Favorite AND Most Challenging First in Writing ... by Delsora Lowe

I have a first book ever written (2001), along with many written full manuscripts, still sitting under my bed. But my first book to be published was The Legacy of Parkers Point, released in 2016. My novella, published in an anthology (Welcome to Serenity Harbor), was part of a compilation of novellas by members of the Maine Romance Writers. As one of the project managers on this project, I learned a ton.

The excitement of publishing a first book is beyond description.

When the anthology ran its course in early 2017, and we all received back our rights, I was soon able to experience new excitement. I republished the novella as my first indie-published book. I did the soup to nuts work, same as we did on the anthology: re-editing with a professional editor, working with a cover artist and a formatter, and promoting my “first-born,” as I did the same for two more newly written novellas that would make up the series. The three books, published individually, came out as the Starlight Grille series over the months during the fall of 2017. And then the three were published as a collection with a new short story added in 2018. Scary but exciting, for sure!

The learnings from being one of the project managers on the anthology were expanded as I indie-published The Legacy of Parkers Point and the other two books in 2017. Each book I put out has its own excitement. But that first book—there are no words to describe the feeling.Following is a blog, originally published here on Romancing the Genres (and updated), about my experience as the co-manager of the anthology. The book that kicked off and catapulted me into published-author territory.

Working on an anthology is an entirely different beast. Think Beauty and the Beast. You start out with a quarrelsome, growly, domineering chunk of words that need to be tamed into one cohesive book.

Picture this: Beauty dreaming of finding her hero. Every August the Maine Romance Writers partake in a brainstorming retreat. Okay, so it’s like a huge slumber party. We arrive with sleeping bags and pillows and laptops and snacks (salty and savory) and wine. Did I mention laptops? Yes, we do work. We spend all day either brainstorming our next story in small groups, or sitting on the deck or down by the lake writing on our current work. We break every few hours to exchange writing tips, eat, or take a boat ride around the lake. Oh, and sip wine 😊

Two years ago, we sat on the deck, sated with food and talk and wine (just a little <WINK>,) with the sound of loons on the lake and the full moon arrowing a golden path across the lake and right up on the shoreline in front of us. The setting was one of those perfect end-of-summer evenings.

Our host suggested we might like to try writing an anthology. Within minutes we’d created a town, brainstormed names of the town, set a few guidelines, and we were off and running…

Or so we thought.

The reality is the work we did that night was Beauty’s fantasy. Then the Beast appeared. All the details of actually putting together an anthology. The writing was the easy part—Beauty’s fantasy. Managing a project, was the roaring and untamable Beast.

I am happy to say we did finally tame the beast, and named it Welcome to Serenity Harbor. Beauty and the Beast are now living happily ever after. But as with all good marriages or committed relationships, one must open their eyes, negotiate, persevere over the hurdles, and make a strong commitment to reach that Happily Ever After.

As one of two project managers, working with a group of six committee members and all the authors who were excited about the project, here are the things I learned: (caveat, not all anthologies revolve around a town, like ours did. Some have a theme. Some are made up of a group of authors and there are no rules around story content.)

The following are my suggestions from the experience of working on the anthology, but most of this can also relate to individual works

♥ Map out the project, and plot exactly what the project will look like.

·         Set rules, such as genre of anthology (ours was contemporary), length (we chose short novellas, 15 – 25K words).

·         Write a contract. Include costs, such as professional editor for each work, (authors absorbed that cost), due date of manuscript, anticipated release date, budget (cost of formatter, cover artist, and promotion, for which we shared cost), and production timeline.

·         Determine as a group, parameters around the theme (story bible,) such as name and details of town that all authors will set their story in, name of overall anthology, type of promotion, voting on book cover design, etc.

♥ Research

·         What anthologies are being sold now, how are they set up, etc.

·         Talk to other authors in anthologies to understand their process.

·         Find professionals, editors, formatters, cover artists, etc.

♥ Communicate

·         As a committee, agree on the process.

·         Communicate with all authors each step of the way.

·         Vote on any spending.

♥ Evaluate at the end. Our learnings included:

·         Make sure you factor in realistic expenses, such as copyediting and project manager costs up front.

·         Set deadlines and stick to them.

