Of course there are many advantages of being published by a commercial house. You get an editor, a nice name on the spine of your book, and help with marketing. However, there are certain advantages to self-publishing. The process can be much faster, you have more control over the product, and you get to pick the name of your publishing company. Like Bacho Press.

Bacho was my dog. He was a golden retriever-border collie mix. He was picked up as a puppy, wandering abandoned in the streets of Ashland. The shelter named him Bach, as in Johann Sebastian. Fortunately a nice family came along and adopted him right away, but after a couple of years the family had to move away and couldn’t take him along. Our German shepherd had just died and I was still grieving, but Jack had already started to look at the pet-adoption column in the local paper and suggested that we go and “look at” this dog. Of course we fell in love with him and took him home the next day. We both felt that the name, “Bach,” was far too presumptuous for a dog. Jack had the habit of adding an “o” to most anything as a term of endearment, so Bach soon became Bacho.

Eight years later, Bacho was diagnosed with cancer. After the initial biopsy, he was given a  depressing prognosis. The ophthalmologist told me there was no treatment for it. I was devastated. It brought back all kinds of terrible memories about Jack’s dismal prognosis. But just as Jack always did, we rallied, refused to give up, and went on to try something new — a second opinion, a risky surgery, and a happy outcome. The tumor was surgically removed, along with his left eye. While he was no longer the cutest dog in the neighborhood in the traditional sense, he was still a handsome dog with great zest for life.

Now, it’s several years later and Bacho has gone to the great dog-park in the sky. But I think Jack would be pleased to know that Bacho Press has published a book about Bacho in addition to the one about him.