Releasing the Mermaid

“Releasing the Mermaid” would be a great title for a book or a movie, but instead it’s the title of this blog post and the mermaid in question is Come to the Rocks.

As you know, Come to the Rocks, my little, twisted mermaid/human queer romance story came out on the 16th from NineStar Press. This is the longest story I’ve ever had published by someone who is not me. It’s also the first thing I’ve had published by someone who is not me in a very long while.

After years of being in complete control over the publishing end of the writing life, I sort of forgot what it was like to not have to worry about that so much.

Now, obviously having a novelette published on its own isn’t quite the same as having a short story published in an anthology. Longer, solo stories require more work. I mean that’s just logic. And so I was expecting that. I was not expecting the first round of edits to come during an incredibly busy time in my schedule, but it did and I managed it, with the help and patience of my wonderful editor Jason.

The subsequent edits and proofreading were much easier and I appreciate the talents of those who worked on my little book. They made my manuscript sparkle.

I also had the talents of the wonderful Natasha Snow for my cover, and I will never get over the magnificent job she did. She captured the story perfectly, I think.

These are two things that I like doing in regards to my self-publishing, though after this experience I realize that I really need to improve my skills.

NineStar Press also handled all of the stuff that I am truly terrible at. They did the pre-order and orchestrated the release blitz. They provided advanced reader copies for reviews, which is something I never even thought about doing on my own. I am positively tragic when it comes to self-promotion so it was nice to have that help and that boost. There is no doubt in my mind that this little book reached more people than it would have if I’d self-published it. I am endlessly grateful for that.

As much as I like the total control of self-publishing, I cannot deny the benefits of traditional publishing. It’s a little less stressful because there’s a team and tasks are delegated and not everything falls on me to do. My main role was as a writer and it’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to do just that. I said earlier this year that I wanted to get back into the traditional publishing game and this has reminded me of the perks of it. I’ll probably still self-publish, but I’m hoping that this will begin the trend of balancing the two more equally.

The release of this mermaid was a definite group effort, but still very much a personal accomplishment.

A truly sweet swim.