Books and books and books...

Book 1 is out! The first Summer McCloud paranormal mystery, Murder in Plain Sight,  is now up on
Amazon to download as a .99 ebook or buy the paperback. But with this one I did not do kindle select, instead I went to draft2digital and had my Word doc. converted and put onto Apple, Kobo, Page Foundry, Scribd, Oyster, Barnes and Noble, and Tolino--and it did not cost me a cent even though I had them generate a title page! Maybe a lot of you authors know about this. I just recently learned of this service from a very good friend who has generously given of her time to walk me through several marketing strategies. My question is: why is it so hard to format for kindle? I'm desperate to do my own formatting but so far have not figured it out.

I had my first fantasy books up on Smashwords, which did nothing for me, but maybe this time with some targeted marketing I'll have some success!

From what I've heard from my friend and others trying to sell books, a series is the way to go. And once you have several books going you make the first one permafree.  This is said to boost sales of subsequent books in the series. So on that note I'm hard at work on Book 2, Saffron and Seaweed. I absolutely love this cover, also done by Valerie Howard. I'm having a lot of fun with this new more light-hearted genre despite the murder aspect.

On that note I have taken The Moonstone and Gypsy's Quest, the first books in each of my fantasy trilogies, off KDP select. By the middle of september I should be able to put them both permafree. And then I will see what happens. It is all new territory that I kind of wish I'd known about several years ago. I find it very hard to discover these marketing tips on my own despite being in  several Indie author groups. I am most appreciative of Helen Page's ongoing help. She is an author with books in several genres as well as  being an editor.

And so the struggle to find my peeps continues. But everything is a learning experience and I can't complain, especially since I'm having so much fun!

Thanks for reading!

Postscript on Ingram and update

To follow up on Ingram. After several rounds of e-mails I was able to have my two Gypsy titles released as well as being granted a refund. Just Another Desert Sunset was allowed through without any fanfare and when I asked why I was told that it fit their criteria. I'm still confused about this but left it as is. It will be interesting to see if having the book on Ingram helps my sales.

Now on to bigger news. I am 300 words into the last Gypsy book and Viola has already done the cover for me, which I just had to share! It's fantastic!!! My favorite cover so far! Viola is so talented, isn't she? I'm very excited about Gypsy's Secret and hope to have it completed and up on Amazon before Christmas.

Which brings me back to Ingram. Should I try and get this one into Ingram or just keep it with Createspace? Viola can do the cover to Ingram's specs but my formatter has never formatted for Ingram. This will probably mean that I have to submit the files and have them do the interior which could prove to be quite expensive. But then again maybe I might luck out as I did with Just Another Desert Sunset. And so the dilemma continues. My formatter asked me why I cared? He said his wife has fourteen books out (I think that's the #) and does most of her sales in Kindle. But for some reason that hasn't been the case for me. Well, actually my sales have been dismal in both formats, but that's another matter.

I'll ponder this while I write. I'm sure the answer will come to me just as my characters have taken hold of my story and run away with it. I honestly have no idea what's going to happen next! Writing for me is almost like reading. And I have to say I like it that way.

Thanks for reading! And any and all comments are appreciated.

paperback writer...paperback writer...la la la, la la, la la

The paperback version of Gypsy's Quest took a mere three days from uploading the formatted ms to createspace to up on amazon! The Wolf Moon took at least a month with many revisions due to CS problems. As I spoke about in my last blog--formatting is the way to go. That and having a designer do the cover. I am NOT saying to do it yourself. Exactly how many hats can one put on one's head and not have said head explode?

This week I've put my books on consignment in two new places here in Tucson: Mostly Books and Antigone Books. Two weeks ago I sent my books off to Om Base Yoga studio in Portland, where Todd Williamson graciously put them on his shelves.

Now to decide my plan of attack for the launch. I need to reach more readers! I'm hiring Christine Myers to help me with this. I'm taking my time this time around--slow launch--it may not happen until the retrograde thing is over in early March.

