Marilyn's Musings

The "and more" refers to why I've chosen to remain with my small publishers and not jump off and go the self-publishing route as so many others have. First, I was thrilled when Mundania Press agreed to pick up my Deputy Tempe Crabtree series after I lost the first two publishers. I'd met the publisher at several writing conferences and he had the know how and business sense I was looking for. Raging Water, the latest in Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series I met the publisher for Oak Tree Press also at a writing conference. In fact I met her several times before I approached her about publishing the next one up in my Rocky Bluff P.D. series. I parted ways with the first publisher, the second one published two books and then decided to retire. Approaching Oak Tree Press seemed the next logical stop. Latest in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, Dangerous Impulses. Why did I make that choice and stick with it? Number one, I don't want to learn how to do s...

I gave a talk on this subject to a group of writers at Willowbridge Bookstore. This is the essence of what I said: The publishing industry is changing and it's changing fast. POD used to be a bad word—this is what’s happening right now. Dorchester Publishing/Leisure Books is not going to publish mass market paperback anymore—only POD and e-books. St. Martin’s just announced they are switching to POD. And I'm sure it won't be long before other big publishers will be doing the same. Why? Economic issues mainly. It's much too expensive to print books that may end up being warehoused. Most of the small presses have been using POD for years—and at the same time, publishing e-books. Paper books will not disappear, but things are changing. When looking for a small press make sure that not only do they do print books but also e-books. You want to be able to sell both. When submitting to a small press, do exactly what the guidelines tell you. Every small press seems to have diff...