True Self-Publishing

When actor Jack Klugman decided to self-publish TONY AND ME, his memoir of working with Tony Randall, he didn’t go the POD/PublishAmerica route (which isn’t so much publishing a book as having it printed in book format). He decided to truly self-publish…he invested $500,000 and created an actual publishing house, headed by his son Adam (a veteran advertising exec) and hired industry professionals to staff it. According to the story in Publishers Weekly, the initial print run for TONY AND ME is 100,000 copies, back by a 19-city author tour and a 30-second television commerical airing on TVLand, among other venues.

"I didn’t know the first thing about how to produce a quality book or what
the industry standards were," admitted [Adam] Klugman. The first consulting firm he
used merely gave him what he asked for, instead of telling him what he needed to
do. At BEA, Klugman brought on Sally Dedecker, who advised him on how to handle
such thorny issues as book size, binding, paper stock, margins, photo layouts,
book tours and distribution. "I thought you hired a distributor and they put all
your books into bookstores," said Klugman. "What I found out is that they choose
you as much as you choose them."

Client Distribution Services is now on board to distribute the title and
publicist Roger Bilheimer is helping to promote the book, which was released
last week. "If we’re a success, it’s because I hired publishing veterans who
were able to do about 18 months’ worth of work in just six months," Klugman
said.

This is still a vanity press publication, but Jack has  got a few things going for him that most aspiring writers who choose this route don’t have — fame, money and the smarts to hire industry pros (instead of relying on get-rich-quick-Internet-hucksters). If the book sells, Good Hill Press will broaden beyond their one title to publish others as well.

46 thoughts on “True Self-Publishing”

  1. Lee, what is your opinion of CafePress, and publish-on-demand in general?
    I’m not asking about scams like PublishAmerica, but companies that make it clear what they’re offering.
    And, out of further curiosity, do you take a similarly negative view on self-produced, independent movies?

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  2. I don’t know, Lee. Looks like Jack has done everything the geniuses in New York would do (assuming he also hired a good line editor) and more. Plus he’s controlling the show. The only thing he hasn’t done is get vetted by some wizard. Why does everyone have to get permission from some marketing guy in New York to be valid in your book?
    Klugman will outsell a ton of traditionally published stuff when his book comes out. He cares about his subject and he’s putting his money where his mouth is. He should be applauded for trying to do it right.
    The Other Lee

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  3. Okay. This is what I get for trying to post something after spending all night in a Compton casino.
    Sorry that last message sounded so cranky. And it probably came off as maniacal gibberish as well. I hope I can clarify what I was trying to say without forcing my foot deeper down my throat: I realize you weren’t really tearing into Klugman for what he is doing, but you do seem very dismissive of anyone who publishes in ANY other way than the most traditional of methods. Which is to run the gauntlet of agents, editors, marketers and sales gurus, beg for acceptance, then turn yourself over to their tender mercies and hope they pull off a few miracles along the way. It’s a very time consuming endeavor, even when you get lucky and it goes right. And I get the feeling that Jack Klugman doesn’t have a lot of time to waste.
    To just casually dismiss what Klugman is doing as a “vanity press” seems to miss the point entirely. He did not want to wait. He wanted to make it happen in his lifetime. And he wanted to be able to do as much as possible to control his destiny and the destiny of his book. Certainly SOMEONE would have published the book if he had gone the traditional route. Look what GETS published already. Would Klugman’s book be any more valid if some numbers cruncher had given it the nod? What makes you think these people should always have the final say on what is fit to print? They make mistakes on a daily basis. In both departments: what they publish and what they don’t publish.
    (And before some joker assumes that this is coming from a sour grape vine on my part, I’ve only written four books and they’ve all been published the traditional way, so I don’t have any rejected works of genius that I feel have been overlooked by New York. I’ve been “vetted” four times out of four attempts. Whoop-de-freakin’-do.)
    Lee, you are one hundred percent correct about PA and just about every other vanity press there is out there. They are scam artists who take advantage of a frustrated throng who burn to see their work published. They make a business of it. They remind me of the sleaze bags who wait for the fresh faces to hop off the Greyhound in Hollywood or downtown L.A., hoping to take advantage of their innocence and their feverish dreams. I’m not defending them. But there is another alternative to traditional publishing and vanity press publishing. And what Jack Klugman is doing looks to be a perfect example.
    I wish him well.
    TL
    P.S. – Hope he remembered to buy co-op.

