Looking For An Open Window

As some of you may know already, my contract with Valor Publishing, to publish my book, The Keeper of the Crystor, has been terminated. As this door slams shut, I find myself searching for that open window everyone talks about. I hope it's out there.

There were two Valor authors that received this notice, myself and one other. A third was spared because they had invested money in her cover. The reason given for this termination, was that we were too close as friends.

WHAT?

Yep, that's right. Several authors were being given conflicting information from board members, and when me and another author asked for a simple clarification, so we could better prepare ourselves for marketing, book launch, etc, they said we had to go.

Nothing could have shocked me more. The information we discussed was basic and meant for all authors. They actually posted some of the questioned information on their blog today, which made me very happy. They seem to be working to fix the problem.

I hesitated writing anything about this, because of Jenni's recent news about signing with Valor for one of her books, but she encouraged me to let everyone know, so I hope this is okay. I wish her the best and truly believe, once Valor gets this communication issue solved, it will be a good company to work with.

As I look back at the way things unfolded, I have to say that I don't think I would have done anything differently. I stood up for what I thought was right, left with my integrity intact and have a great friend who did the same. I feel like this was a mere stepping stone on my way to bigger and better things and hope Valor the best. I have no ill feelings toward them, except a wish that they learn from this and set some standards within their company on how to better handle similar situations.

I'd like to thank all the wonderful friends who have sent emails and made comments on my blog. I don't think I realized how much support I had and how many friendships I'd formed while working to achieve my dream of being published. I'll make sure to keep you all informed as I search out an agent and seek publication in the national market. In the meantime, good luck to all of you on your journey to do the same.