AN UNLIKELY JOURNEY (FROM YESTERDAY TO TODAY)

From the biography of A.K. Kuykendall...

"Since before he was 10 years old, he wrote feverishly (poetry, short stories, etc.) hoping to one day see his work in print. He always believed that he was a storyteller and that one never knows when a story idea will turn into a million dollars. So beyond his sporadic ambitions, one thing remained consistent in his life—he wrote. Even if only one word a day!

"He tried his hand at screenwriting; producing a screenplay entitled Fierce Chicanery. With no luck selling the project, he abandoned his screenwriting ambitions and subsequently made the decision to produce a novel from it. This decision led him to writing his twelfth novel entitled The Evolution of the Patron Saint, which became the first book in the Conspirator’s Odyssey series. During the time he struggled to get the attention of literary agents and publishers for this work, he wrote his thirteenth novel entitled The Possession, book #1 in the Writer’s Block trilogy.

"With persistence, a true belief in the power of his words, a broad knowledge of the industry itself, and a bit of innovative strategy; in November of 2007, he purposely sought to publish his twelfth novel The Evolution of the Patron Saint through a notable author’s mill named PublishAmerica. Before he entered into this abysmal seven-year contract with this fraudulent publisher, he hired top-tier publicist Penny C. Sansevieri of Author Marketing Experts to promote the project, but more importantly to promote his name as an author. He subsequently sold 1,692 copies (only 27 of which were purchased by his family and friends), and he gained a strong fan base with this work not to mention with the development of his official author’s website where truth reads through fiction, he built a firm platform for himself. Three years shy of the signed seven-year publishing contract, he requested and spared the expense to purchase his rights back and as of February 20, 2012, his rights were exclusively reverted back to him.

"Due to this remarkable strategy and his unique marketing efforts at gaining strong name recognition, he was contacted by the acquisitions editor from Decent Hill Publishing and was offered a 3-book deal for his Writer’s Block trilogy, which led to his second traditional publishing contract and the publication of his thirteenth novel, The Possession, in late 2012. In early 2013, he was contacted by the acquisitions editor from IntoPrint Publishing and was offered his third traditional publishing contract to republish The Evolution of the Patron Saint. Once this project launched, it was less than three months before the acquisitions editor from Re.ad Publishing contacted him with an offer of a fourth traditional publishing contract. This time with an offer of a 4-book deal for four more books in the Conspirator’s Odyssey series.

"Having worked a total of three traditional publishing deals on his own with no professional experience to back his negotiations; it was at this time that he redoubled his efforts at finding a literary agent to work this new deal—a deal that, for the first time in his career, had a lucrative advance attached. With much effort, and a lot of luck, he got the attention of acclaimed literary agent Donald Maass of the Donald Maass Literary Agency (DMLA) out of New York who signed him two days after his birthday on November 25, 2013 and worked his fourth, and most lucrative, traditional publishing deal to date. And on February 11, 2014, the deal was finalized.

"Elated by the extraordinary gains he had made in getting this far in his writing career, Mr. Kuykendall set out to impress his new publisher. Unfortunately, the relationship abruptly stalled. On October 29, 2014, Origins, book #2 in the Conspirator's Odyssey series was completed one day before the contracted yearly deadline set by Read Publishing. It was on December 30, 2014, that Re.ad Publishing made the decision to go another way with their publishing platform and therefore the 4-book deal was rendered null and void and his rights to the project were reverted back to him on February 22, 2015. With the publishing contract being rendered null and void; the contract he had with acclaimed literary agent Donald Maass was also rendered null and void.

"Like heavy dominos in rapid motion more bad news followed. As of December 10, 2014 The Possession, book #1 in the Writer's Block trilogy and the subsequent 3-book deal he had with Decent Hill Publishing was terminated due to the publisher's unexpected announcement that they would no longer be operating on a traditional publishing platform and therefore his rights to the project was reverted back to him on December 31, 2014. Looking to regain his footing, Mr. Kuykendall took advantage of the fact that his publishing contract was coming to an end with IntoPrint Publishing and chose to sever ties with the publisher. The rights to The Evolution of the Patron Saint was reverted back to him on March 31, 2016.

"Regaining his rights to The Evolution of the Patron Saint and having completed Origins; the author went back to the drawing boards and rewrote the entire project using elements from both manuscripts. On Sunday, May 29, 2016 at 3:01am EST he had completed the rewrite—a 130,000 word behemoth he entitled, Imperium Heirs. It became the new book #1 in the Conspirator’s Odyssey series.

"Months had passed before a publisher by the name of Evolved Publishing took an interest in his body of work and offered up contracts for him to review. After his entertainment attorney approved the presented publishing contracts, on September 14, 2016, he elected to sign two wide-ranging book deals. These deals were for three books in the Writer's Block trilogy and for three books in the Conspirator's Odyssey series."

COPING WITH PUBLISH AMERICA [ AMERICA STAR BOOKS ]

The only satisfaction Publish America seeks is its own. They'll sell your books to you and your family and will pocket the money. They'll sell your books nationally and internationally without any thought of satisfying their contractual obligation to you. Believe this if you will, but this is a core position of their standard operational procedures.

Case in point - when they believe you've had enough of their carefully orchestrated tactics seamlessly embedded into their business model (usually after years of bleeding dry both you and yours) they give you a way out. And to further add insult to injury, they charge you hundreds of dollars to buy your rights back.

My advice to you is to not seek satisfaction for there is none to be gained. If you're serious about any hope for a writing career, get away from them by any means and push on with your career. Don't look back until you've (as I have) gotten to a comfortable point in your career to then reflect and forewarn others. Remember, you can't help anyone unless you're willing to first help yourself.

Lastly, and from one impassioned writer to a countless others, I would advise you to 1.) never give up, 2.) realize that rejection is an imperative test of one’s character, 3.) formulate a sound strategy as you move forward, and last but not least 4.) never seek to limit yourself by believing the traditional publishing industry is a bridge only a select few are privy to cross. Read my thoughts on writing, the publishing industry, etc. at the Back Porch Writer and by all means, share it with any and all those who've been in our shoes.


Pragmatic author A.K. Kuykendall has a passion for writing conspiracy, espionage, horror, and suspense literature that blend the concepts of fact and fiction. For more information on his projects, visit http://www.thewriterofbooks.com/list-of-works/ or, to email the author directly for Q&A on this post, write to info@thewriterofbooks.com.