Self Published Authors To Know by Lori Brighton

In this episode of self-published authors to know, I’m going to introduce you to someone I’m rather well acquainted with…. Me! Please hold your applause until the end. Thank you.

For seven years I tried to get published with a New York Publisher. Self-publishing at that time was unheard of, for it meant spending your own money to get your book printed. A couple years ago I finally got a N.Y. deal; two books. With that deal I was able to land an agent.  But getting that N.Y. deal wasn’t as great as I thought it would be. The waiting was ridiculously long, the pay was (to put it bluntly) crap, and I had little control over my book and career. To make it worse, things with my agent started heading south, so I let her go. But hey, I was a published author. Not only would I get another agent, but also another contract! Yeah, not so much.

When my New York contract was finished, I tried to sell a contemporary paranormal. No one wanted it. I was rather depressed, thinking I was going to have to start over. Then a friend told me about the new self-publishing… self-publishing Ebooks. The cost is nothing for the author and the percentage an author receives for sales is ridiculously high compared to N.Y.

I had that contemporary book just sitting on my computer, so I figured why not try self-publishing Ebooks? Just recently I posted my third self-published book and honestly, I don’t see sending to N.Y. for a long while, if ever.

Interested in the books I’ve self-published? Read the blurbs below!

The Ghost Hunter, a contemporary paranormal romance:

Click to purchase from Amazon for $2.99

When Ashley Hunter inherits the Inn where her father mysteriously vanished years ago, she jumps at the chance to finally uncover the truth about his disappearance. But soon after taking ownership of the decrepit building, Ashley realizes she’s in for far more than she bargained. Not only has she inherited answers to many sought-after questions, she’s also inherited spirits, demons and even fallen angels! Then Cristian arrives, a gorgeous man who insists he merely needs a room to rent. She believes him, until one by one her ghosts start disappearing…

As a fallen angel destined for a life of servitude, Cristian Lucius is relegated to protecting earth from unwanted spirits. But he can’t accomplish this daunting task alone. He requires assistance from the very woman who frustrates him as much as she intrigues him. Cristian is determined to ignore his intense attraction for Ashley, and focus on his mission. If they don’t work together, they won’t have a chance in hell of defeating the demon threatening their lives. The problem is getting Ashley to trust him. No easy task, considering Cristian is the very man responsible for her father’s disappearance.
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The Mind Readers, A Young Adult Paranormal Romance:

Click to purchase from Amazon for $2.99


Cameron Winters is a freak. Fortunately, no one but her family knows the truth …that Cameron can read minds. For years Cameron has hidden behind a facade of normalcy, warned that there are those who would do her harm. When gorgeous and mysterious Lewis Douglas arrives he destroys everything Cameron has ever believed and tempts her with possibilities of freedom. Determined to embrace her hidden talents, Cameron heads to a secret haven with Lewis; a place where she meets others like her, Mind Readers.

But as Cameron soon finds out some things are too good to be true. When the Mind Readers realize the extent of Cameron’s abilities, they want to use her powers for their own needs. Cameron suddenly finds herself involved in a war in which her idea of what is right and wrong is greatly tested. In the end she’ll be forced to make a choice that will not only threaten her relationship with Lewis, but her very life.

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A Night Of Secrets, A Historical Paranormal Romance:

Click to purchase from Amazon for $2.99

Grayson Bellamont has spent years on the Continent, fighting a war he cares nothing for. It is only while in the chaos of battle that he can hide what he truly is, a Vampire. Returning to England, he finds his sister murdered and his seven-year-old niece missing. All over the country Vampires are mysteriously dying. Grayson sets out to uncover the truth and locate his niece before it’s too late. All leads point to Meg James, a Vicar’s daughter. Instinct tells him Meg is innocent, but the clues he uncovers warn she’s guilty. One thing is clear, Meg awakens a warmth inside of him he thought long dead and Grayson is torn between a sense of duty and his desires.

Vowing to honor a promise, Meg concocts a lie to keep a stranger’s child safe. She had no idea that protecting the child would mean putting her own life in danger. When Grayson arrives asking questions, Meg’s unease flares. Who is this mysterious man who seems to appear and disappear as quickly as a spirit? A man with strength like no other? As he pushes ever closer, taking over her senses with his touch, his kiss and his unexpected honor, she realizes she has even more to lose. Meg is falling in love with Grayson, but will he believe her when the truth will condemn the one person he trusts the most?

To celebrate the release of my newest book, A NIGHT OF SECRETS, three people will win an eCopy of all 3 books! Just leave a comment and email addy!


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.

38 Replies to “Self-publishing – Everyone wins!”

  1. Lori –

    Congratulations on self-publishing! As a reader I appreciate the hours you put in and how frustrating it must be dealing with “the publishing world”. Love the information you shared and was glad to find out that you ebooks were available thru Amazon because our local bookstore closed and I got a Kindle for Christmas.

