So Excited
Back in 2022, I thought I had hit the lottery when I had found Hear Our Voice, LLC. I was over the moon that someone wanted to publish my stories. I wanted so badly to make them into books that I didn’t stop to think. I just jumped in and said yes, signing my first contract with the publisher.
My first book, Pahulu Hale Haunted House, was on the road of getting published. First, it needed to go through editing. It went through a round or two by me, then another round with an editor hired by Hear Our Voice, LLC. My publisher made my cover, which I still think looks cool, and I wrote up the blurb, about the author, dedication, acknowledgement pages, and anything else needed to bring my book to life.
It went through another round of editing by an editor she hired and the publisher herself. I thought it was done. (I was wrong, but I will explain that later.) She formatted it, put it together, and September of 2022 came. She published my book, and it was out there for the world to read.
Rought Start
Marketing is not my strong point, but I am going to learn how to do it better for myself and for my books. I also need to work on the SEO aspect of everything which I will do, too, for my books and my blogs. But I am getting of track.
I had family and friends flocking to Amazon, buying my book, and I couldn’t believe the support I was getting. Even some of those in the Twitch world was showing their support. My heart was full.
Then the first 1 star came in, with no review. If you are going to review something, write something with it. Don’t just slaughter the author or the book but write something that would help the author for their future books. And I did get a few good reviews and two more 1-star reviews on Goodreads.
But I didn’t let them get me down. Yes, they both were very cruel, but I have to grow a thick skin and always remember my books aren’t for everyone. Especially those who don’t enjoy the gore, which I like to write.
Though both reviews did mention how horrible the editing had been done. Turns out that there were quite a few mistakes still that they didn’t catch. I should always go through everything after the edits are done to add or to make sure everything fell into place correctly. I should also maybe hire another editor or something. I definitely learned my lesson.
Second Book
After the rough patch with the first book, I got things under control and kept pushing my books. I even made my Author page. Then I signed my second contract for Roodi to the Rescue, my second book to be published and my first children’s book.
I was over the moon! Once again, I had support from family and friends. And even one of the people who had left a bad review on my first book gave me a 4-star review. She didn’t give me a 5-star review because she wasn’t impressed with the illustrations. My publisher had done the illustrations and I thought they were cute.
But once again, marketing. I did my best, though. And sadly, I did have to talk to my publisher about it because all she pointed out was that she had illustrated it a few times. It hurt, but I shook it off and was the bigger person about the whole situation and just had a talk. She understood and changed it all. She was very understanding.
Didn’t Expect It
I had thought my publisher, and I were not just author and publisher. I actually felt like we were friends. We had chatted a lot when we first signed on to work together. We even were planning books to write together, including the series that Roodi started it all with Storybook Farm.
We talked about writing a Choose Your Own Adventures series for children up to teenagers. We were both really excited about the series, too. We had already come up with the creepy characters, the plot, and almost everything.
Then after a couple of weeks after Roodi, our communication started to stop. It was bad before that, too, but afterwards, it seemed like she didn’t want to talk. Even just to chat about life or whatever. She didn’t help with marketing any longer, didn’t talk about publishing more of my books or us setting up a schedule for publishing the other books. She was even going to publish a few of my two daughters’ books they had come up with, but communication was severely lacking.
She never updated her website, Hear Our Voice, LLC, to show that I had two books now published with her publishing company. She barely updated her publishing Facebook page about any books that were published or being published.
Then suddenly, she started to promote her own book more and more, completely ignoring the rest of us authors she’s supposed to be a publisher to.
It Had to be Done
Along with lack of communication, I started to question my royalties. She had never paid me anything and Pahulu Hale had been out for a year. Sadly, I found out, she never paid my editor either. I also found out that she had never paid two other authors, who have amazing books out by the way. From what I hear, she is still doing it to other editors and authors.
She was my publisher and my friend, and she burned me. I was hurt, still hurt, by what she had done to me. I contacted her after talking to my friend and also an editor of Hear Our Voice, LLC, and a couple of other authors. I told her that because of everything going on, I’d like my contracts to be ended now and that I get my rights back for my books. It was hard to do because I still liked her.
I was sad, still sad, but my books, Roodi to the Rescue, and Pahulu Hale Haunted House, have both been unpublished by Hear Our Voice, LLC. I was let out of both contracts and have gained my rights back for both of my books.
It was a hard decision but with lack of communication, lack of being paid my royalties, and lack of help with marketing, it had to be done. I lost a friendship and a publisher all in one day, but again, it had to be done.
Moving On
I wish it hadn’t turned out like this, but it did. Hear Our Voice, LLC is definitely NOT the right publisher for me. She bit off too much and now it’s coming back to bite her. Already have heard that two editors, my first editor and my friend, aren’t going to be working with her any longer. And two other authors have demanded their contracts to be terminated. I have a feeling more will or have followed suit.
I believe she started out with the right mind, wanting to help publish those of us who have a hard time finding other agents or publishers for our books. She wanted to bring our dreams to life, but in the end, she didn’t do it the right way.
I really do wish her the best, but Hear Our Voice, LLC isn’t the right publisher for many reasons. this has all been a learning experience and I will be republishing both of my books with a new cover and illustrations. I will also continue to write my books, but I am on the fence still of self-publishing my books or continue my search for a literary agent or a more reputable publisher.
This has been a tough lesson to learn, but I did learn from it, and won’t be making the same mistakes again. I hope this has helped you as well. Do not run into anything without proper research. Find someone who isn’t just doing it because they want to help you. Find someone who wants that but also has a good reputation for doing what they have promised to do for you and your books.