The Rest of the Story
’ve
always had a lingering interest in film and movie production. Since the story
had been visualized as a dream-movie, it seemed natural to write it as a screenplay.
But the more I wrote, the more apparent it became that there was a tremendous
amount of information and detail that couldn’t be expressed properly in that
form of writing. At that point, I decided to just write the story as a story.
What happened next is detailed in the book’s Introduction so
I’ll skip ahead.
When I finally began to more clearly see the road ahead of
me, I knew the task was going to take a lot more than just writing in my ‘spare
time.’ Completing the work to the high standards I always aspire to achieve
would require a full-on commitment of time and resources. This meant a family
effort. I called everyone together one night and explained what I felt I had to
do. By now they were somewhat accustomed to my entrepreneurial adventures and
thankfully weren’t overly shocked by the strangeness of what was proposed. Even
though my business assets and investments would get us by for a certain amount
of time, no one really knew how long the project would last, or if anything
would ever come from it.
My wife volunteered to go back to work after eleven years as
a homemaker, and my three boys found part-time or weekend jobs to help pay for
their own car insurance, gas and spending money. The project ended up taking a
few years longer than expected, but fortunately we were reasonably prepared.
Toward the end of the project, my oldest son worked full time while going to
college. He paid for everything himself and was proud to do it. Even though the
book itself is a result of my own personal efforts, the only way those efforts
flourished was by the support of my entire family. Without them, Circle of
Doors wouldn’t exist.
It was a little over three years when I was ready to attempt
the first major edit on the manuscript. An aspect of writing that seemed a
little eccentric to me at the time was something I once read about writers’
retreats. Dealing with environmental noise while writing has always been a
challenge. So when the neighbor’s dog barked for the umpteen millionth time, I
decided a quiet place where a person’s thoughts could flow uninterrupted wasn’t
unreasonable at all, and necessary. I found that solace in the old rural
farmhouse where I grew up, and where my mom still lives. A spare bedroom on the
second floor became my retreat for nine straight days.
My office PC (the laptop wasn’t quite up to the task) sat on
an old cedar chest, the flat-screen on an old sewing machine table, the
keyboard and mouse straddled two wooden fold-out TV trays, and my office chair
with big, green pillow fit snuggly between the bed and dresser. Some of the
days were pretty cold, so a small ceramic heater worked by my feet. Sometimes
I’d have to set it behind the keyboard to keep my fingers from going numb. The
either/or heating arrangement reminded me of a Fiat Mirafiori I used to own.
Attempting to clear the windshield of frost meant sacrificing your feet and
visa versa. It was a fun car to drive in the summer, except for those
sweltering days when I longed for A/C. It must have been around 75 degrees in
Italy when they designed the thing.
The days began at around 5 a.m. and ended at around 10 p.m.,
sometimes later. My 80-year-old mom diligently cooked meals in support of my
efforts. Many times she would sit with me and I’d read the story to her while
editing. About a quarter of the story bulk was removed and I wasn’t even able
to finish the entire manuscript before prior engagements required me to head
back to my family. It’s amazing how much thinking becomes superfluous dialog
when you go from writer to reader.
One experience I had forgotten is how much I enjoy watching
storms roll across the open countryside. Lighting would flash and wind and rain
would beat against the century old house. I felt right at home. As a kid, I
used to stand outside and watch the lightning light up the clouds and fields,
and listen to the thunder roll across the sky. Yeah I suppose standing outside
the house during a storm wasn’t the smartest thing to do. But as a kid when I
saw an overhead flash produce a blue bolt of electricity that jumped across the
stainless-steel sink in the kitchen where my mother had been washing dishes
only moments before, I figured that when Mr. Time has your number, it wont
really matter what you’re doing or where you’re standing. Enjoy what you have,
and don’t fret over that which you have no control.
