The Revised Edition story
For a little more than a year I was courted by print publishers. They were very regular in contacting me by e-mail and telephone. I’m not sure how this came to be, but it must have been because I made inquiries about agents and publishers as I was nearing completion of the first book in the Little J and Roger series.
At last, in October 2011, I was ready. All five books were published in electronic book editions, and my confidence in their quality was sufficient. I took the plunge, so to speak. I had spent some time examining various features and proposals, and a Canadian firm seemed to be the best, overall. They had been one of the first to contact me, and they had been regularly touching base to encourage me to become one of their authors. Every few months I would get an e-mail or a phone call.
I decided, finally, to sign. I sent the money and signed the contract. I was assigned an author account manager, and I had a lengthy conversation with him on the telephone. I filled out the detailed author questionnaire he sent. He called again, effusive and supportive. He asked me to complete the submission list and send the manuscript in. I had a few format questions that the form did not address, so he asked me to send an example from the book so that he could better understand what I was talking about. I sent him a copy of the Diphra PDF version of the complete book via e-mail, along with a list of the pages that I was concerned about. The big one was the symbols employed to connect various kinds of transitions within and between the chapters.
I heard nothing back for a few days. In the meantime, I prepared the manuscript for submission according to their specifications. I sent an e-mail asking about the symbols. There was no response. I phoned the next day, but could only leave a voice mail message. He did not return the call. This put me off somewhat, but I decided to proceed anyway. I was in the process of writing the cover letter for the packet I was about to send when the phone rang.
It was a detective from one of the British Columbia police agencies. They were calling to inform me that the manuscript was in violation of their new pornography laws, and that it would be illegal to even possess a copy in their country. She asked a few questions about the book. It seemed that she or someone had read at least a part of it. I was as open and honest as I could be—I had nothing to hide, certainly. She went on to comment that though it was well written and a serious work, it could not be allowed in Canada under the new laws.
I was dumbfounded and appalled. Not only had the book been vetted legally here, but it had been published and was in distribution through a variety of eBook vendors along with the subsequent four books.
After that phone call I sent an inquiry to the sales representative that had signed me as an author, asking what they intended to do. Clearly, the project was not going to go forward.
The next day I received an e-mail from the president of the publishing company apologizing for the inappropriate handling of my book, and a full refund of my investment.
The moral of the story: don’t believe the sales representatives or the author representatives when they say they have read your materials and are excited about publishing it. If they had actually read any of the materials I sent, including the author questionnaire, they would have been able to determine at once that they could not publish it. I sent a reply to that president saying just that.
I had been very open and concerned about the nature of the material from the outset, and repeatedly asked them to read the excerpts at the Diphra website to be sure they were interested. I was assured three different times that it had been examined and approved, and that they were eager to proceed.
Lesson learned: force them to answer a few questions that you know they would only be able to answer if they had read what you sent. Otherwise, all you are getting is sales hype and patronization.
What to do next: one observation made by the Canadian officer concerned me. She said that regardless of the book’s intent or purpose, there were individuals who might find support and encouragement for themselves in engaging in illegal and abusive activities because of what they could read in my book. That was one reason it was not to be allowed.
I took that very seriously. In no way do I condone or support exploitation or abuse of minors. The reverse is true. The very purpose of the series is to counter that along with bullying and other destructive behaviors. I determined it was necessary to re-examine the book and to revise it if needed to make that point crystal clear.
That revision is now underway. It has resulted in a new preface and a considerable rewrite of the main story line.
It is now substantially different, though only about twenty percent of the first book is changed. The central relationship of Julian and Mark is different in the second edition. I doubt that the Canadians will be completely satisfied, but that part of the story was the one that caused the detective to comment specifically. That element in the book would now pass their scrutiny.
But I am not writing a Canadian book. I’m sorry that their literary laws have taken a draconian turn. That is a problem they will have to work on. They have teen suicides too, and their literary regulations are of little help. Again one is proud to be an American and to have a constitution that protects intellectual freedom. It behooves us all to protect that to the best of our ability.
Have I “caved in to pressure,” you ask? Perhaps, to an extent. But the core issues of Little J and Roger remain addressed. There is a shift in emphasis certainly, and the matter of bullying and isolation are given more emphasis. The work remains valid; it is a different story, though, and that needs to be said at the outset.
For the present, the plan is to revise and replace each book in sequence. The original versions will be withdrawn from commercial circulation for the time being. Whether they will become available again is not known at this time. The new versions will have new ISBN numbers, and the title/subtitle placement is reversed. The other story elements are unchanged. When all five have been revised and published, I will again entertain the matter of a print version. I’ll likely avoid Canada.
None of the essays or supplementary materials at the Diphra website are affected.
The romance of Julian and Mark has been eliminated entirely for the time being. It is a beautiful and lovely story; it will have to wait a while to be told, that’s all. Those who read the original version will have a special memory, of course. It’s a small group, alas; but privilege was ever thus.
Oh, by the way: persons who purchased the original version are entitled to a free copy of the revised version. Send an inquiry via the Feedback page.
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