From Writer to...Publisher?

 

Another quality post brought to you by Steve!

Hey, everybody!

I'm pretty excited right now.  I just got off my first telecon as a publisher!

I've been writing for something like thirty years.  And I've been getting published for about nine now.  I've watched the industry pretty closely that whole time, both in blogs like this one and by networking at real-life events, like some of the ones I've described here on ATB.  About six years ago I assisted in editing a few anthologies for charity, but in a limited capacity.  And ever since the rights for my first two novels came back to me about four years ago I've been self-publishing.

But up until about a month ago I've never taken the reins and published another author.  I've always tinkered around with the idea of expanding my personal imprint, French Press, possibly for an anthology or something similar.  But nothing ever motivated me to take the plunge.

Then an opportunity fell into my lap that I just couldn't pass up.  My good friend (and one hell of a good author) Somer Canon was looking for a publisher for a dream genre project of mine.  (I don't want to tell you the exact genre, because the manuscript treats that aspect as something of a surprise.)  And after nearly hacking up my guts after reading VICKI BEAUTIFUL, I knew Somer was an author I believed in.  

I spent the last month editing her manuscript, YOU'RE MINE.  I've self-edited all of my works, and as I mentioned above assisted here and there with shorts and the like, but this was the first time I've ever professionally edited someone else's manuscript.  And let me tell you something, dear readers, it's good.  Damned good.  You're all going to love it, wherever you fall on the horror-loving spectrum.

So, as though mighty Cthulhu were emerging from R'lyeh, all the stars were right.  There was someone I wanted to be in business with who had a manuscript I believed in, and I have just enough knowledge and infrastructure to put it out there in the world and hopefully make it a big success for both of us.  So, for now, make sure to follow French Press on blogger and Twitter, and watch this space, where I'm sure there will be much more news to come!

Do you have any questions about making the transition from author to publisher?  Let me hear them in the comments!