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  4. Yeah Greyhound bus travelers are easy marks, but for what? Panhandlers after their dreams? PA is the biggest scam in this venue, hands down. Anyone who uses their coined phrase publish-on-demand has been brainwashed. No one else recognizes this distinction.
    This post illustrates the true self-publishing picture.

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  5. Terrill, I couldn’t agree with you more. There’s a new breed of people on the scene who have the spirit, drive and fortitude to set up their own publishing houses and perform the same tasks that the big houses do. In the end, that’s all publishing is, a set of tasks: copy-editing, cover design, layout, printing, distribution and promotion.
    Anyone doing this, though, must in fact have a good book. That is the key, the cornerstone, the foundation. Get brutally honest feedback from people in the profession. Without a good book you’re doomed to failure. That goes for the big houses too.
    But, if you can get past that initial hurdle and actually have a good book, all the rest of the tasks are within reach and doable. Baker & Taylor Books offers wholesale services for every size publisher, which makes the books available to virtually every bookseller in the US. Many book reviewers (Kirkus, PW, etc., aside) don’t care about the size or history of the publisher but about the quality of the title that is sent for review. If it’s good, and they like it, you’re going to get good reviews. Same for booksellers: if they like it, they’ll buy it. Barnes & Noble for example will warehouse all books that meet their minimal criteria, making it available for order at all their stores and online. B&N also has a committee to review all titles submitted, on their merits, by presses both large and small, to decide whether the title will actually be shelved at their stores. There are many hundreds of independent bookseller, many of which belong to BookSense, that will review the brochures and ARCs of any sized publishing house that sees fit to send them. If they like the book and see a reader demand for it, they’ll buy it. Also, any size publisher can set up product pages on online booksellers such as Amazon and even have Amazon do the fulfillment. You can link to Amazon from the author’s website, the publisher’s website, etc. The publisher can also sell to booksellers and readers direct. You can set up a PayPal account to handle credit card transactions.
    As far as promotion goes, most of that comes down to the author anyway, whether the publisher is big or small. The author has to network, set up a website, do the author events, etc. That takes individual initiative and has very little to do with the size of the publisher.
    Bottom line, books can enter the market from both big and small publishers alike. Although the big established publishers have a definite edge in getting their books into the market (e.g. they can get the “bigger” reviews such as Kirkus, PW, etc.), they don’t have a monopoly and in the end it is the quality of the book that speaks the loudest.

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  6. The major difference between a situation like this and the typical self-publication effort is that a celebrity like Jack Klugman can get publicity and attention for his book that an unknown will never achieve. He also has a certain amount of assumed credibility (i.e., we know that Jack Klugman has some good showbiz stories to tell) and a built-in audience that 99% of self-published authors simply don’t have. In addition to those two factors, he’s putting some significant money behind the enterprise.
    On the other hand, any unknown self-published author faces the very nearly insurmountable tasks of getting out the word about their book, and convincing readers to give them a try. Unless they have something extraordinary to bring to the table (e.g., fame, established audience, etc.), it seems destined to be a foolhardy effort.
    For those self-published authors who aren’t celebrities, or don’t have a significant number of eager readers, or don’t have a half-million dollars to invest in their book, or don’t have the ability to get serious media coverage… How is anyone going to know about their book and why would they want to buy it?
    I’m all in favor of the attempt – and for someone like Klugman it very well makes more sense than going through a traditional publisher – but I just don’t see how it’s going to work for the vast majority of people.

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  7. I think perhaps he wanted more control than he might have gotten from a traditional publisher. And also keep in mind that this isn’t an uncommon route to take in Hollywood. Isn’t this how a lot of independent films get made?

