by Jennifer James
Almost one year ago, my first book LOVE KINECTION
(Sexy geek romance) was released from Decadent Publishing. I was ecstatic.
Finally, I’d sold a manuscript. I had the street cred I thought I needed to say
that I was a “real” author…. At that time, I had the mistaken impression that
an Indie author was someone who couldn’t sell a manuscript to a publishing
house and so they were forced to
self-publish their crappy story.
Don’t hit me with rotten tomatoes and old sardines!
I like to be as frank and honest as possible. *I was an undereducated, mislead,
brat.* Any Indie titles I’d picked up at that point were a hot mess in need of
editing. My little, closed off world view combined with a few bad purchases on
Amazon left me with a bad case of tunnel vision author snobbery. (Of course, I
think everyone can agree that there are plenty of books out there published by
the Big Five in NYC that are a freakin’ overpriced doorstop.)
Now, almost a year later, I’m getting ready to
publish two titles myself. Originally I had planned on having MARKED (a BDSM
Werewolf short) up and ready to go for free. Unfortunately I’m still waiting on
cover art. But, I have high, HIGH hopes that it will be ready to go very soon. I’ve
got a 20k erotic paranormal romance called COVERT CRAVING at the editor’s right
now.
What caused the change of heart? Well, I got educated.
I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t know nearly
as much as I thought, and that my limited experiences greatly affected how I
viewed Indie authors and publishing. Add in the traditional thinking that permeates
the publishing world (you have to have an agent, you have to be published by a
huge publisher, only novels can be sold, if you don’t have an agent, you’ll
never get published anyway, Indie books are garbage) and I had unwittingly
closed myself off from an entire world of possibility.
After realizing that I could publish a book faster
than a publisher, that I had a circle of fellow authors with the chops to edit
for me in exchange for things I’m good at, reading some amazingly good Indie
books (happiness abounds when I get a new Felicity Heaton, Tonya Cannariato, or
Tom Winship book), and discovering the blogs and books of authors who have been
Hybrid for a while and are hitting the Best Sellers list, I got out my thinking
cap.
Was Indie really bad? Or was Indie being vilified?
How could I get my book out when *I* wanted it out,
instead of having an approximate six month wait from submission to release?
What was I missing? Indie didn’t mean bad. I came to realize Indie meant
control. Indie meant a lot of work. Indie meant I could get more books out
faster . . . with a circle of talented friends to help me.
When you really think about it, going the Hybrid
route makes loads of sense. I can write books with publishers and have the
advantage of their built in systems for getting a book on the market. Very
little out of pocket cost for me, I get to work with great editors who help me
hone my craft, and my readership base can grow because my books have the
publisher’s name attached to it. When I want to release something Indie, I get
to decide the publication date, I get a larger share of royalties, I can set
the price myself, and I can keep my readers happy because they’ll have more
books to read more quickly.
Being Hybrid is a win-win.
Author Bio:
Jennifer James lives on the coast of a lake fed by a
famous burning river. She and Jack Daniels have a good, if slightly unbalanced
relationship. Chocolate and peanut butter were meant to be together, and should
be considered the ultimate celebrity couple. Two Tiny Divas, a dog, a cat, a
husband, and a whole ton of imaginary friends follow her wherever she goes.
This can make bathroom breaks awkward.
Author Links:
Website: http://www.authorjenniferjames.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferJames34
Love Scenes and Wet Dreams :
http://www.lovescenesandwetdreams.com
To get ready for Jennifer James' guest blog, I read her paranormal ebook Hunger Embraced. I loved it so much, I want to give it away! So here's the deal: The book features the Celtic goddess Morrigan, who can appears as an old wise woman, a warrior, or a mother. To enter, simply post below which side of Morrigan you most embody. I will use Randomizer.org on Saturday, May 4 to pick a winner of an ebook copy. PLEASE leave a contact email so I can contact the winner. -- pearls
Contest Time!
To get ready for Jennifer James' guest blog, I read her paranormal ebook Hunger Embraced. I loved it so much, I want to give it away! So here's the deal: The book features the Celtic goddess Morrigan, who can appears as an old wise woman, a warrior, or a mother. To enter, simply post below which side of Morrigan you most embody. I will use Randomizer.org on Saturday, May 4 to pick a winner of an ebook copy. PLEASE leave a contact email so I can contact the winner. -- pearls