Monday, May 17, 2010

The Delays

I moved to Los Angeles in 2006 to pursue film and TV. It is easy to say that while I had a great passion for my short stories, it was less important than landing a TV or film gig. I kept reading more books and came to the realization that self-publishing was the answer. Sure, I'd pursue small publishers but again, since I was a first time author, a non-expert, and certainly not a celebrity, I had nothing going for me to make a sale. Remember that this is business. No one cares how good your book is because no one will read it if they can't market it. Yes, there are examples from every side of a book that made it through, but remember that hundreds of thousands of books are published every year - you can't count on yours being the one break through book - you need it to be covered from all sides.

With this and many other details in mind, I was ready to get started with Authorhouse, a recommendation from Allan Rich. It seemed ideal: a self-publishing company to assist you in everything you need to make your book. Editing, cover design, copyrights, you name it. I looked into a few other of these independent firms and regardless of Allan's recommendation, Authorhouse was still at the top of my list along with Xilibris and iUniverse. I had welcome booklets from each and my own rep at Authorhouse. After going through the options, it seemed that Authorhouse could get my book together for under $7,000 for everything. EVERYTHING.

$7,000 is a lot of money, but not as much as what a short film can add up to. Still, I had a deadend entertainment job paying me less than my cost of living so paying anything was a tough sell. I had to keep this on hold and develop my thoughts further. So I kept reading more books to educate myself.

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