For the past few months I have been wondering how my novels would translate to the big or small screen. What would the characters that I created look like, and how would the story be received as a movie? With the release of my first audiobook earlier this month, the idea began to grow like Jack's beanstalk. I've always enjoyed books as they allow my imagination to bring the characters and settings alive, painting a picture in my mind, seen only by me. When a book I have enjoyed has been made into a movie, I have often been disappointed as the interpretation of the story differed too much from my own interpretation of the book. There are exceptions, of course, such as the Harry Potter series of movies. I think the screenwriters, directors, producers and cast all did an excellent job of bringing the series alive. I am certain that J.K. Rowling must have had a significant role in how the movies were made as the stories were "true" to the books. There have been other books that I have read that were made into movies that I did not like. Had I not read the book first, I may have enjoyed the movie, but I didn't. The reasons I didn't care for the movies vary from not liking the interpretation of the story to the actor's portrayal of a favorite character or feeling too much of the original story was missing or changed. Whatever the reason, I, like many others, often have mixed feelings about a beloved book becoming a movie. To get back to my original point though, I began thinking more and more about what my books would look like if they were made into movies. It didn't help that at least once a week I have a reader contact me asking when a movie would be made; they would love to see Alex, Maggie and, of course, crazy Brenda and Connie come to life in a movie. Many of the fans of my Bloodlines Series also want to see Cove Point Manor, the Gilded Age mansion that holds so many secrets. I started looking for crowd-sourcing services that could be used to find a screenwriter who may be interested in tackling one of my novels and turning it into a screenplay. I thought that there may be a service, similar to Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX) which I used to find both of my talented narrators for "Cove Point Manor" and "Of Noble Blood", which I used to make my first audiobook and my upcoming audiobook. I found nothing. I then began searching blogs and message boards to see how an author could be matched up with a screenwriter. Still nothing. I then started to research exactly what a screenplay was to try and remove some of the mystery from the screenwriting process. It was an eye-opener! When writing a novel, an author paints the scenes, characters and actions with words over the course of several hundred pages. An author has the luxury of providing background information, jumping from one scene or time period to another, fairly seamlessly. An author can also let the reader know what a character is thinking. A screenwriter needs to do the same thing in a fraction of the space while maintaining a flow which will not confuse a viewer when the story becomes a movie. The thoughts of a character are often no longer expressed through silent conversation; their thoughts, feelings, hopes and dreams need to be expressed in actions. While a novel may be 300 or more pages in length, a screenplay is usually under 200 pages. In those condensed number of pages, settings, background actions, lighting, noises and a myriad of other things must be described. The characters not only have dialogue in a screenplay, but their physical appearance, actions, etc. all need to be described. Both screenplay writer and an author have to be creative, but often in very different ways. Visualization is key to both vocations, but possibly more important with the screenwriter as their script is the guideline for the actors, directors and others that will bring the story to life on the big, or small, screen. The more I read about screenwriting, the more discouraged I became. The screenwriting process seemed counterintuitive to my author side. As an author, I try and paint a picture, provide background information and create a character or characters that the reader will react to. A screenwriter does this in a very different way, and must consider all the others involved in the production of a movie. I've never been one to back down from a challenge, at least one that isn't going to put me at (too much) physical risk, or make me go crazy, but this screenwriting thing seemed quite difficult. I tossed the idea around in my head from time to time but decided that screenwriting wasn't for me. Then, as I sometimes do, I changed my mind and began researching more about the whole screenwriting process. Much like advice that is given to budding authors, a common theme with screenwriting was to read screenplays. It made sense; one needs to know what is expected if one is to succeed. I found several websites that contained well known screenplays that could be downloaded for free. I started to read the screenplays, and as I did, they suddenly seemed less intimidating than they once had been. A screenplay differs in many ways from a full-length novel, but the premise is the same: you want to be able to make the characters, scenery and actions come to life. Neither is an easy task, but if one has talent, creativity and vision, it can be done. Screenplays also have a very strict formula which a screenwriter needs to follow, and there are screenwriting software programs available to assist with the formatting. Where does this leave me? I'm still not 100% convinced I should write a screenplay - if I did, what would I do with it once it was done? But I'm no longer intimidated by tackling a screenplay. Since I already have the stories written in novel form, and I'm familiar with the characters, settings, action and all other aspects of the story, I think I may be ahead of the game. I may give this screenwriting thing a try, and see how Cove Point Manor shakes out. If nothing else, it will broaden my knowledge and expand my writing skills. Who knows, maybe one day I can say I published e-books, novels, audiobooks and wrote a screenplay? If I am really lucky, maybe I will even get the chance to see my characters come to life on the small, or big screen.

