Self-Published Interview Series with Mary Tate Engels

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Mary Tate Engels, romance, Self-publishing

Happy Monday! Welcome back to another week in the self-publishing interview series! This week’s interview is with romance writer Mary Tate Engels. Enjoy!

PUBLISHING QUESTIONS…

Thanks for inviting me, Liza. Since I’m published in both eBooks and print, I hope readers and writers will find inspiration and encouragement from my story.

• What was the deciding factor in self-publishing your book(s)? Did you decide on eBook or print only or both?

What do you have to lose?

In a roomful of writers, editors, and agents at the RWA Conference in 2010, a prominent agent was asked about the advisability of self-pubbing eBooks. At that time, the entire conference was denying any substantial change in the industry. The room grew deathly quiet when he said, “What do you have to lose?”

I had already obtained rights to my backlist from Dell and Harlequin but wasn’t sure what to do with them and how e-pubbing would affect my career. The question struck me – what, indeed, did I have to lose? I could take my books from the out-of-print shelf to selling again. That’s win-win for me!

I had met Joe Konrath, Bob Mayer and CJ Lyons and watched what they and others did to take charge of their careers. They didn’t lose a thing by e-pubbing. Other influencers have been from Marie Force and all of the member/writers of the self-publishing loop. They keep me informed and encouraged.

• What went into the process? Writing, editing, cover design, formatting, etc… Share your ups and downs and how you went about it. If you used a service from a someone, could you share who?

Game Change

For me, coming from the old school, agent-model, my learning curve has been huge. It started with accepting the changes in the industry, then my commitment to continue doing what I love – storytelling. So far, I’ve e-Pubbed 8 of my backlist – with 21 to go. The process began with scanning, then correcting and editing to update, then – cover designing! I studied how I want my name to appear and a few specific design elements, like the cat in my name and the zig-zags on my Southwestern books. My cover designer is http://www.digitaldonna.com and I love working with her. The other digital stuff is done by my husband and one of our techy sons.

• What did you do to promote your work?

I feel that the best thing a writer can do is to write and produce a good book and another, so that has been my priority. I’m working on establishing my platform as a contemporary author writing about chasing dreams and finding love. I change my website landing page monthly and am considering a blog.

• What was the hardest thing you’ve found in the process of self-publishing? What was the easiest part of self-publishing?

Promotion-Promotion-Promotion!

The most difficult – promotion. Most writers will agree. The most rewarding – creating each book the way I envisioned it from cover to character arcs and fulfilling story. That’s powerful!

• Can you list some Pros/Cons of self-publishing?

Big Picture vs. Bottom Line

• Perpetuity of my book vs. a shelf life determined by a sales force that doesn’t know me and is only looking at the bottom line.
• Global sales vs. limited sales determined by publishing house distribution centered on their own bottom line.
• Full control for the writing and publication of my books vs. full responsibility.  I like the control, perpetuity, and reaching readers globally. But it’s a lot of responsibility and hard work.

The reward of hearing from my readers, many in foreign countries, that my stories or characters touched them is my bottom line.

• Can you give a rough breakdown of your sales numbers from your first month to the present?

Sales, schmells!

At last count, I’ve sold over 15,000 books and 3 times as many on Amazon as on Smashwords. Foreign sales are picking up, which I find very exciting. And I always offer a book each month for 99-cents.

• What advice can you offer to anyone deciding to self-publish?

What do you have to lose?

Just this: Your reputation as writer.

Make a commitment to produce the best book possible. If you produce crap, even once, you risk losing readers. Give them a good story, entertain them, excite them, and inspire them.

• Make sure your writing is stellar – hire an editor if necessary.
• Craft your story the best it can be.
• Ensure the formatting is correct so that you’re giving the reader the best quality in a book form that they’re accustomed to.

READER QUESTIONS…

• What genre(s) do you write in? How many books do you have out? Titles?

Published in both fiction and non-fiction. Books are listed on my web site: www.marytateengels.com

I write Romantic Women’s Fiction – strong women chasing dreams and finding love.

I have 8 contemporary Western eBooks:

Speak to the Wind – currently 99 cents

A Rare Breed

Love’s Dawning

Callahan’s Gold

Rogue Diamond

Under the Desert Sky

Under the Desert moon

Coming soon: Irish Hearts trio: Claire’s Embrace, Dark Embrace, Embraceable You

Nonfiction – Southwest History:

Tales from Wide Ruins, Jean & Bill Cousins, Traders;

Corazon Contento, Sonoran Recipes & Stories from the Heart

• What do you love about the genre(s)?

What I love to read and write: Sexy romance, strong women, inspiring characters, amazing in spite of difficulties, exploring cultural differences, kickass adventure and travel, awesome and upbeat stories.

• Where can readers find you?

My website http://www.marytateengels.com; on www.facebook/marytateengels.com ; Amazon for Kindle; www.smashwords.com for B & N’s Nook, Apple’s iBook, Kobo and all other readers. I offer a 99-cent special each month because I want my stories to be accessible to everyone.

• Where can readers find your books? Print/eBook?

My eBooks are all listed on my website and all major eBook distributors. My landing page is a mini-newsletter giving info about my current activities, books, and travels. Also, you can e-mail me at www.marytate_engels@yahoo.com. I love hearing from my readers and will always answer.

• What works do you have coming out in the future?

I am so excited about these three related books, all of which will be out by March.

Claire’s Embrace, a prequel set in the 1960’s, is Three Weddings and a Funeral meets Love Actually.

Dark Embrace, set in Ireland, is Sex, Lies, and Video Tape meets The Chieftains.

Embraceable You, set in a small Maine town, is LL Bean meets Victoria’s Secret.

• There is a rumor going around that all self-pubbed books are shoddily created. What do you say to that? 

All? No way! Some, maybe, but I believe the competition in the marketplace will take care of shoddy work.

• What advice can you offer readers of self-pubbed books in making a decision on what to read?

Read what you like, who you like, and what resonates with you, no matter about the reviews. Just like determining whether to read a book off the shelf, go for the author who speaks to you. Or…

• If a friend recommends an author, the book probably has merit;
• If the author has more than one book out, chances are that author has developed experience and writing skills that rise above;
• Many Indie authors have specials that introduce themselves to readers, so you can get a book or novella at a reduced rate.
• Take a chance and discover a new author for yourself by reading the blurb and the author’s description of the book’s content.

Eliza, thanks for the guest spot and opportunity to talk about my passions, my books. I hope something I’ve said here inspires, encourages, and informs someone about following their dreams. Maybe it’s not writing, but art or crocheting or starting your own business. Commit, determine the process, and go for it. What do you have to lose? 

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Self-Publishing Interview with Zoe Dawson

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Self-publishing, Zoe Dawson

Welcome back to another week in the self-publishing interview series! This week’s author is Zoe Dawson. Enjoy!

PUBLISHING QUESTIONS…

• What was the deciding factor in self-publishing your book(s)? Did you decide on ebook or print only or both?

I have been published with Harlequin Books for 17 years under the Karen Anders pen name.  The  process of getting books through the traditional system and published is slow.  So, I can only get so many books out there for readers to enjoy.  Part of the reason that I wanted to self-publish is to write and publish faster in a non-traditional way.  The other part of the draw to self-publishing for me was the creative freedom.

Right now my books are available in ebook format, but down the road, I intend to include print books as well.

• What went into the process? Writing, editing, cover design, formatting, etc… Share your ups and downs and how you went about it. If you used a service from someone, could you share who?

As the sole proprietor of my own self-published works, the most important task for me is the product and if I don’t sit down and write, there will be no product.  I made the decision that to free up my time I would hire professionals to do some of the nitty gritty tasks for me.  I hired Faith Freewoman (website) to edit.  She did an excellent job on book #1 and #2 of the Going to the Dogs Series.  For the cover design, I was lucky enough to get Robin Ludwig at Robin Ludwig Design Inc. (http://www.gobookcoverdesign.com/).  She did an excellent job on my series covers, giving them all a simple, eye-catching, cute design with a clear series brand.  All the covers are now done and I’ll be revealing them on my blog (http://zoedawsonauthor.blogspot.com/).  I also have a fabulous formatter, Michael Zapp.  He can be reached at his email address mzapp@zapptek.com.  He’s a very patient, fast, thorough, and affordable formatter.  With the help of these people, there were few downs.

• What did you do to promote your work?

Reviews:  As a traditional author, my books were normally picked up by the usual book review sites, including Romantic Times.  But the process for getting reviews for my indies has been difficult.  I’ve submitted to many reviewer sites and have received some reviews, but the process is slow.  My guess is that there are such a large quantity of indie books that need review many reviewers are juggling very busy schedules.

Promotional Ads:  I’ve bought promotional ads at several sites to get the word out about my book.

Facebook:  I regularly post information regarding my book on my Zoe Dawson Facebook and Karen Anders Facebook pages.

Blog Hops:  I blog hops that have been very successful.  I intend to do many more.  Blog Hops are a fun and engaging way to connect with readers, writers, and reviewers.

Twitter:  Used the medium to announce information, but have recently focused more on connecting with people on Twitter rather than advertising.  It’s been quite fun.

Goodreads:  Set up a profile and I had originally blogged there before I set up my blog on blogspot.  It’s also been a dynamic way to interact with readers, reviewers and writers.  I think once I have more books out, I may buy an ad and see how that goes.

• What was the hardest thing you’ve found in the process of self-publishing? What was the easiest part of self-publishing?

The learning curve when I released my first book was steep.  Luckily, I had a lot of help from great loops and from personal friends who are also in the writing business.  Also, the promotion can be time consuming.  The easiest was the uploading of the book.

• Can you list some Pros/Cons of self-publishing?

For the pros:  I get to write exactly what I want to write.  I can easily track my sales through the dashboards of the various sites where my book is for sale.  Getting paid monthly instead of twice a year.  Better royalty rates.  Books never go out of print.  I have control over my series.  I have the ability to make changes.  I keep all the rights to my book.  Short publishing time.  Control over content, cover, and description.  Lack of a hard deadline.

