Ring Around the Publishing World

There are so many options for publishing a book now and days. The original advice from many brand name authors is to get an agent, and your book will be everywhere. 

Now we have small presses, self publishing and traditional, but now there are small presses who can get your books into the bookstores. There are so many options for publishing, and many of these small presses are in fact succeeding in many ways. I think one of the reasons a person will self publish is simple, they don't want to wait for the amount of time it takes to see their work out there, they want to see their books out there now. 

If you look at the way the traditional publishing model works, it can take you six months to a year or longer to find an agent. Then depending on if your agent is editorial, you and your agent might go through several rounds of edits to make sure your manuscript is in tip top shape before sending it out to editors for publication. Then depending on how good your agent is, there are agents who can sell books within a week and some who can take about a year to sell your manuscript. Then between covers, edits, the publisher sending you an ARC copy to make sure everything was caught, then the books being printed, promoting your book while writing the next one. Following the traditional model a writer can expect for it to take about two years to see your book in the stores. Then when the author receives the advance, their books have to sell enough through that advance. In some cases, if the books don't sell through the advance, there are some cases where the publisher will have the author give back some of the advance. There are independent publishers who can get the books into the bookstore who give you high royalties or a small advance. They are a new take on those who wish to publish the traditional route.

Most small presses take roughly around six months for each book to be published. Some don't have the best editorial staff, but they have been acquiring more experienced editors. What is better about the small presses is how they are strictly royalty. The author doesn't have to worry about their book selling more over their advance. The author gets to have input on how they want the cover of their book to look. 

Self publishing is quite simple, all you have to do is just upload the book to Kindle Direct Publishing (minus the costs of finding a graphic designer to design the cover of your books and finding a qualified editor) and within a few hours your book is live for everyone to buy. I think one of the reasons an author will self publish is the patience. They don't want to wait two years for a targeted audience to read their work, they want to put their work out there now. I have one trilogy I wrote that is dystopian, since most publishers aren't taking dystopian books anymore calling dystopian a dead genre I will have to investigate more into self publishing the trilogy.

YA adult Elana Johnson wrote a blog post from a made some valid points in which I happen to agree with one hundred percent about reading a book not showing prejudice against which way they were published and released to the public.

Here's my view, I don't give a crap whichever way a person decides to publish their book; self, small press, or traditional, I don't really care I just want one thing when I choosing books to buy, curling up with a cup of coffee and reading a good book on my e-reader, which I'm pretty sure many other readers out there in the world want. If an author writes and publishes a book that deals with the things I like to read about. Which ever way a person decides to publish their book shouldn't matter. Readers want only one thing to read a good book. It shouldn't matter which way we publish, we are all authors, friends with each other, and want the same thing, to see our books succeed. 

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.
Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding. It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans--except Katniss. The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay--no matter what the personal cost.



The final book in The Hunger Games trilogy. Mockingjay picks up where Catching Fire left off. This was a dark conclusion to a gripping series. The writing on the pages kept me flipping until I finished the book. I mostly kept reading because I wanted to see the fearless Katniss save Peeta from the capitol. The ending of the book I did not see happen. I'm not posting any spoilers because I don't want people who haven't read the series to get mad at spoilers. 

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

I love Greek mythology. I was a huge fan of the TV show Xena: Warrior Princess (yes folks, I am that big of a nerd), and with so many books dealing with Greek mythology I wanted to read this book very badly and figured now was the time.

How do you defy destiny?
Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.
As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.






I really enjoyed this book. I really liked the story idea of it on how Helen falls in love with Lucas, and Helen finds out that she is a reincarnation of Helen of Troy and her falling in love with Lucas can re-create another Trojan War. I have been a major fan of Greek mythology since childhood and it's one of the reason I chose to minor in History. I really adored the writing. The only thing that really bothered me was the view in the story. The book begins in third restricted, then wen you get further into the book it begins to switch POVs, this is something that should have been caught by the editors. I highly recommend people read this book because it is just too wonderful to pass up.

Fallen Series by Lauren Kate

I purchased these books a long time ago. I never really had much time to read them. I haven't read many books about angels, although some I have read were really interesting to me.




Fallen (Book 1)
There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce – he goes out of his way to make that very clear. But she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, Luce has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret...even if it kills her.





Luce is sent to a reform boarding school and she meets Daniel a fallen angel. Half the time during the book the author was giving the backstory, and follows way too many cliches. and too many usages of plot keys ruin the story, it wasn't even much of a love story. It's the jerk boy who is in love with a shallow girl doesn't that sound familiar. I think Hush, Hush will better suited for me. This is what I get for reading books that are overly hyped up.  
This book series is one of the New York Times bestsellers. While reading the first book in the series, Fallen, the description of Daniel made me feel like I was reading Twilight all over again he reminds me way too much of Edward. There are some YA paranormal romance books that read too similar to Twilight, but Daniel's was indeed almost identical. If you like books about angels you'll like this one if you don't mind it's similarities to Twilight. The book starts off really really really slow. It took me about two months just to read it. The story line doesn't even begin to get good until you get to the middle of the book.