·         Hire a copy editor, and have one person, not an author related to the anthology, determine if the book fits the criteria and is edited properly

♥ Make it your own

·         One fun thing we did, was to insert the mention of a sheep into each story. Look at the back cover and you will see a rendering of a sheep that says “find me,” designed by one of our authors.

Although, as a group we bumbled our way through the process, for me it was an incredible experience of teamwork and learning about self-publishing. And although the Beast still growls once in a while, the Beast is also loving and tamed. And he and Beauty are living happily ever after.

Although the idea was conceived at our brainstorming retreat, the book is not a product of the Maine Romance Writers, but of a group of writers, some members from out of state, whose bond is through MRW.

Now that it has been several years since we took on this project, I can look back on the process with clarity. This project was indeed hard. One of the hardest things I’ve ever tried, starting from scratch, and learning along the way. Despite the intense undertaking, I learned so much and gained the confidence to go on and publish more books, and for that I am grateful.

 

The Rancher Needs a Wife

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Rancher-Needs-Cowboys-Mineral-Springs-ebook/dp/B07YXB5C4W/

Books2Read

books2read.com/u/bxv56d

~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the home fires burning ~

Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet romances and contemporary westerns from the mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine.

Author of the Starlight Grille series, Serenity Harbor Maine novellas, and the Cowboys of Mineral Springs series, Lowe has also authored short romances for Woman’s World magazine.

Social Media Links:
Author website: www.delsoralowe.com
Author FaceBook page: fb.me/delsoraloweauthor
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Delsora-Lowe/e/B01M61OM39/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Books2Read Author page: https://www.books2read.com/ap/8GWm98/Delsora-Lowe
BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/delsora-lowe-93c6987f-129d-483d-9f5a-abe603876518
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16045986.Delsora_Lowe

Photo Links:Blue Beast: https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/160000/velka/blue-monster.jpg / https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=155188&picture=blue-monster

Beauty – Blue Dress: https://cdn.clipart.email/15667992f55f25a3ff416a014ad7a001_beautiful-woman-girl-icons-png-free-png-and-icons-downloads_1840-2400.png

Indie Publishing via Amazon: Bits, Bytes and Bucks

by Madelle Morgan

I learned a few promotion-related tidbits important to indie romance authors (and readers) at the Romance Writers of America conference in San Antonio, Texas last month.

When I wasn't having fun with a couple of cowboys, that is...

www.facebook.com/kindlelovestories 

At a two hour workshop, Amazon representatives described how Amazon continues to evolve its services to support indie authors. Why? Simply put, self-publishing is profitable. Latest figures available show that a third of the top 100 e-books on Amazon.com were indie-published. One hundred fifty (150) authors publishing via Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) sold over $100,000 worth of books in 2013 on Amazon. That's not the total. That's the amount each author earned.

Other pluses for KDP authors are global distribution and sales data. Amazon distributes to 246 countries. KDP offers real time sales reports. Bookscan data is available describing where, geographically, books are selling for a specific period. This provides valuable, timely feedback on the impact of specific marketing initiatives. On the print side, CreateSpace is going to be offering professional services for editing, cover design and marketing indie-published print books.

Amazon's Discovery Options for Readers & Authors

KDP Select
When an author puts an e-book into the KDP Select program, the book is sold exclusively on Amazon for up to 90 days. While the author's book is in that program, the author can make it free for up to five days within that 90 day period. When not free, that book can be discounted via the Kindle Countdown Deals for up to seven days. You are probably familiar with Kindle Daily Deals. As well, a KDP Select e-book is automatically enrolled in the new Kindle Unlimited "loan" program. See below.

Stay Up To Date
This feature on the right menu on an Amazon Author Page allows readers to subscribe to an automatic email when the author has a new release. I'm absolutely loving this alert option, because when the next books in my favorite series are published I'm automatically notified.

Series Promotion
A new feature (or at least new to me) allows an author to set up a Series Landing Page - a list of all the books in a series. When a reader searches for an author and gets the list of all the author's works, she'll see a link that takes her to a page with a list of all the books in the series, in order, as well as any connected works such as box sets and short stories. If the author sets up a page for each series, that is!

Here's Marie Force's Amazon page for her series "The McCarthys of Gansett Island."

Hot New Releases
To my surprise, the books on this coveted list are chosen by the Amazon merchandizing team! It's a curated list. The books on it are not selected because of some mysterious algorithm magic.