Fiction may just be one of the most challenging genres for an author to attempt to write. At first glance, one might think that writing fiction would be easy - you just make things up! The truth though is that writing fiction is difficult, and takes a lot of planning, thought and even research. That is all true if you want to write GOOD fiction. Even fiction, with made-up characters, places and events, still needs to be believable. Really good fiction will make the reader believe that the story really did, or at least could, happen. There may be some exceptions to this rule, but generally an author wants to pull a reader into the story, and that is difficult, if not impossible to do if the reader doesn't believe what they are reading. One of the best compliments I have had as an author is having readers contacts me and ask "Did such-and-such really happen?" and, "Does Cove Point Manor really exist?" Questions such as these let me know that my readers at least believed that some parts of my stories could really take place. They haven't of course; my stories are completely fictional, as are the characters, places and events...but they are plausible. My latest novel, which is a work in progress, is a story that is historic fiction. With Bloodlines: Dynasty, I am attempting to tell the story of the Farnsworth family through the years spanning 1871-1934. The story covers 63 years of Western history that saw events as World War I, the sinking of the Titanic, the fall of the Romanov family and much more. Everyday items that we now use and which make our lives easier (depending on your point of view) such as indoor plumbing, electricity, telephones, appliances and automobiles were not even invented, or were not in widespread use for many of the years contained in my story. Writing a story such as Bloodlines: Dynasty, is a challenge as I want to minimize any errors when compared to historical fact. You may not think that readers pay attention to details such as the date that the Brooklyn Bridge was completed, but they do! If you do your research carefully, you will minimize the errors you make in dates/places and make the story more enjoyable for your readers. Remember that writing fiction is about making the story believable and the characters and events plausible as you create your fiction. Adding in real facts that your readers can and will verify, will result in a much better work of fiction leaving the reader with an enjoyable reading experience.

Next month will mark the 1 year anniversary since I signed a contract with Fiberead to translate my novel, Bloodlines: Cove Point Manor, into Chinese. I am disappointed with the lack of speed with which this project has progressed. In the time it has taken to translate the book into Mandarin, I have written 2 more novels and have had an audio book created. My 2nd novel, Bloodlines: Of Noble Blood, has also been translated into Mandarin but is also not yet available for sale in Asia. What is the delay? Well, the lack of communication I have received from the "team" at Fiberead really hasn't helped me to confirm exactly what the issue, or issues, have been. I have been told that the Chinese elections last year delayed the process. I have been told that Fiberead is simply busy, so the initial translation process was slow. Now I am being told that the publishing company they use has not yet approved the book for sale in China (everything goes through censorship before being released). This last excuse had been going on now since November. The situation is, to say the least, frustrating. Still, I have come this far so I have no choice other than to wait things out. China has a massive e-reader base (over 300 million active users) and in order to get a piece of that market, there are processes one must follow. Will I do this again? Maybe, but I will certainly adjust my expectations in regards to the length of time it will take to launch an actual book. In the end I hope that the long wait will be worthwhile and that my books will sell well in China. If not, then this has been a good lesson for me in venturing beyond Amazon into new world markets.

