(Mis)Adventures in Publishing

So. I’ve been promising everyone that Book 2 will be out in time for Christmas this year. That may still happen. Here’s the deal: I signed a contract with a publisher that gives them the rights to everything in the SPARK universe for ten years. Earlier this week, they told me that the book will be delayed. A year. Problems with resources. 

They’re a small publisher and are stretched thin on people and money. I get that. I truly do. I’ve run a small business for years, and sometimes we’re all on the ragged edge.

A year.

That’s a long time for a near future sci-fi novel. I worry about tech surpassing my world.

It’s the story, they tell me. Don’t worry about the science and tech. 

Go watch some black-and-white movies.

Am I being overly sensitive? 

I offered to share the costs of getting the book to market. They weren’t interested. “That’s not traditional publishing.” So be it. HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster seem to be more than happy to have investors.

We’ve agreed principle to terminate the contract. Details have now been finalized. As of today, I own the rights to SPARK. It cost me a surprising amount of money, but significantly less than I was willing to invest in my former publisher. I hope everything works out for them.

A few questions for you:

1. Where do you buy your books?
2. How often do you listen to audio books? (Mine is with the narrator now.)
3. Do you like the cover of SPARK? I’m going to change it and publish a second edition to fix some lingering typos. What do you/don’t you like about the cover?
4. Know any good cover artists?

Didn’t think I’d end up here, but so it goes. Have “traditional” publishers gone the way of the Passenger Pigeon?