Another Route to Publishing

When my first novel, The Mozart Code, was published by Hard Shell Word Factory as an early e-book way back in 1999, it came out as part of a “Deadly Duo,” a paperback double feature that paired it with what I saw as an unsuitable companion--a romantic cozy.

Now, thanks to a print-on-demand outfit called CreateSpace, which was just acquired by Amazon, I’m in the process of very reasonably re-publishing that debut work with a brand-new cover that I designed myself (see the results here). I plan to follow it up with the long out-of-print Public Justice, Private Mercy: A Governor’s Education on Death Row, which I wrote in 1989 with the late Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, former governor of California (and the father of current gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown).

CreateSpace looks to me like an ideal way for writers to get back into print some of their books that never sold as well as they ought to have--or to finally let the world see that literary gem that has already been turned down by conventional publishers. For less than two bucks a copy, CreateSpace will print you out a handsome paperback, which you can then sell through one of the online book merchandising sites for the price of your choosing. (I have in mind charging $10 apiece for mine.)

Maybe you can even plant a few copies in your favorite brick-and-mortar bookstore. I’m looking to offer mine through my neighborhood treasure room, Mysteries to Die For in Thousand Oaks, California.