Joining The Crowd...

posted by hackey hudjson



Lately it seems that anytime two or more writers get together and talk about writing, the subjects of ebooks and indie publishing come up. With the sudden increase in e-readers and the subsequent demand for ebooks, self-publishing has lost most of its negative stigma and is now seen as a good way for writers to give readers more of what they want -- MORE STORIES!



After over a year of having doors constantly slammed in my face, the option of taking my stories directly to my readers has grown very darn appealing! A few of my writer-friends have been wildly successful with putting their stories directly onto Amazon and other ebook venues (by wildly successful, I mean earning six figures or close to it). Many others are achieving more moderate sales, but still better or equal to the money they've earned with traditional publishing (moderate sounds GREAT to me!).



Encouraged by these stories of success (including a couple of my Bandita-sisters), and by requests for more from my readers (truly music to my ears), I've decided to dip my toes into the big scary ocean of indie publishing.



Scary because the responsibility for everything now falls on lil ole me. The cover, the formatting, the editing, the promotion -- I get to do it all. ACK!



But everyone who has spent more than five minutes in the Lair knows that I'm not one to back down from a challenge. After all, SOMEONE must discipline all those cabana boys. But I digress...



Several months I started writing a story that was kind of a prequel to my first book, The Wild Sight. I say kind of because the main character is actually The Wild Sight hero's mother when she was a teen. I posted excerpts of this story as a special bonus for my newsletter group (and yes, you can join the group, just go here: http://yhoo.it/quNm8x ). So I've decided to make this story -- actually a novelette (between 7,500 and 17,499 words) my first foray into the big, scary ocean of indie publishing.



I'm still working on the editing phase, but here's the gorgeous cover I had designed by the lovely and talented Kim Van Meter (http://bit.ly/pbVV45)! And here is the blurb I've concocted:

In the rural Northern Ireland of the 1960s, sixteen-year-old Moira Mullins is newly released from her second stay in a mental institution. Her problem is that she can't seem to escape the notice of the other-wordly inhabitants of the wild lands bordering her family's farm. Creatures nobody else can see or hear.



When one of these beings, a fairy princess called the Maid of Ulster, offers to foretell the future, Moira jumps at the chance. But the Maid has ulterior motives that could have tragic results for Moira, who learns the future is sometimes better unknown.

I plan to have the novelette available on Amazon next month. Please wish me luck as the big, scary Indie ocean washes around my ankles!



Now for a few questions for my dear Bandita Buddies: Does the publisher of a book influence your buying? After the cover and the blurb, what do you notice next about a book? Have you read a good indie published book lately? Please share the details with Aunty!