Interview with Heather Day Gilbert, Author of the Indie Publishing Handbook

(~from Heather Day Gilbert) This is an unusual post, because it's actually my last post for Novel Rocket as a member of Ground Control. I've LOVED my year at Novel Rocket, interviewing people and sharing indie information with readers. But as my own indie career lifted off (a little rocket humor there), I realized I had to pull back on blogging and focus on writing/publishing books.

Friend and follow indie author Ron Estrada agreed to ask me some final indie-oriented questions for this interview. I appreciate his willingness to do so and will share that with you below.

Here's a little bio on who I am so you can find me on the web, post-Novel Rocket. :)

Author Heather Day Gilbert

HEATHER DAY GILBERT has independently published four books. Her debut novel, God's Daughter, has remained on the Amazon Norse Bestseller list and Amazon Norse Top-Ranked list for over one year. Her contemporary mystery, Miranda Warning, is the successful start to the Murder in the Mountains series. Her Indie Publishing Handbook: Four Key Elements for the Self-Publisher shares focused advice on four key steps in the indie publication process. You can find Heather at her website, heatherdaygilbert.com. She is also active on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Indie Publishing Handbook: Four Key Elements for the Self-Publisher on Amazon

About Indie Publishing Handbook: Four Key Elements for the Self-Publisher: 

Are you dreaming of your own career as an independent author and self-publisher? 

This concise handbook covers the four key elements every self-publisher must oversee for successful book publication: (1) editing, (2) creating cover art and blurbs, (3) formatting and uploading books, and (4) marketing. Focused advice will help you maneuver these key elements, whether you outsource or learn to master them yourself. 

You'll also find a bonus section with practical tips from seasoned independent authors. 

Indie Publishing Handbook: Four Key Elements for the Self-Publisher is your one-stop for basics on everything you need to get started and excel as an independent publisher.

Indie Publishing Interview with 

Author Heather Day Gilbert

by: Ron Estrada

RE: What should an unpublished author consider before going indie?

HG: Great question. I would say costs could be a factor, but then again, it is possible to indie publish at a relatively low cost if you can do things yourself or exchange services. My debut novel was produced for...I would say under $200. Maybe more like $100. But I was blessed with a brother who designed my cover and agent edits. Not to mention a crit partner who helped me upload and showed me how to format.

My debut novel, God's Daughter

But the primary thing to consider is the time commitment. You need time to make sure your edits are in place; time to land on the perfect cover; time to upload your books and check proof copies of softcovers; and MOST of all, you need to have time to market.

Yes, you can streamline the process for sure. But for that debut novel, you want to take time to nail all the four key elements covered in my Indie Publishing Handbook (editing; cover art/blurb; formatting/uploading; and marketing) as best you can right out of the gate.

RE:  I always hear “You have to write a series!” But I prefer to write stand-alone books. Will I have trouble being successful as an indie?

HG: You know, just a couple of months ago, I would've said yes, series are the only way to go. It's true, series can boost sales, especially if you have several books to release in a short period of time. It's also true going permafree (permanently free, as Traci Hilton talked about in this excellent Novel Rocket post) with your first in series can drive sales to the rest in the series.

BUT. Lately I've seen fellow indies find success with standalone books. Sally Bradley's Kept, for example. What happens with a standalone is that you don't limit yourself to one genre, and you're not releasing only the first in series, which leaves readers hanging on the line waiting for the next. I should know--I've done that twice! I have two starts to vastly different series out (Viking historical and Contemporary Appalachian mystery). I have readers waiting for the next books in both, and I probably ticked some off when I announced I was following up on the mystery series this year and putting off the Viking sequel until 2016-ish. ;)

So short answer long, I would recommend doing a series if you have at least two books ready to roll in pretty short order. However, even if you don't have two books in the series, sometimes it's just about stepping into the pool and getting your feet wet. Any book out (whether the start to a series or standalone) is a book in your repertoire, able to garner readers, so just make sure it's a humdinger! 

RE: Where and how should I market my self-published books? The options are overwhelming and I have so little time.

