Today I’m very happy to host my good friend Theresa Ragan, one of my Wet Noodle Posse (Golden Heart class of 2003) buddies and an all-around cool lady. She dipped her toes into the self-publishing world before I did, and she’s having wonderful success and loving her decision. She’s here today to talk about her experience and to provide helpful tips.

Hello, Trish. Thanks for having me. I’ll start off by telling everyone about myself. I have been writing for 19 years. In that time, I joined RWA, finaled in the Golden Heart six times in three different categories, and wrote ten 400-page novels and too many proposals to count. My first love was writing romantic medieval time travels. If I had sold back then, I have a feeling I might still be writing medieval time travels.

Hoping to grab the interest of a NY publisher, though, I went on to write five romantic comedies, two romantic suspense novels, and one thriller. In February 2011, while I was waiting for my agent to read my most recent manuscript, Abducted (to be released soon), I asked my agent for permission to self-publish my two medieval time travels since these books had been gathering dust for far too long. I was given the thumbs up, so off I went to learn basic HTML coding. I began madly researching blogs and books on “how-to-format” for Kindle and Nook. After Return of the Rose and A Knight in Central Park were released on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords, I was hoping to sell 10 ebooks, but was astonished to see my $.99 book (A Knight in Central Park) hit #65 on the Bestseller list on Amazon books after being mentioned on Pixel of Ink. For a while there I was selling 550 to 580 books a day! Although sales for that book have since leveled off to about 125 books a day, and AKICP is now ranked in the 300’s and #2 in Time Travel Romance, I am definitely enjoying the ride and I want to share what I have learned with anyone who might be interested in self-publishing.

FYI: In under ten weeks, I have sold 10,000 ebooks. In royalties, that means approximately $6,800.

$6,800 is about what I was hoping for in advance money had I gone the traditional route. I am very happy with my decision to self-publish. I must say that other self-published authors warned me that choosing to self-publish would take over my life.

And they were right.

At the moment I am helping my fourth child set off for college. Like most of you out there, I am BUSY. Who has time for blogging and tweets and writing?! Not me. I gave up television a long time ago. I have nothing left to give up. So I am trying to prioritize. Husband, kids, animals, gym, promotion/marketing, formatting, editing, writing, house cleaning. That’s pretty much the order in which I have prioritized since I self-published in March, 2011.

To keep this blog from becoming another 400-page book, I am going to condense. I hope Trish and visitors will add suggestions because I am very new to this self-publishing world and I don’t know much.

1. FIRST THINGS FIRST: Write a great book! This is the easy part. Ha!

2. I learned basic HTML so I could make sure my ebooks would have smart quotes and wonderful looking m-dashes. If you hire someone to format your books, you can skip this part. I do think it would be helpful to download some ebooks on your PC or Ereader so you can look at various formats that other author’s have used.

3. I learned a lot about self-publishing by reading Joe Konrath’s blog, A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing at http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/

4. I downloaded Derek Canyon’s, Format Your Ebook for Kindle in One-Hour at http://amzn.to/lKXIWP

If you DO NOT want to spend time formatting, there are lots of people who will do it for you. Here is one place you can go for Kindle and Nook formatting: http://design.lkcampbell.com/

Here is another: http://rikhall.com/

I haven’t worked with either of these people, so I have no idea who you should use to format your ebooks. Do some research before you choose. Send them an email and get a quote.

5. My husband downloaded HomeSite5 on my PC so I could make changes in HTML and see those changes as I made them. He already had this software, so this did not cost me any money. You don’t need to do this. Many people use Notepad or Word to format their books and save as HTML for Kindle and Nook.

6. While your book is being formatted, I suggest you ready your bio, backcover blurb, pricing, etc.

7. Once my book was formatted and ready to go, I registered at KDP (this is where you go to download your ebook on Amazon): https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help

8. I registered at PubIt (this is where you go to download your ebook on Barnes & Noble): http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/

9. I registered at Smashwords.com. Smashwords distributes your ebook to the Apple iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Sony Reader Store, Kobo and the Diesel eBook Store. I have a lot to learn about Smashwords. Formatting was time consuming, so I hired Bryan Coker to format my latest book (bryansformatting@gmail.com), but I haven’t had time to download it yet. Email Bryan and tell him you would like a quote on having your book formatted for Smashwords.

