Hungry Thing 2nd Edition Now Available (in Four Formats!)

When Hungry Thing was first self-published in December of 2019, I listed the publisher as my own,"Jot in the Dark Publishing." I even registered the business name in my street address at the time, which is still printed inside old or unsold copies of the book.

It was news to me that once I let Lulu.com provide a free ISBN, they became the actual publisher, no matter what I had printed inside the books opening pages, aka "front matter". This was disappointing news, but for the best, since I am a military dependent in the habit of being relocated every three years, which means that address was promptly obsolete. (A stranger lives there, now.) 

Moreover, Norbert and I decided together on two versions of the book: hardcover and paperback, in only one size: 6x9. (He formatted the covers, back and front, and I formatted everything else.) 

Norbert shared with me that when he first held his own copy of the book in his hands, though he was proud of it, he was also crestfallen by how small it is. The largest illustrations fill most of a single, 6x9 page, framed with plenty of white margin. By comparison, his painstakingly detailed original artworks are each triple that size up close. A 6x9 book is not the ideal presentation.

Ever since, Norbert and I have dreamed of updating the book, including a larger edition (8.5x11 or "US Letter Size) but I kept putting it off. 

Also, I wanted to own the ISBN next time, so that I would be free to change publishers without losing all the 5-star book reviews, etc. ISBNs are expensive, and I would need a different ISBN for each format of the book.  For U.S. based publishers, a company named Bowker sells a block of 10 ISBNs, which is a good deal if you plan to publish more than one book. So, kept putting it off until I was almost ready to publish another title--probably my planned, debut short story collection.

Meanwhile, my writing output had slowed, and most of my recent finished work kept getting rejected. The dilemma of whether to keep refining rejected works or focus on completing unfinished stories or even writing new ones was nearly paralyzing. Watching deadlines pass by, while losing momentum is very dispiriting. Yet somehow, this year I have reached a stage of having half a dozen unpublished stories collected, all of which are theoretically publishable, if I only keep submitting them (or improving them). Therefore, my next priority became overcoming my procrastination.

As we approach its six-year publishing anniversary, republishing Hungry Thing finally struck me as most urgent on the list of long-neglected imperatives. 

So, after some struggle, I have finally finished a 2nd Edition. Hungry Thing is now available in new formats as well as old. For the first time, it is available as an EPUB  (digital book) readable via Kindle, Apple, Google Play, or Kobo. It available again as a 6x9 paperback, but via Kindle instead of Lulu. Because Kindle will not publish a hardcover book having fewer than 75 pages (HT has roughly 40), I have kept Lulu as the publisher for the 6x9 glossy hardcover you may remember, PLUS a new, US Letter Sized matte-finish hardover on premium, 80lb paper stock.