I read a lot on the indie author message boards, and in reviews of books that are posted online (not just mine), and a common theme is errors made by indie authors in their publications. It's true, indie authors make mistakes, and without the financial resources to pay for professional editors, proof-readers and the like, we sometimes make more errors than traditionally published books. This isn't necessarily true though, but we do make mistakes which sometimes make their way through to the finished product. Traditionally published books, by big name authors and published by big publishing houses are perfect though, right? WRONG! Even though big publishing firms, those that publish books written by well known authors, contain mistakes. I've found mistakes myself, and some are mistakes that should have been caught by the expensive proof-reading and editing process, but they still managed to make it in to print. You don't believe me? Well, simply pick up a copy of "Christine", written by the king of horror, Stephen King (and one of my personal favorites). While not a spelling error, there is a consistency error in the story, and it is a big one, but not big enough for me to freak out, write nasty reviews and disregard the story. I think the story is wonderful, creative and entertaining...I only wish I could have written it! My readers may notice that I have included automobiles in each of my stories. I do this for 2 reasons: 1) Cars are an integral part of our lives, and for many people, they represent not only basic transportation, but they also represent nostalgia, invoke memories and represent social status. 2) I just love cars. Period. While driving home this evening, I was listening to the audio version of "Christine", an unabridged version (meaning it was read exactly as the book was published). I had thought I heard the narrator say that Arnie, the teenager who purchased Christine, had opened the back door of the 1958 Plymouth Fury when he first found her. That was several days ago, and it sounded strange to me as Christine has always been a 2 door Sport Coupe, not a 4 door sedan. I ignored the first mention of Christine's back doors, but tonight I heard confirmation of the car again: Christine was a 1958 Plymouth Fury Sport Coupe, a 2 door car. A few minutes later, I again heard reference made to Christine having 4 doors when Dennis (the hero of the story) said he saw all 4 door locks pushed down on Christine. Being a Stephen King fan, I made a mental note to check the original hard cover book I have at home (1983 publication, a first edition no less). When I got home, after letting my dogs out, feeding them and starting my own dinner, I went to my collection of Stephen King books, found "Christine" and checked what Mr. King had written. Sure enough, there were references to Christine having back doors despite the fact that she is also confirmed as having been a 1958 Plymouth Fury Sport Coupe, which only has 2 doors. This may seem like a minor detail to a non-car fanatic, but it is, at least to me and other car lovers, a major consistency error. The error was made in 1983, allowed to go to print by a major publishing house, and made by one of the best horror writers to come along, ever. I smiled a bit at learning that not only had one of my favorite authors made an error in his story (which is still one of my all time favorite stories), the big-time publishing house and all their money, proofreaders and editors missed, and put in print. So where is the outrage from the reading pubic? There is none, and there shouldn't be. Christine is a wonderful story, written with an amazing passion and imagination that few people have. The story entertains, terrifies and teaches a lesson. It has been made into a movie which also entertained and terrified audiences, and is still relevant today. In short, "Christine" is a classic and an error in the story doesn't detract from that fact. Speaking from personal experience, when you are on a creative "roll", and the story is flowing, you often write faster than your mind can catch mistakes. Even when proofreading your manuscript, you can miss errors which may be obvious to others. Proofreaders may also miss a mistake, as well as computer programs, and suddenly your mistake is published and out there for the whole world to see. It can be a mortifying thing to experience as an author, but it's not always the end of the world. If you are reading an indie author's story, and you happen to find a mistake (grammar, spelling or consistency), 99 times out of 100, he or she would welcome a quick note mentioning the error. I know I would, and I have appreciated feedback from my readers. As long as the author's story entertains the reader, and the mistake or mistakes you made don't detract from the story, a reader will most likely overlook it/them. There cannot be too many mistakes though, as even the best story will become annoying and unenjoyable to a reader if they are constantly finding mistakes in your work. Thank you Mr. King for providing readers like me with years of interesting, entertaining and imaginative stories, and thank you for proving you are human, and mistakes are made. You remain an inspiration to countless authors and future authors. I still love the story "Christine", and a minor consistency error will never change that!

