The Lucky One, The Surprise Hero

I saw The Lucky One last night and haven't stopped thinking about it. The movie was so beautiful and romantic that I didn't mind a few plot holes.

About a third of the way through, I started feeling a sense of familiarity to Zac Efron, that became strong enough to pull me out of the movie. I couldn't figure out why. I'd never seen him in anything, wouldn't be able to pick him out of a line up. But I became more and more drawn to him. At some point it struck me that he looked like an old boyfriend, Mike, the young cowboy who I had used for my hero Nick in Wild Montana Sky, although Zac's eyes are bluer, and he doesn't have a broken nose.

Ah, it all came to me. Not only did Zac look like Nick (who looks like Mike) he played a similar character--the strong, silent, supportive, adoring hero. And like Nick, Zac had trouble communicating what was on his mind, and had fallen in love with the heroine because of a picture (for Nick it was a portrait.)

The heroine, played by Taylor Shilling was also similar in looks to my heroine, although Elizabeth is a more classic beauty.

Figuring out the connection to my hero and my book gave an added dimension to the movie. Not only did I fall in love with Logan, but I fell in love with Nick all over again. Watching Zac play Logan, made me wish to see to see him play Nick. It made me remember that I have the screenplay of Wild Montana Sky gathering dust in my computer. Even though the screenplay has finaled in some contests and won an award, I've never submitted it anywhere. Maybe it's time to dust it off and send it to a friend who acquires scripts for a producer.

Anyone know Zac Efron? Maybe he'd like to recreate a similar role, but this time play a cowboy instead of a former marine.

Self-Publishing: USA Today List!!!

I had the shock of my life on Wednesday, when my friend, author Tessa Dare, emailed me congrats and the link to the USA Today Best Seller list. Shaking and disbelieving, I opened it up. Sure enough, Wild Montana Sky was #137! I was stunned, excited, and moved to tears. I started calling and emailing friends and family with the news.

It had NEVER crossed my mind that Wild Montana Sky would make the USA Today list as a self-published ebook, although I had a vague wish that it might happen someday when I became an Amazon Montlake author.

The congratulations came pouring in. The wave of acknowledgment was amazing.

So many of my self-published friends were especially excited because it gave them hope that someday, they, too, would hit the list. (My wish for them too!)

I emailed my Montlake editor, and she called. Lindsay was so excited for me. In her opinion, making the USA Today list was a better achievement than the New York Times list because USA Today List takes real numbers from booksellers, while the stores the New York Times list pulls from are a secret.

What a way to wrap up my one-year anniversary! I'll be posting a blog in a few days that discusses my year long numbers. But I have some number crunching to do before then.

What did change this month was for some (unknown) reason Wild Montana Sky started to sell well on Nook. The numbers kept escalating, double and even triple the amount I sold on Amazon. I hit the top 100 Nook list and dropped as low as #20. I've been on the list for about two weeks. Currently I'm #40. The sales for Starry Montana Sky and Stormy Montana Sky were less than Amazon all month, but increased as the month went on and readers came back to buy the second and third books. I've ended out-selling Amazon in total numbers for the Montana Sky series.

Here's the cake from my former writing teacher and current editor, Louella Nelson. She took me to lunch on Saturday.

Self-Publishing: Online Class

I'm teaching an online class about self-publishing for the Orange County Chapter of RWA. Go to http://occrwa.org for information and registration. I think you can sign up until Wednesday.

Self-Publishing: Cleaning Out

I'm doing some necessary cleaning out and decluttering of my house, especially my office. I realized the time had come to part with my stacks of writing magazines. I have Romance Writers Reports (the monthly Romance Writers of America magazine) and Writer's Digests and some script writing magazines that go back about 15 years.

I tend to hold on to things, long past when I should. Part of that comes from being too busy to sort through and organize things that aren't important. But the bigger part is that I always think I'll need them again. The writing magazines are full of great articles, and if I wanted to reread any, there they are. If I need to write a blog post or and article, I have a lot of information available.

Except...

I haven't opened one of those magazines since I originally read them.

Today it occurred to me that that two thirds of the information in those magazines is out-dated or not pertinent to my current writing career. Basically, the only information that's still useful is the craft information.

The publishing world has changed so much that it's important to keep current, not stay bogged down in old thinking. Lots of previous advice no longer works any more, or it might work if you want a traditional publishing career, but not for self-publishing. (Especially not in this digital world of ours.)

