Indies Rock!

OUTBACK LOVE, an Indie Novel

Once again it is time to talk about Indies, both the Indie authors and those great <grin> Indie books we write. Just sayin'...

For those who are not quite sure, Indies are those writers not published by the big traditional publishing houses. Some Indies are published by small independent publishing houses or epubbed by the authors themselves. Hence the term, "Indie."

Contrary to what some people think, Indie is not a derogatory term. In fact, we Indies wear it like a badge. Being an Indie means we have to do all the hard work ourselves. The writing, rewriting, editing, re-editing, formatting, re-formatting, marketing, etc. You get the picture.

We Indies use our family members, best friends, Beta readers, paid editors and even our pets (dogs, cats, birds,etc.) to help us get that Indie book into the best shape ever.

Indie family members and friends soon learn to run the other way when they see us coming. "No, no, no! I'm not going to read your book one more time!" We quickly learn to bribe others to read our books, just to check for that elusive misspelled word or, heaven forbid, the wrong word. Babysitting? Sure! Mow your lawn? Sure! Buy you a beer? A whole case? Sure! Buy you a bottle of wine? Vintage wine? Sure! Anything to get someone to read that book one more time.

Indies have a big advantage over traditionally published authors. We do? Of course! We Indies write those books we have to write. We write those books that don't fit in that perfectly formed hole. Our books cross genres. A paranormal romantic comedy? Sure! A historical romantic horror thriller with a touch of comedy? Sure! We write those books that spring from our hearts and our souls.

Being an Indie is a scary thing at times. We Indies write the best books we can possibly create/conjure/birth and then put them out there for the whole reading world to read/analyze/love and sometimes even hate. Then we follow it up with another Indie book, and another, and another. We're determined souls if nothing else. We believe in the stories we write. We believe there are readers out there who will love those stories. So we keep writing, believing and offering our Indie books to others to read.

These are great times in which we live, because we Indies have the opportunity and ability to epub our books. Amazon/Kindle, Barnes&Noble/Nook, Apple/iPad, Sony, Kobo, Diesel, Smashwords, Goodreads, etc., all list Indie eBooks for readers to sample and hopefully buy. A few years back eBooks didn't exist, so this Indie thing is pretty darn new. Isn't it exciting? Think of all the great books available at just the click of a button.

I not only write Indie books, I read them too. Lots of them. Frankly, I've come to the realization that Indie authors and Indie books rock! Yessiree, Indies Rock! I keep adding Indie books to my Kindle and read them as fast as I can. Is it an addiction? Definitely! I love the diversity of Indie books. I love the excitement of reading something new and different, something that isn't a repeat of the books of yore.

If you haven't read an Indie book then you need to start now. It's a grand experience. Many Indies, me included, offer one or more books for free so readers can try out a new author. Isn't that cool? It's a free sample so you know what you're getting.  Other Indies offer one or more books at $0.99 for the same reason. A book for a buck? You betcha! On the whole, Indie books cost less than traditionally published books, because we Indies have a lower overhead in epubbing our books. We can afford to offer our books at lower prices.

Not all Indie books are free or $0.99 for the very reason that books take months and often years to write. Plus, Indie authors often have to pay for book covers, editors, marketing, etc. In addition, we do want/need to make some money now and then. You know, we Indies do have bills to pay and we like to eat now and then too. So you'll find that many Indie books are priced in the $1.99 to $4.99 price range and sometimes more. Compared to traditionally published books, it's still a bargain.

I'm not suggesting that readers switch from traditionally published books to Indie books. Of course not. We all have our favorite traditionally published authors that we'll never abandon. Just as readers are willing to try new traditionally published authors, readers will hopefully be willing to try Indies too. I guarantee that you'll love the experience.

Now just as a warning, I don't guarantee that you'll love every Indie book you read, just as you don't love every traditionally published book you read. All I ask is that you give Indies a try. I know you'll find many books you'll love and many new favorite authors.

In the event you're not familiar with Indies, at the bottom of the column to the right on my blog you'll find a link list, Indies Rock! I hope you'll try out some of their Indie books. Please keep checking back because the list will be growing. I won't be able to list all Indie authors, hey there are bunches of us, but at least it will be a starting point. Just to confuse you, some Indies authors are also traditionally published authors too.

If you're on Twitter you'll note that a lot of Indie authors add the hashtag, #BuyIndie, on their tweets. I use that hashtag and another, #CelebrateIndies. Now I'm adding a new hashtag, #IndiesRock! I hope other Indies will use that from time to time too just so our readers can find our books.

I hope Indie authors and/or Indie readers/reviewers will add comments below. Authors please feel free to add a short blurb about your book(s) and include a link to your blog/web-site. Readers/reviewers please feel free to mention Indie books or authors you love and/or links to your blog/web-sites. In future posts I hope to interview some of those great Indie authors. You see, another unique thing about Indies, we Indies support Indies. Isn't that cool?

A note to Indie authors/readers/reviewers: Please email me a link to your blog/web-site, comment below or Tweet me if you want to be added to my "Indies Rock!" list. Some of you will find that your link has already been added. I know that I'm forgetting a bunch of you, so please help me out here.