Amazon is Enabling Readers to Read a Lot of Books Cheaply

Kindle Lending Library
This is available exclusively to Prime members. Readers have to read at least 10% of the book before the author receives any money (currently approx $2 per book loaned).

Kindle Unlimited - NEW
This service for U.S.-based subscribers has just launched. They pay $9.99 per month for unlimited reading and listening on any device. Books in KDP Select are automatically added to the Kindle Unlimited library of over 600,000 works for the duration of the time the book is in the KDP Select program. This is a wonderful way for readers to discover new authors without a financial commitment. Readers, as I understand it, please note that the book will disappear from your device the moment the audio or e-book is no longer in the KDP Select program.

Kindle Daily Deals
This has to be one of your go-to pages on Amazon.

Match Book - NEW
Purchasers of a print copy can buy the digital version for a discounted price.

Please note Kobo offers promo support such as pricing strategies along with its self-publishing platform Kobo Writing Life. Unfortunately I couldn't attend the Kobo workshop due to a conflict, but will listen to the audiotape. With promo strategies offered by innovative distributors like Amazon and Kobo, indie authors are sitting pretty, darlin'!

Any factual errors in the above descriptions are my own, not Amazon's. Blame it on these frosty delights I enjoyed while relaxing beside the beautiful Riverwalk canal.

And Finally, the RITA Goes To...

The annual Romance Writers of America RITA Awards recognize outstanding published romance novels and novellas. At this year's gala ceremony it became crystal chandelier clear to me that indie publishing has reached a tipping point. A self-published novel won the RITA in the Romantic Suspense category! Several other indie novels were nominated.

I walked onto the plane at the San Antonio airport after a great conference convinced that it's a no-brainer for an author to try self-publishing.

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Madelle

www.MadelleMorgan.com

How to Take Your Book from Concept to Publication

by Jennifer Conner of Books to Go Now

There are many more options for authors these days. But it’s a big scary world out there. Sometimes I think the writing of the book is the easy part. Now, what do you do with your story and what is the best choice for you. Authors I’ve spoken to are trying different directions. If they were self-pubed, then they are trying a house or vice versa.

There are the publishing options: Self-Publishing: Small Publishing House: Vanity and Subsidy Presses:  Large houses: These are your “big six” trade publishing houses: Who are The Big Six? Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Group, Random House, Simon and Schuster.

BIG HOUSE: What are things you may need to be acquired by a “big six”? Agent, Lawyer, Pitching, Proposals/Synopsis, Strong Querying tactics. And what are some of the disadvantages of working with big houses? The Acceptance Rate of getting into a Large House is around 1%.  Every year large houses (not just the big six) put out 150,000 books a year. They are slower to change. What happens when you are picked up by a large house and your numbers are lackluster? Your books are remaindered and you are likely dropped from that house. If your books fail to sell, they are pulled from the shelves and your books falls into the abyss *unless you have digital rights in your contract. High levels of stress… In these houses and environments you are expected to create X books a year. If you fail to produce said books, you are dropped. You are expected to do large amounts of marketing and promotion (and spend your money doing so). Their contracts are usually in stone.  There is very little wiggle room unless you are one of their bestselling authors.

The book’s list price is about 6 times the cost of production.  Let’s make it $24.95. You make $2.49 a copy, but don’t forget your agent (who gets 15% of your cut). So you walk away with $2.12. The average first print run (for a new author) is 15,000 copies. From this your agent will get you a 50% advance (or $15,783). If you sell less than half of your print run, you will end up owing the publisher money. If your books end up on the “Bargain Table” you make $0.00 royalties. If your books sell at Costco (or wholesalers) they sell your book at 55% of original price—So instead of making $2.12 you are now only make $1.37

When you publishing in mass market paperbacks your royalty rates are only 6-7% of the cover price (then subtract your agent fee).  So on a book that lists at $7.99 you will make: $0.48 times 15,000 (assuming you sell your full print run)= $7191 and then subtract 15% for agent and you walk away with $6112.35. Yes, you can get multiple print runs (which is what the large houses want).  However, most print runs are not less than 15,000 copies.

SMALL HOUSE/INDIE PUBLISHER: What does it take to be acquired by a Small Publisher? This is the New Frontier and Reality of the publishing market place. To be considered at any house you must present your best work, a great query letter, and a strong synopsis (or a great proposal).

