I feel I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that Gun Shy is now available for pre-order on Amazon.

End of shameless self-promotion.

Another reader, Terri, asked my thoughts about self-publishing. She has a novel that she has been unable to sell, and she wonders if self-publishing is the answer.

My short answer is: No.

I don’t mean to sound harsh, but...

For those of you unfamiliar with self-publishing, here’s how it works. You, as an author, pay a company to “publish” your book. (Which is the opposite of how it’s supposed to happen.) In general, these companies don’t pay advances, nor do they have distribution agreements with bookstores. In my opinion, they’re not really publishers, they are printers.

So, once the books are printed, then what? Most authors find that it’s up to them to sell the books themselves. And how many can you sell out of the trunk of your car? One hundred to family members and friends? If you’re lucky. You might even be able to get your local bookstore (or Amazon) to carry your book, but that’s about the extent of it.

To be blunt, self-publishing has a stigma to it. Most people in the publishing industry don’t count self-published authors as legitimate authors. This includes reviewers, who, as a rule, will not review self-published books. (Believe me, the reviewers are inundated with books from the traditional publishers, so why would they bother to dig through the self-published books?)

Now, it’s true that there have been a few examples of self-published authors who were picked up by traditional publishers later. The young author who wrote the huge bestseller Eragon is one such example. So is my friend Brian Wiprud, who, a few years ago, received a well-deserved offer from Bantam Dell. There are others, but I can’t think of them right now, and that gives you an indication of how rare it is. About as likely as winning the lottery.

Here’s one of the problems with self-publishing: Anyone can publish anything. There are no quality controls. Why would the self-publishing companies tell someone “no”? That would hurt their bottom line. They want people to self-publish books, books, and more books, because each author pays a fee. Some of the fees are reasonable for what you’re getting, others are exorbitant.

One caveat: For some people—especially those with limited objectives for their books—self-publishing is a decent solution. For instance, if you’ve written a book about your family history, and you want 50 copies to hand out at next year’s family reunion, sure, go ahead and self-publish it. Or if you’re an author whose books have gone out of print, you can bring them back via self-publishing. Other than a few situations like that, there isn’t much use for self-publishing.

Now, from a personal standpoint, here’s why I don’t like self-publishing: It can indirectly harm lesser-known midlist authors. Yes, that includes me. Selfish, aren’t I? Here’s what I’m talking about...

Most readers don’t read more than maybe ten or fifteen books a year. Sure, some people read one a week, but the average is much lower. Which means most readers don’t have to stray from the bestseller list. They stick with names like King and Grisham and Cornwell. Occasionally, however, one of these readers takes a chance on an author they’ve never heard of. When that happens, we midlist authors want that reader to be very happy. We want them to be thrilled and rewarded. We want to open their eyes to the wide range of quality writers out there. But if that reader happens to stumble upon a self-published book, there’s a good chance he or she will be disappointed. This goes back to the quality-control issue. Since anyone can print anything, many self-published books are pretty bad. Okay, not to mince words—they’re horrible. So the reader in my little story is dissatisfied and never takes a chance on a new author again. That hurts writers like me. So, yeah, I’m not real crazy about that.

My advice to people like Terri is to put all your efforts into making your manuscript as flawless as possible, and then shop for an agent. Still, the odds are very long, but it’s better than self-publishing, because that isn’t really publishing at all. I won’t even get into the fact that some self-publishing companies have been known to be a tad deceptive; that’s an entirely different post.

Thanks for the question, Terri.

Booksigning tours are always an adventure. You never know what's going to happen, who you're going to meet, or how long your next flight might be delayed. I've heard all sorts of horror stories, but, knock on wood, most of my tours have gone fairly smoothly--which means driving like a madman to keep on schedule, eating enough fast food to choke a horse, and never remembering which city you're in when you wake up.

In the past, I've usually toured widely across the U.S. , but my publisher is encouraging me to saturate Texas as well as possible this time around, so that's what I'm doing. Tours, like anything else meant to promote a book, may or may not work. Who knows? It's all a crapshoot.

But one thing's for sure: I'm hitting the road in May and June, and if you don't come see me, I might drive by your house and egg your car.

Below is a schedule. I will be adding a few more events, including one in Dallas. It's a good idea to check with the store a day or two before the event to make sure the schedule hasn't changed. These can also be found on my website.

Saturday, May 12, 1:00–4:00 pm
Booksigning
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
4801 La Crosse Avenue
Austin, Texas  
(512) 292-4100

Friday, May 18, 6:00 pm
Booksigning and discussion
Murder by the Book
2342 Bissonnet Street
Houston, TX
(713) 524-8597

Sunday, May 20, 1:30–3:30 pm
Booksigning
Barnes & Noble — University Village
1612 S. University Drive
Fort Worth, TX
(817) 335-2791

Sunday, May 20, 4:00 pm
Fort Worth Sisters in Crime meeting
Friends Book Store
5332 Trail Lake Drive
Fort Worth, TX
(817) 346-2255

Thursday, May 24, 7:00–9:00 pm
Booksigning
Barnes & Noble
5129 Blanche D. Moore Drive
Corpus Christi, TX
(361) 992-1339

Friday, May 25, 7:00–9:00 pm
Booksigning
Barnes & Noble — Fiesta Trail
12635 West IH-10
San Antonio, TX  
(210) 561-0718

Sunday, May 27, 1:00–3:00 pm
Booksigning
Barnes & Noble — La Frontera
2701 Parker Road
Round Rock TX
(512) 600-0088

Tuesday, May 29, 7:00 pm
Booksigning and discussion
Barnes & Noble — Westlake
701 S. Capital of Texas Hwy.
Austin, TX
512-328-3155

Thursday, May 31--Sunday, June 3
New York City
Events TBD.

Friday, June 8, 7:00–9:00 pm
Booksigning                       
Barnes & Noble
6707 Slide Road
Lubbock, TX
(806) 798-8990

Saturday, June 9, 2:00–4:00 pm
Booksigning                  
Barnes & Noble
2617 W. Loop 250 North
Midland, TX
(432) 682-8880

Friday, June 15, 4:30 pm
Booksigning and discussion
A Thirsty Mind Bookstore
1200 Lakeway Drive, Suite 16
Lakeway, TX
(512) 608-9100

Saturday, June 16, 1:00–3:00 pm
Booksigning                       
The Book Shop
212 Main Street
Marble Falls, TX  
(830) 693-7276

A guy named Gary wrote me with this question: "What are you reading right now?"

The answer is: Caught Stealing by Charlie Huston. I'd heard a lot about it in the last few years, so I ordered it online. I'm about halfway through, and so far, it's excellent. Really unique and hard to put down. It's his debut, but I'm guessing Huston has some writing in his background.

Lots of writers write the way they think they're "supposed" to write, versus finding their own voice. Huston has his own voice, and it's an engaging one.

I've never met him, so, no, this isn't a shameless plug for friend.

Before that, I got a sneak preview (thanks, Maggie!) of Jeff Parker's upcoming Storm Runners. Outstanding, as always. Another big seller for him, I'm sure.

I'm stumped for topics at the moment, so if you have any questions about my books, or about writing, or about the publishing industry, ask away.

Post them in the comments section or email them to me directly through my Web site (www.benrehder.com).