A Labor of Love

Last week, I revealed the cover for my upcoming YA release, Grasping at Eternity. The love for the cover and summary has been overwhelming. Big thanks for all the comments and tweets, and uber thanks to all the book bloggers who have emailed to ask about reviewing it! Many have assumed that my publisher Rhemalda is publishing my next book, and a couple people have said how cool it is that they let Alexandra Shostak design the cover for it.

So, I want to clarify, and maybe shock some of you in the process.

I am self-publishing Grasping at Eternity.

NOT because I'm unhappy with Rhemalda. I'm very happy with them. They are still getting first crack at book 2 of The Sea Monster Memoirs. We still have a wonderful relationship, and they are very supportive of my decision to self-publish. (See, some publishers really DO support whichever path their authors choose.)

I didn't submit Grasping at Eternity to Rhemalda because when they offered me a contract for Tangled Tides, I had been querying GAE. Several agents had the full, and so did an editor at one of the big 6 publishing houses. I was playing the long waiting game of publishing.

Then, a few months ago, I became part of the Indelibles. I have learned SO much from these amazing women. Many of them are self-published and very happy with their decision to do so. I watch and hear about them have total control over their projects, and I wonder if I'd love it too. Grasping at Eternity is the first book in a series that I could see writing about forever and ever. (And being that the main characters are perpetually reincarnated souls, it's very possible--at least until the day I die. Ha.)

So, I pulled Grasping at Eternity out of submissions.

I want to experiment.
I want to put one of my eggs in a different basket just to learn how the different baskets work.
I want to challenge myself. (Yes, it IS a A LOT of work. I have learned that too.)
I want to get this story that I love so much out into the world.

Because that's WHY I write. I write because I love it. I love the characters and the worlds I create, and I love sharing them with readers. I am well aware that I may never become financially rich from my book sales, but I am emotionally rich. The emails I receive from fans about how much they love Tangled Tides is better than any paycheck.

My heart aches knowing I have this amazing and loveable group of characters (The Kindrily) who are collecting dust in my hard drive. Their story could be keeping someone up at night, making a reader wonder about soul mates and reincarnation, or questioning how much we really see and understand about this magical universe. And to know readers are missing out on "the hotel scene" or "the kiss" just hurts my soul.

I realize my marketing reach is nowhere near that of a big publisher. I realize a very limited number of people will ever hear about Grasping at Eternity, much less read it. But some will. And some might love my kindrily peeps almost as much as I do. The say the best things come in small packages, but I think what they really mean is the best things come packaged with lots of love. My Kindrily series will be packaged with enough love to fill eternity.


*Want to read the summary or add GAE to Goodreads? Click here.*