Well, it’s the beginning of 2012, and it’s the time for reflection on the past year and looking forward to the new. I don’t do yearly resolutions (I find it more useful to do them on a daily basis), but suddenly I find myself looking years into the future. I guess running a business will do that to a girl.

As I did last year, I want to share where I am, a bit about my plans, and how indie publishing has changed everything for me. I hope this provides some information and inspiration for other indie authors out there, and those who are considering taking the plunge.

Last year I wrote this for my New Years post:

But this year I did do something different. I made a plan. And not just a 2011 plan, but a ten-year plan. For the past two years I’ve been watching the publishing industry carefully, listening to those who succeed, and researching as much as I can. In that time I’ve had short stories published and my first novel accepted by Lyrical Press. So it’s been a time of good news, but it’s also been a time of serious disillusionment. Like most writers, in my early days, I had mentors and teachers who told me how things work. And now that I’ve been published, I can tell you, most of what I “learned” was twaddle. The piffle became clearer when I started realising that most published authors have day jobs. I started digging into why. Why can’t an author make a living wage, even ones with agents and three-book deals?

Although disillusionment doesn’t always feel great, I actually feel quite liberated. And thus the plan. I started looking at authors who are making a living, how they’re doing it, and adapting their ideas to my own business plan.

And writing that plan, which I formulated after the usual small business startup template, changed everything for me. It changed the way I approached writing and turned me from a wannabe into a bestselling author. Some things about the plan clearly need to change. Here’s how I’d rewrite the 10 year plan and why:

• Why I’d change this goal: I smashed this goal back in September, 2011, a mere five months after my first book’s debut, and three months after I went indie. (I didn’t start making more than pocket change until I went indie, so I hardly even count those first months.) I picked a goal I thought was reasonable, and reasonable is good when it comes to plans… but in December 2011 I came close to selling 2000 books, which makes this first goal obsolete. Time to rethink what’s possible.
• Secondly, sales goals are pretty meaningless without price. When I did a two week experiment with one of my novels, I discovered it’s easy to hit double or even treble numbers selling books at 99c. Sure I doubled my sales at the cheaper price, but my weekly income went way down because of Amazon’s royalty structure. So selling 1000 books would be a snap at 99c, but that would only earn me $350. If I sell 1000 books at 3.99, the current price on most of my books, I earn roughly $2800. (or $2000 at $2.99) With this in mind, I’m going to shift my goals from number of books sold to earnings. I might maximise my earnings at a higher price or a lower price, and the most effective price may change as the market changes and I have more books on the market. The fantastic thing about being an indie published author is the flexibility! What works today may not work in three weeks, but I can make changes as needed, easy peasy.

• Why I’d change this goal: I’ve learned a lot about social networking in the past year, and one of my most important discoveries was that it’s CRITICAL to be reachable (which is different from spending X hours per week on social media outlets!) I love getting reader email, and most of the letters I get are from people who’ve found my contact information in the back of my books. Folks can google my name and I have a lot of information available on my blog. It’s just as important for me as it may be for them. I love hearing from the readers that want to know more about me and my work and this is a vital part of the plan for me.
• But… spending time on social media doesn’t sell books. Blog hops and blog tours and giving away a book here and there… those things are fun, and I’ll do them for enjoyment, but as part of a business plan… well, it isn’t really an effective use of a major chunk of my time. When Ordinary Angels debuted, I spent an entire month on a big blog event. I exhausted myself. It was fun and maybe even got my name out there a bit, but I now wish I’d spent that month working on the first draft of a new book. =)
• My mailing list is a great way to reach people that I know are interested in my work, but I now realise this list is about quality, not quantity. I also now view it as a way to give back to dedicated fans by sharing the inside tidbits, sneak peeks and giving away books instead of seeing it as a marketing tool to be counted and used.

