From time to time, Archway Publishing turns over its blog to its authors, giving them the opportunity to share stories and perspectives about their individual self-publishing journeys. The following are the words of Linda Della Donna, author of “A Gift of Love.”  For more about Linda and her book, visit her website at www.bookorbust.blogspot.com or on Facebook. Download the Archway Publishing free publishing guide for more information on our supported self-publishing services. 

I began writing, A Gift of Love, shortly after my husband died. A Gift of Love was written to fulfill a deathbed promise to my late husband, Edward Sclier. That was in 2004.

Thirty-five thousand words, five years and many drafts later, and after making the rounds I was confident A Gift of Love was ready for submission. And I wondered, Should I or shouldn’t I, self-publish.

I began to submit to mainstream publishing houses but without success. Time passed and I began to worry would I/could I fulfill my promise to my husband. Rejection letters were piling up at an alarming rate. Seemed soon as I had licked the envelope seeking publication and mailed it off, before the glue could dry a response rejection letter was tucked neatly in my mailbox.

It wasn’t long before I was asking self-published author friends for advice—Where did you go to publish your work? and Who do you recommend?

I received a lot of suggestions and I checked them out. I visited self-publishing websites. I read self-published books. But always I came away disappointed. I didn’t like the finished product. Covers didn’t look professional. I noticed book spines didn’t have the title or author’s name; print size was too tiny; the paper was flimsy—I didn’t like the feel. I noticed misprints, misspellings, and ink globs. I wondered why?

I worked very hard on A Gift of Love. A Gift of Love was my baby, now grown and ready to be set free into a new world. More than anything, I wanted A Gift of Love to look its very best. Deeply disappointed at results of self-publishing, I began thinking, A Gift of Love might never be published, and worse my promise to my late husband would go unfulfilled.

One morning over a cup of coffee at the corner deli, I read in the New York Times an article on self-publishing. Simon and Schuster announced they had made the decision to get in on the self-publishing market and had creating Archway Publishing.

The lights went on in my head. I liked Simon and Shuster. I liked their books, several of which I had read and many lined my bookshelves. When I thought about it, I liked the idea that “A Gift of Love” could have the imprint, “Archway Publishers, Division of Simon and Schuster.” I liked more that I could boast those same words when asked “Who published your book?” for A Gift of Love.

I ripped out the article, circled the website, and that same morning I got online and researched what Archway had to offer. The rest is history.

Archway‘s website was easy to navigate. Contacts were provided and detailed information outlining the entire process was provided. Being visual, I especially liked that the packages offered were color-coded, arranged in columns, and placed on one page making it easy for me to review without having to scroll and arrow back or forward. I liked that costs were itemized. It wasn’t necessary for me to sit with pen and paper to figure out what I could and could not afford. It was all listed and totaled.

That same day I filled out the on-line application form and hit Send. Within twenty-four hours, my telephone was ringing and I was speaking with an Archway representative. Soon my manuscript was submitted, and I was waiting to hear back to see if A Gift of Love was accepted. One week later, YIPPEE! I heard back. A Gift of Love had been accepted.

Of course there was still work to do—edits, more polishing, cover work and still more edits. And I had time. Archway was patient and I felt no pressure. From the very start, Archway was there for me and A Gift of Love. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Archway. Their editors, publicists, designers and marketers and their entire staff are wonderful, thoughtful, kind professionals. I welcomed their comments and guidance. I’m a new author and I needed to make A Gift of Love, be the best it could be.I welcomed their advice. From table of contents to completed chapters to cover design, everyone involved in the process had my back.

The great part was I got to attend the BEA Book Expo of America held at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan, stay at a hotel with special discount supplied by Archway, meet other authors, publishers and editors from around the globe, attend a special cocktail party honoring Archway authors, and most of all see A Gift of Love posed elegantly on a shelf for all the world to see.

I am grateful.

Archway Publishing is always looking for content for its blog. If you’re an Archway Publishing author and would like to share an idea for a guest blog post, please tweet the Archway Publishing Twitter account @ArchwayPub and Like the Archway Publishing Facebook page. 

From time to time, Archway Publishing turns over its blog to its authors, giving them the opportunity to share stories and perspectives about their individual self-publishing journeys. The following are the words of Arlen Schumer, author of The Silver Age of Comic Book Art. In the near future, this blog will feature a pictorial of selected images from this unique collection.
Check out the Archway Publishing free publishing guide for more information on our supported self-publishing services.

Back in 2003 when the original edition of The Silver Age of Comic Book Art came out, Facebook wasn’t around, and the Marvel movies had just kicked off the decade (The X-Men and the first Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man film). My book, published by a mom-and-pop publisher in Oregon, came and went, with no major promotion or publicity. Though it received great reviews, and was blurbed by the likes of Will Eisner and Alan Moore—and won the Independent Publishers Award for Best Popular Culture Book of 2003—the general comic book audience, nor the larger pop culture audience, never even heard of it.

So when the publisher went belly up in ’05, and rights to reprint reverted back to me, I was determined to bring my book back into print ever since. Though I was without an agent, and therefore had difficulty getting to a lot of publishers, the many rejections I did get over the past 8 years was offset by my belief that there was a brand NEW audience interested in comics history (and specifically The Silver Age) because of specific developments in the past decade: the boffo box office of the Marvel movies, all based on characters from The Silver Age; the growth of Facebook, creating many comic-centric groups; and the proliferation of hardcover, archival collections of comic book & comic strip history, like the IDW Artist Editions—enough to warrant a double-page spread in The New York Times a couple of years ago!

When I decided to fully participate in Facebook as my social media of choice a couple of years ago, I was able to begin two comics history groups of my own—one based around my Silver Age book and the era, the other devoted to the career of Neal Adams (whose art graces the title page of my book as well as its final, concluding chapter), both with over 2500 members each—and found out that I had a following that I never had before, and a community I could get my work directly to. So along with the growth in self-publishing at the same time as Facebook’s rise, it made me realize last year that I don’t have to wait for a “real” publisher to come along and pat me on the head. I could do it myself!

After some research, I decided to go with Archway Publishing, the “assisted publishing” division of Simon & Schuster; they’ve done a BEAUTIFUL job on the printing of the book—it truly is “new, improved”! My original edition was beautifully printed, but Archway went above and beyond it: they gave me a truly-silver dust jacket this time (vs. a four-color approximation of silver on my original), as well as a matte-finish case wrap illustration (under the dust jacket) that is worth the price of admission (if I do say so myself!) I was also able to revise ALL the typography in the book, because I was only happy with about 60% of it the first time around, as well as throwing in a few new graphics throughout the book for sharp-eyed owners of my original edition!

Like The Silver Age of Comic Book Art by Arlen Schumer Facebook Page and read his nine-part series on the silver age of comic book art.

Archway Publishing is always looking for content for its blog. If you’re an Archway Publishing author and would like to share an idea for a guest blog post, please tweet the Archway Publishing Twitter account @ArchwayPub and Like the Archway Publishing Facebook page. 

– AWP –