Today I’d like to welcome one of my fellow author friends, Brendan Carroll. Brendan has just released his latest addition to the Assassin Chronicle series, The Red Cross of Gold XIX: How Men Do It.
Brendan, the floor is yours!
In this latest installment, the adventures of the semi-Immortal Templar ruling council continue. The Knight of Death, Chevalier Mark Ramsay is facing old enemies on several fronts. Two of his most formidable foes have been very busy in the Abyss, laying waste to the Seventh Gate of the Ancient Watchers. Mark is the only one strong enough to brave the depths of the halls of dust and ashes and repair a breach in the wall before the ancient terrors that lie beyond hell make a mad dash for freedom. He is beset by many loose ends leftover from the elven wars, not the least of which is a new Elven King who wishes to learn about the ways of mankind in order to further the evolution of his people.
The Assassin Chronicles has also evolved over the last few decades as one of the driving forces in my life. I started the series back in the nineties as a sort of hobby, which at the time, I had no hope of ever publishing. Over the past few years, the publishing industry has undergone massive changes with more changes in the offing, which can only be even better news for the Independent Authors otherwise known as Indie Authors. The same phenomenal growth as recently experienced in the Indie Film Producers and Indie Musical Artists fields can be expected to continue for Indie Publishers as more author hopefuls and formerly mainstream, traditionally published authors join the ranks of Indie Authors, self-publishing their own works in order to take advantage of higher royalty percentages and greater contractual freedom that virtually eliminates the need for agents, publicists and publishing houses.
The current availability of Amazon’s publishing site for Independent Authors wishing to publish works for use in the Amazon Kindle and other eBook readers requires no upfront expenditures and leaves the author in full possession of rights to publication with only a few restrictions. The 70% royalty rate for published works selling between $2.99-$9.99 is unprecedented in the publishing industry. The current and growing success rate for Independent Authors is, to say the least, unexpected and borderline fantastic.
Though no one can claim that the sun is setting on the Traditional Publishing Houses, they are now being forced to recognize the growth and evolution of the eBook as a viable alternative for a number of talented authors who might have otherwise never been picked up for publication, and they must also recognize that the eBook market is making huge advances in comparison to traditional published paperback and hardbacks.
The recent fall of Blockbuster Videos into bankruptcy can be directly attributed to the rise of such online services as Netflix and conveniently placed automated sources for video rentals such as Redbox. While I do not hope for or predict that the same fate awaits the traditional publishing houses, there is evidence that recent trends may point to eBooks giving the trade publishers the so-called ‘run for the money’.
Personally, I am an Independent Author and I will continue to be an Independent Author in light of the relatively small advances, comparatively complex contracts and virtual impossibility of access for authors seeking Traditional Publication. I have had numerous persons ask me how hard it is to write a book. The answer to that question in my honest opinion is that it is not hard to write a book. Anyone with even elementary skills in typing, spelling and grammar can write a book. The hard work comes from the seemingly never-ending editing/proofreading necessary to make the work as perfect as possible before publication. Even harder than perfection of details is the Art of Promotion. Trying to decide where to promote, how to promote and when to promote in my case was a strictly trial and error process, much of which was and still is quite painful.
Writing is fun, interesting and entertaining as a hobby, but it is getting harder and harder for an author, especially a new author , to find a strategy that works and sells books while avoiding those inevitable traps and snares set by every Tom, Dick and Harry outfit out there who wants to prey upon the hopes and dreams of aspiring writers, offering them so-called wonderful opportunities, no-fail marketing techniques and dubious professional services such as editing, reviewing and promoting for a small investment. My best advice to anyone just starting out in the fine art of self-publishing and promoting is to avoid anyone offering to do something that you can do for yourself and charging money for it. Check out the numerous forums for writers on the web and read everything with a grain of salt.
In the meantime, I would like to thank my fans and supporters for making my Independent Authorship a success and wish all of you a wonderful experience whether it be as an eBook reader or an eBook writer!!
My books can be found at:
Paperback: The Red Cross of Gold
Kindle eBook: The Red Cross of Gold I:. The Knight of Death
Kindle eBook: The Red Cross of Gold XIX:. How Men Do It
My Blog is at: http://redcrossofgold.blogspot.com
I can also be found hanging out at http://www.Kindleboards.com , http://www.wordpress.com, http://www.Goodreads.com and http://www/Librarything.com and
Well said, Mr. Carroll. Great interview, Ms. Martin!
ReplyDeleteThanks Maureen! I can't tell you how much I enjoy getting to know so many authors. It's really been wonderful!
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