When You Know It’s Time to Move On

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

In October, my agent received an email from my editor.  I have a release scheduled in the Southern Quilting series this June (book 5).  My editor knew my contract for the series was about to run out and asked me to come up with some ideas for additional books for the series.

I developed two book outlines but never emailed them.  My editor wrote my agent last month to say that print sales had decreased (I’ve no doubt…they’re only a fraction of my digital sales for my self-published books) and Penguin Random House wanted to stop printing the series.  Instead, they were interested in my exploring their e-only line, InterMix.

And…I asked for my character rights back.

The publisher promptly returned a non-renewal notice for the series and a permission grant for me to continue it via self-pub.

I know my ebooks have been selling well—I get royalty checks.  I haven’t drunk the Kool-Aid here.  I know what I need a big-five traditional publisher for…expansive print distribution into bookstores.  But this is now becoming less and less important as indicated by my publisher moving away from printing this series.

I read my agent’s email and immediately knew I wanted to self-pub the series before I’d even finished the email. I’m fortunate enough to have a decent reader base at this point, making this the right decision.  Would I discourage everyone from accepting an e-only deal?  I wouldn’t.  But I’d add that we really need to go into these types of arrangements with our eyes open.  What do we want to get out of it?  We should do some soul-searching.

Admittedly, I didn’t give InterMix a chance. I didn’t explore their royalty structure. I didn’t ask questions. I didn’t query. I just pulled out. This is completely based on my current contracts for digital books and the small percentage of royalties I receive on net.

Challenges for me will be maintaining the series branding without making it too close to the publisher’s covers, for copyright reasons.  The quality I’ve got to match/approach is evident as you look at the cover on the right for my upcoming June release. Another challenge will be ensuring the same level of quality in writing, editing, and production.  I think I can swing it.

It’s tricky.  But I’ve done it before.  That’s how the Myrtle Clover series started out.

The nice thing is that I have a strong audience for the series and it had a good push from the publisher and visibility at retailers. Luckily, I have that as a base.

Also nice is that now I have two outlines ready to go.  :)

Important for writers, I think—don’t let these types of decisions become personal.  I love my editor…I’ve had a fantastic working relationship with her.  My agent and I have worked together well.  This isn’t about relationships…this is business.  This is about my making a living.

I think they understand that. There are no hard feelings.  I’m not just taking my ball and going home out of pique. E-only isn’t a good fit for me…that’s all there is to it.

When Midnight Ink dropped my Myrtle Clover series in 2010, I was extremely disappointed. My characters, I thought, would never come to life on the page again.  In 2015, I know that my characters can keep having adventures as long as I choose to write them and the readers are interested in reading them.

With this series moving to self-pub and with the end of the Memphis series (an orphaned series that I don’t have the rights to self-pub) I thought, “This is it—now I’m 100% indie.” Before realizing that….no, not really.  I have nine traditionally published books with a tenth on the way in June.  I receive income from those as long as they keep selling and they’re always for sale online.  With that in mind, I guess I’ll always be a hybrid.

My editor invited me to pitch Penguin Random House another series.  I never like to say never.  But—I’d have to have a really good reason to pitch.

What direction is the weather vane pointing for you?  Hybrid, traditional, self-pub?

Why 1 author will take her trad. series to self-pub.
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Image: MorgueFile: Bosela

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