Basajaun returns… soon

Before I begin this post and the announcement I’m so excited to share, I want to thank everyone who has been asking when my book BASAJAUN will be available or reprinted again, or when I will have any news about it. People have been so sweet and have waited so patiently while I gave half-hearted, noncommittal answers, because I always hoped I was only months away from an official announcement, yet never had news solid enough to disclose. Additionally, I want to send a big thanks out to everyone who purchased, reviewed and supported the first edition of Basajaun. Because the print run was so small, every sale of the book meant a great deal to me. I also have to thank my amazing fiance Guy for his unfailing love and support, and for always encouraging me to put my work out there, no matter what format I had to utilize to do so.

Basajaun's full original cover. All photography, design and layout by me (click to enlarge).

Once upon a time, I wrote and self-published a young adult fantasy novel called Basajaun. Last summer the print run sold out, and Basajaun has been in limbo for a year.

This is what happened.

When the book was released in January of 2009, I was coming off a DIY illustration and painting background, and at the time, had no actual writing credits. I started out selling Basajaun at book fairs, on my website and at a handful of independent bookstores in Michigan and Wisconsin. Soon I heard that Barnes & Noble had a small press program where buyers would hand-select indie books to try out at Barnes & Noble stores. I submitted Basajaun to the B&N small press department and was elated when I got back an acceptance letter from their corporate office saying that they would like to try out a few copies of the book to see how the response was. The letter stipulated that all I needed to do was place Basajaun with one of their approved wholesalers / distributors. After going through the wholesaler sheet, I found that almost none of the companies listed would deal with small press books, self-publishers or publishers with only one title. I copied off the Barnes & Noble acceptance letter, put it on top of the marketing packet I’d put together for distributor submission, and approached the few distributors on the list who would even consider a a book like mine. It was rejected by all three, the last one saying, “First-time novels are just too difficult to get behind and build a platform for.” The B&N offer was dead in the water.

So at the advice of the ever-helpful Gary Reed (who patiently answered all my publishing questions) I submitted Basajaun to be carried on Amazon.com through their consignment program, Amazon Advantage. It was immediately accepted. I have heard booksellers say absolutely scathing things about Amazon, which I completely understand, but Amazon made it easy, affordable and realistic for me to access a national audience of customers with my self-published novel. That is so valuable in this transitional era of publishing. And after the disappointment I’d experienced at the caveats of the Barnes & Noble offer, I found the friendly, accessible and risk-free guidelines of the Amazon small press program a joy to encounter.

It was on Amazon that Basajaun began to generate more interest. I was heartened; I began writing a sequel. I was five chapters into the sequel in January of 2010, when my fiancee showed Basajaun to an entertainment rep who in turn showed it to his literary agent colleague. They both said many nice things about the work, and the rep offered to advise me on making revisions to the novel, with the ultimate goal of getting it into high-powered-shape to make it more appealing for wider publishing. It was a joyous but extremely anxious time—I wanted so badly for this opportunity to go well. I was concerned that this was my only shot to give Basajaun a bigger push and was hyper-vigilant about trying to do everything right. As I worked on revisions off the rep’s notes, the original edition of Basajaun continued to gain a positive response and thanks in part to Amazon, the run sold out in August of 2010. The partnership with that rep didn’t work out in the end, unfortunately, but it was still a great experience and one I learned a lot from. I have the amazingly gracious and kind T. A. Barron to thank during this time for listening to my dilemmas, and for giving me the advice I so desperately needed. I am still truly in awe of Tom and his work, and he has been one of the most singular forces in my continuing with writing at all. I don’t know what I would have done without his thoughts and support.

So in May of 2011, Basajaun was officially back in my own little paws as an independent project. The whole world was open to me, yet I had no idea how to proceed. I felt shook-up from spending a year and half following a thread that I’d believed would lead Basajaun to better places, and now I had completed two totally different versions of the manuscript—the original, self-published one, and a longer, more combed-through one with a pretty different ending. This also crossed over the time when Borders first announced bankruptcy, and it was the gasp heard round the publishing industry. I was trying to place a product in a floundering industry that had completely lost its footing. I felt like I might as well be trying to solicit investors for an abacus factory.

Ebooks were once produced using the analog format.

I had been through so many advice-generators, I no longer trusted my own instincts. I certainly didn’t trust the uncertainty of the industry or the apprehensive, baited breath of the publishing climate. I needed someone to read both versions of the novel and tell me what to do. Someone I could trust. What I also didn’t yet know I wanted was someone who shared my creative aesthetic. The reason why I’d never thought to desire this was because I wouldn’t have imagined such a thing existed.

Enter Shawna Gore.

Here is Shawna looking gorgeous while watching fireflies.

Shawna Gore is a former Dark Horse Comics editor, a powerhouse of progressive publishing knowledge, and a completely amazing human being. We had more or less met because of our mutual obsession with rabbits (really!), and she had come to be someone I called a beloved friend. Off and on for close to a year, I think, we’d had fantasies of working together, which ranged from her being my agent, to us opening an independent publishing imprint together (okay, that fantasy may have been mine). I had been keeping Shawna clued-in, somewhat, to Basajaun’s ups and downs, and to my confusion about how I should be proceeding with my career. During one of our talks, Shawna gently expressed her own interest in the book, or in working with me on something else, should the opportunity arise in the future. This possibility knocked around in the background of my thoughts, growing more pretty and appealing as it turned itself over and over. So when Basajaun was free again a few months later, I called her and asked if she still had an interest in Basajaun, would she like to read both versions of the novel and advise me on what elements to keep and what to scrap? She said yes, and moreover, she offered to edit it as well.

For the first time in months, I felt inspired about Basajaun again.

Shawna and I are currently in the editing process of what will be the new edition of Basajaun, and we don’t have much left to complete now. Working with her has by far been the most easy, natural, exciting and helpful artistic give-and-take I’ve ever had, professionally, with another person about my own work. I’m DIY and hands-on to the core, so I’m most accustomed to going through my creative process in isolation. It’s not that I have any complaints about my previous experiences going over my work with others, because I love hearing the perspectives of a variety of people and am always grateful when someone takes the time and effort to offer feedback on what I do. But Shawna and I click in a way, creatively, that makes the editing and brainstorming experience feel inspired and alive. If I could hand-pick any editor in the publishing industry, I doubt I could find anyone as well-suited to my work as her. I feel very, very fortunate to be working with her—not only because I know she currently has people beating down her door with independent projects, but also because Shawna is an editor whose intentions you can trust, who values the uniqueness of creators’ individual visions, and who offers feedback in a very proactive and ingestable way. Somehow, she is able to advise in a manner that feels genuine to and consistent with the work she’s editing.

Further evidence to support why Shawna and I are well-suited to work together.

The fact that she’s also completely awesome is just a bonus.

I’m looking forward to sharing more news about the new edition of Basajaun as it unfolds! Until then, stay tuned here for a sneak-peek sample, coming soon!

<3 –R.