Bye-bye Deadline

Whoosh. That’s the sound of a deadline rushing past. June was my target date for self-publishing Soiled Undies. Oops, looks like I missed it.

What’s the holdup? Layout mostly. I do not want to do it. Not if I can avoid it. Writing is fine. Editing is okay. But I hate technical work. I considered hiring an assistant for it, but do not have the budget.

And then I stumbled upon another option. There is a new breed of independent publisher that focuses on ebooks but also offers a print on demand option. These are not vanity presses. Authors do not pay for the service, which includes professional editing, layout, and cover design. But this is not a traditional press either; there is no upfront author’s pay.

Instead, if the publisher accepts your project, they publish it at their cost, and you; the author, receive some percentage of future profits.

The pro is that you can submit directly to these companies, no agent required. The con is that they don’t have a marketing arm. Don’t expect to see your book in bookstores. It’s online only, and you share responsibility for marketing it. I feel well-positioned for this already, having a website and a Facebook page dedicated to the book, as well as a modest Substack following.

Now I just need to start submitting to the most likely fits.

When? Hopefully today. Anything to avoid having to do the tedious layout work myself.

I’m usually good with deadlines. For example, my story Uncle Jake’s Follies is ready to submit this morning as the submission window opens for Hold My Beer Heroes. And I am ready to begin the editing process for my Killer Kaiju story, due July 24th.

Also returned my completed revisions to my editor for Winter Ghost, scheduled to appear in Wyrd Warfare 3.

So, it’s not like I’ve been slacking off.

A few rejections have trickled in over the past few days. Form letters. Nothing surprising. Happily, numb to them now.

Today’s Substack story is my favourite story rejected so far from Raconteur Press. I thought it was a fun one and was bummed out because it was the best anthology theme so far: Pet Monster. I really wanted to be in that collection mostly because I really wanted to read it. And I thought my story had a strong chance. I thought it at least deserved more than a form letter.

Well, that’s the way the cookie crumbles. At least I have a fun story to share with you. I’m pleased to present: The Best Kind of Pet. https://brainsoupfic.substack.com/p/the-best-kind-of-pet