For the Cons:  I have all the responsibility.  I front all the costs.  Limited distribution of the print book.  Reach fewer readers.  Limited review choices.

• How long have your book(s) been out? How long between books if you have multiple sales—and if you have multiples did you see a bump in sales with subsequent publication?

I have two books out and I uploaded one in September 2012 and the second in December 2012.  I am shooting for as little time as possible between the publication of the books in my Going to the dog series (tentatively scheduled for June 18, 2013 and November 17, 2013).

• Can you give a rough breakdown of your sales numbers from your first month to the present?

To date I’ve sold 131 copies of Leashed and 61 copies of Groomed for Murder across all the sites who carry it.

• What advice can you offer to anyone deciding to self-publish?

Be patient with yourself and with the process.  Get on a helpful loop and read as much as you can, but temper that with your own decision making.  There are so many people who are willing to help.  Two fabulous blogs that I have found invaluable are:  http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/ and http://www.molly-greene.com/

READER QUESTIONS…

• What genre(s) do you write in? How many books do you have out? Titles?

I write contemporary romance in mystery, comedy, police procedural, suspense and paranormal romance.

To date, I have two ebooks out, titled Leashed and Groomed for Murder.  The first and second books in the Going to the Dogs series.

• What do you love about the genre(s)?

For mystery, police procedural and suspense, I love the danger aspect, the discovery, the woman in jeopardy and the action.  For the paranormal, it’s all about exploring a new world either within our modern world, or other worlds yet to be discovered or created.  I love the kick ass aspect of urban fantasy.  As for comedy, I used to love to read it.  I had no idea that I’d be competent in writing it, so that was a wonderful new discovery for me.

• Where can readers find you?

www.zoedawson.com/

www.twitter.com/ZoeDawsonAuthor

www.facebook.com/zoedawsonauthor

www.goodreads.com/user/show/8615573-zoe-dawson

http://zoedawsonauthor.blogspot.com/

• Where can readers find your books? Print/Ebook?

Leashed

Jack has some ‘splainin’ to do!

That’s right! Callie Lassiter’s normally well-behaved Great Dane Jack has run off and done the wild thing with the neighbor’s dog. It must be puppy love! It’s doubly embarrassing since she’s a professional dog trainer. Of course, the neighbor would have to be hot, hot nightclub owner bad boy Owen McKay, just the kind of man Callie is determined to avoid.

Owen’s comfortable with his playboy status and the hype in the media. But the ground moves beneath his feet when he gets an eyeful of the girl next door. The Dog Whisperer never looked this good! How can he convince this wholesome honey that his player days are behind him? Maybe Jill, his Great Dane can help him with this dilemma now that she’s pregnant and Callie’s dog is to blame.

Is this bad boy a bad bet?

Amazon

Groomed for Murder

Can a dog have a bad hair day?

​​Brooke Palmer owns Pawlish, an exclusive doggie spa and grooming business in upper Manhattan, but when a client’s champion poodle gets a bad poodle cut and has to undergo therapy to recover, the client sues.  The lawyer they send is drop dead gorgeous, but Brooke won’t be wooed by a corporate shark in a sharp suit.​

​Corporate lawyer Drew Hudson has better things to do then take on this ridiculous lawsuit, but since he works for the client’s husband, he has no choice.  After meeting the beautiful, sweet-tempered owner, he can’t keep his mind on the silly case.  But when the client turns up dog gone dead, Brooke may be a conflict of interest when she’s charged with the murder.  All Drew wants to do is prove that this sexy entrepreneur is not dangerous, except to his heart.

Can she take a chance on him?

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords

• What works do you have coming out in the future?

Hounded, Book #3, Going to the Dogs series – Summer 2013

Collared, Book #4, Going to the Dogs series – Fall 2013

In Her Sights, Book #1, LAPD Heat series, Entangled Publishing – Winter 2013

I have an urban fantasy series with romantic elements planned.  I  am also planning  a female former-Marine turned motocross competitor who uses her recovery agent exploits to fund her motocross addition.

• Are you participating in any reader contests?

I have Leashed and Groomed for Murder here:

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9608.Best_New_Author_Books

• There is a rumor going around that all self-pubbed books are shoddily created. What do you say to that?

I strive to make all my novels as professional, easy to read, and entertaining as I can possibly make them and I invest in professionals to help me do that.  I see it as investing in myself.  It’s well worth it.  I believe that with any kind of generalization, something truly wonderful can be overlooked and, although, there may be self-published authors who are not doing as professional work as they can, all self-published books shouldn’t be lumped into the same category.

• What advice can you offer readers of self-pubbed books in making a decision on what to read?

Only that, on the whole, self-pubbed authors are writing for your enjoyment.  I’d imagine that when they are writing for the money or status, it’ll come across in the writing.

Also, if you like an indie author, like their page, their author page on Amazon, and if you can write a review or drop them a line and let them know how much you enjoyed the book, it’ll make their day.   I know it makes mine.

Zoe Dawson is the alter ego of Karen Anders, award winning, multi-published author. Her writing journey started with poetry and branched out into fiction. With a couple of college English courses under her belt, she penned a historical, then moved onto contemporary romance fiction.

She’s launched the first book in her self-published Going to the Dogs Series.  Leashed begins the tails (pun intended) of four New York City dog professionals who meet at a dog park and become fast friends.  Out now, Groomed for Murder, Book #2

She is also publishing with Entangled Publishing and will have her debut novel out with them in 2013.  It’s the first book of the six book The Misfit Squad Series of police procedurals, featuring a group of troubled homicide detectives who have landed in the “last chance” squad.  If they don’t shape up, they’re out.

Today, she is happy producing romantic suspense, romantic mystery, and soon paranormal and urban fantasy novels. The words feed her soul and the happily ever afters feed her heart.

Self-Publishing Interview with Barbara Binns

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Barbara Binns, Self-publishing

Welcome back to another week in the self-publishing interview series! This week’s self-pub author is Barbara Binns. Enjoy!

PUBLISHING QUESTIONS…

• What was the deciding factor in self-publishing your book(s)? Did you decide on ebook or print only or both?

I came into this backwards. I had a book traditionally published in November 2010. PULL. It was with a small press that ceased operation in 2011. The sales numbers were not good, and my agent was unable to find a new home for the book or for my next manuscripts. But I had people asking about purchasing the book. So, earlier this year (2012), armed with the return of my rights, I decided to self-publish.

• What went into the process? Writing, editing, cover design, formatting, etc… Share your ups and downs and how you went about it. If you used a service from a someone, could you share who?

Writing, obviously.  PULL was originally edited by a wonderful woman at my publisher, Evelyn Fazio. For the second edition, I went in and changed a few things, but primarily it is the same as the original. I did the CreateSpace formatting; tedious at first, but now I know what I’m doing. I hired Everything-Indie to do the Smashwords and Kindle formatting. They are also doing the editing for Being God.

I intended to hire someone to do the new cover. That person bowed out. Then I tried buying rights to the original cover from the former publisher.  That too fell through.  And then there were scheduling issues with the next person I contacted.  What at first seemed a disaster turned out to be a godsend. I bit the bullet, learned how to use Photoshop, and created my own cover for Pull.  It’s, similar enough to the original cover so people won’t be confused, yet a little truer to my own original vision. And I learned to be so adept at Photoshop in the process that I jumped in and did the cover for Die Trying and Being God.  I guess I like being artistic

I also decided to go for the “full-monte,” including establishing my own publishing label and imprint, AllTheColorsOfLove.   The work involved included buying my own ISBNs, signing with a distributor, fulfilling orders, and still finding time to write the next book. I’m hiring a new editor for my next book.

• What did you do to promote your work?

Not enough, I do know that. I’m still working on promotion, that is the part I hate, but I’d have to do that even if I were traditionally published. I have finally established what I consider my platform: Diversity in YA fiction and Reaching reluctant readers.  With I give speeches at librarian conferences, schools, etc.  I’m old-fashioned enough to like to visit or Skype. And I get to do some fun interviews, like talk to Sammie the parrot.  As a YA author, I consider these two of my most important venues. I do give-aways at the conferences. I am also planning a giveaway on Goodreads, and on Figment, once I finally understand the site.  Recently I signed on two judge a library student writing contest, and a high school poetry contest for next year, all to help me reach my readers.   And I’ll be making another presentation in 2013 at the American Library Association conference in Chicago in June.

• What was the hardest thing you’ve found in the process of self-publishing? What was the easiest part of self-publishing?

All the marketing stuff. Only I was doing a lot of that even when I was traditionally published, I just upped the ante.  Maybe the hardest part is still ahead of me, next year, when I have to do the taxes for my new company.  I hate doing my own taxes.

• Can you list some Pros/Cons of self-publishing?

Honestly, there are too many cons to count, including the fact that everything is on me. There’s no one else to blame. I have to make all the decisions an editor/publisher would have, and still hire an editor to help me revise the thing so that it is suitable for readers. And income tax next year will be a total mess.

But the pro – everything really is in my hands. The rewards are mine, the feeling of control is great. (Maybe that’s why my newest book is title Being God, I enjoy control even if it means I’m overworked) And having people recognize my work, read the book I totally put together, compliment the cover, ask me to come speak to their group or conference because of the power of my work, that’s priceless.

• How long have your book(s) been out? How long between books if you have multiple sales—and if you have multiples did you see a bump in sales with subsequent publication?

PULL only came out in October, so I can’t say much about sales yet.  I will say that in addition to Amazon and Smashwords, I have signed an agreement with Follett Library Services, and fulfilled my first order. AllTheColorsOfLove just received an order for twenty books from a school.   And I received a request from Florida from a man who has read my short stories and wants to pre-order my new book.   Die Trying only came out in November. I’m really waiting to see what happens when Being God comes out in February, 2013.

• Can you give a rough breakdown of your sales numbers from your first month to the present?

It is still too early, I’ve only been self-published since October. I am surprised that nothing has sold on B&N so far, but both Amazon and Smashwords are selling. The physical book versions are selling more than the eBook, but that’s not so surprising with YA. As I said earlier, I’m really waiting to see what happens with book three.