    I loved the information on your books and fell in love with A Nights of Secrets.

  2. Congratulations on your success with self-publishing. I love the covers of your books and the plots sound intriguing.

    Margay1122ATaolDOTcom

  3. Thanks so much for commenting ladies!
    I never thought I’d self publish or publish in Ebook format. I love print books as much as anyone, love collecting signed books. But I think its time to accept that Ebooks are taking over. We can either welcome it, or resist, but it’s going to happen. And I do have to say, since I got my Ereader, it is very, very nice to have. They are expensive, but they’re just so handy. Of course there are some people who just can’t afford Ereaders at the moment and that’s certainly understandable.

  4. Congrats on your third self-published book! That cover is simply gorgeous! =)

    I love how you cover different genres – YA, contemporary, historical – and the paranormal touch just makes your work all the more interesting. And it definitely never gets boring.

    I also loved your N.Y. book, but seeing as self-publishing has such definite advantages for you, I wish you the best of luck for any upcoming self-published works. 🙂

  5. Thanks so much Andie! The cover for A Night Of Secrets was done by Kimberly Killion, who did Bev’s two book covers she is going to self publish.

    That’s another thing that’s great about self publishing is that an author can write what she wants. It’s very hard in NY to write different genres. Although, I am a bit worried that a YA reader will pick up one of my romances and be shocked. lol. In fact, someone gave The Ghost Hunter a low score because it made her blush. And its tame (imo) where romance novels are concerned! I’m def. worried about getting hate mail for writing “porn.” I suppose I should have used a different name for the YA but what can you do.

  6. I’m intrigued with the whole self-publishing angle — it is definitely a different business model but then with ebooks we are experiencing a whole new world! I actually like that there are more options out there because of self-publishing…just because an agent or publisher doesn’t like a book doesn’t mean there’s not an audience for it, right?!?!

    BabsVick AT gmail DOT com

  7. Lori,

    Thanks for sharing your self-publishing story. I would have to think that more and more authors will be going in this direction as e-books really have become the normal now and book stores are cutting back.

    Best of luck! I will continue to follow you!

  8. I’m all for self publishing! My Kindle is full of self published authors. The Ghost Hunters and The Mind Readers are already on my wish list. Now I need to add A Night of Secrets.

  9. You wouldn’t believe how many authors are now talking about self publishing, just in the past month. It’s def. taking off and you’re probably going to see more authors jumping in. For the majority of authors out there (NY and Epublished) you can make more money self publishing than with a publisher. It just makes sense for an author to go that way. You get to control your cover, the price, and when your book comes out. In my next post I’m going to introduce you to an author who was rejected by NY. Two years later (6 months ago) she self published. She has sold so many of her books that an editor actually approached her and she just signed a huge contract with NY. Huge. And this was a woman rejected by NY just a couple years ago.

  10. Oh, and for those thinking of self publishing… Bev actually introduced me to Text Aloud and it def. helps. You post your work into their program and it reads it aloud to you. It catches things you would totally overlook. I had heart instead of heat a couple times. I never would have caught those by just reading it.

  11. The one downside to self publishing is that your book might not sell like you want it to. I have no idea why one book of mine sells better than the others. The Mind Reader is getting amazing reviews. I get more fan mail for The Mind Readers than any of my other books (including the NY one), and it was one of those books that when I wrote it, I knew it was one of my best works. Yet, its not selling nearly as well as The Ghost Hunter. Perhaps because The Ghost Hunter has a bare-chested man on the cover? lol. I just don’t know.

  12. I’ve actually seen such reviews (for other books) but sometimes you can’t help some readers getting shocked. Fortunately, romance readers know what to expect and who knows, maybe some of those shocked readers will eventually turn into your biggest fans? I myself remember reading a book by a romance writer many years ago of which I thought it was fantasy… Imagine my surprise! I suppose I blushed too. 😀
    Then again, it was just a new genre for me and now I really love a good romance in between the other stuff I read. Plus, I know I’ll get a happy ending!

  13. Hi Lori,

    Congratulations on your successful venture in the self-publishing world. You are a new-to-me author and was interested to note that you write in 3 different genres. Do you find it difficult to maintain accuracy between them? For example, writing contemps and historical can mean big differences in facts and social modes of the day as well as language/speech patterns of the era. Lack of accuracy in a historical can turn some readers off if errors are too glaring. Do you find that a problem?

    I am a big fan of historical books and your historical paranormal sounds very good.

  14. Andie, I was 16 when I started reading romance. I knew nothing before then! It certainly taught me a lot! lol.

    Hi Karen! Yes, it is hard to write in different genres. Honestly, its mostly going from Historical to Contemporary and the more formal writing you use in Historicals. Bev and I were just talking about this the other day, how we’ll use these odd, historical words in our everyday speech that people no longer use because we’re so used to writing historicals. lol.

