Romance Self-publishing

shameless · Jan 25, 2013

Am considering self-publishing my historical romance series. Anyone care to share their experiences?? Could use all the information I can get!!

Thanks!! :Hug2:

MeganJoWrites · Jan 25, 2013

I self-published a contemporary romance the beginning of this year. I used a professional editor through Finish the Story, which I highly recommend.

One thing I'd do, if I were you, is research bloggers who review your genre - historical romance. There are many that do. Offer them ARCs. Get on goodreads. Promote yourself on FB, Twitter, etc.

There are also companies that you can pay to host blog tours for you, to help you promote. Of course, that costs cash money, haha.

KimJo · Jan 25, 2013

I self-published an M/M romance short story this past fall. I obviously have done something wrong, because it hasn't sold enough copies yet to earn back the minimal amount I spent on professional editing and cover art.

The most important thing I learned is to set a release date in advance and pimp the hell out of it. I deal with some publishers that don't give advance release dates, or only tell me a week or two ahead of time when the book will be released, so I'm not used to having a long lead time. I just kind of threw the book up on Amazon and told people it was there, and I think that's affected the sales. (I did the same thing with All Romance Ebooks and Barnes & Noble, actually, even though I should have known better.) But I think for self-publishing, that lead time is important to build up the buzz, because you don't have the publisher's name backing you.

shameless · Jan 25, 2013

Thanks!! Please keep the advice coming!!

Old Hack · Jan 25, 2013

You could venture into our Self Publishing room, and read the diary threads there (there's an index to them all stickied at the top). There are some great stories there, and some of the threads are packed full of useful and interesting stuff.

shameless · Jan 25, 2013

Old Hack said:
You could venture into our Self Publishing room, and read the diary threads there (there's an index to them all stickied at the top). There are some great stories there, and some of the threads are packed full of useful and interesting stuff.

Thanks!! Didn't know about that thread!!!

Captcha · Jan 25, 2013

I self-pubbed a m/m romance this fall, and I'm still waiting to see if it does as well as the ones I've put out with e-publishers. That is, I know the sales are lower, but given that the net profit per book is higher, it may end up being a wash.

Be aware that quite a few blogs/review sites won't review self-pubbed books, even those that are professionally edited and written by people who have been published through a house in the past.

Also be aware that it can be really difficult to get any kind of attention to your book if you don't already have a name for yourself. This m/m romance is one of two books that I've self-published. The other was a YA novel under a different pen name, and it has hardly sold at all. Different genre so maybe different expectations, but I think at least part of the difference is because I didn't have an established name in that genre.

It's fun to play around with, but... don't quit your day job!

K. Taylor · Jan 25, 2013

Historical romance is a very good choice to self-publish. I know multiple authors doing well with that.

I've been self-publishing for almost 3 years. I love the control and making my own schedule. It can be done very affordably, so don't worry that you need $1000 or something to get it done. You'll find a lot of freelance artists already making e-covers for historical, like Dara England. Pre-made covers are often $30-$50.

For one-stop research, The R0mance Divas forum has many romance self-publishers sharing their experiences.

VoireyLinger · Jan 25, 2013

KimJo said:
I self-published an M/M romance short story this past fall. I obviously have done something wrong, because it hasn't sold enough copies yet to earn back the minimal amount I spent on professional editing and cover art.

This doesn't surprise me, actually. I've found my self pub titles are sluggish sellers, but they are backlist and over the long-haul they are earning out. I think the key with self-publishing is to keep the long haul and long-term sales in mind. At least for me.

My best and most consistent sale site has been Amazon. Smashwords was a headache and has been my worst site for sales. ARe was on par with Amazon for the first two months but only sold the odd copy here and there after that.

elindsen · Jan 25, 2013

VoireyLinger said:
My best and most consistent sale site has been Amazon. Smashwords was a headache and has been my worst site for sales. ARe was on par with Amazon for the first two months but only sold the odd copy here and there after that.

Smashwords has been all of a waste for me. I've sold enough to hit the minimum pay out, but not much beyond that. Amazon and ARe have taken turns each month being the better sale site. So far in January, Amazon is my site

K. Taylor · Jan 26, 2013

Sending to Apple through Smashwords is my second biggest seller.

