Whenever You Want

With pride and enthusiasm, I am here to announce the addition of my novel 'Whenever You Want' to the Galatea publishing platform.  Here's a link:

https://www.inkitt.com/galatea-app

Here's the publishing story.  This is going to be long.  

If I ran a publishing company, I wouldn't accept submissions.  I would headhunt authors who already have a following, who have already proven that they know how to write, and keep a close eye on their statistics.  I wouldn't choose anyone who hadn't written at least four novels and they would have to post regular updates to prove that they weren't flaky.  If I could sign someone who knows how to hit it out of the park over and over again, it's all the better, since readers like familiar authors.  Then it's just icing all the way to the bank.

But I'm a writer.

After my first deal with a publishing company, I gave up looking for a new one and became an independent novelist.  If you're a nobody and nobody reads your books, you could sign a deal with a publishing company, but they'd have all the leverage.  You wouldn't have any other option than to do what they said, whether you liked it or not.  You have to prove that people like your writing the way it is if you want to call the shots.

With that in mind, I made accounts on all the free sites and posted the same three books on all of them: 'Whenever You Want', 'Kiss of Tragedy', and 'Behind His Mask'.  My plan had teeth and this whole summer, I was absolutely flooded with offers from publishings apps.  I was starting to lose hope as most of those contracts were not quite good enough.  I didn't like the way their apps looked.  I didn't trust them.  Their contracts seemed sketchy.  I couldn't get clear answers out of their representatives.  I was feeling very frustrated.

When it became clear that I could sign Galatea's offer, it was like morning had finally come.  I want to publish somewhere where my work has a chance of being enjoyed.  Getting a wrong fit with a publishing company/app can make you feel like you failed, when, actually, you just pitched to the wrong crowd.  I also want to maintain creative control.  I had already succeeded on their sister site, Inkitt, so I had already proven that my book could succeed with their readers without major overhauls.   

I am forteen kinds of delighted.  So, here's what's going to happen.  I'm going to post 'His 16th Face' and 'If I Tie U Down' on Inkitt and see if I get any bites.  If you'd like to read either of those books for free, now is a great time.  Here's the link to my profile.  Every hit helps.

https://www.inkitt.com/StephanieVanOrman