Here we have yet another instance of possible follow through. We will soon be publishing Raudi’s Story—the name of our press is Red Horse Press. This seemed most logical. Raudi was my first Icelandic horse, and since, she’s opened many doors for me. Raudi’s Story will be an eBook, available on Kindles, iPads, and Nooks. At the same time, we might very well end up having print copies on hand. According to Illustrator Chris Romano, we can have copies printed up at a reasonable price—on demand. Pete and Chris are both looking into this.

Ebooks and books on demand are a form of self-publishing. I have long been skeptical about self-publishing, equating it with bad writers and badder writing. But, I

have been told that many good writers are now doing what I’m thinking about doing. This all begs the question—why is a commercial publishing house considered to be more reputable than a home-based publishing house? Maybe this has something to do with the furniture. The answer is probably that, historically, having someone else publish your book means that it’s a good book. This is because publishers are thought to toss aside the drek and drivel.

This may no longer be the case. Sure, if there’s a rise in the amount of self-publishing going on, there will be a rise in drek and drivel. But it appears as though, for many, this is now a good option. I’ve repeatedly tried to get commercial presses interested in my books, and have had minimal success. I’ve done this by going to conferences and sending carefully edited proposals to agents and publishing houses.

So, I’m now willing to give self-publishing a go. I’m now forcing myself to think hard about successful past self-publishing ventures. The one that has repeatedly come to mind is Virginia Woolf. She and Leonard started Hogarth Press in order to get her work out there. This worked. And lately, Shannon Hayes, an old friend who lives in Cobleskill, has recently done the same. She self-published Radical Housewives and cut out the middleperson. And she made money in part by keeping books from being remaindered. Being remaindered—this is the kiss of death for an aspiring writer.

No, I’m not going to equate self-publishing with failure; instead, I’m going to equate it with changing times. And this venture may very well open closed doors. Pete was, this morning, also thinking that maybe Red Horse Press might publish other people’s books. We could, he added, advertise our services on our website. This would then make Red Horse Press appear to be more reputable, because, well, it would then be a publishing house.

So, first things first. We’ll get Raudi’s Story out there and see how it does against the competition. I hope that it’s out by Christmas.

Next: 334. 11/9/12: Home schooling