Are you ready to be an indie press?

by Maggie Toussaint

There's so much happening in the book industry today. Some folks say traditional houses are dying, others say there will always be print books. I'm of the opinion that there's room for all kinds of houses and all kinds of books.

Whether the book sells, in whatever format, depends on the quality of the story (most important), the cover of the book (very important), and getting the word out (must do this). Sounds like they're all important, and they are. If you decide to seek a nontraditional publishing venue, be sure to keep this in mind. When you sign with a publishing house, they have editors and cover artists and marketing advice/programs/budgets (depends on the house) and they are in essence your partners in the publication of your book.

If you decide to self-publish or indie publish, the burden falls squarely on you, the author.

Reasons to self-publish: your book doesn't fit a traditional market; you want to get something out there and get started on your publishing career; the top houses don't want it and you'd rather do it yourself than turn it over to someone else (creative control); you have a solid marketing plan and the time to put it into action.

There are more reasons, but the worst reason is that you're in a hurry. Don't do this in a hurry. A poorly edited book is worse than no book. Let me say that again. A poorly edited book is worse than no book.

If I haven't scared you off yet, let me tell you about my route to indie publishing. I have both traditional and e-press publishers. In time, books get remaindered or the rights revert to you if you request to get them back. One of my romances didn't do as well as the others and I reasoned that the house it was published through had less traffic for this kind of book than my other publisher. So, I wanted to give this story another chance.

I researched the idea among various writer groups, friends, and a very helpful mentor, Rebecca Vickory. I discovered that the process was very doable. To put out a book in digital, one uses a free program such as Smashwords and publishes through the Kindle store. Both have excellent instructions on how to do the formatting and the cover requirements.

Which brings me to cover artists. You can spend a lot of money for a cover, or a little, or even design your own. The idea is to invoke reader interest and to have the cover reflect the type of story inside. Rebecca recommended a cover artist to me, who I used, and I had both a print and digital cover made for SEEING RED, which is in the sweet romance genre. I paid right at $100 for both covers.

Since I plan to publish more of my "rights reverted" books in the future, I decided to give my new house a name, Muddle House Publishing, and created a simple website for it online through a free site like weebly. Since I'd already managed to format my own author page at blogger (http://mudpiesandmagnolias.blogspot.com/), using the templates at weebly came easy. Granted, my site isn't complete, but it is a start. http://www.muddlehousepublishing.com/.

I was also fortunate enough to already have my writing income roll into the LLC my husband and I created a few years ago. We added Muddle House as a new entity in our corporation, so that we had a tax ID number.

This was important for acquiring ISBNs through Bowker (http://www.bowker.com/). I bought a package of 10 ISBNs and a bar code, which was a bit of an investment, but when you look at it as a per book cost, it isn't much. Again, to get your books listed or placed in stores, you will need ISBNs. Additionally, I chose to use one ISBN for the ebook release (all formats) and another for the print release of SEEING RED.

Next came formatting. This was easy if you followed ALL the directions. You have to have patience because in reformatting, some things get uncentered or the font changes, and you have to be diligent about checking and rechecking. This takes time, or at least it did for me.

Because I had slow sales for this particular title earlier, I wanted to encourage sales with the new release. I chose a low price of $2.99 as a loss leader, hoping people would discover my writing and then buy other titles of mine. Some authors go as low as $0.99, but I wasn't ready for that price point.

I went through all the gyrations for the digital release first. Once I had that file prepped and published, I turned my attention to getting the book printed. I selected CreateSpace (http://www.createspace.com/). The quality of the books is very high, they are a professional outfit, and they came highly recommended. I was not disappointed.

For the print book, I needed a print cover, my ISBN and my formatted file. There was a slight fee to order the galley for proofing, but it was under $5 plus shipping. I ended up needing two galleys made because I fixed one problem, didn't see the other one, then realized I needed to read the whole thing again. I've found it easier to see the mistakes on paper than on screen. You may have a different editing experience.

Then I had both formats of books ready to go. It was up to me to upload SEEING RED in print format to the Amazon store. I believe that took a week or two. Then it was ready for order for stores and people across the globe.

