Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Indie Life

It's the second Wednesday which means it's time for Indie Life blogfest. Thanks to the Indelibles for starting and running this group. Once a month we reach out to each other to give and receive support. There are many more writers publishing by themselves or working with a small, independent press than there are traditionally published authors.

Don Helin at BAM
If you've been in this field for long, you'll either experience for yourself or know someone who has worked with a publisher who either goes belly up or that changes their course. Changing course is publisher speak for dumping an author. I've experienced both. Having a publisher you've signed a contact with go bankrupt is a long, drawn out headache as you try to get your rights back. It can take years. It took me nearly a year to get my two books back, neither had made it as far a being released, and I did find a home for that series with another publisher. I've also had the misfortune to have a publisher 'change course' to concentrate on celebrity books and books written by celebrities. It was infuriating but that's another story. I self-published that series after I had my rights returned. But an author friend of mine for the same company rewrote the second book in his series and started a brand new thriller series with a new publisher.

Don Helin, author of Devil's Den, is a perfect example of an author who had a setback but instead of giving up, he reached out and took control. Don found an independent press who he was comfortable working with and who had the professional reputation he sought to bring his work to the world. I recently attended one of Don's booksigning at the local BAM. He's a happy writer, doing what he loves.

I also found a new publisher for my newest fantasy series not too long after Don found his. We had talked many times about what we should do after that first publisher kicked us to the curb. What we both agreed on was not to give up. There are lots of wonderful indie presses out there run by talented publishing professionals. If you are looking for a publisher, talk to other writers, investigate your options and never, ever give up.  Don didn't and he's smiling with success.

Today is also Movie quote day at Alex Cavanaugh's fun blog. The focus today is computer-animated movies. I'm without an idea. I'll probably see lots of good candidates when I check out others' offerings but I seldom watch any animation since my kids are grown. But you can check it out or give me some suggestions.

Have you ever had a publisher go bankrupt or drop your line or genre? What animation are you watching?

8 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Hope my publisher doesn't!
I don't have kids and I watch animated films all the time. What does that say about me?
Wait, don't answer that.

Stina said...

I watch animated films all the time, but that's partly because I have three kids. We bought The Rise of the Guardians on DVD yesterday. I love the movie so much, I saw it twice in the theaters. I never do that. Though it might have been my crush on Jake Frosst that was responsible for my obsession with the movie. :D

That publisher issue happened to a few of my friends.

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing. I read all the publishing path tales I can in hopes of learning, learning, learning if the day comes for me. The choices are changing in this industry!

David P. King said...

Now that's an empowering story! Thanks for sharing that, and best of luck to Don's success! :)

LD Masterson said...

I enjoyed this post but I've got to comment on the first two comments:

Animated movies are for everyone. Kids are fun to take along but totally optional.

M.J. Fifield said...

I haven't had that particular experience with a publisher, but the fear of something like that happening is one of the biggest reasons I want to go the indie route.

And I love animated movies. I agree with LD Masterson's comment. =)

The Happy Whisk said...

Susan: It hurts me to look into that BAM store. I still miss Borders.

Alex: I watch animated films, too.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I've heard lots of horror stories about getting rights back. It involves time, money, and lawyers.

I never can think of a quote when I visit Alex's blog, but now I have one - "Happy moment over!" From Finding Nemo.