My Experiences as an E-Published Author

Being an E-Published author has been a learning experience for me. It’s been exciting, but also a challenge to keep up with everything. I had no idea what being e-published or in print would mean to my life. It has changed my existence. I learned there’s much more to being a writer than writing, there is promotion. In my contract there was a clause that required me to do a certain amount of promoting my books on-line.

It’s not easy to get your name as a novelist out there, or to find a following for your stories. It takes time from your writing, and a lot of hard work. To become known and to get people to read your book you have to promote them and yourself. I started by building a website with a front page telling a bit about the genre I wrote. Then I put in a picture and a bio about me, posted covers of my books along with blurbs and excerpts about my stories, a links page to other authors, and a contact page.

Next, I started a blog, where I write and post articles once a week. A bunch of authors asked me to join their blog and post an article there once a month. This is all done to market ourselves. Then I had to join Yahoo loops with readers and other writers to let them know about my website, blogs and to post blurbs and excerpts to interest them in reading my books. I joined in chats and did interviews on sites for readers. All of this is time consuming.

There are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that needs to be done. I try to write thirty minutes to two hours a day, which can mean anywhere from one page to four pages a day. If I can get more time meaning more pages written, then I’m thrilled.
Often times my routine is interrupted by normal events and people around me. It’s hard to make people realize that this career is not an eight hour job, but twelve to fourteen.

My first two titles, The Catalyst and Addiction, were released by Forbidden Publications in late 2008. In six months my publisher closed due to health issues, and I made a whopping $33.99 on my digital sales. I decided to self-print The Catalyst as a print on demand book, and I have yet to make the money I invested back. Every penny, I’ve gotten for those books have been sunk into advertising material such as business cards, post cards, book marks, etc.

E-publishing has had a stigma on it for many years, but it’s about to come out of that phase as more readers are buying books and magazines digitally. Many authors have used e-publishing as a stepping stone to a New York Publisher, then decided they want to be in both, or even just stay in digital.

What would I do if I had the chance to go to NY? I’ll be happy staying with my new publisher because I believe they will be one of the forerunners in this business. They will also be willing to help those authors who want to go to NY.

As hard as the work is, I can think of no job I would rather have. There are people asking me when my next book will be out, and they are saying they can’t wait to read it. This makes me want to work faster and get more books out there. I can hardly wait to hear what they say about Addiction when it’s released November 6, 2009 from Eirelander Publishing.

Thank you, and I'll see you next month.

Sandra K. Marshall
http://www.eirlanderpublishing.com
http://www.skaymarshall.com