My Experience with Publishing - Self vs Traditional

I spent most of 2010 send query letter after query letter and received rejection after rejection. Unlike a lot of Author, I didn't keep track of how many rejections I got. I knew it only took one acceptance letter to become a published author. Well I got two offers from small independent publishing houses. These were both legit publishers. Legit, what does that mean. Well I mean a publisher that pays me, I don't pay them (Vanity Press). They covered editing, cover, some marketing expenses and more, a traditional publisher. One was in Europe, one in Florida. I decided to go with World Castle Publishing (WCP) in Florida.

Some friends and family we skeptical, after all WCP just opened and I was one of their first authors, along with my writing buddy, Kathi S Barton. WCP owner Karen Fuller was amazing to us authors that trusted her. She did everything right! She listened to us and worked with us, ensuring we were pleased with the books we were releasing. As a new author, I couldn't have asked for a better publisher. She planned and organized a book signing tour of Texas, we had I think eight authors. It was so amazing to sir in Barnes and Noble and have readers come engage with us, but our books, take photos.

I released four books with WCP between 2011 and 2012. I traveled and did fundraisers, book signings, book events and more. It was everything I imagined and more. I was also pretty proud of the sales and royalties I was receiving. As a new author with a new publisher to have steady sale was amazing. I became a best selling author with WCP, and had realized my dreams. Then I hit a brick wall, I couldn't write. I have a near finished novel, already in first round edits and I couldn't do it.

From 2013 to 2017 I went through lots of changes as a person, wife, mother and author. I won't go into it all, but in 2017 after a chronic illness diagnosis I got my drive back. I was ready to finish the story, work on the Embrace series. Many friends were self publishing and I thought wow, this sounds so amazing, not sharing my royalties, full control over my career, Independence and the title of Indie Author. I needed to do this. So I emailed Karen and asked to have my rights back. My contract was long over, but she continued with my books as a back list. They still brought in residual income for both of us.

I re-wrote all four books in the Embrace series. Had a good friend/artist design new covers for me and re-released The Embrace Series as an Indie Author. As I worked on the long anticipated fifth book.     

 
I finished my contemporary romance novel The Climb, and was so proud of this book. I knew it was amazing. November 1, 2018 I release the book that took nearly 7 years to finish. It got amazing reviews, and readers loved it as much as I did.

Fast forward a few months, to 2019. I feel lost again, no drive to write, I find doing this all on my own is way more than I bargained for. Self publishing is fucking HARD. You can't understand until you do it. If you want a nice cover, you have to out source to someone that knows what they are doing. A cheep cover can be spotted from a mile away. And yes people judge a book by it's cover. You need to hire and editor or two. You can not edit your own book, spell check does not edit your book. You need a professional. You have to hire someone to help with marketing or you need to spend the time to do it yourself. Connecting with readers, selling your book but not being spammy. I admire every self published author, successful or not, because it's a lot of work.

I know this is what I'm meant to do, I have so many stories in my head I can't sleep at night. Writing is my destiny, my calling, my  job, and I love it. With that said, I love the help, the support, the encouragement and yes the deadlines I get with a publisher. So I emailed Karen at WCP again and asked to come back. She said YES. I was so excited that she would take me back after I abandoned her. Yes after 8 years, WCP is going strong, they work with agents, and film production companies and are truly making their mark in the publishing world. I searched up publishers and WCP came up on several lists as a top ten small publisher. I'm proud that I was with her in the beginning and even prouder that she is taking me back. 

This week we signed contracts and discussed the direction for my books. We couldn't use the original covers, because after a computer crash, the original photos were lost. Plus I hated book 2 cover, she hated book 4 cover. I loved my new self publishing covers, but for various reasons we decided not to use them. We talked about doing a combo of the two covers and they are amazing.

The Climb, my passion project, a contemporary romance of loss and love. Love isn't always pretty and sometimes you have to climb a few mountains to get there. I absolutely love this story, I loved the original cover. It was exactly what I wanted. Even though other romance authors told me no, it looks like a travel book, not a romance.  I still went with it. Any reviews I got were amazing, but it just wasn't getting noticed like I had hoped. So we decided to make the cover look a little more romance and also change the name. So The Climb is now Beating the Odds - Loss and Love series novel. I'm so happy with how this turned out. It still has the elements I wanted (Kilimanjaro in the back ground) and has a beautiful romantic couple. This is it, I love it. 

So there you have it my experience with traditional and self publishing. I am a writer that likes the support of a team behind me, I like to write rather than search for covers, editors, and what not. Since my chronic illness became a major player in my life, my brain just cant focus on doing it all. I applaud an author that takes the Indie route, and I think that everyone should at least try it. you can't really understand until you've been there.

