I choose you!

Hi folks.

It's been a while.

Sorry, I was off having cancer and doing everything I could to get that under control, but I'll do my best to post regularly again. No promises, of course, I'm busy playing catch up.

So this week's topic is near and dear to my heart. Traditional or self-publishing.

Listen, twenty years ago I would have sneered at self-publishing. Right or wrong (for the times) I felt the true measure of professionalism was getting published by one of the Big Five. Less than that meant less than professional.

Then the world changed drastically.

Self-publication stopped being an amateur hour. You could do it and actually have a chance of making money, which, two decades back wasn't the case very often. There were always exceptions but they WERE exceptions.

One of the best things bout self-publication these days is called BACKLISTING. I have several books in print now that weren't there for a few years. True story, I did a book called BLOODSTAINED OZ with one of my best friends. It sold through a small press at a price of $40 for a numbered limited edition and $125 for a lettered limited edition. lt also sold out in one weekend. After that, you just weren't going to see it again.  There were no plans for a mass-market version because we were talking about a novella.

fast forward ten years and the book was practically a holy grail affair. The books that had sol at $45 were going for over $1,000 dollars on the secondary market. because we could and because there was obvious demand, my partner on the book and I agreed to put it out as an ebook for $1.99. We sold a few copies and the market dropped. Now you can get a second-hand version for a far more reasonable price. What can we say? Books are meant to be read.

I have several more books that are currently out of print. I intend to put most of them back into print during the next year.

I'm doing them a few at a time because I have to pay someone smarter than me for the layout and someone else with artistic talent for the covers. :)

I still have plenty of traditionally published books in the queue. but my backstock? I can do that myself, if only to ensure people can still find copies if they're so inclined.

Keep smiling folks!