I admit I had a pang parting with those stacks. One or two headlines caught my eye, and I set that magazine aside to reread. I didn't even take the time to sort through the RWR reports that had my Golden Heart finaling/winning announcements. I knew if I stopped my momentum, most of those magazines would find their way back to the selves. (Although they might be less dusty.)

I also included a few of my Writer's Guides. For example: I don't need 2007's. Actually, I don't need 2012's, either. Not that I have it. I don't even have time to write my newsletter, and barely blog. So I'm not going to search the pages of a writer's guide to find possible places to submit an article. Plus, I've let go of the dream of writing articles for magazines. Right now, I'm focused on my books. If I want to write for magazines in the future, I'll study whatever version of Writer's Guide exists then. (Probably online.)

I also tossed some of my college statistics books. If I haven't done any statistical research by now, it's not going to happen in my future. Not to mention, I couldn't do a statistic to save my life. I barely scraped by in those classes, anyway.

So I ended up with four bags to donate to the library for their used book/magazine sale. Hopefully, someone else can put them to use.

One of these days, I'm going to tackle the shelf of how-do writing books. (Most of which I've never read, or only skimmed.) But not today.

Sooooo, in keeping with your new ideas of your writing career, do you have some culling to do of your bookshelves?

From Self-Published to Traditionally Published

I mentioned in an earlier blog that I would have an announcement to make, and I've waited to go public until I signed the contract.

The good news is: I've sold my Montana Sky series to Amazon Montlake. I emailed the documents of the books to Montlake today, feeling like a parent watching a child go off to school for the first time. I waved goodbye and sniffed.

Here's the story:

In January, I received an email from Lindsay Guzzardo, an editor from Amazon Montlake, (the romance line) telling me she'd read Wild Montana Sky and loved it. She wanted to acquire the series. I took some time before I called her and left a message because I wanted to think hard about the decision and do a little research on Montlake.

My first reaction to Lindsay's email was ambivalence. I had my strategy for this series all mapped out. I planned to write a few novellas and self-publish a collection of Christmas stories. I also had three more big books outlined. I'd planned to price one of the novellas at .99 as my "loss leader" and then change Wild Montana Sky's price from .99 to 2.99.

My mind was so firmly set on the plan that I really had a hard time switching to other possibilities. My concerns were losing the control over the books and giving up the monthly income in the time between when I signed the contract and when I received the first royalty payment. This series makes a lot of money, and I've gotten used to the monthly payment from Amazon dropping into my checking account. (This last concern was based on misinformation. The agent of a friend who'd published with Montlake had told her to take down her self-published books once she signed the contract.)

I contacted everyone I knew whose self-published books had been scooped up by Amazon and asked about their experience. I also read several blogs on the subject. Everyone had positive feedback, saying that Amazon was attempting to be more "author friendly" in that authors would have input into their covers and the marketing for their books.

I didn't speak to Lindsay until the next day, and I was grateful for the time to think and formulate my questions and comments. I found speaking to a editor as a successful self-published author was VERY different than as an unknown unpublished author. :)

Right away I liked Lindsay's enthusiasm for my books and for Amazon new publishing program, which she described as cutting edge. (The program, not my books.) I felt reassured to learn that I didn't have to take my books down until the 24 hour turn around, and I get to keep the money in the meantime.

I talked to her about how I love my covers and my titles, which she also loved. She said they'd just polish up the existing covers. I also said I had a very strong vision for the series. It wasn't that I wouldn't take editorial direction, but that I didn't want an editor telling me, "That's not your next book, or that's not your hero." Lindsay said that she would respect my vision. Obviously it's working for the series, and she didn't want to change that.

The tipping point came when Lindsay said, "We know where the historical readers are." So I told her that barring issues with the contract, I was on board.

There are a few more reasons I chose to let Amazon Montlake acquire the series. (These are taken from an email I wrote to someone who asked me about my choice.)

1. My sales are mainly on Amazon.

2. Montlake will able to target the UK market, which I think is an untapped market for me, which I haven't cracked. For example, currently for the month of March, I've sold 19 books in the UK and 1 in the rest of Europe. In America (on Amazon and Barnes & Noble) I've sold 8,686.

3. I'll be able to work closely with the marketing team.

4. Stormy Montana Sky (book #3) is my option book, thus I'll be able to keep it self-published for a while, giving me a chance to see how the program will really work.

