Part 4 of How to Not Publish or Sell Your Book Well: A Failed Publisher’s Guide

Part IV

So, here I am, about to start again at editing Dharma Rain, and much more laid back about the whole endeavor. I am more focused than I ever was, and a more consistent worker. Yet, I am also much more realistic about what I can accomplish. I like to think that I would be a better editor now than I would have been at any time before. I like to think things like this because it makes the passage of events seem destined somehow. Meaningful. It redeems them and me.

I want more than anything to be able to do right by Jackie and her book. I ask a lot of myself. I don’t know how to edit a novel. This is all new. But I can look back to those first experiences with my novella and do everything I can to be clear and precise and to offer her a lot of help.

It’s funny how the press was a real thing to me when it was run by three guys who I respected and envied in terms of their common bond. When they wanted to publish my work, it felt like something solid and real had been set in motion.

My biggest lesson in all of this has been that the publishing company is an illusion. It is a collection of actions taken, usually with a sense of urgency and without much guarantee that things will work out.

-Will the editing be good enough, is the novel even good enough?

-What if the design looks bad, the pages aren’t numbered correctly or the books are printed with crooked margin?

-What if we find a typo after it’s published? What if we say something the wrong way and are accused of slander, or worse, stupidity?

-How do we save enough money to publish these book and who should print them?

-Will anyone distribute them?

-What? You won’t distribute them unless you see our marketing plan and we have 1,000 copies at least?

-What if no one buys the book?

-What if it’s poorly reviewed?

-What, and this is where my heart hurts, if it is a failure and it hangs in the air forever between the writer and editor, an especially sad prospect when the two are friends.

These are the heavinesses I used to carry around with me all the time. That is why I am writing them here, to excise them. And hopefully, with my wonderful new job writing content and doing Web 2.0 marketing for Artspan.com, I’ll finally have found some stability that will last long enough to make a real impact with some of my beloved side projects, like the press.

So, if you are interested, I am going to continue documenting this journey. I will continue to be honest about my own life and my reactions, to daily projects and interests and pains and joys.

As I write this, and look back on these last years, I know that this tool I have been given has been immensely good for my growth, if nothing else. And though I may not be the person to turn for those who want to learn how to run a successful grassroots publishing company by themselves, I think you may find I can teach you what not to do. Or, being less hard on myself, I can share tricks I’m learning about Web 2.0 marketing that may work for my books once I get to know them better.

And I look forward to really making this blog interactive, multimedia, smart, informative, and a joy to experience.

So, I am going to start this week, editing and discussing with you the editing process at these first stages. And I am going to try to be as honest as possible at the risk of sounding whiny and unprofessional.

After all, all that matters is what you learn.