History of a Published Novel
It started with a title, which became an idea, which became a story, which became a manuscript, then became a book.
Red Wine for Breakfast is the most published novel you’ve never heard of. The novel has had three agents, been optioned for a movie, has five publishers and was one of the very first print-on-demand titles to hit book store shelves.
Before M.J. Rose reached fame for her e-book on a disk, Red Wine For Breakfast was published by Book-On-Disc.Com (June 24, 1999). Before Dan Poynter made his fortune as the marketing guru in the Print-On-Demand industry, Red Wine for Breakfast was one of the first books published in that format by iUniverse (July 2, 1999).
To say the novel has been there, did that, is an understatement and the fact that with all it had going for it, sold a mere 5,000 copies is a mystery ever author has been trying to solve since the first time a pen and ink was put on paper.
But this isn’t a tale of what might have been, only what was and sharing it with all who have interest may entertain, or delight, or bore you to tears, but for better or worse, here it is;
The title was derived from a conversation I had in a bar with a good friend who mentioned that he enjoyed a glass of Beaujolais in the morning. I joked why would anyone have red wine for breakfast” and later that night wrote it in my diary that it sounded like a great title for a book.
That was 1972.
Two marriages, three daughters and 25 years later Red Wine for Breakfast did indeed become a novel. In 1996, for those of you who remember that long ago, the internet was in its infancy. Cell phones were a luxury and ebook readers were a device used by the crew of the Starship Enterprise. None of which I owned at the time. What I did own was a computer, HP laser jet printer and a WordPerfect program that would format a document in a book format.
What I also owned was a stationery store which was conveniently located next to a full service print store. The first printing of Red Wine for Breakfast was spiral bound with a red card-stock cover that cost me $10.00 per copy to print that I sold at my store for $14.95. Customers would buy the book, I’d sell out the five or so I printed, then walk over to the print store and print another five and sell them one at a time. You could say I was the original “Print-On-Demand” publisher long before the term, or the industry was every heard of.
I did sign with an agent in Los Angeles who sent the manuscript off to several mainstream publishers, most of which are no longer in business. With each rejection, I found something positive to spin, but when Doubleday rejected the manuscript after 9 months, my agent gave up and we parted ways.
Then came the movie producers. I won’t bore you with the details, you can read the nasty tale “A Hollywood Horror Story” on my website.
A few months later, AOL was forming a new club for aspiring writers who wanted to have their books published at very little cost. I was looking for a printer who would charge me less that $10.00 per book and also provide something called an ISBN number so my books could be sold in stores other than mine.
AOL Writer’s Club became the first publisher of Red Wine for Breakfast. As a published author, I began going to writer’s meeting and events. I met another author who had published her books in a CD format for people who wanted to read her books on their computer. I met her published, he liked my book, so Book-On-Disc.com became the third publisher of Red Wine for Breakfast.
Shortly after the novel was on Amazon in CD format, I received an offer I couldn’t refuse from a new publisher who was in the process of buying out the Writer’s Club and wanted all the titles and a new contract with all their authors. The company was iUniverse. The forth publisher of Red Wine for Breakfast.
Because they were buying out our contracts, there was no charge for any of the authors to had iUniverse publish our books. It didn’t take very long for that promise to go the way of the “Be a published author for only $99” deal. The Print-On-Demand revolution was fading quickly, “The Revolution Continues”. At that time another author who had also signed with the Writers Club decided to open his own publishing business and wanted me to join him as his premier author.
Lighthouse Press became publisher #5 in 2001. Red Wine for breakfast also received a new cover and a new author, Raven West. The book did farely well for a number of years, then another new publisher who was branching out Internationally contacted me with what was a too good to be true deal and Lighthouse and I parted ways in 2009. Chalet publishers were now #6 for about five weeks. Not unlike iUniverse way back the day, most of what they promised never materialized. I wasn’t that surprised to discover they went out of business in 2012.
Red Wine For Breakfast is now in the digital world of ebooks with Smashwords, publisher #7. I still own all the rights and occasionally when I have a few hours, will pick it up and re-read the story. As soon as I can reformat the cover, I’ll put it out again with Createspace, who will be publisher #8.
I always said that overnight success takes about 20 years. I have at least another 5 to go!
You Are What You Drive – DRIVE Fast and Furious the sales of your book the only way YOU can!
A rather well known author once wrote; “What’s in a name?” If you paid $26,000 for a Chrysler mini-van, would it feel the same as driving a FireBird convertible? And what would have happened if Marion Morrison hadn’t changed his name to John Wayne?
For those of you who have been reading my column since I began writing for the Amazing Authors Showcase, you’ve noticed my name changed from “Robin Westmiller” to Raven West. (For those of you who haven’t noticed, you can skip ahead a few paragraphs.) I wanted to offer an explanation as to the circumstances which led me to create a new pen name and the subsequent results that decision has had on my professional and personal life.
Last May, I was visiting a friend of mine in Connecticut. We’ve known each other since Kindergarten and were reminiscing about an old 60’s television show, The Man From U.N.C.L.E.. I came up with an idea for my next novel about two lifelong friends who accidently become involved with an espionage plot during their 30th high school reunion, which happens to be next year. The two of us went though our old yearbook and began sketching out characters we knew who would play different roles, with different names, in the story. Her character’s name was going to be Kathleen, mine was going to be Raven.
