Indie Author Survival Guide

For my first guest post, here's one from Susan Kaye Quinn, a successful self-published author who I've known for quite a while now.  She was so amazingly helpful to newbie authors, including many a detailed blog post, and she created this book so everyone can educate themselves.  

Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Goodreads TBR

This book is for every author who's thinking about indie publishing, or has already taken the leap, and wonders why no one told them about the sharks, the life-sucking social media quicksand, or the best way to avoid sales-checking, yellow-spotted fever. This is a guide for the heart as much as the head. And because I promised myself that I wouldn't write a book about how I made a gazillion dollars publishing ebooks, I would write about the fear: owning it, overcoming it, facing it. From a person who didn't pursue a creative life for a long time, and then discovered creativity can set you free. Note: gazillion is a technical term, which in this case means something less than a million and more than the average income in my state.

Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the bestselling Mindajck Trilogy and Debt Collector serial and has been indie publishing since 2011. She’s not an indie rockstar or a breakout success: she’s one of thousands of solidly midlist indie authors making a living with their works. This book is a compilation of her four years of blogging through changes in the publishing industry—updated, revised, and supplemented to be relevant in 2013. It’s a guide to help her writer-friends take their own leaps into the wild (and wonderful) world of indie publishing... and not only survive, but thrive. You can friend her on Facebook or follow her on twitter or check out her blog where she'll be doing who knows what next.

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link: http://www.susankayequinn.com/p/for-writers.html

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FAQ About the Guide

Q: What prompted you to write the Guide? I resisted a long time in putting this together. I had this silly idea I was a fiction writer (which is also true), in spite of spending the last four years blogging consistently about the industry, and especially the changes wrought by indie publishing. It took the goading of several friends, over a period of time, before I realized that the blog was actually non-fiction writing (I can be excessively slow for Ph.D. engineer sometimes). The trigger for blogging the book - revising and updating old posts as well as organizing the content - was seeing writer friend after writer friend take the leap, often after reading something I had posted. And I realized there wasn't a book out there that addressed the fears as well as the nuts-and-bolts about going indie. I could have just left the Guide on my rinky-dink blog, but I knew the power of Amazon (and other retailers) to connect people to books, and I figured it would help more people this way. Q: Why should I read a book about indie publishing by Susan Kaye Quinn? I'm pretty sure she's not a NY Times Bestseller. I'm not an indie rockstar. I haven't made the news as one of those "exceptional" breakout indie authors. I'm a solidly midlist indie author, which means I make a living off my works. I'm one of thousands of invisible indie midlist authors who, I believe, are the core of indie publishing, and why it's changing the industry. The rockstars of indie publishing can inspire and lead, they can use their leverage to break barriers, but they can't transform the industry on their own. The true change has to come, as it always has, from the grass-roots. I'm part of that grass-roots movement. Q: Will this Guide help me get rich quick from ebooks? No. Q: Will this Guide help me decide if indie publishing is right for me? Yes. Q: What if I'm afraid? We're all afraid. Fear is an integral part of being vulnerable in the world by daring to do brave things. Fear stops many people from becoming the full expression of who they are. I won't tell you not to be afraid in this book - I'll help you see the fear for what it is, manage it, and not let it stop you from reaching for the amazing things you have ahead of you. Q: What if I don't have the first clue how to start with self-publishing? The Guide is designed to take a first-time-publishing author from the decision to go indie through to writing that second book (and starting the whole process over again). It's also designed to help indie authors who have already published, but are struggling: either with keeping perspective for the long-term, trying to scale up their businesses from the first book, or just trying not to drown in social media quicksand. My hope is that all my indie author friends will find something worthwhile in it, or pass it on to someone who will. The culture in indie publishing of sharing information is part of what inspired this book in the first place.

Exciting (tiny) format change!

Hey, everyone!

As I get farther into the writing process, the more I realize that so much of this business, and the success of someone participating in it, is based on pimpage.

In a nutshell, authors helping authors.