• Why I’d change this: My first novel, Ordinary Angels, was a paranormal romance. But as I continued writing, I found myself more inspired to write urban fantasy, and I’m considering an epic fantasy for my next series. I also have two erotic novels under a pen name. As my writing has developed, for me, the romance element works best as a minor sub-plot, not as the focus of a book. In Blood Faerie, I think I found my true voice. I like a compelling love story, but the romance genre isn’t what’s calling to me. Fortunately, as an indie author, I have the flexibility to move towards what inspires me and grow as an author. So expect deeper plotlines that are more intricately developed in future series from me!

• Why I’d change this: I’ve investigated many options, and yes, I do plan to have all my mainstream novels available in print, but as far as other digital outlets, maybe not. Until recently, that had always been the goal, but I’ve discovered a boon in the Kindle Select programme. It allows me to do occassional giveaways, which have all proved to give me a substantial boost, but I also have extended my reach by having my books available for readers to borrow as part of the Amazon Prime plan. I don’t know yet how much I will receive per borrow, but I will say for certain it has not hurt my sales in any way, and in fact, I’ve experienced a steady flow of new readers since joining. So, right now I’m keeping my future options open. For the next 60 days, all my books will be exclusive digitally to Amazon, and maybe I’ll sign up again for another 90 day exclusive term.

Right now, you can see that I’m all about flexibility! Will I write a 2012 version of last year’s plan? Probably. I think it’s a great way to document the direction of my business and how I develop as an indie publisher. But things I’m going to keep in mind when doing so:

1. Be as specific as necessary to give concrete goals, but leave myself room to be creative. For example I stated in my 2011 plan that I wanted to write three novels. In fact, I put out five, but of the three titles I listed, I only put out two of them, choosing to go ahead with the sequel to Blood Faerie instead of starting another series.
2. That being said, I’ll still allow myself to make goals, knowing that the industry is changing and I may have to turn on a dime to keep up with it and all the many things I learn.
3. Instead of focusing on sales goals or even income goals, I think it’s critical to keep goals to things I can control. I can’t control how many people buy my books. I’ve had a fantastic year and sales have far exceeded my expectations, but I also know I can’t make people find and buy my books and who knows when the party will end? Setting goals that entail benchmarks you can’t control is asking for frustration. I quickly realised this in those early days when I was with a publisher and sales reports were trickling in slowly and the numbers were discouraging. So in good times and bad, my goals will focus on what I can control: my writing output, my online presence, personal strategies, industry awareness, production process and scheduling.

So, this post is a bit late. I started the year with a cold and cough that had me knocked out of the game for a good ten days. (Yet another thing out of my control!) But I’m excited about 2012! If it’s anywhere near as exciting as 2011, I’m in for quite a year!

Happy New Year!

This month has been crazy-busy with the launch of Azuri Fae, a new cover art commission, outlining the next Caledonia Fae book, an editing project, and a couple of guest appearances on other blogs! I have hardly had time even to lay out my plan for 2012. Maybe that’s for the best though… I find plans often don’t go the way I intend anyway!

But I do have news!

Blood Faerie and Azuri Fae have been enrolled in the Kindle Select programme. This means that if you are an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow them free on your Kindle! I know there’s been a lot of debate from authors about this scheme and the fact that they only accept digital books exclusive to Amazon, but I have found sales increasing since becoming a Kindle Select author, plus I get paid for every borrow, and borrows seem to count towards improving my sales rank as well, so don’t hesitate to borrow my books if you’re eligible for it! For me, there just isn’t a downside!

For a very limited time (like, a few more days), Ordinary Angels is on sale for 99¢ on Amazon. (It’s also at a reduced price in Amazon’s UK, DE, IT, ES, and FR stores, so check out your local Amazon site if you’re in Europe.) If you haven’t read it yet, this is your chance to get it on sale now!

Azuri Fae has been formatted for print now, and is working its way through the channels. I expect it to be available in January (assuming the proof comes out looking fab), for those who still prefer books made from trees. I’ll be sure and make an announcement on Twitter and my Facebook author page when it’s up, so watch the social networks! Also, you can read an excerpt of Azuri Fae now.

