Apology to Our Readers

 By Charlotte Hinger

 I owe followers of Type M an apology. I was jolted by a comment submitted by one of our most faithful readers. It was in response to Steve Pease's post, Is anyone reading this blog? 

This comment was from Anonymous:

 If you're talking about Type M for Murder, I definitely read it (and almost always enjoy it). Every day (or at least every day it appears). Sometimes I comment. Lately, these comments hardly ever appear, let alone get an answer, so I've no idea if they were received. A recurrent problem is that even the regular poster/contributors often don't blog on their assigned day. I fully understand, though. They're busy, they're tired, they're on vacation, they're ill, they forget.

Maybe the solution would be to have a larger reserve of guest bloggers to cover for these inevitabilities?

 I'm the moderator for Type M For Murder and have fallen down on the job. Here was my apology to Anonymous:

Anonymous--I owe you an apology. I'm moderating this web site and have fallen down on my duties. As a result of your post, I'll be much more conscientious in the future. Some other readers comments are wicked mean and they never get past me. I've been gone a lot and have struggled with some health issues. Nevertheless, that doesn't excuse deserting my post as I always travel with my laptop.

It's true that I have been plagued with a bewildering sequence of medical problems, but honestly, that isn't a legitimate excuse. This blog was begun in 2006 and during that time I imagine we've covered the waterfront in our catalog of illnesses and disabilities. Type M's original blogmaster, Rick Blechta, was my idol. He never missed a post! And often posted every week. Not only was he a wonderful writer, he had a day job, and played in a band. Rick surely had his share of life events during that time, but he never slacked off. 

I'm going to straighten up and get back to doing my best to emulate Rick. The fact is Type M has an impressive number of readers. We've had 3,095,477 views and last month alone 763,248. 

We are read!! We love to hear from you. 

New Directions

Catherine Dilts

It's finally feeling like summer. With the warmer weather, my attitude toward the writing and publishing life is warming up. I feel like I emerged from a cold, dry spell, although I have been writing constantly during this time.

So many authors seem to be going through small press woes. The trials and tribulations of losing small presses are hitting hard. Agents and editors retire. The market is flooded. Competition for the decreasing number of slots with the big publishing houses is stiff.

Along with many other traditionally published authors, I'm exploring self-publishing options. My first experiment is with my co-author and daughter, Merida Bass. We just released book one of a YA science fiction series. Written under the pen name Ann Belice, Frayed Dreams begins the Tapestry Tales series.

Merida's enthusiasm has given me a boost. She's also an artist. The image is of Ando the squirrel monkey perched on top of a Teens For Earth badge. She created the book cover, too. 

I did some research on self-publishing, and learned that many authors are paying large sums to have their work edited, put into the proper publishing formats, given ISBN numbers, having covers created, and on and on. The folks offering this assistance are called hybrid publishers. An article on Reedsy stated that the cost of self-publishing a book can be as much as $10,000. Or more.

There's nothing wrong with this, if you have the money to pay for services, and the understanding that you may not recoup your expenses. But we decided if we're self-pubbing, we're paying for as little as possible. Yes, the learning curve was intimidating. I might not have attempted it if my daughter didn't have the tech savvy and desire to do most of that side of it herself.

I haven't abandoned traditional publishing. I will have exciting news to announce about a short story sale, after I have the signed contract in hand. And I might consider traditional book publishing again.

Honestly though, I'm ready to see what I can do in this new world of publishing. Having complete control over my novels is appealing. With that control, will my access to market or my sales suffer? We'll see. 

I'm optimistic about new directions.