Self Publishing with Amazon and Smashwords

Writing a novel is hard work. But if you love telling stories and you subscribe to the B-I-C (butt-in-chair) method of slogging through it, you will eventually finish it. And let me tell you, it is a wonderful feeling, after weeks or months of doubt that you actually did finish it. I'll talk more about the B-I-C method in another post. But for now, let me just say, it means actually sitting down in the chair and writing, even if you are not sure the words will come.

If you are an Indie (independent) author, now is when your phase 2 begins. Get the best editor(s) you can. You can pay a professional, but for most full length novels, that's going to cost you around $1500. Not the best decision before you've sold your first book, unless you happen to be sitting on a pile of cash. And it will also be the first of many obstacles that may make you toss in the towel. DON'T!!! Enlist the help of two friends and ask them to read it and give you honest feedback on the story. Did you leave a character hanging out to dry half-way through? Did you call a character Sue for the first half and Sally for the second. Believe me, these things happen. Don't ask them to do the spelling and grammar editing, but if they like to point them out when they see them, all the better.
Then, turn your book over to Word for spelling and grammar.

I actually took an online class on self-publishing and I highly recommend it!! You can find them at your local college or at ed2go.com.  I learned a ton about kindle formatting, MSWord editing and also book covers. My class was $99. It was the best investment I've made yet in self-publishing.
The writing and editing can all be done before you decide to publish it yourself, and if you do, which company to use.

I publish first with Amazon. They have tons of tools to help you. If you publish with createspace.com (Amazon's paperback publisher) first, you can use their cover designer to make professional covers that can be used with both the paperback and as an image for your ebook. They will step you through the whole process, including getting your ISBN (id number for books, essentially). Then once your book is approved, they will also take care of the Kindle version for you.

They are the world's biggest bookstore and nearly the world's biggest everything store now. People shop there. You can also take advantage of their lending library and their subscription service if you enter into an exclusive deal with them.  They pay authors well, pay on time, give you reports and tons of visibility into your sales and your rank. They have an author's page and will link to your blog. And they have a lot of marketing help if you search for it and follow the suggestions. They also recently bought an audio book company and now audio book production is also fairly easy. (More about that in another post.)

Smashwords is the second company I have published with. The biggest advantage of Smashwords, by far, is that they distribute to nearly all other ebook sellers, including B&N, Apple, Sony, and the smaller or international companies. They also have a list of resources of professional companies that will edit and format your book as well as do the cover. These services are reasonably priced, but certainly not free and, again, can be financially restrictive before the first book sells. The biggest disadvantage that Smashwords has vs. Amazon is eyes on your title.  Through Amazon, by book sales have been good. Through Smashwords, practically nil.

So if you're new to this, and you want to self-publish, I would recommend Amazon as your first partner!! I personally think they are great!

Why I Chose Independent Publishing

With the debate raging between Amazon and the big publishing houses over ebook publication and price, I thought I'd weigh in on why I chose independent publishing.

First, let me get the big question out of the way....Did I have any traditional publishers interested in my work? Honest answer: No. I didn't even try to find a traditional publisher. Question 2: Are you afraid of rejection? Honest answer: Yes. And I'm too old to deal with the mashugana (how do you spell mashugana, anyway?) MESHUGANA: a crazy person. I don't know what the plural is, so if you know, please pass it on!

The honest truth is that I didn't set out to publish a book. I set out to write one. To finish it. Writing a novel is a journey and it's really easy to give up half-way through. I know. I have a whole file of half written novels. But finishing one was on my bucket list. And now that I'm living my last act, it was time to start crossing things off my bucket list. Or at least try to cross more off than I add to it. So I wrote a whole book, and finished it, and it was pretty bad. But the characters came alive for me. And as I finished the first book, the characters' stories had just begun and I wanted to tell those stories. So I shelved the first one, and started the second, which eventually became The Mystery of Glengarron. And when I was almost done with it, the next one started materializing in my brain. And that's the way this series is coming together. I want to know them and live vicariously through them and see how their lives unfold..

