Indies Wear a Lot of Hats

Dan Walsh is the award-winning and bestselling author of 15 books, including The Unfinished Gift, The Dance and When Night Comes. He has won 3 Carol Awards and 2 Selah Awards. Three of his books were finalists for Inspirational Book of the Year. Dan is a member of ACFW and Word Weavers. He lives with his wife, Cindi, in the Daytona Beach area where they love to take long walks. Click here to connect with Dan or check out his books.

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If I could make the title of this post a little longer, I would add: "Hybrids Wear Even a Few More."

Readers of this blog likely know these terms already, but for the sake of any newcomers I'll briefly explain. An "indie" is an author who self publishes their books or uses a small independent press. A "hybrid" is an author who publishes books both ways, as an indie and also with a traditional publisher.

Though I'm now more of an indie, from 2008 until last Fall I had the distinct privilege of writing under multiple contracts with traditional publishers (mostly Revell and one with Guideposts). I wrote 13 novels that way, although the final 2 books come out this year. Technically, this makes me a hybrid author (at least for the rest of this year).

The first of these 2 final books releases this week. It's called The Legacy. It's the last book in the 4-book Restoration series, co-authored with Gary Smalley. I have one more traditionally-published book coming out in September, called Keeping Christmas (obviously, a Christmas novel).

Although the writing work is done for these 2 books, I'm still having to do all the regular marketing and promotional work I've done with my other traditionally published novels (interviews, blog tour, social media, etc.).

But now, I'm having to mix this work in while wearing a number of new hats as an indie author. In the last few months, I've released my first 2 indie books. My first suspense novel called When Night Comes, and a brand-new 31-Day devotional called Perfect Peace. For those reading this during Easter week, you might be interested to know, you can get When Night Comes all week through Easter Sunday for only 99 Cents (Kindle only). Click Here to check it out.

At the moment, I'm also writing my next indie novel, the first in a trilogy called Rescuing Finley. Finley is a shelter dog who winds up rescuing the female inmate who trains him and the Afghan war vet who adopts him (may even be a love story brewing here). This series will be written in the same genre my readers are used to (more like The Unfinished Gift and The Reunion).

I hope to finish Rescuing Finley by the end of this month, then complete the 2nd novel in the series, Saving Parker, later this year. Once Finley is finished, I'll put on one of my new indie hats as I supervise the editing and proofreading of the book. At the same time, I'll be wearing another hat: supervising the photography and cover design. After coming up with the cover concept for When Night Comes, I hired a graphic artist to actually design the cover. 

But with my second indie book, the devotional Perfect Peace, I decided to wear that hat, too. I designed the cover myself from scratch, front to back. I think it came out pretty nice. Here's a picture of it on the right. If you'd like to preview or order it on Amazon, the Kindle version is only $2.99. The print edition came out really nice. It sells for $9.99.

Speaking of "front to back," brings up another hat I've had to wear. That is, creating from scratch all the text and cover copy for the back of the book and all the promotional materials. Turns out, it's a lot harder than it looks. There's a real skill to shrinking an entire book down to a single paragraph, one that simultaneously sparks interest in the reader but doesn't give too much away.

Once I finish writing and rewriting Rescuing Finley, supervising the editorial process, overseeing the cover design, and coming up with the promotional copy for the back cover, it'll be time to wear another hat: Marketing and Publicity Director. It'll be up to me to get advance copies of the book into the right hands, influential people who will hopefully love the book and want to help me spread the word about its upcoming release.

Once it releases, I'll put on my final hat: personally engage and respond to all the promo activity generated by the book (hopefully, all the magazine and blog interviews, reader emails and social media).

I have to admit...when I started off on this indie adventure, I had no idea of all the work involved. Even so, I really enjoy wearing all these hats and wouldn't want to have it any other way. I'd love to hear how other indies juggle all these additional tasks while still keeping their left brain free to write their novels (or is it the right-brain?).

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Hybrid Author V. B. Tenery on her Latest Release, DEAD RINGER

Today, I had the privilege of interviewing suspense author V.B. Tenery. V.B.'s novel, Dead Ringer, has recently released. V.B. is sharing with us about her hybrid publication journey, her next release, and her favorite suspense authors (hint: we share a fave CBA suspense author!).~Heather Day Gilbert

Author V.B. Tenery

Author V. B. Tenery lives with her family in East Texas. Not content to stay in one genre, her novels range from contemporary suspense and supernatural suspense, to an upcoming historical suspense set in WWII England. When not writing she enjoys reading, hiking, and tube-floating down rivers in the Texas Hill Country.