A short time later, the edited manuscript went out to the
first two reviewer/editors. They marked up pages with corrections and
suggestions and the manuscript went through its second edit. Around that time,
I decided it was good enough to start sending out query letters to agents. Only
the top agents listed in the Association of Author’s Representative’s were
selected, and about 30 queries were sent out. In retrospect, and to be
perfectly honest here, I think it was a total waste of time. This statement
isn’t from the jilted-writer-wannabee-published perspective, but as a
professional person who evaluates the big picture. That picture cleared up
significantly when one of the agent’s websites stated that in general, typical
agents receive upwards of 50 queries a day, but usually only take on 1 or
possibly 2 new clients a year. Simple math will then tell you that even if they
received only 30 queries a day, and accepted 2 clients a year (figuring about 20
business days a month over 12 months with holidays), your chances of getting
noticed among the fray of hopefuls is about 3,500 to 1. Only about half of the
SASE envelopes were even returned and some of those rejection letters looked
like they were folded and stuffed by a 3-year-old watching Teletubbies. I had
invested way too much time to mess with those odds in that manner. That was all
she wrote for agents.
Unfortunately for wannabee-published writers, most of the
better-known commercial publishers advertise that they don’t accept anything
from anyone but an agent. I was able to contact a local publisher that showed
some interest. A manuscript was delivered and hopes were high. After reviewing
a few of the books the editor in charge of my manuscript had published, I
realized it wasn’t going to happen. For many writers, getting a book-deal is
the cake with frosting, regardless who it’s with. But that’s not the true
entrepreneurial way now is it? Because of how this story came to me, the effort
involved, and because of what I believed was possible, simply turning the work
over to a publisher, or anyone else for that matter, didn’t seem like the right
thing to attempt anymore. Serious research began on self-publishing and a
printing company was selected that best suited my goals and strategies. When
the rejection letter came from the local publisher, I was actually relieved.
Might I digress here for just a moment in correlation. One
of the several companies I had built was an Internet Service Provider. It began
as a great idea, just like all the others - solid with absolutely huge market
potential. The business failed due to one fatal flaw; I didn’t trust myself. My
initial plans were to hire a couple Internet geeks (I use that term with only
the highest level of respect) who would establish the core technical
infrastructure while I hired staff and setup the office. My angle was
introducing wireless services based on my expertise in that area. This was when
wireless Internet was just barely coming into the market. But I wasn’t fluent
in the technical aspects of the Internet side of things and allowed that fear
to influence my direction. Instead of learning the industry and building my own
services, I opted for investors and an Internet franchise.
I will never, ever forget sitting in the corporate
office of the franchise company, ready to handover a $50,000 franchise fee. The
feeling of dread was constant. I knew the situation wasn’t right, but was
afraid what the investors would think if I backed out. I signed the agreements
and tried to put on the good business face for everyone, even though I felt a
huge mistake had been made. With subtle negative issues becoming ever more
prevalent, efforts to cancel the contract and recover losses only met with hostility
from the franchise company president and my investors. I was told to take a
hike, in kinder words. The investors sold and washed their hands of the company
a short time later and the owners of the franchise were later indicted on
charges of fraud (among other things) and their company went out of business.
I had heard the inner voice that gives you direction, and
ignored it. Two lessons here; first, listen to yourself. What you honestly feel
about a situation, or person, is likely truth. The keyword here is ‘honest.’
External forces cannot be allowed to influence true inner feelings. Second, if
an investor demands a controlling share of your business, tell them to
take a hike, in kinder words. Their demand for control means they don’t believe
in your business enough to let you run it. Worse yet, they might be setting you
up to take over if it does work. Save yourself the grief and take your ideas
elsewhere.
And now…the rest of the story. The manuscript went out to two
more reviewers and afterward, a third edit was performed. My wife then finely
got a chance to read it (she’s a fairly prolific reader) and add her comments
and suggestions. I knew she would be brutally honest and would tell me exactly
what she thought. That’s why I saved her review until last. That was so I could
say something like, “Well, everybody else liked that part.” Normally I would
strongly discourage self-editing unless you’re an articulate and proficient
reader. I won’t claim to be either, but the options I had for editing denied me
the opportunity to work directly with the reading editor. That didn’t sit well
with me and I figured that between the six of us who read the manuscript, the
ending damage shouldn’t be too overly gratuitous.
Old-school self-publishing requires a large capital outlay
and a quantity of printed books to be purchased, stored and sold. I chose to go
with a Print on Demand (POD) publisher that’s a subsidiary of Amazon.com. As
with any publishing, POD has its trade-offs. For me, the options ‘for’ vastly
outweighed the options ‘against,’ all things considered. POD means that your
work is stored in a computerized printing press and the books are manufactured
one at a time as they’re ordered. Amazon has deals with other online retailers
and your book is available for purchase by practically anyone with an Internet
connection and credit card. Another good point is the very low initial
investment. You can have as much or as little professional help in preparing
your book for publishing as you want (or can afford). Costs will vary with the
product and level of service.
