Taking the plunge into self-publishing

By Anthony Bonaparte, October 17th, 2012

The fictitious story begins with two gruesome murders, one in Switzerland, the other in Italy. The victims are later identified as the Archbishop of Lyon and the Archbishop of Milan. The murder-mystery takes our hero, Interpol inspector Thierry Dulac, from the hushed corridors of the Vatican to the dank prison cells of Moscow's infamous Lubyanka prison. Along the way he discovers a labyrinth of cover-ups and a conspiracy fuelled by dirty money, blackmail and deadly ambition.
This is the premise of Dead Bishops Don't Lie, the debut novel from 71-year-old Pointe Claire resident André K. Baby who, in 2005, decided to “refocus” his life after a 35-year career practicing criminal law and then international corporate law.
Although the idea of writing novels had been percolating for the past 15 years, Baby said his busy practice left him with little time. “So I parked the idea in the back of my mind and I let it sit there saying, 'When I retire, I will give it my full attention.”
Always an avid reader, particularly in the thriller genre, Baby lists writers like Ken Follett, Steve Mancini, John Grisham, Steve Berry and Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown among his many influences. The book did require tons of research but Baby also wrote from personal experience. Many of the far-flung cities, towns and villages in which the action takes place, like Saas Fee, Switzerland and the island of Isola Madre in Italy are places he knows. “I've visited all of them except the Lubyanka prison, which I did not visit and don't intend to,” chuckled the Montreal-born author.
As for the subject matter, the recent Vatican City trial of Pope Benedict's butler, as well as other Holy See scandals, makes Baby's novel all the more relevant. “It's a bit serendipitous but I think the timing of the book is right. There's an interest in the Vatican because of these wrongdoings and this court case.”
Oddly enough, Dead Bishops Don't Lie, written in English by the admittedly non-practicing Catholic, was first published in French. When the manuscript was completed, like many authors, Baby went looking for a publisher and collected his fair share of rejections letters along the way. But a chance meeting turned things around. “By luck I met a French-language publisher one day at a party and he said, 'Why don't you give me your manuscript and we'll take a look at it.'”
The publisher, Marcel Broquet, liked what he saw and after Baby had the book translated, La Danse Des Évêques was released in 2010. In the meantime, the English manuscript languished until early in 2012, when a Toronto-based publisher expressed some interest. But since they only wanted to publish in 2014, Baby, with timing in mind, decided to go it alone. “I thought it was a bit too long to wait so I decided to take the plunge into self-publishing.”
Baby chose Amazon's print-on-demand Kindle Direct Publishing and CreateSpace websites and called the process easier than going through the traditional publishing route. On the up-side, once Baby had the editing and critiquing of his manuscript completed, the finished product can be ready within 48 hours. But the down-side is the lack of backing when it comes to distribution. “Traditional publishers have salespeople who go to the various bookstores and actually place the book — mostly on consignment. Now if you're self-published, you don't have that route open to you. You must physically go yourself to the bookstores and ask them to stock your book. Of course, from a practical and a territorial point of view, you can only cover so much.”
To compensate, Baby does his own marketing — contacting various news media, spreading the word through social media, doing book signings and, in his case, giving seminars on self-publishing. But the extra tasks do eat into his creative time.
“Today's problem for authors is that they have to divide their time and measure out what they allocate to each area,” he said, adding, “I haven't reached that level yet and my writing is suffering.”
Despite the drawbacks, Baby still recommends the DYI process to other budding authors.
Already at work on his third manuscript, a thriller set on a cruise ship, in lieu of a set schedule, Baby is content to just go with the flow.
“When I feel that there's an urge to complete a chapter or to start another one, I get to it while the ideas are fresh and put them down. When I get tired or the battery runs low, I do something else.”
A book launch for Dead Bishops Don't Lie will take place at Chapters in  Complexe Pointe Claire (6321 Trans Canada Highway) this Saturday, Oct. 20 from 12 to 4 p.m., and on Tuesday, Oct. 23, Baby will give a free seminar called Self-Publishing: Are You Ready For It? at the Pointe Claire Library (100 Douglas-Shand Ave.) from 7 to 8:30 p.m. For more info, visit www.andrekbaby.com
anthony@thesuburban.com