I've been e-mailing with Ingram Spark about doing my expanded distribution with them. I'm still somewhat confused about the difference between Lightning source and Spark but I think Spark has less flexibility when it comes to bookstore discounts. They either do 40 or 55%--But I may be completely wrong about this. The spark rep. told me they can't do expanded distribution if I have a CS isbn--I have my own publishing name and I paid for my isbn, so hope I can get around this.

So now I'm hard at work on second book in Gypsy series...I've decided to be more disciplined this time around--setting a goal of 2000 words a day. If I stick to this the book should be released before the end of the year! However--time travel stories are complicated.

I've also decided to re-vamp my website since I am unable to do anything with the one I have. It sits there being beautiful but I want access! I will have the same url but the new one will be simple and practical, with a blog.

Hope what I share here can help other writers who are looking to self-publish...it can be daunting!

Thanks for reading and all comments are appreciated!

formatting, marketing and other suicidal endeavors

Things are coming together, more or less. My new cover is in process...my interior e-proof should be sent to me any day now.  I have now decided, from speaking with several other indie authors, that formatting is not so difficult. Now that I have a cover designer I think I may give it a try on the next book. According to one source it will take a day. Hmm...I'm recalling my frustration just two days ago when I tried to work on my Wordpress website and the button to add a photo refused to do what it was supposed to do..I tend to go ballistic rather quickly when out of my comfort zone--especially when it includes electronic devices. But if I manage this, working with Createspace will be a breeze, without all the delays that I've had to deal with. We'll see...

This past week has been devoted to marketing. I've contacted several sites for reviews with some success. I joined a paranormal writing group on Goodreads, which has a lot of interesting discussions, including one on reviews. My book is by no means a bodice ripper but since it does have a strong love story woven into it I am calling it a fantasy romance--or should it be romantic fantasy? In any case it opens up a much wider audience and gives me more options to explore. Romance seems to be a very popular genre but there also seem to be many sub-genres, from the Harlequin type to just a plain old love story and everything in between...and what exactly are the parameters? I guess I  should read a bit more before jumping in with both feet. Some of the sites I've visited have covers that depict half naked women and men that seem to point to a storyline very different from mine. And heading off in the other direction, I've come upon reviewers who will not review a book with sex scenes!

In the spirit of my new bravado, I've signed myself up to do a reading in Portland when I'm there in June! It's easy to do such things when they are in the future and in a galaxy far, far away--how will I feel in early June? I plan to drink several glasses of wine beforehand...will my slurred words make any sense? Maybe I can enlist others and put on a little skit--a dialogue scene. That actually sounds fun and a lot more entertaining for the audience of my three friends.

Do you do your own formatting? And if so, how frustrating is it, really?

more of the same different day...

And so the createspace debacle continues. I would love to say that because I was so thorough with my editing, the book took less hassle and time to produce, but sadly that is not the case. They no longer do the 'interior changes form' and that is a good thing since it was meticulous and time-consuming in the extreme, but...I got the digital proof back with all sorts of weird formatting issues (numbers and letters where words should be)and dotted lines that didn't belong that I can't get rid of--things that were NOT in my original MS... I called them and of course it's on me to go through the entire book AGAIN and correct their mistakes. Deja-vu anyone? What is it with them?

I know what it is--they don't look at what they're doing. It is VERY annoying to pay a lot of $ and then have to clean up the mistakes they add. But on the good side I have been rewriting some rough spots--of course I could edit forever...

The other issue is that I've decided not to go with the cover they did for me, but when I asked if I could change it, they said no--only if I submit my own artwork...I guess what they meant was no unless you pay the original fee all over again. Well, on that note, I found Viola at-www.EstrellaCoverArt.com--and discovered a cover that I like a lot. And for a nominal fee I can have it altered to suit.  And so this all pushes the book release back again. But what does it matter? I'm in no rush and I mainly want it to be right.

So any suggestions for my next book? Has anyone had experience with Lightning Source? Or are they the same company; everything seems to be merging these days. Or maybe I should have it formatted myself...it probably wouldn't be any more difficult to do everything piecemeal. And it might cost less too. My main concern is getting it up on Amazon as POD as well as Kindle. Guess I have some research to do...