Today I welcome author Arianna Skye to the stage to talk to us a bit about self publishing, and the ups and downs that go along with it. It's very interesting! Readers, I hope you enjoy the post, and welcome to Arianna!
Not your (grand)mother's fairytale...
Rhiannon Kinsley's life goes from boring to downright crazy when a freak lightning bolt strikes her laptop. To make matters even more bizarre, strange words and symbols flash across the computer screen and she hears a mysterious voice. Time to call the men in white coats! Then Cerne Silverwing, an intriguingly sexy man, appears. He insists she's a faerie princess whose fate will determine his own. What a crock! Now she knows who really needs those white coats.
With the Dark Faerie forces threatening their kingdom, Cerne kidnaps Rhiannon and brings her to Fey, a land where magic knows no bounds. He's performing a duty to save his kingdom and nothing more--a duty that will bring him his wings and the strengthened magic that comes with them. If he doesn't unite with the princess as her consort, those wings will never grow. But this princess grew up in the land of laptops and instant messages, and she's convinced they're both crazy. Despite their differences, the two are thrust together to defeat the whip-wielding Dark Faerie Queen before she takes over their kingdom. Passion and peril aside, will Rhiannon and Cerne discover their true destiny?
Why I Chose Self-Publishing
Wings of Desire
was my first complete as well as published novel. I originally sold the book to
a small press and recently had the rights turned back to me. I could have
shopped the book around to other publishers, but a lot of publishers don’t
usually want to take a chance on a book that was already published elsewhere. Another
big issue that affected my decision, was that erotic stories involving faeries
are a hard sale. This book is a little long for traditional standards, coming
in near a whopping 110K words. With these factors in mind, I decided to
research self-publishing instead. There are some costs involved, so it’s not
without risks. In my case, I decided the benefits outweighed the risks.
I was able to locate a rather inexpensive editor. It pays to
have friends, though. I also needed to pay for my ISBN. An ISBN costs about
$125, however when you buy in bulk through Bowker ISBN services, you get 10 for
the price of two. I can then use the other ISBNs for my other projects. The
most expensive part of this venture has so far been the cover art, and even
that was worth the money. If you are familiar with photoshop or any other
graphic editing program, you can easily design your own cover. Matter of fact,
I’ve just designed the next cover for the second book in the Fey Chronicles
series. Not because I wasn’t happy with the first cover, but I’m currently in
between jobs and funds are a little tight right now.
Even formatting the book for eBook was considerably
inexpensive. The company I went through charged me around $50 to format the
book, including a Table of Contents with hyperlinks. I decided to put the book
up through Createspace as well. It was a challenge, yet still fun and exciting,
figuring out how to format headings, chapters and page numbers. Did you know
Microsoft Word has a save as PDF option? It made things a little easier.
I’m rather pleased with the results. Self-publishing has
gotten a notoriously bad rep, because of the options that are now open. There’s
Smashwords, Amazon Kindle, and Barnes and Noble Pubit that anyone and their
mother has access to. Because of this, the quality of books available are less
than average. However, if you hire a professional editor and produce an
eye-catching cover, you can publish a book just as good (and maybe even better)
than a traditionally published book.
I will offer this caveat: I am not trying to preach about
self-publishing. I am also a traditionally published author. Self-publishing
simply worked better for Wings of Desire.
Yes, there are some pitfalls with self-publishing, but there are pitfalls with
every publishing option. Research is important, no matter what venue you
choose, be it self, small press, or traditional publishing.
About the
Author
Arianna Skye is the erotic pen name
of paranormal romance author, Sidney Ayers. She loves infusing stories with
humor. What would the world be without a little bit of laughter? Arianna writes
a plethora of genres, ranging from historical, to paranormal, to contemporary.
A native of Michigan, Arianna still
lives in the same town she grew up in. No matter how hard she tries, she just
can’t seem to get away. Michigan is in her blood, and she wouldn’t have it any
other way.
To learn more about Arianna/Sidney
and her books, you can visit either one of her websites at www.ariannaskye.com or
www.sidneyayers.com
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