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Greetings and salutations. It is I, Graham.

We wanted to look at the pros and cons of publishing. Clevenger and I have discussed this, but as a thought experiment. What would Manticore’s Shadow look like if we took the route of traditional publication? Nothing would change in our procedures right now. We would still be here without Beta Readers. We would be looking at a second major round of editing. Once that was completed, we would begin sending out query letters, looking for literary agents. While that process went on, we would push to finish up the rough drafts on books three and four, and then move on to editing book two.

So far, it sounds like nothing has changed. However, once we got closer to the end of the year, we would still likely be sending out query letters. If we were fortunate, we may have been able to speak with a couple of literary agents, and gotten some feedback on what is and is not working on our story overview. If we were incredibly lucky, we may have even received a full manuscript request, meaning they were interested enough to read the full book.

Best case, we get a full request by Christmas. They would have an editor look at our work and come back to us with a list of what is and isn’t working and some update requests. This would give us a new round of edits, working to someone else’s notes, based on what they, in their professional opinion, would make the book more palatable to publishers, so that they can work on selling the book. This would bring us to the stage where we would have to begin making judgment calls, debating what can be changed to make the story more mass appealing, while still retaining the important elements that made us want to writing the book in the first place.

Sticking with the minimum of what success would mean by working with a publisher, we gain their marketing contacts. We gain some of their shelf space in regional and national bookstores. Most like, to get there, we dig around and find our own local libraries and stores to do book signings. We finance our own trips to cons and events. The publisher might get us into some of the events with their paid credentials, but we are still on the hook for travel and hotels, potentially even to events in areas we may not be up for visiting, or on timetables that are difficult for our lives. Thus is the life of a debut author.

My worse case scenario is not that we don’t find an agent or a publisher. I can live with those, because I am not writing this book to become famous and wealthy. I will be happy self publishing, ordering a print-on-demand copy for my own shelf, and moving on. No my worst case scenario is that we ARE picked up, we ARE published, and then our book doesn’t sell well enough to satisfy the publisher. Now suddenly they are no longer interested in the rest of the series. Now we are left to self publish the remaining books just like we originally planned, but we have no control over book one. We can’t promote it. We can’t include it in boxed sets. We can’t make alternate covers, or put it on sale to generate interest in sequels.

All that being said, it would be really sweet to see Manticore’s Shadow on a shelf in the Fantasy/Science Fiction section in my local Barnes and Nobles. But still, that seems too much of a gamble. Until next time…

Don’t forget to love one another.

Graham