10. Promotion/Marketing: Use your blog! Help other writers! Send out e-mails to your friends and family. READ Zoe Winters’ Becoming an Indie Author at: http://tinyurl.com/5tcqac8 This book is informative and interesting. It does NOT tell you how to format, but Zoe Winters will tell you what to expect when you self-publish.

When you register with KDP, Pubit, and Smashwords, all of these places will provide you with lots of tips and advice on how to market your book.

11. Print on Demand. If you want to hold a book in your hand, you can set up POD books with amazon through CreateSpace. I plan to do this with all of my books before the end of the year. It’s FREE! Or you can go with their pro plan for $39. Read all about it right here: https://www.createspace.com/

That’s it for now. If you decide to self-publish, I wish you TONS of success!

If you have any questions at all, let me know and I will do my best to answer them.

Thanks for having me, Trish.

Here’s some additional, helpful info for people looking to self-publish.

Cover art:

If you’re looking for another option for a good cover artist, try Kim Killion. She’s done covers for, Trish (Living in Color), Colleen Gleason (except Siberian Treasure) and many others as well. www.hotdamndesigns.com

*Dara England for cover art. She makes custom covers and she’s fast: http://mycoverart.wordpress.com/

Miscellaneous:

For lots of informative posts on Ebooks vs. Traditional Publishing: http://kriswrites.com/ Kristine Kathryn Rusch

All About Copyrights by Amanda Brice:  http://bit.ly/k8VRvu

Formatting for Kindle and Nook:

*LK Campbell: http://design.lkcampbell.com/

*Rik Hall:  http://rikhall.com/

We’re coming up on the one-year anniversary of the Healthy Writer blog, and in celebration we’ve expanded to a full site and given it all a new, spiffy look. Come on by and check it out.

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working on revising Coven, my paranormal YA. Today was dedicated to beginning work on synopses on books 2 and 3 of what I hope will be a trilogy. World building is fun but tiring. It’s off being read by the wonderful, fabulous, incredible Mary now.

Remember when summer was a wasteland as far as TV went? Granted, I’m TiVoing fewer shows in the summer, but there are still some. Foremost is Deadliest Catch, which is sadly gripping this season because the episodes are leading up to the death of Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie. Last week’s episode showed when he had his stroke, and the next few episodes cover the couple of weeks between that and when he passed away. Still doesn’t seem real even though it happened in February.

I’m also watching the latest season of Burn Notice (love Michael, Fiona and Sam, and new guy Jesse) and a new show called The Gates. Anyone watching this one? It’s like Desperate Housewives meets Eureka meets True Blood.

My first-ever online read at eHarlequin.com begins today. You can go here to read the first chapter.

The six authors who are taking part in the continuity series The Codys: The First Family of Rodeo are hosting a contest. Here are the details:

June kicks off the debut of Harlequin American Romance’s first-ever six-book continuity The Codys: First Family of Rodeo. In honor of this exciting occasion we’re running 6 one-day-a-month Social Media Blitz Contests at www.harauthors.blogspot.com

Contest Scoop
Beginning next month in June, an author in the continuity will post a blog at www.harauthors.blogspot.com and discuss her contribution to the The Codys: First Family of Rodeo series. After reading the author’s blog, post the link www.harauthors.blogspot.com, the title of the book and the author’s name to your Facebook, MySpace and or Twitter pages as well as your favorite blogs. The more places you link to and mention the author and her book, the more chances you have to win.

You can earn additional chances to win if you refer a friend and they in turn post a link to their favorite social media websites and blogs. Be sure to return to www.harauthors.blogspot.com and tell us where you’re spreading the word by posting the information in the comment section of the blog–that way we can keep a tally of your activity. Remember, it’s One Day Only Each Month June-November 2010!