Advantages of a small publisher: You don’t need an agent to get into a small publishing house. The turnaround time in acceptance/rejection is shorter (Varies but approximately 4-8 weeks for an answer). This is also the case in getting your book onto shelves. Better royalties. Strong relationships with your editor. More attention.  You succeed therefore they succeed. 

Here are a few more advantages: More freedom in your publishing process. You pick the number of books you want to write in a year. If you don’t like something you have a little more (not much more) wiggle room in negotiating.  (Again, tread softly) Smaller publishers can be a fantastic way to build your brand as an author. Use them to get your foot in the publishing door.

Getting published is a tough process. Expect Rejection. But know that your odds of getting picked up are much higher by a small press vs. a large house. They publish varying lengths. Some will get your book into Paperback, but it is often done as POD. Your book never goes out of print due to lackluster sales. On average you will make 30-50% of net royalties.

So, if your book sells for $2.99 on Amazon. $2.09 is the profit. Around a dollar for you and your publisher (varies of course.)

Disadvantages of small houses: There are the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Make sure you do your research! Smaller marketing budgets. Usually no advance given to authors, though I don’t believe many of the big houses do either these days.

SELF-PUBLISH: Are you ready? These are a few things to ask yourself before you choose to put up your book. Budget. Marketing. Distribution. Editing. Cover Design. Formatting. Uploading. The last number I saw were that almost a 1,000 books a DAY are being uploaded to Amazon.

Everyone needs help with this crazy writing journey. The goal you need to keep in your mind is that you need to write and then make your book/story the best it can be.  Write. Re-write. Take classes. Re-write. Get beta readers. Re-write. Read again. Re-write. Make sure that you are in a writing or critique group. They are golden to making you a better writer. No one can do it on their own.

 

Books to Go Now (BTGN) is proud to be a Traditional Publisher who works with their authors each step of the publication process. We have helped numerous authors become best-sellers with our dedication to creating only the best. We represent over 100 authors and have 300 represented stories in all genres and word count.

We are actively acquiring works (from short stories to full novel length) from both aspiring and established authors. Before submitting a query or proposal, please read the guidelines at www.bookstogonow.com

Jennifer Conner is an Associate Publisher for the indie e-book publisher, Books to Go Now who resides in the Seattle area. They pride themselves in helping new authors get their foot in the door with well-edited manuscripts, professional covers, and platforms uploads. 

Jennifer is a best-selling Northwest author who has forty short stories, novellas, and full length books in print. She writes in Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance, Historical Romance, and Erotica. jenniferconnerwriter.blogspot.com/

She has hit Amazon's top fifty authors ranking and her books have been #1 in sales.
Her novel Shot in the Dark was a finalist in the Emerald City Opener, Cleveland, and Toronto RWA contests. 

What's New Is Old Quickly

By Maggie McVay Lynch

Our world seems to be moving faster, and that isn’t just my age talking. The technology cycle has shrunk from 18 months to seven months in the past decade. That means a software update, a new piece of hardware, or even a new entry in the market comes every seven months. With those kinds of changes it is easy to feel that you can’t keep up.

Maggie McVay Lynch

You are not alone. No one can keep up, even technical people.  This fast changing technology cycle 
is also impacting publishing in a big way.  We’ve already seen how e-books have changed publishing. Now close to 50% of all e-books published in the U.S. are self-published or small press titles. Fifty percent! That is incredible and frightening. The number of books produced every year has grown tenfold in the past decade--from about 50,00 to over 500,000 new titles every year. Everyone, traditional and independent publishers are competing with a vengeance. They are lowering prices. They are cutting print runs. Some are even cutting print contracts for anyone who hasn’t already proven her books sell well. But here's the thing, NO ONE knows what works in this new environment. Everyone is experimenting.

Just when you think you have the system figured out it changes. Agent or not? Contract or not? Free books or not, and for how long? Low price or regular price? How many books a year do you need to do to get anywhere—traditionally or self-published? Whatever the answer was two years ago is not the answer today. Whatever the answer is today will not be the answer two years from now. It is changing… and quickly. 

At this point some writers simply give up. It’s too hard. It’s too scary. It’s too time consuming to keep on top of it. So what do you do? You band together with others so that one person doesn’t have to know everything. Business people know that teams bring together a variety of talents and a good team fits the adage: “The sum of the parts is greater than the whole.” You need people on your team who know different things than you do, people you can trust and work with for your entire career. Traditional publishing has always been a team effort—editors, cover designers, blurb writers, marketers, schedulers, technologists.  Independent publishing needs to follow the same model. It is no longer self-publishing. To survive it needs to be team publishing.



