I really wanted to be traditionally published. I pitched and queried agents for a few years and although I had many full manuscript requests, I didn’t get a contract. I hired a developmental editor to ensure my manuscript was in the best possible shape, worked up a marketing plan and kept going, but I also started to approach small presses. It was that decision that led me down the indie path because I realized that I was already half-way there.
I looked at self-publishing through CreateSpace and IngramSpark but neither would place Thirst in bookstores, something I wasn’t willing to sacrifice. On the other hand, there was no question that a publishing company opened doors unavailable to a self-published author in terms of distribution and marketing. So I decided to take the plunge.
My husband and I registered the company and set to work on bank accounts, tax accounts, credit card processing contracts, export licenses, ISBNs and copyrights, and hired a designer for the company website. Stonedrift Press Ltd. now officially existed, but the work had just begun.
I found a top-notch printer and hired a professional book cover designer, an illustrator for an interior map and a copy editor. I fine-tuned my marketing plan and built up my website and social media presence. Next I leveraged my technical background and learned to layout my print book and generate my e-book formats in Adobe InDesign. I arranged for pre-release reviews and collected endorsements for the cover. All-in-all, it took almost six months to get the book out the door.
It was the right decision for me and I’m proud of the book I published, but I can see advantages to working with other authors. With a framework in place, we may accept submissions from other mystery/suspense/thriller authors and operate as a collective, a publishing umbrella that allows authors to control their project but benefit from group marketing efforts and distribution. We’re moving slowly on this front, but if this concept is of interest to you, I’d encourage you to watch for details on the Stonedrift Press website or Facebook page, or sign-up for our mailing list.