Friends with the Editor

The charm I bought when I finished Chasing Monsters

As of this writing, my fourth novel 'Chasing Monsters' is in the last stages of edits. I'm feeling excited and confident, and it has a lot to do with Heather Savage of Staccato Publishing.

I met Heather through Vamptasy Publishing, the original publishers of 'Thoeba'. When Vamptasy couldn't keep me, they recommended Heather. Heather was, at the time, another Independant Publisher. She read 'Thoeba', liked it, and signed me up.

We've been friends since. I rarely speak to Heather--most of our exchanges take place over Facebook Private Messages. But she's become a valuable friend and business partner.

I can't tell you what it means to me to have an editor I can trust. When you spend several months, a year, sometimes longer working on a book, it's hard to hand it over to someone else to fix all the flaws. My novels are my babies. Trust me, it's like mentally giving birth. You know--the long, painful process that makes you want to collapse with relief when it's over. How you love what you've done, even after all the agony. (At least that's what I assume childbirth is like. No disrespect intended.)

But when Heather is finished with my work, I can breathe a sigh of relief. She's a benevolent spirit who glides through the pages, making them clear and shiny. So polished...It makes me happy and I can barely see where she's been. It's still mine, only better. She makes me look like I actually know what I'm doing.

She understands my vision, my BRAND, and knows what needs to be done. She gets my tetchiness and I can hear the smile in her text when she calls me a perfectionist, even when MY text sounds impatient and itchy. She gets it. After all, she's a damned good writer too. Books by Heather Savage

She recently used the word 'genius' to describe this book. She thinks it's my best one yet, she likes it more than 'Aphrodite's War'. On one hand, I'm exploding with pleasure. On the other hand, I want to run screaming from my keyboard. The pressure! But it's so important to me that she likes my work. And I suppose if it sucked, she would tell me, just when she tells me when phrases and words don't work.

She believes in me. I can't stress how valuable that is. She believes that someday soon all our hard work will manifest into success. I really hope so. For both of us.

Pirate Ho!

Image by: James Barker/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 I must be getting better known. Or maybe somebody considered 'Thoeba' worthy of this dubious honor. I've been pirated. Please don't tell me to feel flattered. I hate pirates and everything they stand for.

It's on a site that allows people to download HUNDREDS of books for free. And no, I'm not giving out the link. One never knows who they can trust these days.

I know a writer who recently held a contest to give away ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) on her Facebook page. I won one of them.  Before I even had a chance to find mine in my e-mail, she discovered her novel on a pirate site. It isn't even officially published yet! Now she knows that someone she gifted with a free copy of her book betrayed her kindness and generosity...

What pisses me off the most  about my situation is that 'Thoeba' is only 99 cents! Really? Are people that cheap that they aren't willing to fork out a dollar to support a writer and her independent publisher? Do they know who they're stealing from?

They are stealing from Staccato Publishing. It is a small independent publishing company owned by Heather Savage. She spends a huge amount of time and money to promote and distribute her writers. She's got a skeleton staff to help with marketing, editing, and other things like book covers. No one there can afford to do it full time. They all have other jobs, and nobody is getting rich.

And they're stealing from me. I love writing. And I'd like to make enough money doing it so my husband can quit the job that makes him miserable and maybe go to school to do something he'd love.

I believe only myself or Staccato should have the right to give out free copies for promotion. And NO ONE ELSE should profit from all our hard work.

Because you know what? When the pirates take from an author, that author wonders why they're working so hard. Why they put so many hours into their passion only to have someone else use them. And when those writers stop publishing, and the small time publishers disappear, you can all go back to buying the pricier books from bigger publishers. They can afford better lawyers.