Indie Publishing: Lessons Learned So Far

When I decided to indie publish my old backlist I didn't realize two things - how much there was to learn and how much I'd enjoy the process. Yes, process is quite an overused word these days but the language can be limiting. That's the only word that fits. 

The biggest adventure so far has been learning how to photoshop pictures. I'm not an expert, nor will I ever be, and that's okay. Sure the cover of a book is the first thing a reader sees. The second is the price. Well, maybe some folks see the price first and that's okay. I've been known to purchase a "try me" book for 99-cents, too. Anyway, learning to create covers is a lot of hard work but each new tool discovered ups my level of enjoyment with the software. 

Now comes the time to confess what I really like about going indie and something the naysayers might want to think about. Perhaps if I'd thought about it sooner, I'd have begun this new phase of my career a few years ago. 

It's a topic always discussed in private author circles. Is my publisher paying me for every copy sold? How do I know if they're not? It's an unfortunate reality the author doesn't know if she/he is being cheated. 

Yes, most (but not all) publishers are honest and most contracts have clauses that state the author can request an audit of her/his sales records but the author has to pay for it. Please believe me when I tell you only the lucky few are making enough money to pay for a forensic audit and those chosen ones are the few the publishers wouldn't dare fuck with because they do have the money. So what's one of the little people to do? Publish a few indie books.

When you become your own publisher you suddenly have access to sales reports direct from places like Amazon, All Romance eBooks, Barnes and Noble, Kobo - any online bookseller you hook up with. How does this help? Here goes. I'll try to make it simple.

Say I go to All Romance eBooks and search for Rayne Forrest. The results come up and I sort them by best selling and make a note of the day and the order of the books. Then I log into my publisher account and get the numbers of sales per book. Say I do this every day for the quarter and at the end of the quarter my indie book, which as been ranked as my third seller for the last several months has sold 100 copies. This means the two books above it have each sold more than 100 copies. I then get my royalty report from ARE. 

Books number 1 and 2 had better show sales of over 100 copies each, eh? Okay, they might only show 95, which would be close enough for me to know all is well. One thing I don't know is how many people bought a book and then returned it after they read it. (The practice of doing that is a blog for another day - after I learn a few more curse phrases.)

Is it a cumbersome lot of work to track sales this way? Absolutely. Will it give you enough money to pay for an audit, if necessary? Nope. It won't. But it might tell you it's time to look for another publishing house to handle your work.

And that's the bottom line here. Your books are your work. You license them to someone else to do the publishing end. You need to know if you're being treated honestly and an independent sales report is simply one more tool to that end. 

Rayne
http://www.rayneforrest.com

When it rains... go indie

This has been an unusual winter. We expect cold - got it. We expect snow - got it. We expect many days to be breezy but yet sunny - nope. Didn’t happen.

It’s been the topic of conversation in the office for several months. No one remembers being without sunshine for so many days in a row. It’s, well, it’s depressing.

A few years ago a lot was written about the link between the lack of sunshine and depression. While I don’t think I get clinically depressed, I do sort of go into a hibernation mode during the winter. Sleep is preferable to just about anything else.

Somehow this year I survived both the gray, dreary days and the urge to hibernate. I’m not sure how, but I’m not looking this “gift horse” in the mouth. I’m taking it for what it is.

I’ve spent this winter going over manuscripts and learning new things about self-publishing. My account at All Romance eBooks was just approved and I hope to get Mischief at Midnight and To Bed a Spy uploaded with the next few days. After that, it’s time to move on to other outlets.

The ability to have control over my work is exhilarating. It’s not that I think publishers are dishonest, but I do think the writer, on whom this ENTIRE industry depends, is not treated equitably. Without the writer, the publishing industry collapses. Somehow it’s come to be believed the publisher makes the author’s career. Um, no. The ability to tell a good story makes the author. It should be a symbiotic relationship and it is with the really great publishers. 

It's been an eye-opener to discover I can do for myself everything a publisher does, but could I have done this without the experience of being with nine different publishers over the years? Nope. I still think a publisher is a good idea for someone new to the industry. 

Take advantage of the opportunity to learn from publishers and editors. Bite the bullet and commit to a few years of having your work under contract. Remember nothing in this business worth the effort happens overnight. There are no shortcuts. You're either in it for the long haul or you should stop now. And if you're in it for the long run, don't shut off any avenue of forward progress. 

Think about it. 

Rayne
www.rayneforrest.com

Mischief at Midnight by Rayne Forrest

Welcome to Twenty-six Keys and the My Sexy Saturday blog hop for February 28, 2015. Like a lot of us, I'm wondering where the month went.

Today I'm celebrating a "new" release - Mischief at Midnight. Actually, this book is a re-release having been published as part of a two-author anthology at the old Whiskey Creek Publishing. Well, WCP sold out to Start Publishing (which kept the Whiskey Creek name) and a lot of rights reverted back to a lot of authors. Since my titles have had the benefit of being edited, I'm slowly self-publishing them. 

Mischief at Midnight is set in the near future when service drones are available to do housework and cooking. Put me on the waiting list!

