The Week that Almost Was

Whew, this was a very long week.  On Saturday I was surprised by an offer from an agent who had previously rejected Half Heart, Whole Life.  On the one hand it was exciting that someone wanted my book, on the other hand it was weird because agents really are not supposed to offer a book to a publisher unless they have a signed or verbal agreement from the author.  This agent had neither, and I was genuinely surprised to hear from her.

Anyway, fast forward to today after a meeting with the publisher and lot of stomach knots and misgivings, and I turned it down.  The publisher is a print-on-demand (P.O.D.) outfit which I didn’t know but learned.  This means that 1) the books wouldn’t be stocked at bookstores, 2) Amazon would carry it but it would be buried and the only way anyone would buy it is if they go looking for it.  

Aside from the whole P.O.D. issue, they don’t use a distributor who helps get the book into bookstores, which is kind of a moot point since bookstores don’t stock P.O.D. books.  Also, they’ve only sold 8-20 copies of the books they have sold online.  In addition to their lack of access, low sales, etc., they would keep 85% of the profits of me directing people to buy the book.  So . . . not really a good deal for me.

My next post coming shortly - WHY I’m NOT self-publishing.