Monday, April 11, 2011

What to Do When Your Publisher Dies

My Friday morning started with a deluge of emails from the Virtual Tales authors' group. Two of the four board members had resigned. My contract was declared "NULL and VOID". A year ago, I would have been devastated. The House Eaters has traveled a rough road. I thought it would be the book to land an agent--in fact, it came close. But that was a long time ago.

The world of publishing has seen many changes since then.

Instead of being paralyzed with frustration, I went into action. With my rights returned, I released The House Eaters this weekend for Kindle with a new cover. Smashwords and POD versions are forthcoming. For now, I'm offering the Kindle edition for the low price of 99 cents--a temporary sale for the re-release.

I love this book, and I hope many more people have the chance to love it, too.

Devastated? No. Not anymore.

I'm empowered.

22 comments:

Sophie Playle said...

Well done, Aaron. This is a much better cover, too, IMO. Good luck with it all :)

Tony said...

I'm glad you re-released it, this book deserves to be read. This was the first of your longer pieces I ever read, and boy, did I love it. In fact, during a time when I had no freetime for reading and hadn't read a book in weeks, The House Eaters was the first to get my ass in a chair and read cover to cover. Killed it in 2 days. Awesome stuff.

Unknown said...

Cool beans. I suppose that's a blessing in disguise, since chances are you'll be seeing some money trickle in within a few months. Good on ya.

Barry Napier said...

Yeah I like this cover better. Seems to fit the tone of the story a bit more.

And hooray for springing into action!

Aaron Polson said...

Thanks, Sophie. I like this cover, too. Would you believe it started out as a rather cartoonish piece of clip art?

Tony - Thanks, man. I loved writing the climax--it was the first time I've not been able to write fast enough.

Gef - It's a different world. Thanks!

Barry - I liked some aspects of the old cover, but overall it didn't do everything I wanted. Time waits for no man. ;)

K.C. Shaw said...

That cover looks great. You're really good at cover design! And the book I know will be great too. :)

I'm sorry your publisher imploded, but you might actually do better without them, who knows?

Aaron Polson said...

Thanks, K.C. I subscribe to the "KISS" method of cover design: keep it simple, stupid...with me being "stupid".

Laurita said...

I love the cover. It's old school, haunted house scary. Good luck with the re-release. I, for one, am looking forward to reading it.

Alan W. Davidson said...

I have downloaded my copy, Aaron. Thanks for that 'rock bottom' price. I hope that you sell a housefull with this temporary sale.

Aaron Polson said...

Thanks, Laurita. Old school scares are the best.

Alan - I appreciated it. Hope you enjoy!

PSGifford said...

Best of luck to you. It was unfortunate about VT- they really treated me well for so many years.

Paul

www.psgifford.com

PSGifford said...

Best of luck to you. It was unfortunate about VT- they really treated me well for so many years.

Paul

www.psgifford.com

Aaron Polson said...

Thanks, Paul. I'm sure you'll continue to find a great audience for your work.

Fox Lee said...

Love the cover. It definitely gets my attention!

Lee Thompson/Thomas Morgan/James Logan/Julian Vaughn said...

Man, sorry to hear that, Aaron. I hope you sell a bunch of Kindle copies! I really dig the cover, too. Looks effing great!

Cathy Olliffe-Webster said...

Good for you, Aaron!! It's the way the world is going and I'm thrilled that you're empowered! I promise, I will buy it.
And the cover is frickin' awesome.

Aaron Polson said...

Thanks, Natalie.

Lee - It's the way of the world. Thanks for the feedback.

Cathy - I appreciate it. Empowered is a good way to be, I suppose.

Katey said...

It's totally gorgeous Aaron. Fabulously done!

Danielle Birch said...

The cover is fabulous! Eerie and creepy.

Cate Gardner said...

I'm still floored by the awesomeness of the new cover. I thought I loved the old one, but this... It screams read me.

Daniel Powell said...

Have to echo the sentiments here on the cover. Haunting and classy. Rights, rights, rights! When you can produce such a nice book on your own, it makes you question ever signing those rights away again.

Love the new look, and congratulations on keeping the controls on your art!

craighallam said...

Good for you! I bet the ebook will sell itself crazy anyway. Who needs an unreliable/totalitarian publisher?

(I'd quite like one, please, but that's not the point)

After reading We Are The Monsters, I'm definately getting this.