Let’s Talk Traditional Publishing pt. 2

Let’s talk traditional publishing.

First off, what is traditional publishing? Traditional publishing is where a company, whether big or small, publishes your book. They do all the editing and formatting, help with cover design, and do the behind the scenes work for getting your book out there, like contacting bookstores or bloggers for reviews.

Now when I talk about traditional publishing for my books, I don’t mean the big five publishing companies. I mean the small presses, the indie presses, that keep the publishing world sane. Both my books In the Mid-Hours and GIRL have been published by two different small presses, and I want to talk about the experiences I’ve had in the process of releasing them into the world.

Starting with In the Mid-Hours, and the good that came with signing the contract to have my book published. For the sake of me being polite, I’m not going to name my publishers aloud in the video… but if you’re really that curious, its not too hard to find out… *cough* the video description *cough*

In the Mid-Hours was published in October of last year (2021) and is soon nearing its first birthday, but let’s talk about its beginning months, its first stages after simply being a draft.

I signed my contract in December of 2019 and was thrilled to have a publisher for my collection. It was set to release in March, but then May to allow time for final edits, but, in case you for some reason haven’t been keeping up with the events in the world, COVID happened, and the release of my book was put on hold for the unseeable future. Up until that point, the communication with the team was wonderful. We discussed pre-order campaigns and gifts to send to book bloggers, what small businesses we’d like to partner with and were very on top of picking the perfect day for the release. Despite the release not going the way any of us planned, two years after signing the contract, ITMH was out into the world, with the most stunning cover I’ve ever laid my eyes upon. I was delighted to have the long process finally over, and to have the finished project in my hands.

But I wasn’t as happy with the release as I wish I was…

In the summer months of 2021, the publishing company emailed me to say they’ve started the edits on my book, which really surprised me, as I assumed the edits were done last year, when we originally decided to release the book before the world shut down. But I told myself perhaps they just meant the final gloss through before sending it to the printers.

The end of summer came, and it was time to discuss the cover. I had designed my own cover, a sun and moon over a blue ocean, with a full white background, but upon further mulling, one of the co-owners asked if I wanted a more sunrise/sunset vibe instead and provided examples. Now, I loved my cover, but I’m also a sucker for lavender, and so I said yes. The new cover design was under way, and after a few more tweaks, was complete. ITMH was ready to go… or so I thought. Edits still had to be made for the interior, and the synopsis was in the process.

By this point it was nearing October and I was yet given a solid release date. I couldn’t promote the books release because I had no idea when that would be! I had to wait, and anyone who knows me, knows that God, I hate waiting.

About a week before the tentative release date, I’m told that the printers were taking a little longer than expected, and the books might not arrive in time. To be frank, I was done. I was tired of the waiting and the uncertainty of it all, tired of not being able to tell my readers when they could expect a new release. It’d had been almost two years and it wasn’t feeling worth it. Yet, the books arrived on time, pre-orders went up for five days, and on October 25th, ITMH was officially released.

I sold two books. My mom and dad ordered them.

Ignoring the horror story I just told and experienced, I was determined to put forth another collection with another small press, and I settled on one that had just started up a few weeks prior to my submission.

The contract for GIRL was signed in March and immediately I was given a run-down of how things would operate from then on forward, and my worries of dealing with another tragic book release, were washed away.

Days after, the first round of edits were sent to me for approval, the cover was decided upon, and an estimated release date was brought forth. Everything was moving so fast, but so smoothly! I was beyond excited!

The cover reveal went up in April, pre-orders went up in May, merch was set up and I’m still eyeing a backpack… by the time June came around, my heart was fuller than I had ever imagined.

The company and I went back and forth in emails with information of what was expected and what updates there was, from where my book was being sold, a list of indie bookstores they would reach out to, and how many book bloggers they were sending a free reader copy to. There was no point in time where I was left in the dark for more than a week. It was a refreshing experience, and has been, by far, my most exciting and happiest collection to have been released.

Thanks to the wonderful team and the great communication, behind the scenes work, and the on-time scheduling of everything, GIRL sold 35 copies in the first month and hit Amazons best sellers list in lgbtq+ poetry TWICE!!

I can say with certainty that my experience with this press was so amazing that I’ve recommended it to friends multiple times, and have even sent a second collection for publication consideration…

Now I’ve mentioned before, when I did a “Let’s Talk Traditional Publishing”  blog the first time around, that the experience will vary from press to press, from big name to small name, and from author to author, but I’m hoping that my polar opposite stories don’t discourage you from seeking out a publisher. Not every experience will be a nightmare, and in the end, when you find a good company, it will have been so worth it and a wonderful time.