[Steven Lake]

Actually, the blue cover oort is out of print. But not the regular version. There was only 207 of the blue cover version made because I originally had that published with Amazon and it went nowhere. So when I switched to 2 Moon, my current publisher, I got a new layout, new ISBN, new format (6x9 instead of 5x8), new cover, etc, and within a few weeks the book began going places in a hurry. So the previous version *is* out of print, and since I can't get anymore copies of that version made, and since only 207 exist, the old blue covered version is collectible.

Now, as for 2 Moon, yes, you do have to pay to get in the door, but after that they're no different than a big house publisher, other than the fact that they don't treat you like cattle. And they also don't take just everyone. He's actually rejected quite a few manuscripts that were either too low a quality to produce, too controversial, etc. He only charges to publish your book because he's a smaller publishing house. On top of that, he offers very personalized service. I really like how he's worked with me and others (I've seen this first hand myself) on our books.

Yes, it's not a big publishing house like Bantam who just walks in and throws a million dollar advance check at you, but at the same time you have full literary freedom and you're not told to rewrite your book based on a formula or some jacked up BS like that. And after seeing how the big houses screw both the writer and the customer (DRM, insane contracts, etc), I'm hesitant to ever bother going with one. I at one time thought I wanted a big publishing house. But after getting an inside glimpse of who they really are, that whole idea has changed drastically.