HG: Oh, dude, I hear that. I'm telling you, I've been marketing my books non-stop for over a year now. I watch the sales and when the numbers dip, I (obsessively) start casting around for a new marketing angle, be it a new review site, taking out an ad, running a special or giveaway, etc. It's exhausting and I'm officially pulling back on that draining "technique."

I really think it's different for every book, every genre. (Click to Tweet!) For me, I was blessed by going with a Christian review site (The Book Club Network). Although there was expense involved, such as sending out softcovers, it was well worth it to latch onto new and enthusiastic readers.

One of my other most successful techniques was ye olde going free on Amazon. Many say it's becoming passe, because people already have too many free books loaded on their e-readers. However, if you advertise at free book sites such as ENT (E-Reader News Today), you can find many new readers and simultaneously garner a number of reviews.

However, you run the risk of getting low reviews from readers who load random e-books without reading blurbs or sample chapters. It was a risk I was willing to take, but now that I'm about three books into the process, I've decided freebies aren't going to be part of my marketing arsenal so often (though I'm not eliminating the possibility of permafree with a first in series). But for the debut author, freebies and giveaways (such as softcover giveaways on Goodreads or on a blog tour) can be invaluable and build your readership quickly. 

One final strategy: as much as possible, be everywhere. I know that's literally impossible, but when you share pinnables and quotes from your book, when you tweet about your book, when you do an extensive blog tour, you'd be surprised that people often find you instead of you having to go out and find them. This is how I was contacted by a Canadian museum and also by a park in Colorado. Indies can reach all over the world with our books, which is so amazing to me.

So, bottom line: it's a hit and miss process. I would just recommend not spending big bucks right off the bat, as you're building your initial pile of royalties from that debut novel. Then for your second book, you'll have more income to play with. Of course, this is assuming you're as strapped for cash as I tend to be. LOL.

RE: Should I self-publish print books as well? 

HG: I really think it depends on the intent of your book and the reader demographic. For example, with my fiction, I'd be a fool not to get softcovers, because I do book signings and they demand it. Also, my local readers tend to read softcovers. Finally, my readers are ready to purchase softcovers the minute I announce the book has released (I love this! But I was unprepared for it with my debut. It took me a few weeks to get my first softcover loaded/proofed and some of the buzz had dropped off by then).

However, for my Indie Publishing Handbook, I decided to go e-book only for launch. This is because I assumed authors considering indie publishing would have to have to know how to navigate e-readers anyway! LOL.

But on the other hand, if I ever take my Indie Publishing Handbook to a writer's conference, I might try to get a softcover version up for distribution. That's what I mean by discerning the intent of your book.

RE: How do I design a cover?

HG: Cover art is definitely so important. I talked in my Indie Publishing Handbook a bit about opportunities that came my way based on cover art alone. For your debut, I'm convinced you want to produce the strongest cover you can afford.

I know some indie authors who design their own covers and they are amazing. Authors like Jan Thompson (Jane Austen Upside Down); Krista Phillips (A Side of Faith); Becky Doughty (Elderberry Croft); and Joanne Bischof (This Quiet Sky), just to name a few. These authors have what I call "the eye." It's a gift for putting together a visually pleasing cover that will sell.

I, however, don't possess this talent. So outsourcing covers is a must for me. This can vary in cost, from $200-$1000 or even more.

When you work with a cover artist, I think it helps to have your book completed, so you can identify running themes, key characters, etc. A good cover artist can ask questions, send you appealing comps, then design a cover that fits the mood of your book and places it recognizably in its given genre.

Personally, I want a cover that would stop ME in my tracks, because I write what I want to read. (Click to Tweet!) And yet it's always great to get outside input on your cover, whether it's from your crit partner, your Facebook followers, or an objective group.

However, keep in mind, indie authors can change covers if they feel their cover isn't working for some reason or another. For instance, I recently re-did this original Miranda Warning cover:

Original Miranda Warning cover

I had detailed in this Novel Rocket post how my brother and I developed the first cover, above. But because it was the first in series with the same main character throughout, it was going to be difficult to replicate covers with the same model. I needed to go in a different direction, and my brother didn't have time to do a re-do. So I hired a cover designer to come up with a more nature-oriented cover template for the entire Murder in the Mountains series.