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  8. The PW article suggested that Jack Klugman, 83, wanted to get the book out in a hurry given his age. He’s also setting his son up in a nice business (that’s my observation, not PW’s).
    By the way, I think The Other Lee misunderstood me…I think Klugman is doing it right. He is truly self-publishing and he’s doing it smart. He hired a good ghostwriter for his book (so it doesn’t read like crap) and publishing professionals to sell & distribute it, all backed by a strong promotional campaign and author tour. Of course, he has some major things going for him that most unpublished writers who go this route don’t have — celebrity and wealth. Because of all those things, he has a real chance of success that the vast majority of self-published do not.

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  9. Jim:
    “Many book reviewers (Kirkus, PW, etc., aside) don’t care about the size or history of the publisher but about the quality of the title that is sent for review.”
    They will not review self-published books. Period. Book review editors themselves have said so. Ask David Montgomery.
    The big box, chain bookstores won’t take self-published books and neither will independent bookstores. Go to Holt Uncensored and dig through the archives and read the article where two people took a handfull of what they considered good self-published books and pitched them to buyers at leading independent bookstores. There were no takers.

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  10. Well, let’s say it’s 99% true. There are some very rare exceptions. If you can self-publish an extremely compelling book that calls attention to itself for some unique reason, you might get a little ink. This is almost never the case for a novel, though, and particularly not for genre fiction.

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  11. Word King: Maybe I wasn’t clear. I agree that many reviewers (Kkirkus, PW, etc.) are not likely to review small press books featuring debut authors. Some newspapers have a blanket policy to not review “self-published” books. That’s why some freelance reviewers won’t review them: because they have no one to sell their reviews to.
    However, there are many reputable book reviewers in addition to the big 5 or 6. They are willing to look at small press books and judge them on their merits. For example, I have 15-20 reviews posted on my website. Most if not all of these are from well known and well established review organizations that have developed very good reputations.
    Booksellers of all sizes do in fact consider small press books, even where the small press is owned by the author. For example, I have already secured committment from booksellers in the Denver area to stock my books on their shelves. Many indies across the country have already requested ARCs based on an initial flyer I sent out about a month ago. I will be sending out approximately 200 ARCs to target indies as soon as the book arrives from the printer in early October.
    Also, Barnes & Novel is very clear in it’s webpage, and it’s several communictions with me, that it indeed looks very closely at small press books.
    Bottom line, it is not impossible to develop your own small publishing company, obtain reviews, and get your books on the shelves. Hard work, yes. More difficult than having a big publishing house behind you? Unquestionably. But impossible, no.

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  12. With all due respect, a book from an author-owned “publisher” with 1 title is not really a small press book. It’s a self-published or vanity book, which is a much tougher sell. In that case, most reviews would be limited to online-only publications.
    (That’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with web reviews — I run a review site myself. They are, however, generally not as desirable.)
    Books from actual small presses, though, get reviewed in print all the time. I’ve reviewed books from UglyTown, Five Star, CDS, Intrigue, Speck, Counterpoint, Point Blank (Wildside), Hard Case Crime and probably some others I’ve forgotten.
    What book review editors are most interested in is the credibility of the publisher and the distribution of their books. (Basically, they want to make sure that the publisher is legitimate and that the reader could actually find the book if they wanted to.) If one can convince them on those points, a review is possible. Assuming the book merits it, of course.
    Frank Wilson, my editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, has assigned a couple of self-published titles for review recently that I know of. The first one came back as unreadable, but maybe the second one will make it. Even Frank is very cautious about such books, though, and he’s more liberal than most.

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  13. There’s a BIG difference between a genuine small press (like Five Star), a vanity press (like iUniverse and PublishAmerica), and a one-author vanity operation (like Jim Hansen). The only ones who can’t make the obvious distinctions are, of course, the vanity press authors.
    Kirkus and PW review small press books all the time. What they don’t review are vanity press titles…with extremely rare exceptions for celebrities and figures in the news.
    There is, however, a much maligned off-shoot of Kirkus that will review self-published/vanity press authors (or anyone else with a credit card or check book) for a price. Naturally, that off-shoot publication carries no credibility or respect in the industry. Like everything else in the POD world, it’s just another ploy to separate foolish writers from their money.