Regarding the POD company I use, your work is initially
available online only and won’t be available in any bookstores unless those
stores find out about your book and want to purchase it wholesale. The price of
the book is also usually higher than what you would pay for a mass-market
paperback. In order to make the POD process profitable, a minimum retail price
is charged by the printer. The price for Circle of Doors, as advertised
on the book back cover, is the minimum price I must charge for the book.
And although you can choose between white or yellow paper for your book’s pages
(the printer calls it ‘off-white’), the paperback cover material and finish is
set as well. Only paperbacks are produced for consumer online sales. This
company produces hardbacks for special and wholesale purchases only. You also
have to keep in mind that the POD company is not your agent – they’re a printer
with a few selected additional offerings. You should do your research and know
what you want to accomplish before starting the process.
In order to enjoy the entire publishing experience, I opted
to design and publish the cover as well as format the entire book-block. That
means that whatever you submit, pretty or not, is what you get. This decision
led me to conclude that obsessive-compulsive type-A personalities should
seriously consider having this portion of the process farmed out. Of course, if
you choose to do it yourself, you may save enough money to pay for a
much-needed psych evaluation. As part of my varied professional background, I
had enough computer graphics and word processing skills to understand (or at
least figure out) the formatting issues and detailed PDF file specifications. I
submitted two files to the printer; one PDF for the cover and one PDF for the
book-block. Again, not something you want to try unless you have a fair amount
of knowledge using Word or similar publishing programs, understand commercial
publishing color profiles for art, PDF creation and so on. I got lucky and the
book came out looking pretty good on the first try. But wait, there’s more…
One of my mental files labeled ‘Fix, Correct, and Make
Better,’ magically opened after the first author copy arrived. When I showed
the book to some of the reviewers, they where honestly impressed. Of course I
immediately noticed all the little, tiny, and mostly indistinguishable flaws
that gnawed at me like a beaver on caffeine.
The current book with the arch on the cover isn’t the first
book that was printed. Before finalizing the original cover art, I strolled
through a local bookstore and looked at hundreds of covers to see what I liked
and didn’t like. There are some seriously talented and gifted graphic artists
out there. I’m particularly impressed with the covers that use embossing and
incorporate flat or matte finishes with separate gloss layers. I constructed my
first cover with these images in mind and was disappointed with the finished
product. I had to change my thinking in that whatever cover art you come up is
going to be pressed under a thick, glossy laminate. If your art looks good as a
glossy photograph, it will probably fair reasonably well as a cover. One
reviewer stated that the original cover would have looked great in hardback.
Funny, that’s what I thought.
The cover was completely redesigned, minor changes to the
book-block where made, and made, and made again, serious neurosis ensued and
the final files were uploaded, and uploaded, and uploaded. And then, you wait,
and wait. The next book shows up, problems are found, more files are uploaded,
more problems arise, more waiting… There’s a quote from the book’s Introduction
I think is a fair statement:
“Every choice we make continues to mold our character, and
those who always reach for what is more worthwhile will always find themselves
better and stronger for their efforts. It is my hope that this work conveys at
least some of those values.”
Personally, success should be as much about the experience
as it is the end result. Materialistic egomaniacs will always try to convince
us otherwise. But it’s what’s learned along the way that usually becomes our
most valued assets. Writing this novel was a great opportunity and an
experience that will always be a notable part of my family’s history. I don’t
believe for an instant that the occurrences prompting me to take this intrepid
journey were by chance. My agenda was cleared and a new path was presented. It
was a path I didn’t have to take, but chose to follow with conviction.
Where this experience will lead from here, how far it will
go, or how it might affect those who choose to share in it, is something that
will only be revealed with time. I won’t say I’m holding my breath at this
point, but I am getting a little lightheaded. Beyond discovering absolute
knowledge and a working crystal ball, all any of us can really do is the best
we know how. If you find value in the work, then maybe that’s its reason for
being. And with that, I give you Circle of Doors.
- Ranse
Parker
Circle
of Doors