Interview with V. B. Tenery

HG: V. B., Dead Ringer is your second novel, following your indie-published Works of Darkness. Tell me a little about your path to publication.

VBT: I love the mystery/suspense genre, and I found that secular novels had grown too violent for me to enjoy them. And I thought there must be other readers out there like me. Great writers make writing look so easy, I decided “I can do that.” Wrong. It took me years to learn the craft. It all came together for me about eight years into the process and I started to look for an agent and/or publisher. We all know how hard that can be, but I found a publisher last year, The Pelican Group, who bought two of my novels. Dead Ringer is the first release under their banner. The Watchman, a contemporary supernatural suspense is the second.

HG: The plot of Dead Ringer sounds very high-octane, in which the main character, Mercy Lawrence, is mistaken for a star, and then whisked to a private island...where she runs into spies, assassins, and the like. Do you have to spend a lot of time researching these elements? And would you categorize your writing as suspense, mystery, thriller, or somewhere in-between?

VBT: I spent a lot of time researching the locals in this novel and the CIA details. I consider myself a suspense writer although there are elements of mystery. I have to say, despite the research involved, this novel flowed smoothly from beginning to end. I finished it in nine months. Works of Darkness was my first novel and it was a learning process for me and took years of rewrites.

HG: What made you think of a doppelganger twist in your story? I used to be a huge Ringer fan, which was a show about twin sisters. Definitely kept the stakes high and unpredictable.

VBT: I never know exactly where my story ideas come, but when I thought of this I saw its tremendous potential for tension and intrigue. I have about a dozen novels running around in my brain that I may never live long enough to write. That’s the downside of starting a writing career late in life. I’m not a fast writer and am in awe of writers who can turn out 3-4 books a year.

HG: Have you found the hybrid author experience to be rewarding, and if so, in what ways? What was harder about it than you expected?

VBT: I decided to become a hybrid author just to test the water, so to speak. Works of Darkness was my first Indie novel. I’ve love the freedom of Indie publishing. There are no walls between you and your reader. There is no wait while your novel is put into queue to be published which can take a year or more, and I loved having control of the editing process. I published Works of Darkness in two months after the novel was completed and most of that time was waiting on various functions to be completed. The most difficult part was assembling a great cover artist, editor, and a good formatting service. But you only have to do that once. I made some mistakes but it was a learning process. Reviews have been great, which has made all the hard work worth while. I hope the same will hold true for Dead Ringer.

HG: Please tell us a little about your next book. Are you developing a series?

VBT: Dead Ringer is a stand alone as is The Watchman which comes out in October. Works of Darkness, my first Indie, is an ongoing series featuring Police Chief, Matt Foley and Sara Bradford, the developing love interest. The next book in the series is Then There Were None will also be an Indie novel and comes out in late August. These are characters dear to my heart and they have been great fun to write. The first three chapters of all four books are available on my website at: www.vbtenery.com

HG: And finally, who is your favorite author in the suspense genre? I like knowing authors' fave authors because generally we admire what we want to become!

VBT: In the Christian market my favorite is Sibella Giorello. She weaves a great suspense novel with vibrant locals and the spiritual elements are so seamless they never interrupt the flow of the story. On the secular side, I love Michael Connelly. His iconic Harry Bosch character is flawlessly flawed, and you can’t help but root for him through his many trials.

HG: Oh, I love Sibella, as well, and will have to read Connelly! All the best with your novels and thank you for visiting today, V.B.!

Click to find on Amazon

Mercy Lawrence is terrified.

Bermuda airport facial recognition software has identified her as missing runway star, Traci Wallace. Despite Mercy’s protests, Traci’s husband, ex-CIA agent Thomas Wallace, is convinced Mercy is the mother of his ill six-year-old son. With only his son’s welfare in mind, he abducts Mercy and takes her to a private island to care for the boy. But Mercy soon discovers there are men much more dangerous than a father desperate to save his son. Her doppelganger has made deadly enemies—a relentless team of killers who now want her dead.

When Thomas is lured into a covert mission to rescue a CIA asset and uncover a government mole, Mercy is left isolated and alone—and Thomas finds himself stranded on foreign soil with a compromised mission and a wounded agent. Fighting against a rogue nation’s timetable for launching a nuclear strike, he has to escape Saudi Arabia alive and rescue Mercy and his son before assassins finish the job they started.

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Plug in Your Car, the Moat is Dry!