Authors will be giving away prizes to several lucky winners. Your name will be entered into a drawing for each social media site you promote The Codys: First Family of Rodeo and for each friend you contact who in turn spreads the word through their favorite networks. You have twenty-four hours to link to us and win! The author will post the winners in the comment section of her blog the next day–be sure to return to see if you’re one of the lucky winners.

On June 5th Senior Editor for American Romance, Kathleen Scheibling will introduce The Codys: First Family of Rodeo to readers and the following day on June 6th Rebecca Winters kicks off the Social Media Blitz Contest with the first book in the series– Walker: The Rodeo Legend!

With the help of our faithful readers we’re hoping that on June 6th the web is buzzing with chatter about The Codys: First Family of Rodeo!

I’m being auctioned off! Okay, not really. But I have donated some critiques and books to be auctioned for good causes.

Up now is a critique of the first 25 pages of an unpublished young adult manuscript and an autographed copy of my first YA novel, Heartbreak River. This is to benefit diabetes research and is sponsored by author Brenda Novak, whose son has diabetes. You can access the auction listing (and bid!) here.

Tomorrow (Sunday, May 9), I’ll have a similar package available on the Do the Write Thing for Nashville auction to benefit flood victims here in Middle Tennessee. While my auction isn’t up yet, you’ll want to go over and look through all the fabulous auctions available now. I’ve bid on a few myself. Books, critiques, phone calls with agents, and all kinds of good stuff is just waiting for your bid.

You know how people make New Year’s Resolutions? Well, I’m going to make some spring resolutions. And yes, I know spring has been around for a month now. But I’ve just recently gotten caught up with some deadlines and in catch-up mode this week. Resolution No. 1 is to update this blog every day, and the entire site at least once a week. So look for shiny new content from me daily!

Since last I blogged, I’ve turned in some edits on my October book, written and turned in an online read for eHarlequin that will we debut at the end of May (more on that as the day approaches), attended the Southern Kentucky Book Festival in Bowling Green where I got to hang out with Teresa Medeiros, Susan Crandall, Molly Harper, Karen White, Bente Gallagher and fellow Harlequin American author Laura Bradford. It was fun to catch up with Teresa. We’d not had the opportunity to talk in a long time. And Molly and I discovered we’re originally from the same neck of the woods and are both former newspaper reporters in Western Kentucky. Cue “It’s a Small World.” Come back tomorrow for a bit more on this event, including pictures.

And speaking of It’s a Small World, I had a fabulous three days at Walt Disney World in Florida prior to the RWA board meeting. Friends and fellow board members Stephanie Feagan, Terry McLaughlin and Stephanie’s daughter joined me for some quality time in Mouse-land. Here we are outside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, which has been Johnny Depp-ified since I was there last with the hubby in 2004.

The week after I got back from that trip to Florida, I went back to Ft. Walton Beach for an all-girls family trip. My sister and two nieces had flown in for a visit and we went to pick up my Mom and all headed to Ft. Walton Beach. I admit I was a bit nervous because Mom has some health issues and she’s not been more than an hour away from home since she had a heart attack last year. But she had never seen the ocean, so we rented a van and off we went. Here’s Mom during her first time to ever stand on a beach at the ocean. That’s the condo complex where we stayed in the background.

And here I am with my sister and nieces the night before they flew back home.

Little Niece was quite proud of her temporary tattoo she’d gotten from a machine at the Pizza Hut in my hometown.

It’s been a very busy beginning to the year, but now that we’ve finally emerged from the winter that seemed to not want to end I’m sprucing up the Web site content, including new, regular posts on this blog.

So, what have I been doing? I had to do revisions to Elly: Cowgirl Bride, which is due out in October as part of a six-book, multi-author continuity series. When I finished those and turned them in, I had to read like a mad woman to finish judging the RITA contest for RWA. I had some good books in my packet, one of which I enjoyed so much that I went out and bought the sequel. This week is a massive catch-up week including exciting things like getting all my business taxes stuff in order so hubby can do our taxes. Oh, will the fun never end!