I am pleased to announce that I have found a talented narrator for my 2nd novel, Bloodlines: Of Noble Blood and the book is currently in production. My narrator for this book is Emily Emerson, a theater trained actor and voice professional. Emily will be narrating the book in her wonderful British accent which will only add to the authenticity of the story (which is based in England). Production of the audiobook for Bloodlines: Of Noble Blood is expected to last through the end of May and should then be on sale in early June through Amazon, Audible and iTunes.

Almost a year ago I had a couple of conversations with friends about the possibility of turning my Bloodlines Series novels into audiobooks. Admittedly, I almost dismissed the idea as I had not listened to, nor heard of any audiobooks since 1990. The last audiobook I had listened to was "Interview With A Vampire" written by Anne Rice (I cannot remember the narrator). I had purchased the book on casette tape, and there were several tapes, if I remember correctly. I had enjoyed the story, and listening as I drove from Toronto down to Myrtle Beach, SC, helped the endless hours pass by pleasantly. After I returned from my trip, I never purchased another audiobook. The multitude of tapes that an average book required, and the hours required to listen to the book just did not appeal to me. I carried that stigma of audiobooks (or books on tape as they were known back then) until last Fall. It was during a discussion with friends that the idea of an audiobook took root; they pointed out to me that a large number of potential readers could not read a book, due to issues with their eyesight. I had not taken this point into consideration, but I left their place that night with a mission to investigate the viability of making an audiobook. I did some research, as I always do, and discovered that audiobooks were more popular than ever. Not only were audiobooks popular with the visually impaired, but millions of others were now buying and listening to these books on the iPads, laptops and, most importantly, their smart phones. It was a way to enjoy a good book while they commuted to work, while they were at work or while they did other things that occupied their time, but not their minds. Today's audiobooks are no longer recorded on a myriad of clunky casette tapes, which made portability an issue. Today's audiobooks are quickly and easily downloaded to any number of electronic devices and are completely portable. They are still expensive when compared to a traditionally printed book, or an e-book, but the audiobook brings a whole new dimension to a story. But only if the narrator is engaging. When I first started investigating having one of my books made into an audiobook, I was immediately discouraged by the cost of hiring a narrator. A good narrator, one that could tell a story in a compelling manor, is EXPENSIVE. My initial research indicated that a professional narrator would cost me upwards of US $10,000.00 to turn my first novel into an audiobook. That was too rich for my blood, so I put the idea on the back-burner, at least for the time being. Then, several months later, I came across information about a website called A.C.X., an acronym for Audiobook Creation Exchange. ACX is a subsidiary of Amazon, and they were introducing a program that would allow authors like myself to connect with voice actors who were interested in making an audiobook. Even better, ACX offered 2 different ways to pay a narrator, either through the narrator's hourly rate or through a 50/50 royalty share program. The narrators on ACX post their biography, a sample of their voice work, and an hourly rate for their work. Many also indicate that they will consider a 50/50 royalty share as compensation. For authors, you can either post your project or contact a narrator directly. Since I wanted to initiate a 50/50 royalty share, I posted the book I wanted to turn into an audiobook, set up an audition script, and then waited. I did not immediately receive an audition to narrate my book, but I kept the posting live on ACX. Then, approximately 3 months after I posted the book, I received my first voice audition. I didn't care for the audition; it sounded like the narrator was reading a list of ingredients to make a cake rather than tell the story of Cove Point Manor. Rather than just give up, I emailed the narrator with a polite list of concerns and hoped he would resubmit his audition. He did not. I was somewhat disappointed, but I didn't pull the project. I waited patiently, and then my patience was rewarded when a 2nd narrator auditioned. The 2nd narrator was vastly better than the 1st, so I decided to give him a chance. We agreed on a 50/50 royalty share program and then got to work on the audiobook. What followed was an interesting exchange for a couple of months. Bill would submit chapters as he finished them, and I would review the narration. If I wanted a particular change made, Bill would make the change, resubmit the chapter and then I would approve it. This process was repeated for each chapter until the audiobook was finished, and then the completed copy was submitted for a technical review