Article Posted by Michelle Griep for MaryLu Tyndall

I apologize for the mixed historical reference, but hey, it’s the age of the hybrid author, and I, for one, am very excited. A hybrid author is a writer, who much like the Prius of today, runs on both gas (published with a traditional publisher) and on super-charged electricity (a.k.a. writing and self-publishing anything they want!).  Like the Prius, the hybrid author doesn’t need as much gas to get where he or she is going. In fact, in some cases, they don’t need any gas at all!

But where are they going? To the castle of publishing, of course. A glorious castle, that up until a few years ago could only be seen from a distance, all sparkly and bright, like some heavenly city set upon a hill. Around that castle there has always been a moat filled with sludge and gigantic reptiles whose job it is to chomp an author’s career in half should they try to cross. There were—and still are, of course—a few bridges over this dangerous moat, well-guarded by the trolls of agents and publishers, who only allow a few worthy souls to cross. These particular favored authors possessed the secret passwords of talent, skill, great plots and characters, but also more importantly, they wrote stories agents and publishers deemed marketable and acceptable. If the author could not produce the passwords of marketability, acceptability, an established platform, and an abundance of Facebook and Twitter friends, then the trolls barricaded their way.

Before I continue, let me say that I love my publisher and my agent. They have been wonderful to me and have given me opportunities I never would have had otherwise. So when I refer to them as trolls, it is only in the metaphorical sense, not in a demeaning way. But let’s face it, they have been the gatekeepers for years!

Now, a new age has dawned. The moat has dried up. The reptiles have died. Authors who once had been forbidden entrance into the castle, are storming the gates in droves. I am one of those fortunate authors. Yes, I have already been inside the castle. I have already been allowed to cross the moat. Fourteen times, in fact! But I also have other stories dying to be told, stories the trolls would not accept. For years I feared I would never be able to put those stories into writing and get them to the castle. Then everything changed. The floodgates have been opened and the market is filling up with all kinds of books: fantasies, mysteries, pirates, mermaids, dystopians, thrillers, spiritual warfare—something for everyone. Readers have so many more choices, and authors can finally write the stories burning on their hearts. Does it mean there are poorly written books out there? Absolutely. But isn’t that what freedom is all about? What the free market is all about? Give the consumer choices and let them decide what is worth purchasing!

So here I am, publishing my very first selfie, The Ransom, a historical romance novel that I assure you isn’t like anything you’ll find in the traditional CBA market. I’ve had a bit of a learning curve trying to navigate the moat. A few times I got stuck in the mud. But once I charged my Prius up again, I was good to go! I hope you’ll join me in celebrating as I storm the castle gates with a huge smile on my face and a book in my hand I’m sure you’ll love.

Will I ever cross one of the bridges again? I hope so. I really enjoyed the other times I’ve been permitted across. Should you pass by that way, you’ll see the trolls still standing there doing their job and doing it effectively.  They serve a purpose and they are paid by the King, so don’t forget to smile as you pass by. You might even give them a hug. Because, let’s face it, trolls need love too.

Best-selling author, MaryLu Tyndall dreamt of pirates and sea-faring adventures during her childhood days on Florida's Coast. With more than fourteen books published, she makes no excuses for the deeply spiritual themes embedded within her romantic adventures. Her hope is that readers will not only be entertained but will be brought closer to the Creator who loves them beyond measure. In a culture that accepts the occult, wizards, zombies, and vampires without batting an eye, MaryLu hopes to show the awesome present and powerful acts of God in a dying world. A Christy award nominee, MaryLu makes her home with her husband, six children, and several stray cats on the California coast.

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Lay the Foundation—Three Crucial Steps before Self-Publishing

By: Heather Day Gilbert

One day when I was throwing a piece of pine in our outdoor wood-burner, a thought hit me. Before we could deposit and position this extremely heavy stove in our yard, we had to build a sturdy foundation for it. My dad and my husband had to dig out a large area, build a frame, and fill it with concrete. And then we had to wait for it to set.            

I couldn't help but notice the similarities to the self-published author. Yes, you can jump in fast and just plant that stove (novel) any old where. But over time, it will sink into the ground, go crooked, or possibly even topple. 

You want a firm foundation, and foundations take time. Please understand—I myself am allergic to waiting. Yet this advice is consistent throughout self-publishing circles, and I want to give you the biggest head start on success if you decide to self-publish.

The first thing to square away is your writing. Don't skimp on perfecting it as much as possible before releasing your first novel. Sorry, I know this is ye olde "work on your craft" advice, and I've never loved it, either. When I first jumped into the querying arena, I was convinced my novel was perfect. Several years and *ahem* several rejections later, I can recognize that my very first "perfect" novel will take extensive edits before I'll ever self-publish it. I've learned some tricks of the trade along the way—from agents, editors, critique groups, and my crit partner. This is where making friends in the industry really helps you—finding a mentor a few steps ahead of you, who has been edited and knows things you don't yet. Listen to and integrate sage advice (if it resonates with your novel and writing style!).