• What advice can you offer to anyone deciding to self-publish?

Patience, persistence and a good editor. All are invaluable.

READER QUESTIONS…

• What genre(s) do you write in? How many books do you have out? Titles?

I write YA (Young Adult) contemporary romance and coming of age.  I have two books out, PULL ISBN 978-098818210-3, and Die Trying and other stories, ISBN 978-098818219-6.

• What do you love about the genre(s)?

I love that it’s so open, there are many things you can do in YA and young readers are accepting. As long as the story pulls them in, they will go with you. On the other hand, the minute you bore them they drop you, so it keeps this writer on her toes to make the words sharp, tight and compelling. I also write about culturally diverse characters, and I like exploring different lives and presenting that for readers to enjoy and see that maybe we’re all more alike than it looks on the outside.

• Where can readers find you?

Hordes of places.  I admit to doing the best job of keeping my blog updated, http://barbarabinns.com You can always reach me by email.

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/BABinns

Twitter: http://twitter.com/barbarabinns

Facebook: http://facebook.com/barbara.binns.3

Website: http://babinns.com

Email: binns@babinns.com

• Where can readers find your books? Print/Ebook?

My books are available in both paperback and eBook format. PULL is on Amazon in paperback and Kindle, B&N for Nook, and Smashwords) and Die Trying and other stories is a collection at Amazon in paperback, B&N for Nook, and Smashwords  Schools and libraries can order from Follet Library Resources, or directly from the publisher (me).

• What works do you have coming out in the future?

Being God, ISBN 978-098818211-0, a sequel to Pull, will be out at the end of January. This book focusses on Malik Kaplan, Pull’s antagonist, and his further relationships with Barnetta, his enemy’s sister. (After all, you can hate the guy, but love little sis)

• Are you participating in any reader contests?

If only I have time. I will be judging several contests over the next few months, does that count?

• There is a rumor going around that all self-pubbed books are shoddily created. What do you say to that?

Unfortunately sometimes this is more than a rumor, something those of us who consider ourselves serious need to be aware of and try to differentiate ourselves.  Anyone can publish a book these days. That sometimes means books with poor covers and poorer editing.  As a result all indie books are getting a bad name.  During my workshops with librarians I talked about Indie authors, and immediately people began to grown. Many of them had first-hand experience with poor quality self-published novels they purchased and then could not use in their collections.

We who want to do a professional job need to find ways to distinguish ourselves from the pack.

I admit I gave them some advice that some Indie authors may dislike, but I think we need to look at how we distinguish ourselves from the pack.

• What advice can you offer readers of self-pubbed books in making a decision on what to read?

You mean other than reading my books?  Amazon reviews are easy to come by, if you have enough friends and relatives, you can get liked and reviewed up the whazu. Because I write YA, I know the kids are big on asking friends what they read. Do the same. when you do find a worthwhile Indie book, keep track of the author and look for their other works, and share the information with other

Self-Publishing Interview: Karen McCullough

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Karen McCullough, self-publishing interview series

Welcome back to another week and with it a self-publishing interview! Today’s guest author is Karen McCullough, author of mystery, romantic suspense and fantasy novels.

PUBLISHING QUESTIONS…

• What was the deciding factor in self-publishing your book(s)? Did you decide on ebook or print only or both?

I sold my first book to a traditional publisher in 1989, and I’ve had a number of books published that way since, but I’ve also written several books that don’t fit into traditional publishers’ categories. Those have hung around, sitting on my hard drive, waiting for an opportunity to break loose to the public.  I’m working on getting some of them ready to publish now. Not all of them are good enough to release, but a couple of them are among the best things I’ve written, so I want to get them out. I’ve also retrieved the rights to most of my backlist, and I’m working on making those available again. So far I’ve done ebook only, but I’m looking at print versions of some books.

• What went into the process? Writing, editing, cover design, formatting, etc… Share your ups and downs and how you went about it. If you used a service from a someone, could you share who?

For the backlist books I’m re-releasing, some of them have had to be scanned in because I no longer have electronic versions of the manuscripts. I’m having even those edited again by my daughter, a professional editor with a good eye for misplaced punctuation and misused words.  I do my own formatting and covers.  I design websites and web graphics professionally, so I’m comfortable using Photoshop and doing that kind of design work.

• What did you do to promote your work?

I’ve bought a few ads here and there, but most of my promotion has been guest blogs on other sites and participating in blog hops.  I’m on Facebook but use it mostly for keeping in touch with family.  I know you have to get the word out about your books, but I truly think the best promotion is writing good books, books that will make readers want to read more of your work.

• What was the hardest thing you’ve found in the process of self-publishing? What was the easiest part of self-publishing?

The hardest thing is the promotion. I’m really not very good at it.  Also writing the stories themselves is hard because I’m a perfectionist, and I’m not a fast writer. I have a lot of stories available only because I’ve been writing for a long time, not because I can put them out quickly.  I also believe in writing, rewriting, and honing my stories until I feel they’re ready to be shared with the public. The easiest part is actually getting my books formatted and ready to release.

• Can you list some Pros/Cons of self-publishing?

The pros: The author is completely in control of the process. I never really liked the covers of any of my early published novels, so I’ve enjoyed being able to give them new versions that please me.  Also traditional publishing is very limiting in genre category. If your book doesn’t fit the standard categories, publishers are reluctant to buy it because their sales and marketing departments don’t know how to market it. They’re also very driven by sales numbers, and have killed several promising series because they weren’t getting the kind of sales increases they expected. 

The cons: You have to do all the work yourself or hire it out. You don’t have an editing department to find all your misplaced commas and continuity errors. You don’t have a marketing department giving you the benefit of their experience with what works and what doesn’t and how to get your books into libraries and bookstores. It’s hard to figure out how to reach your target market, if you even know who that is.  And you do have to work to get past the general perception that all self-published books are crap that couldn’t make the cut at the “real” publishers.

• How long have your book(s) been out? How long between books if you have multiple sales—and if you have multiples did you see a bump in sales with subsequent publication?

My first self-published book was a re-release of a backlist title, A Question of Fire. It’s been available as an ebook for about a year now.   I’ve since published six other titles, four fiction and two nonfiction.  Honestly, I haven’t seen much bump in sales with subsequent publications, but I’m still trying to find patterns in the sales numbers.  One title of mine has accounted for 80% of my sales.

• Can you give a rough breakdown of your sales numbers from your first month to the present?
  

It’s been a slow climb.  The first month my first self-published book was out, I probably sold four or five copies in all outlets.  Last month I sold several hundred and this month is even higher.

• What advice can you offer to anyone deciding to self-publish?

Be sure you put out the best quality story you can. Have it vetted by at least one critiquer or beta reader; hire an editor; hire a formatter if you don’t want to spend time on that yourself; hire a cover artist.  You want to be sure your story is the best you can write and it has a professional appearance.

READER QUESTIONS…

• What genre(s) do you write in? How many books do you have out? Titles?

Yikes! I write in a lot of genres, including mystery, romantic suspense, fantasy and paranormal.  I’m not even going to try to list all the books I’ve written. The ones that are currently available and their genres are: A Gift for Murder, mystery (with romantic elements); Programmed for Danger, romantic suspense; The Night Prowlers, romantic suspense; Magic, Murder and Microcircuits (soon to be renamed), contemporary romantic fantasy; A Vampire’s Christmas Carol, paranormal (with romantic elements); A Question of Fire, romantic suspense; Shadow of a Doubt, romantic mystery; Wizard’s Bridge, romantic fantasy; Witch’s Journey, romantic fantasy. Most of these are available as ebooks also.

• What do you love about the genre(s)?

Basically I love genre fiction in general – romance, fantasy, mystery, adventure, suspense.  I like stories that sweep me away, take me out of my humdrum daily existence and introduce me to new places, people and situations. I’m fascinated by interesting characters, exotic locations, unexpected twists and turns in plot. My imagination seems to roam in a lot of different directions.  I read for entertainment, and I try to write stories that will entertain others.

• Where can readers find you?

My website is http://www.kmccullough.com and my blog is at http://www.kmccullough.com/kblog.  I have a Twitter account at @kmccullough, but I don’t post very much right now, and my Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/#!/karenmccullough.

• Where can readers find your books? Print/Ebook?

My Amazon author page is at http://www.amazon.com/Karen-McCullough/e/B0043TJ870, which lists all my available books, print and ebook.  There are order links for all of my books for Amazon and Barnes&Noble on my website.

• What works do you have coming out in the future?

I’m waiting to get an “author’s preferred” edition of A Gift for Murder back from my editor in order to make it available as an ebook.  One of my other older Avalon Books, Blue December, is being scanned in right now. I’m also getting another new book ready for a well-known epublisher who is interested in it.

• Are you participating in any reader contests?

I’ll be participating in a couple of blog hops coming up that will feature reader contests.

• There is a rumor going around that all self-pubbed books are shoddily created. What do you say to that?

Generalizations are often dangerous and frequently wrong. (Notice how I adroitly avoided piling one generalization on another by qualifying my adjectives?) It’s true that many self-pubbed books are badly written, badly edited (if they’re edited at all), and badly formatted. Sadly, I’ve read quite a few of them. But I’ve also read some completely wonderful self-pubbed ebooks, produced by writers who care about putting out a quality story.  Sturgeon’s Law (see Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon’s_Law for details) basically says ninety percent of everything is crap. He was actually referring to all the published books of his day, but why wouldn’t it apply to self-published books as well?  The trick is finding ways to let those books that aren’t crap stand out from the crowd.

• What advice can you offer readers of self-pubbed books in making a decision on what to read?

Download a sample if you’re not familiar with the author.  Amazon and B&N both have the service, although not all authors allow it. Personally, if I don’t know an author’s work, I always download the sample before I buy.  If I can’t download a sample, I move on to something else. If the sample is full of mistakes or the story doesn’t grab me, I don’t buy it.  Maybe I’m too picky, but I’ve never found a story that was so good it could induce me to look past numerous errors of grammar and usage.  And life is too short to spend it reading books you don’t enjoy.