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  14. Lee: Please define the attributes of a “genuine small press” that Kirkus and PW will review all the time. I’ll be sending the book to Kirkus, PW etc soon. Maybe I need to include a page, “About the Publisher,” to show address the issue.

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  15. Never mind, I looked it up. PW has the following statement in its submission guidelines:
    We NEVER review books after publication. We do not review self-published books unless there is a first printing of 2,000 or greater, and an arrangement with a reputable distributor, in which case we will take the book under consideration.

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  16. For Terrell, “nevermind” is not a word.
    “The only ones who can’t make the obvious distinctions are, of course, the vanity press authors.”
    I sure can make that difference and I’ve battered because of it. Right here in fact, but many other places frequented by vanity press authors. The theme is familiar and misguided. Exceptions are rare and don’t make the rule.

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  17. Nevermind COULD be a word if you type it fast enough. And are asleep while typing it.
    Thanks for the English lesson. But next time you get out the red pencil please spell my name correctly on the test results.
    (Gosh, I think “I’ve battered” here now as well.)

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  18. The same people do that repeatedly, and with “alot.” Not a word. Almost all are vanity press writers. That’s one reason why. Ideas that deserve to be debunked will. Only fools attack a sound premise based in fact. Vanity presses writers do that en masse.

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  19. Guess I’m headed for Vanity press land, then. Wonder if Jack Klugman has room in the van?
    But I am a bit confused. Looking over your posts on this page I am still unclear about your message. Are you pro or con vanity presses? I can’t really understand many of your sentences or paragraphs.
    For example: “That’s one reason why.”
    Why what?
    Or: “Ideas that deserve to be debunked will.”
    Will what?
    And what is the sound premise based in fact that we vanity press writers attack so foolishly? (And en masse at that.)
    Your posts confuse me. “Alot.”
    BTW – Haven’t you gone the vanity press route yourself?
    (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)
    Just trying to understand where you’re coming from.

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  20. Hey John, thanks for the kind words. Glad I could batter you.
    I hope Blonde Lightning batters you to pieces on your next day off. Same cast of animals. Five days later.

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  21. Terrill could publish his stuff with a vanity press, print it on wet toilet paper, or scrawl it on the bathroom wall and I’d still read it. He’s that good.
    And who knows, after his experience with Random House for the last couple of books, maybe he should.

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  22. That’s very nice of you to say, David. And oddly enough, the more we talk about it, the more it appeals to me. Despite the obvious prejudice against the practice. Arguing with vast corporations gets old real fast. Total control certainly has its appeals – and dangers.
    It’s odd that few people seem to notice that great outfits like Hard Case Crime, Capra Press and Ugly Town were (at least partially) created out of a need to see the publisher’s or editor’s written works see print (along with other works as well). Buried within their lists of great titles are books that Lee would have to qualify as vanity press titles if we were rigidly sticking to his definition of “vanity press.”
    (And for the record, Official Lee, I DID understand your post. It was the dismissive way you tossed in the phrase “This is still a vanity publication,” that got me started. What Klugman is doing strikes me as smart business, not vanity publishing. He’s done the same thing those other fine folks I’ve mentioned here did. He created a professional platform from which to launch his book. He just didn’t print a bunch of other titles along with it to provide a smokescreen.)
    Hey, maybe I’ll submit my next book to Good Hill Press!
    (That’s assuming Jack has money left after his tour.)
    The Other Lee

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  23. If you can’t understand those sentences you have bigger problems than publishing. I’m anti-vanity press and I expect readers to be able to follow a thread without requoting everything. Self-publishing is a bad idea that gets worse with POD presses at the helm. Exclamation points are another killer. Spare to never. Figure it out for yourself.

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  24. “Buried within their lists of great titles are books that Lee would have to qualify as vanity press titles if we were rigidly sticking to his definition of “vanity press.”
    Here’s one I don’t understand.

