Hello, Friends! Stepping back into the blogosphere as I’ve been writing and getting ready for my own writing adventures in the future. Meanwhile, Catherine Dilts joins me on Help from My Friends Friday to talk about what many of us in publishing are doing. Editing and updating our backlists when this market throws us those proverbial curve balls. Shall we hear what she has to say? Welcome Catherine. ~ Donnell
Quitting Is Not an Option
By: Catherine Dilts
Author Catherine Dilts
If you enjoyed my cozy mystery novel, The Body in the Hayloft, you may have noticed it’s book three in a series. If you haven’t read the first two and tried to obtain copies, you may be confused. Where did they go?
There are many reasons books disappear. Publishers go out of business. Agents and editors retire. Suddenly, the writer is orphaned. This can be devastating. We’ve invested too much time, energy, passion, and faith in our novels to watch them crash into a ditch of anonymity.
Back in 2012, I was thrilled when my debut novel, Stone Cold Dead: A Rock Shop Mystery, was accepted by Five Star Cengage. They also published the second in that series, Stone Cold Case.
After sending in the third book, Stone Cold Blooded, there was a long silence. Crickets. The news finally came. Five Star dropped its mystery line. Not me personally. They had been shedding genres like a bird molting feathers. Their romance line had previously gone away. Now their entire stable of mystery authors went poof overnight.
The third book in my series was an orphan.
Enter Encircle Publishing, a brand-new small press. Several Five Star orphans jumped on board. Stone Cold Blooded was their flagship publication. Yay! I was still traditionally published!
In the meantime, I was offered a chance to audition for a write-for-hire gig. This opportunity involved signing with an agent. I had hit the big time! In my mind, anyway.
The write-for-hire project was a one-time payment, but the paycheck was satisfying. My agent suggested we aim for a market that paid royalties. I developed a cozy mystery series. She tried her best, but there were no takers from the big publishers. It was a little outside the cozy mystery norm. With her permission, I sent book one to Encircle.
The Rose Creek Mystery series was born with The Body in the Cattails in May 2023. A mere six months later, The Body in the Cornfield was released.
Then I sent in book three, The Body in the Hayloft. And waited. And waited.
In the meantime, my agent retired, the write-for-hire jobs dried up, my mother passed away, I retired from my day job, and then my father passed away. I wrote the novel of my heart that no one seemed to want. The final blow was Encircle changing their publishing model in a way that didn’t fit my goals.
So many changes, all of them disappointing. Except for retirement. That was welcome. Now I could write full-time. Except that all my familiar publishing venues dried up.
What to do now? Quit? Actually, give up writing?
Naw, I wasn’t ready to give up. Besides, I had written book three in the Rose Creek Mystery series. I couldn’t stop when I had a perfectly good novel ready to release.
The path forward appeared murky.
My daughter, Merida Bass, had witnessed my traditional publishing journey from the sidelines. When we co-authored two books in a YA series that doesn’t fit the angsty, adult-ish tone of current YA, we opted to self-publish. We also started a series whose pitch captured attention and interest.
We both had a very good feeling about this project, and about the prospects for self-publishing. Off we went. She tackled the technical work to establish a publishing LLC. Soon, we had multiple self-pubbed books. We also pursued brick-and-mortar businesses to carry our physical books.
Meanwhile, my Rose Creek series languished in limbo. I requested my rights back from Encircle, which they swiftly and graciously returned. This orphan had self-emancipated.
I decided to redo the series, not simply throw it back out in the marketplace, with my intensive editing and new art by my daughter, Merida Bass. The covers will form a myriorama – a continuous landscape connected by Rose Creek.
So much work. Editing. Cover art. Book design. Formatting. Getting the books up online. Handselling to libraries and bookstores.
Will it be worth the effort?
Have you ever watched a televised series that is cancelled midstream? Like the cult classic Firefly, or the high-stakes thriller The Old Man. The dissatisfaction level at incomplete series? High!
I don’t want to leave readers feeling like the characters in my novels simply fell off the edge of a suddenly flat earth. I don’t want to leave something undone.
The best route to completion is this experiment in self-publishing. I don’t have to be an orphan anymore.
I’m joining the ranks of authors who re-release their novels. On their own terms. Because we’re not quitters.
You can find more about Catherine’s current projects on her website at https://www.catherinedilts.com/
Or subscribe to her newsletter at: https://catherinedilts.substack.com/
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Thanks for letting me vent – er, chat – about my publishing journey. I’m certainly glad authors have options.
Catherine, clearly Merida inherited your love of writing and brings her own smarts to the picture. I loved both your Rose Creek Mysteries and your Grandparent relocation series. I read numerous books, and yours always stay with me. That, my friend is one of the highest compliments an author can receive. Memorable and enjoyable. Congratulations on never quitting!
Thanks so much, Donnell! Kind words are what keep us writers going through the travails of publishing.
I love your story about your publishing journey, Catherine. Shows a lot of persistence, the ability to be flexible and self-educate, and the power of teamwork. So much to love! So much to root for! Congratulations!
It’s a too common story – having a series orphaned. I wanted to give readers a peek behind the curtain at what some writers are coping with.
I loved the blog, Catherine. So many of us have endured some version of this story. As awful as it is, a shared experience and some venting is heartening. And the ability to take control and publish your own work is great.Even five years ago it was hard to do. Readers and writers interested in self-pub might want to check out the September meeting of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America , we’re hosting 3 Colorado authors who started their own publishing houses—Susie Brooks, Andre Gonzalez and Bernadette Soehner. Should be interesting to hear how and why they did it. Have a great weekend.
Sue, I’m so excited. I’ll be in Colorado. Cathy, maybe we can carpool!
xo
Donnell
Donnell, great idea!
I am encouraged by how self-publishing writers are so willing to share their experiences. I hope I can attend the workshop in September!