Add caption

Team publishing is where you decide what you do well AND what you have time to do, then delegate the rest—either through paid work or trades.  Team publishing can be authors joining together to share some of the burdens. Those teams range from marketing teams to full publishing cooperatives. Marketing teams agree to always share the marketing burden, to always cross promote each other, to experiment together and to share knowledge about what works and what doesn’t. Publishing cooperatives, like Windtree Press and Book View Café, bring authors together to publish under a common press name. They also share the burdens and the knowledge of how to format, edit, do covers, and distribute. Members might swap editing for cover design, or marketing coordination for formatting, or purchase shared services from a virtual assistant at a discount, or simply hold training sessions to help all members.

To keep up in today's publishing arena, find yourself a team. Make sure the members are diverse. If they are all like you it isn't helpful. Then set up how you will work together. Commit to the long haul together. Yes, it's hard work but all of you will be better for it. Keep learning. Keep researching. Keep moving ahead even when you don't have all the answers. The team that can stay together and remain committed will do more than survive, they will thrive.

Author Bio

Maggie Lynch has never missed a chance to learn something new. With degrees in psychology, counseling, computer science, and education she has had opportunities that have taken her around the world, including Europe, Australia, and the Middle East. Her current publishing credits include five non-fiction books, a number of science fiction short stories, and seven novels. Now able to spend full time journeying into her imagination, Maggie writes romance and science fiction under the name Maggie Jaimeson, and young adult fantasy under the name Maggie Faire. You can find her at http://maggielynch.com 

Self-Publishing: Indie Author Anna Brentwood and Traditional & Indie Published Author Paty Jager

Anna Brentwood

 Anna Brentwood on her road to Self-Publishing

I was witness to all the changes occurring in the publishing industry over the sixteen year period I made it my business to learn everything I could about writing commercial fiction and getting it published. I connected, joining several local writers groups. I saw genres redefined and expanded. I saw word counts change like the moon as paper and print costs escalated. Like anyone else paying attention, I waited, observed and learned all I could from my own and other writer experiences, from reading, author loops and from attending countless meetings, seminars and conferences. And, from writing. Over and over again.  

Still, if I have learned one thing on this journey, it is that nothing stays the same and I don’t only know that from looking in the mirror. After years of writing and all the ups and downs; being agented, edited, querying, picked up, discarded, etc. I started to see that the once solid publishing industry; an institution that hadn’t changed much since the invention of the Guttenberg Press was going to change whether we all liked it or not.  

I was as uncertain as the next person whether this would be a good thing or a bad one (and I feared for bookstores and books and rebelled for a bit by refusing to consider using a kindle or a nook) but I saw change a-comin’ and as I said, waited, observed and learned. I also gave up.  

I went to work full-time, got paid a lot of money and didn’t do anything about the books in the drawers or writing. Then, as Fate would have it, I got laid off from my job and decided to query every agent, editor and publisher out there again. I resolved that I “had” to try and if I did not find another agency, editor or publisher in one year to publish my book, I would self-publish.

Well, one year turned into two because I got held up with agent exclusives and many almost deals but when time kept passing, I decided enough was enough. I wanted to be published while I was still sentient and could walk without a walker. So, I went about learning all I could about self publishing, and doing. I made lists and a timeline. I had a plan. I shopped. I got a website. I designed and worked on it myself over months. I created a mailing list of media and people to contact. I had several artists helping me design my book cover. I took a Twitter class. I got active on social media.  

In the meantime, digital options were exploding as the walls of the publishing empires were coming down. Like every other business in the world, they were re-evaluating—downsizing. Editors were being laid off and agents and publishing houses were scrambling to keep up. They still are.

Once upon a time when you were conventionally published, you had a whole team of editors and marketing people working to get your book distributed and sold. You just had to show up and look smart and/or pretty and talk about your book. Or not. The reality today is that unless you are a proven bestselling author or a celebrity writer, while you do have some of the support behind you when signed with a large publishing house (and every little bit helps) you still have to do the lions’ share of your own marketing and sales. That fact and the impact of social media have leveled the playing field just a little bit more for those authors who are not big names yet but want their chance to shoot for the stars. Or even just a career.        

