My #KidLit #PoweredByIndie Story + Self-Publishing Advice

I’m not exactly an outsider to traditional publishing. I’ve had 50 children’s books traditionally published, some work for hire and some original fiction, with 10 more currently under contract. But several years ago, negative trends in traditional publishing (lower advances, poor e-book royalty rates, reduced marketing) met the increased ease of self-publishing through ebooks and print on demand. I weighed the pros and cons (there are many of each) and decided to explore self-publishing myself.

For the Children

Most of the indie publishing success stories involve those writing adult genre fiction. Young adult novels – aimed at teenagers with crossover potential for adult readership – have had indie success (e.g. Amanda Hocking). However, authors writing for younger children face more challenges.

Print is still king for kids, and print is more expensive to produce. Younger kids are less likely to have their own e-readers, though that is changing quickly. Some schools are also transitioning toward giving upper elementary and middle school children laptops or e-readers for classroom use. (As a curious side effect, some kids prefer print books for pleasure reading, because electronic devices now seem like part of school.)

As more children get access to e-readers, electronic book sales will grow. However, so far, my children’s books sales are primarily in print on demand. The balance may shift someday – but I haven’t seen any sign of it yet. You could hold onto your work, waiting for that future, but keeping your rights has to be balanced against starting to build a fan base now through traditional publishing (and maybe getting some advance money so you can afford the time to write more books).

Reaching Young Readers

Reaching child readers is another challenge. Children’s book publishing depends largely on school and library sales. Librarians and teachers often turn to review journals for guidance, and schools are restricted in how they can order classroom books. A good contract with a traditional publisher that can get your book into schools and libraries definitely has its advantages.

Illustrated books face additional challenges. Print on demand costs skyrocket for books with color interior illustrations. Even with novels, children’s books are more likely to need illustrated covers rather than cheaper covers using stock photography.

Despite the challenges, many children’s book writers are interested in indie publishing. After all, it’s better to be ahead of the wave than behind it. And at least writers whose work isn’t trendy or who get dumped by their publishers have another option now.

In particular, indie publishing provides opportunities for books that may not otherwise find an audience. I had a middle grade (ages 9 to 12) mystery set in ancient Egypt. The story had gotten great feedback from publishers, along with either “Historical fiction isn’t selling well” or “We already have an Egypt book.” And yet several teachers told me they wished I’d get the book published, so they could use it in the classroom. I sensed a market that publishers weren’t recognizing, and I had a manuscript I loved. Thus, I brought out The Eyes of Pharaoh in POD and e-book versions.

My first traditionally published novel, an adventure set in ninth-century Mayan Guatemala called The Well of Sacrifice, is used in many schools when they teach the Maya in fourth grade. I’ve had contact with some of those teachers, so I let them know about the new book. One e-mailed back that she’d ordered six copies for her lit circles. If teachers find that The Eyes of Pharaoh works well in the classroom, they’ll tell others, so this book could gain popularity slowly, by word of mouth.

Plus, many kids love ancient Egypt. If they go looking for books on the subject, they might find mine. There are a few other Egypt novels out there, but the niche isn’t as crowded as, say, fantasy novels. If you have something unusual that appeals to a small market segment (perhaps too small to attract a big publisher), self-publishing is a valuable option.

Self-publishing isn’t for everyone, but it can be a great option for those who like to control every aspect of their business. More than anything, I’ve enjoyed feeling like I have control of my career again. No waiting six months or more to hear back from an editor, or years to see a book in print. No suffering from the whims of the marketing department or falling victim to power plays at the publisher. No one to blame for setbacks but myself!

If you’re looking for quick fame and riches, you might as well play the lottery – it’s probably cheaper and your chance of success is nearly as good. But if you’re willing to work hard and plan for the future, self-publishing could be part of your business. Plus, if you have a book that doesn’t fit market trends, but may still find an enthusiastic (even if small) audience, you can bring the book out yourself. Knowing your work is being read – and dare I say loved? – is the best reward.

Stop by my blog post on the “Indie Publishing Worksheet” with questions to help you decide whether or not self-publishing is right for you, and if so, what steps to take.

Chris Eboch is the author of nonfiction and fiction for children, early reader through teen. Her novels for ages nine and up include The Eyes of Pharaoh, a mystery in ancient Egypt; The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan adventure; The Genie’s Gift, a middle eastern fantasy; and the Haunted series, about kids who travel with a ghost hunter TV show, which starts with The Ghost on the Stairs. Her writing craft books include You Can Write for Children: How to Write Great Stories, Articles, and Books for Kids and Teenagers, and Advanced Plotting.

Learn more at https://chriseboch.com/ or her Amazon page.

Chris also writes for adults under the name Kris Bock. Kris Bock writes action-packed romantic suspense involving outdoor adventures amidst Southwestern landscapes. The Mad Monk’s Treasure follows a treasure hunt in New Mexico. Whispers in the Dark involves intrigue among ancient Southwest ruins. Counterfeits starts a series about art theft. What We Found is a mystery with romantic elements about a young woman who finds a murder victim in the woods. Read excerpts at www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page. 

Self-Publishing Worksheet #PoweredByIndie

Should you self publish? Are you ready to start? This questionnaire will give you an overview on what you need. (Please note that the indie publishing world changes quickly and this is not frequently updated.)

