Can
you give us a brief overview of your latest book?
I am constantly writing and in the past 3 months
have released two books, one fiction and the other non-fiction.
The latter is "Cat Pies" - a collection
of feline historical trivia. This book answers questions such as: why is cat
gut called 'cat gut' when it's made from sheep intestines, who invented the cat
flap and did the Victorian's eat cat meat? The idea behind 'Cat Pies' came to
me as a result of my blog posts, which are a blend of my passion for
history…and cats
My latest fiction release is "Eulogy's
Secret." This historical romance is a story of greed, prejudice
and a stolen identity.
In the four weeks since her guardians’ death, Eulogy Foster has lost
everything. Penniless and alone she seeks the help of her estranged brother,
Lord Lucien Devlin. But Devlin throws Eulogy out onto the streets and the mercy
of a passing stranger, Jack Huntley. As Eulogy seeks the truth behind her
birth, she is drawn into the world of art and artists, where her morals are
challenged and all is deception.
Jack Huntley: bitter, cynical and betrayed in love. He believes women
are devious, scheming, untrustworthy creatures - and when he rescues a naïve
Miss from being raped, his life is about to change forever. As his attraction
to Eulogy grows, caught in a deadlock with both denying their true feelings,
events take a sinister turn as someone seeks to silence Eulogy….forever.
The book was great fun to write and I hope readers
will find it an absorbing page turner to read.
Did
you try the traditional route to publishing, i.e. querying agents/publishers?
Like most writers, I thought approaching publishers
and agents was the only way to go, but now I know differently! Eulogy's Secret is my second published
novel, but my first independently published book. My debut historical romance
was A Dead Man's Debt, which was
published by Solstice Publishing. I will forever be grateful to Solstice for
taking me on, because without them I would never have had the confidence to
strike out on my own.
That said, it rapidly became apparent that although
I had a publisher, the main burden of marketing and promotion fell on my
shoulders, whilst they took the lion's share of the royalties. After much debate,
I decided to go Indie with Eulogy's
Secret and hand-on-heart, I haven't regretted it for a minute.
Perhaps I'm a power freak, but I love have total
control over cover design, editing, price point etc. It enables me to try
different marketing strategies and to find out what works best for me and my
books. And then there's the obvious benefit of a higher share of the royalties!
What's not to like? Who knows what I'd do if ever I was approached by a major
publisher (well, you've got to dream!) but for now I'm no longer wasting my
time approaching agents and publishers because it's Indie all the way.
What
factors influenced your decision to self-publish to Amazon?
If I'm truthful the major factor is a personal one.
I'm a Kindle owner. I love my kindle and it goes everywhere, and I mean
everywhere, with me. I was one of the early users of eReaders of which my first
device was a Sony 550. I found the Sony a bit 'clunky' to download books and so
one birthday my hubs kindly bought me a Kindle. Talk about being converted! The
Kindle is such a great product and so easy to load books onto, as as a reader I
know that authors whose books aren’t on Amazon are missing out.
Did
you hire an editor to review your manuscript before publishing?
Totally, 100% yes. It is essential to make an indie
book as professional as possible. As an author, I could not possibly edit a
book myself to a high enough standard. I know the story so well I start to go
word blind and also I'd far rather use my time writing the next book. Although
I use beta readers to give their opinion on character consistency, plot flow etc,
an editor's input is also an essential as part of this process. I was lucky
enough to find an editor who is a specialist in the Georgian period (I write
regency romance) - and she spots the odd incongruity of speech or gesture, not
appropriate to the period. Invaluable!
What
have you learned during your self-publishing journey?
I have learnt so much by going Indie, mainly about
the generosity of other authors (a perfect example is Debra, whose blog I'm
appearing on today! Thank you, Debra.) There is a camaraderie amongst the indie
community that is awe-inspiring and makes you feel part of a team, even though
you are alone at your laptop.
I've also learnt that nothing is fixed, that if a new
opportunity comes along (such as Kindle Select) then give it a go. You never
know, your book might end up at #1 (as both Eulogy's
Secret and Cat Pies did in their
respective free download categories.) Above all, it's taught me to be optimistic,
that if you have a great story that's professionally edited, your book can
challenge the best.
Besides
Amazon, are there any other sites where your books are for sale?
I am one of the early adopters of the Amazon Select
program and until the end of March, my books are only available at Amazon.
Prior to this they were also to be found on Smashwords, All Romance eBooks,
Kobo, Nook etc. I'm still keeping an open mind as to what I'll do when my
initial period ends with Select, but it's likely I'll broaden my base again and
go back to those other platforms.
What
kinds of marketing [twitter, facebook, blog, forums] are you involved with for
promoting your book(s)?
I
love social media and am active on many forums. I post regularly on the
following sites:
Twitter:
@Grace_Elliot
Email: Grace
(dot) elliot (at) virginmedia (dot) com
Do
you find it difficult to juggle your time between marketing your current book
and writing your next book?
In
answer to your question, it's a case of 'not enough hours in the day. What
works best for me is if I write first, and when I've achieved my target (be it
a word count or editing a chapter) then I'll allow myself onto Kindle Boards or
Facebook - where I lose myself for hours.
Last
November I took part in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and this
really helped me focus. With NaNoWriMo you have a set word target to be
achieved each day - this was a much higher number than I normally achieve and I
was amazed at what could be done. Now my secret weapon in the writing war is to
set myself targets, and only move onto marketing once the former has been met
for the day.
What
advice would you give a new author just entering into the self-publishing
arena?
It's a great idea for new authors to join forums
such as the Writers Café at Kindle Boards. There are plenty of alternative platforms out there on the
web, but it's crucial to a part of one of them. The advice and depth of
knowledge in these threads is invaluable and there are so many generous writers
who will answer your questions on anything from polishing your blurb to tax.
Plus, when you get the inevitable bad review that makes you feel that quitting
forever, there is so much support to be had from writers who have been there,
that you wont feel so alone
What’s next for you?
I'm
nearing the edit stage of the next book in the Huntley trilogy, titled Hope's Betrayal. This story features the middle Huntley
brother, Captain George Huntley, who has been sent to the south coast of
England to sort out a smuggling problem. Unfortunately for Huntley, when he
captures one of the smugglers, he also ends up losing his heart.
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