Self-publishing through Lightning Source

Yesterday, as I walked down my very long driveway preparing for a run, I found a strange package by my front gate. I didn't remember ordering any books from Amazon.com recently, but it was the right size and shape. I picked it up and, yes, that was my name on the label. Then I saw that it was from Lightning Source. In one of those surreal moments, I plied open the cardboard wrapping. Inside was the proof of my very first printed copy of The Crown in the Heather, The Bruce Trilogy: Book I. So I eased it out and . . . oh my gosh, it was pretty in that new-car sort of way. The pages were crisp, the layout neat and consistent and the cover looked way better in real life than it did on my computer screen (thanks a million to my cover artist, Lance Ganey!). It not only looked like a real book fresh off the shelves, it was a real book.

I had uploaded the interior and cover files just before last weekend. With real life being crazy-busy (having a graduating senior tends to dominate your time), I had put it out of my mind and only checked my book's status on LSI's web site once in the interim. Honestly, I hadn't expected it so soon.

I can't even begin to tell you how many unexpected little glitches I've hit along the way in the process of getting my book to this stage. It has been a learning process and taken months (primarily because I'm very cautious and a perfectionist, not because any of it is that difficult). Having gone through the steps now with The Crown in the Heather, I know that my next book, Isabeau, will take me only a fraction of the time to format, as I'm sure will be the case with the cover and uploading to Lightning Source.

Now it's time to order some review copies and start beating the drum. Marketing is neither familiar nor comfortable territory to an introvert, but just like the rest of the process, you learn what you need to and in time it becomes second nature.

When I started on this journey of self-publishing, I studied my options. I knew I wanted to put out a paper book first, because that's still the format most readers prefer, myself included. Subsidy publishers seemed to take too much of the profit. CreateSpace was a possibility, but distribution was limited - plus, if I ever wanted to do a short print run to sell my books locally or at Celtic festivals, then financially that wasn't the best choice. Ultimately, books by Michael N. Marcus (Become a Real Self-Publisher) and Aaron Shepard (Aiming at Amazon, Perfect Pages and most recently POD for Profit) convinced me that using Lightning Source for online POD sales was the way to go - not only because it provided the best profit margin for print-on-demand, but also because it gives the widest routes of distribution.

Don't let it scare you that on Lightning Source's web site in places it may sound like if you're a self-publishing author, then you ought to slink away. They are a professionally run business that works regularly with small presses. Do your homework beforehand and the process will go more smoothly and seem less mysterious. I had a couple of questions that I was afraid would sound like dumb newbie questions, but at every step LSI's reps were both polite and prompt in answering me. Between Shepard's and Marcus's books, LSI's manuals, the POD and Self-Publishing discussion lists on Yahoo!, and the guidance of my friend and self-published author Ali Cooper, I managed just fine. You can, too.

That book that I started writing almost a decade ago and rewrote several times, that a reputable agent diligently championed, and that garnered interest from editors but never quite cleared the final hurdle, it's a real book now.

Do you know what the coolest part is? My son sat down and read a chunk of it yesterday. Yes, I'm an author now. And I have proof.

[A two-time Amazon Breakthrough Novel Quarterfinalist, The Crown in the Heather is the first in a trilogy about 14th century Scottish king, Robert the Bruce. It covers the years before he was king and up until the year he was crowned, from 1290 to 1306. It will be available from Amazon.com and other online retailers beginning in June of 2010.]

Until later,

Gemi

Interview with Paul Reid, author of A Cruel Harvest

Last year in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest, I sifted through many of my fellow Quarterfinalists' entries and commented on a dozen or so that caught my attention. My favorite was a historical fiction called A Cruel Harvest by Paul Reid. I was sadly disappointed to only be able to read the first 10,000 words.

So I was elated when Paul later posted more of his story on Authonomy. It didn't take me long to ask to read the whole thing, which he graciously allowed me to do. It was only a few months after the end of the ABNA contest that Paul was contacted by AmazonEncore, the new publishing division of Amazon.com, whose objective is "to identify exceptional, overlooked books and authors". They wanted to publish his book! Paul's and three others had been plucked from the ranks of the ABNA entries. AmazonEncore has since also added several other titles to their lists (some of which were previously self-published).

Without further ado, here's the interview I did with Paul which first appeared over at the Historical Novel Review Blog:

• How long have you been writing and what made you want to write historical fiction?

I enjoyed crafting stories from a young age. Even before I could write I would sketch out stories by drawing pictures. This developed as I got older. I remember going through a period in my teens when I was fascinated by westerns – there’s probably over a dozen unfinished cowboy stories lying around somewhere in my parents’ house. I had always enjoyed historical stories in particular, and I studied history in college. A love of history and storytelling eventually culminated in the publication of a novel.

• What was your inspiration for this particular book?

Some years back I was in the village of Baltimore on the south coast of Ireland, and I came across a pub called the Algiers Inn. When I inquired about the unusual name, I discovered a real-life incident in 1631 where over a hundred local people had been seized from the village and taken to Algeria to be sold as slaves. I was amazed that this had happened in an area so close to where I live, so I did further research and learned of many such episodes where Irish and British people had been taken as slaves for the North African market. It wasn’t an area hugely touched on by historians, and I certainly had never learned about it in school. My interest quickly led to a plot forming itself in my head, which eventually became ‘A Cruel Harvest’.

• What do you hope that readers will carry away from this story?

I hope they will enjoy the adventures, the human dramas, the big landscapes. I would like to think that the reader may find incidents, characters, states of mind, etc, that they can relate to. I think this is true of the Moroccan and Irish characters, as they are similar to each other in many ways. I’ve long believed that, while societies differ hugely, people are pretty much the same everywhere you go. This story hopefully shows that. I also hope it will renew a sense of faith in the resilience of the human spirit.

