The Saga of My 18 Published Books, Part 2

My first publisher, Five Star, didn’t ask for e-book rights for the first four books in the Paul  Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery Series, so I self-published the e-book editions and an e-book box set of the four books. For the next five books Five Star published, they asked for e-book rights. Once Five Star exited the mystery line, I obtained rights for the five e-books they had published. In addition, I also obtained e-book rights for the four books published by four other publishers who went out of business. Working with my new publisher, Encircle Publications, here is how my e-book backlist stacks up. I have self-published eight of these books, and Encircle has published one of them. Encircle has also published four new e-books for me. I have self-published one new e-book, Coronavirus Daze. Consequently, all 18 of my books are available in e-book editions as well as print.

I have worked with one other publisher, Books in Motion, who has published nine of my books in audiobook editions.

The Saga of My 18 Published Books

My first book, Retirement Homes Are Murder, was published in January, 2007. The current count is 18 published books. Over this time, I’ve worked with eight publishers as well as self-published some of my books. Here’s the first installment of my saga: print editions. I originally worked with Five Star who published nine of my books in hardcover and six of them additionally in large print. Unfortunately, they decided to exit the mystery line. Over the years I also had four mystery novels published by four other publishers as trade paperbacks. These publishers are now all out of business as well. The good news is that I have rights to all of my backlist from these publishers. In addition, eight of my mystery novels have been published by Harlequin Worldwide Mysteries as mass market paperbacks. My current publisher, Encircle Publications, has published four new books and reissued seven of my original books as trade paperbacks.  I have self-published one book, a novella titled Coronavirus Daze, and reissued six of my earlier books as self-published trade paperback editions. Thus, all 18 of my books are currently available as trade paperbacks. In my next post, I will discuss e-books and audio books.

Christmas Season

Preparations are underway at our house for Christmas. We’ve sent out a family newsletter, the artificial tree is up and decorated, and some amount of present wrapping has been accomplished. Our 6-year-old grandson has completed his fifth annual craft Christmas tree to display on our dining room mirror. We’re getting there.

Giving In-person Presentations

This week feels a little bit like the times before the pandemic. I gave an in-person presentation to a book club earlier this week and have another presentation scheduled with a Kiwanis Club at the end of this week. I’ll be wearing a mask since we meet indoors, but will take it off when I give the presentation.

Cataract Surgery

Last month I had cataract surgery in one eye. It took several days for the fog to clear but then I could see in the distance without my glasses for the first time since seventh grade. Another surprise: colors were vibrant. The doctor explained that over time the lens gets cloudy, and you don’t notice the gradual change. I’ll be getting the second eye done this week, so hopefully I will be able to go without glasses for distance vision completely in a week or so. I’ll need reading glasses. This will all be quite a change for me.