Starting out Indie

(photo source)

I get emails from a few friends who were like me, querying for years with a lot of bites from agents, but no contract. They see my books hit the best seller lists and stellar reviews on Amazon and want to know "How does self-publishing work?"

I can't say that I recommend self-publishing for everyone, but the longer I've gone Indie, the more I don't know if I could ever go back. But after a year of doing this gig, there are some definite things I wish I knew when I started.

1.) Your book needs an editor. You may have awesome grammar skills and have had eight critique partners read your masterpiece, but another set of eyes that is attached to it never hurts. An editor doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg, you can pay anything from $100-$1000 depending on the editor and if you need a lot of editing or just some proofreading.

2.) A kick butt cover can sell your books. When looking for covers for my next New Adult book, I thought of doing it on my own, but I don't have the eye that the professionals do.  I hired the awesomesauce Steven Novak for my alien series and I'm using Mae I Design for my New Adult (since she has the market cornered on "panty dropping" covers). A cover can cost you anything from $50-$1500, depending if you also want to do print and if you are using custom photography, etc.

3.) Paying for a blog tour is worth every penny. I did do my own blog tour for How to Date an Alien and My Paper Heart, the problem? I didn't know that many bloggers who would take the book on, some didn't post on the day they were supposed to, etc. I finally decided to use blog tour organizer for my last alien book and she brought me thirty people that hadn't read my books who were interested in participating. It opened my book up to a new audience and now I can have those contacts for future book reviewing. There are many blog tours out there and you can go for as little as $30 for a few stops or even up to $300 for massive like multiple month tours with multiple stops.

4.)  Learn to format properly or find someone to format it. I learned to format my first ebooks and the paperback process took me almost a whole day to figure out. There are services that will do it reasonably, but you have to figure out what software is available and if you just can't get the right formatting to upload your word doc or epub file, then maybe it's time to hire someone. These can costs anywhere from a bout $20-$50.

5.) Stop reading reviews. It's tempting and there will be some that will gush for your books, but the ones that hate it will bring you to tears for no reason. I remember reading one for My Paper Heart that attacked me as an author and said they literally wanted to slap me. I wanted to cry, wanted to respond to the reviewer, but I held back, because nothing good ever comes from responding to a reviewer that writes something negative (as we've seen the stories).

6.) You wont be an overnight success. Yes, there are some Indie authors that do make those tremendous overnight successes, but then there are those that have a slow build up and rock it (M. Leighon had 14 books out before she made the NY Times best seller list). If your books don't sell, don't give up, just keep writing and keep on trucking.
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Magan Vernon is a Young Adult and New Adult writer who lives with her family in the insurance capital of the world. She is in a very serious, fake relationship with Adam Lambert and constantly asks her husband to wear guyliner. He still refuses. She also believes her husband is secretly an alien, disguised as a southern gentleman. You can find her online at www.maganvernon.com Or check out her awesome book covers and purchase her books at all online retailers including Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Coming full circle as a self-pubber

(Magan circa her first pregnancy 2010 with authors Claudia Gray, Kiersten White, and Sophie Jordan)

 

 

 

When I decided to go the indie route I was completely delusional. No joke I thought I'd put up my first alien book and be the next Amanda Hocking. It didn't exactly go that way and I went through some stages of grieft.

 

1.)  I suck

That's the first thing that went through my head. No wonder my books wont sell, I'm a terrible writer, blah blah blah. But I had a supporter group of writer friends that pushed me to keep going.

 

2.) Everyone else sucks

 

This is where it got really sticky. I put out a ton of money for ads, new covers, all this other stuff and my books didn't sell. So I started attacking other others. "How does her book sell so well? IT SUCKS!" It wasn't one of my finest moments and it just made me angry and not fun to be around.

 

3.) Maybe I'll try something else?

 

I think this was my turning point. This was the moment I decided to put out My Paper Heart on a wing and a prayer. I thought maybe it would be nice to at least have another book on my shelf and then the sales blew me out of the water. The fans of the original alien books weren't as excited about a New Adult contemporary, but from it I found a whole new crop of fans.

 

4.)  OMG this other Indie author is awesome, buy her books!

 

I'm going to have to give it up to Chelsea Cameron on this one. I approached her about being critique partners and that was when I got a sneak peak of My Favorite Mistake. I was blown away by her writing and wanted everyone and their mom to read her book. She probably just made the NY times best seller list because I wouldn't shut up about her.  (Actually she wrote an awesome book that's how she made it).

 

Yeah, it looks that simple when I write it in these four steps, but there was a lot of heartache before I came full circle. There are still days that I wonder if it's worth it to keep writing. Those are the days that I go to my Twitter or check my fan emails from people that say they love my series. I may not be one of the self-pubbers with a six figure deal or hitting the New York Times best seller list, but at this point I'm super exciting for those that have.

 

Maybe someday I'll get there, but for now I'm going to keep writing and keep being a cheerleader for all my self-pub brothers and sisters. We can only hold on to so many grudges for so long and there is no reason to be angry at someone for doing well. If I fall back down, I know my fans are there to help me back up again.

 

Have you come full circle as a writer or an author? What are your set backs?

 

 

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Magan Vernon is a Young Adult and New Adult writer who lives with her family in the insurance capital of the world. She is in a very serious, fake relationship with Adam Lambert and constantly asks her husband to wear guyliner. He still refuses. She also believes her husband is secretly an alien, disguised as a southern gentleman. You can find her online on her blog or purchase her books through Amazon or Barnes and Noble. She also blogs and talks about randomness here.