Meet Maureen O. Betita, Indie Author and Lover and Writer of Pirates...AARRGGH.

Today we have the fortune (which we must protect, as Maureen is a pirate) of meeting Maureen O. Betita.
 
I hope you find her Indie story inspiring, and don't forget her excerpt from
The French Gambit this coming Saturday.
 
Please welcome Maureen.

Setting Sail on a New Adventure! With Pirates!

Hey Leslie Ann, Thanks for having me as your guest this week.

Hi all! I’m Maureen O. Betita, and I write about pirates. That’s just who I am…the pirate, romance, time travel, adventure author.

I’ve been published a few years, by a small indy publisher. And once upon a time, I had an agent. (I really adored her, just unable to find a home for what I write. It’s okay, we’re still friends.)

After looking around and sending out queries and pitching at conventions…getting requests but then polite and sometimes very nice refusals to represent…I decided it was time to chart my own course, with me at the wheel.

You see, I had something not every author has…I had a hell of a lot of books on my computer. Good stories, some even brilliant…upwards of…oh…5 million words worth of stories. Over 3 million in one series. Yeah, they needed polishing and editing, and editing, and editing and then some more polish…but the basic hull, masts and all were there. So, I set myself the task of getting this ship into shape.

I hired a cover artist, two copy editors and worked my butt off learning how to self-publish. I took a few online classes, bought a few books…took some panels at conventions. Honestly? None of those made me feel confident enough move forward. The terms were…were totally alien to me. And though I’m not a total neophyte when it comes to technical stuff…it was all gobbledygook.

Finally, I found a few experienced mentors and they did it. They held my hand and told me where to go and how to do it. Then I hired someone to format for me. (Because I do not trust myself to do it right. Not the first time, second time or third time. Maybe the tenth time. And I didn’t have that much time to spare!)

I’ve been at sea now since March of 2013, when the first title was launched. A Caribbean Spell… I begged a few friends with connections to review it. I sent it to InD’Tales Magazine and got a review. And…it sorta bobbed up and down. Sometimes more a submarine than anything else.

I persevered. Released the second book, Red Sean’s Revenge, book two of the series, in June, 2013. Wow, just about nothing. Heavy book, near floundered.




I knew from conversations with many, many people, that the trick was to keep putting them out there. Keep building the series. So, I released the third book, The French Gambit…marvelous cover!...book three in the series, in September. And the second day on amazon it was as low as 25 on Hot New Reads Time Travel Romance. Whoohoo! (Okay, I made it Kindle Select and the price is 99 cents. A sacrifice to get things moving.)

What have I done to promote myself? Lots of begging on FB. Advertisements in the program of the Romance Novel Convention. An ad in the print edition of InD’Tales and an ad in the electric version. Give away of print books on Goodreads, Free Book Friday and The Romance Studio…

Have any of these worked? I honestly don’t know. From my current perspective, lowering the price for the third book and going Kindle Select may fill my sails with wind. I hope. After numerous conversations with a best-selling indy/trad/small press author at a convention – Jennifer Ashley, thank you for the time to offer advice – starting in 2014, I will be releasing a new book in the series every 6 weeks. Which will see the entire series out by the end of 2016. Yes, 30 books.

I’m also going to start each new book on Kindle Select. I’m learning a great deal as I move forward and the best advice I can give? Don’t give up. Stockpile a series until you can really push multiples out, quickly.

Check with me in a year, and I’ll let you know how it went!

Short blurb for the series

Riding the currents of time is a challenge Miranda is up for. No matter where or when she lands, she hits the ground ready, looking for whatever challenge the universe presents. But the Caribbean of Jake Reynard proves more tempting than she counted on.

Not to mention totally unfamiliar. Port Royal thrives, and is certainly not the wicked city her world’s history painted it. But it does prove exciting. Handsome pirates, magical devices, new enemies and old!

And she may be a witch who restores her magical energy through sex, a role the pirate Reynard is delighted to fulfill, but she didn’t count on the sex to deepen into real caring, or love, heaven help her.

Nor did he.

 

 Author Bio

Maureen O. Betita writes about pirates. Okay, she also writes about alien love stories and the rare contemporary romance, but mainly…pirates. She has recently given into the lure of revealing to the world how deeply this passion lies. Deep, very deep. The first  three books of the series, A Caribbean Spell,  Red Sean’s Revenge and The French Gambit are available on Amazon.

How deep is this passion? Three million words deep. Four books in 2013 and starting in 2014, a new book every six weeks.

Maureen has been married over thirty years to her high school sweetheart, who loves to play pirate with her at pirate festivals around California, where they make a home with a dog and a cat. And a huge collection of pirate paraphernalia.

Social Links: 

Website and Blog www.maureenobetita.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maureen-O-Betita-Author/155907664465540?ref=hl

 

Buy Link:

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Maureen-O.-Betita/e/B005FYNO0Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1378853139&sr=8-1

 

So me hearties (forgive me, Maureen) Stay tuned Saturday for an excerpt from The French Gambit