A year ago, heck, six months ago, self-publishing was thought of as a short road to ruination for any author’s career. Two words, “writer’s suicide” pretty much summed it up. Even readers were leery of reading self-published authors. I sure as heck never thought I’d self publish. Yet, here I am with two books self-published and another on the way. Why did I decide to self-publish? Because self-publishing has changed. No longer is self-publishing about printed books that never sell, it’s about ebooks. Not surprising, the world is on an ebook craze and it’s only going to grow, as is self-publishing ebooks!
One reason readers try self-published books is because they’re much cheaper than those New York published. And if you only read New York published authors, fear not, they’re jumping on the self-publishing bandwagon too! Some are publishing anthologies; some are publishing their backlists, those books that were published by New York years ago, but no longer available.
I realize that a lot of people are leery of self-publishing, so I’m here to tell you about some of the self-published authors who are making waves.
Willing to test the water? Here are two new novellas and they’re only 99 cents! The perfect opportunity to test the waters.
Kimberly Killion is a New York published authors who is dipping into the self-published world. She has print books with N.Y., brand new ebooks with Ellora’s Cave and this little beauty, His Magick Touch, a Scottish Medieval!
Here’s the blurb from Amazon:
Click to Buy
Sorcha’s husband is easily the meanest cur alive. He blamed her for every misfortune that befell his clan since he took her to wife four years past. And now the bastard is determined to kill her. If she were half the witch he accused her of being, then she might possess the power to save herself, but Da had ousted her grandmum from the clan before she taught Sorcha the Pagan ways. She is certain of only one thing—if she lives long enough to become a widow, she will never take another husband.
Keiran, the Falconer of Barra, knew he and Sorcha were worlds apart in station—he, the son of a crofter, and she, the eldest daughter of the chieftain—but he’d spent the past seven years of his life trying to change his stars. Everything he’d done had been for her. He’d fought and killed for the clan and learned the Pagan ways, for her. And now that he’d saved her life and took her pain away, the foolish wench accused him of doing it all for the chieftainship.
Will Keiran’s gentle touch crush the last of her resistance? Or will Sorcha’s husband hunt her down and kill her before she discovers the depth of Keiran’s love?
Want another short story for only 99 cents? New York published author Jackie Barbosa writes spicy historicals that are to die for and is another author who has written print books for Kensington and ebooks for Harlequin Spice and is self-publishing. Jackie just recently self-published The Reiver,a Medieval Romance, which is a story in the Mammoth Book of Scottish Romance. Here’s the blurb:
Click to Buy
Duncan Maxwell, laird of Lochmorton Castle, gets the shock of his life when he discovers the reiver captured in a raid on his lands is not a boy, but a young woman. Although she flatly refuses to tell him her name or how she came to be riding with a raiding party, Duncan cannot countenance imprisoning a woman in his dungeon but neither can he release her without compensation. Unable to ransom her back to her family, he treats her as an honored—though exceptionally well-supervised—guest. He takes to calling her Reva and determines to seduce the truth of her identity from her. There’s just one problem—the reiver may steal his heart before he can reveal her secrets.
What I love about both novellas is not only do they have hunky medieval heroes, but the books feel like complete stories. So many times in novella’s you feel like you’re missing out. Not so here! The characters are well developed and the plot lines interesting. So, if you’ve been thinking about trying ebooks, these short novellas are easy enough to read on computers or eReaders. And if you’ve been thinking about reading a self-published author, you can’t beat the writing or prices of these two authors.
Lori Brighton is a New York and self-published author. Her second book, Wild Desire releases March 1, 2011 from Kensington Publishing. She has self-published The Ghost Hunter, a contemporary paranormal and a YA titled The Mind Readers. You can visit Lori on her website at: www.LoriBrighton.com.
18 Replies to “Lori Brighton Talks Self-Publishing Gems”
I’m going to give at least one of these a try. My only complaint in self-published works is the editing. I know it’s so picky but as a reader I’m spoiled to have (nearly) perfect editing in things I read. I know this makes me sound like a hundred year old Victorian, but I get so irritated to see the grammatical mistakes, verb tense issues, and other piddly editing mistakes. In fact, I’d step out on a limb to say that this editing issue makes the book seem less professional so I’m reluctant to pay. I know that’s not fair but it’s what I think. Sorry.
Both of those novellas sound yummy! I’m heading over to get myself a copy of them both!
Best wishes,
Chris Mead
Hey, Lori, thanks for talking up my short story (and Kimberly’s, too)!
Just as a quick point of information, Kimberly’s short story was also in THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF SCOTTISH ROMANCE. So if you’re in the market for print, rather than digital copies, of these stories, you can get them both by picking up a copy of that anthology. There are a lot of great stories in it by other authors, including Julianne MacLean (whose short story, THE REBEL, is also available in digital), Anne Gracie, Jacquie D’Allessandro, and Connie Brockway.
