Dear Readers and Friends,
This is both an announcement and a thank-you letter. I'm delighted to announce that A Wilder Rose (originally published in 2013 under my own imprint: Persevero Press) will be reprinted by Lake Union Publishing in February 2015. It will be available in both ebook and print formats. Lake Union is an Amazon imprint.
As many of you will remember, I wasn't at all sure what to expect when I published the novel, which tells the true story of Rose Wilder Lane, the unacknowledged co-author of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books. I've been astonished and so pleased by its success--for which I have you to thank, readers and friends!
A Wilder Rose has done very well as an author-published novel. It received starred reviews from both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly and appeared on Kirkus' 2013 Best of Indie Fiction and Best LGBT lists. It has frequently ranked in the top 10 on Amazon's biographical fiction. It garnered endorsements by every major Wilder scholar (important to me, since I'm a former academic). It is held by some 700 libraries, nation-wide and internationally--as far away as New Zealand and Australia. It has sold over 12,000 copies and continues to sell well, and I daily hear from readers who have enjoyed both the novel and its Reader's Companion.
For all these reasons, I gave a great deal of thought to Lake Union's reprint proposal, balancing the book's current and potential readership under my imprint against the large number of readers who might be reached through Amazon's amazing marketing program. As some of you know, I'm passionate about this book, which gives full credit to Rose Wilder Lane for her 12-year-long effort to turn her mother into a successful--and self-supporting--author. It is a story that has been hidden for far too long, a story that needs to be told.
In the end, my decision was made when I talked to Lake Union's acquisitions editor, who outlined its editorial and marketing program. Jodi is friendly, easy to work with, and knows her stuff--she made me feel at home immediately. There will be a few changes to the book, which will also have a new cover. I'll begin working on the project next week and am looking forward to the rest of the process. Lake Union/Amazon has a huge marketing muscle, and I'm betting that A Wilder Rose's readership will triple, maybe more, in 2015. Wouldn't Rose be amazed?
I said that this is a thank you letter, and it is. I couldn't have published this book under my own imprint if it weren't for readers like you, who over the years have become friends through my traditionally published mysteries, memoirs, and nonfiction. Joining the ranks of "hybrid authors" (writers who publish both traditionally and in via the new author-publishing technologies) has been a hugely satisfying adventure, and I've learned more about books and publishing than I could ever have imagined.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking this journey with me.
Reading note. Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading!--Rainer Maria Rilke