One Mississippi Press

You may have heard, I recently started my own publishing company—One Mississippi Press.

Several things led to this decision, but it all boils down to patience and control. Evidently I’m lacking in the former and want more of the latter. Ha.

Patience is a virtue, until it isn’t.

For those of you interested in writing and publishing a book, my opinion on the topic has changed wildly over the past three years. And who knows. Maybe it will change again.

I have lots to say about this. (Not that I intend to bore you with it here.) One thing I will say is that traveling the pathway of traditional publishing requires a triple-truckload of patience. Not only to find a publisher—there’s the time spent writing query letters and book proposals, designing marketing plans, pitching to various publishers and agents, waiting to hear back (often hearing only the sound of crickets), and then, if you are in the exact right place at the perfect time with a company that happens to want precisely what you are selling, you find out the publishing house is backlogged until, say, 2022.

Oh, and then there’s the rumor that no one ever buys/reads a book that has more than 299 pages.

Can this be true? I often read books that are much longer than 299 pages. In fact, I love a long book. Lengthy books are somehow getting published. (I do agree the longer the book the less the profit. Therein lies the primary issue, if I had to guess…)

Anyhoo, I decided to take my jacks and regroup. The process had become an energy-zapper and a major de-motivator. It’s not like I’m twenty-five years old with decades of blank years in front of me.

The great news—the process I went through brought me to this point. All the pitching and proposal-writing and explaining how I would market my book was not a waste of time. Quite the opposite.

Basically, I convinced myself I could do it myself. ?

I started One Mississippi Press to publish not only my forthcoming book, Gene, Everywhere, but also to republish The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee.

Yes! I now have the rights back to my first novel. And it feels a bit like rediscovering a misplaced treasure.

Why Not?

Having lots of creative ideas for the book I birthed but being unable to implement them felt stifling to me.

You can bet I didn’t make this decision without much thought and great gnashing of teeth. After all, finding a publisher is a big deal! But things change, and I was ready to venture out in a new direction.

Now, with One Mississippi Press I have control over book design and formatting, description, pricing, all the things. Yes, I’m limited by what I don’t know. But I am willing to dig in and learn.

One Mississippi Press—the Name and the Logo

I chose the name, One Mississippi Press because of several reasons.

Gracie Lee counts in One Mississippis. It’s her way of bracing herself for what’s to come. Her way to draw strength into herself, to give herself time, to pause and think things through.

One Mississippi, Two Mississippi, …

Like Gracie, I do the same thing. I always have. When I was a kid, I was taught that the time it took to say, “One Mississippi,” equalled one second. I still do that to estimate time. Don’t you?

One Mississippi is my reminder to slow down. Enjoy the ride. Don’t rush the process. With effort and dedication, things will work out in the time that they should.

And the dandelion logo?

While some may see pesky weeds, I see wishes and dreams. As I scatter words like wishes, I hope to spread a tiny amount of good with my writing.

Guess What’s Coming NEXT WEEK?

Cover Reveal  ❣❣❣

I cannot wait to show you the cover for Gene, Everywhere AND the new cover for the 2nd edition of The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee!

Let the countdown begin.

Talya
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.