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The status of my status...

The writing business has changed a great a deal over the last 35 years. I published my first novel in 1985. More followed.

My books did well, I eventually graduated from paperbacks to hardcovers, each of which was followed by a paperback edition, and eventually audio books as well.

But as time passed people read less, competition increased, and my publisher began to push midlist authors out of the business in favor of  what they hoped would be a non-stop series of best sellers.

That's crazy of course, since it's like expecting a ball player to hit nothing but home runs. And as my editor (now retired) told me, "We used to make very decent profits by hitting singles and doubles."

So that, plus a lot more competition from other authors, video games, niche TV shows, and sports events, created a situation in which it made sense for me to self-publish.

I was leery at first, but determined to give it a serious try. Now I'm hooked. I get to design my own covers (which I enjoy), decide what I want to write, when I want to write it, and even set the cover prices. (My big five publisher typically set the price of my books way too high.)

So for the moment I'm having a good time, and doing what I love to do most, which is writing books. 

​Thanks for reading my stuff.

-William C. Dietz

Nation Lakes, B.C. Photo by Mike Davison