• Every author has a unique path to publication. Can you tell us a little about yours?

My route to publication wasn’t entirely typical. I tried many times to get an agent to represent ‘A Cruel Harvest’ but I had no luck. In 2009 I entered it into the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, admittedly on a last-minute whim. It made the semi-finals in that competition, and some months later an editor from AmazonEncore got in touch with me to discuss the book. This ultimately led to a publishing contract with AmazonEncore in the USA. It has since also been bought by Random House for publication in Germany. All very unexpected in the end, really. I still don’t have an agent!

• What other books have you written? What is your current work in progress?

‘A Cruel Harvest’ is my first published novel. I have others awaiting completion, though I keep warning myself that I need to focus on one only, otherwise none of them will get finished! I’ve been working of late on a story set around the conflict between the British and French in the Ohio River Valley during the 18th century, but before that I am hoping to finish a novel set in Dublin and London during the Anglo/Irish War 1919-1921.

• What authors were your early inspiration and who are some of your favorite current books or authors?

I will read pretty much anything, though I do enjoy historical fiction in particular. Authors whom I read a lot of include Bernard Cornwell, Robert Harris, Wilbur Smith, Joseph O’Connor, Sebastian Faulks. I also love a good detective story, especially anything by Ian Rankin. ‘The Year of the French’ by Thomas Flanagan would rank as my number one favourite novel of all. He’s an American writer but the story is set in Ireland, around the attempted French invasion of 1798. It is, in a word, extraordinary.

• What has been the biggest stumbling block in your writing? Can you share some advice

which may help others get past similar problems?

I guess my biggest problem has always been trying to stick to a routine. Usually once I sit at the desk, the ideas start to flow. The problem is getting to the desk in the first place! It used to be that I would write whenever I had some free time, but that doesn’t really work, not for me anyway, as I would nearly always get distracted by something else. So I try to stick to a rigid routine of writing now, certain days, certain times of the day for certain periods, etc. Writing a book requires discipline, after all. It’s not something I’ve ever had in abundance, but I’m working on it!

• Where can readers find more information about you and your books?

They can find some information about both myself and ‘A Cruel Harvest’ on Amazon.com. I hope to add to the information there over time, and also to develop my own website which will have a lot more incorporated.

• What would you like our readers to know about you and your writing?

I am a reader before I am a writer. I love books, love losing myself into a good story. I also come from a people with a long history of spinning tales and yarns of all kinds, and indeed Ireland has produced a rich literary culture over the centuries and many famous writers. I’m just trying to make my own small contribution to this!

Thanks, Paul! You can find my review of A Cruel Harvest here.

Until later,

Gemi

Online Writing Groups and Sites

For many years, I was a closet writer, lacking confidence in my ability to impress people with my writing. So I 'wrote into a void', pecking away at my keyboard, living in my imaginary world where figures from the past sprang to life on the screen before me. Writing can be such solitary drudgery. There is, for so many of us hopefuls, no regular paycheck, no gold-star stickers or letter grade, and certainly no validation without a publishing deal. Nothing but the satisfaction of having lain down one more page, one more chapter, and if we're persistent enough - a story in its entirety, properly buffed and polished.

For years I told no one beyond my nuclear family what I was doing and when it finally leaked out to close friends that I had completed a book and acquired an agent, the inevitable questions ensued: "So where can we buy your book?" Well, nowhere, yet. Understandably, it's hard for non-writers to understand that achieving publication comes not only from talent and hard work, but a mountain of persistence and a lightning strike of good luck.

About a year and a half ago, I joined an online critique group on Yahoo! for writers of historical fiction. It has been a blessing beyond my expectations. There, I not only gained guidance, but also a sense of camaraderie. Only writers understand the ups and downs of being a writer. In the process of having my manuscript carefully line edited and bad writing habits broken, I've had my confidence bolstered and made some close friends with whom I can share laughs, disappointments and triumphs.

Daring to put one of my stories out there in the world for additional feedback and reaction, I posted my first Robert the Bruce story, The Crown in the Heather, on Authonomy.com. It's a site created by Harper Collins UK as a cyber slush pile where others can read and comment on your story. There are rankings involved, but for me it was the reaction to my story that mattered most. I'm sure many peeked at it and passed it by, but I do that in real bookstores to most of the titles there, too. Everyone has different interests. I respect that. A few were openly blunt that it was not their cup of tea, some even borderline rude. After picking my heart up off the floor, I realized this was okay. Only my ego had been temporarily wounded. Not everyone loves every book and if a writer can't take a little criticism, then best not to write at all. But, a LOT of people did enjoy it and phrased their reactions in such eloquent and touching ways, I felt honored and lucky to be able to share my passion with another human being. I also began to believe that maybe I wasn't fooling myself after all - that I had some kind of future in this.

It is perhaps harder than ever these days for aspiring writers to find their way into print, particularly through mainstream publishing, whose survival depends on turning a profit. But with the internet there are now endless avenues for writers to grow and share their work - whether to hone their tale-telling skills, exchange ideas and experiences with other authors, or to expose their stories for one and all to see.

My advice? Take your time to develop as a writer. But don't be afraid to eventually put it out there where people can see it. You might be surprised. Someone might actually think it's worth reading. Isn't that why we write - to be read? Oh, and did I mention that The Crown in the Heather is an Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Quarterfinalist? Now how cool is that? Somebody who didn't even know me selected it from almost 10,000 entries to be part of the 500 who'll receive reviews from professionals at Publishers' Weekly. This wasn't my mother telling me it was 'wonderful'. Okay, I'm a mite nervous about getting the big review, but I'll take this little sliver of validation for the moment. Maybe it'll go forward one more step, maybe not. You never know until you try.

Later,
Gemi