About Karen McCullough:

Karen McCullough is the author of more than a dozen published novels and novellas in the mystery, romantic suspense, paranormal, and fantasy genres and has won numerous awards, including an Eppie Award for fantasy. She’s also been a four-time Eppie finalist, and a finalist in the Prism, Dream Realm, Rising Star, Lories, Scarlett Letter, Vixen, and International Digital Awards contests. Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies and numerous small press publications. She has three children, three grandchildren and lives in Greensboro, NC, with her husband of many years.

Website: http://www.kmccullough.com

Blog: http://www.kmccullough/kblog

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kgmccullough

A VAMPIRE’S CHRISTMAS CAROL:

Can Christmas Eve get any more fun? On her way to her family’s home, Carol Prescott’s car slides into a ditch in a deserted area with no cell phone signal. The only available shelter is already occupied…by a vampire. To Michael Carpenter, Carol is the bait of a trap.

In an effort to hold onto his soul, Michael has resisted the urge to drink human blood for almost a century. Now he hovers between human and vampire. If he doesn’t drink from a human before the night ends, he’ll die. He’s desperately thirsty, but Michael has seen the soulless monsters vampires are and he prefers death. Carol is pure temptation to him, the Christmas present from hell…or is it from heaven?

A QUESTION OF FIRE:

When Catherine Bennett agrees to attend an important party as a favor for her boss, she knows she won’t enjoy it, but she doesn’t expect to end up holding a dying man in her arms. Nor did she anticipate she’d become the recipient of his last message about the location of evidence that would prove his brother innocent of murder. Now the killers are after her to get that information. She’ll need the help of attorney Peter Lowell, as well as the victim’s difficult, prickly younger brother and a handsome private detective to help her find the evidence before the killers do.

 

Self-Published Interview with Terry Spear!

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Self-publishing, Terry Spear

Welcome back to another week of my self-publishing interview series! Today we have best-selling author Terry Spear with us! Terry is a prolific and amazing author. Enjoy!

PUBLISHING QUESTIONS…

• What was the deciding factor in self-publishing your book(s)? Did you decide on ebook or print only or both?

I have 29 self-published books as well as love being traditionally published. Some of the self-published titles were published with epubs that are now defunct. Some of the books agents and/or editors considered but passed on. The latest was a case of my publisher moving from sex and violence to inspirational. I still am writing on the highly successful series, The Highlanders—a Highland romance set in the time of King Henry I—but couldn’t remove the sex or violence without making my readers wonder what happened. So I went ahead and self-published Highland Rake, 3^rd in the series.

I’m putting some of the titles into print—the more popular titles first. The YA fae series is extremely popular, so they’re all going into print. Dragon Fae (book 5) is just now available. Shadow Elf, another YA series, is also. I don’t have highspeed Internet where I live, so it makes it more difficult. But I did put Kiss of the Vampire (YA) into print. And also: Highland Rake, Lady Caroline and the Egotistical Earl, and Killing the Bloodlust. I read only print books myself so it’s nice to have another version for readers like me!

• What went into the process?

• Writing, editing, cover design, formatting, etc… Share your ups and downs and how you went about it. If you used a service from a someone, could you share who?

Some of my books have been edited by editors that worked for epub companies. Some critiqued, read by beta readers.

On formatting, there’s a little bit of a learning curve—what works for one book site, might not for another. And book cover sizes are different for the different sites. But each of the sites has explanations on how to do it properly.

I’ve also learned a lot about cover art and so some of my books are my own, others I’ve purchased from cover artists.

• What did you do to promote your work?

I post that it’s up on my blog and give a link to it on FB and Twitter and Google +. I’ll add it to my blog, Shelfari, Goodreads, and my website. But then it’s off to working on the next book. That is always the biggest push for books.

• What was the hardest thing you’ve found in the process of self-publishing? What was the easiest part of self-publishing?

The hardest part sometimes is finding a picture or a cover that will work for the book. I have one I’m still having a time finding that right cover. It’s true that a cover can catch a potential reader’s eye, just so they will take a look at the book’s blurb. Other times, I’ve found the perfect cover that has launched a book.

• Can you list some Pros/Cons of self-publishing?

The cons: The distribution isn’t as great. Most brick and mortar stores are not interested in carrying your book. Setting up a book signing at these stores might be out of the question. For many, sales can be slow or not at all. You’re on your own with editing, or hiring an editor, who might or might not be great. The same with cover artists. Some are just not that great. And some are out of this world. It’s not based on money, either. Some great cover artists charge lower prices and some who charge high prices can have lackluster covers. And you’re on your own! J You have to decide title, editing, cover, promotion, even deadlines!

The pros: A successful book can take off that editors and agents wouldn’t give a nod to and you’ve got a winning series. With the fae, that’s happened. It’s helped to raise interest in all the other YA titles that I have out. The more you have in a series, the better. Highland Rake is doing very well. And I have another sequel coming.

You can spread your wings, try something that you haven’t tried, or that isn’t big right now. You can set your own price, title, and decide about your own cover art.

• How long have your book(s) been out? How long between books if you have multiple sales—and if you have multiples did you see a bump in sales with subsequent publication?

For my self-published titles, since last year.

Definitely, subsequent books help to sell earlier books. That’s the best promotion an author can do. Have the next book in a series out.

• Can you give a rough breakdown of your sales numbers from your first month to the present?

It would take too much time to go back and add it all up because I have so many books out and sell at a number of different sites, but let’s just say that I was working full time through this July, and decided that because of my self-published works, I was making enough to quit my job. And that was my goal. Instead of writing 40-45 hours a week and working a day job for another 40 hours, which meant an 80+ hour week, I’m able to spend all that time writing and promoting. I LOVE it. 🙂

• What advice can you offer to anyone deciding to self-publish?

Keep learning how to write. Even if you have tons of books you’ve written, and published, it never hurts to keep learning how to write better.

READER QUESTIONS…

• What genre(s) do you write in? How many books do you have out? Titles?

Paranormal romance, urban fantasy romance, contemporary romance, historical romance, YA paranormal romance, fantasy romance, scifi romance, romantic suspense, YA fantasy romance, YA urban fantasy

I have 29 self-published titles out.

• What do you love about the genre(s)?

I’m an eclectic reader so I LOVE to read everything and I love writing everything.

• Where can readers find you?

www.terryspear.com, or follow her on Twitter, @TerrySpear. http://www.facebook.com/terry.spear . http://pinterest.com/terryspear/

• Where can readers find your books? Print/Ebook?

http://www.terryspear.com

• What works do you have coming out in the future?

The Hawk Fae, Book 6 in The World of Fae series, The Highlander, Book 4 in the Medieval Highland series, The Vampire is Mine, Dangerous Liaisons (Book 2, sequel to Deadly Liaisons, vampire RS).

• There is a rumor going around that all self-pubbed books are shoddily created. What do you say to that?

Yes, some are. And some Legacy books are. I read one in a contest that was so poorly edited, I counted 156 bad mistakes, and many more that were just the kind of thing where 15 sentences in a row started with the word: He. The world was built with definite boundaries, and then the characters broke those world boundaries, but with no explanation why it could have been done. Just all kinds of plot holes. Yet that was with one of the Big 6.

So yes, some self-pubbed books are awful. Some have sold millions despite being poorly written!!! And some Legacy books are just as bad.

• What advice can you offer readers of self-pubbed books in making a decision on what to read?

This is so individualistic. When I worked in the library, readers would ask for advice on books they could read. If they liked a particular author, I would suggest they read books that other readers had bought in addition to this one. So it would help readers to find authors who wrote in a similar vein. But just to come out and say, “I liked this, and you might, too,” wouldn’t work. Because what I like, they might not at all.

Thanks so much for having me on your blog, Eliza. I love self-publishing and traditional publishing. I feel they complement each other. In the end, there doesn’t have to be only one. 🙂

Terry Spear

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy IS reality!”

About the Author

USA Today bestselling and an award-winning author of urban fantasy and medieval romantic suspense, Terry Spear also writes true stories for adult and young adult audiences. She’s a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and has an MBA from Monmouth University. She also creates award-winning teddy bears, Wilde & Woolly Bears, that are personalized that have found homes all over the world. When she’s not writing or making bears, she’s teaching online writing courses or gardening. Her family has roots in the Highlands of Scotland where her love of all things Scottish came into being. Originally from California, she’s lived in eight states and now resides in the heart of Texas. She is the author of the Heart of the Wolf series and the Heart of the Jaguar series, plus numerous other paranormal romance and historical romance novels.

Self-Publishing Interview Series: Janis Susan May Patterson

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Janis Susan May Patterson, Self-publishing

Welcome back to another week in the self-publishing interview series! This week’s author is Janis Susan May Patterson.

Janis is a seventh-generation Texan and a third-generation wordsmith who writes mysteries as Janis Patterson, romances and other things as Janis Susan May, children’s books as Janis Susan Patterson and scholarly works as J.S.M. Patterson. Formerly an actress and singer, a talent agent and Supervisor of Accessioning for a bio-genetic DNA testing lab, Janis has also been editor-in-chief of two multi-magazine publishing groups as well as many other things, including an enthusiastic amateur Egyptologist. Janis married for the first time when most of her contemporaries were becoming grandmothers. Her husband, also an Egyptophile, even proposed in a moonlit garden near the Pyramids of Giza. Janis and her husband live in Texas with an assortment of rescued furbabies.

PUBLISHING QUESTIONS…

• What was the deciding factor in self-publishing your book(s)? Did you decide on ebook or print only or both?

The deciding factor was I wanted to make money, and my backlist books were just metaphorically sitting under the bed doing nothing. Admittedly I was naïve as to what was involved; I thought you just popped a book up. It doesn’t work that way – the process is more work than I expected. Right now I’m only in ebooks because of the expense and my own utter incapability when it comes to things computer. I have the files for doing paper and may do them later. Or maybe not.

• What went into the process? Writing, editing, cover design, formatting, etc… Share your ups and downs and how you went about it. If you used a service from a someone, could you share who?