I do have some good news to share. Last week, I sold my first eHarlequin online read! We’re still working out the details, but it’s going to be a weekly serial connected to the continuity series I mentioned above. It starts on eHarlequin’s Web site at the end of May and runs for eight weekly installments.

For those of you in or near Bowling Green, Kentucky, I just put some details on the homepage of this site, over in the Appearances sidebar, about my attendance at the Southern Kentucky Book Fest on April 17. Hope to see some of you there.

The hubby went back to work today after two weeks off, and that means I got back to my normal routine. No more sleeping in because no alarm clock is going off. No more staying up until 2 or 3 a.m. reading. I have revisions due on one book in about two months, I want to work in revisions to a YA, and I’m writing another YA. I’m also shooting for 2 hours of exercise a day in my quest to get to my goal weight by my birthday. So, yes, busy days ahead.

We had the first snowflakes of the season this morning as hubby was headed to work. They stopped once the sun came out, and what few were stuck to the grass and the deck quickly disappeared despite it being cold, cold, cold today. It’s like the New Year’s ball dropped in Times Square and the temps decided to drop with it. Right now it’s 20 degrees with a wind chill of 7! And we’re headed for 12 degrees tonight. Brrrrrrrrr! Not supposed to get above freezing tomorrow. Have I mentioned that January is my least favorite month of the year? Oh well, I’m going to be so busy that it’ll be spring before I know it.

Considering a recent phone conversation with my father-in-law recently started with him asking, “Have you died?”, I think perhaps it’s time to do a better job blogging.

And as luck would have it, I have something exciting to share — the cover for my second young adult novel, Winter Longing, which is set to come out next August. I really like it, and I’m hoping it will make people pick it up off store shelves and race to the cash register. What do you think?

I just turned in a proposal for a trilogy to my agent, who sent it to my editor at Harlequin American. I’m hopeful she loves it as much as my agent who said she “loved every word!” I heart my agent.

I’ve also got lots of other things out there under submission, so Santa, if you’re listening, I’d like a new contract for Christmas!

After 10 hours of having workers in the house yesterday, it was nice to have my domain back to myself today. As a result, I got some house cleaning done, a bit of exercise, and a lot of book research. I love the feeling of getting things accomplished.

I mentioned yesterday that I’d be blogging a bit about the new TV season, and I’m going to start out by directing you over to the Nobody Writers it Better blog where I’m blogging today about Stargate Universe (SGU). It’s part of what is giving me my sci-fi fix each week, and it’s filling the hole left by the end of Battlestar Galactica and Stargate Atlantis. Even if you not a big sci-fi geek like me, come on over and read about SGU. It’s a very character-driven show, so you might like it despite all the space stuff.

I have been woefully remiss in keeping up with my blog, but that’s about to change. Blogging is sort of like writing books — if you miss one day working on it, it becomes easier to miss two, then three, and so on. But I’m energized by a planning session I had late last week in which I made writing plans for the rest of 2009, and I’m rededicating myself to blogging here each day.

So, what have I been up to since I last blogged here in mid September? Well, I spoke at the Moonlight & Magnolias Conference

Went to my 20-year high school reunion

Spoke at the member retreat for River City Romance Writers in Memphis

Have been enjoying the new TV season (I’ll do a separate post about this sometime this week, but I have to give a squeeful shoutout to the beginning of Castle last night when Nathan Fillion’s character, Richard Castle, dressed up for Halloween as Captain Mal, aka Captain Tightpants, from his Firefly days!)

Been working on some new story ideas

Been doing a lot of yard work and general prep for winter (like the duct-cleaning guys are here now)

Keeping up with my Healthy Writer blog (come by and check us out!) and continuing with my regular blog days at the Romance Bandits, Supernatural Sisters, Wet Noodle Posse, Harlequin American Authors and Nobody Writes is Better blogs

Got new author photos taken

And generally just keeping up with all of the everyday demands.

So, what is everyone else working on/doing this fall?