Format, che… Hey, wait a minute! There is a box for paperback, trade paperback and hardback. That is it. Nothing for ebooks, nothing at all. And no way to add it in.
So in the world of the Speculative Fiction Database, ebooks just don’t exist.
This is tiresome, and frustrating. Ebooks get little respect, amongst the industry, or friends and family. True, they are a small segment of the market, but a rapidly growing one. The age of ebooks is only beginning, and I feel proud to be a part of the first wave.
But sometimes I feel a little bit like Rodney Dangerfield as well.
In time, I am certain that ebooks will get the respect they deserve, but for now you have the satisfaction of being published, which is more than can be said for most people.
And who knows, maybe someday you will have it all — a print book you can show your friends, respect, and pots of money!
Well I don’t care about the money part, but having a printed book would be nice, at least then I could hand it to all my relatives who say they can’t read ebooks!
Respect is mostly a state of mind, I think. Most of the time I am happy with my level of success but there are certain people, who shall remain nameless, that manage to make me feel very inadequate in the writing department. No one in this community, of course. I am thinking specifically of a member of my family.
I have to laugh at the acknowledgments at the beginning of books where writers effusively praise their families for the encouragement they got from them. Most writers I know get very little respect from one or all of their family members.
Even if you did have a print book, that relative would find another way of making you feel inadequate, such as: if you’re such a great writer, how come you aren’t making big money?
You know what you accomplished, and your readers know. Anything else is gravy.
You can get lulu.com to make print copies at an affordable price, I think. I’m pretty sure anyone can order them.
The beauty of posting books on the internet is getting direct feedback from readers, it’s interactive. I think that makes it more interesting than traditional books, as much as I love curling up with a print version on the couch.
I am waiting to hear from my publisher if the print arm of his company, Bladud Books, will pick up Heart of Hythea for publication as a paperback. He has assured me it is likely, but I won’t get my hopes up until it happens.
If they choose not to, then I could do it myself through Lulu or one of the other POD companies. It involves a fair amount of work, because the author is responsible for getting the manuscript print ready, and they have very specific requirements. But if it doesn’t happen any other way then I might go that route eventually.
Since you’re already published in ebook form, you should be able to get an agent, and eventually a print publisher. You have something to bring to the relationship, which puts you a step above everyone else who is trying to find an agent.