Way back in 1993 Governor Mike Lowry of Washington offered early retirement to teachers. I well remember that one of the covert reasons was to replace high cost teachers with younger and less expensive recruits. I had just completed a technical writing contract with Tektronix of Beaverton, Oregon, and wanted to continue that experience so I jumped on the early retirement offer like a hungry hawk on a field mouse.

There were multiple opportunities for technical writers until the dot-com bubble self-destructed in 2000 or there about. I was never employed by nor contracted to a dot-com company but the bursting bubble splattered a wide pattern. Technical writers did not produce a saleable product so it is easy to guess who would be most impacted by the first cost cutting measure(s).

The last company for which I wrote had just over 30% of the world market for its products when I started in the late 1990s. I could see the writing on the wall when that share was dropping and company management would not hire a temp to take some of my routine work so I could complete the documentation part of a contract that would bring 500k to the company.  I still consider it head-in-the-sand management when spending less than 10k would bring in 500k. My guess was verified when I gave a full month notice and no one was interviewed for my job. My co-worker, a longtime employee, became so overwhelmed with deadlines, etc. that the company contracted me to train a part time temp for them. At that time (three years after my starting date) the North American market share of company had dropped to just 5% and had no real share of the world market for its equipment.

In 2000, I had an opportunity to get back into teaching with a half time job at a Christian school and that lead to several part-time contracts and substitute teaching jobs in other schools. I subsequently renewed my school administrator certificate and started substituting as a public school principal.

Last year, I decided to ‘drop out’ of schools and even cashed in my school district lunch ticket. At the end of the school year, two principals asked me to stay of the sub list for them so I kept my name on the call roster which resulted in my working more this past school year than ever before which resulted in an unforeseen blessing.

We paid off the house and that extra work allowed us to completely replace a savings account that we nearly drained to make the final payment. 

So! It is 20 years since I retired from public school teaching, my admin certificate, school legal training certification, blood borne pathogens certificate, first aid/CPR certification, and other qualifiers expire in June and I will not renew any of them.

What to do is not a real dilemma. Real life has given me several short stories to finish, there is my sequel to An Odyssey of Illusions to complete, a family history document is still unfinished, and then there is my collection of notes from being a substitute teacher and principal that beg to be another writing project.

Real life is good.

Time to move on!

An earlier blog of mine said that I did not intend to make a negative statement about the publisher. My having been naïve about publishing was the real focus as it is now. Being clueless and wanting to be published, I signed a two year contract with a publisher covertly known as a ‘printing facilitator’ of self-published material.

A few days ago I read a blog about a writer’s work being tied up for the length of its copyright (70 years?). I immediately and carefully read my contract. I found that the contract was quite clear about being for two years after the date of being signed and I owned the copyright.

To free my mind of the possibility of having been duped, I also read all of the correspondence between my ‘publisher’ and me. I found no claim other than what the publisher actually did after the contract was signed.

RE: my previous blog. The project mentioned is retitling, cleaning up some technical errors, expanding story on each end, and adding some background (fiction of course) for some primary characters in An Odyssey of Illusions. The new title will be similar.

My plan is to find an agent who has a good working relationship with traditional publishers. It goes without saying that any agent willing to work with me (I tend to be not that difficult) will be fully informed of the history of this project. Thus, any new publisher will know that the finished work has roots in the self-publishing arena.

Please do not post your comments or questions on my personal e-mail or Facebook. Just click on the ‘leave a comment’ line below.

Thanks, JMB

PS: I am making a loose commitment to not talk about my being naïve again.

I found some cheese for the whine in my last post.

Is there snow to shovel?  Not here in the Pacific Northwest.  Well, if one lives in higher elevations snow also happens.

Is there rain to divert?     No, it is gentle but often steady in the Pacific Northwest. In the 19 years I’ve lived here, I only had to divert water one time. That was from a broken water line outside.

Is there grass to mow?     Yes! We often need to mow even in the winter in the Pacific Northwest. I mowed in November, December, February, and just yesterday (March 8).

Is there something about which to write? That depends. There was a time when I had to write something every work day. Note: work day!