The moment I wrote it out on the notebook, I felt a surge of energy. Instantly, I knew Raven wasn’t going to be the name of my fictional character, it was going to be my new pen name. I shortened my last name and Raven West was born. When I returned home, I immediately called my publisher and told him to re-do the covers of both First Class Male and the re-issue of Red Wine For Breakfast. I ditched my bangs, cut my hair, had a new photo taken wearing a black leather jacket, re-did my web page and re-printed all my promotional material.
Within two weeks of the transformation, I was invited to three book events, two radio interviews, three on-line interviews, a live chat, and the Barnes and Nobel World’s Largest Writers Workshop. I was also hired to teach a course at a local university, and two of my entries won first and second place at the Ventura County Fair.
But something else began to change along with the species of bird. The “Robin” persona of a small bird with a dull-red breast of “Rockin’ Robin” fame took on an entirely new attitude under the wings of the Raven, described as “A large bird with lustrous black feathers and a straight, sharp beak.” (thank you Webster’s) which I was more than adept at using, especially to sell my books.
And nowhere was that more evident then at the last book festival I attended. Any author who has ever attended these massive book fairs knows how much of their time is spent “schmoozing” with a number of looki-loos who are more interested in telling you their own story then buying yours. “Robin” spent about an hour listening and sharing and not selling a single book. Then, “Raven” took over, with her straight, sharp beak and one simple sentence coming from that beak. “Buy my book!”
Raven West did not rent a booth to stand in the hot sun for seven hours to chat. Raven West was not there to give advice, listen to other author’s woes or commensurate with unsuccessful writers. Raven West was there to sell books, and sell I did.
One man asked me what the story was about. I showed him the back cover, told him to read it and if he held it for more than ten seconds, he had to buy it. He wrote me a check. One woman started to chat about her writer’s organization, then said she never read fiction. I told her that was too bad and walked away. Another would-be author wanted information on marketing and promotion. I handed him a copy of my printed columns and told him the information would cost him $5.00. He handed me the cash. I sold ten copies of First Class Male, six of the old version of Red Wine For Breakfast and five marketing packets for a one day total of over $200.00.
When I took a break, I walked around to a number of other author’s displays, and not a single person asked me, or even suggested I buy their book. Everyone was so nice, almost apologetic. I, on the other hand practically threatened people. “Buy my book or get out of the way. Don’t waste my time talking about your book, or another author’s book. I’m not interested and I don’t care. I’m not asking you to buy them, I’m telling you to buy them because they’re THAT GOOD.”
And if they don’t like you, so what? At least they’ll remember you and they’ll tell other people what a B—- you are and the next time they’re in a book store, guess whose name they’ll remember? The first rule of publicity is that there is no such thing as “bad” ink!
Many authors I know are almost shy about their work, but if you don’t believe you’ve written a best seller, why would anyone else? If you, the author, don’t “crow” hard and long and proud, you’ll never be heard over the noise of all the other author traffic on the highway. It’s not bragging, as my children constantly accuse me of. It’s promotion, marketing and getting noticed. It’s about selling your books!
How many of you who are reading this right now, truly believe it you’re a “Best Selling Author”? How many of you feel pride in what you’ve accomplished and not some kind of shame or guilt that you feel that way? Shout your accomplishments and do it proudly, because you deserve to be noticed in your own right. When someone tries to compare me to another author, I tell them right to their face that I’m not the next somebody else, I’m the first Raven West, and let others follow me. Then, they buy my book, because if I believe I’m a successful, best-selling author, so will they. And success is contagious.
Writing is about talent, creativity, hard work and a good story. Marketing, promotion and successful selling is about attitude, self-confidence and putting your foot down hard on the gas. It’s about getting out of the traffic jam of authors who have been driving on the same road the same way with stacks of unsold books in their trunk, gathering dust.
If you’re afraid of making a bad first impression, you won’t make any impression at all and then you’ll be just another small bird with a little chirp, instead of what a fellow author recently wrote to me when I told him I was changing my name: “Raven… a darkly beautiful shadow that flies through the hearts and souls of human drama. In the soft light of dusk ..she carries off a story, a tale, to bedazzle the readers of her books…”
Robin drives a mini-van. Raven West drives a red Firebird convertible and I’m passing everyone on the road to riches!
One more thing: Buy my books!
Author Raven West 
Is Originality Dead in Prime Time Television?
Raven West ♦ February 2, 2014 ♦ Leave a comment
Either I’m watching way too much television, or there really is a severe lack of creativity and originality in the writing world.
In one week, there were not one, not two, but three prime time series which had the identical plot. Castle on ABC, Hawaii 5-0 on CBS and Psyche on USA Network all involved an antagonist taking hostages in order to prove their innocence of a murder.
The subsequent stories which followed the opening copy-cat scenarios did involve a somewhat interesting variety that revealed who was the actual killer was, their motive and the effect this all had on the major characters, but the basic premise was exactly the same. Three of them in one week!
I suppose with so many crime dramas currently being aired on so many channels, there are just not enough original stories left to write about. Of course the audience that watches Psych might not be the same as those who watch Castle, or Hawaii 5-0 so maybe the need for creativity or originality isn’t as important as it once was. I sure hope not.
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