Update - Cover Reveal! - How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Self-Publish

I’ve been thinking about self-publishing for some time now. Of course, I also think about getting more exercise, and all that thinking does me a great deal of good.

But anyway. I like being published by a company which will handle the cover art and editing and formatting, and I still intend to try for this at every opportunity.

Last year, though, I considered putting a short story up just to test the waters. Because I had no idea where to start, I emailed Merri Hiatt. I loved her positive yet realistic approach to book production and sales. I figured if anyone could help me, she could.

Merri responded promptly and sent me a copy of the Smashwords Style Guide. Let’s just say I am not a technical person and found this a bit overwhelming. Since I didn’t need to have the short story out this way (submitting to magazines was an option), I shelved my self-publishing plans.

But this year my novel The Deepest Ocean came out, and a couple of the reviews mentioned wanting to see more of the heroine and her great white shark. This gave me ideas for a couple of novellas and I wrote them in a white-hot streak of creativity.

Except these didn't fit my publisher's requirements, and since they featured the characters (and shark) from the novel, they couldn't be sent elsewhere. In other words, they were ideal for self-publishing.

The question was how much I’d have to spend in advance. There are several reasons I like commercial publishing, but a major one is that there’s no money out of my pocket beforehand. Still, these are novellas, so I'm not planning to bring them out in paperback, and there's at least one other area where I can cut costs as well. More on that to come.

Ultimately, though, I’ve taken the first step to becoming a hybrid author—and that step is to have written something that I want to self-publish. I don't know if the novellas will sell, but that's a risk I'm prepared to take. A risk I'm comfortable with. I'm mentally prepared for this journey in a way I wasn't before.

So let the voyage begin.

To be continued...

Thanks, Gringa. I'll keep this thread updated with what I learn!

Bubastes said:

How exciting! I wish you much success.

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Thank you! It is exciting - in a scary, never-done-this-before way.

WriterBN said:

Good luck! You really can do most of the work yourself, except for copyediting/proofreading. It doesn't have to cost a fortune.

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Well, I can't do cover art. But I have a whole post on that coming up.

Thanks for the good wishes!

Dreity said:

Have you read Brian McClellan's guest post on Chuck Wendig's blog? He talks a bit about being a hybrid author, which is sounding more and more like an enticing concept.

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No, I haven't - thanks for the tip. I'll look into that.

And yeah, I needed a plan. I'm just not the kind of person who's comfortable winging it. I needed to have a few things solidly in place before I even wrote this post.

I also have *counts on fingers* three other novellas out on submission to various places, plus two novels out from Samhain next year, plus another manuscript in the works that I plan to send to Samhain because it's the next in the sharkpunk series. And ideally, before the end of this year, I'll be querying agents for a fantasy manuscript. So yeah, definitely hybrid.

Whimsical Writing said:

Queen, you sound a lot like me, only minus the interested publisher/published books (I tried, but no interest from agents). I sat on the self-publishing fence for a very long time (too long). I finally self-pubbed last week, and I'm so happy I did. It is really gratifying work, IMO. I did my own covers, art, website, etc.

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You're a whole lot more talented than I am, then! I can barely manage to update my website properly. One of the things on my to-do is is "call Bluehost technical support and ask them how in the world to arrange links in the order I want them".

Art shouldn't be too much of a problem, though. More on that to come. And I'm not overly worried about editing. It's really just the technical side of it (and knowing the difference between D2D, KDP, etc).

It'll be interesting to get your perspective about which side you like better. I wish you great luck. Fortunately, these great writers/authors on here are fantastic resources.

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Oh yeah. I really like S. L. Huang's breakdown of the costs involved. I find that people here are encouraging but realistic - there's no "Yeah! Stick it to the man!" rah-rahing; instead there's plenty of information and support.

mrsmig said:

All I can say is: Yay! More sharks!

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Well, it's still romantic fantasy. Yay! Moar romance!

But yeah, the first novella features the shark vs. ...no, mustn't spoil it.

Mclesh said:

Congrats! I look forward to reading your updates.

I never planned to self-publish either, but I've found it to be surprisingly freeing in certain ways. Best of luck to you!

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Thank you! Worst comes to worst, at least I'll be able to say I've tried it.

Katje said:

Smashwords can be frustrating, in my experience, but it's really good for getting into several markets at once and it's the lesser of the evils. So despite my issues with it I still recommend it to anyone thinking of self-pubbing.

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That's something I'll have to think about. D2D or Smashwords? I just read David Gaughran's article on the topic, which helped clarify a few things. I suspect I'll end up going with whichever gives me fewer headaches.

J. Tanner said:

The tech side mostly requires patience as you iron out the wrinkles by asking the fine folks here whatever the next question is at the moment.

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Oh, I have no doubt I'll be asking questions. For me, the writing, the cover art, the editing and the blurb are the fun parts. What comes after that may be another issue.

Literateparakeet said:

Welcome to the Dark Side, LOL! Seriously though congratulations. Being a hybrid author is actually my dream too. There really are pros and cons to either method of publishing, and I would like to experience both.

