Is this the year of getting it right?

I have a new poetry book out this weekend. Hooray!

Well, actually, it’s semi-new.

It’s a revised edition of what once was the chapbook Take My Hand. That book was published 19 years ago by a vanity press. (I was just getting started in the world of getting books published and I did not know at the time that publishing with a vanity press was a bad idea.) The book has gone out of print so I decided to give it a new life as a revised and edited new book, Follow That Dream. It was published by the independent publisher Great Minds Think Aloud.

This is not the first time I am “getting things right” with a book.

Some years ago, I tried to self-publish a horror poetry chapbook called Topiary Dreams. That did not go well; I was woefully unprepared for everything involved in self-publishing (including getting an EAN barcode and ISBN for the book). So it was republished as a revised and expanded ebook, Songs of the Dead, published by Gypsy Shadow Publishing.

My novel, November’s Child, was published by a so-called “publisher” that ended up cheating all of their authors. The book has since been revised and given a new title: Shadow of Samhain, which will be published as a print and ebook by Gypsy Shadow Publishing. And this time, I have found good people for this book! :)

On reflection of these do-overs, I have to keep asking myself if this is the year that I do some backtracking (even though Songs of the Dead came out last year). I know some people may not be so happy that I’m bringing out what could be viewed as “old stuff,” but I hope those people will understand that I just want to get things right this time. I don’t want those books to just fade away in my failed attempts to get them published – and, anyway, it’s not like I have anymore remaindered copies of November’s Child to sell to keep it on the market (they’re all gone). I want these books to be with good, REAL publishers. I want these books to be available both as a print and electronic (with the exception that Songs of the Dead can’t be a print) because this reflects the changing times when it’s a very good idea to have books out as an ebook in addition to print. And I want these books to be AVAILABLE for purchase.

But the big thing is, like I said, I just want to get it right this time. Those previous publication attempts were failures either because of a bad company, poor distribution or a lack of the resources needed. This time, everything is in order and those books are back (or will soon all be back – Shadow of Samhain is not out yet) and they are better than ever.

But, fear not! Next year will bring NEW STUFF out for readers! Brand new stuff! (And, I hope, this year, too – there’s that breast cancer charity ebook and the doughnut book I wrote for kids that just MIGHT come out this year!) I am planning to finish the health book I am working on in the spring – maybe it will be out next year! I am also planning to submit a new poetry book next year (a ginormous volume), and maybe it’ll be out next year. Ditto the haunted cities book and the children’s book on upcycling, which I am hoping will see an April release in time for Earth Day. There is also the first book in the Revise Your Writing series; it might be out this year or definitely the next.

So enjoy the "old stuff" for now, my dear readers. There will definitely be "new stuff" coming out soon. I hope you are happy with both.