Diversification really is important. 1) you don't want to deny a reader because you're not available in their format, and 2) you never know when a book will take off at a retailer. Seriously. You never know. Been in this 3 years with my content and observing others self-publishing e-books since 2006. You never know.

girlyswot · Feb 9, 2013

My biggest seller for my self-published romances by far is B&N. And since I'm not in the US, the only way to get my books listed in B&N is via Smashwords. I get some sales from Apple, Kobo and Diesel also via Smashwords, and obviously Amazon too. I've only just listed at All Romance so I don't know how well that will go.

So, my advice is - list your book in as many places as you possibly can, because you don't know where your readers will find you.

Take time writing your blurb. Send your book out for cover quotes. Pay attention to formatting. Get a decent copyeditor/proofreader.

And then get writing the next book. People making money by self-publishing generally have a long and growing backlist.

c.m.n. · Feb 9, 2013

Very good suggestions so far.

I self published a m/m paranormal romance trilogy last year. It was fun to do, and I'm planning on self publishing more. I kept my expectations low, based on what I read in our Self Publishing part of the forum. Thank goodness, because while it does sell, it doesn't sell well.

My top distributors are ARe and Amazon. ARe sales were exceptional when the first book came out.

MumblingSage · Feb 11, 2013

K. Taylor said:
Sending to Apple through Smashwords is my second biggest seller.

Diversification really is important. 1) you don't want to deny a reader because you're not available in their format, and 2) you never know when a book will take off at a retailer. Seriously. You never know. Been in this 3 years with my content and observing others self-publishing e-books since 2006. You never know.

#1, #1, #1

I am an .epub format reader, and I have shed tears over the beautiful self-pubblished historical novels...that are only available through Kindle. (I may download Kindle for PC to get around this, but it will be with much grumbling as my computer is very slow to do anything, much less download a program, and I will open the resulting Kindle books I purchase with an edge of resentment for having to go through such trouble).

Also, I never buy a self-published book without reading 2-3 reviews. I like best the reviews that are only 3 or 4 stars, because they let me know the books faults, and once I know the worst I can decide whether it's right for me or not. I do this for pro-published books, too, but given the inherant lack of gatekeeping with self-pubbing this is all the more important. Get your friends, relatives, or critique group partners to write a 4 star review of your story if you have to, and get it posted on Amazon and GoodReads. Just get one of those out into the world ASAP.

shameless · Feb 11, 2013

MumblingSage said:
#1, #1, #1

I am an .epub format reader, and I have shed tears over the beautiful self-pubblished historical novels...that are only available through Kindle. (I may download Kindle for PC to get around this, but it will be with much grumbling as my computer is very slow to do anything, much less download a program, and I will open the resulting Kindle books I purchase with an edge of resentment for having to go through such trouble).

Also, I never buy a self-published book without reading 2-3 reviews. I like best the reviews that are only 3 or 4 stars, because they let me know the books faults, and once I know the worst I can decide whether it's right for me or not. I do this for pro-published books, too, but given the inherant lack of gatekeeping with self-pubbing this is all the more important. Get your friends, relatives, or critique group partners to write a 4 star review of your story if you have to, and get it posted on Amazon and GoodReads. Just get one of those out into the world ASAP.

Great insight and information! Thanks!!

Stacia Kane · Feb 11, 2013

MumblingSage said:
I do this for pro-published books, too, but given the inherant lack of gatekeeping with self-pubbing this is all the more important. Get your friends, relatives, or critique group partners to write a 4 star review of your story if you have to, and get it posted on Amazon and GoodReads. Just get one of those out into the world ASAP.

No offense, and I really don't mean this personally, but I refuse to game reviews in any direction just because people can't be bothered to read the free sample that's available and actually see whether or not the writing is decent.

ARoyce · Feb 13, 2013

Check out Courtney Milan's blog...don't have the link handy at the moment. She's repped by Kristen Nelson and had a few books pubbed with HQN before self-pubbing. I think she's doing really well, and she's definitely one of my auto-buys.

I think she's been pretty open about her self-pub experiences on her blog.

MumblingSage · Feb 13, 2013

Stacia Kane said:
No offense, and I really don't mean this personally, but I refuse to game reviews in any direction just because people can't be bothered to read the free sample that's available and actually see whether or not the writing is decent.

Unless the free sample also demonstrates how satisfying the plot twists and resolution are, I'll continue to patronize reviewers. I can only take so many throw-the-book-at-the-wall midstory revelations and/or endings. If a review happens to point out that the author can't rope in a semicolon to save their life, plus doesn't understand the rules of capitalization in English, without my own dear eyes having to be assaulted by such linguistic butchery, so much the better.

I want to know another human being has read the book and come out alive...or wishing that they or the author weren't, as it may be.

