I’ve been a professional author for many years. My past publications — hundreds of magazine articles and a couple dozen books — were about technology and computer programming. So I’ve done the “real” writer thing, with publishers and editors and paper and such.

I’m much happier writing fiction these days. And I’m getting my books into the public’s hands through crowd funding and open distribution.

I could have gone the traditional agents-and-publishers route, but chose a different path. Note: I’m not dissing authors who take a “normal” route onto the shelves of bookstores. Traditional publishing has its good points: editors, production help, and a certain sheen of legitimacy that web-publishing hasn’t quite attained.

In fact, I tried the “normal” system for getting A Journey of Dragons into print. The response was… educational. No one questioned my skill as a writer — where the sales fell through were on other issues. I was told (several times) that there’s a glut of fantasy or steampunk, or that I shouldn’t cover controversial topics.

The “controversy” objection really rankled me. But that’s a topic for another article. :)

Most of my favorite authors work(ed) with many genres and themes, but they often have a specific series that is uniquelytheirs. Zelazny’s Amber novels and King’s Gunslinger books come to mind.

I’m working on pieces of hard science fiction and even a bit of Cthulhuesque horror — the Syraqua books, however, are very close to my soul, and unlike Stephen King, I don’t have the literary weight required to get them published the way they’re meant to be.

Frustration also plays a big part in my decisions. Ignoring the crappy pay rates — 5-10 cents per word for fiction, a few thousand bucks advance for a paperback novel, almost the same rates for the last 20 years — consider this: When I was writing for big-name publishers, I’d have to fill out a questionnaire for each book. At every publisher, two of the questions were: “How is this book unique?” and “Name other books just like yours that are selling well.”

Uh… my widdle bwain just bwoke…

Oxymoronic marketing practices and low pay rates aren’t the only frustrations of “real” publishing. I’ve sold stories to magazines that went out of business before “my” issue saw print. I’ve received letters from editors saying how much they love my work, but that “we’re overstocked right now”. Then there’s the “Where’s my check?” issue, as in actually getting paid.

Hence, the Syraqua web site and my goal of crowd funding the series. I’m operating without a net — no editors to fix my spelling or find continuity flaws, no marketing folk to get my name in the trades.

I may fall flat on my face.

But I’ll be damned if I won’t try. :)

Crowd Funding Site: http://www.indiegogo.com/A-Journey-of-Dragons

Syraqua main web site: http://www.syraqua.com