Marla Taviano

Four years ago, I wrote a book called Is That All He Thinks About?: How to Enjoy Great Sex with Your Husband. It’s for women (obviously), and I had no intention of ever writing a companion book for men. Because men don’t read.

Well, men who read blogs like the WordServe Water Cooler read, of course, but not the average Joe I know.

Then I started getting a bunch of e-mails from guys who had read Is That All He Thinks About? and specifically requested their own version.

So I wrote a comic book. (Not really.)

I started playing around with words. Then I started writing hard-core. Then I asked guys to fill out a husband survey. 130 surveys later, I had committed to doing this thing.

But despite having four published books under my belt, I decided to go the self-published e-book route this time around. Why? Here’s why:

The Pros:

1. The timeline. From the minute I submit a proposal to my agent to the time I see my book on a shelf, a minimum of one year will have gone by (and most likely, much, much longer than that). My e-book took less than three months from the time I started writing it until it was in readers’ hands.

2. The style. I had a certain vibe I was going for in this book. Very conversational, at times a little slang-y. It was important for me that I be allowed to write it just like I wanted it.

3. The money. All the proceeds from the e-book are going toward a family mission trip (me, hubby, our 3 girls) to Cambodia this winter. I can sell an e-book for just $2.99 and still make more than I would on a “real” book. And I get paid instantly (or within six weeks).

4. The experiment. Two of my four books haven’t sold well, making it hard for publishers to take a risk on me. Maybe I’ll be traditionally published again someday, maybe I won’t. I think I wanted to see if I could make it in the e-book world (I dream of selling millions of copies and having publishers knocking my door down).

5. The audience. This is a book for men (husbands) and it’s about s-e-x. If I were a guy, I’d feel better about buying a book like this from the privacy of my own home than in a bookstore where anyone could see me.

So, why isn’t everyone rushing out and self-pubbing e-books? Well, they kind of are, but here’s why you should think long and hard before you do:

The Cons:

1. The stigma of self-publishing. I can’t predict the future, but I feel like it’s still going to be awhile before people take self-pubbed authors super-seriously.

2. The weight of promotion. When you self-pub, it falls squarely on your shoulders. Not that being traditionally published is a ton different in some cases, but the only way anyone finds out about my e-book is through my own efforts.

3. The risk. What if it bombs? What if I barely sell any, and it just adds to my previous sales history woes?

4. The work. It takes a lot of sweat and tears (no blood in my case) to produce/publish an e-book. Thankfully I’m married to a web designer/genius. He did it all for me (thanks to Mary DeMuth for her helpful tips) and says he needs a big long break before he’s ready to do another one.

5. Incomplete sales records. My e-book is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com. But I also sell it through a website. And give away copies for free all the time. I really have no way of knowing how many people have read my book.

So, let me ask you this:

1. Which “pro” excites you the most?
2. Which “con” scares/depresses you the most?
3. What are some other pros or cons you’d add to the list?

Post Author: Marla Taviano

Marla Taviano—a lover of words, Scrabble tiles, and giraffes—dreams of traveling the globe with her web-guru husband and their three young daughters. The author of six books, Marla writes and speaks on enticing topics like sex, loving the poor, and how to visit 52 zoos in 52 weeks on a shoestring. Her heart breaks for those in poverty/slavery around the world, and she wants to use her platform to ease their suffering. Marla lives in Columbus, Ohio and met her Wonder Agent, Rachelle Gardner, at a Starbucks by the Denver Zoo in 2009.

Otherwise-Sensible Mother Sleeps with Strangers, Endangers Young Family
Columbus, OH (AP) August 4

If sources are to be believed, Columbus resident Marla Taviano and her family have accomplished a feat that, to our knowledge, has never even been attempted by another human being (for obvious reasons).

From August 1 last to August 1 three days ago, this adventurous five-some visited 52 Zoos in 52 Weeks. (No, this is not a misprint.) Over the course of a year, world-traveler-wanna-be Taviano, her husband and their three young daughters drove from New York to Florida to Texas to California and 27 states in between—a whopping 22,000 miles—to “visit animals that hail from all corners of the globe.”

But folks, that’s not the half of it. Instead of taking the conventional (read: normal, rational, reasonable, safe) hotel route, they stayed in the homes of 31 different families. And here’s the clincher: 17 of those families were complete strangers that Taviano met online.

Why in tarnation this seemingly-normal, law-abiding wife and mother compromised her family’s safety and well-being by entering the homes/eating the food/sleeping in the beds of random persons she met through her “blog,” we may never know.

When asked this very question by the Times’ own Harper Hooper, Taviano tempered her response with what can only be described as a smirk, “I didn’t fear for my family’s lives for a minute. Quite the contrary. We met some of the most incredible people, and I’m totally convinced that God himself orchestrated every last bit of it. I could write a book about the amazing, gorgeous, generous, fabulous people we’ve met in the past year. Were our tactics a bit unconventional? Sure. Would we have had the guts to attempt something like this five years ago? Heavens, no. Call us crazy, but we’re not certifiable.”

Most would beg to differ. When asked if she’s been hiding under a rock, oblivious to recent reports of internet stalkers and pedophiles, Taviano replied (with her customary smirk), “Oh, I’m not discounting all of that horror. Not for a minute. Those stories are sickening and heart-wrenching. The internet gets a bad rap for that very reason, but there’s this huge positive side to the world wide web as well. Communities of people sharing their lives with each other, offering advice and encouragement, living out their faith together, becoming a part of each other’s stories…”

But surely she can’t insist with a clear conscience that there was no risk involved in what she dragged her poor, helpless family into.

“Well, of course there’s risk,” Taviano smirked. “There’s always risk when you step out into the unknown. But what kind of life is a life without risks? And I was confident that I knew the hearts of these families and that their motives were pure, even if we’d only ever met online. I’ve found the internet to be a beautiful place. The friendships I’ve formed through this medium are ones I’ll treasure for a lifetime.”

Despite the absolute absurdity of her claims, Taviano spoke with uncanny conviction. Could there possibly be some inkling of truth to what she’s saying? The Times has its top reporters on the case even now. Is Taviano just an out-of-the-box thinker? Or, as we suspect, another nutcase off her ever-lovin’ rocker?

To be continued…

Marla here. I’m supposed to be blogging today about “something non-fiction.” So I decided to show instead of tell. The newspaper article above is made up. Except it’s not fiction. Because the whole 52 Zoos in 52 Weeks thing is true. So whatever that’s called. Creative non-fiction perhaps? Memoir-with-liberties? Anyway. The rest of the story coming soon to an e-book near you.

The Moral of the Tale? The best way to keep your non-fiction as interesting as fiction = live a story worth writing about.

I’m dying to know: what adventures have you lived that you’re hoping to put into words?

Post Author: Marla Taviano