Today
I host my good friend, Marilyn Meredith. She writes two different mystery series. Today,
she will tell you about her long publishing journey with her Rocky Bluff PD
series. Welcome back, Marilyn.
A Sane Person Would Have
Given Up
Yes, I’ve had that thought many times as
I’ve lost one small publisher after another, but I’m one of those “never-give
up” people.
I’m going to tell you about my
publishers for the Rocky Bluff P.D. series. It all began when a few people were
talking about electronic publishing. I’d written Final Respects and was trying
to find a publisher for it. During that time period, authors perused the large
book of publishers put out by Writers
Digest. It’s where I found a publisher looking for police procedurals, and
my mystery was accepted. But—this publisher was only going to publish it in
electronic form. I accepted the contract. The book looked great, but it had to
be read on a computer, and the process to buy a copy was difficult. The
publisher failed.
Time passed, and the Rocket eBook reader
came on the scene. The next publisher I approached with the book did paper and
ebooks. He published Final Respects and Bad
Tidings, and though I knew books were sold, no royalties came my way
until I complained. We parted company.
A publisher recommended by a friend accepted
the next two books in the series, Fringe Benefits and Smell
of Death, and did a bang-up job producing paper and ebooks but decided
publishing was not what she wanted to do.
I met Billie Johnson, the publisher for
Oak Tree Press. We became good friends, and she took on the next books in the
series. The books looked great, I received royalties, and we were both happy
for a long time. Then something unexpected and terribly sad happened: the
publisher had a stroke, and the company could no longer continue.
What now? Mike Orenduff of Aakenbaaken
and Kent is in the process of republishing all the books in the series. The
latest is Tangled Webs. I am delighted to be with this new company.
As an aside, some of my stand-alone
books were also published by Oak Tree Press. My host for today, Lorna Collins,
who is also a dear friend, volunteered to edit and publish them on Amazon for
me. I’m so grateful to her for doing such a huge job for me.
Am I bit crazy for not giving up? Maybe,
but I don’t think so.
You can purchase Tangled Webs here: https://tinyurl.com/yabj9z9f
Too many people are telling lies: The
husband of the murder victim and his secretary, the victim’s boss and co-workers
in the day care center, her stalker, and Detective Milligan’s daughter.
Marilyn Meredith writes the RBPD series
as F. M. Meredith. She once lived in a beach town much like Rocky Bluff and has
many friends and relatives in law enforcement. She’s a member of MWA, 3
chapters of Sisters in Crime, and serves on the PSWA Board.
Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com
Facebook: Marilyn Meredith
Twitter: @marilynmeredith
Tomorrow I’ll be talking about speaking
engagements: https://www.susantuttlewriter.com/