by ACX. The technical review passed the ACX quality control checks, and then ACX approved the audiobook for sale. ACX also set the price of the audiobook and, because I had selected the exclusive distribution through ACX, the book was released for sale on Audible.com, Amazon.com and on iTunes (and their subsequent international partners). The time from technical approval to having the book available for sale took more time than I would have liked, but that was my only complaint about the entire process. My audiobook, Bloodlines: Cove Point Manor, has now been available for sale since March 7th, only 4 days ago. I, of course, immediately downloaded a copy so I could listen to the book uninterrupted for the first time. I loaded the audiobook onto my iPhone and then listened to the narration as I drove back and forth to my office each day, a 2 hour round trip, on average. I was impressed with how the story was brought to life in a different way, listening to another person tell me the story that I had written. Strangely, I even found myself laughing at some of the funny scenes and dialogue that I had written. Sales of Bloodlines: Cove Point Manor's audiobook are coming in at a fairly steady pace which is also encouraging. Unlike advertising an e-book or a print book, ACX does not have an advertising program available (at least at this time). This makes getting word of your audiobook out in the market more challenging, but not impossible. I am now in the process of finalising a narrator for my 2nd novel, Bloodlines: Of Noble Blood. This book, as my readers now, is based in England and has a large number of English characters in addition to Alex and Maggie, the main characters of my first novel. The narrator that I am working with is British, but she can also do American/Canadian accents. She is also VERY good, and I was impressed by the narrative she had done on another book. I think that she will do an excellent job at bringing Of Noble Blood to life, and I am excited to be working with yet another talented narrator. Audiobooks bring a different dimension to a story. While I will always think that a book is generally better than a movie or TV adapation, an audiobook, correctly narrated, can be even better than the original book. The only thing that I think would make an audiobook better is to be able to narrate the book like an old radio show. Maybe one day that will be possible, but for now I am pleased with the results of my first audiobook.

Several weeks ago I read one of those "How To" articles on a news website. The particular article I was reading was one on how to earn extra income in your spare time. Among other questionable ways to earn "easy" money was a blurb that said to self-publish a book on Amazon and watch the money roll in. Ha! Most indie authors don't write to become rich; if they are writing to become rich, they would be better off going to a casino, playing the lottery or just praying for money than expecting a large payout from their books! The truth of the matter is that at a rate of $0.0045 per page read from Amazon's Kindle Select program, or even a 70% payout from the sale of a $3.99 priced e-book, you have to sell a LOT of books to make any sort of reasonable return. The truth of the matter is that selling an indie authored book is hard work, and the costs involved with cover design and marketing often consume more than any returns will cover. Most indie authors write because they love writing and want to tell their stories. There are some indie authors who make a reasonable living from their writing. However, for each one of these success stories, there are thousands of other indie authors barely selling enough books to pay for lunch. The web article made me laugh, and then my amusement quickly changed and I was annoyed with the author of the article. There are many people who take articles at their face value, especially when they are published on a well known news site. I began to imagine all those who would rush to their computers and start writing and rush to publish a story that, in all likelihood, was garbage. There is multitude of garbage written and published by indie "authors", and the comments in the message boards confirms this. I often see a great number of authors complaining about their lack of sales, and these are usually the same people who cannot form a simple sentence in English for a board post, let alone put together a viable novel. I never blame someone for trying their best, and that includes someone who wants to write and publish their work. For these people, I offer nothing but encouragement. If someone truly wants to become better at writing, and learn as they go along, becoming an indie author is a good path to their end goal. If someone is strictly writing in hopes of becoming rich, I think they should go elsewhere. Yes, you can make money by writing and publishing stories, but you can make a lot more money by getting a job. Even a part time job at minimum wage will earn you more money than most indie authors make selling their books. If you truly want to hone your craft, then by all means go ahead and become an indie author, but don't expect to get rich doing it!

