Peaks and valleys of publishing, part ll

September 16, 2025 — Last month, I wrote about so many peaks that I left it there and decided to take my September post into the valleys.

I’ve suddenly experienced several low points, so I’ll launch in and hope it’s not too discouraging, but I think there are things authors can learn from this. I used BookBaby for publishing and I give them a mixed review. There have been some pretty good aspects and some not-so-good.

At least according to BookBaby, the presale period is supposed to be a six-week minimum to give time to build excitement and get a decent number of presales. This helps booksellers and distributors decide how many to keep in stock.

When I had to choose a publication date in the process, it was a guessing game. In early July, as we began proofs/approvals, I had to enter a publication date. I chose Aug. 21, 2025, knowing that we wanted a shorter presale period and summer publication. The guessing came in because there’s no way to know how many proofs we’d have to go through before we’d get to the final approved version. And, especially, I didn’t realize turnaround time to get small edits made on our proof. It’s all relative, but I naively thought it would be a couple of days to make quick changes, rather than a week or more between each proof, even when the errors we caught happened on their side. It’s a big company, I get it, but it was a learning experience. I was told the proof changes go into the queue, and so if all their support was already working on another book, my changes, even if it was a couple small things, had to wait their turn.

You really can’t take anything for granted. Punctuation, like opening quotation marks, that was present on my final manuscript, were missing on the book layout in multiple places. I didn’t catch them all right away, they were at the very beginning of a new page. 

I wasn’t aware the publication date I entered would be unchangeable or I probably would have asked more questions before plugging it in. It was a required field. We ended up having less than three weeks for our presale time — way too short.

On our publication date, when I checked Amazon’s status of our book, it said (and still does) “temporarily out of stock.” They are taking orders, however, and will email customers when it’s available. Barnes and Noble also says out of stock and won’t allow an order to be placed. I don’t see our book at any of the other major booksellers that BookBaby works with. This was one of the main reasons I selected them, it’s seemingly easy to get your book placed on all the major websites. Now, they tell me that any of the partners can simply opt not to carry a book. I feel that my book didn’t really have a chance, given the short presale period. There wasn’t enough time for presales so they could assess demand. Therefore, skip it. B&N has removed it from their website. BIG SIGH.

Our book is available on BookBaby’s Bookshop and they give authors a 50 percent commission, which is really good. In stark contrast, we will receive less than $2 per book sold on Amazon. If we can make up for their small commission in quantity, that would be good. It’s not really about the money for us, but since I’m donating half of my half of proceeds (sharing with the illustrator 50/50), I’d like the book to do well. Of course, the more the book sells, or is otherwise out there, the more people we reach, which is really the point.

Along these lines, I was disappointed with the retail price of our book (I might have written about this before). We were given a minimum price to charge from the publisher, $27 and some change and so I rounded up to $27.99. It’s hardcover, with full color beautiful illustrations on every page and I like to think (and I’m hearing) that it’s a beautiful story. But, I think it may be priced out of reach or comfort zone for some people. We’ve figured out some discounts here and there, which is good. BookBaby makes it easy to offer promo codes as much as I want. We eat the discount, which is fine. Any discount at Amazon would result in us not making anything for our book sales, by the time BookBaby takes their share, then Amazon.

I think the book is impressive. I love the quality, interior design, look and feel of the book. Our initial order of 100 author copies, which we receive at a discount, was exciting. However, thanks to John, the illustrator, who went through his box right away, we caught it early that there were a number of defective books. They must have run out of glue because about 20 copies had front and back cover pages that weren’t glued (or only partially) to the cover. They replaced them all, of course, at no charge. However, yet again, I’ve discovered that the cover pages on two of the replacements were bubbling up in places. It’s been over two days and I haven’t heard back about this yet. (I wrote this last month, and they’ve replaced the books).

They’ve heard from me a lot during this process! It’s not unique to them, but, wow, it sure seems like customer service can’t handle more than one question per email. Ask more than that, and the second part isn’t answered. It’s been a frustration multiple times.

At our book event yesterday that doubled as a book launch, sadly, we didn’t have a single child in attendance. I was grateful for four friends who showed up: Amy K, Peggy and Mark B., and Suzanne T. Illustrator, John, was there, and my husband/jack of all trades, Tim. One of my friends jokingly said he was my chauffeur and a gopher. I tell him he’s my everything! You name it. We made the best of the time together. I read part one of the book and left them all hanging and wanting to read more (ha). We had a great discussion about various aspects of the book, from the inspiration story to John’s art. John brought a number of the original paintings and showed and talked about them. Then, we signed the many copies they bought. Booksweet sold out of their five copies and purchased more from me. They have the book in stock!

