I finished my first mystery novel, The Nurse Wore Black in 1993. Being a complete novice, I did the usual things most new writers do, I sent out queries to agents and received a stack of rejection letters. Lamenting my woes to a friend, he told me about a publisher, Vista Publishing, right here in Long Branch, New Jersey, the town next to mine who specializes in publishing books about nurses. Excited, I dropped in cold to their office. They extolled their virtues and told me about the most successful book which sold 50,000 copies. I was impressed. They took the manuscript I brought with me. Two weeks later they said they wanted to publish it. Wow! I had given them the book in the spring of 1994 and asked them if they could get it out before the summer ended. If they could, I said I would host a book signing party at my beach club where I would invite all 250 members. They said no problem and published the book, printing a thousand copies. They did not ask me for a nickel. The first time I saw the finished product was when the publisher brought the books to the beach club for the signing. They had gotten it back from their printer only a couple of days earlier. It was then that the “Wow” factor fell into the depression factor. The cover was not well done and leafing through the book I saw a number of typos. But the party was on and I had no choice but to smile and sign the books. This first publication process was a major learning experience. The publisher never discussed the cover with me nor did they give me a proof of the typeset book to look over. At the time I didn’t know to ask for them. As far as I knew, I thought they would do the editing as well as create a proper cover. Not one person mentioned the typos to me, and the only comments I got on the book was “nice story.” Friends or acquaintances you see all summer are not going to say anything bad, but I could tell from the lack of enthusiasm in their voices and their expressions, they were not thrilled with the book. I knew the story was good with all the clues well laid out, the red herrings pointing in the wrong direction and the uncovering the killer well done, but the number of errors in the publishing, I counted over 100, made the book a difficult read. I did not personally promote or sell another copy of this book. The moral to this story is, be involved in every step of the publishing process. View the cover. Don’t take it for granted. Demand a proof of the book. If you find poor editing, demand the publisher re-edit or pay to have it edited yourself. My second mystery, Diamonds Are For Stealing, the second in the David Nance Mystery Series, Murder at the Jersey Shore, was published in 2000 by Hilliard and Harris. With the above experience still weighing heavily on my mind I was totally involved in the publishing process, especially proof reading. Hilliard and Harris did a wonderful job editing and publishing this book. I could not find one mistake. So what happened that made me not want to give them my next book? It was in their contract, which here again was a learning experience. Although Hilliard paid all the publication fees to bring this book to market, they had a clause in their contract that said they do not pay royalties until they recouped their publishing expenses from book sales. Again, my naiveté let me pass right over this clause without a thought. As we all know, writing is a dual process, creating the product and publishing the product. Neither party has anything without the other. In another analogy, a publisher is like a venture capitalist putting up money because he saw a great idea (in this case a book) that could give him a good return. The venture capitalist does not tell the creator of the idea he cannot draw a salary from the invested money while the idea is being developed for market until the capitalist recoups his investment (in the the case of publishing it would be while the the book is being promoted and sold). I felt the same way about royalties. Since I created the product and would be spending money to promote and sell the book, I felt was entitled to some return from the sale of book one. Hilliard and Harris also had a clause in their contract that said they get the right of first refusal to my next book but I did not want to give it to them because they would not negate that no royalty clause in their contract. I had bought back the rights to The Nurse Wore Black back from Vista Publishing.  They were on the verge of going out of business.  I didn’t have to wonder why.   Nurse was originally written with a fictional setting.  I renamed it Secrets Can Be Deadly and was in the process of re-writing it with the real Monmouth County, New Jersey setting which was the setting for Diamonds and adding some features about the character I developed in Diamonds.  I offered Secrets to Hilliard and Harris. They declined that book and we left with a rather strained relationship. The moral, read your contract carefully and get a lawyer to go over it.  Study every clause. If you don’t like something try and get it changed. If the publisher balks you have two choices, agree or don’t sign, but at least you know exactly what you are getting into. My third book, Murder Go Round was self-published with iUniverse in 2003 in a special arrangement iUniverse had with The Mystery Writers of America. It cost me $99.00. The book had an antique carousel as the motive for the murder. There are two national antique carousel associations as well as “Friends of” so-and-so antique carousel in every state. They all have newsletters and membership lists. I promoted this book heavily to antique carousel aficionados all around the country. It sold very well. The moral in self-publishing is you must know what market you will sell your self-published book to before you self-publish it. You may get a book signing at an independent bookstore in your town, but most bookstores, especially the chains, won’t host a book signing or carry your self-published book even in your home town unless you have a special relationship with them.  Also be prepared for agents and others in the publishing industry to “look down their noses” at you. Now for Silk Legacy. This is historical fiction. It is loosely inspired by vignettes my mother and uncle told me about my paternal grandparents. For example, my grandfather was chased out of Ireland by the priests for fooling around with the parish colleens. Thus the prologue. Also my grandmother’s parents did not want her to marry my grandfather because he was such an extremely domineering man thus the conflict between the two main characters that runs through the book. She gets involved in the suffrage movement and reproductive freedom which angers her husband.  He demanded she stay home and take care of “his” house and “his” children. When a strike shuts down the Paterson, NJ silk industry, she gives food to the strikers at the same time her husband, a silk industrialist, is fighting the strikers. It took me ten years, in between writing the mysteries, to research and write Silk Legacy. I tried to get a publisher interested, but couldn’t land one. Still, I truly felt I had a wonderful book, and since I was sixty-four, I didn’t want to wait any longer to get the book in print.  Again I published it myself. As you can see from this web site, Silk Legacy has gotten fabulous reviews from everyone who reads it. I have sold it as a tumultuous love story, a family saga and a slice of American history. Even a European reviewer, Euro Reviews, loved it, and as a result I sold books to a bookstore in Australia.  The book is still selling after three years.  A reading group in Puerto Rico recently picked it for their list. The moral to self publishing is, look at your work HONESTLY. If you feel you have a good book and a marketing plan to sell the book, go for it. Don’t let the “mavens” in the publishing trade discourage you. I am now looking forward to a long relationship with L & L Dreamspell Publishing. Despite their contract looking very beneficial I still had a lawyer go over it.  Not only do they pay a royalty from sale of book one, but they give an advance against sales.  If sales go well with Beyond Guilty I hope they will want to publish The Bishop Committee, Keiretsu and other novels I write in the future. I hope my experiences will help you with your publishing efforts.