This was the finished cover, and I'm very happy with the flexibility it gives us for future covers in the series:

Final Miranda Warning cover, now on Amazon 

Thank you for the questions, Ron! I just want to say another huge thanks to the Novel Rocket crew for letting me jump on board for a year. I've followed this site since I started writing and I will continue following it for relevant info on all kinds of writerly subjects. A special thanks to Gina Holmes and Ane Mulligan for helping me any time I needed advice on a post!

***Finally, comment below by January 22 to be entered to win a free Kindle copy of the Indie Publishing Handbook: Four Key Elements for the Self-Publisher! (Click to Tweet!) Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!***

All the best to you Novel Rocketeers! Rockettes? Rock on! :)

--Heather

Ron Estrada has multiple published magazine articles, including a regular column in the bi-monthly Women2Women Michigan. He also freelances as a technical writer, specializing in white papers for manufacturing and consumer products. He writes spec fiction, hovering somewhere between post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction (he prefers the term pre-Last Days), but has also dabbled in Mystery and Suspense. He will be releasing his first YA novel, Now I Knew You, in February 2015. His real-writer’s blog can be found at RonEstradaBooks.com.  You can e-mail him at rmestrada@ameritech.net or catch him (at pretty much any time) on Facebook. Twitter handle is @RonEstrada. CB handle is God’s Gift. 

                                                                                                                                           

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So You Want to do a Boxed Set

Lynnette Bonner, Author

Lynnette Bonner is the author of 7 novels and has remained consistently on Amazon’s best seller lists since releasing her first Indie title in 2012. Her latest book, Beyond the Waves, is part of a boxed set that releases today. The set contains 10 inspirational romances for only 99 cents – each is a complete story, and the first book in a romance series. You can find it here: http://bit.ly/RHSCR.

So You Want to Do a Boxed Set

by: Lynnette Bonner

Since participating in a boxed set is a technique more and more indie authors are incorporating into marketing plans (I know Brandilyn Collins blogged about marketing a boxed set here), I thought I’d tell you a little about how we put our set together and how we’ve gone about marketing. This will hopefully give some of you who try this in the future a guide to go by.

First, all ten of the authors in this collection are in a small group on Facebook. Hallee Bridgeman, author of Sapphire Ice in the set, posted to that group asking if any of us were interested in joining her in a boxed set. Nine of us responded that we were. And then discussion commenced on what focus we would give to the set. We settled on inspirational romance with each book in the set being the first book in a series.

Our two main goals for this set were:

1.   We wanted to introduce our own readers to other authors whose work we admire and hopefully gain some new readers in return.

2.   To see if we could hit some of the best seller lists like USA Today by combining our marketing efforts. (NY Times no longer posts boxed sets to their lists, from what we can tell.)

Step 1: Gather authors and decide on a focus – these steps could be interchangeable. You could decide on a focus first and then seek out authors you know have books that would work for that focus.

Step 2: Decide what your main goals for the set are. This will determine how you market down the line.

Someone needed to compile all ten books into one digital file, and we’d like to say thanks to Hallee’s husband Gregg who did a fantastic job on that part for us. Along the way we learned that unless the file is less than 3MB you won’t be allowed to charge 99 cents for it. So he stripped out most of the graphics he’d put in and the file was then just able to squeak under the limit.

Step 3: Find someone to compile all the books into one for you. If you want to price it at 99 cents, be sure to keep the size under 3MB. This step and step 4 really are happening about the same time.

At the same time as the book file was being created we worked on the cover and title for the compilation. We first decided to have a group chat which we accomplished via Google Hangout. The title we chose started out as a bit of a joke, but then we all liked it and it stuck. It’s catchy and memorable – who wouldn’t be intrigued by “Red Hot Squeaky Clean Romance?” ;) We had a bit of a difficult time coming up with a cover because even though the books in the series are all romance, they span from historical westerns, to swashbuckling pirates, to contemporaries. (There’s even a time-travel romance included!) So we finally settled on something a bit generic and came up with what you see here. It’s bright and vibrant and eye catching and we think it will do a nice job for us:

Step 4: Decide on a title and create or hire a cover design for the set. Make sure it fits your selected genre, and looks professional. This step and step 3 really are happening about the same time.

