A home for Younger Brother

by Daniel Burch Fiddler
(Idyllwild, CA)

I Was A Younger Brother

I can’t tell you how many times I started to write this memoir of my brother David and me growing up in Michigan and California. It took a close brush with death from throat cancer to finally get me to make a serious try at putting down the stories.

During five weeks of radiation treatments my mind traveled back to my childhood in Michigan and the many misadventures I had with my older brother David. The funny scenes I recalled gave me comfort. In the months of recovery that followed I began to write them down. Soon the memories were flowing out of me. With each whimsical story I felt my strength and sense-of-humor returning. I was encouraged to expand the stories into a book. With the help of an editor friend and vintage family photographs I began to create a humorous memoir.

My main goal soon became to somehow get these stories into print, both for my satisfaction and for the entertainment of my extended family. I started by sending some of my chapters to nostalgia magazines, like Good Old Days. Several were accepted and published. I even got paid for their use. Encouraged by this, I began sending out query letters to publishers and agents. After a year of rejection letters I decided to self-publish my book.

In my searches for a self-publisher I had expected to find one who would print my book and then sell me copies to distribute or try to get placed in book stores. I heard the sad stories of having hundreds of books gathering dust in author’s garages and attics. Then I heard the magic phrase; Print On Demand. POD publishers do not require you to purchase any books. You are free to buy one, one hundred or any number of copies of your book. If friends or anyone else wants a copy of your book they can buy just one and it is printed and shipped within days of their order.

Soon I was looking for POD publishers only. I found Authorhouse© Publishing.

Not only do they have the usual type setting and printing services but many more to help the new author. I was assigned a design team to help with selecting the size of the finished book, the type style and placement of my photographs. They even had artists to help with the cover design. Being a retired graphic artist I had my own ideas about the cover and was able to work effortlessly with their artist/designers.

As part of the contract with Authorhouse, my book was put on their website and on Amazon.com, as well as notification being sent to Borders and Barnes and Noble book stores of my new book's availability. They also registered my copyright. They worked with me to determine the best selling price and royalties for my book and added the bar-codes to the back cover for use in retail sales.

I can buy copies of my own book at a special price. Royalties for book sales from the Authorhouse website and bookstore sales are recorded by them and royalty checks are sent to me every quarter. I am able to check on my sales on their special Author’s Service web pages.

There are a number of POD publishers out there. Many have ads in Writer’s Digest and other writer’s publications. They all offer a number of services in addition to just publishing your book. These additional services cost extra money over and above your base printing expenditure but some are very helpful in getting your book publicized. Just how much you want to spend to see yourself in print is up to you.

Remember most big publishing companies do little to publicize a new, unknown author’s book. They expect you do most of the work and pay very little in royalties. With a POD self-publisher at least you are in charge and the best part is you get much larger royalties. (I receive over $5.00 for each one of my Younger Brother books Authorhouse sells.)

I have gone on to print two children’s books with Authorhouse.

I THINK I SAW A RARE-A-ROO and MELINDA A MOSTLY MAGNIFICENT MOOSE.

There can be no greater thrill than holding the very first copy of your published book in your hand.

Daniel Burch Fiddler, Author

Visit Daniel's website, I Was A Younger Brother.