If anyone remembers one of my posts last September, I am working on the project noted in the last paragraph; it is a writing exercise I am now enjoying. Please don’t ask me to clarify the project. I’ll post about it at a yet undetermined later time.

I remember quite well when I was trying to become a runner and was fairly successful (for my age) at 10Ks and some half-marathons. Then there were other things to do.

I started writing short stories many years ago and then there were other things to do. I started several novels but there were other things to do. Finally, my book An Odyssey of Illusions was published and I felt like I was well on my way with its sequel when I there were other things to do.

When I started running again, it did not feel the same. I re-started by running a little, resting and then walking a little. My running distance increased and my time for distance decreased but it still did not feel the same.

I started writing where I left off on the sequel but it did not feel the same. I finished some short stories that had been on the burner for a while and took another look at the sequel. It still did not feel the same.

Is there a recommend cheese for this kind of whine?

A little over a year ago I signed a contract to have my novel An Odyssey of Illusions published by Black Rose Writers. I had great expectations but never for its being on anyone’s best seller list. I believed that the cover alone would attract readers at any bookstore.

I need to say that I do not intend this post to be a negative statement about Black Rose Writers. BRW is in business to make a profit and I find nothing wrong with that. My having been naïve about publishing is the real focus.

On demand printing and conversion to e-formats were arranged by BRW but two experiences led me to believe that the book fell into the self-published category. Several bookstores I contacted told me that they did not purchase and shelve self-published books unless there was a real potential for resale my beliefs were confirmed. They may have sold the gift copies I sent but I have no confirmation of that.

I also contacted some reviewers but found that they would only review self-published work for a fee; thus, I had a second confirmation.

Real statistics on self-published novels are difficult to analyze and even more difficult to find. One alleged statistic caught my attention a number of years ago. It would be easier to remember the exact data if I could remember by whom it was said or in what it was written.

What I read or heard went something like this: Statistically, self-published authors sell eight more copies than they self-purchase to give to friends and family.

I beat that statistic; to date, fourteen paperbacks and eight e-versions of the book were sold and I had one direct sale.

Oh, I bought 60 copies directly from the publisher (AKA printing facilitator). Six copies were donated and sold at charity auction and I gave  copies to friends and family.  The balance of my collection is my ‘free from the publisher’ copy and two others.

I have earned a whopping $46.70 in royalties and my total cost, including shipping, was $1,270.49. Thus, I am published at the cost of $1,223.79. BRW got that amount plus $252.57 for the sales ($1,476.36 total). Well, the publisher did pay something to have the book printed and converted to e-book so its profit was not very much either.

Would I do this again? No!

This process has been a good learning experience. I assumed that someone in the publishing house had already read the entire novel and deemed it worthy of being on the market. After all, publishers are in the business of making a profit on the books they sell – nothing wrong with that. I now know that a book being accepted for publication does not mean someone at a publishing house read the book at the editing level. To BRW’s credit, I was given several chances to do self-editing before the final printing and it did recommend a for-fee editor. I took to the for-fee editing offer like a pop-up on a web site.

I know that returning an error free bookblock (galley proof) to the printer/publisher is the full responsibility of the author but I assumed BRW’s formatting of headings and pagination would not impact the original text. Being naïve, I was in the mind set of publisher knows best and would never put an errorless product on the market.

If my readers were just following the story, they probably would not have paused at some of the errors in the text. If they had any editing instincts, oversights like of instead off, a missing end quote or a missing it or and would be glaring and distracting to the flow of the story. When a careful and trusted reader discovered these and other errors after the book went to print, and my finding that having them corrected would be for-fee, I decided to not promote the book.

The price for the gifts and donations is not out of line in the great scheme of things. And, there have been times when I learned a lot less at a much greater cost.

Yes, I reported the $43.10 I earned as an author last year to the IRS.

Over the years I have started a number of short stories. I have decided that I will put much more effort into finishing each one this year. I have posted ten on http://tincupnomore.com and will use this medium, Twitter, Google+, Goodreads, and Red Room to announce each one I add to my tincupnomore site.

I am deleting all previous posts but will keep this site open in case I have anything to say.

Thanks to those who have read or just glanced at this site.