Thursday, July 26, 2018 | By: The Write Way Cafe

From Paperback to e-book with Maris Soule

authorThe Write Way Café welcomes Maris Soule, who shares her fascinating story-making process.

From Paperback to e-book. Easy, right?

Back in 1992, I was writing for Silhouette Romance, and two things triggered a story idea. (1) I heard about Munchausen by Proxy, a mental illness where a parent, usually a mother, makes up fake symptoms or causes real illnesses so she can keep taking her child to the doctor. Hmm, I wondered, how would that affect the child as an adult? And, (2) I loved reading Gary Larson’s single-panel cartoon The Far Side. The cartoons were funny yet thought provoking. Hmm, again. What if my hero was a cartoonist?

I decided the story would feature Greg Lyons, an artist who published a very popular cartoon featuring a savvy lion, Leo, who gave advice and made people laugh. And, of course, Greg had been raised by a mother who suffered from Munchausen by Proxy. Now, what if the death of his mother turned him against all doctors and his cartoons became so vitriolic, newspapers no longer wanted to publish them, and it was suggested he take a break? And, what if during a walk across the U.S., he broke his ankle and ended up having to stay in the home/office of a physically scarred, but wonderful country doctor, Amy Fraser?

Lyon’s Pride was published in 1993. It came out as a paperback and in large print and did fairly well, even though I didn’t like the cover.
by Maris Soule 1993 - Silhouette Romance

(She’s supposed to have scars on her face. The artist evidently didn’t like scars.)

Years ago I’d gotten the rights back for the book, so in 2016 I decided I wanted to give that story a new life and put it out as an e-book. I’d written the story on a computer, so I should have the file on a disc (or a zip drive). Right?

Wrong. From 1993 to 2016, we’d moved twice. I have no idea what happened to that file. That meant I either had to scan the paperback copy I had or retype the story. Scanning by hand would have taken me forever and even then I would have to go through it to catch scanning errors. Hiring to have it done would have cost money. Why spend money if I could retype it?

Actually, I’m glad I typed it myself. As I went along, I realized how much things have changed since 1993. No cell phones back then. Even how doctors treat broken ankles has changed. I had to decide whether to up-date the story to present time or keep it set in the early ‘90s. I finally decided I would have to make too many changes if I set it in 2016 or later, so I decided to set the date to 1993. Nevertheless, as I retyped the story, I did make a few changes. Just a few.

It took me a lot longer to transcribe the story than I’d expected. Almost a year. And I wasn’t sure what I wanted for a cover.

The cover. I guess I am drawn to men who have long hair. So far I have 3 e-book covers with long-haired men. I wanted Greg’s hair to look like a lion’s mane. I needed Amy to be positioned so her scars wouldn’t show. My cover artist, Florence Price, and I looked at hundreds of images of couples, most only remotely meeting my criteria. Finally we decided to forget the couple angle and concentrate on finding a “Greg.” More looking at images. Hours of staring at long-haired men in various poses. (My husband was starting to get suspicious.) I don’t know how many hours Florence spent trying to find just the right image. I gave up after a week. Meanwhile, Florence had come up with the layout for the rest of the cover. We just needed that head shot. And finally, we thought we had it. I took a print of the mockup to a friend. She said the image looked like Jesus. “Is it a religious book?” she asked. Oops, not the impression I wanted. Back to the drawing board.

by Maris Soule 2018
This month I finally published Lyon’s Pride as an e-book. I really like this story. Poor Greg can’t tell Amy he’s the cartoonist who’s been drawing and publishing these tirades against doctors, not while he’s confined to her house. And, to make matters worse, he’s starting to like this woman, even if she is a doctor. In fact, he’s starting to think not all doctors are terrible. But what is she going to do when she finds out who he is?

This is the cover we finally decided to use. I kind of like this guy. I just hope no one mistakes him as Jesus.

Lyon’s Pride is available on Amazon and on several other sites.

Amazon       Barnes & Noble

For more information about Maris Soule, visit http://marissoule.com or LIKE me at Facebook/MarisSouleAuthor, or follow me on Twitter (@marisSouthHaven), or Friend me on LinkedIn, or visit my Pinterest Page.





15 comments:

Lynn said...

It's nice to have you on our blog! I enjoyed your post for a lot of reasons.

HiDee said...

Thanks for sharing your process with us, Maris!

Maris said...

Thank you, Lynn. I'm glad you enjoyed my tale. And thank you, HiDee for allowing me to be on this blog. I'm honored.

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Hi Maris,

I think a lot of us wonder if we should take an older successful novel and update it. I hope this works out well for you.

Maris said...

Thanks, Jacqueline. Even if only a few purchase the book and read it, I'll be happy. It certainly wasn't earning me any money sitting in used book stores, or on tables at garage sales. And I loved revisiting the story. I always fall in love with my heroes again.

Irene Bennett Brown said...

Great story, great cover. I'll check it out, it's probably on Kindle.

Diane Burton said...

I always enjoy reading the evolution of a story. You went through a lot of work getting this story out again. Can't wait to read it.

Maris said...

Thanks, Irene. I'm glad you like the cover. As I said, it took a long time to find what I liked, but I think this model fits the character.

Maris said...

You're right, Diane. It took a lot of time, but it was wonderful getting to know these characters again.

Angela Adams said...

As soon as I saw "Silhoutte Romance," I thought "wow! That's a blast from the past." Best wishes with your release, Maris.

Maris said...

Thanks, Angela. Definitely a "blast from the past." I've been around long enough to see many "lines" disappear. Sad.

Great Lakes Romances said...

Thanks Maris! I can relate. I went through 20 of my own stories and updated using Blue Leaf to scan in the text. Then I revised. It's worth the trouble. Best wishes! Donna Winters

Elizabeth Meyette said...

Maris, I love this post because it illustrates so many decisions that go into creating a book. The myth that an author is finished when she writes "The End" is far from reality. The story is intriguing and I can't wait to read it.

Maris said...

Thank you, Betty. Yes, anyone who thinks writing "The End" is the end of the process has a lot to learn, even when one is published by a traditional publisher. The decision process goes on and on.

Nan Lundeen said...

Thank you for this post, Maris. You've inspired me to continue with my rewrite of a novel I had put on the shelf. I'm luckier than you, however because it's still on a current computer. It survived three computer changes & a move from SC back home to Michigan. Best of luck with your ebook.