After a lot of hard work by Bill Nevitt, the narrator for my first audiobook, Bloodlines: Cove Point Manor, the book is finished and now available for sale on Amazon, Audible and iTunes. Although I am the author of the original book, I downloaded a copy of the audiobok and listened to the first 3 chapters tonight on my hour's commute home. I was impressed! Bill has brought the story to life with his narration, and hearing him tell the story had me wanting to listen to the whole thing to see what happens! Tonight though, traffic was tolerable, so I was only able to hear the first hour of the 7 hour story through my car's stereo. It may sound odd, having the author want to hear the story to see what happens, but listening to the book being narrated is completely different from writing the story, or reading it. I haven't listened to an audiobook in years, but I have to say I was enjoying it. Go to Amazon, Audible or iTunes and listen to the preview narration of the book. If you prefer, you can also listen to a trailer of the story at: bit.ly/2D8Z2Ja My experience working with Bill in creating this audiobook was nothing but positive, and now that the finished product is done, it was well worth the time and effort. I hope to be able to do the same with my other 2 novels, and then with my upcoming 4th novel, Bloodlines: Dynasty. It's nice to be able to lose yourself in a good story, whether it is one you are reading, hearing or watching, and I hope everyone enjoys the Bloodlines Series.

You've spent months, maybe even years writing your novel. You've edited every page a dozen times; you checked your formatting and it is now perfect. Your book cover and description are both captivating. You hit "publish" and your masterpiece is now officially on sale. Many new authors may think that they are now done and that they can sit back and wait for the money to flow in. But they are wrong, and the real work has just begun! As an indie author, simply writing and publishing your work is not enough, you now have to market your book. Even if you have written the best story ever, what good is it if no one knows it exists? The first step in getting your book noticed by readers is to ensure you have an excellent book cover and description. While the old adage "don't judge a book by its cover" may ring true in some instances, when you are trying to sell your book online in a sea of millions of other books, you want it to stand out and be noticed. If you are like most indie authors, you will most likely start by selling your book on Amazon, the leader in e-book and print book sales. Amazon owns most of the retail e-book market so it makes sense to sell your book with them, but getting your book noticed by potential readers can be tough. You will have to spend some money to advertise your book. This doesn't mean you should go and drain your savings account and spend, spend, spend on advertising; but you will need to pay for an effective campaign, and it is something you can do on your own. There are dozens of websites that are eager to take your money, often promising to make your book a best seller overnight. I have yet to find one that actually works, and from my experience communicating with other indie authors, the story is the same. Make sure you do your research before paying someone else to market your book. The best way I have found to get the word out about my book is to use a multi-pronged approach. You need to let as many people as possible know you have written a book and you can do that through social media. However, your friends and family may soon tire of your book promotions, so you may want to set up secondary social media accounts using a pen name. Use photos of your book cover and be sure to include a link (or links) to where an interested reader can purchase your book. You will also need an author page. Amazon offers a free author page to anyone who publishes through them. Be sure and take advantage of this helpful service. When you create your author page, make sure you say you are an author - not a housewife that is trying to be an author, or a part-time author. Once you have published a book, you ARE an author. Period. No one cares what else you do, and letting people know that you are writing as a hobbie can sometimes turn them away. Review the author pages of other indie authors to see what is effective. You should also invest in creating your own website where you can post snippits of your stories, show your books and provide links to where people can purchase your books. Setting up a website doesn't have to involve a lot of money, and many sites like Wix have excellent, easy to use templates allowing you to set up your own website quickly. Now that you have done all of this, you're finished, right? Wrong! In order to keep your book visible to potential readers, you will have to invest some cash in targetted advertising. If you are published on Amazon, I recommend using their AMS (Amazon Marketing Services) where you can set up an advertising campaign. I have found this service to be effective, and it does not have to be expensive. Using