Any other authors here?

[mt3540]

Greetings,

I am hoping to connect with other authors to share ideas, technical and marketing insights. I did not start writing until age 62 and now have 32 books published. Yep, self-published. These days' it's the only way to go. Anyway, I will be  happy to answer questions or just knock around new ideas.

Marti

[n779725s]

Hey, writing buddy, Good for you, finding an agent. How did you do that? I've just published a memoir with a small publishing house, and it has been a Bear getting the promotion off the ground. You are right about the cross-country business (my story takes place in Indiana and Florida) and turning oneself into a salesperson. No way around it. I'd rather be writing, but I need to get this book out there. The librarians have been wonderful, offering events solo or with other locals authors. I like the website Where Writers Win, among others. What have you published lately? I just joined a writers group at the local university, and they are all into fantasy and paranormal...I see a lot of these genre at conferences, too. Seems to be a very popular...good luck.

[la4281]

   I am a retired Registered Nurse who spent more than 35 years working in various areas of Nursing. In 2005 at the age of 66 my 71 year old husband’s health was deteriorating and I had to retire to care for him 24 hours a day. During that time I questioned as to what I could still do as I also was getting older and at home all the time. The answer came to me rather quickly as I thought about what hobby I had enjoyed since I was 8 years old. It was writing. For years I had written poetry and stories just for fun, in school, in college and in my adult life for Nursing Journals. Eventually in 2000 when I was in my 60s I had actually written a devotional book called “I Thought There Was a Road There…..”. Several years later my husband passed away and I also began to have some health problems. I now could not do many physical activities at that point; however, I could still write and since then I have written and published another non-fiction book called “Separated Lives”. I would urge interested senior citizens to explore this opportunity. This was a Godsend to me as I explored and truly enjoyed this path.

           Lynn Assimacopoulos

[Jeanette58]

Hello....I have several stories (shorts) started; however during the last couple years began writing some small books about a town mouse...yes; a town mouse.  Have self-published and had printed by a local print shop...have sold a couple at a local specialty shop...gave some to family members to get a reaction.  Actually a friend's young grandson who was learning to read, found that he loved them so much that he carries them with him everywhere and encouraged his reading.  ....so I guess my little stories are good afterall. So far each are continuing 'tales' of the first book....Thinking of combining them into one.  

[vanessat808561]

My biggest challenge is marketing but if we want readers to acknowledge us we need to promote ourselves as well as our work. I joined a group on fb that supports indie authors and they have given me the support and help I needed. We as authors and writers must never give up.

[KSJonesAuthor]

Hello! I, too, am a writer. However, being a tad bit technology challenged, I am not sure how to connect in this forum. 

[n779725s]

Do you have a Facebook page? That's a good place to start. I have a website, and it has given me nightmares. Especially as regards updating it. I had some wonderful help, so it is working out. I've also been dragged into the 21st century by a great young publicist who encouraged me to write a newsletter (more website connection and work). If I didn't view this as taking one step at a time, I'd go nuts. Good luck!

[ASTRAEA]

Do authors actually make money, self-publishing books? I know one person who self-published, but the bottom line only fed his ego, not his wallet.

[RolandH72755]

>Do authors actually make money, self-publishing books?

Yes and no. When I wrote this book, I did a 9 pallet print run and sold the first pallet before the print run happened. At the time I was mostly living on the family farm and had already built an equipment shed so storage would cost me nothing. Have about 4 pallets left. Should have never let anyone talk me into creating an eBook and a POD version. I'm told by technical recruiters that title is heavily pirated in India now. I think I cleared/grossed about $80K the year following the books release. After that things trickled.

While I did join AARP, I'm still a traveling IT consultant. The Minimum You Need to Know book series has landed me contracts I would never have heard of otherwise. Just this past Friday I got an email out of the blue about an ACMS contract in Dover, NH starting in late August. I don't know who the client is but from what little the pimp has communicated they were directed to reach out to me. I don't yet know how much they were directed to pay though so the email exchange may have only fed my ego.

My later books didn't have the same level of direct sales income but the geek books all helped get me contracts. I really haven't had to interview for contracts over the past decade. Sadly it has kind of skewed my attitude. If some place wants me to interview I suddenly have very little interest in the contract.

We shall see how my upcoming title does.

"The Phallus of AGILE and Other Ruminations"

It's an IT management book and the anti-thesis to this criminal fraud known as AGILE currently sweeping the IT industry.

Btw, I do no business with Amazon. If you find something of mine for sale on Amazon it is most likely a pirated copy or a review copy someone is trying to sell as new. That is definitely the case if they are selling "signed by author" versions.

[es95983579]

hello,

Yes, I'm an author of non-fiction. I just finished my first book. Now I'm ;lookong for an editor and some help on doing my cover. Any suggestions?

[n779725s]

Where Writers Win is a terrific website.  My publisher told me about it. Some of it you have to pay for, some not. But it has been a help when there is so much stuff out there that is no help at all. Good luck!

[sv8801]

Hello!  My name is Sharon Valenti and my pen name is S.E. Valenti.  I went through Koehler Publishing and used Split-Seed (Amanda Rooker) for editing.  I though both were very reasonable and I really enoyed working with them!  Good luck!

[DoctorMichael]

Did you find a good editor?

[RolandH72755]

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@DoctorMichael wrote:

Did you find a good editor?

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It has been my experience you need more than one. Editors are people. They have strengths and weaknesses. The guy I use for first round editing isn't strong enough for final editing but that's not his job. While he finds some of my horrific grammar mistakes his real task is identifying where the wheels come off the cart. Writing part time, around work, and not being fond of having to reread stuff I wrote (tending to read what I meant to write instead of what is there) I end up with some disconnects.

Once I'm all done with major content and technical editing (most of my books are computer books) I tend to go over to ServiceScape where I've managed to locate a couple of "grammar Nazis" for final editing.They really are phenom. Not cheap, but phenom.

[vh9038]

Here's a link to an article about book cover design.   http://www.ibuzzle.com/articles/book-cover-design-template.html  It can give you an informational start.

Finding someone to edit for you can be tricky.  No matter how professional they are, their views are subjective.  Some people go to writers' forums and find others there to help. Some people join local writers groups and the members edit for each other.  In those groups a lot of the people are opinionated and will tell you how you should rewrite your book, even though they are unskilled themselves.

As for editing this gal does editing for a fee.  I seem to have misplaced the link to her website, but here's the email address:.Rachel D Shiloh Farm <shilohsfarm@gmail.com>  She's the niece of a person I knew a long time ago.

[mt3540]

Actually, there is a lot of money to be made. Self publishing is not what it used to be. These days, "self" means you do it all, not that you pay someone to publish it. You write the book, pay for the cover art, the editor and the formatter, if you can't do it yourself. Amazon has a program called Kindle Direct Publishing that lets authors upload and set the price. Apple, Kobo and B&N have similar programs so my books are available worldwide. My ebooks sell for $4..99 and I make 70% on each sale. Traditional publisher don't pay anything near that much. 

Marketing is the hard part and probably why your friend was unsucessful. Maybe he/she should try again.