What is your primary purpose for self-publishing? (Earning money, sharing the book with family/friends, sharing a message, breaking into publishing, attracting an agent, etc.)

What are your secondary purposes?

How much time can/will you devote?

What resources do you have?

• How much money to invest?

• Proofreading skills?

• Layout skills (for POD)? Computer processing/HTML skills (for e-book layout)?

• Cover art/design skills?

• Interior art, photography, or special formatting (tables, maps) if needed?

• Publicity/social networking skills/platform?

• Business experience: accounting, tax, running a small business, etc.?

Who is your audience?

What do you see as your primary sales channel? E-books, print orders from Amazon (print on demand), or direct-sales via author events or your website (in which case consider using a printer for the best price on bulk orders)? (If your answer is bookstores or libraries, focus on traditional publishing.)

How much will your book cost? For POD, calculate price based on size and page count. Will your audience pay that much? How many copies will you have to sell to make back your investment? To meet other goals?

Are you confident that your manuscript is ready for publication? Why or why not?

What steps do you need to take to prepare for self-publishing? Estimate the cost in time and money.

• Professional editorial feedback.

• Further editing on your own.

• Proofreading.

• Table of contents, index, appendices? Interior art, photography, or special formatting (tables, maps, interior links for e-books)? Include any time/cost for acquiring rights to quotes or images.
• Interior layout for print on demand.

• File conversion for e-book.

• Cover art/design. Will you need illustration or photography? Front cover only (e-book), or spine and back (POD)?

• Getting an ISBN. (Free to $125 for a single number, free to $250 for 10. Different numbers needed for each version, e.g. paperback, hardcover, and e-book.)

• Uploading your material for e-book or print on demand, or contracting with a printer.

• Publicity/marketing. Options include: hiring a publicity firm, sending press releases, e-mailing friends and family, building a webpage, blogging, setting up a blog tour or guest blog posts, developing press kits, sending your work to reviewers or paying for reviews, creating an Amazon Listmania list, and participating in social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon’s Author Central, GoodReads, Library Thing, Shelfari, Jacket Flap, and the Kindle Boards. Social networking in particular is an ongoing time expense—how many hours per week can you devote to it?
• For children’s books, a teaching guide or lesson plans can be a good marketing tool. These typically cost $200 and up.

Additional Resources/Books on Self-Publishing:

* Intent to Sell: Marketing the Genre Novel by Jeffrey A. Marks

Quit Your Day Job, A Guide for the Self Published Author 

* Smart Self-Publishing: Becoming an Indie Author by Zoe Winters
* Let’s Get Digital: How To Self-Publish, And Why You Should by David Gaughran
* We Are Not Alone: The Writer’s Guide to Social Media by Kristen Lamb
* Write It Forward: From Writer to Successful Author Bob Mayer
* Dollars & Sense: The Definitive Guide to Self-publishing Success by Carolyn McCray, Amber & Rachel Thompson

* Anyone Can Make a Kindle Book, by Peter Spenser (easy formatting information): reviewed

Formatting Print Interiors for Self-Publishing

I write a column for the SCBWI Bulletin with tips on self-publishing children’s books. The winter Bulletin includes my column on interior design for print books. Because I did not have enough space to include instructions for formatting using Microsoft Word, I’m including some detail here. Although, after writing all this, I found some other online sources that are even better. So you may want to skim over my instructions, and then click on the first couple of links below. See which one looks like the best fit for your learning style.

Microsoft Word is an adequate tool for doing the interior layout for novels with no or minimal interior images. (Professional designers generally prefer Adobe InDesign, but it’s very expensive. You probably already have Word.) The process is not necessarily easy or intuitive, so schedule some time, and take a break if you’re getting frustrated. You may also want to take notes on any tweaks you need to make for your preferences or your system. That way you’ll have those instructions for the next book you format.

I’m currently using Windows 10, but these instructions should work for most recent versions of Word.

Basic Setup

First of all, save a new version of your manuscript to format for print, because you will not want all these things in the version you use for the e-book.

Start by setting up your page size (equal to the book’s trim size) and your margins:

Under the “Page Layout” tab, click on Size and then choose the size you want your print book to be. Five or 5 1/2 inches wide is good for a children’s novel and no more than eight inches high.

Mirror margins mean I can put page numbers at the outsides
and different headings (name on left, title on right)

Next click on Margins– Custom Margins – Multiple Pages – Mirror Margins. Your interior margin must be at least .375” for books up to 150 pages, and .75” for books with 151 to 400 pages. Other margins must be at least .25 inches but you may want them larger for aesthetics. Measure the margins in some published books you like to see the difference it can make. Larger margins will also mean a bigger page count. That could be good if you have a short book and want to make it a bit thicker, but if you have a long book, more pages could mean you need to charge a higher price for it.

You may also have to adjust your header and footer distances to get the margins you want.

In Word, it looks like my title page is on the left
of a two-page spread

Front Matter

Front matter – that’s the stuff before the main text, the title page, copyright page, dedication, etc. – may be center justified. Choose a nice (stylish but readable) font and adjust the size appropriately You probably want a fairly large title, for example. Again, choose some traditionally published books and copy the type of content they have as well as the formatting.

The first page of novel text should be on the right-hand side, with a blank page opposite. If you view two pages at a time, remember that they won’t be the same two-page spreads that show up in the printed book. Rather, your first page will be a left-hand page when viewed in Microsoft Word, but a right-hand page in the print book.

