Self-Published Author: Catering to the Readers

Astro Orbiter in Tomorrowland

I just finished a rant about the difference between $.99 price for my book (like so many indie authors do) and a $2.99/$3.99 price. No idea if I will ever let it actually post. In the end, I am going to ask my readers for more than a $.30 royalty on my hard work. This made me think about my brief time as a Merchantainer in Tomorrowland.


Waaaaay back in the summer of 2001, an average family of 4 spent more than $4,000 on a week long vacation. This is why when Little Johnny drops a $3 ice cream cone, cast members immediately get Little Johnny a new ice cream cone. $3 loss for family to return and spend another $4,000, and to tell their friends how awesome their vacation was. More $4,000 vacationers. And no one talks about the overpriced ice cream.


So what can I do as an author to keep people talking about my book, but not that it is more expensive than the indie author's next to me?


Here's what I've got so far:

• Spend extra care and time to make the reading experience easy. No formatting goofs. Absolutely no typos (working on quality assurance methodology). 
• Create an inviting web home for my readers.

1. Schedule regular 2-way conversations with my readers, live chat. 
2. A place to talk and interact with other readers, at their leisure.
3. Keep them on the pulse of what's going on.
4. Create contests and activities that single readers out as special. Monthly drawings for early readers of new chapters, Amazon gift certificates?
5. Offer quality list of related genre books my readers can read in the 5 months between when I publish novels. Not just a hodge-podge list. But books I've read myself and would recommend to my closest friends.

If I go above and beyond in the care of my readers, I give them another reason beyond my writing to be my friend. As a voracious reader myself, when I'm not toiling behind the keys, I know the difference between an author who works for their readers, and those who work for dollars. While I am not in a position to exchange the hours I spend giving more attention to my writing than my children for free, I can accept a modest living that will enable me to offer them more opportunities (not things) as a trade off. Plus, I think it's healthy for them to see Mommy doing more than just being Mommy. 


The very nature of my Red Ink collection is to share the imperfect journeys we make to find love in today's crazy mixed up world. My first story handles the idea of Prince Charming coming with a kid as part of the deal. This happened to me, but I wouldn't trade my Prince Charming, or his heir to the throne, for anything. My second story addresses financial compatibility, and how crushing debt can put the damper on serious passion in a jiffy. No handsome, rich man to swoop in and make those bills go away, either. I was more embarrassed and nervous to share my credit card debt and student loan balance back when my husband was my fiance than I was to get naked in front of him for the first time. And finally, the third book currently planned, a sequel to Cancelled, will focus on how co-parenting can really screw up a relationship quicker than adultery. Really. It's very hard to have a parenting team where both parents are equal players, even within a marriage. 


They aren't preachy books. They're the love stories we gossip about around the weekend breakfast table when it's our friend of a friend or disliked co-worker in a romantic mess. The stories we hear and think "Never in a million years would I ever get myself in that situation."  Love as it is. Messy, wonderful, hot, and in the end, the hope for us all. 


"Cancelled" arriving August 2011. Getting married and having a baby in the same year isn't that unusual. Unless it involves two different women.

Day 14 - Not Writer's Block, A Crisis of Writer's Security

I'm slightly ahead of schedule on my writing, and so I took this weekend off a little. Only 932 words so far. We'll see if I get possessed to do a marathon session tonight. 


I just finished reading Sophie Kinsella's Minishopaholic. The chance to laugh out loud to a novel was a nice respite from fretting over my own. I read some of the reviews the book has received and goodness! To see some of the backlash against the main character's parenting skills threw me for a loop. Who reads a fiction piece for parenting advice? Or maybe they just have never gone, or can't remember, shopping with a 2-year-old. I can. I do it weekly. My little girl hasn't mastered "Mine" yet, but she's figured out that everything in the cart gets bought and brought home. She throws things into our cart, and any unsuspecting person next to us, making me apologize profusely and remove the items. She is fascinated by my credit card. She likes to hand it to the cashier, and she has to "sign" the credit card slip, too. Does this make me a bad mom? NO. And Becky Bloomwood, the Shopaholic we all love, isn't a bad mommy, either. Or mum. :)


The last 24 hours have been a little hard on my psyche. After the run in with the readers on a romance novel forum, I am more than a little flustered. I read a review of a book that has a very similar plot to my own, well the author made it her twist, but it was handled very poorly and the author took the other path for resolution of the situation that I am not taking. On one hand, I should be glad my thoughts are in line with the rabid readers, that most modern women would not accept continuing a relationship with a man who had an infant on the way with another woman. I agree, I had a hard enough time wrapping my mind around being a stepmother to a 3-year-old when I was 21. I think anything younger than 2 is just too close to the old relationship for another woman to come into the picture without questions about her priorities, intentions, or adultery.


But, I did have my first feelings of never publishing this novel. I don't know why...I didn't think I would get this attached to it. But as the weeks go by, and my word count increases, my bond to it is increasing. I'm hoping the month I plan to take off from writing in June will help me get over it. I really need to put a stop to the feelings that this book somehow validates me as a writer. That's such nonsense! I'm many things before I was a writer, and despite one reader accusing me of not having a real job (HA! I'd LOVE to just have a 40-hour work week and a job that came with VACATION TIME). This is the same person who threatened to never read my book. When I'm finished, I'm going to send them a free copy, on principle alone.


Well, all this talking has inspired me and I think I will get to work on my novel again. I'm still stuck on Chapter 7 and this scene of Johnathan and Kellie in a deli to talk about the pregnancy. I think it's the setting. I think they need to go walking outside somewhere....Johnathan sitting there spinning his silverware isn't cutting it. I think a new location would make adding the awkwardness much easier.....




"Imperfect Timing" arriving Fall 2011. Johnathan Michaels, a robotics engineer, jeopardizes his engagement with his business partner when a previous one-night stand surfaces, carrying his child.

Day 12 - To Write, You Must Read

I have watched Jeremy C. Shipp (@JeremyCShipp) promote his novels for well over a year now. In fact, he's probably the first self-published author I've ever virtually met. I will confess that I haven't actually read any of his books, but that's because his genres aren't my normal cup of tea. This might change.


I just read his short, "Neighbors". Possessing a 10-year-old who prefaces any trip outside of the house with "Can I bring my DS?" I completely related to the adult in the story. I was hooked within seconds. I also loved the point of view in the story. Finally, I could see a smart use of the second person point of view. 


On Twitter, Shipp asked if he should write more stories like this. I agree, whole-heartedly. What was creepy about this story to me was the fact that the narrator is so stuck on Maria's death, he takes the kids he's babysitting on a tour that ends up at the hospital where Maria died. CREEPY. Though as a mom, anytime children and death are in the same story, I can't help but get the chills. 


So check out "Neighbors" and maybe give Jeremy C. Shipp a follow. Together, we can discover more of his writing (though I'm very chicken, scary movies still give me nightmares, not kidding.)


"Imperfect Timing" arriving Fall 2011. Johnathan Michaels, a robotics engineer, jeopardizes his engagement with his business partner when a previous one-night stand surfaces, carrying his child.