Therefore, I'm going to be doing occasional posts to help get the word out about my friends' books, particularly the lovely ladies from the Maryland Romance Writers and other RWA chapters I participate in as well as some amazing self-pubbed authors I know.

Why are you doing this, Sarah?  Won't your blog turn into a giant advertisement for other people's stuff?

Will your blog be the equivalent of ALL OF THESE rolled into one?

Well, because of the reason I mentioned above--authors helping authors.  One reason I've joined these groups is for the support of other authors just like me, and that's why they've joined, too.  So much of this wide world of publishing is based on give and take, and I've come to realize I can't--and shouldn't--expect other authors to want to host me and my (eventual) books on their blogs if there's not any reciprocation.  Word of mouth is a powerful thing, especially among others who respect your work as much as you respect theirs.

And why feature self-pubbed authors?  Or, conversely, why feature traditionally published authors?  Answer: Because I believe an author should be well-rounded in publishing nowadays.  You can't put all of your eggs in one basket...for myself, I plan on being both traditionally published and self-pubbed, especially since there are so many success stories.  Both are wonderfully viable options for authors.

You also might be wondering if I'm going to be constantly pushing books that I've edited.  The answer is no.  That might seem like a weird double-standard; after all, I stand to make money from them from sales (in some cases).  But this is my blog, and I stand by the fact that I can feature what I want on it.  When I have a contract of my own--as an author getting a book published, whether it's an e-publisher or one of the Big 6 or however many there are now--then I'll happily feature things from my new publisher on here.  I'm looking forward to that.

Please don't inundate me with emails or whatnot requesting reviews...this is NOT a review blog.  It may feature reviews in the future (I never like to say "never"), but for right now, my time is so limited that I barely have time to squeeze in a little pleasure reading before bed.

So look out for guest posts from other amazing authors in the near future.  But I promise I'll still be posting and being my usual weird, snarky self.  That won't go away.

xoxo Sarah

Another Fate's Awakening Teaser!

Because you were all so lovely and my Facebook author page now has 300 "likes", here's the promised teaser from Fate's Awakening.  

Meet Jack.  Jack's had a rough night.  Why?  Well, that would be because of chapter one, and this teaser is from chapter two.  

I know...I'm evil.  

Insistent banging roused me from a deep sleep. As the world returned to me, I started to remember the strange dream I’d just had and sat straight up, heart pounding and head reeling. A quick look around told me I was safe in my bedroom in the apartment, fully clothed on top of my navy comforter. I glanced at my alarm clock; it was only nine in the morning, and unless I’d been in a coma, it was Saturday. Rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands, I winced when the knocking started up again. No, not even knocking. Door torture. Jesus Christ—how much had I had to drink? This was already shaping up to be one bitch of a hangover.

“Jack, are you in there?” Andy sounded like he was ready to take down the door.

Thoughts?  ;-)

xoxo Sarah

Hey! Read this!

Okay, so the title's not that subtle, but if you're an author, or a reader, or an editor, you need to read this awesome blog post by my lovely friend, Jen DeLucy.

Seriously.

I'll even post the link and not embed it or some crap like that, just to make it easier for you to find.

Here:  http://jenniferdelucy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/sometimes-i-peeand-other-things-authors.html

Want to know what it's about first?

Okay.

Basically, it's an extremely well-written post about writers and editors, and respecting each other's jobs as well as what we do in the time we're not *gasp* editing or writing.  As I am both a writer and editor (Jen DeLucy is too), we've seen both sides of it.  And seeing as how she's done the work for me already and said it better than I think I could have, check it out.

So go read it and come back here and tell me what you think.

xoxo Sarah

Oh, the Angst!

Sometimes--for me, anyway--emotions can get in the way of writing.  Ever try to bang out a couple thousand words of a fight scene but you're in a sparkly-unicorn-farts good mood?  Or attempt to write a chapter of happiness, only to discover that the funk you're in makes this next-to-impossible? 

This usually happens to me when the moods are extreme, but I have a feeling we've all been there.  

