 | 21 Jan 11 |
My guest today is my very good friend Virna DePaul!
Thank you, Karin, for having me as a guest on Murder She Writes! Recently, I jumped on the self-publishing bandwagon and I appreciate the opportunity to share my experience.
I self-published for several reasons.
First, a friend, author Tina Folsom, has encountered enormous success self-publishing her romance novels. I’m one of Tina’s critique partners, so I already knew she was talented and business savvy, and she was kind enough to share her time, information, and encouragement to help get me started.
Second, I was right in the thick of marketing my debut novel with Berkley, Chosen By Blood, and I wanted to introduce myself to potential readers before Chosen’s release date on May 3–the same day that Karin’s Blood Law comes out with Berkley Heat.
Third, I had written several stories that didn’t sell to a traditional publishing house for one reason or another, but I believed the stories were good enough to entertain others and reflect well upon my writing ability.
Finally, I wanted to try writing erotic romance because it’s extremely popular with e-consumers today and I thought it would be a fun challenge. After all, I’d never written paranormal before I decided to try my hand at it and that manuscript ended up being Chosen, the first of my books to sell.
I wrote an erotic novella using the pen name Ava Meyers. I decided to use a pen name because I wanted to clearly distinguish these works from what I was already writing, paranormal and contemporary romantic suspense. My goal was to publish the novella at the beginning of December so I could market to everyone getting e-readers for Christmas. I knew the story was going to involve an undercover cop and a biker gang, but I wasn’t sure just how far I was willing to push the love scenes. Eventually, I decided that if I was going to do it, I might as well go all out. The result is Copping To It, a novella that is indeed very different from what I normally write, but one I’m proud of. With Tina’s help, I figured out how to format the manuscript, designed a cover, and published it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords the first week of December. Then I sat back to see what would happen.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I ended up selling over 3,000 copies and the novella was ranked 165 out of all of Barnes and Noble’s Nookbooks. I’m able to track the sales results myself, including exactly how many copies sell per day and at what e-book venue. Having that influx of positive feedback pushed me to write the sequel, Cop Appeal; I posted it on Christmas Eve even though I hadn’t planned on doing so until February 15. Subsequently, I self-published a novel-length contemporary romance, This Magic Moment, which I’d originally targeted for the Harlequin Blaze line. In addition, I published a vampire novella (which incorporated the beginning of a story I’d started years ago but never finished), A Vampire’s Salvation. 
Each of these self-published stories has made me money, taught me something new about writing and publishing, and exposed me to new readers and reviewers. Most of all, they’ve proven that there are people in the world—everyday readers, not just publishing professionals–who are willing to pay for the chance to read my stories and, if given the opportunity, will do so more than once. As a newly published writer, this has been a great benefit to me.
Of course, there are days when my sales are down or a reader expresses dislike for something about my books, be it the short length of a novella or a particular plot device, but to me that’s all part and parcel of being a writer, be it self-published or otherwise. It’s always a scary thing putting one’s work out into the world to be judged by others, but as a writer there’s no way to get around it.
There’s all sorts of information on self-publishing on the Internet today. Recently, I created a self-publishing cheat sheet that discusses the basics of how to self-publish a book. (I provide all my cheat sheets and a new cheat sheet every month to members of my mailing list; go to my website to sign up.) The cheat sheet also discusses the reasons a person might want to self-publish, as well as some of the reasons she might not want to. Here’s a brief run down:
PROS OF SELF-PUBLISHING
- Creative control — write something different and push the envelope if you want
- Distribution control — give it away or decide where you want to sell it
- Economics — although you have to share your commission with the bookselling site, your “royalty” is 40%-70%
- Timing—you can take immediate advantage of trends that are short and temporary
- Pricing — you decide the price and can offer your books cheaper than a publisher would
- Tracking — you have the ability to directly track sales numbers and profit, which means you can determine what’s working and what’s not and make whatever adjustments you need to
PROS OF TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING
- Working with an experienced team, including editors, art department, and marketing
- Ability to reach readers who are already loyal to the publisher’s imprint
- Getting an advance
- Being able to have your book in brick and mortar bookstores
- Likely greater distribution of your print book
My exploration of self-publishing opportunities is just beginning and it’s been a positive experience so far. I’m grateful for the opportunity, but right now I view self-publishing e-books as a way to supplement and drive my print career. That might change in the future, but I remain mindful of the benefits of self-publishing and traditional publishing—at least, as mindful as I can be given the publishing landscape is ever changing, and I’m still figuring out all the pros and cons/ins and outs myself.
Bio: Virna DePaul is a former prosecutor who writes paranormal romantic suspense for Berkley, and contemporary romantic suspense for the Harlequin Romantic Suspense line. Recently, she accepted a three-book contract with Harlequin’s HQN line. www.virnadepaul.com
Wow, Virna! Amazing success! MWS’ers, feel free to ask Virna questions!
© 2011, Karin Tabke. All rights reserved.
