On Tuesday, Apr. 29, Tom wrote: (Tom is the author of China: Portrait of a People)

I just read chapters 1-6 today (A note from Lloyd, Tom is talking about my novel). Excellent! I really couldn’t put it down, or I should say turn it off. My regret is that I don’t have the actual book so I can go outside to read. Sitting at my computer to read a book just isn't comfortable. Anyways, I don’t want to pour all the compliments out before actually finishing the book, but so far I have to hand it to you. and, truly, I’m not just saying that because I am a friend. It's good!

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My biggest question is, Why you decided to self publish? This really should have been put out by someone. I hope it gets picked up.

t

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You asked for it. This is a long answer. It's complicated.

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First, have you looked at that Author's Den Website yet (I think I mentioned it)? I joined and they sent me an e-mail tip saying that writing articles related to the topic of the book will draw attention to your page. They said that most of their million monthly visitors read the articles--the short pieces and then gravitate to the books when they like the short stuff.

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Thanks for your thoughts about Concubine.

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Here's the reason why I decided to self publish--I wrote my first book in 1968 during my first year of college after I left the Marines and almost published it through a small house. They had a budget for one new writer a year and it they had two books they liked. The editors voted and they split, so they sent it out to an impartial judge who also couldn't' make up his mind but said the PhD would probably be better because of his degree. I was just out of the Marines and in my first year of college.

I kept trying to sell it but the rejections poured in.

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The next book was a collection of children's stories. Another small publisher loved one short story I wrote and sent them as a picture book but they wanted to do a collection. I worked with them for a year and at the end of that time for no reason, they changed their mind.

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Next was the Vietnam book, Better a Dead Hero. I wrote it while taking writing workshops for seven years out of the UCLA extension program. My teacher, a published author herself, liked my book so much she found me a major agent who sent it around. The response was always positive but, "The market is glutted with Vietnam books--no one is buying." One publisher said everyone in the editorial office read the manuscript and loved it but they regretted that they weren't publishing fiction any longer. I started that book as a memoir but because of the teacher's advice changed it to fiction based on my experiences.

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There are more stories like this through the years--forty years to be exact and hundreds if not thousands of rejections. I've had a half dozen agents. None of them stuck with me when they couldn't sell my work.

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Writers these days can self-publish with a small investment because of POD and technology. I was tired of beating my head against the wall. I even had an agent interested in My Splendid Concubine. She got angry at me when I pulled the manuscript and went POD. She won't even reply to my e-mails. I know that self-publishing has a bad reputation because so much garbage is published but there are gems. Even Mark Twain self-published. The list of great authors that self-published is long. There’s even a Website about the topic. Anyway, I spent nine years researching and writing Concubine and I’m not going to take the chance that no one would be interested. Besides, as slow as the traditional agents and publishers are to respond, I could die before they even replied.

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Tom, going the traditional route is getting difficult in America. There are several events that have made the market more difficult to crack.

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A multitude of MFA programs. (I actually have an MFA--late in life. I earned one more for money than for the MFA. As a teacher, you move faster on the pay scale if you have more education. Once I finished the MFA and sent my transcripts into the district, my pay jumped several hundred a month and it helped my retirement too.)

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There are too many writers out there because of those MFA programs and the slush piles for agents and publishers is huge.

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The independent publishing houses are vanishing as they get gobbled up by large corporations that have no business being in publishing.

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Readership is shrinking in the US because of the Internet and other distractions.

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I decided to go POD with the goal of making a splash and being noticed. Since I own all the rights to my book, I can sell to a traditional publisher at any time if any of them becomes interested. Instead of waiting months to see of some agent will reply and/or like the book enough to represent me (which I've done a number of times) and then wait another few months to see if some overworked editor will decide to take a chance on a new face, I decided to try a different route.

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With POD, it is up to readers, reviewers and contest judges. I have a published book and it is for sale and is selling. The first comments from readers and reviews, like the one from Cool Han at ForeignerCN.com are all great. My only regret is that I didn't start the publicity campaign a year ago.

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My promotional plans for My Splendid Concubine are for three years. Most books from traditional publishers are promoted for three months only. I'll come out with the sequel next December of January. Maybe I'll manage a traditional publisher with that one.

I hopped online just as your email came in; good timing. I'm going for an all-day bike ride tomorrow - my first bit of nature and fresh air in 3 months - so I won't be online.

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I did in fact join Author's Den today, in between chapters of your book :)

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It's a cool site; I set up my bio, a news release and one of my travel articles for the blog.

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YOU, my friend, should also be taking advantage of that blog. The email you wrote below is perfect for a new post (once you get all caught up with your back posts). You really do have some exceptional background in this biz, and lots of writing experience to boot; I think you could serve as a very influential presence on these kinds of sites, but you need to get on it more. I know sitting in front of the computer for hours on end really sucks, but we gotta do what we gotta do.

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That's interesting about your history with agents and pubs. I had no idea it ran that far back. Makes me feel blessed in some ways, and scared about the future in others. I should be happy that Blacksmith Books picked me up, though I regret not being introduced to Sandy (note added by Lloyd: Sandy is my wife’s agent) earlier. I sent her an email, by the way, but no reply yet. I included a copy of my contract. BB holds worldwide publishing rights to my book.

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Anyways, I think your book is really good, and I'm not BSing you. I haven't found anything I dislike yet; it's a genuine page turner. I hope people come to recognize Concubine as the definitive novel about Robert Hart. I am taking notes and inspired to write a kick-ass review that I will shop around to some magazines before I put it on Amazon. I'm doing this not as a friend but as a fan of your writing.

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Cool, well, you keep catching up on your blog and bookmarking, and I'll take care of stuff here on my end.

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Talk to you in a couple days...

t