I had never intended to become an indie author but when the opportunity presented itself, I thought why not? I had the rights revert back to me from a publisher for an anthology and that story needed a new home. It really wasn’t something too exciting or new, so I decided to revamp it by totally rewriting it, get it a cover, hire an editor and a copy editor then put it up on all the major ebook sites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
I really wasn’t new to publishing in this way. In the past, when I had owned a print shop, I had my own speculative fiction magazine. I knew about editing and how to format things. I knew how to put an ebook into PDF format but not the new formats like epub. Furthermore, I didn’t have the required software. While I knew I could do this if I spent some big bucks, I decided to hire someone to actually do the formatting. All I had to do was provide a clean Word copy and another more intricately formatted version for the PDF.
Once the edit was complete for the book and it was returned to me all shiny and new, I sat on it. I drug my feet and rethought my decision. I’d heard many varying stories on how authors were either wildly successful or disappointingly failed. I’d heard that some of the traditional publisher would never even look at a book of mine again if they knew I’d self-published. For me the point was that I’d never get all my stories published if I didn’t do a variety of things, both traditional and non-traditional.
When all the arguments were worked out in my head, I plunged forward as the holiday season was fast approaching and it needed to be there for that. On December 22nd, 2011, I published my story A Lover for Rachel with Smashwords who made it available in every format as well as on Kobo and Diesel. I had decided to use a book aggregator for the other places (Amazon, B&N, Sony and Apple) and uploaded to them as well. It was soon available at Amazon and the rest have come filtering in since it was submitted.
I had done it. I had published my own story and while it was a lot of work, it wasn’t as traumatic as I had expected. From the moment it was up, I started to promote as much as I could. I had certain ideas in mind. One of the things I knew is the fact that most indie books take up to six months to really start selling. Yes, that’s right, I said six months. While that is a long time to see any return on my investment, it gives me time to really promote the book as well as decide what stories will be next in this part of my publishing adventure.
If any of you are interested in self-publishing, just let me know and I’ll answer any question you may have. It isn’t for everyone and it certainly isn’t the only thing I’m going to do with my publishing career. For me it’s just another avenue to get my work in front of more people. It will also, hopefully, give me more income so that I can continue to live my dream of being a full time writer.
Lynn
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| The Magic of Love comes to everyone. |
Rachel Hamilton comes to Stonehenge to celebrate her birthday on Summer Solstice, only to find herself trapped beneath the massive rhyolite bluestones with sexy wizard, Dewin Kingston, who convinces her that she is the key to their escape.
Excerpt:
A Lover For Rachel
“Come on, we’re going to be late! You’re the one who wanted to go to this thing. Besides, it’s the dead of night, so who’s going to see us?”
Rachel frowned at her best friend, Samantha Andrews, again. Yes, she was the one who wanted to go to the summer solstice celebration at Stonehenge. Who wouldn’t if their birthday fell on June twenty-first and they happened to be in the area? Last time they’d come to England in June, they avoided the place because of the massive crowds attending the event. This time there was no way she would miss the opportunity.
“I’m almost done.” She sighed. This was the best it would get. She glanced at herself in the mirror of the bathroom in the luxurious bed-and-breakfast that had been their home for the past week. Everyone told her she’d gone from frumpy to svelte in the last year, but she couldn’t see what they meant.
“You’d think you’re meeting a lover or something.” Samantha stood in the doorway and tapped her foot impatiently. “Come on, Rach, you look beautiful. I envy your curves.”
Rachel smiled at her in the mirror. “You’re only saying that because you love me.” She wiggled her eyebrows and the women burst into laughter.
“No really, you are. You’ve changed so much this past year. Still, we need to leave if we’re ever going to get there and through the gates before the sun rises. Do you have the tickets?”
They had applied to get special passes to participate with the group performing ancient celebrations at the site. The members of the large group were as close to Druids as anyone could be, considering that not much was left in the way of their history. And from everything she’d read about the ceremony, it was a very special and personal event.
She nodded, straightened her shoulders, and brushed her hair away from her face, determined not to worry about her appearance. “I do, and I know what you’re talking about. I have changed. I just feel weird about it, that’s all. Especially when someone calls me beautiful. I’ve just never seen myself that way.”
Samantha clutched her arm, smiling at her reflection. “Come on, how many people can say their birthday is on summer solstice? So what? You have baggage. I do too, now let’s get going before we miss the whole celebration.”
“I know you’re right. I’m just not going to participate in the getting naked part. Okay?” She was relieved when her friend nodded her agreement. One more glance in the mirror and she pulled the steely reserve around herself that she normally used in the courtroom. Today was the day to have fun and no worries. Today was her day; she wasn’t going to let the past cloud it in any way. Smiling, she grabbed her backpack from the bed and headed for the door. “Let’s go.”
Their drive through the English countryside was always an adventure from start to finish. First, they had to drive on the wrong side of the road. The narrow roads barely managed two compact cars, let alone anything bigger. Rachel and Samantha dodged the predawn traffic racing along the Salisbury Plains to get to their destination. Thank God, they only had a short distance to go through the darkness of the night. The only thing piercing the shadows were the stars that shone bright in the night sky.
Lynn Crain realized at an early age she wanted to write. She took the long way to being published by doing a variety of things like nursing assistant, geologist, technical writer and computer manager all of which have added to her detail-oriented stories. Now she’s a full-time storyteller and weaves fantasy, futuristic, and paranormal tales, as well as erotic stories for various publishers. She normally lives in the very hot southwest with her husband, son, two dogs, three cats, and she’s gotten rid of her snakes. Don’t ask. Other members of her clan live nearby and include another son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons, plus various long-time friends. She is a past national board member of the RWA; founding president of Las Vegas Romance Writers Chapter of RWA; has held the positions of president, vice-president, secretary and contest chair of EPIC. Her latest adventure has taken her to Vienna, Austria with her husband as he works for a UN-affiliated organization. You can find her hanging out at A Writer In Vienna Blog (www.awriterinvienna.blogspot.com) and various other places on the net (www.theloglineblog.blogspot.com; www.twitter.com/oddlynn3; www.lynncrain.blogspot.com ). Still, the thing she loves most of all is hearing from her readers at lynncrain@cox.net.
