I'm a dinosaur, trying to adapt to a new world order.
I expected my second novel to be published the same way as my other fiction and non-fiction books, meaning a traditional publisher paying me a small but respectable advance, distributing the text to bookstores, and sending it to book reviewers at major newspapers. Oh wait, bookstores and newspapers also are becoming extinct.
Sure, I knew that the book publishing industry has changed and contracted, thanks to such factors as e-books and the rise of Amazon, and that it was harder than ever to get a novel published. But I didn't think that applied to me. I was wrong.
With this book, I moved from the world of traditional publishing to the online publisher Amazon White Glove -- a division of the online behemoth that publishes books of agented authors.
My novel Reunion, is about three women whose lifelong friendship is threatened by past secrets that emerge during a Hamptons getaway.
Before, getting published had never seemed like a huge barrier. I've worked for national publications for four decades, including Forbes, USA Today, where I was a founding reporter and columnist, and U.S. News and World Report, where I was a senior editor. I've free-lanced widely.
So going this new route wasn't my first choice. But I weighed my options: stick the manuscript, which I had worked on for three years, in a drawer and forget about it. Or overcome my snobbery about self-publishing and sign-up. I went with the latter.
Publishing through Amazon has meant opening my mind and listening to a chorus of other voices, from writers extolling the virtues of being responsible for my own marketing and product, to my millennial daughters, comedians adept at using social media to promote their "brands." I've had to put aside my long-held belief that releasing work without the external validating stamp of a major house was an embarrassment. I've learned that -- especially for a control freak -- the ability to release work I'm proud of and to do everything I can to promote my book is empowering. I've also learned that it takes a village just to get started. I've acquired a team of advisers, from book publicists to a freelance artist to a copy editor and proofreader. I've overseen the design of my book jacket, created an author website, and read my own manuscript countless times in search of any last typo.
Along with the sense of control over my work, however, comes fear that I'm messing up in a big way. I'm a writer, not a publisher. I'm in charge of the enterprise, but I also need to trust my advisers. I've also had to overcome my anti-social tendencies to join Twitter and Facebook, something I resisted even when Facebook was cool and not mostly the province of old people. Anything to sell my book is my new mantra.
This journey is forcing me to leave my comfort zone and push on. I'm hoping to prove that a dinosaur can adapt to her new terrain, and not succumb to extinction.