Technology (which I love) has a way of incorporating itself into changing industries and people. This happened in my original chosen field with graphic arts. Back in the day, I even field tested for Apple. I was certain the new technology would never duplicate the quality of the old. I was right, but no one cares because desktop publishing makes everyone a graphic artist and it is so accessible. Technology or change isn’t all good, there are things we lose, yet it isn’t all bad either.  

So, the same was/is happening here with books and authors. On the reading end, while I still love holding and reading a book, I now also can enjoy the convenience of a kindle and a nook. Rather than books being controlled and selected by a small group of people in New York or Chicago, we can go onto our digital devices and discover great new writers. We can download free books or books that cost less than five dollars. And this all from the comfort of our living room chairs.  

With low cost and choice and changes to staff at large publishing houses, books will not always be as properly vetted, edited and read as they used to be conventionally published, but self or indie published authors bear this responsibility solely.   

Are there risks—yes! Negatives—yes! Quality has certainly taken a hit in this new age without the scrutiny of countless editorial staff. The old adage you get what you pay for often is true when you download a cheap read and find it littered with grammatical and spelling errors and a sagging plot. I feel very strongly that an author considering self publishing should always pay attention to the quality and preparation of any book that will bear her/his name. They should have put the time and dedication into being published as if there were no self publishing option. You learn by entering contests, having a critique partner or partners, sending out queries, pitching and getting requests and rejections.

But, as I see it, if you have paid your dues and have either tried other avenues and failed to get a certain story you feel strongly about published or succeeded as a multi-published author but want more control over your backlist, self publishing is a great option that offers the author a chance and flexibility, control and accessibility to readers. Also, unlimited access with no expiration date!

Nothing about writing is easy and self publishing requires even more effort with marketing because you don’t have anyone else doing it for you. No one will know who you are or anything about your book unless you find ways to tell them but if you are willing to work hard, learn, do and/or hire the help you need to make all of it happen as it should, there is more opportunity than ever before to have your work seen, read and appreciated by others and also, nothing quite as rewarding.

THE SONGBIRD WITH
THE SAPPHIRE EYES
CLICK TO BUY

Why an author signing circuit?

Why not? I attended my first RWA National this year, and was so inspired by all I’d learned and all the other writers I’d met. The classes I took had to do with the business and marketing end of publishing and digital marketing. As a former businesswoman and someone with a publishing and marketing background, I began to see publishing as a business and not just as something I wanted to do.

I attended every signing that weekend. I studied every author, every promo item and saw what worked best or not at all. I was a sponge. Being part of RWA and Rose City Romance Writers, the help and guidance I received from other writers was invaluable and crucial to my being able to do any of this. I wanted to give back too.

An author signing circuit was a simple and natural progression though not really formal enough to even have a title. It is just about authors helping other authors. Let’s face it, most of us hate having to sell ourselves, but the reality is it IS all about selling books. And, isn’t it little easier to do with a friend or two?  

Planning to self publish, I’d already made the commitment to self market and once I started sending out press releases and calling on bookstores and other venues that might be amenable to hosting signing author events, including and helping promote my fellow authors seemed a natural extension. Many bookstores liked the idea of hosting several authors at once. While my primary focus remains my own career, if and when I am out there marketing, it is nice to be able to suggest options to have multiple authors for some events.  

We keep it simple. If one of us manages to book an event and either the venue or author wants other authors to attend to make it more interesting, we keep one another in mind. Whoever is interested and responds first, usually gets included. If the author cannot attend, no worries, I just keep them in mind for the next time.    

As a reader, I read lots of books, lots of authors and am always up for a new favorite. Surely, your readers are too?  

I am fortunate in that I have a marketing pal helping me and we have tried to make these events more than an author sitting at a table hoping someone comes over to talk to them. Why not make these events more fun by adding different elements like décor, raffles, costumes, themes, refreshments, etc 

I see authors sharing knowledge and expertise and experience as a great strength that benefits us all. Sharing and inclusion can help make us all successful. Your success does not take away from my success! We are not competitors in the sense that if one person reads me, they won’t read you. In fact, we are the opposite of that as authors and I think the more creatively we can come together and get people interested in reading and books, the bigger and better our industry will be.   

