Hanging out with Galatea

Publishing with Galatea? Let's talk.

Galatea is the publishing division for Inkitt. That's a free writing site where you can post and read for free. If you've been there lately, it might be because you like reading books about alpha males, werewolf dudes that mate for life, or billionaires who fall in love with insignificant women and then shower them with riches like Aladdin's genie.

The first time they approached me for publication (that's when they offer free-to-read novels on Inkitt real publishing deals with Galatea), it was for my novel, Whenever You Want. Whenever You Want is arguably my most popular novel. It's contemporary romance. Everyone loves contemporary romance. It's about dating for money. Every girl loves it when the guy not only pays for dinner, but pays her for the pleasure of her company (it helps pay for the dress she wore to dinner). Joy. However, with that said, the novel is a cute, fun romp. It's not smutty. It's just enjoyable, and if we're being honest, it's geared toward a teenage audience who is reading about characters a few years older than themselves.

I was surprised when Galatea approached me. It had 16k hits at the time on Inkitt, and I didn't think that was enough hits to warrant a contract, but the novel is very cute, even if it isn't necessarily a big hitter. When I posted it to Inkitt, I released the whole thing in one day because I wasn't interested in staggering chapters. So it got 16k hits without me doing anything to build an audience. I didn't even promo it. I just put it up and let the chips fall.

The contract I was offered at the time was wicked. I got paid a flat rate for them to have the pleasure of posting my book to their paid site, Galatea. It was sweet. I hoped our relationship would last forever because (if I'm honest) I would way rather have a consistent publishing gig where I'm paid a flat monthly rate for my book than an alpha male, a werewolf dude with an eight pack, or a billionaire who throws money at me. I hoped I'd get more books published with them and that there would be fans who waited eagerly for my next book, and all that.

My eyes were full of stars.

By now, I know you've figured out that it all came crashing down. Audiences at Galatea weren't clicking beyond the free chapters. The author relations officer at Galatea said that even though everyone read the free chapters, no one was willing to pay to go further. With that said, I'm inclined to believe the romantic drama was not gripping enough to make them want to pay. It's a romantic comedy... so that's probably it. To be fair, I didn't know I needed to write for a specific model when I was writing it. If I had, I would have left a heart-stopping cliff hanger at the end of the last free chapter.

I got booted out on my bum, but I was a little too dumb to be sad. I had a whack of cash in my pocket and a grin on my grubby face. I was like a kid who had gotten kicked out of the carnival, but I still had the loot. Hehehehehehehehe!

That was a few years ago.

Since then, I've heard a lot of smack about Galatea, and I just smile and say I love them cause I got that small fortune for doing almost nothing. When they asked for my book, I had already finished writing it; they didn't have to edit it because it was damn near perfect (for what it was), and the work I did on it was so far behind me in my rearview that I'd forgotten all about it. It was like getting paid for carving a potato in high school.

Welp, I got a new contract from them just the other day. They wanted to publish my novel, Rose Red, on Galatea. That was an (insert Cheshire Cat smile) interesting development.

The thing about Rose Red is that it is a sci-fi romance. Science fiction, even romance-flavored science fiction, is not popular on Inkitt. It is actually the least popular genre... which leads me to believe that even though my sci-fi novels have not done well on Inkitt, they may top the leader board for their genre.

I know this because Rose Red does not have 16k hits. It has under 11k, and I can look up stats that show that I am a sad loser compared to other (more successful) writers on Inkitt.

The new contract I was supplied with would only give me a profit based on how many people read it. The flat rate was gone. I was like a kid at the fair asking pitifully, 'Why are the lollies so much smaller this year?'

Except, I'm not a kid.

I'm an independent novelist who has busted her butt building a writing empire. Rose Red is the first book in a four-book series (with two more on the way). If I pulled it down from all the places it's published, I'd need to have a very good reason for doing so. It is holding up three other published books.

Unhappy, I flipped the whole thing around and said to the dude behind the counter at Galatea, "You are not selling science fiction novels. No one on your sites is interested in science fiction. If you want a science fiction section, you're going to have to pay for it. Since you want exclusive rights to ebooks, audiobooks, and print books, it's like you're asking me to tear down one of the towers of my empire to give me a percentage of nothing because that's what my book is going to make on your platform. If you want my book, you're going to have to make me a new deal."

I got their reply this morning.

Only exclusive contracts.

I blew him a kiss and walked on. Even if the fair leaves town, I can still build card towers at home.