Learning Curve for Concubine

by Lloyd Lofthouse
(Walnut Creek, California, United States)

My Splendid Concubine

Genre: Historical Fiction

‘My Splendid Concubine’ is historical fiction. Although I started writing this novel (based on fact) in 1999, it is really a product of forty years of effort on my part.

To tell all would mean an epic that would fill a thousand pages, so I’ll summarize. Breathe a sigh of relief. I am.

I wrote my first novel length manuscript in 1968 and came close (very close) to becoming a published author by a traditional house, but I quickly found out that close only counts in the game of horse shoes.

The next forty years was a rerun of that first experience. I wrote more than a dozen more novel length manuscripts and came close to being published a number of times over the decades.

With the rise of MFA programs, the gap between close and not so close started to widen due to the fact that these ‘word factories’ are churning out more writers than readers.

I attended writing workshops out of UCLA for seven years where I wrote two manuscripts. The author/teacher (published by the way) thought I was good enough and helped me find an agent that couldn’t place my work. Eventually, I also earned an MFA (not from UCLA) to augment my BA in journalism. Prior to going to college, I was in the United States Marines. I am a Vietnam veteran. I do suffer from PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder.

To earn a living after college, I became an English teacher in the public schools. I retired in 2005 after thirty years of torture. I also worked as a Maitre d’ in a multi-million dollar nightclub for a couple of years to earn more money to add to my teaching income. At one time, I trained myself to ‘count cards’ and made many trips to Vegas where it paid off but not big time. I ‘almost’ got caught. If you’ve seen the recent movie about counting cards in the game of blackjack, you will know what I mean. I don’t count cards anymore.

In 1999, I met my wife, and we dated and got married. If you don’t know who Anchee Min is, she is the author of ‘Red Azalea’, ‘Katherine’, ‘Wild Ginger’, ‘Becoming Madam Mao’, ‘Empress Orchid’, and ‘The Last Empress’. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages and have been optioned for films. Anchee introduced me to Robert Hart, the character ‘My Splendid Concubine’ is about.

Nine years later and thanks to POD, print on demand technology, I did not have to be subjected to the pain and agony of more rejections from the gate keepers of traditional publishing. I published ‘My Splendid Concubine’ through iUniverse, and contrary to the stereotype being propagated by the traditional publishing industry and much of the media, it was a good experience.

iUniverse has a program to recognize industry standard work. ‘My Splendid Concubine’ was awarded ‘Editor’s Choice’ and went on to a panel of editors to be considered for the next distinction, ‘Publisher’s Choice.’ ‘Publisher’s Choice’ stuck. That means that iUniverse paid more attention to ‘My Splendid Concubine’ and put more effort into its production, and I didn‘t have to pay any more money for that added effort on the part of iUniverse.

‘My Splendid Concubine’ came out in December of 2007. At that time, no one knew Concubine was published aside from my friends and family. Now it is June and a lot of people have heard or read about Robert Hart. The reason for that is because I’ve been a guest on thirty radio talk shows that have reached millions of ears even in other countries. Concubine has been selling steadily and slowly through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.

Like most authors (traditional or otherwise) I had to promote the Concubine myself. I’ve been part of the publishing industry for the last decade due to being married to Anchee. I know that at least ninety percent of authors have to promote their own work and get no help from the publisher. Anchee is an exception. Her publishers go out of their way to promote her work on their dime.

So far, knock-on-wood, the reviews for Concubine have been great. I mailed a lot of copies out for reviews and five have been printed. All of the reviews are available on my Website and on Author’s Den. From what I understand, more reviews are on the way from other publications in the Untied States and in China. Robert Hart went to China in 1854 at the age of nineteen and returned to Britain in 1908 after having earned the distinction of becoming the most powerful Westerner ever in China’s history. Along the way, he had a love affair with a concubine. Her name was Ayaou. That love affair is what ‘My Splendid Concubine’ is about among other things like what it took for him to become the man that left China more than five decades later.

Radio and book reviews are not all of my promotional plan. I’ve been approaching local bookstores and have had three author events. I’ve also managed to place copies in four bookstores near my home. Everyone I’ve talked to so far that read Concubine has enjoyed reading Robert Hart’s story—even strangers.

I can’t complain about iUniverse. They didn’t mislead me. I’m old enough to know when someone is running a scam. They didn’t. They offered a product to fulfill a dream at a reasonable price and I took advantage of it. If it hadn’t been for iUniverse and POD technology, I might have gone to my grave without having achieved my dream of being published. Don’t forget that I spent forty years learning the craft of writing and If I live another forty, I’ll still be learning the craft of writing. One thing I have learned is that there is always room for improvement. The fun part is the rough draft. The hard part is the rewriting. The frustrating part is the promotion.

So, after having beat my head against the gate keepers of traditional publishing for forty years, I made an end run and now I’m a published author with several glowing reviews. Also, readers (including books store owners) have enjoyed ‘My Splendid Concubine’. Although I’m not a bestselling author, I feel vindicated for all the effort and time to reach this point in my life. My novel may never sell like a ‘Harry Potter’ but it is selling and people are reading it and liking it. Sooner or later, I’m sure there will be someone that won’t, but that is okay. We can’t please everyone. The fact that people I do not know are reading ‘My Splendid Concubine’ and enjoying the story is what counts. Even the owners of the bookstores where ‘My Splendid Concubine’ is for sale have enjoyed the story.

Visit My Splendid Concubine.