Odd-numbered pages should always be on the right.

Headings

The title page is actually a right-hand page
because the first printed page faces up

Some books have the author name, the book title, and/or the chapter title at the tops of the pages. You’ll see it both ways in traditionally published books though, and setting this up is a bit complicated, so you might want to skip it. If you do want to use these headings, the first page of each chapter should not have a heading. Also, front matter and back matter (author’s note or whatever you have the back after the main text) should not have a heading. If you’re using headings, use section breaks (not page breaks) between chapters. This allows you to set up a different first page header (a blank header) for each chapter.

To put in a heading, double-click at the top of the page, above the main text, and Word should switch to into viewing the Header and Footer. You can then type in those spaces and format (left, right, center; change the font and the font size; etc.) Make sure to click the box that says Different First Page, and do not type anything in the first page. Also click Different Odd & Even Pages so you can put the book title on one side and the author name or chapter titles on the other side.

If you Link to Previous, each chapter will have the same headers and footers as the previous chapter. For front matter and back matter, un-click Link to Previous and erase anything in the headers and footers.

If your header or footer seem too large, make sure you don’t have an extra blank line above or below any text.

Text Design

For the main text, use full justification as opposed to ragged right. (This is under the Paragraph tab.) This will spread the text between the margins on the left and right. However, you may wind up with large gaps between some words. You will need to look for these gaps in your final review (below).

Choose your font and size. Garamond is a nice font for a novel. You can get fancy, but don’t get too fancy – use a readable font. It’s simplest if you use one you already have included with Microsoft Word, so you don’t have to worry about buying or licensing a specialty font or making sure it’s properly embedded in the PDF.

Adjust the leading (space between lines) by selecting all the relevant text, going to the Home Tab – Paragraph – Line Spacing and choosing Exactly and then the leading you want. 12.4 and 13.3 are common for leading, but you may want more or less depending on the font and font size. Make sure you’re not cutting off hanging letters from the line above – double check in the PDF, as it may be different from the Word version.

If that sounds too complicated, you can simply single space – but do not ever double space for a novel! (Yes, I’ve seen that in a self-published book.)

You may want to decrease your tab or first-line indent size so paragraphs aren’t indented as much. If you haven’t been able to break the habit of using five periods to indent, use the Search – Replace function and get rid of those.

Chapters

No headings on the first page of the chapter!

Add your chapter headings (whether this is just Chapter One or a chapter title). You can center the chapter headings and adjust the size. You may want the first word or letter of a chapter to be larger or bold. Study other books for ideas.

Of course you want all your chapter headings to be the same throughout. I found the simplest way to do this is to use the Format Painter button – the little paintbrush in the upper left-hand corner. Double-click on the paintbrush, and then scroll down to the next chapter heading. Click to the left of it and the line should adjust to the same formatting. Scroll down farther and repeat.

Final Polish

If you have any interior art, add it using the Insert button. Microsoft Word apparently compresses art, so it won’t be as high quality. This means it’s not ideal for books where the images are very important, but you can use simple line art.

Scan through every page looking for large gaps between words, and add hyphenation or otherwise adjust the formatting to get rid of them. Look for widows and orphans as well and get rid of them.

Save a copy as a PDF -- make sure you have chosen “standard” format. Choose ISO option if it’s not embedding the fonts. Double-check that all your formatting came through, such as italics. Be sure all your formatting is consistent.

Now you are ready to upload your document!

Troubleshooting

If my tips don’t seem to be working, or you need to know something else, do an Internet search for what you want to do and you should come up with plenty of tutorials, both written and video. They are often better than the Help menu in Word. You might also be able to find a tutorial that simply walks you through lots of the options.

One incredibly valuable tool is the Replace option. You’ll find it in the upper right corner of the Home tab. It can be used to fix all those problems that come from old habits. For example, search for two spaces and replace with one space. Click on the “More” button and then “special” to see many more options. If you have a document with tabs and you want to use the indent formatting instead, you can Replace “tab” (there are symbols that indicate these things; you don’t actually use the word) with nothing.

I always use the Replace function and replace " with " – the symbols look the same, but it will ensure that all quotes are “smart” or “curly” rather than straight. I do the same with the apostrophe.

And don’t forget the Undo button in case you do something wrong! If things are going well but you want to experiment with something risky, it might be a good idea to save the document in a new version before you start playing with it.

If you are overwhelmed, you have other options, such as hiring a professional or using a template. Print on demand companies may supply a template. You can buy more advanced preformatted templates available for Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign. TheBookDesigner has some for children’s books starting at $37.

Chris Eboch is the author of 40+ traditionally-published books and 10 self-published titles, including You Can Write for Children: How to Write Great Stories, Articles, and Books for Kids and Teenagers and Advanced Plotting. Visit her Amazon page or website.

Additional resources:

How to format a book in Microsoft Word (with videos and lots of images)

DIY Formatting and Layout Guidelines

Formatting: From Manuscript to a Print Book with MS Word

How To Make A Professional Standard Print Book Interior With Joel Friedlander, The Book Designer

How To Self-Publish A Print Book, by Joanna Penn

How Much Attention Should You Pay to Book Design? A Q&A With Joel Friedlander

Typography for Children

Picture Book Basics – Graphic Design

Rags, Widows & Orphans

A Middle Grade Boxed Set

Boxed e-books sets are everywhere these days  – at least in adult genre fiction. Middle grade boxed sets have been less common, perhaps even nonexistent. That's changing with The Adventure Collection of MG novels, including one of mine. 

