Just to catch you up:
After winning Textnovel.com's first-ever cellphone novel contest in the Western world back in 2008, life has moved on at an astonishing rate. My win (for a novella-length story) was announced in 2009 through press releases, an interview in the LA Times, and an interview in a major writing magazine. The CNN.com interview never ran--other stuff was also happening in the world (how dare it! ;) ). I won an agent, was courted by two of the then Big Six publishers, and a movie producer. I went with St. Martin's Press (of Macmillan) and one novella grew into three novels, which became a series of five, and then gave me enough strength in the market to also get a contract for a different trilogy. There were increasing advances, book signings, cocktail parties, deals made and trades done, panels, workshops, dances and parties, foreign translations, fancy hotels and weird ones, and royalty checks---you name it, I did it. Someone even made me a Wikipedia page (which continues to get trimmed, but it was wonderful and very accurate in the beginning). Most of it I loved. Some of it was frightening (mostly my stalker---that shook me up and made me wary).
Last year my second agent announced his retirement (he was fabulous). My royalties had waned tremendously and no audiobooks had been suggested, and I was the one to nudge for ebooks. I had been a shining star in the industry (several important people said I was their favorite author to work with). My writing had slowed, I had headed back to work in a friend's daycare center and loved it, but I got offered a higher-paying job (and with all the insurance and possibility of retirement), so I returned to the classroom in a lesser role than my previous one of teacher and found it to be dissatisfying. I had great classroom management, a strong personality, and a good connection with most kids, so my extra duties included lunch detention, ISS, and dealing with other struggling kids. Most of the kids (even the "difficult" ones) and teachers were great, but Admin made promises it didn't bother to keep, we were having more and more active shooter drills, the drive was long and we'd already been in three accidents with deer. Add to it the fact I had also started my MA in Holocaust and Genocide Studies and that I had picked up a small publishing company with a friend and started publishing other people's books (traditionally, though we couldn't provide advances) and it's no surprise I was tired. It was fascinating but I only put money (and hours---so many hours) into it. I couldn't just keep giving and not working on my stuff. I took a job as a library director at a very local library. Short as it was, the drive wasn't great in snow but I loved the work and the people (well, mostly---I dealt with some serious Board drama near the end because I tried to do right by a staff member). I helped get the library supported by local taxes (keeping our doors open at a time they told me they could fold in three months---right after they hired me) and got a private donor to get us a new roof after I realized water was pouring in. But the pay was low and there was no retirement plan (and I had wanted to retire there---I had big dreams for that place and it needed a LOT of work, but I laid the groundwork and had the architect, his plans, and budget stuff all handled before I left). I had started ghostwriting with a powerful NYC agency shortly before I left the library and I was loving it. That job expanded and expanded. The money was great (still is), the people are brilliant, and the hours are based on my schedule and project goals allowing me to keep working on some of my projects, too.
By the time my agent said he was closing up shop and transferring his stable of authors to another big agency based in London, my Hubby and I had already been discussing getting a reversion of my rights. Suddenly there was "no time like the present." My agent happily got me reversions for both series. But I wanted to lay some groundwork first. Had the lessons I learned publishing books for other people continued to hold true, or had lots of things changed? How steep was the learning curve? So I dug in and listened to every podcast, read every book, watched every video, and attended every workshop I could. I created my experiment book. I researched everything. I formatted it myself, had a cover designed to my spec by GetCovers (a Ukrainian company I'm happy to support), and set everything up to succeed, recording my results as I'm going.
And here we are. Nearing a soft launch of my book baby---not one I ever sent to my agent or publisher. Just something I was curious about trying (and I have several others in a similar vein already lined up to follow). I'll launch on both Amazon/KDP and IngramSpark and with my own ISBNs. Working with both companies has highlighted
I've carried the KDP proof (proof #2 because of a branding change) of my newest book baby down to New Jersey and back this week, and am almost ready to give the go-ahead to proceed with the soft launch. BUT. IngramSpark's proof (which I had wanted to approve at the same time (and which was uploaded with only an hour or so between it and Amazon/KDP) was supposed to arrive yesterday (according to an email). It did not. Another email assured me that it will indeed arrive today.
Perhaps it will. Now, as context, Amazon handles its own shipping and IngramSpark is (at least in this case) relying on UPS.
I really want to give IngramSpark a chance at one more stage in the process so I can adjust my upcoming books' releases through both accordingly. I used them for the previous publishing company and found them to be very reliable and effective. Easy to communicate with, too. Using both IngramSpark and KDP still makes sense (Amazon/KDP in a restricted way, IngramSpark in other ways--- allowing Amazon readers to see it AND librarians and brick-and-mortar bookstores to see it, too).
Now the question is: Do I wait until it arrives and review it before I launch with Amazon/KDP? So they launch at the same time? Just to see how the two then match up at THAT point (as IngramSpark has been days slower on processing AND mailing) or do I just figure it's a foregone conclusion?
The part of me that likes to "science it up" (weigh, measure, and assess with great care) wants to measure them against each other one more time. I guess I'll see when/if it arrives today....