A new book begins
My struggle of late has been to find a way to a book of my own. It's been over two years since When Towns Had Teams hit the streets and I had no intention of going this long between releases. As it stands now, it looks like it will be nearly three years between books for me.
The good news is that I've decided on a theme and will be starting with my research. My goal is to have the book release next July, to coincide with Lisbon's Moxie Festival. Without giving away the theme and what the book's about, let me just say that it will focus on my hometown of Lisbon Falls and will be a book that connects with people and place.
RiverVision Press seems to work best when it has a book of my own to schlep around and market, so that will be our focus for the next year. While I'm happy to have had the experience of working with another author and releasing someone else's book, the excitement and the logistics of my own book, vs. one by another author, is no contest. Because there isn't alot of financial gain from the kind of micro-publishing that I'm capable of, I need to find other means of satifaction and positive feedback and unfortunately, they haven't been there with the latest book. I'll spare readers the gory details, but I think it all comes down to expectiations--my expectatons of publishing are rooted in the realities of what I know the local market will bear. With my own book, When Towns Had Teams, I think my upfront sense for sales and the marketing plan were well coordinated. I had a realistic goal and I actually exceeded it.
When you release someone else's book, however, unless every detail is hammered out in the contract (which is almost impossible, unless you want to spend your life with a lawyer) and every scenario is discussed up front, you are bound to have misunderstandings.
As they say, live and learn.
The good news is that I've decided on a theme and will be starting with my research. My goal is to have the book release next July, to coincide with Lisbon's Moxie Festival. Without giving away the theme and what the book's about, let me just say that it will focus on my hometown of Lisbon Falls and will be a book that connects with people and place.
RiverVision Press seems to work best when it has a book of my own to schlep around and market, so that will be our focus for the next year. While I'm happy to have had the experience of working with another author and releasing someone else's book, the excitement and the logistics of my own book, vs. one by another author, is no contest. Because there isn't alot of financial gain from the kind of micro-publishing that I'm capable of, I need to find other means of satifaction and positive feedback and unfortunately, they haven't been there with the latest book. I'll spare readers the gory details, but I think it all comes down to expectiations--my expectatons of publishing are rooted in the realities of what I know the local market will bear. With my own book, When Towns Had Teams, I think my upfront sense for sales and the marketing plan were well coordinated. I had a realistic goal and I actually exceeded it.
When you release someone else's book, however, unless every detail is hammered out in the contract (which is almost impossible, unless you want to spend your life with a lawyer) and every scenario is discussed up front, you are bound to have misunderstandings.
As they say, live and learn.
posted by Jim at 6:06 AM
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