So Why Dogs?

So why Dogs?

So some might wonder why is my first book about a dog, I mean why dogs?  Well the short answer is, I love dogs.  They have always been a part of my life, my parents have always had dogs, and I now carry on that same tradition in my family with our two dogs.

Dog’s are about as noble a creature as anything on this earth.  They love you unconditionally, which most of us cannot, or will not do.  The only problem with dogs in my mind is their short lifespan.  This fact taught me one tough lesson as a young boy.  When I was twelve, because no one in my family had the stomach for it, I took our aging Siberian Husky, Shadow to the vet to be put down.  My sisters boyfriend at the time helped me load the old girl up in his old pickup, and with a check written from my mother in my back pocket to pay for the vets dark services, I took our family dog a few miles down the road to the vets office. I paid the woman at the front desk, helped my blind ailing pal to the back room, sat with her as she was hooked up to an IV, and stroked her beautiful white and grey fur as her life faded away.  

 I just remembered something as I was writing this post.  All those years ago, when I opened the door to take Shadow to the back at the vet’s office, she still waited for me to go through the door.  I guess I took that for granted back then, as that was how she was taught.  However looking back at that now, I know she had to have known that I was taking her back to her death and even then she was still subservient. No - not subservient – respectful.  May we all have that kind of grace and humility in our final moments.

So why dogs, they are more humble than us, more selfless than us, in short because they are better than us, thats why.

My Publishing LLC.

So today I want to start out by telling a short little story. 

Being the closet aspiring writer that I am I sought out, in the shadows of course, a published author that I happened to meet.  She was nice enough, and I asked her if I could buy her dinner and pick her brain about writing, and she agreed. 

I had been writing at this point for about six years.

At dinner I asked her, did you ever think about self-publishing?

No – she said – Self-publishing is not being an author, and I wanted to be a real author.

Suddenly tweed jackets and a snifter of brandy ran through my head.  So I asked – are you happy with the result of your book?

They changed it a little, but I guess thats what they do- she replied.

Red flags rose in my head.

Her book was doing quite well, so I asked – are you making a decent profit off your book?

Not really.

Huh- I thought.

I am not trying to justify my being an independent author, but there has to be a better way than sending it to an agent for approval, then to a publishing house for further approval.  Why not put your book out there and let it stand on its own merit?

My decision on where to publish and a small piece of advice…

So here it is Friday, and as promised I will share the company I will go with for my publishing.  So in the independent realm of publishing there is seemingly a few number of ways to self-publish, well that was how it seemed to me at first anyway.  There are places like AuthorHouse, IUniverse and so on.  A friend of mine published a book a year ago with this method and after a short conversation with him I thought that maybe this way would be the right way for me.  So, being the neurotic that I am, I sat down with him and talked with him again about the pros and cons of the route he went.  He told me that, if he were to publish again that next time he would use more of a book producer than a self-pub company, and he would also create his own label.  This actually appealed to me a lot.  So I went on the ole’ Internet and began to look up places that could fulfill my needs in this area.  This is when I found CreateSpace.  CreateSpace is a place where you can publish and keep not only the rights to your book but most of the royalties as well.  They do this because they are more of a book producer than a self-pub company.  Another thing, when going through more notable named self-publishers you received on average about 25% of the royalties of your book, and that’s when you go through their website.  You received less than that if you go through their website and sell a book on Amazon.  With CreateSpace you can use their handy royalty calculator to figure out how much you will make per book, and with me this was the deciding factor.  So I am going with CreateSpace and I am going to make my own publishing label, and my own LLC.  Stand by for my symbol and company name.  So all you out there research what your buying, and as I stated before, if it seems like a good deal, something may be wrong with the services or the royalties.

So I am Slowly letting people know what I am doing...

So I am not quite to the point where I can post my blog on Facebook to every one of my friends.  I wear an external coat of extraversion but I am surprisingly shy about my private life, especially my writing life.  This thing that grabs me and causes me to constantly dream up stories and ideas is something that I have kept very close to the chest for a very long time...

So where I am at today:

Currently I am figuring out what publisher I will be using to publish my book.  For those who don't know I am an Independent Writer.  I thought very deeply about the traditional route however after much soul searching, researching, and a tug from the big guy upstairs I am sure that I am on the right path.  Why?  Because the book industry is quickly becoming like the movie industry, what is marketable is considered art.  I am not going to get on here and say that I am better than any writer out there and that it's the indie way or the highway, but I am going say that there is talent out there that is not being properly recognized for the shear fact that publishing houses do not think that they can make money off of them.  I think passion and talent go hand and hand, and I think someone who believes in their own work enough to invest in it deserves a shot at an audience as well.  Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I am in the market for a publisher.  I have looked around at the different self-publishers and the way they do business.  Having done this it is my opinion that one must be very careful about what seems like a good deal.  The publishing cost may be low, but your royalties may be low as well.   They also may choose the price of your book.  Tomorrow I will make a choice in what company I will go with, and I will explain my reasons why.  My advice till then - be patient and research who you are going to use.  Also above all else don't make any hasty decisions. 

Here We Go!

Hi. My name is Israel Parker and I am beginning my journey into the world of independent authorship.  I wasn't sure how to start this off since I am fairly new at blogging so I thought I would start simple.
I was born in the seventies, grew up in the eighties and nineties, and am alive today.
There, now that we have gotten this out of the way I guess we can move on.  I will give more detail as I post and as I reflect back throughout this process.


Why do I write?

A fair question, and it deserves a fair answer.  I don't know.   A friend of mine about eight years ago suggested that I start because he thought I was clever and thought that I might even have something clever to say. So I began, and was surprised to how much came out of me.  However, since that day I have not been able to shut the faucet off.  Sometimes I go a few weeks without writing something down, but then, something will catch my eye here and there and I find myself back in front of the computer writing my crazy thoughts down and forming stories.

Where I am at now?

I just finished my first novel.  It is being edited currently and should be available in the next few months. Over these next few months I hope to maybe inform you out there, and even possibly entertain you a bit as I dive into the world in which I have spent the last eight years afraid of.