Once all that was done, and thanks to Amazon’s new policy offering preorders, we put the book up for preorder. (This is important because all preorder sales count toward the first day of release’s sales. So preorders can help us reach our number two goal.) From our research we learned that sales for the bestseller lists are counted from Monday 12:01am to Monday 11:59pm. So releasing the book on a Monday gave us our best chance at maximum sales to count toward our goal. For this reason, we launched the book on a Monday.

Step 5: Decide on a release date and list your compilation for sale.

After the set is listed for sale it’s time to go to work on promotions.

·      To encourage preorders we created a Rafflecopter giveaway with lots of prizes for those who preordered the set. (www.rafflecopter.com)

·      Before release we also posted to a few blogs, and Pinterest, and Facebook groups about the set being available.

·      We set up many paid promotions as soon as the book was available for preorder. So now, during this our launch week, we have paid promotions set up for many of the days. (We will be featured on E-reader News Today, Digital Book Today, Kindle Nation Daily, BookSends, FKBooksandTips, and several couponing sites.)

·      We also have blog posts like this one scheduled throughout the week.

·      Each of us contacted those we knew to contact for promotions and then we just reimbursed funds to each other as needed.

·      We set up a Thunderclap campaign (https://www.thunderclap.it/) to launch today and all of us worked hard to get people on board for that.

·      Each of us sent out our newsletters to our lists.

·      We of course announced the launch on our social media networks.

Step 6: Come up with a marketing plan that works for your group. You’ve come this far and put this much effort into it. Don’t give up now! And you must be willing to spend some money to promote. 

~Posted by Heather Day Gilbert

Find it here on Amazon

Ten best-selling Inspirational romance authors come together to bring you the Red Hot Squeaky Clean Romance collection! If you're anything like us, you enjoy reading various genres -- a cozy mystery, a thrilling suspense, an adventurous historical, a catchy contemporary -- we love them all as long as the romance is piping hot and the story is comfortably clean. For the first time ever, as you turn the pages of these complete stories, you will meet ten of the most recognized names in inspirational romance today and read their award winning, critically acclaimed stories all in the same collection. You're in for such a treat!

Red Hot Squeaky Clean Romance Authors: Christy Barritt, Lynnette Bonner, Hallee Bridgeman, Cynthia Hickey, Kimberly Rae Jordan, Tamara Leigh, Lesley Ann McDaniel, Amanda Tru, MaryLu Tyndall, Susette Williams

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Cover Art Development for the Indie Author

by: Heather Day Gilbert

Heather Day Gilbert enjoys writing stories about authentic, believable marriages. Seventeen years of marriage to her sweet Yankee husband have given her some perspective, as well as ten years spent homeschooling. Heather is a monthly contributor to Novel Rocket, and she's committed to bringing relevant and helpful information to indie authors.

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 an Amazon bestseller. You can find it on Amazon and Audible.com. Her upcoming mystery, Miranda Warning, releases June 20, 2014.

Highlights of my Cover Art Process for MIRANDA WARNING

by: Heather Day Gilbert

Today, I want to take you "behind the scenes" tour of how cover art develops for the indie author. I'm using visuals from my upcoming mystery, Miranda Warning, releasing in just a few days (June 20th). 

Before I start, I'd just like to say that if you don't love the final cover as much as the other ones, please don't tell me. I know most of you wouldn't THINK of doing that. But when authors open up and share about how they choose their cover art (a very subjective thing), they have put hours into it and really don't want to hear "Oh, I liked that ________ picture/font/whatever MUCH better than the one you finally went with!"

Most indies can't afford to hire models and rent costumes that fit their book specifications. Therefore, we have to spend hours trolling through stock photo sites such as istock or shutterstock for just the right look. We might not know WHAT look we're going for until we see it.

In my case, I started with several pictures that embodied different elements of my storyline. I pinned these pics to a secret Pinterest board for my brother-slash-cover designer, Jon Day (who, as an aside, is also one of the most patient guys in the world, and the designer of my God's Daughter cover art, as well). Here are a few initial pics I pinned and thoughts on why we didn't use them. I'll link to each of their sites if you click them:

My initial direction with the cover was to go for a retro, Nancy Drew feel. However, there was only one stock image of this chick and I knew this was going to be a series. Also, it's hard NOT to make this girl look bodiless...