Here are seven sexy paragraphs from Mischief at Midnight.

~~~~

Dallas stepped closer to her, breathing in her exotic scent. He gently plucked the diamond collar from her fingers and draped it around the graceful column of her neck. The stones were real, but they couldn’t match Madelyn’s inner beauty. Everything he’d ever learned about women told him she was a rare gem.And he was a drone, in her home for one purpose only—to serve dinner.

Like hell.

He fastened the clasp of the necklace and bent to her. His eyes closed as his lips caressed the soft skin of her shoulder, once, then again. Gentle kisses to lure her to a moment when he could confess his transgression and beg for her forgiveness. Madelyn inhaled sharply. To his utter amazement she tilted her head, inviting him to continue. Being ten kinds of a fool, he did, worshipping her with kisses.

She thought he was a personal pleasure drone and she clearly needed a moment of what those drones’ programming offered. How much more trouble could he be in if he gave it to her?

Dallas slipped his arms around her waist, splaying his hands across the gentle swell of her belly to pull her back against him. His manhood responded, surging strongly, swelling in quick wonderful jolts that echoed his racing pulse. His lips teased at her earlobe on their way to shower small kisses along her jaw.

She moaned, a low, dark sound of a woman caught unsuspecting by her own desire. Dallas bent her forward, his erection nestling between her buttocks. She boldly pressed her rump firmly to him, wiggling her hips. Her hand snaked between them, her questing fingers gauging his length and girth. Gooseflesh shivered across his belly and chest. His balls drew up close to his body. His penis throbbed with unwarranted anticipation and he reminded himself firmly that this momentary indulgence would not continue after the dinner.

“Oh, my,” she whispered breathlessly. “You really do have a few upgrades.”

~~~~~

More about Mischief at Midnight, available now at Amazon:

Madelyn Murphy isn’t your typical spoiled rich girl. She only has one household drone, after all. Why? Because she’s so liberal, she does her own cooking.

Triple D Drones’ owner, Dallas Dyson, has made a fortune in the service drone industry. He’ll even lend a helping hand himself if someone’s in a pinch.

When Madelyn’s service drone breaks just before a dinner party, she calls Triple D Drones for help. When the new “Dallas” prototype shows up to lend a hand, Madelyn finds she needs help with more than serving dinner. Isn’t service what a Triple D drone does best?

Rayne Forrest
http://www.rayneforrest.com

Never say never

Rayne's Ramblings for Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Way back in the day, say in 2002, an aspiring author was given some words of wisdom by those considered to be "in the know." What was that wisdom, you ask? 

Stick with the traditional New York publishers and never, ever, never self-publish a book. 

Oh, how the world did turn! These days it's odd to find an author without a digital title. Even Clive Cussler is available via Kindle. The stigma of epublishing is gone and now the once equally firm edict to never self publish has fallen to the wayside. 

Do I think epublishing is for everyone? YES!! I'm proud to be one of the early epublished authors. I've met some wonderful people over the years. It's been, to sum it up in a word, interesting. I wouldn't change a thing.

Do I think self-publishing is for everyone? NO! While it's true I'm in the process of self-publishing my backlist, these books have had the benefit of an editor. More importantly, the author has had the benefit of working with editors for over ten years. Going back over the older books and applying everything I've learned has proven to be a positive experience. 

So here I am, knowing the value of a good editor and having once said I'd never self-publish. I'm self-publishing. So far it's not been quite as hard as I thought it would be. And the next time I begin a sentence with, "I'll never....."? I think I'll stop and reconsider my words.

Rayne
http://www.rayneforrest.com

As we enter another year - 2015

I'm sure you've heard this many times before. People always say they can't believe it's a new year. Well, it most surely is. This January 3rd marked twelve years since I got the first publishing contract as Rayne Forrest. That book was The Skies of Mahdis, a story I dearly love. Now that I'm twelve years on I need to revisit that story and apply those things I've learned. Skies has been out of print for ten years so it's time. 

I've also had more than a few blogs over the years. First there was Through a Glass Brightly. That was followed by Forrest Whispers and Rayne's Ramblings. I tried Live Journal, Word Press and a few others but I think it's safe to say I prefer blogger. Anyway... 

Here I am with a lot of old blog content. I was looking through the old files to determine if it was time to de-clutter but that didn't work so well. Instead of dumping content from 2004 (yes, that is two thousand four), I think I may recycle some of them, especially the ones that make me laugh. 

Some of them remind of people who have left my life, for one reason or another. So it is with the friend mentioned in this blog from July of 2005. We drifted apart and eventually lost touch but I remember her with fondness. So without more rambling, here's The Rules. 
* * *

July 18, 2005

I get together with a friend every few Saturdays for early morning tea or coffee. We go to the various coffee shops and tea parlors in the area but never the same one twice in a row so we don't wear out our welcome. Our Saturday morning get-togethers energize me. It’s very cathartic to share hopes, dreams and aggravations with someone who’s “been there, done that.”

Our discussion took a turn to The Rules last Saturday. Rules, you ask? Yes. THE Rules. The things you must not do as a writer - ever. If you do them no one will buy your book.

You know what the great thing is about epublishing? The Rules are getting broken. And you know why? The readers.

Readers are smarter than ever. Readers are more sophisticated than ever. And it shows.

One of The Rules states that you can’t change the point of view within a scene. Hey, I grew up with television. Pan in on Captain Kirk! Quick! Jump to the close up of Spock! Leap to McCoy! (Didn’t you just love his blue eyes?)

Somewhere in those 7.8 seconds we KNOW what all three of those men are thinking. It’s not a bit confusing. It wasn’t even confusing in 1966 when I was nine years old.

No, readers are smart. They can follow along. They can keep up. Not a problem. I know this because I was a reader long before I was a writer.

Another of The Rules is that you cannot write in the first person. I love the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, don’t you?

Anyway, my friend and I sipped our coffee and nibbled our way through a pair of raspberry and white chocolate scones and bashed The Rules. And what did I do when I finally made it home?

I sat down at my computer, read the last page I’d written, then retyped half of it because, well, because I’d broken The Rules.

Rayne

http://www.rayneforrest.com