Why We Did It

The idea began with DD Roy, a writer and the founder of a small publishing house, who has previous experience with romance collections. Her middle grade novel Jinnie Wishmaker is about a girl who can grant wishes but can't control the results. It launches a series about kids with magical powers that don't always work the way they're supposed to. She recruited the other authors and is handling production on the collection.

Initially, the collection will be priced at $.99. Later, the price may go up – or we may decide to take down the collection. Six authors sharing income on a $.99 book may not sound very lucrative. However, the promotional price and the shared marketing mean that the volume of sales can be much greater than any one author makes on a single title. Even with that money divided six ways, everyone earns something. The collection will be available for a limited time, and then we'll discuss whether or not we want to keep it up.

The visibility is more important than sales for many participating authors. The hope is that readers who enjoy one novel will look for others by the same author. Perhaps they'll post reviews or tell friends about their favorite books in the collection.

This marketing angle is especially useful for authors sharing the first book in a series. Readers who like the first book may want more of that series. In our collection, Priscilla the Great, by Sybil Nelson, is the first book in a series about a girl who can shoot fire from her fingers and must save her family from genetically enhanced assassins. 

Other books in the collection have sequels coming soon. Operation Golden Llama, by Sam Bond, is about five cousins searching for ancient gold and a mysterious grandma in the Peruvian jungle. The second in the Cousins In Action series, Operation Tiger Paw, is due for release in November. Sam plans seven books in total taking the cousins to six continents and doubling up on Asia. 

Angels Club, by Courtney Vail and Sandra J. Howell, is about a girl who bonds with a scrawny rescue horse. Angels Club 2: The Trouble with Boys features different point of view characters and will be out this winter. Courtney also writes young adult and adult suspense, while Sandra's focus is horse stories for kids and grown-ups.

Unfortunately, my only series, Haunted, is published by Aladdin (Simon & Schuster). Even if they had been willing to allow The Ghost on the Stairs to be used in the bundle, it would have taken far too long to get the proper permissions. Therefore, I included The Genie’s Gift, a fantasy adventure drawing on the Arabian Nights stories, since I have all the rights to that book. Maybe readers who like The Genie’s Gift will check out my historical mystery, The Eyes of Pharaoh, or my Mayan adventure, The Well of Sacrifice.

Even books without sequels can help increase author name recognition and provide a boost to the author's other titles. Jennifer Bohnhoff’s historical drama, Code: Elephants on the Moon, is about an outcast girl in Normandy during World War II. Perhaps interested readers – or teachers – will follow up with her second historical novel, the Civil War drama The Bent Reed. We felt it was worth a chance.

How It Worked

Since the collection is new, it's hard to say what the results are yet. However, before this writing, we had already hit 100 sales on Apple. Some sales won't show up until the collection officially goes on sale. And of course, it will be hard to judge if/how sales of the collection increase sales of other books by each authors. Readers might take months to actually get around to reading each individual book in the collection. In addition, there are many variables affecting sales numbers – normal fluctuations in sales patterns, holidays, other promotions.

Hopefully we'll be able to draw some conclusions. Maybe we'll even make some money off of our shares of the collection. Regardless, it's a fun experiment and we are sure to learn something. Plus, I've gotten to meet some new middle grade authors, and I'm already enjoying my own copy of the collection.

The Adventure Collection is only 99 cents for a limited time. 

Kindle: http://bit.ly/Adventure-Zon
B&N: http://bit.ly/Adventure-BN
Kobo: http://bit.ly/Adventure-Kobo

iBooks: http://bit.ly/Adventure-iTunes

Another Company Enters the Self-Publishing Market

Simon & Schuster has announced a new self-publishing imprint, Archway Publishing. The imprint is run by Author Solutions, a vanity press with a long and questionable history. Here are a couple of blog posts on the subject. These contain individual opinions,but the bloggers' numbers appear to be correct based on a quick look around the Archway site. Please be very cautious about doing business with anyone who claims to be representing Penguin who may really be trying to sell you services through Archway. A traditional publisher NEVER asks for money up front.

A New Way To Rob the Poor?, By Andrew E. Kaufman

Simon & Schuster Joins Forces With Author Solutions To Rip Off Writers

This may sound familiar because Penguin’s parent company, Pearson, purchased Author Solutions in July. (Here's an opinion on that: Penguin’s New Business Model: Exploiting Writers) My personal opinion: Big publishers need to look for innovative ways to increase revenue. Valid options include starting e-book-first imprints and lowering or eliminating advances while giving authors a greater royalty rate. They do not involve lending the publisher's name to a shady and overpriced vanity press.

Using Giveaways for Promotions

Helping an audience find your books is one of the big challenges for all writers, but particularly debut or self-publishing writers. You can find a lot of mixed opinions about giving away free books as a promotion. I thought I’d share some experiences for my Wednesday series of posts looking at the business side of publishing.

There are several ways you can give away free e-books – providing coupons on Smashwords, offering gift books that you send directly to the reader or buy and send through Amazon, or resetting your book’s price as free as one seller (usually Smashwords) so that Amazon will match the price. But one of the most effective methods seems to be joining Amazon’s KDP Select program.

