Sunday, November 24, 2013

The Frustrations of Traditional Publishing

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 

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