Since the title character, Miranda, is in a wheelchair in an assisted living home, I thought this pic could be made to look ominous. However, we veered away from objects on the covers of this series, since I'm personally drawn to people's faces on the covers. I figured my reader demographic would think much as I do.

Also toyed with adding these poisonous plants to the bottom of the cover. However...some things just give too much of the book away. That's all I'll say on that...

SO...I loved this pic, YEA--ADORED it. However...my bro and I both agreed it was waaaaay too reminiscent of the TWILIGHT cover pic:

So...we continued looking. And then I found this:

And I knew we were heading the right direction. PART of a woman's face would make it possible for us to change models on future covers. However, we couldn't seem to get this part of the face to work with the rest. At this point, we'd kind of decided to incorporate a face at the top, title in the middle, and mountains at the bottom (since this entire series is set in the mountains and it's a key element in all of them--thus, A Murder in the Mountains series title). The setup was a bit like this:

Somewhere around this time, I got cold feet. This is the juncture your cover artist probably wants to pull his/her hair out and you yourself feel like a small raft in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The thing is, most MYSTERY covers in the ABA world have an object or words...people on the cover--not so much. So I thought maybe we should retrench and go for a more recognizable mystery "look." Something more like this:

Those were some tough days for the author and her intrepid cover designer brother. And THEN! One night, while trolling endlessly through pictures of women and flowers, I found THIS!

Just like that, we both agreed we had a winner. Jon knows what will show up in a thumbnail on Amazon, and this girl would show up. However, my main character, Tess, has blue eyes, and a red rose is a sign of love. I wanted a symbol of death. So we changed Tess' eyes to blue and the rose to white, as you'll see in the finished cover.

NOW we moved on to the problem of font. After finding a mountain image to use at the bottom, we needed to find the perfect font to capture the mood of the book. Here are a few early tries:

Here, we had too much going on: foxglove around the words, curliques, and the font just didn't strike me right.

We both really liked this "Motor Oil" retro font, but with Tess' bob, it might indicate the book was set in the twenties, which it's not. So we continued moving along (note how the mountains are changing!).

I finally found this Optimus Princeps font (which I affectionately refer to as "Optimus Prime" font). THIS, we agreed, was THE BOMB. As you can see we tried some funky color combos on the words, trying to land on something that would show up in thumbnail images of the book.

AND FINALLY!!!

Possibly three months after we started all our cover art machinations, my brother and I decided on the final cover art. I couldn't be happier with it and when I saw it in softcover, I was blown away. 

.

(For a higher-resolution pic of this cover, please check it out on my website here: http://heatherdaygilbert.com/books-in-the-works/).

Me with my first proof of Miranda Warning! We decided to go with this matte cover versus the glossy. We've since lightened the background behind Tess' head.

And that, my friends, is just a bit of our brainstorming/cover art process. This doesn't really begin to cover what went into it. I know each indie author has a different process, be it going with a pre-made cover, making your own cover, or hiring someone to do it for you.

(Jon, I promise I am going to pay you back someday for all this...I OWE YOU!)

--Heather

Miranda Warning (A Murder in the Mountains, Book #1):

Child of the Appalachian mountains, Tess Spencer has experienced more than her share of heartache. The Glock-wielding, knife-carrying housewife knows how to survive whatever life throws at her. 

But when an anonymous warning note shows up in her best friend Miranda’s mailbox—a note written in a dead woman’s handwriting—Tess quickly discovers that ghosts are alive and well in Buckneck, West Virginia. Hot on a cold trail, she must use limited clues and her keen insight into human nature to unmask the killer...or the next victim might be Tess herself.

Tinged with the supernatural and overshadowed by the mountains' lush, protective presence, this twisting psychological mystery is the first in A Murder in the Mountains series. You can find it here on Goodreads. 

You can also read a four-chapter sample of Miranda Warning here on Scribd. Enjoy!

****Share your cover art thoughts here! Have you ever contributed to a cover art process? What are aspects you think you'd enjoy/dislike? And I'd love it if you put Miranda Warning on your To-Read list if it looks like something you'd enjoy!****

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