From Self Publishing to Traditional and Why.

As you may already know, I’ve been working on my last draft to my first book in a trilogy series, A Christian Mafia.  Book one is called The Medallion.  I have been praying on whether I should self-publish this book or go with a publisher and I have finally decided.  As the title will tell you, I have chosen to go with a publisher.  The publisher I chose to go with is CrossBooks, which is a division of Lifeway Christian Bookstores.

Why have I chosen to become the self publishing traitor that I so do not want to become?  Am I letting down so many who chose the self publishing way of life?  Am I making the wrong choice?  No.  This is by far the best thing I could do right now for me and my book because of my current situation.  What is my current situation?  Well, let me tell you.

I am a disabled veteran who needs yet another spine surgery.  My back is killing me and it is extremely painful every single day.  Still, I press on and continue to write even though it puts me in a most painful position for my back.  I continue to press on knowing that this book isn’t going to sell itself once I’m done.  I know that the only way I can get it into the hands of the right readers, the readers that will actually read this book and not skim through it, is to market it.  And how am I going to market it in this state?  Well, that’s simple.  I can’t.  I have already tried to market the book that I self-published and it was slowly killing me.  To be very blunt, it is not worth it, definitely not worth it just to say I did it myself.  Oh, yes, granted, I have all the time in the world because of my disabilities.  I don’t work, I am at home, I now have my own laptop and iPad.  But even then, I don’t have a desk or a chair to sit in.  Most of the time, I sit on the floor, laying my laptop on a footstool or I type the traditional way…on my lap.  No matter the way I type, I will still be in pain.  I think even if I had a desk with a $ 1000.00 chair, I would still be in pain.  A chair will not make my disks grow back.

So, in saying all that, getting help from a company is needed at this point.  I really don’t care about the money, if I make hundreds or thousands on the book.  What I do care about is that people will read it.  I want people to read this book.  If it was up to me, I would just give it away, but obviously, I can’t afford to do that.  My desire is to share the gift that God has given me with the rest of the world, particularly those that are meant to read it.  This isn’t a book that’s just for Christians, nor is it a book just for non-Christians.  It is simply a book that anyone can read and feel satisfied that they had just read a good book.  Am I tooting my own horn, not at all.  But I have read enough books to know which ones are good and which ones are not so good.  Okay, Bad.  There, I said it.  Yes, there are bad books out there.  Books that are not worth reading and I hate to admit that because reading is such a valuable use of time, though many don’t agree.  I want people to read this book and afterwards have no regrets on the time spent reading it.  I want them to walk away satisfied.  Sharing just that simple action with the world means…well, the world to me.

I wish I was able to self-publish this book.  I really admire those that take this approach and whether successful or not, they put their blood, sweat, and tears to create something out of nothing.  I don’t feel too bad about my first book, surprisingly, it is doing pretty good for a poetry book.  I have sold more copies than I thought would ever sell.  Plus, it was really written for my sister and my brother and at first, I had no intention of publishing it.  But I felt that it would be wrong not to make it available to those that are dealing with some sort of suffering, and in the end, aren’t we all?

I will write more about what The Medallion consists of.  I will also be asking for reviewers before the book is published.  I would love to get your opinion!  Please leave a comment below if you are interested!  I thank all my readers for being so patient with me, especially with my blogging.  I love you all.  Until next time…