Publishing Mistakes - Happily Ever After
I've had a bad experience with a press in the past, and I've seen other people I know having bad experiences with presses they've worked with. I honestly believe that ever writer will have some type of experience along these lines at some point. It could be with a press, an editor, or even an agent.
When things don't go the way you expect, or are supposed to, with your publishing, it's disheartening (which is putting it mildly). You spend a lot of time on your short stories, novellas, novels, etc. You want to birth them into the world and have everyone behold the beauty of your brain child. What you don't want is to have a doctor (publisher, editor, agent) who is known for malpractice.
The Preditors & Editors site is a good place to start when checking out viable options. But, please keep in mind, that presses don't start out bad. You could be with a press that's doing great, and all of a sudden things start to spiral downward. This can have something to do with the owner, or if there's a new head editor. When policies change, everything changes. People focus on different things... Maybe the old editor was faster at getting works out and doesn't spend as much time on cover art, but the new one takes their time and waits for everything to be perfect. You just don't know what changes will come about with a shuffling of people associated with a press.
You should be prepared to deal with let down because not everyone works the same, and people make mistakes. Even you when you choose to go with a press that eventually lets you down. Don't be too hard on yourself. Learn from the situation and move on - that's what I did.
Relationships in publishing can be like dating... You like someone, get to know them better, things don't work out, and you break up. But, you try again next time you find someone you like and who gets you excited... You keep going with the process (wiser for the past mistakes and learning) and eventually that one special someone (press, agent, editor) comes along and makes all the dreams you've been hoping for come true.
Don't give up because things don't go your way. Step back out into the world wiser and chase down you're "happily ever after" in publishing.
Copyrights owned by Rebecca Besser, 2013. All rights reserved.
