The Frustrations of Traditional Publishing—
Today I was again reminded how nice it is to self-publish via
Amazon Kindle and Createspace print, and how great it is to have control of my
work, the works of Don Pendleton, and our work.
I was going through files from the 1980-90s of correspondence with our
agents in regards to the business of publishing. What I discovered (but hardly have forgotten)
was the constant battle to receive royalties when due from the publishers (or
agents), both domestic and foreign; the matter of huge reserves by the
publishers; accurate print records; the constant and ongoing correspondence of
issues not always dealt with in a timely manner; offers for movie or TV options
with no money exchange; disagreements over changes to manuscripts; letters of
frustrations to agents who were not following through on business dealings; and
contract or legal issues. I do not miss
all that one damn bit! I love the
freedom of self-publishing! I didn’t shred the documents, decided to keep
them for future reference and to look at any time I wonder if I should consider
traditional publishing. :-)
~Linda