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Thank you! Yes, I figure whatever happens I'll at least have the experience of trying this. As long as I'm not too much out of pocket, I can't see any downside.

LadyDae said:

Congrats about getting over you worry. I know the feeling. Sometimes you have to take a risk and hey, it's better to take a risk and give it your all than to never try out of fear.

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Thanks. And yeah, I figure I can't start much smaller and safer than this. I even have a couple of ideas where to send the ARCs to.

The previous process for cover art was simple. I filled out a form with a brief plot summary, the motifs and elements I’d like to see on the cover, and short descriptions of the hero and heroine. Then I sent it off to my editor.

Some time later, I’d get a cover and be asked what I thought, but unless something was egregiously wrong, it wasn’t going to be changed. Fortunately Samhain gave me a brilliant cover artist, and I always get compliments on the covers she put together.

But now what was I to do about my novellas “Secret Water” and “Silent Water”? I felt at sea. No pun intended.

One thing I was sure of was that I didn’t want a cover that looked like an obvious Photoshop product with a title slapped on a stock image. I saw enough of those when I was putting together the PublishAmerica cover thread. That ruled out doing the cover myself.

Thankfully there was AW to fall back on. I went to the Cover Design forum and browsed the thread where designers offered contact information and showed examples of their work. The sheer variety was a little overwhelming, but I didn’t have much money to spend. That automatically ruled out any covers which might be $200 or more. Having to buy two would double the cost, though.

Then it occurred to me there might be another way to save money while still having a good cover.

The novellas feature the same character in the same setting. Why not have the cover be the same except for a change in one obvious, striking motif? Just like the covers in an erotica series where each features legs, but the color of the shoes is altered (I saw that in someone’s sig here and can’t remember whose). That way I could afford one great cover, rather than two mediocre covers, while still showing that the novellas were different.

So I picked out a few cover designers from the thread and emailed them. All responded promptly, and all of them said that since the covers were going to be the same except for the title and one change, they could offer a large discount on the second one. I’ll keep them in mind for the future, but the one I decided to go with was a bit of an unexpected late addition to my list.

I’d liked Amber Feldkamp’s premade covers when they first appeared on AW, but when I originally browsed her website there was none with a shark fin and the site said she wasn’t doing custom covers at the time. For some reason I checked the website again after I’d emailed the other designers, and that had changed. She was accepting requests, so I jumped on it.

Amber created a mockup fast. Speed alone wouldn’t have won me over, because one thing you get used to in trade publishing is waiting, but there was something I really liked about one of the images she’d chosen. With other designers, I’d said one of the elements I wanted was a woman on a rock overlooking the sea. They sent images of women lounging (no) or sitting (which I was OK with).

Amber sent a picture of a woman standing with an outflung arm, as if she was holding back the tide. This stance hadn’t occurred to me, but once I saw the image I knew it was right.

This is why covers are one of the nerve-wracking things about self-publishing, for me. No regrets, but I’m very much aware I’m in charge of something I’m not overly familiar with.

Thankfully Amber knew what she was doing. Her positioning of the title was brilliant. And I knew better than to get overly specific (“the woman should be wearing an ankle-length gunmetal grey dress with a blue belt and a knife hanging at her right hip and…”) or to request too many elements on the cover.

All I really wanted was the woman, the sea, the shark’s fin in the water and the moon overhead. The moon was the element which would change: blue for one novella, red for the other. I also requested that my name be on the bottom in a typeface that mirrored that on my Samhain books, to show they’re in the same series.

After I asked that, though, it occurred to me to wonder if my Samhain cover artist would be OK with that. Especially since the title was the same bronzy-gold color as that on my Samhain books, standing out beautifully from the dark background.

But when I emailed to make sure I wasn’t treading on her turf, she assured me this wasn’t the case at all and told me she liked the cover scheme I showed her. So that was a relief.

I’ll be posting the covers here as soon as I can.

Another thing I hadn't expected about the process, by the way, was how bad I felt about telling the other cover designers thanks, but I decided to go with someone else. Especially since they replied to my original email with images to say "is this what you have in mind"? They were all so nice.

I had to tell myself that this is a business and rejection is part of that business.

I also felt uncomfortable about asking for changes and tweaks to the covers. But that's also part of the business, and I had to tell myself 1. I'm paying for it 2. the cover artist wouldn't want me to be silent and unsatisfied with the final product.

Learning a lot these days...

Literateparakeet said:

I can't wait to see the covers. I love the "finding cover art" part of the process. It's something I would definitely miss if I were with a trade publisher.

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With self-publishing, it's great to know the cover will turn out more or less exactly as I want it. I'm really pleased with the final product (and can't wait to reveal it here!).

But on the other hand, that's money out of my pocket, and I don't have experience in gauging what cover designs work in terms of attracting readers. There are a lot of covers which I haven't liked, but which an art department and marketing department approved of. So I do find it less stressful when the final decision is out of my hands. Pros and cons on both sides for me.