Okay, looks like we’re ending on a high note. That’s always better, isn’t it? I did a couple little road trips and dropped off books at Adventure, Ink (Milan), Brewed Awakenings (Saline) and Schuler Books (Ann Arbor). These four local stores have my books in stock and you can support a local shop, local author, local illustrator, and a local wildlife rehabilitation center, all at the same time.

As long as we’re up the mountain — Into the Thicket currently has gathered 10 ratings and nine reviews on Goodreads, with a 4.8 average star rating out of five! On Amazon, our book has four five-star ratings. A program called Goodnightreads has been responsible for all of these unbiased reviews, mostly written by other children’s book authors. 

A few excerpts from these lovely reviews:

“A perfect read for anyone who loves soulful storytelling, environmental themes, or the ones who simply get lost in a world both tender and wild. This is a gem that lingers with you long after the final page, as it is going to be with me.” Ankit Saxena

“A beautifully illustrated book that could easily be used as STEM material in the classroom. But more importantly, the author has conveyed a message of compassion for animals and animal welfare. This book would be great to use with a unit on rabbits.” Pat Danna

“A tender and beautifully illustrated book that teaches children about compassion, courage, and the beauty of letting go. A wonderful read for families to enjoy together!” Natalie Horseman

Beautiful, Classic Story

“I loved this book! The illustrations were absolutely stunning. The story was heartwarming and I loved the message about facing your fears. It was great to see brother Ben come around to Pat’s way of thinking.

“My 8 year old daughter loves to read and this story is perfect for her age and reading level. It’s beauty and text reminded me of some of the classic books she read over the summer like A Time of Wonder, but this one was more engaging and relatable to children!” - Bill

“Love heals — A delightful, educational and heartwarming story about a boy who finds an injured baby rabbit. He takes it to the rescue foundation and helps with the caring of the rabbit until it is healed and released back into its habitat. The little boy becomes attached, and it is difficult to say goodbye — that part brought tears to my eyes. A wonderful story for kids to learn the importance of animals in our lives.” - Serenity

Heartwarming Story about Courage and Compassion

“My kids loved this book! Patrick finds an injured baby rabbit and has to overcome his fear of the scary “thicket” to get help. What begins as a rescue mission becomes a journey of personal growth as Patrick learns to care for the wounded creature with the help of Felice, a wildlife rehabilitator.

This is more than just a story about a boy and a rabbit — it’s about growing up, finding inner strength, and learning that sometimes the most loving thing we can do is set something free. The author’s note reveals this was inspired by a true experience, adding depth and authenticity to the narrative. John Megahan’s watercolor illustrations complement the story perfectly, bringing the characters and settings to life.

Highly recommended for young readers and the adults who love them.” - Shelter Dog Advocate

Goodnightreads has been a fortunate find. I began using only their free service for one book. We get one free review and then up to three more each month. I earn reviews by reviewing children’s books by others. They ensure authors aren’t reviewing each other’s books. The owner sends terrific resources to use on our social media and websites. I’ll share some of those soon. I’ve since upgraded to their monthly paid subscription. I was able to add my other picture book and earn a minimum of 18 reviews per month for $14.55 per month.

I’ll be working on requesting other Michigan book stores to carry my books as well as libraries and school libraries. 

I emailed my first author newsletter, called Inspiration’s Spark. We all receive far too many emails, so mine will be infrequent. I’m still figuring things out, but I’d guess it will be about once a quarter, or so.

The guys are waiting for me to watch Wednesday. It’s spooky season again and so I’ll need to think of some spooky show recommendations. I saw a poster for Wednesday in Spain, It said Miercoles (the Spanish word for Wednesday), I thought that was really fun. I’ll wrap this one up for now.

Lastly, I have two book events upcoming! I was just invited for a return reading at Coreander’s Children’s Bookshoppe in Grosse Pointe Park: Saturday, October 4 at 10:30 am. My previous reading there, last fall, sold out! I’ll share how to get tickets as soon as that’s available. And I’ll once again be at the Baldwin Library book fair in November. I keep my events page updated on this website, if you’re ever thinking about coming to see me. And I hope you do! Later alligator.