Hi j9, I’m totally with you when it comes to not being able to stand a slew of mechanical errors in my books. That said, I’m seeing a lot of these issues in New York published books these days, not to mention some of the smaller digital epublishers that, as far as I can tell, don’t seem to subject their books to any editing at all!
I think you can count on both my story and Kimberly’s being well-edited and clean, though, since they were both previously published in print anthologies and gone over by an editor. I made a few minor tweaks to my text before putting it up in digital format, but the basics are all there. And if you catch a spelling or other noticeable error in mine, email me at jackie@jackiebarbosa.com to let me know about. The awesome thing about digital is if there IS a problem, I can fix it and upload a new version in minutes.
I think for a lot of really good authors that self-publishing is the way to go. Count me in as one who doesn’t like incorrect spelling, etc., but sometimes, as in Beverley Kendall’s situation, the book companies don’t have the sense to pick up the really good books. I prefer the printed books, but am open to ebooks at times.
These books both sound terrific. I hope to pick up Mamoth Book of Scotish Romance but our local bookstore went out of business (maybe the “big publishers” had a hand in that decision having to be made. I say kudos to the authors who are taking the initiative to self-publish.
I think its great to have both – the established publishers and the self-published or local publishers who are more likely to help local authors get published. This is one of those areas that show how you can help determine your own destiny.
If you want NY edited books, then try those self published books that are backlists. They’re oldies, but goodies, they’ve been edited by NY editors and they’re cheaper than they were when in print. A lot of NY authors are self publishing their backlists and that number is only going to grow.
As for the editing… I won’t lie. If grammatical mistakes drive you insane, then you might have a problem. There will probably be more typos in a Self published book than a NY. Someone pointed out that I had like 43 typos in my book, The Ghost Hunter. lol. That’s after having 3 critique partners read it over! The good news is that the woman wrote down the page numbers and sent them to me so I was able to fix them and reload the book.
At the same time, as Jackie said, NY books do have typos as well and in fact it has been a growing complaint in the reader world. But if you can let minor grammar things slide, than you just might find some unique books in the self publishing world.
I agree, these covers are wonderful. I’m adding these books to my wishlist.
I find myself reading more ebooks now.
These covers are so pretty. I think I will definitely give both authors a try.
These books sound great. I am going to try one.
More books for my TBR list…can’t wait to get them loaded on my e-reader. 🙂 Thanks for sharing this exciting concept, Lori.
I am seeing more and more titles I would like to have that are available in ebook form only. I do not yet have an ereader and don’t want to put books on my computer. I will day I am shopping around trying to decide which ereader to get. The reviews I have read reflect how much the individual loves whichever reader they have. Doesn’t help much for a good comparison.
Great topic ladies! Kudos to all of you for taking the leap of faith and self publishing. I know how hard you all work on your books I think you will do awesome either way. Looking forward to reading all your books!
I have to say, I never thought I’d like an Ereader. I love my printed books and I love to collect signed copies. But I recently got an Ereader and love it! It’s so light and easy to carry and of course you can read whatever you want whenever. Plus, I have to say, its so nice to be able to just download a book with a click. You don’t have to go across town to the bookstore, you don’t have to wait for the book to arrive in the mail. Just a click and its on your Ereader. Of course this is bad too, because you’ll probably buy more books than you need!
But you’re right, Pat, in that its hard to decide which Ereader to get. When you ask people, they all have different likes and dislikes so you sort of just have to jump into it and trust your insticts. But they are pricey and it’s certainly something you have to think about and decide if you can afford it.
On the subject of ereaders–I don’t have a dedicated ereader, either. For the time being, I’m using the Kindle and/or Nook apps on my iTouch to read ebooks. Part of the reason I haven’t committed to a particular device yet is because I don’t want to be tied to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble when I want to purchase books. With the iTouch, I can use both as well as several other reading applications. Plus, I get full color without paying “extra” for it.
Before I had the iTouch, I read ebooks on my computer. I rarely chose to do so for a full-length novel, but for short stories/novellas, it’s not bad.
So, take that all for what it’s worth–which may be exactly nothing.
These stories sound wonderful.They are “Must”reads!!!
I have yet to get an ereader but I can see the advantages of having them. I enjoyed reading the blurbs, these stories look great! And the covers do look beautiful!
I’m going to give at least one of these a try. My only complaint in self-published works is the editing. I know it’s so picky but as a reader I’m spoiled to have (nearly) perfect editing in things I read. I know this makes me sound like a hundred year old Victorian, but I get so irritated to see the grammatical mistakes, verb tense issues, and other piddly editing mistakes. In fact, I’d step out on a limb to say that this editing issue makes the book seem less professional so I’m reluctant to pay. I know that’s not fair but it’s what I think. Sorry.