As all my backlist books were done back in the days when the dinosaurs browsed outside the cave and books available only in paper, I had to get them into electronic format, and I was soooo not going to retype! I found the best scanner in the world (more later) but even with the best scan possible there are mechanical glitches (/ for I, Ii for h, that sort of thing) that must be found and caught. As I was checking the scan (two times – once overall for continuity, once word-by-word for typos) I realized that there were things I wanted to tweak. Styles in reading and writing change. These books had been professionally edited, so I didn’t want to do too much, but there were tweaks.

Then there was the formatting. As before stated, I am a techno-naif. I know there is a learning curve to formatting that can be mastered, but I didn’t want to. There are some things that are more time-sensible for me to hire out. My time is best spent writing, not in being beaten into submission by a new computer program. I was lucky enough to find the best formatter in the world (again, more later) and she is great!

My first discipline was graphic art, so I knew I would have no trouble designing a cover, and I didn’t. QUARTET is my design. Why don’t I do any more? Number one, it’s a time suck. You start looking at images, and wondering what you can do with them, and then you find more images, and there are so many lovely fonts and… before you know it, an entire day is gone and you have precisely one half of a cover designed. Again, you have to be time-sensible. So I looked and found that some people were paying several hundred dollars to have covers made. Yikes! I don’t have that kind of money, especially doing four books at once. So I looked some more and found the neatest artist (more – oh, you know…) who has both pre-made covers for ebooks and print, and does custom work as well. She’s also very very reasonable, as are all of my dream team.

And who are my three paragons?

Scanning – Melynda Andrews – melynda.thebrazeneye@gmail.com

Formatting – Vickie Taylor – vickie@vickietaylor.com (she also does fantastic editing, too!)

Covers – Dawn Charles of BookGraphics – bookgraphics@gmail.com

I have had wonderful results with all three of these ladies, and recommend them wholeheartedly. If you contact them, feel free to use my name.

As for writing directly to self-pubbing, I fully intend to do that in the near future and have already started a rather interesting series that will probably ‘hit the shelves’ sometime next year.

• What did you do to promote your work?

Not nearly enough. I loathe, hate, detest, abhor and despise doing publicity. I need to do more, but somehow I always find that at the bottom of my to-do list.

• What was the hardest thing you’ve found in the process of self-publishing? What was the easiest part of self-publishing?

The hardest thing was paying out money, of which I do not have very much. I began writing in an era when the publisher paid you an advance (usually a good sized one) and all you had to do was produce a book. Now however we are published – self, trad or whatever – we’re expected to do so much more than write. It is difficult to turn the switch in my head that turns me from an artistic creator into a businesswoman. I am not now and never really have enjoyed business, but it must be done. I do know enough about business – any business – to know that you have to invest in it, so I am investing in myself, but it is difficult to pay out money when there is none coming in.

Another difficult thing was keeping track of everything. I make zillions of lists and checklists and my desk is so covered with sticky notes that it resembles a very peculiar plant, and still I forget stuff. But it all has to get done and go together, and as I do it everything gets easier. Not easy, never easy, but easier.

The easiest part? What’s always the easiest part – writing the book.

• Can you list some Pros/Cons of self-publishing?

PRO – you get to control everything yourself

CON – you have to do everything yourself

PRO – no gatekeepers; your book will be judged on its own merit by the reader

CON – no automatic editorial support

PRO – no arguing for your points

CON – no check/balance system; you are literally both sides – writer and publisher; in a way it’s a travesty of the basically adversarial system of trad publishing. (Explanation – I say adversarial because you want to maintain the integrity of your vision; the publisher wants you to subscribe to their vision of what will sell.)

PRO – total freedom

CON – total responsibility

• How long have your book(s) been out? How long between books if you have multiple sales—and if you have multiples did you see a bump in sales with subsequent publication?

I sold my first novel (trad) in 1979. I self pubbed QUARTET:FOUR SLIGHTLY TWISTED TALES sometime  in the summer of 2012. It’s a short story anthology and my ‘test’ for self pubbing. I put it into Kindle Select, which has to be exclusive to Kindle, and that was a total bust. I did not re-enroll it nor put anything else in Select. After doing all the business things (cover, formatting, scanning et al) I released all four books (QUARTET, THE AVENGING MAID, THE DEVIL OF DRAGON HOUSE and LACEY) across the board – Amazon, Kobo, B&N, Smashwords (with distribution to several smaller places) and All Romance Ebooks (with distribution to Apple). That was done within two or three days in November 2012

• Can you give a rough breakdown of your sales numbers from your first month to the present?

I don’t want to talk about any of it, because it would be terribly embarrassing. I have good editing, good formatting, good covers and good stories, and still my books just lie there like dead marmots. At this rate I shall probably break even with what I have spent so far sometime around the next presidential election.

• What advice can you offer to anyone deciding to self-publish?

Be prepared to work hard and become very detail oriented. Don’t check your sales figures several times a day – it’s depressing; twice a week is enough. Be prepared to spend a little money – do things right – but also be prepared to never earn it back. Even among good novels some flop and some soar and no one really knows why. Develop a thick skin and make yourself do lots of publicity. And, most importantly, never give up!

READER QUESTIONS…

• What genre(s) do you write in? How many books do you have out? Titles?

A better question would be in what genres do I not write? As Janis Patterson I do cozy mysteries. As Janis Susan May I do romance and horror. As Janis Susan Patterson I do children’s. As JSM Patterson, I do non-fiction and scholarly works. In total, I don’t know how many books I have out – seems around 25 total over the years, but I’m not sure. I do know that I sold 6 novels to two major publishers (Carina Press and FiveStar Gale/Cengage) in 2011 (LURE OF THE MUMMY, TIMELESS INNOCENTS, INHERITANCE OF SHADOWS, THE HOLLOW HOUSE, BEADED TO DEATH and EXERCISE IS MURDER), that two of my favorite books came from the wonderful Vinspire (DARK MUSIC and ECHOES IN THE DARK, as well as the children’s DANNY AND THE DUST BUNNIES), that I have some truly fun over-the-top books with Red Rose (THE OTHER HALF OF YOUR HEART, WEDDING DAY, PASSION’S CHOICE, and SING A SONG OF SPYING). These have all been done and sold since 2005, when I returned to writing after a ten year hiatus. Before 1995 there were eight or ten more,

For self-publishing, there is QUARTET: FOUR SLIGHTLY TWISTED TALES, LACEY, THE AVENGING MAID and THE DEVIL OF DRAGON HOUSE. As soon as I have time from the unending crush of deadlines. I intend to self publish two more from my backlist, LEGACY OF SHADES and FAMILY OF STRANGERS.

And for what it’s worth, I’ve just finished a non-fic guidebook called A FIELD GUIDE TO TEXAS MUSEUMS and am just starting on another guidebook called A FIELD GUIDE TO TEXAS WINERIES. (Did I tell you that great amounts of research are important?) I’m also working on a section of a college-level archaeological textbook for world-wide distribution; my chapter is called “The History of Archaeological Illustration Before the Napoleonic Paradigm of 1798.” It’s going to be a real grabber!

• What do you love about the genre(s)?

Which? In general, I think genres are not only guidelines, but reassurances. Yes, sometimes we want something different that blends two or three genres, but other times we want the security of a guaranteed read. We want to read a nice sweet romance (or sexy – your taste, your choice) where we are assured that the hero and heroine will get their happily-ever-after in the end. With so many genres – and so many genre-bendings – the reader can find exactly what makes them happy.

Personally, I like cozy mysteries because I love seeing a villain caught and justice prevail, even though I dislike too much blood spatter and graphic violence. I like romances because they make me feel good. I like guidebooks because they make my wallet happy, and support my habit of self-publishing. Children’s – that was done on a dare and doesn’t really count.

• Where can readers find you?

Just about anywhere. I’m on all my publishers’ sites and my books are in all major markets. My websites are www.JanisSusanMay.com and www.JanisPattersonMysteries.com.  On Twitter, I’m @JanisSusanMay. I regard Facebook as a privacy-devouring tool of the Devil and avoid it assiduously.

• Where can readers find your books? Print/Ebook?

Book links (Self-published only) :

Lacey :

Amazon : http://amzn.to/Wns1m2

B & N : http://bit.ly/YFOdoR

The Devil of Dragon House :

Amazon : http://amzn.to/TW1yEA

B & N : http://bit.ly/SLscEm

The Avenging Maid :

Amazon : http://tinyurl.com/d3ozfh7

B&N : http://bit.ly/SLscEm

Quartet: Four Slightly Twisted Tales :

Amazon : http://tinyurl.com/cnptu73

B&N : http://bit.ly/SGCHI3

All my books are available at the publishers’ sites, and on Amazon and B&N. Some – all of my self-pubbed ones – are also available at SmashWords, Kobo and Apple.

• What works do you have coming out in the future?

I’m going to self-pub LEGACY OF SHADES and FAMILY OF STRANGERS before long. As for trad-publishing, I’m currently negotiating with several publishers regarding several books. (I never work on less than three books at a time – you see, I bore very easily.)

• There is a rumor going around that all self-pubbed books are shoddily created. What do you say to that?

And all New York publisher books are paragons of perfection? I get very nervous when the word ‘all’ comes into a conversation. There are good books and bad books, shoddy books and should-never-see-the-light-of-public-day books. I admit, and I think most would agree with me, there is a higher percentage of rubbishy books in the self-published sector, simply because there is a certain kind of person who wants to be a Published Author whether they can write or not. Being able to use that title is more important to them than writing a good book. What might potentially be a good book is ruined by being put out too soon and with insufficient editing, etc. Some things out there are painfully bad and embarrassing to everyone. Except perhaps the author, who should be mortified but probably won’t be.

But everything has two sides. While self-publishing has made it possible for terrible wannabes to put their stuff out there, it has also given good writers (not necessarily known or even trad published) the chance to put their stuff out there – books that are good, yet for one reason or another failed to get past the (usually terribly self-important) gatekeepers of trad publishing. Genre-bending stuff. Regency vampires on an alien planet who like to knit – that sort of thing. Such freedom to cross, mix and generally destroy genre lines can only be a good thing, because it helps to explode the eternally constricting niches constructed by trad publishing in their pursuit of the bottom line. All too often their cry has been “to heck with literature or even good writing, such-and-such is selling now so let’s market only that.“

Ooops, I’m pontificating again. I’ll stop now.

