Adventures in the Writing Business I

In July, it will be two years since I published my first novel The Aledan, a scifi romance set in the distant future, at Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). I learned about direct electronic publishing, perusing Amazon’s website from something and learned that I could self publish my books purely by accident---for FREE!  All I had to do was upload the files and create covers.

Basically, anybody can use a computer and word processing program can do it. KDP gives you the instructions, and KDP is not the only direct publishing company that allows individuals to publish their work free of charge.  You’re not limited to publishing electronically either. In addition to publishing my Aledan Series on Kindle, I published them in paperback as well through CreateSpace an Amazon related company. You can publish free there also---IF you do all the work of editing and formatting yourself.

How can it be free? No books are printed until there is an order. Your book is stored electronically until someone places and order and pays for it. The price is determined by the cost of printing the book, and profit margin.  When you submit your book and it’s approved, they determine their cost and state the minimum retail price you should sell the book for to cover their cost and give you a small royalty on the sale of each book. CreateSpace allows the author to buy their own printed books at cost plus shipping whether you order one or one hundred. This includes proofs.

So, I published five novels that took me years to write. It wasn’t something that I did on a whim overnight. I had to do major rewrites on all of them to reflect the technological changes that happened in the years since I started them. Before I discovered direct publishing, I spent years submitting work to traditional publishers.  All I had to show for that work was a pile of rejection letters and a pile of rejected manuscripts.  The times my work was accepted, the companies folded before anything was published.

That doesn’t necessarily mean I’m a bad writer. In part, it means the traditional publishers didn’t think publishing and marketing my book would meet their required profit margin. If they agree to publish your work, they pay someone to proof read and edit it. Then they pay to print and advertise it. A traditional publisher has a great deal of money invested before a book ever goes on sale.

Being a self-published author means you either must pay someone to edit and market your book; or you must do all that yourself. The cost can run into thousands of dollars. The hardest part for me is always the proof reading my own work, where typos in other people’s work may as well be highlighted.  When I find them, I sometimes will send a polite email and give the author the location of the typo so they can fix it and upload the corrections. I have corrected and uploaded my own books a few times.

Do I make lots of money publishing my own work? No, but it keeps me from being bored with retirement.   

To learn more about direct publishing visit the KDP website https://kdp.amazon.com .

The Alien Badass Complete Series Box Set (Books 1 - 4) (Optorio Chronicles)

I just loved this book! I had the privilege to receive an ARC copy of this book and could hardly put it down. Now I never read the previous books in the series, but I had no trouble jumping into the plot.  Shades of Firefly---we have Tyvekian Captain Avyn and his crew who fought on the wrong side against the Interplanetary Coalition for independence of Tyvek. He and his crew are smugglers and fugitives earning their living the best they can while avoiding capture by the IC.  That would be death to all of them.

A risky venture to salvage a crate of diamond brings IC officer Cassie into the picture. Crew member Dyl, the biggest badass of the crew is not happy about rescuing Cassie from the wreckage of the salvage ship because she is a member of the coalition. Despite being an outlaw, Avyn refuses to leave her there to die. His intent is to drop her off at her colony and go on his merry way.

But the job was a setup and they barely escape getting blown into space dust.  Dyl, the muscle of the crew but not the brightest is convinced that Cassie was somehow in on it. Cassie has her own bitter experience with the IC that she is not willing to share initially until Pyq, the female member of the crew befriends her. Dyl is unhappy that Avyn persists in giving her the benefit of the doubt.

Although the story has some parallels with the Firefly series, and other space opera themes, the characters make it unique. They get into one scrape after another but they persist with the belief they can come out on top even when it looks like they might just die. Unlike most TV series where the romance almost never quite comes to fruition, this one does and I like the way it was handled.

Like I said in the beginning, I loved this book.  When I came to the end, I wanted more of these characters and their adventures. Great job Ruth Anne!

Review of Alien Mate by Cara Bristol

Amazon

Quoting the blurb from Amazon:

"I'm Starr Elizabeth Conner. Earth's government falsely convicted me of a crime, packed me on a ship with other female felons, and sent us to Dakon, a primitive, frozen wasteland of a planet. Why? Earth needs minerals, and Dakon is desperate for females.