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  25. You see the problem here Mr. Lankford is I’d never heard of you; only going on the posts seeming to support vanity press work as an option. I’m against them because I did it back when it was free, nonfiction of course. You of all people should know how worthless they are. Ah the joys of discussing vanity work. Always with the same result.

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  26. Well, marky, I’ll be glad to explain myself to you.
    The publishing houses I discussed in that post have all published books written by the editors or publishers themselves. Very good books at that. Was that vanity publishing? Traditional publishing? Or something else? Seems to me the lines blur here.
    Is that clear enough for you?
    Not sure what you don’t understand about the second post, which was in response to John’s kind comment about my book, Earthquake Weather, published last year by a non-vanity press. Blonde Lightning is its sequel, also published sans vanity. I think John (and others) would find the post perfectly understandable. We were riffing a bit on your odd use of the phrase “I’ve battered” in an earlier post.
    And don’t worry about having never heard of me. I certainly wish I could have kept it that way, but I don’t see how my lack of fame (or your poor reading habits – just kidding) has anything to do with what we were discussing. (Nice dig, though. You’re good, by God, you are good.)
    I wouldn’t know how worthless vanity publishing is, because I’ve never done it. But some of my favorite books that have been published in the last few years have come from small press publishers that could be considered just one step away from vanity publishing. I’m sorry you had such disasterous results with your experience, but have you had any experiences with traditional publishers to compare them to? And why did you choose the vanity press route yourself instead of going with the “real” publishers? I truly want to know.
    And btw, I dig exclamation points!!!!!!! I’ll use ’em when I want to. Just avert your gaze! (Now I feel like using them after every sentence! Really! I do!)
    (Hey Official Lee, my admiration of your tolerance for internet BS grows with every passing moment. I can’t believe you’ve kept this blog of yours going for so long. You are the Iron Man of the internet.)
    I’m beginning to feel like General Westmoreland.
    (I’ll explain that one later if you need me to, marky.)

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  27. Kiss my ass. I hope you can understand that without clarification. My nonfiction is making the rounds as we speak and no I didn’t submit it at all. Memoirs from a nobody: traveling journalist/biologist? Do the math. It was an experiment from a media class in 1999.
    Your history of quasi-vanity crime genre presses has left you sympathetic to the venue. Do a google search and see how many time “I’ve battered” comes up. I do the same with “nevermind” and we’ll compare.
    Go screw yourself in a new novel. I won’t be reading.

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  28. And one more thing. My experience wasn’t bad. It was nothing. It cost nothing and it was worth every bit of it. Technically I made money that that’s of little value. My opinion is pertinenet to the subject matter of the post. I don’t support the POD vanity practice. People don’t like that. I don’t give a damn.

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  29. Terrill: I understood your response to my earlier post. Best damn laugh I’ve had all day. I’ll be picking up Blonde Lightning next week.[ Maybe I should get the old kevlar vest out of mothballs first. And duct tape; I’ll need some of that to keep all of my pieces together.]
    And hey, I wish you all the best on whatever project you’re currently working on.
    –john–

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  30. marky, pardon me if I don’t kiss your ass. (But thanks for the offer.)
    If I can manage to screw myself in a new novel, I’ll gladly do so. Since you didn’t know who I was before today, your lack of support in the future can’t possibly hurt my sales record. Miniscule as it might be.
    This subject had nothing to do with “POD vanity practices,” so once again, you’ve lost me in the haze of your “logic.”
    I’m also not sure why anyone would care one way or the other whether you supported POD vanity practices or not. Do you have the power to outlaw them in this country? People are free to do what they want to do, with or without your approval. But once again, we weren’t really talking about POD, were we?
    Also, my wacky use of the non-word “nevermind” was either a typo or a brain fart caused by lack of sleep. You know, like your use of the word “pertinenet” in your last post (I don’t know how many “time” that one would come up on the old Google search). Your need to make like a middle school English teacher is very strange coupled with your inability to put sentences and paragraphs together in a comprehensible fashion and your canny way with the typo (and now you also want me to tackle some kind of arcane math problem as well). I’ve been baffled (and battered) by many of your posts on Lee’s blog over the last few months. Never thought I’d have to cross swords with you, but it’s been fun coming on like semi-literate (or just plain ignorant) versions of Mailer and Vidal. Unfortunately I make my living in this business and this kind of frolic has little upside to it for me, but if everyone nitpicked everyone else’s posts on the web, no one would ever get anything done. (Hey wait a minute, we’re not getting anything done now, are we?) And people who live in glass houses should be extra careful when slinging stones in the nude.
    But hell, thanks for playing Internet Smackdown!