• What advice can you offer readers of self-pubbed books in making a decision on what to read?

Who am I to tell anyone else what to read? (Other than read all my books – please!) Seriously, all I can say is read what pleases you. Self, trad, e-, paper – those are just delivery systems. Read the stories that grab your heart and/or your intellect. Read the stories that touch you. And – sometimes – read a little outside your comfort zone. You never know what treasures await you there.

Self-Published Interview Series: Dorothy McFalls

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Dorothy McFalls, Dorothy St. James, mystery, romance, Self-published

Welcome back to another week of the self-published interview series! This week’s author interview is with mystery and romance author, Dorothy McFalls.

PUBLISHING QUESTIONS…

• What was the deciding factor in self-publishing your book(s)? Did you decide on ebook or print only or both?

I started out my self-publishing journey be publishing my backlist of books—those books that had once been published by a traditional publisher. What a liberating experience! I enjoyed having complete control over the covers and prices and also the ability to change the content of the books if I wanted. That feeling of being in control of my career is what made me decide to start writing books that I won’t shop to publishers but will go straight to the self-published market.

• What went into the process? Writing, editing, cover design, formatting, etc… Share your ups and downs and how you went about it. If you used a service from a someone, could you share who?

I’m lucky. The editor I worked with for the White House Gardener Mystery series, which is traditionally published by Berkley Prime Crime, works as a freelance editor. Since we already have a good working relationship, I’ll continue working with Brittiany Koren (http://www.writtendreams.com) for all my new work. Only now, I’ll be paying her. I wouldn’t try to self-publish without a good editor to stand beside me.

For my backlist books, I’ve created most of the covers myself, using images purchased from sites such as Shutterstock. If a cover doesn’t seem to grab a reader’s attention, I’m not shy in pulling it and using a new cover. Some of my books have had three or more covers since I’ve self-published them. As a self-published author I have the freedom to experiment. If something doesn’t work, I change it.

When I have purchased covers, I’ve bought them from Razzle Dazzle Stock (http://www.razzdazzstock.com/).

For formatting, I mainly do it myself. Again, I like the ability to be able to quickly make changes and upload new versions of my books. However, I have worked with a formatter to make sure what I’m doing is correct. I still find myself beating my head against the desk trying to figure out how to get the format perfect. If you want t

o avoid a headache, hire this done. There are so many changes going on in what formats work. It’s no longer as simple as uploading your Word document to a server.

• What did you do to promote your work?

Like I did with my traditionally published works, I promote on social networks as well as send out a newsletter whenever I have a new release in the works. In addition, I work with other indie-published authors to cross-promote our work. We will all put a book for free at the same time and promote the heck out of it. This cooperation with other authors during the free promotions has boosted my sales greatly. I highly recommend it.

• Can you list some Pros/Cons of self-publishing?

The biggest Pro of self-publishing is that I have control over the look and content of my books. If I feel like a price is too high (or too low) I can change it. Immediately. If I don’t like the cover, I can change it. If I decide the ending doesn’t work, I can change it. I love that the books are dynamic. I also love that I can offer my books at a greatly reduced price than many traditionally published books while making an equal amount, or more, in royalties.

However, self-publishing isn’t all wine and roses. There are Cons to self-publishing. I miss the feeling that I was part of a team that I got with traditional publishing. My self-published books don’t show up in bookstores. I’m only creating e-books. But even if I produced print books, I wouldn’t have the distribution channels that traditional publishers enjoy. I don’t have access to many of the reviewers that traditional publishers can send their books to. And finally, some people automatically assume that all self-published books are trash. Thankfully, that last one is becoming less of an issue as more traditionally published authors decide to try the self-published route.

• Can you give a rough breakdown of your sales numbers from your first month to  he present?
  

I currently have ten self-published ebooks available for sale. Eight of them are for sale exclusively on Kindle Select. When I first started selling, and didn’t have that many ebooks available, I sold between 50-100 ebooks a month. And I was happy. Now that I’m cross-promoting with other indie authors and offering many of my books for $0.99, I’m selling an average of 5,000 books a month. I’m extremely happy with that number!

• What advice can you offer to anyone deciding to self-publish?

If it’s your first book, hire an editor who will tell you the truth. If self-publishing had been around like it is now when I’d finished my first book (it was never published), I probably would have published it myself. And that would have been a HUGE mistake. I didn’t yet know how to craft a compelling story. I still had tons to learn. So even though I loved (and still love) the book, it wasn’t publishable. I cringe when I look at it now and see the mistakes I didn’t know I was making.

Just because you finish a book, doesn’t mean you should publish it. Even now, I look long and hard at my own work, and have others look at it as well, before deciding whether or not it’s good enough to put out for sale.

When you decide that your book rocks and is ready to be published, work with other indie authors in order to cross-promote. That way you won’t be trying to gain interest and sales all on your own.

READER QUESTIONS…

• What genre(s) do you write in? How many books do you have out? Titles?

As Dorothy McFalls, I write historical romance, contemporary romantic suspense, and paranormal romance. As Dorothy St. James, I write the White House Gardener Mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime.

I have 12 books out with lucky number 13 (OAK AND DAGGER) due to be released April 2013. My goal is to write three books for the self-published market next year.

I have recently released a paranormal historical romance, TAKEN BY MOONLIGHT, exclusively on Amazon. I have a Christmas paranormal romance, A WIZARD FOR CHRISTMAS, that should get you in the holiday spirit. And my debut novel, THE MARRIAGE LIST, has recently been put on sale for $0.99 and is heating up Amazon’s best-seller list for Regency romances. As of this writing, it’s at #5!

• What do you love about the genre(s)?

I love tackling new challenges, which is probably why I write in so many genres. I can’t imagine being pinned down to just one genre. But I’m a die-hard romantic. So no matter what genre you read of mine, you’ll find a common theme of love conquers all. I promise you will get a happy ending.

• Where can readers find you?

Readers can find me in several places. My website: http://www.dorothymcfalls.com. On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dorothy.mcfalls. On Twitter: https://twitter.com/DorothyStJames. And on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/656571.Dorothy_McFalls.

• Where can readers find your books? Print/Ebook?

Print copies of my books can be found at most online bookstores. All but two of my ebooks are exclusively on Amazon. You can find them at: http://amzn.to/SK3l02

• Are you participating in any reader contests?

Yes! I’m going to be in an upcoming Free eBook Event. As part of the event, a Kindle and a $25 gift certificate will be given away.

February 6-7, my short cozy mystery, Birds in Paradise will be free along with ebooks by several other authors. You can find out more about the upcoming event at http://www.freepartay.com. The books that will be offered for free will be listed there a few days before the event is scheduled to begin.

• What advice can you offer readers of self-pubbed books in making a decision on what to read?

If you’re not sure you’re going to like the book, don’t buy it. Instead, download the sample. Most ebook retailers allow readers to download a couple of chapters prior to buying it. Or if the author is offering a free book, download it. I’ve found several authors that are now auto-buys (like Tina Folsom) from downloading samples and grabbing up free ebooks.

This is a great time to be an author and a reader. Books no longer have to neatly fit into a popular genre. Many authors are now able to explore subjects that publishers didn’t know how to market or would only appeal to a niche market. No matter what you like to read, no matter how obscure, I wager you can find an author writing about it!

Self-Publishing Interview: Cara Marsi

Tags

Cara Marsi, Self-publishing

Welcome back to another week of self-publishing interviews! Today’s guest is award-winning author Cara Marsi!

PUBLISHING QUESTIONS…

• What was the deciding factor in self-publishing your book(s)? Did you decide on ebook or print only or both?

An online friend was one of the first writers I knew to self-publish. Her books have always sold very well. When I got back the rights to my RS, “Logan’s Redemption,” from The Wild Rose Press, my friend urged me to self-publish it. I was afraid to take the chance. I submitted it to another epub who said they would take previously published works. They turned it down. And I’m so glad they did because their rejection made my decision to self-publish. I needed a new cover, and I found a hot guy who looked like my hero. I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback on that cover, and I think my hot guy has helped me sell lots of books. My online friend did the formatting for me, and in August 2010, I put up “Logan’s Redemption” myself. In five weeks I made more money than I had in two years with my epublisher. (Nothing against the epub. It’s a good publisher). I loved the control, loved that most of the money went to me. “Logan’s Redemption” has been my top seller, although sales go up and down. For a long time it was in the top 100 of Suspense on Apple and for awhile it was in the top 100 in Suspense on Amazon. After my experience with “Logan’s Redemption” I decided I would no longer submit to publishers. The new version of that book isn’t in print. I have some print copies with the original cover when it was with The Wild Rose Press. The only one of my indie books that is in print at this time is “Loving Or Nothing.”

• What went into the process?

Writing, editing, cover design, formatting, etc… Share your ups and downs and how you went about it. If you used a service from a someone, could you share who? Since “Logan’s Redemption” had been edited by The Wild Rose Press, I went over it and did some small revisions. I’ve had all of my other indie books edited by the terrific Laura Kelly. I won’t publish a book that isn’t edited. Laura edited my second Wild Rose book, “Murder, Mi Amore.” That book was a 2012 EPPIE finalist and a finalist in the Oklahoma Romance Authors First Annual International Digital Awards. I’ve since gotten the rights back to “Murder, Mi Amore” and published it myself. Sandra Edwards does all my formatting. She is very good. I’ve had reviewers remark on how good the formatting is, and I’ve had Amazon reviewers remark on the good editing. Finding the right cover is probably the hardest part of self-publishing. Sandy does some of my covers. I’ve hired a cover artist to do others. I usually spend hours going through the royalty-free sites looking for cover pictures. I have a critique group that helps with my writing. Once a book is critiqued, I do more revisions and send it to Laura for editing.

• What did you do to promote your work?

