Slobbers, the Saint Bernard and the hero of my story, and I had by this time become joined at the hip. This was our project together. It made me think of kids who have invisible friends. I now had an invisible dog. I still do, though he seems very real to me. So off we went together to sort this all out.
Boy, there are a LOT of companies who offer self-publishing services. You can get a package deal where they literally do everything except actually write your book, or you can pick and choose the services you want.
That was all fine and dandy so I read about a bunch of them. Looking up ratings for all of them was a big help. Disgruntled clients are more likely to comment than those pleased with a service, or so it seemed. There were more objective comparisons too. Looking at things like the quality they were known for, responsiveness to their clients questions, distribution and so on. On that basis I was able to eliminate a lot of them.
I was still uneasy. I like to know the people I'm doing business with; I like to be able to look them in the eye.
During all this my husband jumped on the band wagon and did some of his own research and in so doing found a small outfit in Missoula, MT which is just a hop, skip and jump from where I live. The web site said, as did they all, the initial conference was free. That made sense. They want to lure you in. So I called them and asked if I could meet with them in person. Absolutely, I was told.
So off to Missoula I went and met for about an hour with the gal who would be my project manager. I liked her. She seemed to like the premise of my book and the couple of illustrations I had in the manuscript. I tried to weigh personality and enthusiasm as being real versus wanting a client. We parted company with my telling her I'd be in touch.
Once back in my office I reviewed all the research I had done on the various companies. The choice boiled down to the 800 pound gorilla in the business or the small group in Missoula.
Next post - the decision and why.
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