And lasty, I have final cover art for Enemy of the Fae, the now-fully-outlined finale to the Caledonia Fae trilogy.

I’m really excited about this one. Each book in this series shows the stakes rising, the decisions getting tougher, and the action more intense. I had always planned for this series to be a trilogy, but I have to confess that I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop after just three. I’ll probably have a better idea after I write the first draft of Enemy of the Fae and see how things are left. I know it sounds crazy, especially considering I have the book planned, but sometimes things just don’t go according to plan. Sometimes they go even better!

I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since I posted! I will write a more chatty post this week telling you all what I’ve been up to, but for right now, I wanted to share some new cover art I’ve done for author Heather Webber and her new novel, Trouble Under the Tree.

It was so much fun to do a Christmas themed cover, and it was SO different from all the previous covers, because instead of a character, the main feature was the large Christmas tree. And how to show a body without being gruesome? Heather had a clear idea of what she wanted, and not only that, this is the most recent in a series, the rest of which came out from a large publishing house and had watercolour art done for it. So we wanted to match some of the themes and colours to retain the ‘brand’, but still give it the Christmas setting plus the playful look of vector art.

I was really pleased with how it turned out, and I believe (hope) that Heather was too!

You can find out more about Heather Webber’s series here (scroll down to the middle of the page for the other Nina Quinn mystery novels), and check out Trouble Under the Tree on Amazon here.

The plan was simple. The simplicity of it brought on mostly by my panicked rush to get the details nailed down, to not skip any steps, to put out the best, cleanest book I could, and do it right after a major computer meltdown sent me into a tailspin. So, I intended to slip Azuri Fae onto Amazon ASAP, and then on December 1st, I’d make the big announcements, do my social networking rounds, etc. This would give me time to breathe and to make sure everything looked right with the new book. Accidents, delays, oversights… they can all happen with a book release.

And then this weird thing happened.

I followed through on the first part of the plan–snuck the book onto Amazon. But then you readers out there did something that caught me by surprise, and sent my whole sneaky plan out the window. You started buying it. Like, lots of you. Like, lots and lots of you. Enough to put Azuri Fae on two bestseller lists over the weekend. All before I’d told a soul, sent out my newsletter, made one tweet! Which left me wanting to post something saying, “Who are you people, and why are you buying my book?!?!?” (I’ve been told that wouldn’t be very professional though.)

I hadn’t expected anyone to discover the book was available yet. After all, it’s not even in Amazon’s search system, it hasn’t been tagged, it has only one review up, and it is too new to appear on the “also-boughts” (That takes at least two weeks). So, because no one would know the book was available, I’d dismissed the idea of any sales for November. When I read my sales reports Sunday morning, I quite literally thought it had to be a reporting error by Amazon. But no, the ranking just hovered, readers kept picking up their copy, and Amazon never wrote correcting their “mistake”. (Who are you people? And why are you buying my book?)

So I’m stunned. And delighted! And overwhelmed. I was feeling quite emotional about it yesterday, and to celebrate, I took the day off. After all, I’ve not had a day off since the Great ‘Puter Explosion of 2011.

Today, I’m here saying a very humble THANK YOU to my readers. I’ve never done anything so fulfilling in my life. No other job has given me what writing and publishing have. I am working harder, longer hours, pushing myself every day, and yet…I’ve never been happier. It’s not about the money (although getting paid to write feels incredible after years of collecting rejection letters), but rather, that sense of elation comes from feeling like I’ve found my spot in the world. I’m telling stories, and people want to hear them. It fills me with all kinds of warmness. =)

Thank you, readers! ♥

Azuri Fae is Book 2 in the Caledonia Fae series.

A faerie prince disappears in the borderlands, and his father enlists the help of outcast Eilidh and her bonded druid, Quinton Munro. Tantalised with hints of a lost and ancient magic, they learn that time is working against them every step of the way. Is the prince’s disappearance related to the vanishing of an entire Scottish village?

