Last year at this time I was waiting for my few remaining in print books to go out of print so I could call it a career. I was toying with the idea of making a few of my favorites available for free as digital books, for a limited time, just so they could have one last chance to get a few new readers, but after that I was going to let it all go.
A friend in the business, a man who published traditionally, and very successfully, for decades before putting his backlist back to work for him through his own imprint, told me that was stupid (he used nicer words, because he’s a nice guy, but I got the idea). He told me to consider self-publishing my old work.
I did consider it. I thought about it for months, uncertain about whether I wanted to invest the time and effort (and money) it would take to do it right. Whether or not I’m doing it right is still debatable, but I did decide to go for it. In the process of revising and re-writing old material, I rediscovered my love for writing. I’m working on new stuff now, though slowly because I’m still working on all the old stuff.
I’m not yet certain how I plan to release future original works. I do plan on making them available as limited edition hardcovers. I already have a reputable limited-edition hardcover publisher interested in my upcoming work, and I’ll give him any of my new stuff that he wants. My new uncertainty is about if I want to try for a traditional paperback/digital publisher, Deadite Press comes first to mind, or just do it myself through my imprint, Tulpa Books.
One way or the other, there will be new work available, and hopefully within the next couple of years. I’ve spent a lot of time and energy getting my backlist out into the world again, and there is still more backlist to get through, but the bulk of it is available again so I’m going to start working hard to get new stuff out.
If you haven’t read my old work, I hope you’ll give it a shot. You can find it all on my Amazon Author Page. I also hope you’ll stick around for the new stuff.
Brian Knight
