And So It Begins…

The new version of the site has been active for a few weeks now.  The kinks in the download process have been ironed out. Customers have purchased music and received it. (Thank you!!!) Two new anthems have already been added to the store since the unveiling, and more are on the way. I am still trying to create my first newsletter – and probably wearing out my welcome with my website designer. Like the launch of any new business, the process has been considerably more time-consuming and expensive than I ever imagined it would be.

Late last year, I penned a blog (“You’re On Your Own, Kid”) announcing my intentions to offer choral music at this website. The blog drew as much attention for a photo of me, unshaven, as for anything else. (see offending photo – attached)  The beard is gone. (It was way more trouble than it was worth.) Now – here we are – and the website offers choral music. Mission accomplished.

But reasonable people have wondered, “Why on God’s green earth would an established writer, and an otherwise sane person, choose to self-publish, rather than work through the standard print publishing process? Why indeed?”

It’s complicated.

My four decades of working with music publishers have been, on the whole, profitable and pleasant. I wouldn’t trade them for anything. And just so you know, I continue to write for music publishers, like Shawnee Press. But publishers’ production schedules and open product slots don’t always coincide with my creative process. Thanks to the Internet, I no longer have to wait for the publishing stars to align with my own. I can take a chance on a choral anthem that might seem risky to publishers. I can release an original song that has never appeared on the CCLI charts simply because I think it will make a fun anthem for a choir to sing. And if need be, I can get a new piece uploaded in a matter of a few weeks, not months, or years.

Time will tell whether or not this was a wise financial decision on my part. Creatively, I’m confident it was the right thing to do. Still, I need the help of those who use my music to tell others about the site and the new music. Word-of-mouth is still my best marketing tool. So please, share this with your music minister and your choral music friends. Post it on social media. Sign up for the newsletter, and keep coming back to see what is new.  I’ll be getting the hang of this for the next few months, I suspect. So please be patient.

Thanks, as always. And let me hear from you.