“Self-Publishing is No Longer a Dirty Word”
By Jean Henry Mead
Not everyone agrees that independent publishing is the key to writing success, but a growing number of authors are proving the naysayers wrong. More and more writers are leaving their publishers to strike out on their own, some with unparelled success, such as Robert Walker, who has repeatedly said that the secret to success is to consistently turn out quality work on a regular basis.
But even Rob will admit that there’s more to it than that. We’ve all heard that writers need a platform and a fan base of readers who trust the author to turn out quality work. But how does one acquire a fan base? Not by hermitting him or herself at the computer without making contact with the outside world. Those days are over.
When I put together my second volume of mystery writer interview, I met some successful new writers, among them Canadian bestselling author Cheryl Kaye Tardif, who publishes not only her own work but others with her Imajin Press from Alberta.
She says in The Mystery Writers: “In 2010 Amazon opened KDP to Canadian authors and I went back to my roots—to indie publishing. For me it's probably the best fit. I am by nature very independent and a strong marketer. Plus I'm ‘an idea person.’ Even my old publisher saw this in me and often called me a "guru" or "marketing genius." While I don't consider myself a ‘genius’ I do know that I'm a risk-taker.”
Independent publishing isn’t for everyone. It requires not only writing talent but good marketing skills and industry know-how to succeed. A number of other self- publishers are included in The Mystery Writers as well as bestselling traditionally published novelists such as Sue Grafton, Lawrence Block, J.A. Jance, Vicki Hinze and James Scott Bell (former Writer’s Digest fiction columnist).
Tim Hallinan, award-winning author of the traditionally published Poke Rafferty mystery/thriller series, decided to self-publish his Junior Bender series—humorous stories of a burglar with a “moral code who works as a private eye for crooks.” Tim’s earlier novels earned him critical acclaim but not enough money to retire from his day job. He now earns thousands of dollars a month with his self-published ebooks.
He said the reason he decided to leave his agent and publisher is because “the money we were offered by the publishers wasn’t very good. I looked at the offers and thought, ‘I’d rather own my books.”
Rebecca Dahlke once managed her father’s crop dusting service in Modesto, California, and decided that her protagonist—a beautiful former model—should also be a crop duster. She then decided to independently publish her novels, with successful results. Rebecca, like Cheryl, is a promoter and a humorous one at that. She says, “Self-publishing is no longer a dirty word. . . Eons ago, back in the dark ages (of publishing)—was it really only five years ago?—all we authors could hope for was a good agent,
Today I'm happy to host Jean Henry Mead, a delightful mystery writer and Internet friend.
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| Jean Henry Mead |
Jean Henry Mead is a mystery/suspense and western historical novelist. She's also an award-winning photojournalist. One of her fortes is interviewing writers, actors, politicians, artists and ordinary people who have accomplished extraordinary things. She began her writing career as a California news reporter/editor/photographer,first in Central California and later in San Diego. Mead later transferred to Casper, Wyoming, to serve as a staff writer for the statewide newspaper. While there she served as editor of In Wyoming Magazine and two small presses. She also freelanced for other magazines, both domestic and abroad, among them the Denver Post.. Her first book was published in 1982. She's since published fourteen novels and nonfiction books.
You can reach Jean at
http://www.jeanhenrymead.com/Writing with Humorby Jean Henry Mead
I’m not a comedian but I’ve found that adding humor to my books increases sales. In fact, I’ve received several reviews stating that the reviewer hoped I would add more humor in my next novel. A Village Shattered takes place in a central California retirement village where Sew and So club members are dying alphabetically. Nothing humorous about that, but I added a couple of quirky characters to the mix: a love starved widow and a rednecked cassanova, which not only makes it a fun read but enjoyable to write.
The second book in my Logan & Cafferty mystery/suspense series is Dairy of Murder, which takes on a more series tone when Dana Logan and Sarah Cafferty, two widows traveling in their motorhome, learn that Dana’s sister has died and her husband claims it was suicide. Dana knows her sister Georgi, a mystery writer, would never take her own life, so she and her friend Sarah set out to prove it was murder. Along the way they stumble over more bodies and a vicious drug gang. The only humor comes from Sarah’s dialogue and reviewers complained that it wasn’t as funny as A Village Shattered.
My first novel, Escape on the Wind, republished twice and retitled Escape, a Wyoming Historical Novel, was probably my most humorous as well as my best selling novel to date. It features a kidnapped young heiress, Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch, and a little known member of the gang, Tom “Peep O’Day, an alcoholic horse thief who nearly takes over the plot because he was so much fun to write about. Good-natured and bungling, he causes the gang to botch the Belle Fourche bank robbery.