Promotion is never-ending. It takes up a good part of my day. Since I’m not a big name, I need to find ways to help readers find me. I’m on several promo loops; I don’t have my own blog, but I guest blog every chance I get. I’m a member author of Romance Books 4 Us and blog the 24th of each month. I comment on others’ blogs. I’m on Twitter and Facebook, but I seldom promote on them. I use them to chat and to hopefully get readers to know me. I try to participate on the various loops to get my name out there, but I don’t constantly promote my books. I think that turns readers off.

• What was the hardest thing you’ve found in the process of self-publishing? What was the easiest part of self-publishing?

The hardest is getting a good cover. The easiest is having the flexibility of trying different types of promotions, like offering free books. With a publisher, there’s a lot you can’t do.

• Can you list some Pros/Cons of self-publishing?

Pros-Control; Money; Flexibility. Cons-Pay for editing; pay for covers. One thing to remember–unless you’re a big name with a big publisher, your publisher will do very little to no promotion. You’ve still got to promote whether you publish yourself or with a publisher. As an indie author, you have more flexibility in how you can promote. Editing is my biggest expense, but it’s worth it. I’ve always earned back what I paid for editing.

• How long have your book(s) been out? How long between books if you have multiple sales—and if you have multiples did you see a bump in sales with subsequent publication?

I’ve been indie publishing since August 2010. I now have a total of eight books out. All but one are indies. As for the one that’s still with a publisher, I’m so sorry I didn’t indie pub that book. I do see a small bump in overall sales when I release a new book. Readers love series, and my friends who have series are making lottery-sized money. I’ve just completed a sequel to “Logan’s Redemption” called “Franco’s Fortune.” I plan to start on book two of my Stormy Love series (tentative series name). The first book in the series, “Storm of Desire,” is out now. I go about six months between releases.

• Can you give a rough breakdown of your sales numbers from your first month to the present?

I don’t make the lottery-sized money some indie authors make. I’m not even close. Indie publishing is a roller coaster for me. Some months I make terrific money and I’m thrilled. Other months, not so much. But I’m making lots more than I’d make with an epub or a small publisher.

• What advice can you offer to anyone deciding to self-publish?

If you’ve never published before, I recommend trying to sell to a good epub. You’ll gain experience working with an editor and cover artist and learn a little about promotion. Then you can spread your wings and try indie publishing. A combination of traditional publishing plus indie publishing works for many authors. If you have a book you love, but which doesn’t “fit” into publishers’ narrow categories, definitely consider indie publishing. It can be scary, so be prepared. And please, please have your ooks critiqued by people you trust and have them edited.

READER QUESTIONS…

• What genre(s) do you write in? How many books do you have out? Titles?

I mostly write contemporary romance, but I also do romantic suspense, paranormal and short stories. I have eight books: An anthology of short stories; a short story; a paranormal (not an indie); two romantic suspense; three contemporary romance. Titles: “A Cat’s Tale & Other Love Stories;” “Accidental Love;” “Cursed Mates;” “Logan’s Redemption” and “Murder, Mi Amore;” “Loving Or Nothing” (third place winner in Gulf States Silken Sands contest and semi-finalist in the Kindle Book Reviews Best Indie Book of 2012); “A Catered Romance” (previously published by Avalon Books);” “Storm of Desire.” I’ve published a dozen short stories in national women’s magazines.

• What do you love about the genre(s)?

I love a good love story with a hot hero and an independent heroine. I love happy endings. I write contemporary romance because I like to put my characters in real-world situations. While most of my books are contemporary romance, including my short stories, I also love writing romantic suspense and plan to write more of them. The thing I love about romantic suspense is putting ordinary people into extraordinary and dangerous circumstances.

• Where can readers find you?

My website lists all my books and short stories, along with excerpts from my books.
www.caramarsi.com

• Where can readers find your books? Print/Ebook?

One book is in print, “Loving Or Nothing,” in addition to being an ebook. The print book is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The rest are ebooks and can be found on Amazon, BN, Kobo, Smashwords and Apple. I plan to eventually have all my books in print. When I get the rights back to my paranormal in two years, I’ll have it edited and put it up myself.

• What works do you have coming out in the future?

“Franco’s Fortune,” a romantic suspense sequel to “Logan’s Redemption” should be out in early 2013. Tagline: “When a female bodyguard is hired to protect a reformed playboy, she finds saving his life is easier than protecting her heart.” Later in the year I hope to release the second of my Storm series.

• Are you participating in any reader contests?

I’m participating in The Romance Reviews Year-End Splash party from Nov. 15-Dec. 15. I’ll be giving away a copy of “Storm of Desire.”

• There is a rumor going around that all self-pubbed books are shoddily created. What do you say to that?

Bonk. No doubt there are some books that are shoddy. But like anything else, the cream rises to the top. Readers will find the good books. And most of the indie books I’ve read, especially the romances, are well-written and edited. Many big name romance authors are now indie publishing their backlists. I agree that editing is very important, which is why I pay to have my books well-edited. Self-publishing had a bad reputation at one time. But now, so many good, seasoned authors are going the indie route because of the money, control and flexibility that the bad rep label no longer applies.

• What advice can you offer readers of self-pubbed books in making a decision on what to read?

Read the book’s blurbs, read the reviews (with caution), check to see if the author has other books. A caution about the Amazon reviews. Look over the reviews, but remember you can’t believe all of them. If a book sounds good to you, ignore the reviews and buy it.

Thanks for having me today. I wanted to give your readers contacts for my editor, Laura Kelly and my formatter, Sandra Edwards.

http://editorlaurakelly.com/
sandywrites@sandyslibrary.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Award-winning author Cara Marsi likes to describe herself as a former corporate drone and cubicle dweller. Now that she’s no longer a slave to the corporate world, she can more fully indulge her love of romance. She likes to write about feisty, independent women and the hot guys who love them. She’s published in traditional romance, romantic suspense, and paranormal romance. In addition, she’s sold more than a dozen short stories to women’s magazines.

Cara and her husband like to travel, and she loves to write about the places they’ve visited. They share their home with a fat, black diva of a cat named Killer.

Please visit Cara’s website, www.caramarsi.com, to learn more about her books and her life. And to see a picture of Killer all pumped up for Halloween.

Self-Published Interview — Christina Tetreault

Tags

Christina Tretreault, contemporary romance, Self-publishing

Welcome back to another self-published interview! Today’s author is Christina Tretreault, author of contemporary romance. Enjoy!

PUBLISHING QUESTIONS…

• What was the deciding factor in self-publishing your book(s)? Did you decide on ebook or print only or both?

I decided to self-publish my first book in The Sherbrookes of Newport Series, The Teacher’s Billionaire after it made it through 3 editors at a publisher only to have them reject it after the third editor read it.  It was disappointing to say the least.  A fellow author in my writing group was having great success with her self-published books so I decided to give it a try.  I opted to do both ebook and print, but almost all of my sales are ebook sales.

• What went into the process? Writing, editing, cover design, formatting, etc… Share your ups and downs and how you went about it. If you used a service from a someone, could you share who?

Once I finished the book, I actually had my husband read it, then made a few changes.  Through my local writers group I got the name of a wonderful cover designer, who is also a writer, Calista Taylor.  Her covers are fantastic.  Then I put it up on Amazon. When I first released it, I thought it was perfect.  Then, I received a few emails from people saying there were some grammar mistakes and formatting mistakes.  One was actually from a woman who does editing for authors.  She had worked with one other author I was familiar with so I hired her to edit the book.  Then I hired someone to format.  I am great with computer basics but not the specialized stuff.

• What did you do to promote your work?

It is more like a question of what haven’t I done.  Lets see for my two books I have done virtual blog tours, Goodreads giveaways, trading cards, Facebook ads, Ads on various romance sites, and Blog Hops.  I also try to help promote other authors as well.

• What was the hardest thing you’ve found in the process of self-publishing? What was the easiest part of self-publishing? 

Perhaps the hardest part I found was getting the word out.  Once the book is available it is all up you to let readers know.  The easiest part, at least for me, was finding people to edit, format, make covers etc.

• Can you list some Pros/Cons of self-publishing?

There are several pros and cons.  One of the best parts is that  I have complete control over my story.  There is no publisher telling me it is too long or to short.  Or telling me that it doesn’t fit with current reader interests.    I think the two biggest cons are there is a little bit of money that needs to be put up front, unless you can make your own covers and what not.  The second biggest con, I think, is sometimes people still don’t considered self-published authors the real deal.  Some organizations and other authors consider self-published authors second class citizens so to speak.

• How long have your book(s) been out? How long between books if you have multiple sales—and if you have multiples did you see a bump in sales with subsequent publication?

Right now I am writing a series.  Book 1 titled The Teacher’s Billionaire came out in March of 2012.  I released Book 2 The Teacher’s Billionaire in September of 2012.  I am working on Book 3 right now and hope to have it out in the Spring.  Yes, I did notice a bump in sales when the second came out.  I think people like to read series books and are more likely to buy the first if they know they can get the next one right away if they so desire.

• What advice can you offer to anyone deciding to self-publish?

Even if you think the book is perfect with absolutely no errors, hire some to edit the book before you publish.  There are plenty of good editors out there that are reasonable who you can hire.

READER QUESTIONS…

• What genre(s) do you write in? How many books do you have out? Titles?

Right now I am writing contemporary romances that are part of a series called The Sherbrookes of Newport.  So far I have published the first two books   The first is The Teacher’s Billionaire and the second is The Billionaire Playboy.

• What do you love about the genre(s)?

I just the love the romance genre in general.  I like having a Happily Ever After at the end.  While I am currently writing contemporary romance it is not the only type that I read.  I also love to read historical romance and paranormal romance.

• Where can readers find you?

If readers want to find me they can visit my website or find me on Facebook, Twitter or my blog.

Website:  www.christinatetreault.com

facebook:  www.facebook.com/christinatetreaultauthor

twitter: @cgricci

Blog:  http://happilyeverafter-cgtetreault.blogspot.com/

• Where can readers find your books? Print/Ebook?

Readers can find me books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, KOBO, Smashwords, and AllRomance.com

• What works do you have coming out in the future?

Right now I am working on the third book in The Sherbrookes of Newport Series.