Platform-building is also crucial in this electronic age. I firmly believe authors need a blog "home base" where readers can find them, but you don't have to knock yourself out talking about every topic under the sun to build your audience. One brilliant new way to build an early reader base is to share your actual writing on your blog. (Caveat—don't share stuff you want to enter in contests or submit to an agent/publisher). But it's a great way to let people know if they like your stories or not.

Another way to build platform is to interview other authors or review books. While it's no guarantee of said authors' support when your book releases, you get to know them better, bring helpful content to your readers, and extend your sphere of authorly influence. 

There are plenty of other platform-building techniques. I like the advice that agent Amanda Luedeke  of MacGregor Literary gives: you utilize the social media outlets you feel most comfortable with. Try them all—twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, whatever—you might be surprised where your readership migrates. I was unprepared for how much I would love my FB Author Page, which has become a crucial and easy way to reach my readers.

Besides working on writing and platform, the self-publisher needs to lay a firm marketing base. I believe you need at least three months to really focus on marketing before your novel releases. For me, this translated into three months of spending at least two hours a day, brainstorming early readers, asking for endorsements and reviews, and just trying to be fearless with approaching the unapproachable. Not to mention hours spent perfecting an eye-catching book cover and Amazon blurb.

Even now that my book is out on Amazon, guess what? I'm still marketing. Yes, the burden is lighter as I now have readers who will seriously go to bat for my book. But, to be blunt, self-pubbers have a more expensive route to get their novels noticed. Most larger review sites, like Kirkus and Publisher's Weekly, require a substantial fee to join, and even then, there's no guarantee your novel will be chosen to be reviewed. 

So you have to think outside the box...tapping into the haunts where you know your readers hang out, finding smaller free review sites, and incorporating techniques you see working for other authors. Free Kindle giveaways are a great way to reach readers outside your online sphere of influence, but it's tricky to do if you use only Kindle KDP versus Select (I'll save that for another post). 

One blog I love following for updated tips on indie publishing is Joanna Penn's The Creative Penn. Joanna got into the e-publishing world early-on and she has learned many things she's happy to share. 

You might wonder who on earth I am, thinking I know all this stuff. Trust me, the past few months, I spent plenty of time wondering if I'd done anything right as I geared up for my book release. There were some marketing hits and misses. There were plenty of people who ignored my emails (but hey, I've been out on submission—I was ready for being ignored or rejected!). And yet there were also many people who got back to me, loved the book, and endorsed or reviewed it. 

Guess what? On release day, my Viking novel, God's Daughter, hit three Amazon best-seller lists. I'm not saying this to toot my own horn (it was totally God!), but I do feel that laying the foundation was crucial to getting that out-of-the-gate buzz. Maintaining the buzz requires an extended and relentless marketing effort from the author, but it can be well worth it. God's Daughter has stayed on the Amazon Norse/Icelandic historical best-seller list for two months now, largely due to the various guest interviews/blogposts I've been blessed to be part of. I can see a direct spike in sales when those go live.

I really believe self-publishing is going to bring new voices to the fore in Christian fiction—voices that can't be ignored. But for your voice to be heard above all the din of traditional publishers' marketing techniques, you have to lay that foundation, wait, and offer the best product you can. 

And then trust your readers. They will find you.

One Viking woman. One God. One legendary journey to North America.

In the tenth century, when pagan holy women rule the Viking lands, Gudrid turns her back on her training as a seeress to embrace Christianity. Clinging to her faith, she joins her husband, Finn, on a voyage to North America.

But even as Gudrid faces down murderous crewmen, raging sickness, and hostile natives, she realizes her greatest enemy is herself—and the secrets she hides might just tear her marriage apart.

Almost five centuries before Columbus, Viking women sailed to North America with their husbands. God's Daughter, Book One in the Vikings of the New World Saga, offers an expansive yet intimate look into the world of Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir—daughter-in-law of Eirik the Red, and the first documented European woman to have a child in North America.

Heather Day Gilbert enjoys writing stories about authentic, believable marriages. Sixteen years of marriage to her sweet Yankee husband have given her some perspective, as well as ten years spent homeschooling her three children. Heather is the ACFW West Virginia Area Coordinator.

You can find Heather at her website, Heather Day Gilbert--Author, and at her Facebook Author Page, as well as Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and Goodreads. Her Viking novel, God's Daughter, is on Amazon and Smashwords.

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