The Wisdom of “Les Miserables”

Like every author I aim at publication by an established, royalty-paying house. In the serious writing world, there’s no substitute for industry acknowledgement and approval of your work. Not being a hobbyist, I strive for that.

Another motivation to seek commercial publication is found in the professional writing association I belong to. When I joined the group in 1996, and for a decade after that, “published” meant royalty- or fee-paying publication. Within the last few years, the organization’s Policies and Procedures have been rewritten to admit self-published authors to the highest level of membership. Nonetheless, there persists within the consciousness of members, whose work has been accepted and distributed by name-brand publishing houses, a sense that that self-published writers don’t deserve “published author” status. 

Six of my nine books have been published by royalty-paying houses. Would I like to add to that total? Of course. Then, why did I go POD with The Wisdom of Les Miserables: Lessons From the Heart of Jean Valjean? The answer is complex.

I researched the spirituality market and targeted agents and publishers most likely to be interested in my manuscript. I even had an inside lead at one of the major spirituality publishers. My queries and proposal submissions produced puzzling responses that, translated from industry-speak to common language, meant, “Interesting and unique, but I don’t get it” and/or “Well written, but I don’t know how to categorize this book.” I might have continued my search, but several factors led me to another solution.

I could have spent another six months trying to convince an agent to represent the book. If successul in securing representation, it could have taken another six-to-nine months to sell the manuscript. (Or not.) With the clock ticking from the moment of signing a book contract, publication might take another 12 to 18 months. Total time from marketing the manuscript to availability for sale? Easily two to two-and-a-half years! Having passed the age of 70,  I have a creeping sense of running out of time to write and publish all the books waiting inside me (including another based on Victor Hugo’s classic Les Miserables).

Another reason for self-publishing is the nature of The Wisdom of Les Miserables itself. My intention from the beginning has been to develop a series of workshops and retreats based on the book’s themes and personal Reflections. I made no senses to wait two-plus years for the book to come out. Therefore, the decision to self-publish turned out to be an easy one.  I let go of my professional pride and insistence on royalty-based publication–or no publication.

In the three weeks the book has been in circulation, it has sold well (by my standards) and earned positive feedback. This despite absence of bookstore availability. Another strike against the book is Amazon.com’s recent decision not to sell any POD book not produced by its in-house BookSurge (POD press). This arrogance has engraged a large segment of the publishing world, including the many royalty-paying publishers who use POD to produce and ship their books. 

In my next post, I will share why I chose Lulu Press, Inc. to produce The Wisdom of Les Miserables.