Rebooting the Book

One thing that happens to authors sometimes is that their books, for one reason or another, drop out of publication. What do you do with a book that's already been published? Unless you're a household name, odds are, no major publisher is going to lift a pinkie finger to snatch it up, no matter how awesome it is.

The options left are limited:

1. Stuff it back in your shelf and forget about it: Once upon a time this was really the only option authors had. 
2. Self-publishing: Though the vanity press has existed for centuries, this has become so much more a thing during the digital age. It does, however, make the author responsible for every single aspect of the book--artwork, formatting, editing, and promotion, in addition to the actual writing. This gives you lots of control, and all the profits, if there are any, go straight back to you. But each aspect of the book can cost you hundreds, leaving the idea of profits slim, unless you're very good at the promotion angle.
3. Small Press: There are a bunch of publishers out there, primarily e-first companies that are perfectly willing to look at previously published novels, novellas, or short stories. You have to be careful though. Not all of them are honest and some of them couldn't care less if your book sells or not.

I'm at a position with my career where I have a lot of out-of-print material to handle, due largely to the dissolution of my largest pubisher. I've been really slow at getting the 30 or so works they had of mine back out, but I've taken a multi-prong tactic, basically including all 3 of the options above.

Why different options for different works? Here's a few things for anyone with that kind of backlist to think about:

• Cost and cost/profit analysis: These are not the same. Cost is straight up, do I have the money right now to pay a good cover artist? An editor, if the original wasn't that great (I'm lucky that way--most of my editors have been good.)? Promotion?  Cost/profit is figuring out if the book is going to eventually make back what you paid out. Both are important.
• Branding: Does the book still fit the brand you've established or are hoping to build? If not, the back of your hard drive might be where it belongs. At least one of my stories will not be going back up for sale, because it's just not where I want my readers to go.
• Series: Do you intend to write more, or is it being returned to you as a complete series? One reason I chose a publisher for my newest re-release is that I want to add more books to the series, and want an editor and cover artist, which I simply don't have the cash to pay out of pocket. It's a publisher I trust, run by people with both good romance pedigrees and good business sense. Yes, they take a chunk of the profit, so I am paying for all those things out of my sales. But their distribution department will help make sure my book reaches a wider audience than just my current readers.
• Updating, or putting it out as-is. I have a series of books which involve a lot of tech. Now that tech is 10 years out of date. So do I self-pub? The updates might actually change the plot. Would a publisher help me with that? I haven't actually made that decision yet.

At this point, I want to give a shout out to my newest publisher,. This coming week (Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019) one of my favorite novels is coming back out into the world. You'll be able to find it in e-book and print at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, and Google Play. I'll come back in and post the links as soon as they're up! Hopefully a sequel will be scheduled later this year! It's so good to get back on the horse--or dragon--or dolphin again! Happy 2019, everyone!

Supernova distributes to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, Kobo and Google Play.

Dead! Well, not quite. Yet.

Heidi’s day started out well enough, studying dolphins with best friend and research partner, but things took a turn when they got caught in the middle of a drug exchange. Her friend is missing, probably dead, and Heidi was shot at and left to die, too.

Girl meets…guy?

Then the hottest boat bum she’s ever seen rescues her. Tall, dark and handsome, Jake is every girl’s dream. Still, the last thing on her mind is romance. The drug dealers figured out pretty quick she wasn’t dead. Now, they want to finish the job, and her mysterious, drop-dead gorgeous rescuer might not be able to save her—or himself.

Cursed!

Jake’s got a fishy secret of his own—complete with fins. He’s exiled from his colony and cursed to shapeshift with the moon. As a merman, Jake can’t afford to be around humans, especially a marine biologist who might discover his species. But he can’t throw Heidi to the men after her. He’ll fight drug lords, pirates and even the gods to protect her. Piece of cake, right? It’s easier than the other problem, the biggest problem of all: the massive attraction growing between Jake and Heidi, an attraction neither can deny.

A centuries-old merman and an air-breathing, very human scientist might fall in love,  but where would they live? And can that love even survive?