AMS, I suggest you select the Sponsored Products advertising. This type of campaign allows you to set a budget, either daily or for a set period of time, with which you are comfortable. You can then select key words which are used to place your ad in front of readers searching for those key words. Using the correct keywords though, is of paramount importance. If you have written a fictional story about ghosts, for instance, you should include obvious key words such as ghost, haunting, etc. What a lot of authors fail to do however, is to include the names of other well-known, established authors who write in the same genre as your book. Using the example above, you would add Stephen King, Dean Koontz and other authors known for writing ghost or supernatural stories. Why do this? You do this to put YOUR book in front of a reader who enjoys reading this type of story. With AMS and key words, you will need to place a bid per click. This is the amount of money you are willing to pay to Amazon when a potential customer clicks on your ad. Don't be afraid to put a higher amount on the key word that suggested as most actual costs come in lower than your bid price. If you are spending too much for the clicks on your key word, and are not getting the sales to pay for the clicks, simply reduce the amount. Setting a daily limit for your ads will help you stay within your advertising budget. There are other sites that offer pay-per-click advertising, but make sure you do your research before parting with your hard-earned money. Other than Amazon, I have found Book Bub to be effective, but other advertising has not been effective, at least for my books. This doesn't mean that other sites are not effective, but these two sites are the "big ones" in the US market, and that is where my particular target market is located. If, after you have done all of this, your books are still not selling, try changing your ads. It may be as simple as your key words being off, or your blurb. You may need to change your cover or book description on your main book page. Try this and if sales increase, you know you are on the right track. If changes do not work, you may have a problem with your writing. Amazon offers a "Look Inside" feature for interested readers where they can preview up to 10% of your story. If that preview is full of grammatical, spelling or formating mistakes, it will turn off the reader. You should also make sure that your story immediately grabs the reader's interest, making them want to read more. Effective and repetitive marketing takes time, effort and some expense, but if you want your book to be exposed to the largest possible reader base, it is a necessary evil. No one said that being an indie author was easy, but once things start rolling, it makes the effort worthwhile.

A little over a year ago I finished writing my first novel, edited and proof-read it (or so I thought!), purchased a photo from one of the photo licencing sites, choose a pre-made cover from Amazon and then published my book. At that point I thought I was done, but boy, was I wrong! Within a matter of days I realized that I had made a number of mistakes, not the least of which was a poor file upload that ended up with numerous formatting errors and, to my horror, grammatical and spelling errors. I quickly took down my book, reworked it and then republished, but not before others had purchased the e-book. A week or so later, the print copies I had ordered arrived, and I was again moritifed at the end product. It looked very unprofessional and I hated the book. Rather than just hit the "unpublish" button, I went back and made yet more changes. I corrected more formatting and spelling errors, changed the size of my book, and changed the cover again, but I still used one of the "canned" cover backgrounds from Amazon. This effort was better, but it still wasn't what I thought to be acceptable. I didn't like the cover and quickly noticed dozens of other authors had used similar backgrounds (although my photo was unique) and to me, this stood out like a sore thumb. I started researching cover designers online and found that the cost involved for hiring a professional was unrealistic; this was, afterall, not something with which I had intended to earn a living doing, so I wasn't about to invest thousands into my cover design. Never one to give up, I started looking at crowd sourcing sites and found one that I thought might work: DesignCrowd.com. The premise was simple enough, you create an account and post your requirements and then freelance designers place a bid. You can select the designer based on price as well as through reviewing their previous work. Through this service I found the designer which I continue to use today for all of my cover designs. With a new cover design done, I relaunched my book for a third time, and I saw an immediate jump in sales. At the same time I was finishing my 2nd novel, and this time I got the formatting, proof-reading and cover design done right the first time. The end result was that my 2nd book launch was much smoother, and more professional in appearance than my 1st book. Still, I wasn't done. I soon discovered that an Indie author has to not only write, but promote. With millions of e-books and print books available through Amazon alone, you need to find a way to stand out from the crowd in a VERY crowded marketplace. I will write about marketing techniques I have tried in a later blog post, some that worked well, and others that simply went nowhere. Suffice to say, being an Indie means you are the author, publisher, marketer and retailer all in one. As far as getting attention for your book, there are a few key things that you must do: 1) Write a really good story, one that hooks the reader immediately. 