On the other hand, sometimes emotions take us to strange places as writers, even inspiring us.  I had the dubious pleasure recently of being so upset, so absolutely throw-down-and-kick-some-ass angry, that if anyone was around me at the time, I'm sure they would have spontaneous exploded, or would have gotten this kind of response: 

But in the middle of my rage, a line came to me out of the blue, and I'm sure if I hadn't been in such a terrible mood, I'd never have thought of it.  And no, I'm not going to share it with you...I'm not that generous.  But I'm saving it for when I get a chance to use it in some future work of mine.

Has this ever happened to you?  Do you write better when you feel the same as the scene you're writing?  Or can you turn it off and write whatever you need to, no matter what?  Tell me!

xoxo Sarah

Tech & the Twitter...

Or should that be "the Twitter" (Twittah...?) as they say over here in the UK?

I enjoy social networking.  I have a FB author page, a Twitter profile for me as an author, and this blog. (If you can't click the links, you can also see them in my right side-bar..."like" or "follow," pretty please?)  And anything to consolidate that crap together or make it easier is a good thing.  For example, when I post a blog entry, I have it set up so my FB page automatically makes a post.  Another example: when I post anything on FB, it's linked to my Twitter account, so it tweets for me.  Easy-peasy.  

And FB is my favorite to use of all those because of the fun interaction I get to do with the people who have "liked" my page, but I do love me some Twitter on occasion.  The problem is that Twitter's actual website doesn't have the best interface.  You have to click on a million different things to see stuff, like your mentions (where other people have mentioned your screen-name and tweeted you) or your direct (private) messages, and a ton of other stuff.  And don't even get me started on their lump updating.  I prefer real-time!

A while ago, maybe a year or two, there was an awesome Twitter app/client called Tweetdeck.  It somehow managed to consolidate all the things you'd want to do on Twitter, including real-time updating, in one easy-to-use program.  And the interface was super easy. 

The problem?  Twitter bought it and, pardon the phrase, promptly fucked it up royally.  Everything we liked about it was gone. And when I say "we," I mean myself and a ton of other users who jumped ship to find another app that worked as well.  I sought recommendations from friends, other people on Twitter, everyone...and no dice.  I tried a ton of them, and though some were pretty good, I kept comparing them to the old Tweetdeck.  

This would have been me if I could have found the old Tweetdeck's house. 

Even worse was that Twitter had stopped updating the old version of Tweetdeck, so it didn't even work anymore.  Though you could download the old program from multiple sources online, it used outdated support and wasn't the same.  Last week, out of desperation, I decided to give the new Tweetdeck another try, and lo and behold, the people at Twitter had literally JUST redesigned it.  It doesn't suck anymore, and it's actually very close to how the old Tweetdeck operated.  

So now I'm a happy camper, or at least happier, and am enjoying tweeting much more than I did before.  I realize this kind of sounds like an ad for it, but I was just so excited to find a Twitter client that I liked (again) that I wanted to share.

Do YOU have a favorite Twitter app or client for your computer or mobile device?  Does it update other social networks?  Tell me!

xoxo Sarah

Excerpt from Fate's Awakening...

As I mentioned yesterday, in honor of my reaching 100 blog entries, 40k words (officially a novel!) on my manuscript, AND having a new title for it (Fate's Awakening), I'd post an excerpt from it.  If you're curious about Fate's Awakening, click the "Novels" tab above, or click here.

And here you are, lovely readers.

It's a tiny...and I do mean tiny, excerpt from the prologue of Fate's Awakening.

Enjoy!

“The Three have requested your immediate presence.”

             The messenger’s stony expression did little to quiet Evangeline’s nerves, though she suspected he took no notice. It was rare that she was summoned by any of the greater gods, much less the Moirai—the Three Fates, to most of the mortal realms—and she racked her brain for a reason why they’d want to see her. She came up empty.

There you go!  I hope you enjoyed that.  Was it interesting?  Intriguing?  Let me know what you think!

xoxo Sarah