The disadvantage is that you have to pull your book off of all other sellers. This means your friends and family members with a Nook won’t be able to get the book, and some review sites won’t review books that aren’t available in all electronic formats. However, most independent authors find that the majority of their sales come from Amazon, so the trade-off may be worth it. Also, you can sign up for the Select program for 90 days at a time, so you can alternate between having your book available everywhere and using the Amazon program.

The big advantage to KDP Select is that you can make your book free for up to five days in the 90 day period. Through proper promotion, this can lead to thousands of downloads, which can improve your book’s rankings, bringing it to the attention of potential buyers. But does it work?

I decided to try this for myself. Shortly after I signed on to the program with Whispers In the Dark, I started hearing authors claim that the free book giveaways were not as effective as they had been previously. Amazon had change their algorithms, so free downloads are now only equal to a small percent of a paid sale, and so they no longer provided as much of a boost in rankings.

My first book, Rattled, had been out over a year, and my second book, Whispers In the Dark, was published in December. Sales to date of these “adult” books published under the name Kris Bock (as opposed to my children’s books published under the name Chris Eboch) have been miniscule, three or four a month. I’ve done very little publicity, because I was focused on getting three books out so I could promote them all. I’m running behind schedule on publishing my third, but I wanted to use my free days before the first 90 days expired.

At the advice of other authors on a mystery writers listserv, I submitted the information to Ereader News Today, Indie Book List, and The Frugal eReader. Some other sites either had a fee or didn’t seem to be active anymore. I also posted the info on Facebook, sent Twitter announcements, posted to a couple of GoodReads groups, and sent a notice to four listserves I’m on. I arranged for Whispers in the Dark to be free for three days, July 21 to23.

Saturday, 7/21, it showed up on Indie Book List, The Frugal eReader, and Free Books Hub (I did not submit it there, so they must have picked it up from somewhere else). Here are a couple of rankings from that day:

11:45 AM MST: Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,789 Free in Kindle Store 

• #39 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Romance > Romantic Suspense

• #76 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Action & Adventure

7:00 PM Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #194 Free in Kindle Store 

#4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Action & Adventure

On Sunday showed up on EReaderNewsToday.com. That day’s rankings:

2:30 pm: Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #96 Free in Kindle Store 

#5 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Action & Adventure

#7 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Romance > Romantic Suspense

8:45 pm Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32 Free in Kindle Store 

#2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Action & Adventure

#5 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Romance > Romantic Suspense

On Monday, I didn’t find any place new it posted, but it reached its highest rankings:

8:20 am Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14 Free in Kindle Store 

#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Action & Adventure

#3 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Romance > Romantic Suspense

11 am, 1:40 pm, and 3:15: Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13 Free in Kindle Store 

#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Action & Adventure (but it had dropped out of the Romantic Suspense rankings)

By Tuesday, 8 am, it had dropped out of the category rankings, but kept improving slightly in paid rankings: Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,461 Paid in Kindle Store 

Sunday, 7/29: Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,716 Paid in Kindle Store. (For comparison, my traditionally published books are often between 100,000 and half a million. The smaller the number, the better.)

In the top 20 romantic suspense free books, most had an average of four stars, with a few slightly over three stars. The number of reviews ranged from zero to several hundred, and didn’t seem to affect ranking. Based on my own habits, I would have expected the number of reviews to matter more, so I would have waited until I had around 10 reviews to promote the book. It doesn’t seem that other people shop the same way, at least for free books. However, having more and better reviews could mean more sales after the book is no longer free.

In all, I had 15,149 free downloads (obviously those aren’t all people I know personally!). Now on to the important stuff – how did this translate into paid sales?

Unit sales covering period 07/01/2012 to 07/31/2012 (most of these from the two days after it was free):

Whispers in the Dark: 71 sold, 9 refunded, 62 net sold, 16 borrowed. (Joining KDP Select puts your book in the “library” of books that Amazon Prime members can borrow. Authors get about two dollars per borrow.)

And the sales spilled over to Rattled: 23 sold, 1 refunded, 22 net sold, 0 borrowed. 

Sales kept up for another week or so. From 8/1 to 8/11, I sold 28 copies of Whispers in the Dark and 11 copies of Rattled. In total, I made almost $400 from Kindle in 3 weeks. (This did not translate into any additional sales of the print books, although I did sell about 50 copies of my children’s mystery The Eyes of Pharaoh in July and early August.)

Sales then dropped off, but remained better than previously. From 8/12 to 8/25, I sold six copies of Whispers in the Dark and 9 copies of Rattled (could it be that some people who got Whispers for free read it and liked it enough to go back for Rattled?!)

A few other notes – I raised the price on Whispers in the Dark to $4.99 before I made it free, figuring that people tend to think they’re getting a better deal if they get a $5 item for free than if they get a $3 item for free. I don’t know if that affected the number of sales I’ve gotten since then, but I got more per book sold. Rattled is still at $2.99.

I know some of my friends and children’s book writing colleagues picked up the book because it was free. While we might prefer that people we know pay for our books to support us, realistically, that doesn’t always happen. I certainly can’t afford to buy every book from every writer I know! At least some of these friends have gotten a look at my books for adults, and one of them already read and reviewed it.

I did this in a rush, because my 90 days were about to expire. I debated signing up Whispers in the Dark again versus starting my next book in KDP Select. I decided to do Whispers again, even though the bump might not be as good the second time around, so I can use the giveaway to help drive traffic to the next book.