But I'm no barbarian’s 'mail order bride,' even if he is super tall, muscular, and the chief of his tribe. He doesn’t want a BBW blonde, either--it's written all over his chiseled face. He'll be truly angry if he ever learns what my 'crime' was.

I am Torg. I have waited 34 rotations for a mate of my own. With this shipment, I was sure to get a fine, sturdy mate who'll bear me many daughters. Instead, I receive a small, curvy, pale-haired female who looks at me with anger and fear.

It is only when we 'kiss' that I believe things may work out between us. But I'm hearing rumors that Starr and her shipmates are law-breakers. To survive, Dakonians must obey all laws … or be exiled into the frozen wasteland. Just when I have found her, will I have to send my mate to die?"

The blurb above put me in mind of how law breakers were sent to settle Australia in the early days of colonization and the mail order brides of the 19th century.

Dakon, a post modern world set back to the stone age by an asteroid, was discovered to be rich in illuvian rocks. These rocks are converted to power on Earth and the barbarian society on Dakon is happy to give Earth those rocks in exchange for women to help them repopulate their world. The powers that be use this as an opportunity to get rid of 50 female convicts by sending them to Dakon to be mates of the barbarians.

Wrongly convicted of murder, Starr Connor was the only woman who hadn't volunteered.  It was that or prison. Starr is a curvy blue eyed blond of 5’3” and the last to be chosen by the chief of his camp who is late for the choosing. Starr sees his disappointment when he first arrives, but then Torg is just happy to have a mate.  She thinks he doesn't want her because she is a BBW. He is tall, and strong, and handsome and kind.  Starr finds herself falling for him as he carries her to his camp when she falters in the deep snow, cold and wet. She is thrilled when he tells her she is too skinny.

Cara Bristol has put a new face on an old story, telling it in a way that has enough surprises so that it’s not predictable. It’s told in first person in alternating points of view between Starr and Torg. It’s just a great story with interesting characters.  Without giving away any spoiler, I liked the way the relationship developed between Starr and Torg and the steamy sex.

It kept me turning the pages and wishing for more story when it ended. It you’re into Alien Romances, don’t pass this one up. It was a great read.

Chris Myers

 Copyright © 2017

All rights Reserved

Review of Daleko Mates II by Ruth Anne Scott

 

                       Quoting the blurb from Amazon:

“It’s been a year since private Cal Brayden returned to Earth after 

his role in a disastrous mission to Daleko. He’s spent the year tangled in legal red tape, on probation as his command tries to decide whether or not to fire him.

Mazuna Tyn is a galactic ambassador with a secret she’s been keeping from the government: she’s mixed-species. Her father was a slyseh from Holn, a planet that neighbors Daleko. Mazuna looks human enough to pass, but she steers clear of relationships with humans, for fear that what’s underneath her clothes will give her away.

When Earth sends a crew to Holn to negotiate a land deal, they tap Brayden and Mazuna to go. There’s friction and fire in equal measures between the two, but as their attraction builds, so does the weight of their secrets. Can they find a way to be together in a world that might not understand their love?”

When I am not writing, I enjoy good books. Reading other people’s work is not only entertaining but it often sparks my imagination to a whole different tangent from what I have read. From time to time I do ARC reviews for other authors.  I’ve read a number of her previous works and it just seems to get better and better.

The characters are multi-dimensional and the romance between Mazuna and Brayden is not instantaneous and believable. Their attraction for each other lies just under the surface through nearly all their interactions.

After Brayden’s screw up of his last mission to Daleko, he is lucky to get one more chance on Mazuna’s diplomatic mission to Holn. Despite her attraction to Brayden, she is not sure he is right for the job but agrees to work with him anyway. Brayden thinks that different species should not mate. He doesn’t know that Mazuna has a thirty-year-old secret that she has been keeping.

Initially it seems like they are trying to make the relationship work not only for the mission but because of their attraction for each other. The experience changes them both for the better as they grow to love each other which is evident long before they say it.

The world building was excellent and the different species of aliens were interesting. Fans of this author should be pleased with this story. Those who are not already fans should be come fans. This was a really good read with no cliff hanger.

Chris Myers