Thank you to the readers and fellow authors that have supported me through my journey, but most of all thank you to World Castle Publishing for always being there to help me realize my dream. All my books should be back up for sale world wide through most book sellers in the next week or two.

Now to finish book 5 of the Embrace Series and book 2 of Love and Loss.

xoxo
Charlotte

Parenting - How did I get it right?

When thinking about becoming a parent, we think about many things, including but not limited to,  what it means, how our life will change, how we were raised and how we want to raise our kids. When I decided to have kids I knew there were a few things I wanted to do differently.

I was raised in a very traditional sense, mom stayed at home until i was in school (the last of 3 kids). Dad worked hard and was strict. We had to have manners and show respect to our elders, we had chores and once mom started working, we had to help with things like cooking dinner. We were loved, but not spoiled, we had rules to follow and we were spanked if we disobeyed or misbehaved. I wasn't allowed to date till I was 16, I wasn't allowed to wear make-up until my mom thought it was appropriate. My parents didn't include us kids in decisions, they didn't talk about finances around us and we did as we were told without talking back. I had a great childhood with lots of fantastic memories and I think my parents did a pretty good job, because I like to think I'm a decent human, not perfect but pretty decent. Thanks mom for making me a caring, somewhat responsible and giving adult. 

When I had children I didn't want a bunch of rules. Why? because I was a little shit that broke almost every rule I was given. I rebelled and my mom is still learning about some of the crap I pulled as a teen. I wanted to remove to rebelling option from my kids. I wanted them to know about our financial struggles, so maybe they wouldn't make the same mistakes. I wanted to tell my kids about all the BS I pulled as a teen. After all I was once their age and remember what they feel and think. So I have a 100% full disclosure policy with my children. I am completely honest with them. 

Now as a parent, we never know if we are doing it right. We do what we think is the best and hope it turns out. Once my oldest daughter came to me, she was about 14 at the time. She told me she really wanted to try sneaking out, because her friends were doing it and it sounded fun. She then proceeded to tell me how there was no point because I'd let her go anyways and that removed the fun from it. (I removed the option to rebel like I did as a teen). I took this as a score. Another time she asked to go to a bush party. I said sure, I'll drop you off, but wear runners because when the cops come they will charge whoever they can catch, so make sure you're not the last one there. She decided against going.. Another score in my books. Situations like this went on through-out her teen years. Her friends would call me if they were in compromising situations, I'd go pick them up, no questions asked and take them home. Other parents knew the kids felt comfortable with me, and trusted that I would help take care of them if they didn't feel comfortable going to their own parents. It takes a village! 

Fast forward to today, 2018. I have a 19 year old daughter living on her own in another Country, in one of the party capitals of the world, Las Vegas. She also went to school by herself for a year at 15 in New York. I also have a 15 year old, who suffers from sever anxiety and fights it every day to go to school and dance. She's a beautiful soul and likes to insist she was switched at birth and not related to our crazy family. Then there's my little man, he's 12 next week. He loves computers and is way under-active for his age, but is the most caring loving kid a parent could ask for.

Grand Canyon Easter 2018

Are my kids perfect? oh hell no! Am I proud of each one of them? Hell yes! As parents we do what we think is best for our kids, for me it was being honest and hoping they could learn from my mistakes, trust me enough to come to me with anything, be respectful of others and be productive members of society. Now my son is still young, and my one daughter is a typical teen. My oldest is killing it at life though and I like to think that this is because of how I raised her. I ask myself everyday how I got it so right with her and hope it turns out just as good with the other two. Jorden is 19, living on her own, she bought a car, took driving lessons, rented an apartment, working full time and doing other odd jobs, she just got a promotion at work, is attending collage and traveling the world. All of this on her own dime. I couldn't be more proud. Shawnee wants to follow in her big sister's footsteps, and Lucas is even saying the same at his young age. I love that they look up to and admire each other.

Now of course every parent thinks their kid is the cats ass, but I'm going to introduce you to my eldest and let you form your own opinion. Jorden started a blog a few months ago. She is amazingly insightful and far more talented at blogging than I am. So please go check it out, leave her a comment and send some encouragement for a young girl doing her best at life. Just click HERE.

Most of all remember as a parent you do the best you can, we all do what we think is best and what works for one, might not work for the next. So if you were looking for advice, all I can give is to tell you to give love, receive love, do what you think is best and lock the bathroom door so  you can have a moment to breath.

XOXO
Charlotte