I’ll probably make the new book, What We Found, available on Amazon and B&N for a month or so and try to get a few early reviews, then enter it in the program as well. I don’t think I’ll publish it on Smashwords, at least at first, because it’s harder to pull down from there to make it exclusive on Kindle. With direct publishing on B&N, I can remove the book within a day. Because Smashwords distributes to other companies (Kobo, Sony) it can take months to make changes. I’ve hardly made any money from Smashwords anyway.

Next Wednesday, I’ll take another look at the KDP Select program by sharing the experiences of some other authors.

Buy the Rattled e-book on Kindle for $2.99

See Whispers in the Dark on Amazon. (Prime members can borrow it for free.)

See Kris Bock’s books on Amazon.

Sandra Stiles: Self-Publishing Worked For Me

Today Sandra Stiles, author of Steps To Courage, talks about her decision to self-publish.

I am a teacher by trade. When 9/11 happened I was sitting in a classroom with sixth graders watching the events unfold on the television. My students wondered if there were kids in the Towers. I had no clue since I’d never been to New York. It made me wonder how teens would handle such a catastrophe.

I let that brew for a few more years. I was sitting in a reading class. I had just assigned another writing assignment when one of my students said I needed to write books for my shelves. They liked what I wrote, they liked what I suggested to them to read. I went home and once again told my husband about my plans for a 9/11 book. He handed me a notepad and told me to stop talking about it and to start writing it.

In the meantime, I was signed up for a 2-year novel writing class and had collected books on writing. I had started a book review blog where I received a lot of encouragement from authors in my pursuit of writing. Since I am one of a handful of authors who enjoy reviewing self-published books, I received tips and hints from them. The class I was taking discouraged self-publication. I persevered in my pursuit of traditional publication.

Through an author friend, Marlayne Giron, whose books I had reviewed on my blog, I met my agent. She read my manuscript and started telling me what I needed to do. She said she would be glad to represent me. She shopped the book around for about six months. She and I discussed self-publishing and she actually encouraged me. I still had the voices in my head telling me if I self-published then I wasn’t a real author because “real” authors are traditionally published.

I talked with and prayed with some real close friends at school. They asked why I wanted it published at the time I did. I told them that I had been trying for three years to publish it traditionally and we were approaching the tenth anniversary of 9/11. It was important that I get it published before that. They looked at me and said; “I think you have your answer then.”

My agent recommended one of her clients, Karen Arnpriester, graphic artist by profession. She created my book cover, business cards and bookmarks. My friend Marlayne, worked with me and created my book trailer. I self-published through CreateSpace. I’ll never forget when I got the proof copy back. I held the physical book in my hands and bawled. It is not a feeling you can describe. Any author would understand that feeling. I don’t care how many books I write, I believe holding the proof of each one will feel similar. It is a sense of accomplishment.

My agent started hooking me up with other authors she represented. They promoted my book and ran my book trailer on Facebook. Several authors I had reviewed did the same. I was so pleased. My school ran my book trailer for a week. I took pre-orders and within my first week through school alone, this included parents ordering from Amazon, I had sold over 160 copies. My school library currently has six copies. My public library has a copy.

I’ve been comparing traditional with self-publishing. Unless you are a big celebrity or you are a J.K. Rowling, a traditionally published author has to work just as hard promoting their book as a self-published author. I have found that word of mouth whether it has been through Facebook, friends or whatever avenue has been the best thing for me, as it is for most authors.

As of this writing I have sold over 360 books in the ten months since it was published. I believe that is good for a self-published author. I live in an Amish area in Florida. One of our local Amish restaurants has a book section. I took a copy of my book in. A week later, I received a call from the manager. He ordered 50 books. They also asked me to do a two-day book signing, once each morning and evening so I would hit their biggest crowds. They scheduled it for the ninth and tenth of September. Every employee purchased a copy of my book.

Our school is an International Baccalaureate school. Student must choose to come to our school. When parents and schools are given tours, they bring them to my classroom and they mention I am a published author. I’ve made several sales this way. Since I am writing books for young adults that also appeal to adults, this helps.

There has been a little more expense involved than I was prepared for. When I talk to people now who would like to self publish I tell them they need to do all of their research about what is out there. I point them to several writing sites that have helped me. It is amazing how helpful well-known authors are to those who are starting out. Writers are one of the most helpful groups of people I have ever known.

Would I recommend self-publication? Yes. Does this mean I will never try traditional publication? Not at all. I think it is something we all strive for. However, if we have clearly defined goals, know what we need to do, self-publication can be the way to go. After all, well know authors like Roland Smith have self-published books. He has been a very successful author yet he self-published “Legwork” as an e-book. Why? He thought it was a wonderful book but his publisher didn’t.

I myself am looking forward to more self-publication. I am in control of things, not a publisher.

Steps To Courage

Trina Lacy is passionate about Angel Hope, a service that she once relied on to get her through one of the toughest times in her life. Required to complete community service hours for graduation she proposes a charity fundraiser held at Windows on the World, in New York City’s Twin Towers.

She is joined in this venture by her ex-boyfriend Lucas James. He is hoping to use this not only for his required hours, but to mend the broken relationship with Trina. Mark Jacobs volunteers for the project out of guilt. He has been carrying around the guilt of playing a major role in his parent’s death. He hopes to find a way to forgive himself.

