Back in January, I decided to sever my relationship with my publisher and strike out on my own as an indie (independent) author. Frankly, in the five years since my first book, Truth Kills, made it to market, I had such miserable sales and so little marketing support, that I figured I couldn’t do any worse on my own.
Since then, I’ve been busy on many fronts. I designed my new website on WordPress.org. That took weeks. I engaged a cover designer, who has come up with some pretty amazing covers. I hired an interior designed, because I completely underestimated the knowledge and effort needed to make the inside of the books look great. Those were projects of several weeks duration, as I reviewed and updated and approved.
There were new ISBNs (the bar codes you see on the back of the print book) and Library of Congress numbers to purchase. I registered an LLC in Colorado for my imprint, Dark Chocolate Press.
I learned how to do some elementary marketing, and developed a way to offer Truth Kills free for anyone who signed up for my mailing list. (Sign up is pretty painless – just ask my computer challenged sister, who tested it for me.)
I’ll be experimenting with a few other marketing plans, as soon as I figure out how the process. I’m also working hard on my new book, Deception Kills, and will finish the first draft soon.
All in all, it’s been a bumpy and prolonged ride, but I’m glad to have the reins and am looking forward to actual sales. After all, writers write because we have something to say, a story to tell, and we want to share it with others. I’ll keep you updated.