April is here already!

Time has flown. I can't believe it's April already!

What will be at the book signing?
Paperbacks of all 3 books in The Phoenix Project Series, a few copies of the special Compendium Edition of The Phoenix Project Series, copies of Saratoga (this has been an Amazon Bestseller in it's genre since it's release!) and me and my sharpie!

Breakroom wisdom

This almost happened last week

;)

Comparing Books and Music

I've been waiting for someone to post on this! 

Comparing Books and Music - Books & Such Literary Management : Books & Such Literary Management

And while Rachelle has some good points of how Books and Music differ. I find it hard to ignore the similarities between Indie Authors and Indie Musicians and Indie Filmmakers, and that is reaching out, grassroots, connecting with your fans, making appearances where people can actually shake your hand and not gaze at you from afar, and building a fan base from the bottom up instead of advertising convincing you that thisperson is the next best thing.

I don't want to talk about the monetary differences. Because at the end of the day, money doesn't mean much. You can't take it with you when you die and it's not going to make you happy. Some of the best times of my life were when I was so poor I could only afford a head of iceberg lettuce and a package of ham each week for groceries. If you're writing for money, if your playing for money, your in the business for the wrong reasons.  We do this because we love it. We hire editors and book cover artists to create a unique reading experience because we love writing and the process of putting a book together. (And I don't mean one ridden with errors, read the preview on amazon, you can usually tell if you're interested in the book and its quality before purchasing.)

We don't see Adam Levine slapping the Indie singer/songwriters on their ass with vicious words. He started a TV show for them. The only people I see who mimic this, are the Indie authors who made it big and haven't forgotten where they started.

Image via http://strugglingmuso.wordpress.com/category/comic-strip/page/2/

How to get your books into bookstores...

Just have your fans ask for it. Like this lady did: 

Pressure & Time

As a writer, insecurity is an emotion that I battle on a daily basis. This chord was plucked yesterday and resulted in a night of tossing and turning and reading. This is why: when talking about book signings with a family friend, I was asked why I don't venture out of my tiny little town to the nearby suburbs and approach the only Barnes and Noble around about a book signing at the store.
And this is where I choke.
It was so hard to tell him that I don't feel good enough to step into a brick and mortar.

 Don't get me wrong, I'm not embarrassed or ashamed by my Indie success, I'm happy, I'm proud! But I find that when those strings of insecurity are tugged, it takes me days to weeks to get back into the flow of writing again. I don't know if I'm ready for Barnes and Noble, but I have had success at vendor fairs.

Then I read all of these blog posts from successful authors, who I've followed and their words have taught me most of what I know about the publishing industry today. And I read the words from Industry leaders, who I used to look up to. And I wish that those people who say things to me like, "maybe you'll get a real publisher," would read these articles and really see what's going on and understand my reasoning for not wanting a traditional publisher.

So what's a girl to do? Fill her editors Inbox throughout the night of course. (Thankfully, I have an understanding editor who puts up with my craziness and random middle-of-the-night messages.)

As we are talking, I tell her, "I just don't want to walk into a store and be judged by a bunch of book snobs who don't understand the industry."

This is where the voice of reason/Kristy steps in and simply responds with: "Who cares? Judgement is usually jealousy in disguise." (which I read with Morgan Freeman's voice)

The voice of reason.

And then this shows up: "In 1966, Andy Dufresne escaped from Shawshank prison. All they found of him was a muddy set of prison clothes, a bar of soap, and an old rock hammer, damn near worn down to the nub. I remember thinking it would take a man six hundred years to tunnel through the wall with it. Old Andy did it in less than twenty. Oh, Andy loved geology. I imagine it appealed to his meticulous nature. An ice age here, million years of mountain building there. Geology is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes really, pressure, and time."
  

Can you see the traditional publishing walls crumbling?

Indie-publishing, the study of Pressure and Time.