A Wondrous Journey of an Independent Writer!

Fear - That is the word that drives home.  I have never sent my books to a publisher due to straight out fear.  However, I had read an article out of Woman's Day Magazine about a woman who worked from home writing books.  She had put her kids through college, bought a house all through Createspace and Amazon.

I thought, wow, my mom has this little story she has always told. We should try that.  So my friend, Rebecca Hunt who drew dragons that would appeal to a child's eye, agreed to illustrate and the two of us set about creating How the Dragons Got Their Colors.  A rework of my mom's bedside story.  It was mildly successful.   We immediately got to work on a second book about the angst an older child goes through when mom is expecting and Not An Egg! was born. Later we converted them for Kindle download as well and made them part of Amazon's Kindle Select Program. 

This gave me the confidence to go ahead and tentatively put out my first Novel - Outcast.  I figured I had nothing to lose, if it did not do well, the only thing I lost was some time. There is no upfront outlay to Createspace.  I followed the forums on how to self promote as an independent author.  I got another friend to do my cover, Heather Scoggins.  I think she will be a bit surprised when she gets April's percentage that she and I agreed upon. I think she didn't expect it to really go anywhere.

Yesterday, for a time, Outcast was in the top 30 in the US in coming of age, it was #25 in the UK and had crawled it's way up to #16 in Epic Fantasy in Australia.  As I sit in amazement and wonder, the downloads of the ebook just keep rising.  I have been furiously working on the sequel per reader request.   My editor, yes I have one, pushes me constantly to re-describe and to re-work. I have him to thank in the success of Outcast as well as my own creativity and the support of good friends!

No, not all my reviews are good.  Either you love the way I describe the slow journey into adulthood and the details of culture and the intertwining of the characters or you hate it. There has been little in the way of middle of the road reviews.  Another writer told me not to sweat that, everyone has a taste for the type of books that they like to read.  If you want a frantic tale of battle and climax and a sweet ending, well I am not the writer for you.  The Blue Dragon's Geas books each have a minor climax but the main story is spread out over them.  We don't grow up over night, so I refuse to have Alador do so.

I guess the most wondrous part for me was at my day job, someone was telling me I needed to knuckle under because I "need this job."  I stood there for a moment and slow smiled.  Then I responded. "No.. actually.. no I don't." I am going to make it as a writer.  Maybe not every book will get the accolades of Outcast. Maybe not everyone will love my style.  But today, I realized Ms. McDonald, my English teacher in High School was correct.

 I was born to WRITE!

Publishing with Createspace - What I Did Horribly Wrong!

When I found a company willing to work by email and upload to publish my novel, I was very excited. There are some definite pluses to createspace.com.  However, in my excitement to publish, I proofed with their electronic proof application.  This had worked wonderfully and cut down the time to have my children's book, "How the Dragons Got Their Colors", to the shelf quicker.  I do not recommend this to novelists.  Order the hard copy proof!

The book launched electronically and when my copy of A Blue Dragon's Geas: Outcast arrived, I was so very excited.  My illustrator, Heather Scoggins, had done a beautiful job for me. I loved the concept she chose for the blue dragon.  Later, when I sat down, I was horrified.  On the top of every page, my name is spelled wrong, an error not caught in the header.  My fault.  I stared at it in disbelief.  I have a long name but who would have guessed I would spell my own name wrong.  I got out a highlighter just in case.

As I read through the book, I found where I had left out the word 'that'.  This is a common problem for me as I hear it in my head when I read back and something I watch for in edits.  I found homonyms that spellchecker and I both did not catch.  I had an editor, but he missed it too. Other little errors jumped off that printed page.  I had gone through the electronic version slowly and carefully but there is something different about holding a book in your hand.  I really suggest you order the proof and sit down with a highlighter.

Advantages of Createspace.
Optional packages for publicity and help.
Easy upload system that moves your book straight onto Amazon shelves.
Easy conversion to kindle option at no charge.
No upfront costs.
Good payment systems.
Great commission options

Disadvantages:
If you are on a no frills budget, you are on your own for editing and proofing.
It is easy to miss small errors in electronic print.
No big company helping you get your book on the shelf.
The amount of time spent in having to proof and reproof construction errors with only one set of eyes.

I do recommend this company for any author breaking in.  I have learned a lot having to do it on my own. However, as I finish reading my novel with a highlighter, I know a second edition will be uploaded soon.  For those of you that got a first edition with my name spelled wrong, shelve that copy.  If I ever get rich and famous after I die, who knows, it might be worth something.  At this moment, there are only 15 out there.