New Horizons

I know ya’ll have come to expect my usual ‘IT’ Factor book reviews on my blog days. Instead, today I’m either running from a hungry grizzly or trying my best not to be trampled by an angry bison. You heard right. The hubster, kids and myself are at this very moment traipsing somewhere through Yellowstone National Forest by RV. Actually in two RVs, since my folks are with us in another one. I love my parents and I can vacation with them no problem, but 6 people in one little RV wasn’t going to happen. This trip was my daughter’s idea. She wanted to see Yellowstone before the super volcano blows in 2012. She’s sure that’s when it’s going to happen because of that darn Mayan calendar. Wonder where she gets her vivid imagination? Anyway, I don’t know if I’ll come back with any brilliant ideas for new books but I’m sure it will be the experience of a lifetime.

This blog post is also two-fold. I’ve decided to change things up a bit. Instead of posting every other week on a new debut author’s book, I’m going to be doing the ‘IT’ Factor posts once a month and on my other day I’m going to blog about the exciting new journey I’m embarking on. You see, I have decided to try my hand at indie-publishing. Yep, I’ve finally given up on the idea of ever fitting into the NY mold so I’m going to try it on my own.

I’ll be honest. A year ago I never would have contemplated it. But thanks to some visionary women at IndieRomanceInk, they’ve shown me that self-publishing is not the red-headed stepchild it once was and can be downright profitable. One romance author is making $4000-$6000 a month in her first year of sales with 5 e-books out. That ain’t nothing to sneeze at. Will I be as successful as she is? Probably not. Most indie-published authors aren't, at least not in the beginning. But I'll never know if don’t try. Afterall, these quirky paranormals of mine aren’t doing me any good sitting under the bed keeping the dust bunnies company. And so, if you don't mind, I’m going to take you all on the journey with me. Here’s what’s happened so far…

August 3
Decision day! After e-mailing an indie author back and forth about the pros and cons, plus reading traditionally published author Courtney Milan’s very interesting blog posts on her reasons for venturing into self-publishing, I decided it was time for me to take the plunge.

August 4-15
Being the art geek that I am, I jumped right into looking for stock photography for my cover. I was having so much fun with this that I forgot I needed to get someone else besides my critique partners and friends to read over my manuscript.

August 16
I hired a professional editor to fine tune my manuscript. She’s very busy, so she won’t be getting to mine until December unless one of her other clients drops out before my turn. Evidently everyone is trying to get books out around the holidays in the hopes that there will be another e-reader boom in the market when people find all those shiny new Nooks and Kindles under the Christmas tree. That was my hope too, but I’m alright with waiting. February 14th sounds like a very symbolic date for the release of my first paranormal romance, don’t you think? At least that's what I'm planning on now. If things fall into place faster than I think, I may put it up sooner.

That’s it for now. I won’t be doing a thing while I’m in Yellowstone (other than avoiding being eaten or trampled) but once I get back, I’ve got a lot of learning to do. There's formating for the Kindle, Nook and Smashwords, cover design (yipee!), advance reviews, figuring out Twitter, and the list goes on. Wish me luck and I hope you enjoy traveling on this exciting new journey with me.