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  31. Why don’t you two just get a room and have it over with?
    But seriously, the post is about the self-publishing and the deluded. I self-published and am not deluded into thinking it’s something it can’t ever be like the supporters who assail me at my blog all the time. That’s what my post said despite a missed word, so counting the angels on the head of a pin to define what I mean isn’t necessary unless one just wants to be dense. You are. I read it loud and clear.
    Vanity press “practices,” which is the business model we’re discussing are duping people into buying into that scheme. I’m against it and unlike some that stance comes from experience. Warning people off is the only goal I have in this despite the pissing match.
    OK pal you had a multiple-year head start on my writing career so I’m glad you advanced to the big leagues from the POD “small presses.” That’s what we all want.(I don’t recognize that distinction since in my view POD=vanity)But you defend what you used so I get the battle line: Been there done that with David.
    Typos in unedited posts are common, but one can tell the difference between hurried misfires, left out words and deliberate useage of common mistakes. “Nevermind” and “alot” repeatedly. In your case possibly a one-time mistake, but in vanity press supporters a constant, hence my interpretation of your post.
    After spending two days with Hemingway, what a fall it’s been reading your online work and logical problems in this thread.

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  32. Marky Mark, you’re really off-base on this one. Lee Lankford is an accomplished novelist with 4 superb novels published by major publishing houses (Random House and St. Martin’s, as I recall). He also has a long career as a independent filmmaker. He’s not a vanity press author.

