Thank you C. Lee McKenzie for inviting me to blog here. I am happy to share my republishing tale. For three years my book was out of print and not available for sale except in second hand. The prices for books were astronomical. I was devastated and here is my story of how I was able to get it back out there into the hands of readers.
Many of you have been published by a traditional publisher and may or may not have been in my position. My book, If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor, was published in 2011 by MuseItUp Publishing as an ebook and later as a paperback. Three years ago my publisher sent me back the manuscripts on Word docs and told me she was going out of business. I had the rights to the text but not to the cover. So I went looking for a publisher for my book.
If you look on Amazon to see the rating and the reviews you will see they are very favorable. I have twenty-nine good reviews through the years. However, no publisher would do it. So I had to go with KDP Amazon, which gave me a good deal and threw in a free cover. I couldn't resist that and paid a little bit to get it republished.
We spent almost a year getting it done due to the fact that we couldn't decide on a cover. The one I had was not mine and I didn't like the morose girl on it. So we went back and forth and finally found the one I liked. Happy to say the editing of this book by Nancy Bell and Penny Ehrenkranz was so good there didn't need to be any changes at all to the original story. We did make it international print so now it has a Table of Contents and things have been moved a little bit.
Now the book has been launched in person and online and it is available on not only Amazon but Barnes and Noble and other outlets including maybe your local bookstore. I am extremely happy that the book has risen from the ashes.
As the years went by I wrote two sequels to it and it is now the first book of The Mill Valley High series. If you notice in the 2nd edition there is the first chapter of the second book in the series: Who Is Jennifer Taylor? which is not published yet but will be soon. In the meantime, I included that in the book and it is also available on Kindle Vella for free. I may be putting more chapters on Kindle Vella so check it out.
If you look on Amazon to see the rating and the reviews you will see they are very favorable. I have twenty-nine good reviews through the years. However, no publisher would do it. So I had to go with KDP Amazon, which gave me a good deal and threw in a free cover. I couldn't resist that and paid a little bit to get it republished.
We spent almost a year getting it done due to the fact that we couldn't decide on a cover. The one I had was not mine and I didn't like the morose girl on it. So we went back and forth and finally found the one I liked. Happy to say the editing of this book by Nancy Bell and Penny Ehrenkranz was so good there didn't need to be any changes at all to the original story. We did make it international print so now it has a Table of Contents and things have been moved a little bit.
Now the book has been launched in person and online and it is available on not only Amazon but Barnes and Noble and other outlets including maybe your local bookstore. I am extremely happy that the book has risen from the ashes.
As the years went by I wrote two sequels to it and it is now the first book of The Mill Valley High series. If you notice in the 2nd edition there is the first chapter of the second book in the series: Who Is Jennifer Taylor? which is not published yet but will be soon. In the meantime, I included that in the book and it is also available on Kindle Vella for free. I may be putting more chapters on Kindle Vella so check it out.
The wonderful part about this is that If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor has been launched both online and in person. I know a publisher in India who launched my book for me even though we didn't have a physical book yet and it was launched locally by my local library, Perrot Library in Old Greenwich, CT. At that book launch I again had no copies of the book. They are being published on Ingram and so a delay in shipping created this problem. No worries. I read an excerpt from my phone. I didn't get to sign any books, though. My copies came the day afterward. I had to laugh. In addition, my book is available at the local bookstore, Athena Books if you live in the area. You can also get it online at Barnes and Noble or ask for it in their store.
The ebook will be out very soon. Unlike the first time when it was published first in ebook, this time the ebook was done after the paperback. I am so happy it is back out there and hope that it will be read by the middle school audience.
Until the next time hope you are reading and writing and publishing if that's what you want to do. All publishing is cool now.
Until the next time hope you are reading and writing and publishing if that's what you want to do. All publishing is cool now.
13 comments:
Sorry the books arrived a day late but at least you got it published again.
Thank you. Yes, but the group did get to hear an excerpt that I read from a phone. But it shows you can have a book launch without the physical book.
Thank you so much Barbara for your helpful article. I do have a question. How were you able to publish both on KSP and B&N? Did you purchase your own ISBN numbers? I have so many Questions as I try to self publish. This was most helpful.
Hi Kristy,
I published with KDP, which is actually Kindle Direct Publishing. I also spent a little bit to get on Ingram Spark where the books are being published. Amazon offered me a contract that said they would publish and do the ebook and they gave me the ISBN number. My publisher gave me back my original books so I had the rights to the original ISBN. KDP put my book on Barnes and Noble and other online outlets. Plus if your book gets on Ingram it can go into libraries and bookstores. Did that answer your question? I am still waiting for the ebook and have to contact my project director to find out about that.
I would suggest getting in contact with KDP and speaking with a representative. They are very helpful and if you hesitate they might throw in the cover for free. You get a project director to take care of all your publishing. I can't guarantee that it will be the same one through the whole project. I had three of them. But they are reliable about publishing and do a very good job. I paid a little but it was worth it.
Hi Kristy again,
I meant to say thank you for your kind words. Also, communication with the project director is through email and you can call them or text them. They are available when you reach them and are supposed to be giving their full attention to you only. Of course, they have other projects. But the quality and patience they have is good. I had a lot of trouble getting my cover right and they were very understanding and just kept doing it over until we got it right.
I like reading about your republishing experience, especially how positive you are during what usually are emotionally-charged issues. Congratulations on the new release of your books!
Great post, Barbara. Thanks for sharing your experience with our members. It is very helpful.
Thank you for the feedback. I always try to be positive if there's nothing I can do to change something.
C.Lee,
Thank you for inviting me. I really enjoyed seeing the reaction to my blog. I hope I can visit here again soon. How long will my blog be here?
I didn't know KDP did that. I thought it was just a self-publishing platform. Thanks for the information! The book sounds like a wonderful read, probably why Amazon paid for the cover!
Lightning Source/Ingram is not the fastest. I upload and order print books for DLP at LEAST 5-6 weeks in advance.
L. Diane Wolfe,
It took about three weeks. Lesson learned. They keep great records though. I have the exact accounting of how much I sold and the amount of money in various forms, including knowing where it came from.
Thanks Barbara - and Lee and Alex for letting Barbara telling us how she coped ... you've obviously enlightened a few authors - congratulations and good luck - cheers Hilary
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