The Art of being published

Ok, now I may not know everything when it comes to being published, but I do know when someone isn't doing their end of the bargain. In that I mean, from my experiences there are different kinds of publishers, those who are awesome at what they do and those that bloody stink at it and the in-betweeners (new word for those that don't have a "exact" position in my list yet).

A good publisher not only sticks to what they promise and give you a contract for everything they publish of yours and when they give you a deadline for whatever (ie.submissions, edits and publishing date) they stick to it and to me that is great, because being a Type A personality, I have to have things exact and know where things are going so that I can plan accordingly when it comes to book signings, etc.

Then, there are the ones who for the life of me...I get rather annoyed with. Not only do they ignore questions you may have asked them, but they don't deliver. Oh sure, they start off good (the infamous hook) and tell you all their marketing, promotional strategies and what they plan on doing with your work, and then...ba-zinga...the first telltale signs start to creep out and then you begin to have your doubts about having signed a contract with them. "Oh, that little voice inside me is "really" giving it to me good." Should have listened to it.

I get super annoyed when I'm told one thing and then it doesn't pan out! How in the bloody hell am I to organize book signings or promotional events if what I'm told doesn't happen, makes me look like I don't know what the hell I'm doing when in all cases it's the publishers fault!

So, I'm venting out my frustrations because right now I'm in one of those predicaments and I'm pissed off, annoyed and whatever other choice word I may come up with.

So, if you are a newbie at writing, word of advise to you, check the publisher out thoroughly, make sure you get a contract with every new submission, check out what reviews there are from past authors that have worked with them. This I did and found nothing bad about them, so that didn't work for me. It wasn't until I was already into it that their true colors came out...grrrr and if you have any doubts or mis-understandings you don't comprehend clearly...ASK and keep asking until you get what you want and feel comfortable with the results. Also, if you have a little voice, feeling inside you that makes you doubt the publisher, you are more than likely correct and should avoid them at all costs.

One more thing, a 2 year rights on your work is a bit excessive and so that should be a red flag right there.

To end this, I will say, good luck to all of you and your writings, may you all have great successes.

By the way, AngelicKnight Press and Vamplit Publishing are the two best publishers to work with!