Faced with deception, assassination attempts, and a mad queen who would sacrifice her own child to keep a dreaded secret, Eilidh struggles with an impossible situation. Her people demand she commit treason and betray the man she loves. Will she do what duty requires, or throw away the chance to reunite the kingdom in exchange for the life she hadn’t dared hope for?

Caledonia Fae:
Book 1: Blood Faerie
Book 2: Azuri Fae
Book 3: Enemy of the Fae (Coming 2012)

And just in case you haven’t gotten your copy of Azuri Fae yet, you can find it here:

Amazon USA
Amazon UK

Print edition to follow in early 2012.

My computer exploded. Died in most spectacular way. With a hideous screetching death rattle. If you’re a writer, artist, or really anyone who relies on your computer for work, you’ll be experiencing a sinking feeling just reading this and thinking about it.

I’ll spare you the description of the hideous week I had, the headaches, the sleepless nights, the stress. Of course it had to happen a week before a book was due! It wouldn’t be a true catastrophe if it happened at a time when nothing was at stake, right?

So, a few things that are important for you to know:

1. If you wrote me an email last week, and I haven’t responded, you should send it again. I lost (forever) two days worth of emails that can’t be recovered. I’d rather hear from you twice than not at all, so please don’t hesitate to drop me a note.
2. The release of Azuri Fae has been delayed by a week. I had originally hoped to be getting it out to reviewers this week, but the final edits couldn’t be completed last week, since I wasn’t sure until yesterday exactly how much I’d lost. I lost two days worth of edits, a week of time, and ten years off my life in stress. It will absolutely be ready before the end of this month, and likely sooner. If you want to be notified on the release date, sign up for my newsletter.
3. Back your work up EVERY day. I backed mine up Sunday night, but forgot Monday night. Tuesday just after dinner, my hard drive gave up the ghost. I feel so lucky that I didn’t lose more. When I’m writing or working on an art project, I back up my work nightly. I don’t know why I forgot Monday. I use Acronis for backups. Although it wasn’t the one-click, ten minute recovery I’d fantasized about, it DID save my bacon, and I got everything important back (minus the days after the last backup, of course.)

I have more to tell you about… for example, last week an article I wrote well before the disaster appeared on Lindsay Below’s blog, in which I wrote about the specific issues involved in creating a series. You can also get an early preview of the cover for Book 3 in the Caledonia Fae series. I haven’t shown that cover anywhere else yet (was waiting for the release of Azuri Fae first), but if you sneak over there, you can see the cover art for Enemy of the Fae.

Also, my friend Jessica Bell released her debut novel, String Bridge. I had planned a post for her release date, but alas, I was coping with the Internet via my iPod Touch that day! But do go check it out!

I’ve also completed another cover art project, but I’ll save that announcement for another day. Right now, it’s time to dig in and put the stresses of last week behind me while I edit (once again) Azuri Fae for the last time and prepare it for final formatting.

Thanks for your patience while I’ve been on radio silence. Do get in touch if we’ve missed a connection recently! I’m still feeling a bit discombobulated after my computer disaster, so I might need a nudge!

I really never anticipated becoming a professional cover art designer. Oh, there are some fabulous artists in my family, and I have always either sketched or done digital art as a hobby, but it was something for my private enjoyment. So, as much as I get a kick out of creating covers for my own books, and have even lamented that I wish I could write faster simply so I could design more covers, hanging out a shingle never crossed my mind. Not until bestselling author Lori Devoti contacted me about designing the cover for a book she wrote under a pen name (Loose Screw by Rae Davies.) I told you all about that and showed you the results a couple of weeks ago. Ever since she posted about the fantastic spike she’s gotten in her sales ranking since she started using the new cover , I’ve started receiving even more inquiries about my artwork.