At some point, during the writing of the second book, I started considering publishing. I looked into some traditional publishers and I did some research into self publishing. It all boiled down to my list of pluses and minuses. Traditional publisher: editing and marketing. A publisher has editors that will make sure your book is nearly error free. I say nearly, because I have read books from big publishers that do have spelling or typo errors. But for the most part, they are not plagued with the occasional punctuation or spelling error that self-published books often have. (My own included.) The biggest advantage is that big publishing houses have big marketing budgets and they will use part of that to market your books. That means more sales for the author. The big questions here, though, are how much does the author really get? (Usually around 16%) and how much marketing? And marketing for how long? (A small window of opportunity). The other disadvantage is that the publisher will usually print a small run (around 4,000) books for a new author and if they don't sell, well, sayonara. Book out of print and they still own the rights.

In self-publishing, the author retains all rights. For most markets, the author gets about 70% of the sales in e-book royalties and 40% for paperback and audio. These numbers refer to self-publishing with Amazon. There are companies that will publish your book for a fee (usually several hundred to several thousand dollars) and they will take smaller cuts or none at all.

I chose Amazon for all my books and am piloting three of them through Smashwords, an ebook company that distributes to most other ebook formats. The advantages of using these companies are that the book never goes out of print. The other advantage is that I will continue to collect royalties for my books until 70 years after my death (that is, my heirs will) when my work becomes public domain. That was a big deal to me. The disadvantages include that the author has to do formatting and cover art work themselves (although Amazon has some good tools that help here). Editing requires bugging friends and family to help read the books and having a good understand of the editing capabilities of Word. The big disadvantage is that the author has to market his or her own work. Not so easy and it takes time away from writing. But it is a learning experience. In the next post, I'll discuss the pros and cons of Amazon vs. Smashwords.

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts or questions.

The Mystery of Glengarron now on Audio!!

While commuting on Cal Train some months ago, I met a woman that was knitting a blanket. I commented on her beautiful work and only then, as she smiled at me and took an earbud out of her ear, did I notice she was listening to a small iPod she had clipped to her lapel. 

Graciously, she thanked me for my compliment. When I apologized for interrupting her music, she told me that she was listening to an audio book and that she always enjoyed her commutes on the train knitting for her family and friends and listening to books for herself. I told her I am an author and she became quite interested and we talked for a long time about my books and other authors we both like. Before I knew it, we had gotten to San Francisco and our commute was over. While I never knew her name, she gave me some of the best advice I've ever gotten as a writer.  She told me  I should put my books on audio for people like her that love to read but just don't have the time or really want to be able to listen to books while doing other things. (In her case it was knitting.  In mine, I discovered, they're great for listening to while exercising.)

So here it is!  The first Mick Malone Mystery, now on Audio via Audible. com or Amazon:

Link:The Mystery of Glengarron Audio Version

If you're not already a member of Audible, you can get the audio book free with a trial subscription. I love Audible and they have great daily deals if you listen to a lot of audio books like I do.  Or if you go to my Website I am giving away free copies to the first 25 people that contact me. Just email me and I will send you instructions to download the audio version. Okay, enough advertising.

To the lovely woman on the train that gave me such wonderful advice, I thank you sincerely.  And thanks to all my readers for all your continued support.

Road Trip!!

We moved to California from Ohio when I was six years old. Every year after that, as long as my grandparents were alive, we drove from Santa Clara, California to Ohio. As a young man, my dad would drive straight through, kept awake by caffeine and once making the trip in 48 hours. As he got older, he realized it wasn't entirely safe to make the trip with no sleep. By then, we had a camping trailer and we would camp all the way there and all the way back. The trips were always memorable and never without drama. Like the car breaking down in Iowa across from a hog farm in 100 degree heat. Or the midnight picnic outside of Omaha. Or the time lightning struck 30 feet from our car.

