For years, I have said that The Last Hunter is my favorite series. I have fond memories of writing the novel, still miss the characters years later, and when it comes to adaptations (comic books or movie) am very protective of the story. But I can no longer say The Last Hunter is my favorite book. Favorite series, sure, but The Distance is now my favorite novel (of mine). Keep reading to find out why!
The Distance’s path to publication has been tumultuous, not because no one wanted it, but because I didn’t have faith in publishers to do it right. When the book was written, it was under contract with a “big five” publisher imprint. But after novels published under my own imprint, Breakneck Media, started selling better than those published by the big publisher, I returned the advance and got the rights back. After that, another big five publisher offered to take the book, and tried to woo me with bestselling sales projections, but their covers were abysmal and I wasn’t convinced they could do a better job than I could…which is really what a writer should expect from a publisher.
So, in the end, two years after the book was completed, I decided to go it alone, which is a little nerve-wracking for me because it’s my wife’s first novel, and I turned down a big five publisher…twice. What does this mean for the book? In terms of production quality, nothing. I was hired to do the cover for the original publisher, so the packaging would be the same. As for the interior design, we’re creating a premium experience, both for the print book and the e-book, which is priced $6 LESS than either publisher had planned.
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