    As for YA books… YA books are so dark now that honestly, they’re not much different from writing for adults. Another interesting difference between historical and paranormal… in historical the journey is just as much internal as external. Where as in paranormal it seems like readers don’t want as much internal, but just want a heroine who kicks ass. My heroines in my YA and in The Ghost Hunter have internal issues, yet some readers have seen them as weak because of these. So that was interesting to me, to see how readers like different heroines depending on the genre

  15. These books sound great, especially A Night of Secrets. I think it’s great that you were able to self-publish. The books are definately lower price, so I would be able to buy more! LOL

  16. It is awesome that self-publishing is gaining ground and respect. I hope those that pursue it also recognize that they must put out a quality product or it gives self-publishing authors a bad name. There are some really great stories being published this way (yours sound great by the way *grin*) and it is unfortunate that some people won’t look at the good ones because of past bad experiences with self-publishing. I hope you have continued success and best of luck!

  17. I like the self-publishing idea. I’ve read a few of my favorite authors who have put out books and have had great experiences. Its finding new to me authors that I’m iffy on. Its a leap of faith but with the right price point I can see myself willing to jump.

    I have to say I’ve seen you cover of The Mind Readers and it does intrigue me. I have a pre-teen daughter so I’m slowly venturing into the YA market when I look at books.

  18. I am hearing more and more talk about self-publishing. It is interesting for a fly on the wall reader like me. Your books look like fun reads.

  19. Congratulations! Your covers are beautiful! I know several authors who are doing as you have, but it seems a bigger leap for those of us who have never published at all. Thanks for sharing your story. 🙂

  20. Congrats on the success of your self publishing.
    I am reading more and more about authors who are self publishing.

  21. Lori,
    It takes guts to put yourself out there without going through a publisher. Congrats on the release of “A Night of Secrets.” I can’t wait to read it!

  22. Congratulations Lori! I look forward to reading all three books. The Ghost Hunter is the only one I haven’t picked up yet.

  23. Congrats! I think self publishing will give readers the opportunity to discover even more great authors.

  24. I keep hearing alot of good news about self-publishing now when a few years ago it was almost unheard of. I think alot has to do with the ebook becoming so popular. I know I love my Kindle and never go anywhere without it. Congrats Lori!

  25. I agree with Ann’s post. I would not have discovered the number of authors I have, if they were not self-published.

    Congrats on you success and I look forward in reading your works.

  26. Lori-
    Congratulations on your success as a self-published author. I imagine it can’t be easy for everyone, but you seem to have done really well with it!

  27. Congrats on your newest book, and way to go for it and not wait around for a publisher to make things happen. We live in exciting times, and who knows where it will go from here.

  28. Congrats, Lori! You worked hard and made it on your own! Woo-hoo! Your books sound great! (and might I add that I love the name Grayson?)

  29. It is a shame the publishing industry has been hit by the bad economy as have so many other sectors of the economy. Unfortunately, too many good authors are finding their careers damaged by cutbacks. I was surprised just how little authors get from the sale of their books. Self publishing is not what it was years ago. With e-books, the overhead is minimal and it sounds like your profit margin is greater. It also seems to allow you to respond to changes in the market more quickly. If a N.Y. publisher takes a year to get your book on the shelves, you are late following the market trend or have missed it all together.

    I was hoping WILD HEART would do well enough that you would be able to write the book set in India that was mentioned as a sort of sequel shortly after WILD HEART came out.

    I am finding well established authors who are putting out title which are available only in e-form. After resisting getting one, I am trying to decide which e-reader to get. I love the feel of a “real” book. However, the convenience an e-reader offers, especially when we travel is a big plus. The cost of many e-books is also an enticing feature. We can buy more, save money, and not have to add another room to the house for all the books we own (afraid I have already reached that point).

    I hope your venture into self-publishing is a big success.

    librarypat AT comcast DOT net

  30. Hi Pat! Wild Desire (the second book) will be out in March. Also in March, I’m doing an anthology with a handful of other Self-Published authors. In this anthology, my novella will be a short story which will be a continuation of the Wild Series. But Sadly, the Wild series will probably end with that novella.

    Thanks so much to everyone who read the blog and left a comment. I’ll be posting about more Self-Published authors in the future.

    As for the winners…

    Andie
    Jeanne Miro
    Michaelene J

    If you haven’t left your email addy, please email me so I can send you the coupons for those books, or let me know if you don’t want them so I can pick another winner.

    Thanks again everyone!

  31. Great to see you doing well self-publishing, Lori. I found a few very good ones years back, glad to have had the chance to read them. Good for authors now with all the current changes, good for readers who want to read those stories that can’t get contracted.

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