A New Venture: Glendale E-Pub Services
When I first posted about getting into indie publishing here on the blog in March of 2012, I had no idea what to expect. Frankly, I wasn’t even sure I really wanted to do it. At that point in time I was still heavily invested in working with e-publishers and I liked what I was doing. I had no complaints. It’s just that I was curious about indie publishing.
However, not too long after that, one e-publisher I’d been working with for about ten years announced she was shuttering the press and reverting all rights back to authors. This floored me. I had over 40 titles with that publisher, I’d worked hard for them for years, and I didn’t want my e-books to just disappear forever. I couldn’t fault them for going out of business, but I wasn’t going out of business and that sucked. So I republished them all as indie books and most of those books are still selling. And it was thanks to the experience I gained from publishing that first indie novel, Chase of a Lifetime. It was, indeed, a very humble venture.
In the past three years, indie publishing has allowed me the ability to take control of my work and experiment in ways no publisher would ever have allowed me to do. I’ve posted about how I’ve released one indie book in two versions: one with erotic sex scenes and one without sex scenes. I’ve also had other rights reverted with other books and I’ve been able to re-release them all as indie books so they don’t disappear forever. In one case, I actually removed all the sex scenes because I was never happy with them and so far the most recent review seems to suggest I did the right thing in that case. Bottom line: I finally got to control my own work.
When e-publishing started out I don’t think anyone ever thought their e-books would wind up being taken down and disappearing forever. I never expected to see that. I always thought that once an e-book had been published with a reputable publisher it had found a home forever. That’s not the case anymore. I’m not even going to mention the e-publishers out there that have shuttered without even giving their authors advanced notice. One ran off to South Africa last I heard. Many authors haven’t been paid, and some never will. It’s been both sad and frustrating to watch so many authors left out in the proverbial cold with nowhere to turn.
I’m not anti-publisher and I still work with a few small e-presses. I have wonderful relationships with them and I hope that continues forever. This post isn’t designed to knock anyone or to draw any conclusions. It’s simply an announcement about another humble venture we are doing that may or may not help a few authors who are interested in indie publishing but don’t know how to go about doing it…and without spending thousands of dollars to indie publish. You don’t have to be a tech genius either. In the past year I’ve noticed more than a few authors who claimed they would never indie publish announce that they’ve changed their minds. In almost every case, it’s for the same reasons I decided to indie publish.
In any event, here’s a link to Glendale E-Pub Services. The web site has already been up for about a year but I haven’t been actively promoting it because the goal is to keep it boutique…small. At this point, it’s only us running things, with the help of a few sources I’ve worked with in the past with publishers. The clients we’ve worked with so far have all come through me, and they’ve been return clients who contact us months after publication to either publish something new or to make changes to something that already has been published. Yes. You can do that with e-books. If you don’t like something about your book cover you can change that a few months later. You make your own rules this time and you control your own rights.
We’re not a publishing company or a literary agency and we make no promises to sell, market, or promote books. Another reason we started Glendale is because I’ve seen far too many rip off e-publishing services that make claims I know they’ll never be able to live up to. The author retains his/her rights and we’re simply acting as a service…a means to get that e-book out there for you at an affordable cost. We focus only on e-books at this time because that seems to be where authors can save the most in up front costs, and because it’s been my experience that e-books with regard to the indie markets usually bring in the best returns for authors. If someone else has had a different experience, good for you. We’re not getting into print book publishing or audio book publishing simply because I’ve learned through working with e-publishers myself that print books and audio books don’t sell as well as people would lead you to believe. If they did sell you’d see far more of them out there with small presses. It only stands to reason.
Everything you need to know is on the web site at the link above. You don’t have to query us. We aren’t judging anyone’s work and everyone is welcome to contact us. We don’t censor and your content is something you control, not us. In other words, we’re not rejecting anyone on content. We’re simply working on a first come first serve basis and everyone is welcome. What you publish, or what genre you are concentrated in, doesn’t matter. We’ll help authors e-publish anything from Christan self help books to the most erotic literature out there. If there are literary agents out there interested in getting client back list titles up in digital, we welcome them, too.
I’ll post more about all this in the future from time to time. As I said, everything’s fairly simple at the web site, and we’re still working on it and making small changes as we go. I think every author’s situation is unique and that’s not something we take lightly. If you have any questions you can always e-mail me here: rfieldj@aol.com or contact us through the web site. Please make sure you put something in the subject line about Glendale E-publishing Services so I know it’s not spam.
Danny Pintauro’s Oprah Interview
Former childhood star, Danny Pintauro, came out as gay a while ago, but he recently did an interview with Oprah Winfrey and spoke openly about being HIV positive.
However, the 39-year-old’s secret which will likely have the bigger impact was saved for the broadcast when Pintauro shared that he tested positive for HIV 12 years ago.
“I was living in New York at the time and completely clueless to the idea that I was positive. I went in for a regular checkup. It was just regular blood work. You go in, and you sort of waited two weeks on pins and needles — or at least I did, because I was just terrified of the idea of getting HIV.”
There’s a lot more to read, which you can do here.
The comments go even deeper than the interview. Some aren’t too thrilled with the way Pintauro handles a few things. And you can’t blame them. There are millions of gay men out there who have taken all the precautions and they aren’t HIV positive. They deserve credit, too.
James Pianka’s Underpants
Well, here’s another thing I must have missed when I was absent from gay school that one day. It’s about this dude I’ve never heard of…James Pianka…and his underpants. Yes, underpants. Or course it’s an advertorial for “The Underwear Expert,” so we aren’t supposed to take it seriously. But I love the way they portray it as “gay” news…more tired cliche.
James Pianka models six pairs of casual underwear in our exclusive photoshoot below, each with simple and effective designs that stun without ever trying too hard. These underwear styles are more modern than the common boxer brief, and will always provide a more flattering fit, thanks to their silhouettes.
It’s nice underwear. James Pianka has an ass. That’s all you need to know.