I have three more projects in the pipeline before the end of the year! The demand has surprised me, but I’m loving it.. the diversity of the projects and meeting more fantastic authors has been great. So I must share my most recent finished project. This is for a new mystery book (coming out in about six weeks, I believe–will keep you posted on that) by author Shannon Esposito:

This one was a lot of fun to do. Shannon sent me pictures of the area where the book was set (St. Pete’s, Florida) and the overall feel she wanted for the cover, but as far as the layout, she let me use my imagination and intuition to put the design together. She was thrilled with the result, and I was delighted that she liked it so much. I can’t tell you how great it feels to help an author achieve their vision for a book cover, to bring their character or story to life in a simple image.

One of the things that has been so enjoyable about doing cover art for other authors is the variety involved. Every book has its own tone, and every author her own design concepts.

I’m not giving up writing. In fact, I’m careful to schedule these projects around my own publishing schedule. I have already started work on Book 3 of the Caledonia Fae series while Book 2 (Azuri Fae) is with my editor. Fans of my own writing need not fear! But I will be taking on more of these design projects. They’re great fun, and they exercise a different part of my creative mind than writing does.

Note: If you are an author with a cover art design project you’d like to talk to me about, feel free to contact me. I’ll send you my process sheet, which details what you can expect from me and my current rates. Because my own publishing schedule can be quite hectic, you’ll want to get in touch as soon as possible, so we can work out timing that will suit us both.

Some people complain about advances in technology as they pine for the good old days of flint and tinder, when we used wear bear-skin and have rotten teeth, I suppose. Me, I’m a fan of antibiotics and central heating. So sue me. I like keyboarding instead of writing with a pen, and on days when my arthritis is acting up, I like my voice activated software, or VOX, if you’re really cool. I even like the recent changes in Facebook. When people bitch about progress or change, I imagine them doing it in the voice of Dolores Umbridge, which is always good for a giggle. “Hem, hem… Progress for progress’ sake must be discouraged.”

And without the progress of moving from manual typewriters to Microsoft Word, I never would have gotten this laugh. It’s even funnier because this is a letter I never sent. It was addressed to my old publisher, when I was trying to find a diplomatic way to bitch about something the editorial staff was doing that irked me to the core. In the end, I decided not to send the letter, but this MS Word correction was so hilarious that I had to take a screenshot.

(I’ve blanked some things out, just to be polite.)

A secondary and more serious point to be made is don’t take Microsoft’s word for grammar. We be serious about that.

I had one of those strange experiences last night, where I went to bed early, then woke up around midnight, feeling rested and awake and like it surely must be morning. I usually hate that, because I have so much trouble getting back to sleep, and yet if I just get up and do something, I end up staying up half the night and the next morning, I’m exhausted.

But last night was different. In addition to feeling rested, I woke bursting with an inescapable intuition that something good was going to happen. Not that I’m a pessimest by nature, but I am normally so focused on all the things I have to do (the list is a mile long–always), the things I want to do (a shorter and usually very different list from the first), and the things I should do, but have no intention of doing (floor-scrubbing, I’m talking to you.) All that listing leaves little time for worrying about what’s going to happen tomorrow. I deal with today, and that’s more than enough.

So even though I did end up staying up until 2:30, and when I woke at 7:00, I really didn’t want to get out of bed, I still had that feeling… that nagging feeling of anticipation.  It’s a bit like waiting for the surprises of Christmas morning, or like when getting a letter in the mail from an old friend, and sitting there looking at the envelope for a minute. I had a sense like that when I arrived in Scotland for the first time… I knew I was home, even though I’d never been here before. Something just lined up, clicked into place, and I knew good things were going to happen.

I don’t know whether the upcoming goodness foretold in my niggling think-spot is going to be big or small. It might just mean that a cupcake with sprinkles is coming my way. It might be huge. It feels sort of huge, but then when you’ve had a week like I’ve had, the joy of an unexpected cupcake should not be underestimated. I don’t even know if it’s going to happen directly to me, or just near me.