• Are you participating in any reader contests?

I regular take part in blog hops. Where readers can win various Giveaways.  I am doing at least 1 in December.  I am also contributing books to a  12 Days of Christmas Giveaway that several other authors are doing.

• There is a rumor going around that all self-pubbed books are shoddily created. What do you say to that?

I would have to say that while that does happen occasional, it is not the norm.  There are NY Times bestselling authors out there now self-publishing their own books as well as debut authors getting their stories out to readers for the first time.

• What advice can you offer readers of self-pubbed books in making a decision on what to read?

If you come across a self-pubbed book, I would first read an excerpt if one is available.  I know on amazon you can often download just a sample.  If you like that read some of the reviews, see what other people are saying about the book.  Then go from there.  I have purchased several self-published books and loved them.  At the same time I have purchased books from big name publishers and hated them.  Everyone likes something different.

Author Bio:

I wrote my first story with characters similar to those in the Sweet Valley Twins books at the age of 10 on my grandmother’s manual typewriter. As I got older my stories and characters became more mature. During my freshman year at UMass Dartmouth, I read my first romance novel and fell in love with the genre. I have been writing contemporary romance ever since.

Today I live with my husband, three beautiful daughters and two dogs in Massachusetts. Whenever I have a free moment you’ll find me either reading a romance novel or working on my most current story

The Billionaire Playboy

She’s spent her life avoiding love

Captain Charlotte “Charlie” O’Brien, a doctor in the United States Navy, returns to her home in North Salem, Massachusetts to visit her family and make an important decision about her future.  Mother Nature has other plans when a hurricane strikes, flooding the town and throwing Jake Sherbrooke in Charlie’s path.  Initially she believes Jake is nothing more than a rich playboy, but quickly, she learns that he is so much more.

The media calls him Prince Charming

Jake Sherbrooke has never been one to follow the path laid out by his parents.  That is why he started the Falmouth Foundation, a non-profit disaster relief organization rather than enter politics.  When he learns of the destruction in North Salem, he immediately travels there to offer aid and meets Charlie O’Brien.  Charlie is unlike any woman he has ever meet and he can not help but be drawn to her.

Soon neither can ignore the incredible chemistry between them. But will his reputation as a billionaire playboy damage their budding romance?

Amazon / Smashwwords / iTunes / AllRomance ebooks / B & N

For The Teacher’s Billionaire

Amazon / iTunes / NOOK / Smashwords / KOBO

 

The Ups and Downs of Self-Publishing

Tags

Self-publishing, ups and downs of self-publishgin

I get a lot of people asking me questions pertaining to self-publishing. I see a lot of blog posts about it too. I also read a lot of comments from people who haven’t landed an agent and figure self-publishing is their last resort. I thought I’d add my own opinion into the pot.

Self-publishing is a business decision. A viable career path. It should not be treated as a last resort, but a well thought out, planned business decision. Although there are still some stigmas attached to self-publishing, no longer is it completely shunned. Self-publishers are winning awards, selling thousands of books, hitting lists, being offered contracts by major publishers to reissue their work or future works. And most importantly–readers are loving their work.

But there is a downside to the popularity (dare I say latest trend?) of self-publishing–and I’m going to be completely honest with you. Self-publishing WILL NOT make you a millionaire overnight. It WILL NOT make you an instant best-seller. It may not even make you a hundred dollar-aire. When you make the choice to self-publish a story, DO NOT do it for those reasons.

I began my journey into self-publishing in December 2010. I’d received rights back from my publisher on three novellettes that I chose to put out as a combined anthology. December 30th, I published it. That first month (consisiting of 2 days) I made a big fat zero. It didn’t really phase me because the small press I’d pubbed with had sent me checks for $8 and $16 per QUARTER (my opinion on small presses vary…). I figured that was the way it was for a first time author. I had nothing to lose. The next month I made $151. Wow! Sweet! I can take my family out for a nice dinner! The month after I made $194. I was in shock. I’d not made that much in an entire quarter with SEVEN novellas with my publisher. I took back all my rights from that particular publisher, severed ties, and put them up myself. On those re-issued books I still make a couple hundred every month. For me, it was a good decision. I had more power over those books and a few more bucks in my pocket. I made a TON more than I was making at a small press that seemed more like a book-mill than a viable publisher interested in advancing my career (again another post…).

DO NOT get me wrong, I DO NOT down publishers! I have an incredible relationship with two of my publishers and hopefully a third soon.

My business decision was to keep my hands in all the pots. I am traditionally published and self-published. I have since put out novels into the world myself, as well as sending them to my publishers. My trad books increase the sales on my self-pubs and my self-pubs increase the sales on my trads–example: I had a book published in Feb 2012 with one of my publishers. I was ranking in around 60,000 – 100,000 on Amazon. After a couple of my new self-pubs came out, that just so happen to sell exceptionally well, I am now ranking between 5000 and 9000 on that trad book. An increase in sales nearly ten-fold.

So what is my advice? Don’t knock both worlds. They can both be viable, successful options. You just have decide what is the best choice for you and your particular book. You have to ask yourself, where do you see yourself going? How do you want your career to progress? How much control do you want over your books and how much work are you willing to put into it? Do you want to just write, or are you capable of handling a heck of a lot more?

What are the main ups and downs I see? For me, some of the ups are also the downs. So here goes…

• More power, more power, more power. But this isn’t an option for everyone. You have to really have the desire and put forth the effort to be successful. Deciding to self-publish a book makes YOU the author, both an author and a publisher. You have to hire (or trade) editors, copy editors, beta readers, cover artists, formatters. Learn the ins and outs of uploading. Contact reviewers, set up blog tours, pay for advertising (if you’re so inclined). You write your back cover copy and pick your own titles.
• Quicker pay-out. With self-publishing, you are paid every month, two months after the close of the month. So for book sales in January, you will receive your check/deposit aft the end of March.
• Higher royalties. For the most part royalties are higher, but in some cases, they aren’t. You can make 70% royalties at Amazon, but only if your book is priced between $2.99 and $7.99, if not, then its 35%. Also depending on the country its sold in, you make between 35-70%. If you choose to sell your book for $0.99 then you will only make about $0.35 a copy. You’d have to sell an awful lot.
• Which brings me to price point. You can choose your own prices. You can put your books on sale. In some cases you can make your book free for a period of time. Having the ability to play with price point helps you to figure out which price sells the most for you.
• Exposure is tougher when your self-pubbed starting out. If you have many books out, and a following, it becomes easier. Starting out, no one knows to look for your book. There are millions of books on Amazon–how will they find yours? You will have to work hard to get your book noticed, but once it is, you may find your book sells itself to thousands of readers.
• A downer… There is still a stigma, however much it is shrinking. When you tell people you’re self-pubbed, if they haven’t been educated, or read any good sp books, they will give you funny looks. Or they might pat your hand and say, “That’s nice, dear,” believing this is only a hobby for you. Be prepared to have a thick skin in this department. On the upside, you can educate them! You can hand them your book and show them that sp-ing a book doesn’t mean its a crappy book.
• Another downer… Many in the industry, including other authors, will think you took the easy way out. That you don’t have what it takes to make it in this business, that you are a “reject”. Brush it off. There have been and always will be, people in your life who think they are better than you and know better than you. You must have confidence in yourself and your work, and not let people like that make you doubt yourself.
• You get to choose your release dates! When you’ve finished your book, instead of waiting a year or more, you can upload your book that day (if you’ve made it as perfect as can be!) That is the one thing I’ve really loved doing. Choosing the release dates based on my schedule/time/holidays and knowing two months later I’ll get paid, has been extremely liberating.
• Gives less marketable books a chance. Publishers are ruled by markets. If there is a book–no matter how good–that doesn’t fit with the market, it will be rejected. Not all writers, write to market. Some of us write what we love. For example, my latest novel, A KNIGHT’S VICTORY, won a couple awards. BUT it was rejected by many publishers/agents. The reason–the romance was already established when the story begins. Its a reuniting, tragic tale, one in which I enjoyed seeing how my couple who’d been torn apart would be able to get back together, even though the conflicts seemed insurmountable. Because it couldn’t be marketed as a romance, due to them already being in love, I chose to put it out myself. So far, its selling decently, and I’ve heard from several readers that they are loving it. As an author, your job is to bring stories to readers. For me, the reader is the most important critic, and so I truly am grateful I can bring them books that may not be acceptable to a publisher per se.
• Freedom to choose your own schedule. This goes along with the choosing your own release dates. I like that I am accountable to myself and my life. Deadlines can be insane and sometimes cause you to miss important events. Even with self-publishing, you can still run into deadline issues, but for the most part, you’re the one who chose the schedule. I had a friend who missed Christmas this past year due to a deadline. I never want to be in that position.
• Other books by this author… You’ve seen this in books right? Publishers, for the most part, will only list the books you’ve published with them. This doesn’t sell any of your other books, and why would they want to? They are making money for themselves. With your own books, you can put ALL of them on your list!
• Contests/Reviewers, may not accept your book. This is not too much of a big deal to me because I don’t enter very many contests and I know which reviewers will accept my work.
• Organizations are now recognized self-published authors as published. RWA now lets a self-pubbed author who has earned $5000 join PAN–their published author network. Novelists Inc., will allow you to join if you’ve made $5000 on two novels. I’ve heard some people balk at the high numbers, but honestly, I don’t think they are high. To me it shows you are serious and have made an effort to create a good book that is selling well. Let’s face it, if you chose to self-publish as your career model, you have to have an income. Authors need to to stop accepting that making a few hundred dollars a month is adequate. Its long been ingrained in any artists’ mind that they should not expect much until they die. Starving artists and all. And yet there are those who do not accept that, and make a good living doing what they love–creating. I for one, will never accept that I should slave over a novel, literally wringing blood, sweat and tears into it, and then make pennies on it. I can’t live off of that, and if you can, well, then give me your tips!

Got questions? More ups and downs? Feel free to ask/comment, I’ll do my best to answer 🙂

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Websites: www.elizaknight.com

History Undressed: www.historyundressed.com

Twitter: @ElizaKnight

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