Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Beverly Bateman on My Way or Their Way -Indie vs Traditional Publishing, Chime In




 
Today I'm pleased to bring you Beverly Bateman.
And don't forget her excerpt from Missing on Saturday
 

My Way or Their Way -Indie vs Traditional Publishing

When I first started writing it was the traditional way; write, submit to an editor, get a rejection, get depressed and then try again. Then editors got so busy we switched; write, submit to agent, get a rejection and try again. Vanity press and self-publishing were dirty words. I got published by several small press publishers in both print and e-book. I learned a lot from them, but when you told people who you we published by, they treated it like vanity publishing. 

Then Amazon developed the Kindle and e-books took off, as did Indie authors. I got my rights back for the books I’d published several years ago. There was nothing wrong them but they didn’t do much marketing and took a fair percentage of any sale. I decided to become an Indie author.

It was a great decision. I love it. There’s a learning curve and you have a lot more work because you’re responsible for your own editing, formatting, cover and marketing, but you have the freedom of doing it your way.

I’m seeing posts from Indie authors who have been offered a contract from a traditional publisher. They’re struggling with their decision. I’ve thought about it, but I love the control I have and the freedom of being an Indie author.

What about you? Do you still want to go traditional with a New York publisher, love being an Indie or maybe combine both? I’d love to hear your thoughts.


 LA: Chime in, give us your pro's and cons.


Blurb:

Running from a disastrous engagement, and an over-powering father, Dr. Allie Parsons agrees to help out an old friend and travels to Duster, Montana. She’s agreed to help the local doctor for a brief period of time until he can find a permanent new doctor. Raised her whole life in New York city, Allie is greeted with culture shock when she finds out how small Duster is, but she also finds a warm, friendly community. And the doctor turns out to be young, tall, dark and handsome. He sends her emotions shooting sky high. She’s welcomed into the Hawkins family and develops a relationship with his daughter. A mysterious stranger leaves notes at the clinic and Allie fears they are a warning he’s going to kidnap the doctor’s daughter.

Luke Hawkins, one of the Hawkins’ brothers is looking for a doctor to take over half the practice from the retiring doctor. He’s not expecting his temporary replacement to be a young, sexy, single woman from New York. He knows she’s the woman he’s been searching for all his life, but he also knows she won’t stay in Duster. He doesn’t believe the notes are meant for him until his daughter is kidnapped. Now he has to save his daughter and convince the woman he loves that she really is a small town doctor at heart.


Buy links:
Amazon
Sony 
Nook
iBookstore


Bio:

I’ve said in other interviews that I think I’m really quite a boring person because everyone else is traveling to wonderful places and doing exciting things. I’ve been told boring is individual so maybe I have a quieter lifestyle. I’m Canadian and live in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, BC. It’s beautiful country and I love it here – in the summer.. There are large lakes, beautiful beaches, orchards of apples, pears, peaches plus raspberries, blueberries and lots of other fresh produce. And of course, it’s wine country. We have world class wines which I feel is my obligation to taste.

I write, edit, workout and spend a lot of time on the computer. We also have mountains and great skiing, both downhill and cross-country, however, in the winter, I snowbird with my husband, and two Shiba Inu dogs. I prefer San Diego and Tucson to freezing temperatures and piles of snow.


Find Beverly:
Blog
Website
Twitter
Pinterest
Facebook
Goodreads



14 comments:

  1. I'm with you, Bev. While I would love to wait for an NY publisher to discover me, my stories won't wait. I like the idea of putting my work out there now, even if it means more work, and I am thinking of giving indy publishing a try. For now, I am lucky to work with a smaller publisher with wonderful editors and great cover designers.

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  2. I was with a couple of small publishers for many years and they were great, but for a few different reasons I decided to try Indie. And if you're lucky enough to have a small publisher you love, that's awesome.

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  4. Hi Beverly,
    I'm so glad you're here today.

    I was one that kept trying and getting oh so close to being traditionally published, then turned to screenwriting. And here I am indie published.

    Now if a contract were presented, I can't say for sure I'd reject it, b/c you just never know. It's hard work to be Indie Published. It's all on your shoulders (with help, an editor, beta readers, a cover designer) but still, I love it. It's truly My Story ~ My Way.

    Hugs
    LA

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  5. I agree, Indie Publishing is hard, but you have the control. And it would depend on the contract.

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  6. Hi, honeybunny! I'm hybrid. lol. I have epublisher and indie publisher. It is hard for both to find an audience. This marketing stuff... Yikes.

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  7. I enjoy the freedom of writing what I want to in the way I want to say it! While it won't be what others may like, I'm writing the stories for myself and if others like them it's nice. I have no illusions about "getting rich" from my "Immortal Relations" series and probably won't "break even" but neither is my goal in having the stories published.

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  8. Hey Vicki, I'm actually a hybrid, too. I still have one published by a small publisher. And I don't think it makes any difference unless your a NYT's best seller - the marketing is all up to us.

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  9. I so agree with you, Vamp Writer, it's the freedom of writing what you want, not to formula or within a number of words.
    I love the option the each writer can do what works for them, now.

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  10. I don't know what happens but my posts don't show and then they come up twice. :( I deleted the one, but I'll just leave this last one. (It's probably my laptop.)

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  11. What an informative post. I like how the indie movement has opened writing up to more wonderful stories and authors. It's hard enough to wait for a submission to be read but to wait on a NY publisher...yikes. Just not on my time frame.

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  12. Thanks Melissa. Yes, times have changed. We now have options and don't have to submit a proposal, wait 6-8 months for a response, maybe get a request for a full, wait another 8 months and then be rejected. All that time wasted. (Yes, I know we were busy writing another book, but still...)

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  13. Hi Beverly. My son thought I should indie publish 4 years ago but I would have been forced to go with a vanity press back then and I was happy that a couple of small publishers offered me a contract. Three years later as my third book was due to be released, my published closed suddenly. Thanks to all of those wonderful indie writers who shared their stories and their knowledge, I was able to re-release my first two books as well as my third in two months. I actually love having control and watching those royalty checks arrive on time. Since the books have taken off and received an award nomination I've been approached by some excellent publishers. I feel honored by their interest, but I'm not sure I'm ready to give that control up again. Good luck to you and thanks for sharing your story.

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  14. Thanks for sharing Cindy. It's hard decision isn't it - Indie vs traditional. Indie is so much more work, but we have control. Good luck with your decision, whatever you decide.

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