For this book, I was lucky - it had already had extensive editing at the small epress that put it out the first time. However, my writing style had changed, and there were some parts of the book that needed updating, so I mucked with it a bit. That's where the mistakes came in during the galley phase - to changes I'd made in the text. But I'm glad I made those changes. The book is stronger, and it is more reflective of how I write.

If you are undertaking indie publishing with a book that hasn't been professionally edited, I highly recommend that you find an editor to take a comb through of it. Perhaps you have a critique partner that would swap this service with you. Don't rely on your friends, mother, or husband for this service.

Once the book was released, the marketing all fell squarely on my shoulders. That meant blogs, contests, signings, and more. That means conquering new social media and networking and continuing to spread the word.

Publishing, in any format, takes time. It takes commitment, and it takes a bit of luck. There's both an art and a science to the business. Getting that blend right can make or break you.

I invite you to check out SEEING RED. I hope when you look at the cover, you see a crumbling house, a redhead, and a handsome hunk who wants to sweep her off her feet.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end of this long post! The future in publishing is yours to command!

Maggie Toussaint
http://www.maggietoussaint.com/
http://mudpiesandmagnolias.blogspot.com/
www.muddlehousepublishing.com/

An Exciting Time to be Indie!

“More and more, you will see books and publishing ventures aimed at very specific niches.”

Richard Curtis, literary agent, quoted by James McGrath Morris in The Huffington Post




I was indie when indie wasn’t cool, as the song says (well, it says something like that).

Back in 2003 when I finished writing my first novel to be complete, Finishing Touches, I was already beginning to research the publishing industry to figure out what to do with the book once the writing was done. I’d learned about Writer’s Market and several of the big online Market spots and had used both while hunting a publisher for my children’s story. Wow, that first rejection does sting. I suppose they all do, but the first one shoves deeply into a new writer’s soul like no other, as it brings a bucket full of reality with it. I learned a lot trying the traditional path with that book although it was really just a little side project for my kids. Research led to more research, to the way novels are published, the way the industry works.

Scary thing, the book industry.

I wasn’t scared, however, as much as disheartened. Publishers want a certain genre, and particularly whatever genre is best selling at the moment. My book didn’t fit any publisher or agent I found. It’s a mutt: a half breed, if you will. Just as too often the mutts are left in shelters while the purebreds are taken home, I didn’t see much chance to get my own mutt out there.

That is, until I found companies offering to take your mutts, uh books, under their shelters and give them homes, for a small fee. So the research shifted. Sometimes the fees weren’t so small. Sometimes they didn’t have the kind of home I wanted for my book. Sometimes they were complete rip-offs. I read lots of forums to find authors talking of their experiences and read the fine print on each company’s site. When I found Infinity Publishing, a small independent company out of Pennsylvania, I knew my book would be comfortable there.

During this week of indie publishing posts, I’ve enjoyed all of the experiences by authors willing to do things differently. Back in 2003 when I decided to go that route, self-publishers were truly the mutts of the writing world. And not only the mutts, but the dirty unkempt disease-ridden mutts.

Still, I figured it was my only shot, other than switching to write a genre that “fit.” I’ve never been one to fit, though, or to give in.

My experience with Infinity was wonderful. They answer emails immediately. They pick up the phone in person. The books turn out beautifully and they help with formatting when you need it. Within a few weeks of sending my files to them, I had a box full of my first novel! How exciting is that??

Ah, then comes the marketing but that’s a story for a different post. I’m trying not to be too long-winded.

So, very long story short, my next two books went to Infinity, as well. But I never stopped researching, following publishing trends, especially indie publishing. It also wasn’t being called that yet – there was a debate as to whether authors using POD services were actually “self-published” and much yelling about it by experts of some sort, so when I started a group for those writers doing it on their own, I called it indie publishing, in the vein of indie musicians. I was often asked just what I meant by “indie author” and was glad to explain. My group grew quickly. It seems lots of mutt authors were looking for homes.

Within the 7 years since I began, the indie scene has begun to burst, and I can’t be happier to see it.

My research, though, took me to another path. My two newest books, Off The Moon & Protect The Heart, are published by Elucidate Publishing, my own company. It entails a heck of a lot more work and a huge learning curve, but it also makes my books less expensive and gives them much better distribution. (This post is too long already to go into the process, but I have an indie publishing section on my own blog and I’ll add that there soon.) EP is in process of expanding to include other independent authors whose themes match its orientation: a writer’s artist colony of sorts. We offer print books, with assistance if needed to set up ebooks at Smashwords.com (see below for all of the raving about how wonderful Smashwords is! I fully agree, and it’s the best way for authors to dip their feet into indie publishing). Watch EP for the newest authors to join the team!