A Cop’s Wife Writes the Cop’s Life:
Award winning author, Karin Tabke isn’t just another author with steamy stories to tell, but a cop’s wife who has “seen it all and heard it all.†Some of the hottest stories come from behind the blue wall of law enforcement rather than from in front. Married to a street cop, now retired, Karin is intimate with both and proves it with her sizzling tales and hot cops. Not only are her cops hot, but so are her sexy knights. Karin’s Blood Sword Legacy series is a must read for anyone who loves tales of yore when men were men and women were women, and love did conqueror all!
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Wow! You have been BUSY!! I’m very impressed. How do you write so fast?? I mean, are you just chained to your keyboard all day or what??
by Bonnie H January 21st, 2011 at 8:52 amYour books all look and sound fabulous – I’m looking forward to reading them!
Virna, great to have you here! I have a novel I’ve been considering self-pubbing. Any advice for an already traditionally pubbed author who wants to go self-pubbed?
by Debra Webb January 21st, 2011 at 9:15 amVirna – big congrats on all your books, im so proud of you!! This was such a “you” post – i had to smile when i got to the really well organized cheat sheet and the thoughtfully laid out explanation of your motivation and results. I will never ever forget the first time I saw you present and realized you’ve got a lot of smarts knocking around in your head. I wish all the best for you this year and it sure looks like you’re off to a good start. xo
by sophie littlefield January 21st, 2011 at 9:46 am[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Murder She Writes, BJ Hoffmaster. BJ Hoffmaster said: We Have a Special Guest Today! http://f.ast.ly/QVL5Q [...]
by Tweets that mention We Have a Special Guest Today! | Murder She Writes -- Topsy.com January 21st, 2011 at 9:54 amThanks for RTing, Bonnie! You rock!
by Virna DePaul January 21st, 2011 at 4:12 pmHi, Bonnie! Thanks so much for stopping by and I’m glad my books look interesting to you. I know you’re an avid reader, so that means a lot to me!! I write in bursts, but I’m still trying to find balance between writing and other parts of my life. My husband would definitely agree that my laptop has become physically attached to me!
Debra–Wow! I’ve read your stuff for years and I know how successful you are, so I’m not sure what advice I could give you that would be helpful.
I’ve been told that if you want to avoid piracy of your work, make sure wherever you publish offers DRM (Digital Rights Management) like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Also, PDF, HTML, and RTF formats are obviously easier to pirate, so try to avoid those. Hope this helps and thanks for posting!
Sophie–wow, thank you! I definitely see you as an inspiration in this business, so means a lot to me! I’m a worrier and it’s hard putting myself out there, so self-pubbing wasn’t an easy decision. Thankfully I have lots of supporters to prop me up!
by Virna DePaul January 21st, 2011 at 10:06 amVirna, it’s great to be your critique partner. That way I get to read all your great books before even your editor gets a peek! You’re in a great position: you can explore both the traditional side and the epublishing side, the best of both worlds. When one doesn’t work out financially, you can use the other. And with your great marketing ideas, I always learn plenty from you.
by Tina Folsom January 21st, 2011 at 10:07 amThanks, Tina! I’ve learned so much from you and best of all made a wonderful friend! Your success and drive inspires me!
by Virna DePaul January 21st, 2011 at 4:13 pmWelcome, Virna! We’re glad you are here. Thanks for sharing your publishing experience with us. I think it’s wonderful that you were able to expand your creativity through self-publishing. That seems like the most appealing aspect to me. Good luck with COP TO IT. Hope you see continued success
by Laura Griffin January 21st, 2011 at 10:11 amI’m moving into the indie market. So far with back list titles, so I know they’ve been properly vetted.
And I agree totally with your list of pros of both.
Terry
by Terry Odell January 21st, 2011 at 10:50 amTerry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Terry, I’m so glad you’re putting your back list out there! I wish you much success and thanks for stopping by!
by Virna DePaul January 21st, 2011 at 4:14 pmG’morning, Virna! This is very interesting information. I’m curious as to how much time you spend marketing and how you go about getting your self-pubbed titles noticed–and bought. How do you decide your pricing structure? And how does your agent/publisher feel about your self-publishing?
(Yes…I’m nosy!
)
by Silver James January 21st, 2011 at 11:17 amThank you, Laura! BTW, I’ve heard great things about your work from Cindy Gerard, who presented at our chapter awhile back. Will def. check out your books.
Hi Silver! I haven’t really kept track of my marketing time but I try to do a little each day. To be honest, it’s starting to get overwhelming and my task list looks mighty scary. But I think that’s in the context of trying to write while I’m marketing, too. Re promoting my self-pubs, I haven’t done much but after I did a blog post on a friend’s blog, sales definitely increased. I decided since what I want is increased readership, I’d sell my novella for 99 cents. This price seems consistent with what others are charging and for me that’s a good indicator. Also, Tina’s been doing this for awhile so I got the benefit of her experience. Re what my agent and editors think, I talked with my agent before I did anything and made sure she didn’t have any concerns. We decided together that using a pen name was a good idea. I haven’t heard anything from my editors and I hope that’s a good sign that I’m presenting myself and my writing career well!
