I did something terribly vain and utterly selfish last night: I ordered a nicely hardback bound, complete with dust jacket, copy of book one (Fable). I have nothing against self-publishing, but it isn’t something I would ever do. So, I was long under the impression that until I see true publication, I would never see my books in the form that I think honors them most…hardback. I just found out, to my dismay, that there are ‘private’ only options for getting your material professionally bound. And for about $22 and a little shipping, I did the deed.
I couldn’t have imagined how excited I would be! I didn’t take a whole hell of a lot of time on it, as far as formatting and such (which means I’ll likely do it over)…the cover was very literally thrown together in about twenty minutes (almost as hastily as this blog post). And since this is only for my enjoyment, I used graphics from several different places (Sorry to whoever I ripped off, I’m doing it only for my own private use). Why did I do this? Because after working on Fable (all 3 books), I’ve only had them spiral bound from kinkos…and there is something inherently wrong with that. It didn’t feel right. With the technology we have these days, why not have your work bound? It didn’t cost much more, at all actually. And, there is something about holding a hardback book in your hand. The particular company I went with on this, does produce paperback copies at a much lower rate, but I wanted to see my 435 page book in hardback. I have a dear friend that is a self-proclaimed ‘hardback’ snob…which made me smile and ultimately made me choose that format for my own work.
There was something freeing about this. Something validating. I guess, there was some part of me that only wanted to be published so that I could have my work bound and sitting nicely on my shelf. Damn it, who says I need Tor for my books to sit next to Jennifer Fallon’s? Not on my shelf, by God. On my shelf, I’ll be nestled between two of my favorites: Carol Berg and Jennifer Fallon.
Okay, so I’m making this out to be a bigger deal than it is….I know. So, I got it printed, big deal…but it is. How many authors have died while their work was still in nothing but a scattered mess, or loosely bound in notebooks or lost as relatives weren’t sure how to take care of it. Who doesn’t know how to take care of a book? (Don’t answer that…) And what a lovely gift for those friends/family/perfect stranger turned readers, who have been there with you through the journey? Why should I have to wait until I get published to be able to hand them a bound copy with a thank you/dedication page, acknowledging how much their support meant? How is this any different from an artist matting and framing their artwork? Writer’s get kicked in the teeth, A LOT…for everything. We get the least amount of recognition, until we’re wildly successful (and how many of us will be?). We have to often wait the longest to see our work honored, no more…I’m done. I’m done waiting on someone else’s approval or okay. I’ve said this for some time, but this is the best way I can think of, to truly prove it. As I said to a friend recently, fantasy fiction writers have long since been the red-headed step children in the literary world. Stephen King laments his frustrations over the critic’s inability to see a work as both ‘literary’ and ‘fantasy’, which is nothing but outright ignorance, if you ask me. But add that to an unpublished author’s grief…that awkward silence of never quite being able to explain ‘what their story is about’ to well-meaning friends and family, and the want to feel accomplished, when all they have are reams of typed pages.
Well, dilemma solved. For now anyway. This isn’t a stand-in for publication. But it is salve to those whose work may never see the light of day, or whose work won’t see that light until the author’s death. We have the right to enjoy our own hard work, to see it well-presented.
The only reason I chose book one alone, over doing all three, is that book one of Fable has been proofed by a pro. Some of it twice. And books two and three (as some of you know), have a tad bit of revising left before they can be polished. But, I fully intend on continuing this with the rest of my projects. So, here’s to a little self-indulgence. A little something for us, for a change.



Has your beloved writer friend/spouse/relative, gotten tired of that bookstore gift card yet? What about all those blank journals you’ve been buying them? Or those fantastic pens? While they are never bad things, there are certainly some better options out there. And while foregoing a ‘tried and true’ can be unnerving, here are 10 gifts you can be sure they’ll use.