A warning for writers considering going independent: it’s not the easy way. Make sure to research your options first. Watch for companies who will cost you more than you can afford, not only monetarily. Talk with other indies (or read blogs such as this). EDIT! and get critiques. We serious indies are dismayed by all those who put out first drafts because it makes our mission harder. Be prepared to do all of the footwork yourself. It takes a lot of time. Can you afford it? Do you have the stamina and determination? It takes plenty.

It’s also an unbelievable feeling, once you’ve gone through all the work and hold that gorgeous book in your hand, to know YOU did it.

Good luck!

I’ll be around to answer questions if anyone has any.

LK Hunsaker
~Literary Romance with an Artsy Twist~
http://www.lkhunsaker.com
http://lkhunsaker.blogspot.com
http://www.elucidatepublishing.net


-- 

Linda Acaster: Ebooks R Us

Back in the days of yore I won a competition and ended up with two historical romances being published by Mills & Boon (Harlequin UK). When I was able I had my rights reverted to me. Better the novels sitting in my drawer than lost in theirs.

Last winter a cross-genre novel Torc of Moonlight finally saw the light of day and Amazon USA opened its DTP e-book publishing arm to non-USA residents. Time, I thought, to dip my toe into indie authoring and ebook my rights-reverted novels, beginning with Hostage of the Heart.

I did masses of research regarding the experience of others, and can recommend The Newbie’s Guide to Publishing blog, not just for the posts but for the knowledge of its commenters. On a read through, e-publishing for the Kindle I didn’t find easy to understand, but Smashwords helpfully offers idiot’s guides as well as multi-formats, including for the Sony e-Reader and the Apple I-Pad. Both devices need spot-on formatting, and also an ISBN dedicated to the ebook, which Smashwords offers free, so I decided to try my test run there.

Taking care not to include the strapline or page number, I scanned my h/backs to create digital files (the paper used for p/backs carries more wood fibre so confuses the scanner). I then re-edited all the phrasing that I’d now never write due to the improvement in my writing skills. Copyright and Title pages are well explained in the guides, as is the preferred formatting. Ignore this at your peril. You are not formatting for a print book, but for a digital file than can be read on anything from a desktop computer to a mobile phone.

I’m a reader who prefers to see the cover as the first page of an ebook, so added mine at the front of the text file. Of course, updating the cover will mean re-uploading the text file, so you take your choice.

The biggest boon to indie e-authoring is the ability to advertise my other ebooks at the end of the novel. Initially I wrote a paragraph on each of my forthcoming titles complete with live links, but decided as a taster to add in the full initial chapter of my second historical Beneath The Shining Mountains.

After checking every line and comma, I uploaded the file to Smashwords and held my breath. It takes surprisingly little time to convert a file to the requested formats, and watching a series of boxes turn green can be riveting. It is at this stage that any likely problems are flagged by the automated system. With that hurdle passed the ebook joins a queue for a human check before going live on the site.

Smashwords offers a running tally via the author’s ‘dashboard’ not only of sales but of number of downloaded samples, which is a wonderful indicator as to the efficacy of a marketing drive. Although I took all the steps very slowly, I found the experience a piece of cake. Not so uploading for the Kindle.

Armed with my ISBN (which Amazon accepts but doesn’t use, allotting its own ASIN) I forayed into Kindle territory via Amazon’s Digital Text Platform

There are lots of user forums and some Q&A guides, but it could do to be a bit more idiot-proof for first-timers. Amazon’s conversion process isn’t as forgiving as that of Smashwords, but it will take Word files, just the same. After altering the Copyright page and checking formatting against the Kindle’s guidelines, the uploading procedure was straightforward enough. However, at the Preview stage I realised that the automated system was grouping short paragraphs (dialogue) and indenting them as a block – a known problem, I gathered from the forums. For some writers, and readers, this wouldn’t be a problem. I’m finicky and want the presentation as good as by any professional publisher.

