Fingers Crossed

Here it is mid July already, a month and a half into summer break—my time to be a full-time writer, the time I planned to spend working on a new memoir. But life has a mind of its own and doesn’t always follow our plans, does it?

My three novels—Running Secrets, Biking Uphill, and Walking Home—were originally published by an independent Seattle publisher. That publisher went out of business in spring 2016. Electronic copies were immediately unavailable. Within a few months, print copies all but disappeared from Amazon. 

But I wasn’t worried. I’d been offered a new contract from a small press in Texas and felt confident my work would be re-released within a few months. In an odd way, I was pleased to have the opportunity to re-edit the books. I knew there were typos and inconsistencies I’d missed in my amateurish rush to publish.

A year passed with minimal communication from the new publisher. Spring 2017 brought the news that my contract would not be honored. Marketing was difficult. Sales minimal. The Texas press decided to narrow their focus and become a niche publisher for Texas authors. Neither my books nor I are Texans, so I found myself again without a publisher.

Last month I decided to do what I should’ve done a year ago: self-publish. I reached out to Adam Bodendieck and Loretta Matson. Adam was the layout designer with my defunct publisher, and Loretta created the original covers. When both agreed to work with me on the re-release, I gained the support and confidence I needed.

It's been a month and a half and I still buried under edits, but now I’m reviewing layouts, so we’re getting closer. There’s still hope. There might still be time to spend on the new memoir before summer ends. Fingers crossed.