I am the Little Red Hen of Books
Or "The Way It's Supposed to Be" is almost published; here's how to pre-order it!
Allie doesn't just depart her small town, fiancé and dead-end job; she runs off into the woods, leaving a disturbing message on the kitchen counter amongst the salad vegetables. Her fiancé, Mitch, is desperate to find her while Allie struggles to survive in the wild. Allie meets people throughout her adventure -- several who live on the streets and one charismatic young man -- who shape her thoughts on what the modern world can offer. As Mitch searches for Allie, with the help of Detective Murphy, he is pushed to uncover his own limited ideas about relationships.
Allie eventually faces a choice between truth and support from the people she loves. Mitch must decide if he can accept a version of family he never imagined. Allie and Mitch are terrible at communicating with each other. Still, they somehow navigate a path outside of convention, discovering a solution neither of them imagined.
Y’all, it’s happening. I am just about to publish my novel, The Way It’s Supposed to Be. It has taken me an embarrassing number of years, start to finish. The publishing process alone has been full of agonizing decisions, false starts and lots of waiting before finally deciding to do it myself. That’s to say nothing of finding time to write that messy first draft and forcing myself to rewrite and edit over and over again.
This is where I was with that excruciating process back in November. It turns out I am flying the airplane myself after all, and surprise! I’ve about got it at comfortable cruising altitude:
You can pre-order it at a discount, like now!
It’s not ready quite yet, but you can pre-order The Way It’s Supposed to Be as an e-book for the discounted price of $2.99 until July 10. If you’re like me and prefer to have a paperback in your hot little hands, stay tuned; that will also be available for purchase on July 10.
I’m working on a referral plan, so you can win a free copy of the e-book for referring people to this newsletter. I’ll let y’all know when I get it figured out. Being your own formatter/cover designer/marketer all at one time gets tricky, and I don’t want to roll anything out half-baked.
This is Not What I Expected
I didn’t plan to be doing all of this myself, but to my credit, I did say from the start I would see this story in print one way or another. After securing a contract only to have the publishing house close its doors before I could even get a proof, then foundering through several wishy-washy hybrid offers, it seemed in my best interest to self-publish.
The benefit? I didn’t just write this book; I MADE it.
I crafted the cover, formatted the inside and waded through Amazon specs for both e-books and paperbacks. I purchased the ISBN and converted it into a barcode. I decided how to market it. I am the Little Red Hen of novels. (I know, I know; I’m not unique. There are a lot of us.)
I am proud of having crafted this book, and I have an ownership and understanding of the entire process I would not have gotten with traditional publishing. It kind of fits with my do-it-yourself upbringing. Extra bonus: I keep all the rights to the story when the movie deals start pouring in.
But really, it’s not just me.
It never is, right? There’s a reason the acknowledgments at the ends of books are so long. Writing is a lonely endeavor, but paradoxically, no half-decent book is created without a lot of help. The Way It’s Supposed to Be reached its final polished form without the help of publishers, agents or publicists but with the support and patience of a lot of friends and family and one talented developmental editor. Thanks, guys. Your names are in the book.