There’s an option to download the semi converted HTML file and hand edit, but considering what I know about HTML can be written on the back of a postage stamp, for a 71k word script this was a non-starter. One indie author suggests using Open Office and exporting direct as HTML, which Amazon’s DTP system will accept, so I did, but when I got to the Preview stage with this second file I found that all my centring had been left justified. Argh!!

Which brings up the question: how much time do I spend messing about with these things? As long as it took to contact Jim & Zetta Brown who convert Word files for the e-publishing industry on both sides of the Atlantic. Jim suggested a PRC file was likely to solve the problem. And it did. I shall not mess about for the rest of my books, simply go to him first.

The Kindle version went live last Friday, so the marketing starts now:

Hostage of the Heart - a mediaeval romantic suspense set on the English/Welsh borders in 1066.
When her kin refuse to pay her ransom, dare a battle hostage give her heart and her life to a warrior-knight shielding dark secrets of his own?
Heat level: sweet. 71,000 words. $1.99
For the Kindle  /  For all other formats

To read the opening chapter: http://lindaacaster.blogspot.com/, or download the samples direct from Kindle or Smashwords.

If you haven’t been bored witless, return tomorrow for a laugh about the making of its cover, through the original publisher's branding to my own first effort.

Regards – Linda Acaster
http://www.lindaacaster.com/ / .co.uk

People do scary things...

By scary things, I mean not nice things, dangerous things - evil even. And we writers capitalize on those nasty doings.

Whether it is fictional or about real-life, we write tales involving murder, theft, assault, espionage, and super-natural beings that have an axe to grind (sometimes literally) and our readers buy these dark stories over and over again. We invent monsters and twisted minds all in the guise of entertainment.

Is it that we enjoy misery and fear?

These dark stories can cause an adrenaline rush similar to the high many people get when riding a roller coaster. It's a rush that leaves you feeling alive and tingly. Evil doings also force us to think - what would we do in that situation, how would we outmaneuver the diabolical masterminds? Reading a well-written book allows a person to live vicariously as they are absorbed in the words and driven to turn the page to see what happens next.

All but one of my books to date has been romantic-suspense with the anticipated and requisite happy-ever-after ending; my one mystery suspense featured pure evil and a twisted mind. I've used art theft, rape, murder and murder attempts, arson, sexual deviants, corporate espionage, and international terrorism in my plots. Scary stuff, but I really am a good girl.

Sometimes a writer will use the ugly and scary things in life as part of a character’s past so that the reader will feel sympathy for him. I did this in my upcoming novel (due out in print this month and already available on SmashWords), A Chaunce of Riches when I explain how my hero and heroine first met:

(excerpt)
Sam had already been in the foster home when Ben came to live there. Her parents had died in a car accident. She had been rescued, orphaned, from the wreckage. There was no family to replace the loving parents she remembered. She had been the only child of two only children. There was an ailing grandmother halfway across the country but no one else. Her grandmother sent what money she could for the few years she lived but she couldn’t take care of a child. Samantha had just started kindergarten when her world was destroyed.

It was a little more than a year later when Ben, already eight, the same age as Philip, was taken away from his drug addict mother. She had tried to sell him for drug money when she came up short but he had kicked the pedophile she was bargaining with and ran away. It angered her and she sent him into the streets to fend for himself. He was scared, homeless and hungry for almost two days when Baltimore cops picked him up and child services got involved. Ben was brought to the foster home; there were six other kids including Sam and two more birth kids belonging to the couple. It was a relief not to have to hide in the closet while his mother turned tricks to get drug money. But the child in him still felt resentment that his mother had tossed him away like garbage. And the child in him was terrified that he would lose the new-found comfort his foster family provided him with. He couldn’t relax, he couldn’t trust. Sam was the only one who could get through to him. She was the only one who made him feel safe.

He had come to the foster home early in the fall, just in time to start the school year. He was lacking in education because his mother never made sure he got to school each day and he was embarrassed. Even though Sam was younger than him, she helped him study and eventually catch up to his grade level. Then, when the excitement of Halloween drew near, he was terrified when the other kids talked of donning costumes and going door-to-door for candy. He refused to go, he was afraid he would have to do more than just ring doorbells. But when the other kids came home happy and laughing and with sacks filled with candy, he felt left out. Sam dumped her bag of candy in front of him and said it was too much for just her, he had to help her and eat some of it.