My sisters and brother and I learned to occupy ourselves QUIETLY in a car for hours on end, as my father was continually listening to the sound of the car engine, worried for car trouble. But we always made it and we always, in the end, had fun. To this day, all of us love road trips, although, we didn't all marry the road trip types.

A couple of weeks ago, one of my sisters, Julie, said her son was competing in a bowling tournament at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada. (Who knew that among other national treasures, we actually have a Bowling Stadium?) She asked if I would like to go with her. I looked at her and smiled devilish and then we both burst out in: "ROAD TRIP!". We live just south of San Francisco so it's not that far to Reno. But on the way, our sisters Chris and Jenny live. Jenny couldn't go, but Chris was game and so we stopped in Lincoln and picked her up.

After spending a couple of hours driving around Auburn looking at houses (Julie might move up there) we headed to Truckee, where I got us lost trying to navigate to the old town via a bunch of new round-abouts. We did finally make it:

 This is Julie and Chris sitting on the patio of a Mexican restaurant where we stopped for chips and a cold drink. It was a short stop and then on to Reno, where we stayed in the Peppermill. The Peppermill, once a very small restaurant and lounge is now a HUGE casino and hotel. We got lost every time we left the room. But it was not without its nostalgia. The Peppermill used to be a chain with restaurants in California, one right down the street from where I live now (right next to Apple's headquarters). As we wandered around the casino, looking for a smoke-free bar, we found one named "The Fireside Lounge." When we walked in, I was stunned. It was exactly like the lounge that used to be here in Cupertino. If you were ever at a Peppermill back then, they all looked alike. The sunken fireplace on the left and the dark, low booths. Julie is finding us a glass of wine in the bottom photo below:

When we got to the National Bowling Stadium, we were impressed by the size, it's HUGE!! and comfortable and makes us want to take up bowling.

It rained quite a bit, which was somewhat of a treat for us, since we haven't seen rain in what seems like years.

But the best part was spending time with my sisters. On the way home, we met our other sister, Jenny for breakfast and then it was the two and a half hour ride home. Many times, along the trip we would remember stories of those road trips to Ohio so long ago. And we were reminded how lucky we are to still have each other and we vowed to do it again, soon. Next time? I vote for Monterey!

Being Grateful and Letting Go

Yes, I am grateful for what I have. My family, my friends, my circumstances. But why is it, then, that so often I find myself wrapped up in a bundle of negative emotions over something that I really can't do much about. Case in point: I have lived in California most of my life. Every 7-10 years, we have an extraordinary drought in California and it is so front and center on the news that it eclipses all but the most tragic stories about real human suffering. This is one of those years. Reservoirs are dry, we are seriously draining the underground aquifers, we are all going to become dehydrated, crazed zombies if we don't cut our water usage, NOW, damnit! Next year, or the year after, it will pour buckets for five months and they will be letting water out of the damns at an alarming rate. Honestly, water has always been a major issue for California, a state that is basically pretty arid and gets all its precipitation in three or four months. Here are some dramatic pictures of one of our local reservoirs:

Lexington Reservoir in Spring After a Good Rainfall Year

The reservoir, which is visible as you drive over Highway 17 between San Jose and Santa Cruz looks like this in late Spring after the winter rains.  By the end of Fall, it usually looks more like the picture below:

This year, in the middle of a severe drought, in the middle of July, it looks like this:

So, I definitely get it. Next year it will look like the picture on the top. Again. Maybe. Or maybe not. So I did some research. In our area, average rainfall is 15.86 inches a year. Since 1893, 66% of the years we got less than 15 inches. Only a third of the years did we get 15 inches or more. And the distribution of dry vs. wet years was pretty even over the last 100 years. Here's another newsflash. California's biggest industry is agriculture and, in fact, we produce something like 50% of all the food produced in the U.S. Farmers need water to grow food. So it's not surprising that their water rations are not cut. And I really can't argue with that. 

