Daniel Martinez is a retired therapist who has heard many painful stories from his clients, in addition to going through tough times himself. These stories are the inspiration for his books, and they serve as the basis from which he extracts ideas on the human experience in painful relationships.
Forgive Me Never is Daniel’s latest book. It is the harrowing story of Olivia, a Latina single mother who is struggling between two cultures. She discovers the terrible secrets of her childhood and the real reason her mother suddenly disappeared nineteen years earlier without a trace. In the midst of her struggle, Olivia comes under a vicious and humiliating attack by the State, a defining battle she must win at all costs and by any means, because losing would be terrifyingly unthinkable—it would signal the moral death of Olivia as a mother, as a woman, and as a sovereign human being.
Daniel had been thinking about the story for Forgive Me Never for years. After letting the story “incubate” for so long, Daniel decided to go for it. He says, “I just wanted to get this story out. It was time.”
Daniel chose print on demand (POD) so that his book would be widely accessible and without the time limit on its existence that might occur if it were placed in a physical bookstore. The book is also available as an eBook to tap into the audience that favors reading books on their digital devices, although Daniel admits, “I personally prefer to have a book in my hands.”
Reflecting on his indie publishing journey, Daniel says his biggest challenge was submitting his files to a self-publishing company’s website. “Navigating through the self-publishing website was a nightmare for me. I always got lost, I didn’t set things up properly, and I just did not understand many of the things it wanted me to do! In comparison, writing the manuscript itself was a piece of cake.”
In contrast, Daniel says handing the files over to 1106 Design was the easy part. “1106 Design helped with just about everything! They copyedited the entire manuscript, formatted the interior, designed the front cover with an excellent graphic that fit the tone of the book, and produced the final files to be used by the POD printers.” He adds, “They were very patient in answering all my questions.”
Due mainly to the fact that Forgive Me Never is a novel, Daniel did not find any difficulty in locating sources of indie publishing information, and found a thesaurus and dictionary to be handy online resources. Says Daniel, “For my other, nonfiction, books I had considerable trouble finding the original publication date of some books which were later reprinted.” We know that can be a challenge.
When asked about marketing his book, Daniel admits, “I have neglected this aspect of going indie. I’m too busy writing my next one!” He recognizes, however, “…that even after your book is published, very few people will know about it. The big publishers like Bantam, etc., have massive publicity and distribution resources that we indies lack. But that’s OK because at least our books are out there in the vast Web, waiting to be read.”
Daniel’s best advice for authors? “Write what your heart tells you, not what you feel will sell. Going independent is like doing what you want to do without having a boss looking over your shoulder. If you do it for the money, you are right back at your old job.” He concedes, however, that authors need to be realistic, saying, “We all need money to survive!”
Daniel is busy writing his next book, and plans on publishing it independently as well. He is passionate about writing, and appreciates having 1106 Design to guide him around the tough corners so that he can focus on doing what he loves best. Laughs Daniel, “Yes, I’ll keep writing, and with 1106 Design’s help, I’ll keep doing it until the end!”
Book title: Forgive Me Never
Genre: Fiction, dramatic novel
