Have you ever set out to accomplish something—driven by passion and creative vision—only to slam into a wall of red tape? I have. That’s what the past six weeks have felt like: working tirelessly on this new site to relaunch sales of my award-winning debut novel, The Erne Warder. Some parts of the project are easy; others crawl forward at a glacial pace thanks to factors beyond my control.
When my publisher, the now-defunct Morning Dove Press, folded (as many startups do, no matter how brilliant), I faced a harsh reality: if I wanted to make it as a novelist, I had to go indie. That meant building a platform to sell and ship remaining first-edition copies—signed by me—and doing everything else a publisher would do, including rebranding The Erne Warder under my own imprint, Aspenway Press, so future sequels can be sold directly to you, my readers.
If you’re visiting this site soon after I write this, you’ll see it’s a work in progress. I promise, though incomplete, it’s moving forward as fast as I can push it! The biggest hurdle now is getting the store live. I’m still waiting on Library and Archives Canada for an ISBN account so I can issue new numbers for second editions—without them, I can’t release the print-on-demand or rebranded eBook versions. Then comes the confusing process of setting up payment systems, followed by repackaging the book for re-release.
Nothing kills storytelling like the greedy hands of the taxman and his bureaucratic minions! Before you can even think about turning a profit, they subject you to the same scrutiny as big business—giving big business an unfair advantage. You’ll sink cash into fees and compliance, on top of thousands of hours writing, all before earning a dime for a book readers already love. Ugh!
But you know what? This is what great stories are made of. Every struggle fuels the creative fire. A glacier can be crossed by those daring enough to traverse it. Like the heroes of The Erne Warder, who fought injustice and greed, I’ll forge ahead and win this fight! Stay tuned, readers—the Erne Warder will prevail.