Franky Benítez

One of Valdes-Rodriguez's New Twitter Profile Pictures

Her Twitter stream and Facebook is very active. She is consistently getting new followers and friends each day. And as author Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez continues to battle with Hollywood, she announced on her social media networks that she will be self-publishing the third book of The Dirty Girls Social Club series.

Early on December 31, Valdes-Rodriguez, who is alleging that the TV script adaptation of her first Dirty Girls book is “racist and sexist,” posted a proposed book cover with the working title A Call to Mountains, the third book in the series on her YFrog account.

On December 31, her Twitter stream and Facebook page is active with responses. Her latest updates on these social networks reveal her self-publishing plans, and also how much money she has made in the past on advances and how much she would make it should were to be successful with her self-publishing efforts.

After listening to some readers, on January 1, Valdes-Rodriguez suggested a different title and cover. The fans have spoken: the new book series will be called Lauren’s Saints of Dirty Faith and a new cover was posted that met some reader approval:

After getting more feedback, on January 2, Valdes-Rodriguez added another cover on her Facebook page and made it official with this image, proving that the is taking the idea of “an interactive novel” seriously:

Here are just some of the updates she has posted on December 31, January 1, and January 2:

From Twitter

• “Believe it or not, some of us still make art for reasons other than money. #latism #teamalisa“
• “Watching 8 Mile. Love Eminem. Relate a lot to him actually.”
• “Lauren Book outline nearly done. Title: A CALL TO MOUNTAINS. Lauren quits Boston, retreats to NM, hoping for peace, spirituality, love.”
• Okay, it’s official. DGSC book three’s title will be: LAUREN AND THE SAINTS OF DIRTY FAITH. Remember that y’all. 🙂
• “@_luisantonio I will publish a chapter a week as ebooklets for 36 weeks, starting next month. .75cents a pop. actual book 4sale fall 2011.”
• “@_luisantonio going the dickens route with this, see where it takes me. half chapt. avail on blog. full chapt at lulu.com for 75 cents.”
• “My advances from pub have been about $30k lately. Self pub a chapter a week I need 833 reg readers to make that much in a year.”
• “If Dirty Girls 3 sells same as DGSC 2 as self pub. I make $625k. If it sells like DGSC1 self pub I make $3 million. No more middle man.”
• “And I’d make that charging you LESS than my publisher does now.

Facebook Updates

• “To make the same amount I’ve made from publishing houses lately on a self-published serialized novel, I will only need 833 regular readers. Dirty Girls Social Club sold more than half a million copies. Book two sold close to 200,000. I think I can find 1000 of you guys to go on this journey with me!”
• “‘Dirty Girls Social Club sets out to prove Latina can mean anything — black, white, rich, poor, Spanish-speaking, not Spanish-speaking.’ (Miami Herald)”
• “Well, then. It’s settled. By popular demand, I declare this cover a winner! Thanks, all. I can’t wait for you to read this book!!! I am loving writing it.”

Valdes-Rodriguez, who talks about her challenges (dismal sales, personal issues) with the Huff Post , also mentioned that she will very likely be using lulu.com, a website for self-published works.

Finally, we want to thank everyone for participating in our readers poll: Is the Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez story relevant to you? The current results of about 100 responses (You can still vote):

• It speaks to the issue of artistic and creative control. 35%
• I want to see an accurate portrayal of Latinas on television. 26%
• Enough already. We get the point! 16%
• I think the story is too one-sided. 14%
• The use of social media can help people get their stories out. 9%

Let us know what you think of Valdes-Rodriguez’s decision to self-publish?

UPDATE, January 1, 2011: The Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez blog posts referred to here no longer appear on her site. Valdes-Rodriguez hinted that certain blog posts would very likely be deleted in accordance to the statement she published at Please Respect NBC.