My Publishing History- III--and then people died.

One of my Christian horror tales

I thought things had turned around when a publisher accepted my book but told me it had to be formatted to be published. This was early on and I wasn't that good with computers. A friend who owned a computer store showed me how to do what needed to be done on one of his brand new computers. He gave me a kty to his store and I went in every morning at 6 and stayed until 9 when he came in. 

When I'd finished the job, I contacted the publisher. His wife responded, "I'm so sorry, my dear, but my husband has passed away." 

With my Deputy Tempe Crabtree books, my first four were published by a small, independent publisher as mass market paperbacks. She was wonederful. She helped me promote, traveled with me, and we became great friends. Sadly, she passed away unexpectedly.

An then, the publisher of Oak Tree Press, who picked up my Rocky Bluff P.D. series after the first three publishers--1. Didn't know how to really publish on the Net, 2. turned out to be another crook didn't pay out royalties, 3. Did a great job but after publishing 2 books decided she didn't want to be a publisher after all--did a wonderful job. We became close friends, traveled, shared a room at conferences, met for lunch, chatted on the phone, and after an illness, passed away. I not only lost a publisher, but also another good friend. 

Other publishers came along and did great jobs until trajedy struck  in one's life, another decied to retire, and yet another had too many books to publish.

That's really a quick overview--but makes you wonder why I kept writing, doesn't it?

Finally, when Lorna Collins suggedted I self-publish with lots of help from her and her husband, all my books have been republished. Wonderful friends. I was fortunate enought to get the rights back for all the books and for most of the covers.  

So, there is a happy ending to all of this:

Marilyn