Self-publishing: The only way to make sure you don't get screwed?

The writing workshop I'm taking this month had their weekly conference call today. Aside from the instructor and one other person, I'm the only published author in the group - and I'm actually a bit envious of the newbies. I'd give anything to go back to that wondrous time before one disappointment after another sucked my soul dry.



Back when my first book was published in 2008, I had this wide-eyed, optimistic outlook on e-publishing. I mean, they had to be better than New York, right? I'd heard so many horror stories from authors who'd been screwed over by the Big Six - editors who treated them like crap (or who they never heard back from, despite multiple emails/phone calls), horrible cover art, little to no promotion. Then the final insult: getting dropped when their books failed to sell.

Look how smart I am, I thought back then, bypassing New York's tired old business model for this shiny new one. I'll never have to worry about being treated like a wad of used Kleenex!

Ohhh, honey. I could tell you stories.

To be fair, I've made mistakes - most of which could've been avoided if I'd had more faith in myself. Like signing away my rights to four books for the length of copyright. Letting a publisher bully me into changing a title I was in love with because "readers don't like titles with foreign-sounding words in them."

Then there's the stuff I had no control over. Like the art department that obviously didn't read my cover art form, since they ended up dressing two opera singers in blue jeans and cowboy hats - and made my blonde heroine brunette!

And when I pointed it out to them, they said, "Oh, sorry. We're really slammed right now. We don't have time to change it." I had to email the publisher herself, and she finally got them to fix it.

Or the publisher I've been with from day one, long before any of the bigger names now publishing with them would give them the time of day. My first book with them was also their first best seller. But that was almost two years ago - ancient history in the publishing world. Now they can't even be bothered to promote me.

What I'd love to tell every new writer is that they don't have to put up with this depressing cycle of abuse and neglect. The last six months have taught me there's nothing a publisher can do for me that I can't do myself.

I've published five books since last December. I hired an editor and a cover artist. Spent half a week struggling with formatting before farming it out to an expert. (I'll probably learn how to do it myself eventually, but this time around it was more cost-effective to pay someone else to do it, so I could focus my attention on the next book.) I sent out review copies and set up my own blog tours.

It was a lot of work, but I'm glad I did it. I used to think publishing was such a horribly complicated process, no way could I ever handle it all myself. And yes, parts of it were complicated, but nothing worth doing is ever easy.

I'm currently working on the first book in a new m/m series focusing on mixed martial arts fighters. I'm hoping to get book #1 out in time for Authors After Dark in August, and book #2 in time for GayRomLit. I've already got an AMAZING editor lined up - Rebecca Dickson, author of THE Guide, aka, the best book I've ever read on the creative process. (Seriously, guys - buy this book. It'll rock your world!) I know exactly what I want for the cover - a very stark, stylized black and white image with a splash of blood-red. The story and characters for book #2 are already bubbling at the back of my mind.

Good gawd, could I actually be getting excited about writing again? :)