Hello, Readers! Clevenger here.

As Graham spoke about in the last post, the question of “how” we want to publish this book has become more and more of a talking point. The “pipe-dream” becomes more and more real with each passing day. So, we have had to have some conversations about what it means.

One of my greatest concerns is losing control over the vision of our story.

When we have readers looking over it, (which our Beta Read is going GREAT!) we are getting strong feedback about what they are connecting to. This insight serves us well, but ultimately, it allows us to keep to our vision. We can control what we want to say, how to include it, and details that make it what it should be.

I think a lot of it is because we’re not talking to other authors/book nerds. They are readers. When I go to a bookstore, I have two minds. One as a reader, and another as a writer.

The “Reader” in me looks at page numbers, and how much of the book is “extra” (forward, dedication, word from the author, etc.) and what is the “meat” of the story. I want to know how invested I’ll be. 300-400-page book… should be a good afternoon/weekend read. 600-700-page book… ooh, this could get deep. 1000 page book! Strap in, folks, let’s DO THIS!

You see, the “Reader” in me doesn’t stop and think if this is the author’s first or fiftieth book. I’m just looking to have a good time. I’m not looking at word count, or analyzing why they chose a particular format (Trade, Traditional, etc.), I’m just picking up the book and asking “Will I enjoy this?”

And those factors that my “reader” brain doesn’t think about are all being asked of my “writer” brain. I see things like “If you are a debut author, keep your first book to the more ‘traditional’ word count of 90-100 thousand words.” “If you are a debut author, try not to start a series.” Graham and I did our Beta copy, and my very loose typeset put our narrative at about 320 pages. Add about 10-15 pages for copyright, maps, forward and dedications, and another 40-50 pages for appendices, and the book is now about 400 pages. And the first in a series. How will a potential publisher react?

I don’t know.

And while an editor will give us suggestions, a publisher may make demands. Forced changes could kill the heart of our story. How much power would we, as debut authors, have?

Well, I guess unless we ask, we don’t know. Graham and I have thought about pushing the launch (from December to June) in order to ask just that. Could we demand a contract that includes all 4 books? Publishing them all or none. Could we ensure that we have complete control of the final product? We don’t know. But maybe… maybe we should ask.

Traditional publishing still has a weight of prestige that self-publishers are striving for. I believe in our book, deep into my heart, and a rebellious spark in me just wants to say, “Screw the world, we’ll do this on our OWN!” But, maybe, someone out there believes in it just the way it is, just like Graham and I do, but could put it in the traditional publishing world. It would be cool to point at it on a shelf in Barnes & Noble and say, “That’s ours.”

Until then, lots of things to think about.

Be Kind.

-Clevenger