Here's my beef: Today, it was announced that Alameda County was one of the few counties in the bay area that actually cut their water usage by 20% like we were all asked. But now the water agency has a revenue shortfall, so they are raising the rates. That is really ridiculous. And here's my other beef: All over the bay area, politicians and city managers are approving horrendous high-density housing on every available square inch of land. Drive around and you cannot avoid these monstrosities. They are literally everywhere creating much worse than just vista pollution. California doesn't have enough water, but let's shove 3,000 more people on every other street corner along Stevens Creek Blvd. from Cupertino to San Jose. Let's add 10,000 more people across from Santa Clara's Central Park in a site that was the old Kaiser Hospital. (Okay, it may not really be 10,000, but it sure looks like it. And oh, BTW, look at the pictures on the website. This ugly, ugly massive block of concrete doesn't look anything like the small individual homes they show on the website. What gives?)

And then I got it. Cover up all the ground with concrete and we won't have any need to water our gardens. Oh, wait, but what are we going to drink? Martini's!  Okay, I'm in. And I'm grateful once again!

The Truth About Zucchini-Tinis

Recently, I forwarded a post from Food Network about a Zucchini-Tini that Claire Robinson did with an Asian Fusion dinner with Sake Steamed Sea Bass With Soy Buerre Blanc.  I tried the dinner a week ago and it was awesome!!  Here is the link:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/5-ingredient-fix/300-series/asian-fusion.html

I used halibut instead of sea bass but it was really out of this world. I had never made Buerre Blanc Sauce before and I must say, first: it is easy and incredibly silky and delicious.....and second: the Weight Watcher Police were at my door within minutes. But it was worth it, and you just can't feel that guilty about indulging in a few tablespoons of heaven on a fish that is already delicious. I had dreams about that sauce all night and was really upset when I found out my husband threw the leftovers away. I had visions of it on my egg the next morning.  Oh well.  Try it, you will love the whole meal.

I saved the Zucchini-Tini for the weekend and made them for my sister and niece and I.  It's not that I don't drink alone.....as many of you know....it's that I don't drink gin alone. In fact, I don't drink gin much at all since my going away party when I moved back to California from England (and that was 30 years ago!!!). But here it is:

Zucchini-tini

Looks good, doesn't it? Well to be honest, I was so excited, thinking I could use up all my garden zucchinis with this refreshing drink. The recipe called for one large zucchini. I used two huge ones and got one half cup of juice out of it after putting it through an industrial squeeze. Also, it called for simple syrup made 1:1 sugar and water. Too sweet! It also calls for both sake and gin. Well, I kept adding gin, and that improved it. But in the end, it just tasted like sweet zucchini juice. I poured some unsweetened lime juice into it which cut the sugar and masked the zucchini juice and voila......we drank rather fancy, doctored up gin gimlets. They were very refreshing. Honestly, I think this one was a bit of a dud. But do try the fish dish. It is outstanding.

Stuffed Trout

I love beef. Given my choice of meat, beef wins every time. But I like fish and, as I am trying to lose some weight, I recently decided to try to eat more fish. In the past, I have pretty much stuck to the two S's, salmon and shrimp. Safe enough. But when we were kids and went camping, we'd often go fishing with our Dad and enjoy the spoils for dinner. I watched Nancy Fuller, the chef on the Food Network show, Farmhouse Rules, catch and cook trout for her dinner one night. I was inspired to modify her recipe below.

Meet My Trout

I got butterflied trout at Whole Foods, then seasoned them and stuffed them with chopped mushrooms, shallots, dill, parsley and lemon zest mixed with a tablespoon of olive oil and the juice of half a lemon.

Then I placed sliced lemons on the trout and wrapped them with bacon.

I

I cooked them in a cast iron skillet that was lightly oiled on the stove on medium high for 3 minutes and then in a 425 degree oven for 25 minutes.  It was really delicious.  For you Weight Watchers, this was 8 points.

More of these kinds of recipes, and I might not even miss beef.....NOT.  But really, how can you go wrong with anything wrapped in bacon?????

The End Result