They meet at the Twin Towers on 9-11 to divide and conquer. None of them expected terrorists to fly planes into the Towers. Each of them is a survivor of a horrific tragedy from their past and, now they must face escaping the burning towers with all the odds stacked against them. How will they survive this ordeal when each of them feels guilty at having survived in the first place?

Website: http://sandrastiles.com

Blog: www.themusingsofabookaddict.com

Paths to Publication: Connie Ripley Lujan on Living the Good Life

I’m sure I don’t have anything new to say about writing that Chris hasn’t already told you. Chris was my first teacher in my beginners’ class with the Institute of Children’s Literature (ICL) correspondence course out of Connecticut. I was newly retired and looking forward to my dream of writing children’s stories when Chris got me started.

Stowaway to Antarctica, a story about a homeschooler, twelve-year-old boy, new to New Zealand schools, who is disappointed he can’t join his father on an expedition to Antarctica to search for meteorites, was exciting to write because of the research involved. I love to do research and learn new facts and understandings about nature. Figuring out the mechanics of how to stow away a twelve-year-old took many revisions to make it all believable. Creating the conflicts of being lost and suffering the consequences of his misbehavior was exciting. Being a teacher is my specialty.

Chris edited it for me and said it was a go. I was so excited. I had drawn maps of locations in Antarctica and had details and pages and references about meteorites found in Antarctica. I knew it would sell. It didn’t. I had some nice rejection letters, many with suggestions which encouraged me to revise and resubmit--which I did, for several years. I’m still looking for an agent/editor; but I did what Chris and all the good teachers tell you to do—I kept writing.

I enrolled in the advance class with the ICL and worked with Kristen Wolden Niltz, another excellent teacher. Her advice from the beginning was to write a non-fiction if I wanted something that would sell easily. She knew I was disappointed in my rejections for Stowaway. But no—I wanted to write a young adult story about young girls I had listened to with my work at STARS, (standing together against rape). And so, Evie’s Secret was born. Three, four years have passed with many dollars spent on mailings and conferences and more workshops. No one wanted it. Chris edited it and recommended revision which I worked on for three months. More time, more money, more rejections, more bad feelings.

Then I read an article in Writers Digest that, this time, hit home. Chris and Kristen had both given me the same message—write about what you know—write about what you have a passion for.  I knew, as a mother, having raised five sons, and as an educator most of my life, that children were the love of my life. I’ve always loved children. I’d die for them any day. I had found my passion.

Whom could I champion as a spirit of my devotion? I immediately thought of Marie Montessori, my mentor in child-rearing. As a Montessori teacher and follower of the Montessori Method for fifty years, I knew I could express my feelings and concern for the children through her love of the child. My soul felt akin to hers. And so I began to write—about Maria at first—then about me. I discovered I was writing a creative non-fiction which was part memoir. Three or four years later, after many edits and revisions and changes of title, Montessori—Living the Good Life was ready to be submitted. My critique group and others said it was good. 

It was ready . . . but was I? My heart and soul was in this writing. I’m seventy-six. Did I have enough years and spirit to survive the process of attempting to sell my book to someone else? How many rejections could my soul take, I asked myself? I decided the answer was none. I knew this book, Montessori-Living the Good Life, had an important message that I wanted to share with the whole world, now!

So I began to research ideas and suggestions for self-publishing. There are many choices. I found one with a discount for their top package. Then I went to my sons for help with a website: www.montessoritheory.com. In time I will be revising my novels and writing more about Maria, but for the next year, I plan to be busy marketing—the other half of writing. I’m looking forward to conferences this year and to the 27^th International Montessori Congress in July next year.

Montessori—Living the Good Life was just released in January. My publisher set-up eight social media accounts with access to author learning webinars and book consultants to advise me how to market. Along with my own website, I am keeping very busy getting my title, Montessori—Living the Good Life, and name as author, Connie Ripley Lujan, and my website address, www.montessoritheory.com, out to the public. I appreciate this opportunity to blog on Chris’s site. You can learn more about Montessori—Living the Good Life on my website, where there is a BUY page. You can also purchase my book online at Amazon and all the bookstores, national and international.

(A tip for you for when you start marketing your book: My sons tell me to repeat the title Montessori—Living the Good Life, and my author name, Connie Ripley Lujan, and website address, www.montessoritheory.com, as often as reasonably possible so that the SEO, the search engine optimizer, will trigger Google to your site more often.) J

Chris says: I love hearing about former students or critique clients who have found success. These days, success comes in many forms. Connie has found a path that makes her happy! Sadly, too many good books don’t sell traditionally. (See my guest post on Alternate Publishing: Historical Fiction, on Darcy Pattison’s blog.) This is another example of a book that might not be “big” enough to interest a large publisher, but Connie has connections with the Montessori community, so she can target her marketing. Plus, without a lot of similar books out there, anyone looking for information can find her book quickly.

Connie chose to publish her book through a packager, WestBow Press. While this typically costs more than publishing on your own (directly through Amazon’s CreateSpace, for example), Connie has been happy with their service, and this can be an option for people willing to spend a little more money in exchange for guidance and simplicity. There’s an enormous amount to learn when it comes to self-publishing and marketing!

Best of luck to you, Connie.

Timing Is Everything: Barbara Gregorich on Self-Publishing Time Sensitive Topics

For those who are considering self-publishing but might be intimidated by writers organizations which berate it, I want to say something positive about one category of books: those with time-sensitive topics.

