Had a great writers' group meeting and luncheon with my fellow romance authors over the weekend! It's so refreshing and heartening to share stories, celebrate successes, and lament struggles with people who understand. When you say, "I have no idea where to go with this character," they'll make a suggestion. When you want to throw something at the computer screen because everything sounds terrible, they'll tell you to take a walk or clean a closet (believe me, for some reason cleaning really helps free up the creative juices). And when you have no idea how to motivate a character or how to dress her, they'll tell you to take an hour and watch Real Housewives of New Jersey.
In all seriousness, amid the discussion of business, and reading the latest Romance Writers' Report, I found myself toying with the idea of republishing my book Lost in Paradise on Amazon as a self-published work and use their Kindle Direct Program to feature it free for 5 days, then sell it directly myself...mostly as a lead-in to my upcoming new release Beacon of Love in the spring.
My thoughts are such: contractually I can get my rights back from the publisher who currently has it, polish and possibly revise (with the outside thought of weaving in some plot/characters that will tie into Beacon of Love). If I have it up for sale in the month or so before Beacon of Love releases, I'm hoping to build some positive press that will lead to greater initial sales for Beacon. Also, Paradise has never had great sales with its current publisher, and if I can boost it through self-pubbing it, then why not give it a try?
I'd love thoughts from anyone who's gone this route, esp. using free ebooks to boost other sales. It seems like it has potential, but I have to weigh the costs with the possible outcomes. So....what do you think?
4 comments:
Go for it! That was one of my favorites, of your novels.
I think it's a really good idea. Even with the self-publishing market as crowded as it is, I don't see a downside to getting your rights back and re-publishing it yourself.
Especially since you can time it with your other release, it might be a really good way to build momentum.
Good luck, whatever you decide!
I love self-publishing. I just rec'd 5 cups from CTR for my Amish Romance and it's self-published. My previous reviews were good but never rec'd 5 cups - always 4 and these were for books with publishers. Also I can check daily how many books I sell and I receive 70% royalties from Amazon. It's fun to have control over my covers too.
I think you should do this. What also helps are the free days if you are in the KDP - Select. I am with two of my previously published books and it's awesome because when I had 15K free downloads of Mallory, it went up to #6 on Free List. Then after the free days ended, I sold 83 books of Mallory.
I love hearing that, Diane! Thanks so much for sharing your POV.
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