The Experiment continues

I thought I'd update you on where I am so far ...

I uploaded Penance a month ago. The uploading itself was relatively easy (at Smashwords) but the 'approval' from Smashwords took a while (a few days). Amazon was much, much faster. Note that the person who formats for me does a fabulous job of vetting the finished product, so I'm assured it will look fine once uploaded and I'm assured it will pass Smashwords' verification process.

So far, just a few sales. BUT -- I haven't promoted it at all. I'm using this as an experiment to see what promotions might work and what don't, because I can track royalties immediately with my self-pubbed books. There's real-time royalty reporting there.

In a week or two I'll start purchasing some promotion space at review blogs, etc., and I'll track progress. Then I'll do the same at other review sites. I'm willing to take the time at this because I'm truly curious about what works, what doesn't.

Here's my costs so far: $120 for cover; $50 for formatting. I'll be tracking other expenses as well. I'll be happy if I make a profit, and if I don't, I figure it's still worth the try.

I'll keep you posted!

What a great cover!

Thrilled about my newest cover for my next time travel adventure, this one set in the current day and featuring Nico Haidess, a man who was infected by an immortality virus.

What a great cover!!

Can't wait to get it uploaded and ready for purchase.

Patience, I know. Patience...

We have lift-off!

Whoo! Penance is available on Amazon, right here:

 

It was very, very easy to do to get it uploaded. I'm still waiting to get it 'approved' in Smashwords, which means it will then be available in multiple formats (.epub, .mobi, etc.)

So stay tuned -- the ride has begun!

I have a cover!

This is the first new cover for my History Patrol series. I am so excited. It came out just as I wanted, unlike the first time around.

I wanted to call the book "Penance" the first time it was released, but my publisher wanted a different name. So I used "Forgiveness." And the cover ... well, it wasn't what I was looking for.

I wanted to show it was set in the 'old West', and I wanted the dog on the cover -- the dog is the manifestation of James in his second life, his reincarnated life.

The artist tried to convey a 'shadow life' but it didn't come out quite the way I envisioned it. The cover for Penance does convey what I wanted, and having the tag-line on the cover is necessary, I think.

Anyway ... I am happy! And I can't wait to see what my cover artist does for the rest of the books in the series!

Oh, and the artist? Kim Mendoza -- she did all of my Wild Rose Press covers, and I love her work. If you're interested in having her work for you, she can reached at: admin@writesftk.com. She'll be glad to talk to you about some freelance cover work. Her rates were reasonable and she's easy to work with on designs.

Self-Publishing Process: Step 1

Since my time travel books are my first experiment in self-publishing, I decided to use this blog as a diary of the process, sharing with you the ups and downs of the entire experience.

Let's see ... to start:

I found someone to do the formatting of my books for me. Lori Devoti has agreed to format my books for Kindle, Sony, and Nook for a very reasonable price. The books need to be converted from Word format to various e-formats (.epub, .prc, etc.) And it's not a real straightforward process. The book has to be run through a filter then it has to be cleaned up. Lori has agreed to give the books a try for a low price. If it turns out to be too time-consuming, we'll re-negotiate a price.

I can't have the books formatted until I get a cover for the books. I can't use the covers I originally had. Those are owned by the publisher. So I had to find a cover artist. Luckily, I love the covers from my Wild Rose cover artist. A few Google-searches later, and I found her. I sent her a file of my ideas, and she's drafting a cover for me.

Once I get the cover, I can send everything to Lori for creation of e-book formats. Once I get the formats, I can upload the books to Smashwords and Kindle -- I hope. Stay tuned for that process.

I also want the books available for print. To do that, I'll need a different cover artist to create the book jacket, spine, and back cover. She'll take the original art work and do that. I have the name of someone. Haven't contacted them.Yet.

Costs? I'll let you know. I don't have the bills yet. I'm anticipating about $300-$500 per book. I plan to price the first book quite low (.99 or thereabouts).With the 70% royalty rate, I need to sell about 700 copies of the book to break even.

We'll see. I'm not skeptical, but I'm wary. That's one thing I've learned in publishing: be wary.

I'll report back as The Event unfolds.

What's Up?

The History Patrol books are in flux right now...

They used to be available via Cerridwen Press, my publisher, but that publisher no longer has that imprint. Consequently, the rights to the History Patrol books were returned to me.

I'm working on getting the books ready for release on Amazon, etc.. What does this mean? It means three books will be available this spring, with another 'new' book (i.e., never released before) coming later this year. I'm working with an artist for cover art, with a formatter to get the books ready for digital print, and with Smash Words to put the books on their web site.

So stay tuned ... and click on some of the tabs above to see what The History Patrol is all about and what you can expect in the coming months.