Author Bio: Anna (which is her real first name) was a bookworm almost since birth and was recognized as a writing PRO by Romance Writers of America in 2002. An active professional member of Willamette Writers, RWA, the Rose City Romance Writers and NIWA, Anna grew up in Philadelphia and graduated from Philadelphia’s University of the Arts where she majored in Illustration.  

Anna's debut novel, ‘The Songbird with the Sapphire Eyes’ first began as a series of dreams that so haunted her they became a personal quest to explore possible past life memories. The journey was both eerie and exciting and the manuscript finaled and won second place in the Women’s Fiction category of the 2006 Tara Awards. Anna is inspired to write about interesting characters whose lives take them on journeys we can all enjoy and perhaps learn something meaningful from. She is busy working on a sequel to 'The Songbird With Sapphire Eyes' which will take readers on a journey through the 1940's with Johnny and Hannah's son, wartime hero, playboy and New York mobster, Anthony Gallo. 

A wife, mother and doting new grandmother of two, Anna lives in a log home on 45 wooded acres on Oregon’s coast range with her former Navy-Seal husband and a menagerie of animals that include one pug, one cat, one horse, two wolf-hybrids, a red-tailed hawk named Lucky and a feisty but lovable African grey parrot named Warlock.

You may contact Anna at annabrentwood@ymail.com or through her website at www.annabrentwood.com. Anna appreciates your feedback and would love you to friend her on facebook.com/annabrentwood or follow her on twitter at @annabrentwood.

 Paty Jager on Traditional Publishing and Self-Publishing

I became serious about writing a novel in the early 1990’s. I wrote two mysteries, which never saw the light of day. When I started writing romance, I was directed to Romance Writers of America and I believe joining that writing organization was the reason I eventually became published. The workshops on craft and promotion given at the meetings and conferences helped me to hone my craft and realize the bad habits and writing blunders I did. 

Over the years sending my stories to editors at publishing houses and agents, I received the same rejections letters. “Loved/liked it but it doesn’t fit, or isn’t something that we feel there is enough interest in.” When my critique partner told me about a new electronic and POD publisher looking for romance books, I sent the sixth romance I’d written to them. They contracted it. And from there went on to contract nine more books and one novella.

I wouldn’t pass up the experience I had by working with my hands-on publisher. I learned the ins and outs of writing, editing, revisions, and making a story ready for the reader. But when the new revolution of Indie Publishing began to take off and the reports were coming in that it was a way for a writer to make money off their books, I started getting my rights back to my books from the publisher(when the contracts were up). My daughter designs my covers, and I have a group of author and editor friends who help me with critiquing, edits, and revisions on my new books and I format them to put up on the ebook sites.

SECRETS OF A MAYAN MOON
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This new venture has allowed me to find new readers and finally make money with my writing that I hadn’t done the six years I was with a publisher. My husband now takes my writing seriously because it makes the car and house payment. I plan to keep writing books and self publishing them as well as have a few books at publishing houses. I believe in diversifying and by having several options where my books can be found and I can learn more about the publishing industry and writing, I feel I will always put my best book out there for readers.

Bio: Wife, mother, grandmother, and the one who cleans pens and delivers the hay; award winning author Paty Jager and her husband currently ranch 350 acres when not dashing around visiting their children and grandchildren. She not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

She is a member of  RWA, COWG, EOWG, and EPIC. Her contemporary Western, Perfectly Good Nanny won the 2008 Eppie for Best Contemporary Romance, Spirit of the Mountain, a historical paranormal set among the Nez Perce, won the paranormal category of the Lories Best Published Book Contest, and Spirit of the Lake, the second book of the spirit trilogy, was a finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence.

You can learn more about Paty at her blog; www.patyjager.blogspot.com  her website; http://www.patyjager.net or on Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/#!/paty.jager and twitter;  @patyjag .

Fantastic Guests in October!

Mark your calendars so you don't miss our Fantastic Guest list in October.

10/01 - Nancy Brophy
10/08 - Elaine Charton
10/15 - Kris Tualla
10/22 - Bob Mayer
10/29 - Theresa Ragan

What do these authors have in common? They know something about being Self or Indie published and they are going to share that knowledge with us!

Do you know which of our guests are best-selling authors?
Do you know which of our guests are award-winning authors?
Do you know which of our guests are Genre-istas?
Do you know what they know? To answer this question, if not the others, you'll have to check us out each Saturday!