Although, good point--every self-pubbed author (and every published author, for that matter, but I think publishers generally take care of that) should include Amazon's nifty 'look inside this book' option. Pretty sure that's statistically proven to increase sales, anyway.

Old Hack · Feb 13, 2013

I don't think Stacia was suggesting that publishers shouldn't hope to get reviews, Sage. I thought she was pointing out that asking friends and family to review your work risked crossing a line, because they're unlikely to give your work a negative review even if that's what it deserves. So you're manipulating your reviews in order to sell more copies.

At least, that's what I took from her comment.

Filigree · Feb 14, 2013

As a reader, I am cautious when it comes to reading reviews obviously left by the author, their family, friends, or literary agent (and yes, I have seen examples of all of those.) Such reviews are usually 5-star, gushing with acclaim, and short on gritty details. In those cases, I pay even closer attention to the sample text: the moment I see an error, I know not to bother with the rest of the book.

It's why I am so cautious to review my own friends' work online, and usually try to keep my observations balanced. I want to known as a reviewer, not a cheerleader.

shameless · Feb 14, 2013

There's a woman who used to be in our chapter who has done self-publishing ALL WRONG. She keeps putting out 99 cent stories and has everyone she knows leave short 5-star reviews. Then people who actually buy them come back and talk about the horrible grammar, lack of plot, etc... and leave 1 star reviews. The graph of ratings looks rather odd... :tongue

She's turned herself into a joke, but obviously doesn't care.

If I do this, I'll do it professionally. I really appreciate all the great advice!!

MumblingSage · Feb 14, 2013

Old Hack said:
I don't think Stacia was suggesting that publishers shouldn't hope to get reviews, Sage. I thought she was pointing out that asking friends and family to review your work risked crossing a line, because they're unlikely to give your work a negative review even if that's what it deserves. So you're manipulating your reviews in order to sell more copies.

At least, that's what I took from her comment.

Oh, asking friends and family for reviews is always a bad idea. I say it to suggest just how much worse I consider the alternative of sending your book out into the world pure naked and unheralded--or with nothing but vague fluff on its behalf. If you could get your mother to write a review pointing out the worst of your books flaws, so that readers know what they're getting into, that would work. It's just a...shall I say...highly improbable 'if'.

Hildegarde · Mar 3, 2013

Old Hack said:
I don't think Stacia was suggesting that publishers shouldn't hope to get reviews, Sage. I thought she was pointing out that asking friends and family to review your work risked crossing a line, because they're unlikely to give your work a negative review even if that's what it deserves. So you're manipulating your reviews in order to sell more copies.

At least, that's what I took from her comment.

Well, almost every traditionally published author in my local RWA chapter brings in a few ARCs and offers them up to anyone in the chapter that is willing to review. Since we are a pretty tight community - I think this falls under 'friends and family.' I also find it pretty acceptable.

Where you go more wrong is in asking for any types of specifics in the review. When my book came out, I sent out copies to a handful of other writers I knew with a request for an 'honest' review. I made it clear that if they were not comfortable reviewing after they read, there was no obligation. I got my first half a dozen reviews that way. After that, I went hands-off and let reviews come in as they would. That worked pretty well for me. I know a few of those reviews are probably slanted in my favor by an extra star or two, but I'm morally comfortable with the way I handled it. Like shameless pointed out - if the reviews are too skewed, you will likely get pushback.

I'm happy to hear dissenting discussion!

Stoane · Mar 4, 2013

That is one of my same questions Shameless. I was planning to use Amazon. You guys are great, all this information is absolutely priceless.

In being creative you also have to learn the ins and outs. The business side to doing what you love so that you do it right. I need all the help I can get!!

Dreadful Romantic · Mar 8, 2013

I self-published a sci-fi romance novel last year and will be putting out a second in the spring. At some point I'll probably start a thread in the self-publishing room detailing my experiences, but here's a condensed version: I wrote it in 2011 and then spent nearly a year researching how publishing works, then looked at which publishers are putting out SFR. It's a niche genre and doesn't appear to sell amazingly at the best of times, and after emailing with an author friend who's trade and self-published, I decided to do it myself.

I haven't recouped my costs for editing and cover art yet and don't expect to for a while. I have had a few blog reviews (none from any of my family and friends, who are forbidden to do so!). Self-publishing is a slow-going process--it took three months to sell my first 100 copies across all sales channels (with zero advertising except for tweeting and blogging as normal).

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