The Point of It All

Over the last few posts, I've talked about my reasons for going the indie route.  As I've done this, a few folks have asked, "What's the point, Russ?  I haven't seen your books out there, so are you just a big tease?"

After all that lecturing, I suppose I owe you an explanation.  Bottom line is that the first novel in the queue of my writing business is well on its way.  It's been written, edited, and revised.  However, it's not going to be out for a while, and there are several reasons why.

The biggest reason is that I'm not yet at a stable point in my life.  No, I don't mean I'm mentally unstable - although several folks who know me might disagree - but rather that I'm not geographically stable.  My job moves me around a lot and can pick me up at a moment's notice.  That won't last forever and is on the downhill slope, but it makes planning out a few parts of marketing very difficult.  Therefore, I want to be settled in a location before I start this crazy race.

There are a few more things that also need to get accomplished before I put it out.  Most are mere housekeeping tasks, like the need to get a copy editor and make sure my work isn't garbage(from a spelling and grammatical point of view).  I'm reading a great book now, but it was edited very haphazardly.  I've found many mistakes, from spelling to grammar to the misplacing of quotation marks, and it's annoying.  I don't want my own sloppiness to get in the way of the story, so I need to make sure it's right.

I also need a cover.  I know exactly what I want the cover for Akeldama to look like - a black and grey smoky background with a dark brown cross on it.  A pair of fangs will drape over the arms of the cross, with the title in white at the top and my name in white on the bottom.  However, I don't know if that means I go through DeviantArt or Extended Imagery or what, so I have some research to do.

Part of my marketing plan includes "striking while the iron is hot."  I want to have several books ready to go so that I can publish one every six months.  My current schedule won't allow me the kind of free time I need to accomplish that, but once I'm more geographically stable, I can match it, plus I'll have a cache of novels to put out.  This will grant me the freedom to be looser with my time, a necessity at first since I'll need that time to build my brand.  Were I to simply put Akeldama out now, those who liked it would soon become frustrated that it's the only thing I have out.  Its sequel is my next work(to begin within the week), but I don't feel good about tossing it out there and then leaving folks to wonder about when the next one will be out.  By the time this is a reality, I should have at least eight ready for primetime.

So, why tell you all about my desire to indie publish and then let you languish?  Well, it's not like I'm doing nothing.  After all, I started this blog as a way to reach out.  I'm forming a business plan that even now is being implemented.  Once geographically stable, I plan to file as an LLC(still thinking of names...Creative Thoughts Publishing has stuck with me for some reason).  I'm also reaching out to others in the industry for guidance in pursuing the craft.

However, the biggest thing I'm doing is building an email distribution list for those who might be interested in purchasing Akeldama.  I began adding names at the end of May and am now up to about 70.  At 100, the list goes active and I begin sending out periodic newsletters to the folks on it.  The people on this list will get a discounted copy(somewhere around 25-ish% off), as well as first crack at the rest of my inventory.  I don't yet have pricing down, but that's coming.  Digital books will, obviously, be much lower than the paper book(probably around $2.99), but I'm still working all that out.

This may sound like a shameless book plug, and I guess it is, so anyone interested in signing up, please let me know through either the comments or an email to the address at the top of the page.  I need a personal email address and your first and last names.  If you're at all interested, I'm hoping you'll contact me.  I'd love it if we could grow this venture together.  I will indie publish, regardless of how many sign up, but I could sure use your help.