance. I think you’ll like it. I’d love to hear what you think!

If you want to read Objects, here’s a link that will let you choose the retailer you’d prefer to buy it from.

P.S. As an extra thank-you for all your support, and to celebrate Objects’ return home, I’m offering the entire Island Series free on Kindle for one day only – February 28th – so fill in any holes in your collection, or tell a friend to start getting their copies!