2) Ensure the formatting is done correctly. There are numerous online forums that can help you with this task. 3) Do the best proofing of your book that you can. While even large publishers can miss some grammar or spelling errors, if your book is loaded with them, you will annoy and chase away readers. 4) Design a VERY GOOD book cover, one that reflects the story you have written and catches the eye of a potential reader. 5) Write a good preview, one that will catch the interest of a reader and make them want to read more. 6) Create an author profile. You can do this on Amazon, and you can, and should, set up your own website. This is an excellent way to connect with readers while providing information about your work. If you do all this, and the stars align correctly, you may just sell a few books!

My first novel, Bloodlines: Cove Point Manor, has been fully narrated and will be released as my first audiobook shortly. The narrator, Bill Nevitt, is a talented voice professional who was a pleasure to work with. The process of creating an audiobook has been an interesting one, and was yet another chance to learn more about the self-publishing process. The entire process was made easier by working with a professional like Bill as well as the excellent online production tools offered by ACX. Despite some delays in finishing the narration, the final product is, in my humble opinion, quite good and brings a new dimension to my story. The final narration is currently in post production and should be available for sale within the first few days of March as ACX conducts their final quality assurance reviews. The final product is 7 hours and 2 minutes of story telling, more than long enough to entertain listeners during their commute or workday, or just when they are relaxing at home. Sales of audiobooks have been steadily increasing in the global market and now contribute over $2 billion in sales. Growth of audiobook sales has been reported at up to 30% in year over year sales. While not inexpensive, audiobooks provide listeners with the opportunity to enjoy stories which they may otherwise not have had. Listeners who have vision problems, or simply too little time to sit and read a full novel now have the ability to enjoy an audiobook on their smartphone or other device. I am excited to be entering this marketplace and making my stories available to even more consumers. I am hoping to have my other 2 novels converted to audiobooks in the near future, making all 3 novels available in e-book, paperback and audio formats.

One of the first things I learned when I officially became a writer was that people DO judge a book by the cover. The old adage is not at all true, and in order to capture the attention of a potential reader, you need to design a cover that not only hints at the story contained inside, but is eye-catching enough to make the reader stop and look at your book. Cover design can be expensive, or you can do it yourself and save some money. Amazon and other self-publishing websites also offer free templates that you can use, but for anyone familiar with these templates, they can be spotted a mile away. Next to the story itself, your cover will be one of the most important parts of your indie book. Being able to draw attention to your masterpiece in a sea of eight million or more other books is critical. Unless you have an unlimited advertising budget, your cover will help draw the attention of potential readers. I was lucky enough to find an excellent graphic artist, Andjela Vujic, with whom I have worked on my last 3 novels. Andjela and I are now collaborating on the cover design for my next project, Bloodlines: Legacy. I found Andjela when I submitted my project to Design Crowd (www.designcrowd.com), a crowd-sourcing website that connects designers with authors. Andjela bid on my project, worked with me to come up with a cover we both liked, and I awarded her the contract. Andjela and I have worked together for the past year, and her talent is exceptional, and her rates are, in my opinion, very reasonable. For any authors looking for a cost-effective way to design a unique book cover, I strongly suggest using Design Crowd or another such crowd-sourcing site to connect with talented young designers that are just starting their careers. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression so make sure your cover looks great and gets a reader's attention for the right reason!