I added humor to my first, recently released children’s novel, Mystery of Spider Mountain, as well as the second, The Ghost of Crimson Dawn, which I’m currently writing. I’ve also added humor to my nonfiction books. Casper Country: Wyoming’s Heartland, was researched by spending two years behind a microfilm machine reading 97-years’ worth of newspapers, dating from 1889. I’ll never do that again, but I found some funny incidents to add to the centennial history book, which was eventually used as a textbook at Casper College.
One of the things I remember was an article about three young boys stealing w
About Jean:Jean began her career as a California news reporter, later serving as editor for a San Diego newspaper, Wyoming magazine editor, and freelance photojournalist. She also freelanced for the Denver Post’s Empire Magazine as well as other publications both domestically and abroad, earning her a number of regional and national Press Women Awards.
The first of her 13 books was published in 1982, four of them books of interviews with well known people: writers, actors, politicians as well as ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things.
Her latest book,
Mysterious Writers, is now available from Poisoned Pen Press, first in Kindle, Barnes and Noble and Sony ebook editions. The interviews were featured last year on her Mysterious People blog site and include several Acme writers: Morgan Mandel, Robert W. Walker, Tony Burton, Austin Camacho and former teammate, John Gilstrap.
Jean, tell us more about your new book, Mysterious Writers.The book is a collection of interviews with mystery writers such as bestselling novelists, Elmore Leonard, Carolyn Hart, Jeffrey Deaver, Nancy Pickard and Louise Penny. I also included my A.B. Guthrie, Jr. interview, which was conducted just before his death in 1991. The other 68 interviews are lesser known but excellent writers who give good advice to aspiring mystery and crime writers. Some of them live and write in Canada, England, Scotland and Greece and all were a pleasure to interview. Collectively, they represent nearly every subgenre of the mystery/crime market.
Why did you write the book?To help fledgling writers. I wish there had been a book like this when I was learning to write fiction, which is quite a bit different than journalism. Fiction is subjective while journalism is objective, or should be. The book is loaded with great advice as well as detailing each writer’s own struggles to get published.
Which subjects are covered in the book?Advice to aspiring writers, writing schedules and techniques, research, character development, the best and worst aspects of writing, which writers influenced their own work, how they feel about the publishing industry and, of course, their own work. Those are only a few of the subjects covered. Most of all, we get to know each writer and how they operate.
How long did it take to interview all those writers?It took about a year to interview close to a hundred writers. I was doing one interview a day plus a guest blog the second day. It cut drastically into my own writing, but I was rewarded for my efforts when Poisoned Pen Press offered me a contract.
Which other interview books have you published?My first was Wyoming in Profile, published by Pruett in 1982. I interviewed Wyoming Governor Herschler, his wife, U.S. senators Alan Simpson and Malcolm Wallop, Attorney Gerry Spence, singer Chris LeDoux and nearly every well-known person in the state. It was the first and only time I left my five children and husband to travel the state to conduct interviews in person, something I no longer do.
My second and most successful book of interviews was Maverick Writers, published by Caxton Press. It features interviews from the homes of Louis L’Amour and A. B. Guthrie, Jr., as well as Will Henry, Janet Dailey, Hollywood screenwriters and some forty ot
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Welcome to Acme Authors Link, Jean. Sounds like your book has a lot of great advice from outstanding authors!
Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
Thank you for the invitation, Morgan. Yes, the book is loaded with good writing advice from some pretty impressive novelists. I wish it had been available when I was learning to write fiction.
I'm pleased to be a part of this book.
Hi, Jean and Morgan.
Marilyn
Thanks a lot for this post!
Hi, Marilyn,
Your interview and article on settings are among my favorites in the book. Thanks for stopping by.
I'm so proud to be part of this book. Sometimes we indie authors are still looked on as not "real' writers. So we just have to try even harder to do everything as well as we can. And that includes both writing the best book we can write, and marketing the heck out of it. That's what I talk about in the book -- creative ways to think outside the box of bookstores and libraries for marketing. It's a whole new world! And an exciting one!
Thanks, I really needed a pep talk as I near publishing my first novel, a decisions that hasn't been easy. Still now so sure, but I'm gonna give it my best shot. Great post, thanks Jean!
Thanks, D.P., Susan and Madison for your comments.
Susan, you wrote a good article on independent publishing and you've certainly proved that hard work and persistence pays off.
And Madison, don't be afraid to publish. It can be the most exciting and rewarding thing you've ever done.
Well done, Jean. I'm honored to be included in your book.
Joan
Thank you, Joan. I'm pleased to havea you in the book.