Banding Together

Here's the thing, when indie publishing, all the marketing is up to you, the author. While even the bigger publishers are expecting their authors to do more and more of their own marketing, when you are the author and the publisher, then all of the marketing comes down to  . . . you.

And if you're like me, that's a very scary proposition. I don't do public appearances. Scheduling a signing for an e-book would be . . . well, difficult at best. Other than bombarding your friends with news of your book, what is an author to do?

That's where the whole idea of banding together comes in. There are a quite a few of us indie authors who write for adults or for young adults, but who have also managed to write a few books for the younger crowd, too. I have LilyPad Princess, for example. Since most kids in that target age range don't own Kindles, Nooks or iPads, the audience is limited at best.

But parents own eReaders. Sometimes, parents will even allow their precious little ones (the eReaders!) into the hands of their offspring. When that happens, they need to have appropriate reading material.

Now there's a central place to find just that! It's called Kidz Like 2 e-Read, and you can find it on Goodreads or on Facebook. A groups of writers with books aimed at ages 7-11 have joined forces to give you, the parents of children who need age-appropriate (and fun!) books to read in a digital format, a central place to look for these books.

Come and check us out! Say hi, introduce yourselves and let us know what's on your mind. And maybe, if you find something you (and that young one in your family) like, download a book or two.

Kidz Like 2 e-Read on Goodreads

Kidz Like 2 e-Read on Facebook

Enjoy!

This Whole Indie Author Thing

Okay, I admit that I'm still a bit on the fence as to whether or not I've done the right thing.

Sure, I believe in my book -- in the quality, in the story, in its worthiness to be included in the published books of the universe. Where I've having doubts is in my own ability to market said tomb of wonderfulness.

I've never been one of those in-your-face type of people. The idea of public speaking makes me want to vomit. Even going new and/or strange places makes me nervous (yes, this coming from a woman who left the US at the age of 37 and now lives in a country were she can't even speak the language). How do I put myself "out there" without becoming . . . you know . . . obnoxious.

We've all heard the horror stories of those vanity published people who corner everyone they know and demand that they pay $25 (or more) for their new literary masterpiece that they've self-published because those people in NY had no idea what they were missing. I don't want to be one of those people. And I'm not one of those people. But, how do I let others know about my book without shoving it in their faces?

I've been reading a lot of blogs by and about indie-publishing. JA Konrath (jakonrath.blogspot.com) is a good place to start. He has been published through the big NY houses, and now he's going it on his own. He has a lot of great arguments for why he made the switch and why he believes it's the smarter move when it comes down to business. Then there are people like Amanda Hocking who are selling hundreds of thousands of books -- with no previous name/brand on which to build. (Yes, I've read 7 of her books now, and while I think there could be minor edits and a few corrected typos, overall, her books are very good.) And there are others.

Some indies are even banding together to form their own small publishing companies where they work on making their own books better, sharing some of the costs (and effort), but then publishing each book on their own. It seems to be working for them, too.

But then it all comes down to an individual book, doesn't it? Is my book good enough to make it? I think so. I guess only time will tell.

We Have a Winner!

And it's Cindy!

Thanks to everyone who commented on the post and played along. I'll be sending the $10 gift certificate to Cindy, and coupons out to the rest of you for copies of Summoning and LilyPad Princess.

New Cover for Summoning!

What do you think? Isn't it beautiful?

New Cover

This cover was created by the lovely Thea Atkinson. You can visit her here: Thea's Amazon Page

By the way, you can also tell her what a wonderful job she did on this cover, too! Thanks, Thea!

Today is the Day!

It's true! It's finally February 1st, and that means two things:

LilyPad Princess makes it's official debut and I'm having a contest

A contest, you ask? Why, yes, a contest. 

Here's how the contest works -- post a comment below sometime between today and February 7, and you will automatically be entered to win. On the 8th, I'll write down all the names and pull the winners out of a hat. Easy, right? So what are you waiting for?

Oh, right, you want to know what you'll win. Well, I guess I can't blame you there. Here's my list of wonderful prizes:

Grand Prize: $10 gift certificate for Amazon.com
3 Runners-Up: eCopies of both Summoning and LilyPad Princess (through a coupon at Smashwords -- which means you can choose from a variety of versions to fit any ereading device)

So help me celebrate my Official Release of LilyPad Princess and enter to win one of these exciting prizes!

In other, just as exciting news, I'm also starting a week-long sponsorship over at The Frugal eReader for Summoning. (So much happening all at once!) Head on over to see the ad (of course!) and to find all kinds of wonderful books to fit a frugal budget!