If you have a time-sensitive topic that you haven’t been able to sell to a traditional publisher, or that you don’t have time to send on the submission rounds, should you simply shelve that book — or should you self-publish it?

Let me use my own experience as an example.

About seven years ago, I started to write a nonfiction book for ages 10-Up. It was the story of Jack Graney (left fielder for the Cleveland Major League team from 1910-22), and his bull terrier, Larry, who became the official team mascot, appearing in all team photos.

For a while, I struggled with how to tell this story. After stumbling through a few prose versions, I started to tell the story in free verse. Instantly I felt this was the best way to bring the story to life for the reader. The story came to me through old newspaper articles, and I gave it back to the reader through free verse, which seemed very fitting because both short articles and short poems often capture the essence of a moment: a sensation, a feeling, a conflict.

Once I had my story written, I began submitting it to editors at traditional publishing houses. In four or five years, I submitted it to maybe a dozen editors, most of whom said they liked it but, for one reason or another, turned it down.

The largest number of editors turned my story down because they felt the story had to be either Jack’s story or Larry’s story, but not the story of both. One turned it down because, she said, stories about a Cleveland team wouldn’t sell a lot of books. Another turned it down because Jack Graney wasn’t the star of the 1920 World Series.

As the rejects slowly came in and the manuscript went back out, the 100th anniversary of Larry joining the Cleveland team loomed nearer. And nearer. And then — an editor I knew of and highly respected appeared to be interested in the book. I thought she might even make an offer on it. She asked for a marketing plan and back-cover-testimonial suggestions from me, and I wrote these up and emailed them to her. I was hopeful, and I like to think that she was, too.

And then — the large publishing house that owned the imprint I had submitted to dropped the imprint. Also dropped the editors who worked there. Amongst the human casualties were manuscript casualties, Jack and Larry among them.

At this point it was impossible for a traditional publisher to buy my story and have it out in 2012, the 100th anniversary of Larry joining the team. I had tried my best. I had written and rewritten and rewritten, listened to editorial suggestions, listened to my critique group’s comments, always rewriting, always honing the material. I believed I had a good story and I believed it was well-written. And time-sensitive. Let’s not forget time-sensitive.

I wondered what to do. Should I self-publish, or should I keep trying for conventional publication, even though it would mean that, should one accept, Jack and Larry would come out after the 100th anniversary.

I called my agent and we discussed it thoroughly. Her parting words were: “What are you going to do, wait for the 125th anniversary? Go for it!”

And so I did. I made plans to self-publish through CreateSpace, with Jack and Larry coming out in January 2012, one month before pitchers and catchers reported to spring training.

Was this the right decision?

The answer is a resounding Yes.

Not only am I thrilled to have a great-looking book that has already touched the hearts of those who have read it, but I’m excited that the book has already been reviewed by baseballreflections.com, and that review has been picked up by scores of other baseball sites. And it’s now being picked up by dog-related sites.

In addition, the American Kennel Club’s magazine, Family Dog, will carry a one-page feature on Jack and Larry, and that will also appear on their web site. The Canadian Review of Materials (Jack Graney was Canadian), which reviews literature that can be taught in elementary and high school, will review the book.

But there’s more. Soon after my book was published, the Cleveland Indians announced that on August 11, 2011, Jack Graney (who was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986) would be inducted into the Cleveland Indians Distinguished Personnel Hall of Fame. My book in no way caused this well-deserved honor for Graney — but what a wonderful, fantastic, incredible example of serendipity.

You can bet that I’ve been calling Cleveland area bookstores and newspapers and lining up autographing events and announcements and interviews for August 11, 2012. It’s 300 miles from Chicago to Cleveland, and I’m lining up autographings en route, too. I plan on doing everything I can to publicize the heart-warming story of Jack Graney and his bull terrier and the Cleveland team.

Do I wish that a traditional publisher had taken my book? Yes, I wish a traditional publisher had taken my book. A traditionally published books gets into the hands of more reviewers and it also gets into more bookstores. And traditionally published books qualify for more awards than do self-published ones.

Am I glad that all the self-publishing options of today exist and that I went ahead and self-published Jack and Larry: Jack Graney and Larry, the Cleveland Baseball Dog?

As Larry might say, Woof, Woof!

Absolutely!

Chris says: Thanks for stopping by, Barbara. As I said on my guest blog post for Darcy Pattison last week, Dodging Trends: Why I Turned to Self-Publishing, self-publishing can be a good option if you have a book that isn’t “big” enough to attract a large publisher but still has an audience. This is a great example.

Barbara had a fresh product that wouldn’t get buried among thousands of similar books (easier with nonfiction). She had niche markets (baseball fans, dog lovers, Cleveland) that were big enough to support the book, and she figured out how to reach them. Note that she’s had several valuable reviews, despite the complaint that self-published books don’t get reviews. She’s not getting into the New York Times Book Review or Kirkus, but the smaller, focused publications are probably better for sales anyway.

She’s running her business like a business, which doesn’t stop when the writing is done. And perhaps most important of all, she knew she had a quality product, because she’d gotten positive professional feedback.

If you’re considering self-publishing, stop by my website to download the “Indie Publishing Worksheet” I developed to help students decide whether or not self-publishing is right for them, and if so, what steps to take.