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  33. Well, marky, the title of this post is TRUE SELF PUBLISHING, not SELF PUBLISHING AND THE DELUDED. You’ve confused it with some of Lee’s other posts. Confusion seems to be your specialty.
    “Pal,” I never moved up to the “big leagues” from POD “small presses,” or any variation on the theme. I trudged through the mud like everyone else. I got an agent, she submitted work, and it was published. Two of the first four editors she sent the book to made offers. I got lucky. Having been around the book business for more than a decade, I have developed many friendships with other writers and we all have stories to tell about the so-called “big leagues.” Many of us don’t hold them in as much awe and esteem as you do.
    That being said, I would NEVER hire a vanity press to do my dirty work. It wouldn’t make sense economically or artistically. If I were to self-publish I would emulate the small presses I admire who do quality work and get the job done myself. (Usually their books look better and are munufactured with more care than the books coming out of New York.) And the reasons I would do it would be all about control. The fact is that if your books are even marginally readable SOMEONE out there will publish them. Big deal. There is no dearth of bad books hitting the market. But being published in the “big leagues” is not automatically synonymous with being published well. And I feel no further need to be vetted by a second party before I bring work to market. I have a small – but loyal – reader base, and if I published another book, most of them would buy it (I hope). No matter what the publisher’s name was on the spine. Would it limit options in the marketplace? Absolutely. But the trade-offs would be many.
    I’m not sure what drives you batty about the mis-use of non-words like “nevermind” or “alot.” You’ve obviously had a fetish for the editor’s red pencil for a long time, but the web is rife with these kinds of mistakes, be they typos or just plain gaffes. (Your own posts are some of the best examples I’ve ever seen. Physician, heal thyself.) To obsess over web scribblings so weirdly – and distructively – is going to give you cancer. And in the “big leagues” they care more about the quality of the writing than the typos. If your material was any good, they would overlook the occasional typo. That’s what line editors are for. To catch the typos (among other things). You are clearly not qualified to be a line editor, so why get in everyone’s face and act like one? (When self-publishing people – if you must self-publish – please, please, please hire a line editor. It would make a world of difference.)
    I’m glad you spent the last two days with Hemingway. How’s he doing, by the way?
    (Hey, where’s Tod Goldberg when you need him? Oh that’s right, somewhere in the wilds of St. Louis touring his book.)
    Now, instead of putting “nevermind” into Google (now that I think of it, maybe it SHOULD be a word, like “nevermore”), I did something funny and put the words “Mark A. York” into the search engine instead. And what did I discover? You guessed it! You’re a troll! A big, fat, furry troll who has been banned by many a website and blog. It’s bad enough if publishers won’t have you, but you’ve been banned from blogs! Even they don’t want you around. I can only assume Lee tolerates your presence in exchange for the barrels of laughs he gets from reading your posts.
    Of course the real sucker here is me. You got me, my fine furry friend. I took the bait and ran with it. This is why I try not to post too often on the web. There’s always the remote chance you will get into a dust-up with some jackass who has far more time on their hands than I do. But something about Lee’s blog inspired me to run with this one. (His kick-ass attitude is a bit contagious.) Do I regret it now? You betcha. But I have to give you this, you did your job and wasted plenty of my time, you crafty sumbitch. I guess since you can’t write, you get some sort of perverse satisfaction from distracting others from their work. “By God, sir, you are a character.”
    I see you have also tried to drag this fight onto one of Lee’s newer posts, but I won’t be taking the bait there. (Fool me once….) I’ll very comfortably accept the guise of the “Nevermind” guy, as long as you embrace being the “I’ve battered” troll. (If I traded you a “been” for an empty space would you go away and play with yourself in the corner like a good little troll? Why is it that when you make a mistake it is just fine and dandy, but when others do so they have to hear about it from you? You can dish it out, but you sure can’t take it.)
    Good luck in your pointless war against typos and the PODs. I can’t wait to see the new marky in action, the one who is going to take Jim’s sound advice and “respectfully disagree and offer no explanation.” My bet is you’d explode first. As for me, hopefully I’ve learned my lesson and I’ll just shut the hell up altogether. See, it’s not really necessary to let everyone in the world know when we disagree (even respectfully) with absolutely anything they say. None of us are really that important. Not even you, super troll that you are. Maybe one day you’ll learn that lesson and find another hobby.
    But tell me what city you live in and I’ll put it on my next tour schedule. I owe you a drink, you little minx.

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  34. I’m no troll. Click on my website. You see trolls don’t leave a trail. David I know that now, but I didn’t then. I simply commented on the word he used and voila. Self-publishing is hopeless, we all know that much, but Terrill here doesn’t seem to appreciate his status. That’s his choice, but cheering for Jack Klugman is unnecessary. Hansen needs the help and look how he got hammered here, but not by me.
    By the way no Lankford books in B&N here, but Klugman’s is front and center. Maybe there is something to bitch about in real publishing land besides not getting in?
    “I’m not sure what drives you batty about the mis-use of non-words like “nevermind” or “alot.” ”
    I simply observed that most vanity press writers don’t know the difference. You fell into the tuna net. Again I don’t know you or have ever heard of you until now.
    Hemingway is quiet as is his house, a nature preserve where I’ve spent the summer fishing. It’s a helluva lot more fun than this. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to print out an entire manuscript because this particular agent doesn’t accept digital versions. I hate that but that’s the process. I accept that.

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  35. “I guess since you can’t write.” Oh really? How do you know that? That would require you actually read my work which is available on the web. Now please return to your WIP and let me get back to mine. I have a real job as well saving fish from ranchers.

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  36. Okay, this has been fun, but it’s getting out-of-hand. I’ve had to delete a few messages…and I hate doing that. Could we please stay on topic?
    I have to say, Mark, that I’m getting tired of cleaning up your messes on my blog. If you can’t play nice, I’d prefer you didn’t play here at all.

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