July 2026 Newsletter

Aloha,

Finally got my Creativity Trilogy published last month. Edits upon edits. 

Began writing the Box Car Racing story. 20 years to cover. Ripped off three chapters, then realized I needed to develop a timeline and reduce being overwhelmed. Learning to eat the elephant one bite at a time. Currently on chapter 6.

Sent the current draft of The Apollos, Mt. Carmel’s Hometown Band to a handful of friends. Hoping for some comments to help Tim R. and me decide on our next step.

TO SELF OR TRAD PUBLISH

In the early 1990s, an agent requested the second half of GREEN IS FOR GREED. I declined, in part because the manuscript seriously (and sillily) tongued my cheek, and I hesitated to make it my first book. I also assumed I would keep writing. Thirty years later, I began writing again and self-published GREEN. So much for intentions. 

Amazon’s print-on-demand service has been a significant boost for writers, bypassing the gatekeepers. It also opens the door for a lot of crap.

Increasingly over the past decade, writers have a choice of trying to be picked out of the pile by agents and traditional publishers, at the numbing rate of 1% of submissions, or self-publishing and being lost in the mountain of new releases. Amazon publishes more than 10,000 new books each day. 

The top few percent of writers who develop a community of readers have a chance for success. Coincidentally, trad publishers now require a new writer to document a sizable following. This was the kicker that ended my search for an agent. If I have a following, why should I subject myself to the limits of trad publishing?  

Some tradpub drawbacks: 1) editing to the point an author cannot recognize their story; 2) finite printing run… Amazon’s books stay active indefinitely, for now, at least; 3) 10% of sales profit, or 70%; 4) severely reduced promotional budgets; 5) submitting writers are required to know their genre as in-depth as an American Lit Doctoral candidate. “Specify which two titles your book would be shelved between at Barnes & Noble and why.” 

So I keep writing, working to rise above the crap, and making small inroads into creating a community.    

Mahalo,

BC