self-publish « Robin Writes

I wanted to give a shout-out, first and foremost, to my good friend Melinda Clayton, author of the Appalachian Justice series. She invited me to participate is this linked blog thingy and I total dropped the ball – I’m trying to pick it up again, but I seem to be all thumbs. Or all carpal tunnel. Or something.

Anyway, here’s my contribution and, since I’m not all sweet and polite and stuff like Melinda, who actually asked me if I was interested before springing the trap (!), I’m just going to name a couple writers and pass the love along! Just answer the questions on your blog and tag/name/elect a few others to participate too.

And by the way, if you haven’t yet read Melinda’s book, you are MISSING OUT! You can order them here, just call or shoot us an email.

With no further ado:

1. What is the working title of your book?

My first book is REDUCED, so naturally the second one had to be REUSED. But the working title of REDUCED was originally “Abby.” I’m not good at titles, REDUCED stuck in my mind, and the change was made – under protest from a few people!

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

Ha. The story has been passed around a bit, in several interviews, but in a nutshell: I got hungry late at night and chips and salsa sounded good. At my age, it may have tasted good – delicious, in fact – but my stomach disagreed and sent word to my brain. My brain responded with a very strange dream wherein my lead character, Abby, was having a shoot-out at a convenience store. (It’s okay, they were bad guys.) So when I woke up, I realized that Abby was running from/to something and very bad things were going to happen. As soon as she clued me in, I was off and running!

3. Under what genre does your book fall?

Dystopian, science fiction, apocalyptic. Somewhere in there. Not a genre to which I expected to write, it just kind of happened!

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Wow, that’s tough. I don’t think I know enough about any actors to pick them. [Note to readers – do YOU have any ideas? I mean, just in case!]

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Um, one sentence? One??

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Oh, I’d love for an agent to swoop in and take off some of the marketing pressure. It could happen. Maybe. At the moment, however, I’m self-published even though, like a lot of SP authors, I use a “publisher” imprint. It’s legit, though, it falls under the bookstore SAN.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

First draft? There are supposed to be more?? Oh, well, about six months in time; probably four in actual writing. The second book is taking about three, more or less.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Oh, I wouldn’t dare to make comparisons. Although one reviewer did mention Stephen King’s The Stand….

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Abby did. She told me what was going on, I wrote it down.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I hope the title and cover start the process – a little dark, a little mysterious, and just one word: REDUCED. Of course, the question is just what is “reduced?” Morals? Politics? People? Government? Hmmm.

Yes, I turned down a publishing contract. Let’s recap what they were going to do for me and how they were going to sell my books:

Editing – I’d already paid a professional

Put my book on Amazon, BN, Smashwords, Goodreads, their own website – I could do all that, for free.

Use distributors like Ingram and Baker & Taylor – I could do that, too.

What’s left? “Not much” is what I figured, except I’d get paid less for a book that *I* had written and done all the work for and I’d still be doing everything. So I went over to the Dark Side.

In case you’re wondering, the Dark Side, to booksellers, is Amazon. Yes, I’m playing a game – you know, if you can’t beat ’em, join em! I’m not big enough for them to take any notice of me and, while wearing my author hat, they can sell my books. As a bookseller, my store will carry my book too. Now, some booksellers won’t take it simply because I used CreateSpace to print it. That’s okay. It’s their decision, after all and I totally understand why they feel that way. Of course, a lot of small indie publishers use CS to print too, but I’m not going there. Another reason some bookstores won’t carry my book is because, in general, self-published books are garbage.

Not all, but an awful lot. I know. They come into my store and, well, ick. Some I can’t even get through the first chapter. But more on that some other time.

So I made the decision to SP. Copyright, check; editing, check; cover design, check; marketing plan, check. Oh, wait – that last? Yeah, you have to have one. You can’t just expect the Magic Fairy of Sales to wisk your book out and about and bring you money every night while you sleep. You’re an author? Then you’re a business, a commodity, a personality. Be one.

I Tweet; I Facebook; I blog; I have a website with PayPal enabled buttons for readers to buy my book. Yes, I also take advantage of Amazon distribution and sales and yes, it’s available on Kindle. By Christmas, it will be available on other e-readers.Why did I let Kindle have first dibs? They pay me more. Simple.

Friday is the big launch party. Why? Well, why not? I spent six months writing this book, it’s getting really good reviews, and I want to sell books. I’ve notified the press and yes, some will be there. I’ve invited everyone I know – gosh, I hope someone shows up! The point is that yes, it’s a big deal to me and I want to make it a big deal to everyone else. Yep, tootin’ my own horn, but who else is going to do that? Seems like not even that publisher was going to go all out for my book.

I have posters, stand-ups, cards, giveaways; opened a Cafe Press storefront, in case anyone wants to wear my book or drink from it. Sure, some of it cost me a few dollars, but again – you’re a business, remember? Think of a launch party like a grand opening!

Besides, after all that hard work, don’t you deserve a party?