Covid and Publishing

      The Covid epidemic has changed everything, including publishing. As I mentioned before, during the long seclusion, lots and lots of people wrote their first book, and those like me finally got around to penning one they'd been putting off for all kinds of excuses. By the time I send The Aussie Sinner off to my editor, I was told for the very first time that she wouldn't be able to look at it for several weeks. Her desk was flooded with new manuscripts to accept or reject, but all had to be read at least partially along with a synopsis. Since I write a long running series, The Sinners, my contracts are rather routine and come back fast. Not so this time. Once the wait for the contract ended, I found myself in another wait line for an editor. Same for a line editor and a cover.

     In the big time, New York City publishers, a year's wait for a book to come out is common. In e-publishing, they move a bit faster, usually six months, sometime nine. For Aussie Sinner, submitted in the spring, it was nine.  I submitted a new Longleigh Chronicle, The Greatest Prize, that same spring with a difference press. It appeared in December, longer than usual for them. Right now, The Bad Boy Sinner is in publishing limbo, editing finished long ago and cover done, but absolutely no release date given. The next of the Longleighs, Lion in the Heather, is vaguely slated for January.  Meanwhile, I work on Edie's Sinner. A friend who submitted her new mystery was told it would not be out until 2023 sometime, so the situation has gotten even worse.

     Inexperience shows as well. One line editor whose job it is make sure spelling and grammar are correct, took several weeks to work over one of my manuscripts which are usually low on errors and returned it with notes on scenes she'd like to see changed-ah, not her job. I'd just finished appeasing one editor's quirks and didn't need hers. Though my editors haven't changed lately, I suspect there are a lot of inexperienced ones taken on to deal with the glut. Another friend said the only editing she got was constant notes to check the publisher's handbook. While we often dream of how nice it would be not to have an editor, they really can make a book better, and she felt she hadn't been given that chance.

     Because literary festivals and library events are returning, I soon found my most popular title, Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball, sold out.  I've reordered this title twice already. The price to me inches up, but not enough to for me to raise the price to the buyer--yet. I'll wait until after the holidays to do this. Why add to the rush at Christmas. I won't really need them until spring. I do dread the new price because everything like meat and gas has gone up, but this time it will be the price of paper and ink and shipping. Usually, I sell my large format paperbacks for fifteen dollars. If forced to go up to twenty, I suspect my sales will drop off. The only other alternative is to sell for cost--and I am not going to sit outside in rain or sun to virtually give them away. While I do believe the price of food and fuel will come down, I suspect this change in pricing for books will be permanent. I can only wait and see.

      Keep an eye out for Lion in the Heather in January. We'll see what it costs.