Interesting view into the publishing world. Thank you. Pre-ordered Monstrous. My early birthday present to myself. Thanks for the recommendation. I wish I could read a Gemma Amor book early. Love her work.
I really appreciate your sharing this perspective, Brian. I wonder if there's a publisher among the current crop of indie publishers that exemplifies the "rising tide lifts all boats" approach you describe here.
Yeah, I think Thunderstorm and Ghoulish, like mentioned above. Clash Books. Subterranean, for sure. Pandi Press. Grindhouse. Apex. And while I haven't worked with them personally, I hear good things about Bad Hand. Just a few examples.
The Baltimore Zoo gives me so many memories from a ton of visits throughout my life. I never thought of dropping a story into that place, so now you have me intrigued to read. Have a great event at Brooklyn Brewery! They have excellent beers, and I always have one of their products whenever I'm in NYC.
The future of publishing, taking an author's book and turning it into an AI movie. If you dont want to read or reading puts you to sleep and audio books tend to distract you from driving then settle down on your couch and watch your favorite book. That would be a true horror of publishing for you and I both know they are not going to put the full entire book into it therefore once again leaving it an AI crap job.
My own publisher folded within a year after promising a tour that never materialized, no favoritism involved, just silence. Either way the lesson is the same: the deal was never the finish line, the follow-through was.
As someone who has worked in marketing in publishing before this line "One thing I’d like to see become industry standard before my death is a clause or paragraph within a publishing contract that states what the publisher will do to promote the book..." made my eye twitchy, but in a good way. I too, would also like to see this! In my perception, what marketing can do and cannot do (trust me, I wish I could do everything an author asks for...but I am one person and was responsible for hundreds of books each year) is not very well communicated to authors. I wish there was more transparency and I wish this was talked about up front without an author having to inquire about it, too.
**Just a note that this is my experience and I did not work in trade publishing, so your mileage may vary.
I’ve worked with several indie presses, and Grindhouse and Sobelo have been excellent. Professionals who do the work out of love but also have great insight and run great businesses. Both publishers seem committed to publishing works from writers of all backgrounds and experiences.
I was one of the unknowns Dave Barnett took a chance on way back in 2012. Eternally grateful. I still remember so much his acceptance letter of my first novel, including this line: "You won't get rich with me..." He continued to say what he will do and, even though I obviously didn't get rich, just having the book published was life-changing for me and my career as a writer outside of horror fiction.
Blood Bound Books continues in this tradition. They don't take on more than they can handle, so they can release excellent products and support their authors. They're in it for the long run, like Dave was.
Interesting view into the publishing world. Thank you. Pre-ordered Monstrous. My early birthday present to myself. Thanks for the recommendation. I wish I could read a Gemma Amor book early. Love her work.
I really appreciate your sharing this perspective, Brian. I wonder if there's a publisher among the current crop of indie publishers that exemplifies the "rising tide lifts all boats" approach you describe here.
Yeah, I think Thunderstorm and Ghoulish, like mentioned above. Clash Books. Subterranean, for sure. Pandi Press. Grindhouse. Apex. And while I haven't worked with them personally, I hear good things about Bad Hand. Just a few examples.
I admire Doug at Bad Hand. He works hard and treats his authors well.
Honest and spot-on commentary.
The Baltimore Zoo gives me so many memories from a ton of visits throughout my life. I never thought of dropping a story into that place, so now you have me intrigued to read. Have a great event at Brooklyn Brewery! They have excellent beers, and I always have one of their products whenever I'm in NYC.
That takes place in The Rising.
Roger that, brother!
The future of publishing, taking an author's book and turning it into an AI movie. If you dont want to read or reading puts you to sleep and audio books tend to distract you from driving then settle down on your couch and watch your favorite book. That would be a true horror of publishing for you and I both know they are not going to put the full entire book into it therefore once again leaving it an AI crap job.
My own publisher folded within a year after promising a tour that never materialized, no favoritism involved, just silence. Either way the lesson is the same: the deal was never the finish line, the follow-through was.
As someone who has worked in marketing in publishing before this line "One thing I’d like to see become industry standard before my death is a clause or paragraph within a publishing contract that states what the publisher will do to promote the book..." made my eye twitchy, but in a good way. I too, would also like to see this! In my perception, what marketing can do and cannot do (trust me, I wish I could do everything an author asks for...but I am one person and was responsible for hundreds of books each year) is not very well communicated to authors. I wish there was more transparency and I wish this was talked about up front without an author having to inquire about it, too.
**Just a note that this is my experience and I did not work in trade publishing, so your mileage may vary.
Your long time experience, openness and insight is appreciated, Brian.
I’ve worked with several indie presses, and Grindhouse and Sobelo have been excellent. Professionals who do the work out of love but also have great insight and run great businesses. Both publishers seem committed to publishing works from writers of all backgrounds and experiences.
I was one of the unknowns Dave Barnett took a chance on way back in 2012. Eternally grateful. I still remember so much his acceptance letter of my first novel, including this line: "You won't get rich with me..." He continued to say what he will do and, even though I obviously didn't get rich, just having the book published was life-changing for me and my career as a writer outside of horror fiction.
Blood Bound Books continues in this tradition. They don't take on more than they can handle, so they can release excellent products and support their authors. They're in it for the long run, like Dave was.