So here we go...

So we finally got into a publishing house to print our book but unexpected things happen, what are you gonna do? Luckily, I have done my research as I've been down this self publishing route before, only this time - I'm way more prepared and ahead of the game. I have a mentor guiding me through this process and an AMAZING artist sticking by my side. Signing with Paper Farms was so exciting, but everything happens for a reason and I think timing is somehow an element to everything.

To recap: I signed with Paper Farms in March 2013 with co-founder and author Kevin Staniec. He put Vivian Nguyen on contract as the illustrator and the book was put in motion toward a Summer of 2013 release. In July, Kevin and his partners had to close down Paper Farms due to a loss in revenue and so our project was put on hiatus. When I got the call from Kevin, I wasn't worried at all because he was so willing to continue to help see it through. Vivian had come so far in the storyboard that it would have been such a loss to have tossed the whole project in the gutter. So, Kevin has been guiding me through the steps of setting up my own publishing house and using CreateSpace to help print, market and distribute the book. At this point my new company, Reading Tree Press, has taken over the project and even though I am the author of the book, I am also owner of this business I have created which means I am the new publisher. Using my own publishing company allows me to register as a business so I can pay taxes, get paid and pay Vivian. It also makes it look like the book is not self published. New contracts have been drawn up between Reading Tree Press and Vivian and the progress with the book has really taken a new lead. We are aiming to be done with the illustrations by mid October with (fingers crossed) a November release date. Once I have the final illustrations, we will appropriately format the book and upload to CreateSpace so the book can be available on Amazon.com. CreateSpace has been recommended to me by several mentors and seems to be THE place for self publishing because it is an on demand printing house. They take a big cut, but I will earn a higher royalty than what I signed with at Paper Farms. Of course a percentage of this royalty goes to Vivian as well. This is a new era where bookstores are threatened by the e-books and social media can spread word about a self published project like wild fire. Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and online stores you can set up, self publishing is so accessible and can really be the way to go. The tricky part is trying to market the book so that it continues to sell. That's why setting up a book tour and giving my presentation to as many audiences as I can will play a vital role in my success. I have to work this at every angle and I am so prepared to get out there and do it. I believe in this project and I think it would be such a great addition to any home or school library. There have been many failures with self publishing and maybe this will be one of them. But there have been many successes and I have to stay positive that this could, maybe, just maybe be one of them.