5. I'll be able to have print books, without the hassle of doing them myself. Granted, those print books won't be in most places, but with Borders gone, I don't think that not having print books in Barnes & Noble is that big of a deal. I'll still be able to have ebooks there. Apple people can download the Kindle app and buy Amazon books.

6. Montlake only wants my big books, so I will stilll self-publish novellas and short stories set in my series.

7. When they do the switch over of my books to their's, it will be seamless. I'll still keep all my reviews on their site. (Although I wish I could dump a few. :)

I realize I'm taking a risk. I have the belief that the books have already done far more than what I ever dreamed and have made far more than if I'd traditionally published them in the first place. (I'm SO thankful for all the rejections over the years. :) Therefore, going forward, everything I achieve is a bonus and a blessing. If it's less than I'm currently making, so be it.

I have already experienced the rollercoaster of self-publishing sales. After having a steady increase of sales for my first four months to an amazing amount, I had a steady decrease until Christmas. Still great numbers that many would envy, but a third to half of what it had been. Christmas popped me back up, and publishing book three made a HUGE difference. So I know and accept that there will be ups and downs, whether I'm self-published or with Amazon.

Unlike other authors who've chosen to have traditional publishers acquire their books because they think self-publishing is too much work, I have a completely different view point. I like having the responsibility and control over my books. I farm out the hard parts like formatting and cover design (although the covers are made to my specifications.)

I DON'T spend time on promotion beyond writing a few blogs (and guest blogs) from time to time and sending the book out to a few reviewers. I realized I've been very blessed in that readers are managing to find the books in this series without any effort on my part. (I wish they'd find my fantasy romance series as well!) That's not the case for most authors--whether self-published or traditionally published. I'd probably sell more if I did more promotion, but I'd rather put that time into writing. As I said in a previous blog, I think a new book is the best promotion.

The self-publishing journey is unique for every author, and I'm definitely enjoying the experience. I'll blog about my experience with Montlake, so stay tuned.

Self-Publishing: Thinking Ahead

I'm going to write a collection of Christmas Stories set in my fictional Montana town. Since I came up with the idea, the story ideas have been flying at me. So far I have ten. All the stories involve love and Christmas, but not all of them will be romances. One is about a girl. One about an old man. Some will be about current characters, others will star new ones. But the familiar townspeople will make an appearance.

I also hope to include some Christmas stories from other authors. I'm going to try to do a story swap with them.

Here's the cover. Isn't it beautiful!

Look for the collection in fall, 2012!

Self-Publishing: What Works--Writing a Series

Although I've heard from a lot of authors that writing a series makes for better selling books, I'm having a chance to experience the truth of that advice. I released my the first two books in my Montana Sky series at the same time, the evening of April 28, 2011. Book one, Wild Montana Sky, gradually started selling more and more books per day, until it reached it's current 150-210. Book two, Starry Montana Sky, began selling at a ratio of about 1:6. Gradually the ratio changed until it became about 1:2 or 3.

Wild Montana Sky is my weeding out book. If readers don't like it, they don't go on to book two. Therefore readers who buy Starry Montana Sky are predisposed to like it. That's even more true for book three, Stormy Montana Sky.

I'd written the first 50 pages of Stormy Montana Sky, way back when--probably 2003-2004--but I gave up on it because Wild Montana Sky couldn't sell. So it took me a while to finish it. Then another two months for my editor to give me revisions and for me to do them. Then I had to get it to those the people who did the copyediting for me. Then off to the formatter. So the book didn't go live on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords, until January 14th--at the price of $3.99.

Day one it sold 30 copies. By the end of the first week, it was averaging 30s-upper 40s. Week two it headed into the 50s and 60s, and week three into the 70s, 80s, and 90s. This week, it started outselling Starry Montana Sky. Today Stormy broke through 100 sales to end up at 105, leaving Starry in the dust at 72 for the day. (Not that I'm complaining about 72 sales for the day. I've very grateful for each one of them.)

It took Wild Montana Sky (priced at .99) four and a half weeks to first hit 100, and Starry Montana Sky (2.99) four months (and it only happened once. It's been close, but not over 100 since.)

The sales pattern has also told me that I have readers who read the first two books in the months before Stormy was released, as opposed to reading the all three in the last three weeks. So somehow readers have found it, even though I haven't done anything (besides the last couple of blogs) to publicize the book.

In three weeks, I've made over $3,200 on the book, both because of the sales numbers and the higher price. I've been astonished and excited at how well Stormy is doing. It's definitely made me wish I had already written more books in this series!