Both of those novellas sound yummy! I’m heading over to get myself a copy of them both!
Best wishes,
Chris Mead
Hey, Lori, thanks for talking up my short story (and Kimberly’s, too)!
Just as a quick point of information, Kimberly’s short story was also in THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF SCOTTISH ROMANCE. So if you’re in the market for print, rather than digital copies, of these stories, you can get them both by picking up a copy of that anthology. There are a lot of great stories in it by other authors, including Julianne MacLean (whose short story, THE REBEL, is also available in digital), Anne Gracie, Jacquie D’Allessandro, and Connie Brockway.
Hi j9, I’m totally with you when it comes to not being able to stand a slew of mechanical errors in my books. That said, I’m seeing a lot of these issues in New York published books these days, not to mention some of the smaller digital epublishers that, as far as I can tell, don’t seem to subject their books to any editing at all!
I think you can count on both my story and Kimberly’s being well-edited and clean, though, since they were both previously published in print anthologies and gone over by an editor. I made a few minor tweaks to my text before putting it up in digital format, but the basics are all there. And if you catch a spelling or other noticeable error in mine, email me at jackie@jackiebarbosa.com to let me know about. The awesome thing about digital is if there IS a problem, I can fix it and upload a new version in minutes.
I think for a lot of really good authors that self-publishing is the way to go. Count me in as one who doesn’t like incorrect spelling, etc., but sometimes, as in Beverley Kendall’s situation, the book companies don’t have the sense to pick up the really good books. I prefer the printed books, but am open to ebooks at times.
These books both sound terrific. I hope to pick up Mamoth Book of Scotish Romance but our local bookstore went out of business (maybe the “big publishers” had a hand in that decision having to be made. I say kudos to the authors who are taking the initiative to self-publish.
I think its great to have both – the established publishers and the self-published or local publishers who are more likely to help local authors get published. This is one of those areas that show how you can help determine your own destiny.
If you want NY edited books, then try those self published books that are backlists. They’re oldies, but goodies, they’ve been edited by NY editors and they’re cheaper than they were when in print. A lot of NY authors are self publishing their backlists and that number is only going to grow.
As for the editing… I won’t lie. If grammatical mistakes drive you insane, then you might have a problem. There will probably be more typos in a Self published book than a NY. Someone pointed out that I had like 43 typos in my book, The Ghost Hunter. lol. That’s after having 3 critique partners read it over! The good news is that the woman wrote down the page numbers and sent them to me so I was able to fix them and reload the book.
At the same time, as Jackie said, NY books do have typos as well and in fact it has been a growing complaint in the reader world. But if you can let minor grammar things slide, than you just might find some unique books in the self publishing world.
I agree, these covers are wonderful. I’m adding these books to my wishlist.
I find myself reading more ebooks now.
These covers are so pretty. I think I will definitely give both authors a try.
These books sound great. I am going to try one.
More books for my TBR list…can’t wait to get them loaded on my e-reader. 🙂 Thanks for sharing this exciting concept, Lori.
I am seeing more and more titles I would like to have that are available in ebook form only. I do not yet have an ereader and don’t want to put books on my computer. I will day I am shopping around trying to decide which ereader to get. The reviews I have read reflect how much the individual loves whichever reader they have. Doesn’t help much for a good comparison.
Great topic ladies! Kudos to all of you for taking the leap of faith and self publishing. I know how hard you all work on your books I think you will do awesome either way. Looking forward to reading all your books!
I have to say, I never thought I’d like an Ereader. I love my printed books and I love to collect signed copies. But I recently got an Ereader and love it! It’s so light and easy to carry and of course you can read whatever you want whenever. Plus, I have to say, its so nice to be able to just download a book with a click. You don’t have to go across town to the bookstore, you don’t have to wait for the book to arrive in the mail. Just a click and its on your Ereader. Of course this is bad too, because you’ll probably buy more books than you need!
But you’re right, Pat, in that its hard to decide which Ereader to get. When you ask people, they all have different likes and dislikes so you sort of just have to jump into it and trust your insticts. But they are pricey and it’s certainly something you have to think about and decide if you can afford it.
On the subject of ereaders–I don’t have a dedicated ereader, either. For the time being, I’m using the Kindle and/or Nook apps on my iTouch to read ebooks. Part of the reason I haven’t committed to a particular device yet is because I don’t want to be tied to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble when I want to purchase books. With the iTouch, I can use both as well as several other reading applications. Plus, I get full color without paying “extra” for it.
Before I had the iTouch, I read ebooks on my computer. I rarely chose to do so for a full-length novel, but for short stories/novellas, it’s not bad.
So, take that all for what it’s worth–which may be exactly nothing.
These stories sound wonderful.They are “Must”reads!!!
I have yet to get an ereader but I can see the advantages of having them. I enjoyed reading the blurbs, these stories look great! And the covers do look beautiful!