Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marilyn Clarke on October 8, 2012 at 12:48pm

I self-publish, and really like that I can get the books in print so quickly, and out to friends, acquaintances and family within a few weeks of finishing, and having edited. Distribution is the problem. I sell around a hundred copies of each one, more or less in one rural county out of 55 counties in a state people think of as backward. If I could sell that amount in every county in every state in the U.S. I would be a very happy writer.

Permalink Reply by Michael R. Jennings on October 8, 2012 at 8:48pm

My romance novel has been out on the streets for a month now with about forty sales.  There is no question that the majority of those sales have been to family, friends, etc. (much like Marilyn's sales).  Marketing, of course, is the key; something I have no interest in doing myself, so my two sons have taken on those responsibilities (thank God).  The feedback so far has been positive with a number of requests for a sequel.  I guess I left the characters hanging just enough that they want to read more.  How to carry the characters into another novel will be the challenging part.

Permalink Reply by Marilyn Clarke on October 8, 2012 at 8:58pm

Go for it, Michael, I decided to write a sequel to my first romance novel and it has turned into four finished novels in the series and I'm now working on the fifth. Your characters are already developed. You know them, it should be easier to move on with their further adventures than starting all over with new characters. I have decided this series of mine 'could be' endless when interesting characters that are secondary in one novel, become primary in the next. Have fun with it. I agree with you that I also have little interest in marketing, even though I know it is key to the process. There doesn't seem to be an easy way, I haven't found it yet, anyway.

Permalink Reply by Carol Blackhurst on October 11, 2012 at 5:23am

 I self-publish.  It's been wonderful experience.