I do find that this morning, I’m looking at the world a bit differently. Everything I see, I pause for a second and wonder… is this the start of my wonderful thing? Are you the person that is going to set the ball rolling?

Would you be my cupcake?

I don’t know what it is about us authors—we often get more excited about cover art than we do the words. Possibly it’s because once we have a book ready to publish, we have read those sixty-to-a-hundred-thousand words sixty to a hundred times. I like browsing book stores and judging books by their covers, I like squeeing over friends’ cover art, and I have discovered that I also enjoy creating cover art.

You’ve all heard me talk about Talli Roland on this blog. Although we don’t write the same types of books, we have found each other to be great writing resources. That’s such a wonderful thing, when you have a working relationship with someone that is balanced. We both give as much as we take, and our talents compliment one another’s. So, when Talli asked me to be an early reader on her Build A Man manuscript, I said, “Of course!” When she said she was thinking of publishing it independantly, we started talking about all the elements she’d need to do herself, so naturally the talk turned to cover art. Having read the book (and having loved it-honestly it’s the best of her books so far), I was suddenly struck with an inspiration, and we started to chat about it.

So I (digitally) sketched up my idea, and after some back and forth, we arrived at this:

By the way…someone wrote and asked me where I got the clip art for that image. All the illustrated covers I create are 100% original vector art images. I drew it with my own hands…well, my computer. No clip art here! There are some decent stock images out there, but nothing quite compares to having your character designed exactly the way you envision her, with exactly the look and feel you want. (I think every published author out there can relate to receiving “professional” cover art from their publisher that just flat-out misses the mark. – Thing #45 I love about being an indie author…being in control of what my book looks like!)

I have gotten a few enquiries about doing cover art, since I posted Rae Davies’ cover last week. Yes, I will consider taking commissions on cover art. I really love doing it. No, this doesn’t mean I’m going to stop writing. (Like that would be possible!) This won’t ever overtake my writing career, but it is a fun sideline. If you have a book you’d like custom artwork for, just drop me a line and I’ll send you my “process sheet,” which includes information on pricing and scheduling.

And if you’re interested in indie publishing, Talli wrote an article yesterday detailing why she decided to leave her small press publisher, with whom she’s had great success, and go indie.

Exciting times… and look! Shiny cover art! Squeeeee!

As I said earlier this week, I was contacted by an author about designing her cover art. Rae Davies had seen my work on my own books, and wondered if I ever did freelance work. Well, I only had once before (more details coming about that project next week), and with everything else going on, I wasn’t sure I had time, but darnit, I just couldn’t resist. I really do adore doing covers, and the more she told me about the book, the more I knew I wanted to take on the challenge. The thing is, Loose Screw was already for sale on Amazon, and it was doing well! Her original cover wasn’t bad, it just didn’t convey the genre as well as she would have liked, I think, plus she wanted something that would really catch the eye. So, I had to take a bestselling book’s cover and try to make it even better. Definitely a challenge!

So, after some back and forth, designing and tweaking, this is the final cover art for Loose Screw by Rae Davies:

I’m really happy with the way it turned out, but more importantly, I think Rae is as well. Now we just have to see what her fans and new readers think of it!

When we first starting talking about the project, Rae gifted me a copy of Loose Screw. I am about 3/4 of the way through it, and it’s been tough to put down. (Darned work keeping me from reading all day long!) Loose Screw is a charming cozy mystery, with a likeable main character… so easy to read. I can’t wait to read the next in the series. Mystery and thrillers are my favourite genre after fantasy, so it was a delight to find a new series that was fun and easy to get into. Now Rae needs to hurry up and write the next one! I’m feeling impatient for it already!

You can find Loose Screw on Amazon USA, Amazon UK, and Barnes and Noble. I heartily recommend it, and I noticed that it’s only 99c (86p in the UK)! Wow… a real bargain for such a great read.