Thanks for your interest and for stopping by!
by Virna DePaul January 21st, 2011 at 12:03 pmHi Virna, welcome to MSW! I love your drive and work ethic, and I’m going to check out your books since I’m one of the masses that got an ereader for Christmas!
by Jen Lyon January 21st, 2011 at 12:28 pmHi Jen, Thank you! I appreciate that. I bought Blood Magic awhile back when a bookseller hand-sold it to me, raving about how good it was! So I suspect you have a great work ethic as well. It’s in my TBR pile and I look forward to getting to it!
by Virna DePaul January 21st, 2011 at 1:02 pmWelcome!
How DO you design a cover (without a specialist)? It seems like some people think it’s not important for an ebook to have a great “cover” (Awful covers at Changeling Press), but I still am drawn to appealing covers and am more apt to click on them to read the blurb/excerpt when visiting an ebook site. That’s what gets me to buy.
by Anne January 21st, 2011 at 1:17 pmVirna, I’m enjoying your indie published books very much, especially A Vampire’s Salvation. Muy caliente!! But, I can’t wait for Chosen By Blood. That series is going to be da bomb. Congratulations on all your successes.
by Jill James January 21st, 2011 at 3:43 pmYou have been a busy, busy bee! I loved how you broke down the reasons you went the self-published route–sounds like you really weighed the pros and cons before diving in and have found success because of that focused drive.
And a big CONGRATS!!! WOOHOO!! on the success of Coping to it, et al and the new contract with Harlequin HQN! (Don’t think I heard about that one yet.)
by Kristin Miller January 21st, 2011 at 3:52 pmHi Anne, I agree that a great cover is a huge help when it comes to selling a book. I like to look at different covers on the web and then when I find one that has the tone or layout I’m looking for, I buy images from istockphoto.com or romancenovelcovers.com. Then I use photoshop and play around with designs before getting the opinions of my friends who have a great eye for detail. Of course it never hurts to hire a professional, as well. Thanks for stopping by!
Jill, thanks so much for your support. I’m glad you enjoyed AVS. I loved writing that novella and am looking forward to the release of Chosen. (As someone whose own debut comes out next month, I’m sure you know “looking forward” is a bit of an understatement.
) Take care!
Hi Kristin, thanks for stopping by. Yes, I think out (read worry, worry, worry) most decisions and then just cross my fingers it works out well. So far so good! I’m so happy to be joining HQN to write contemporary romantic suspense. How lucky am I that I get to write my two favorite genres for two awesome publishing houses?! Pinch me! I’m sure you’re basking in the glow of your debut release as well and I’m so happy for you!
by Virna DePaul January 21st, 2011 at 4:09 pmVirna, this is fascinating. I had posted a blog 2 years ago this March talking about how I thought the future was going to lie heavily with ebook sales, and I wondered then how many people were going to dust off books that had gone out of print to re-sell and other books that just hadn’t hit (for those strange market reasons that we have no control over). It’s really startling to see it all happening so quickly, though. I really appreciate all of the information! That’s extremely kind of you to give that very useful information to your readers–you rock!
by toni mcgee causey January 21st, 2011 at 4:25 pmCongrats on your successes!
by Estella January 21st, 2011 at 4:45 pmFinally! I made it!! Virna, I’m amazed and delighted by the amount of your sales in such a short amount of time. Of course, those books are so damn sexy and well wrtten, I guess I’m not really that surprised!
Rock on!
by Karin Tabke January 21st, 2011 at 4:56 pmThanks Toni! It is very startling! I finally got a Kindle and I enjoy many things about it, but I still love a real book. It will be interesting seeing how this all shakes down and I’m just hoping there’ll always be room for both!
Thank you so much, Estella!
Karin, I know your readers are thrilled to have your books both in print and e-books!! I’m learning to write hot cops from the best and I LOVE it!
by Virna January 21st, 2011 at 5:04 pmWow! Fabulous post. My brother and I were recently discussing the different publishing methods. I don’t have a question but thanks for the wonderful insight.
by Jen B. January 21st, 2011 at 9:02 pmI’ve added your book to my wish list and will check it out on May 3rd.
by Diane Sadler January 21st, 2011 at 10:28 pmTerrific post Virna! Great story about your success. I love your entrepreneurial advice as well.
And you’re so right, all the changes happening so quickly in the business, it’s driving all of us a bit to distraction! :/
by Allison Brennan January 22nd, 2011 at 1:56 amI am purely a reader but it was interesting to read the why and how of choices that an author makes in moving into self-publishing.
by Little Lamb Lost January 22nd, 2011 at 2:22 pmHey Virna!
I’m totally curious – did you advertise your Kindle releases as they came out or did you just stick them up and wait for the magic to happen?
So happy to hear of your success, btw! That is awesome.
by Jill Myles January 24th, 2011 at 1:39 pmJen, Diane, Allison, and Little Lamb, thanks so much for your support! Hey Jill, I did one blog for Copping To It and that did seem to generate a lot of sales. That’s actually what amazes me the most. That I’m selling books without having to market the heck out of them. My numbers aren’t huge but hopefully they’ll just increase. I know to keep sales rising and consistent, marketing will eventually come into play. Thanks for posting!
by Virna January 24th, 2011 at 2:42 pm