Celebrate Indies - Part 1

Indies are books written by independent authors, those authors not published by big name publishing houses. Some are published by small, independent publishers and others, probably the majority, are self-published (ePubbed). This is a new industry of books that came about following the rise of the eReader and eBook Industry. This is an incredible innovation that has allowed previously unpublished authors to publish the books they've been writing and/or dreaming about for years.

I happen to have the good fortune to be part of this blooming Indie Industry. I only jumped on the band wagon back in August of last year when I ePubbed my debut contemporary romance novel, "Outback Love." I would like to say that "Outback Love" started out with a big fanfare and instant success, but such is not the case, as with most indie books. First off, most of us indie authors are virtual unknowns. When we ePub a book it gets slipped in there, real quiet like, amidst all those books by well-known authors. We hope and pray for that first sale to an utter stranger (a sale not to a family member or friend) and then we jump up and down and shout for joy when it happens. It is at that point that an indie book is truly born.

Most indie authors are poor, or close to it. We don't have connections with big publishing houses, agents, etc. and we don't get monetary advances for our books. The poorest of us design our own book covers and edit our books with the help of family and friends. In fact, by the time a book is ePubbed, we've pretty much driven our family and friends to utter exhaustion. Nine times out of ten they will no longer answer the door, take our phone calls or even return emails. Yes, we're really hard on our family and friends. Some of us are fortunate enough to have author friends and we drive them to distraction too. If we have enough money, we actually pay or bribe someone to edit our books and even purchase professional covers. Well, enough said about all that.

Indies can sort of be compared to those surprise babies who arrive in this world from time to time. What is this? Where did it come from? In the case of indie books, it might have been residing in someone's closet or under a bed for many many years. Or it might have been rattling around in some indie author's head for like forever. That doesn't make it inferior to a planned baby, oh, I mean a planned, pampered, traditionally published book. It just means an indie book has a rough start in life.

Suffice it to say that indies often have a tough beginning, but that doesn't mean they aren't great books. I've been reading lots of indie books and, believe me, there are some great books out there. Some are a little rough around the edges, while others are pretty much polished gems, but they all have interesting stories to tell. My hope is that you, the reader, will take a chance on indies and read some of these wonderful books.

Now here is where you might ask, how can I tell an indie from a traditionally published book? Well, in many cases there's a very fine line. A lot of traditionally published authors are ePubbing some of their books, which makes them indies too. On the other hand, some indies don't want anyone to realize they're indies and so are unwilling to speak up. So all I can tell you is to try reading some eBooks by authors you've never heard of before. 

Many indies offer one or more books at a low introductory price, or even free, so that readers can get to know them. It's a win-win situation for both the reader, who discovers new authors to fall in love with, and indie authors, who gain new readers.

I'll be blogging about "Celebrate Indies" all month long, which is why this post is only Part 1. I hope you'll revisit my blog throughout the month to discover a bunch of indie authors and their exciting, wonderful, great books. Oh, don't forget to take a look at my indie books too (hint, hint).

For those readers and writers who like to Tweet, you might want to use the hashtag #CelebrateIndies from time to time.

Celebrate Indies is about more than just celebrating the indie books, it's about celebrating the indie authors too. So I'm hoping that indie authors will comment below and include links to their books, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc. and tell us something about themselves and what they write. I'm hoping too that readers will comment about indie authors they've discovered, great indie books they think others would like to read or maybe just let us know what kind of indie books they'd love to read.

Thanks so much for reading this blog post. I appreciate hearing from you, so please don't hesitate to comment below.

NOTE - If you're an indie author and would like to be interviewed on my blog, please let me know. I'd like to do a variety of interviews as we celebrate indies together.

Happy New Year!

The New Year 2012 snuck up on me. How did it get here so fast? I swear that Thanksgiving was only a couple days ago and Christmas was just yesterday. Did I get lost in time somewhere? Did I spend too much time on the computer?

Well, 2011 was a very good year for me. I fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming an author by ePubbing four books between August and November: "Outback Love," "Jetting Away," "Moon Over Madness" and "Bayou Blues and Other Sorrows." I guess that is why the year zipped by so fast.

"Jetting Away" went free on Amazon October 27th and from that date on I've been on a roller coaster ride. To date, over 20,000 people have downloaded a copy of "Jetting Away." For weeks it was on the Best Sellers Top 100 Free ebook list on Amazon and then for weeks more on the Best Sellers Contemporary Fiction Top 100 Free ebook list. What an exciting ride for a new indie author. I can't thank you all enough for getting "Jetting Away."

In addition to the excitement on "Jetting Away," "Outback Love," my contemporary romance novel, was on the Best Sellers Contemporary Romance Top 100 Paid ebook list for a number of days. Needless to say, I was on Cloud-9 for all of those days.

In the midst of that roller coaster ride, I ePubbed a collection of eight short stories and eight poems, "Bayou Blues and Other Sorrows." The date, 11/11/11, just seemed like a perfect day to bring out a new book. Unfortunately, "Bayou Blues..." is off to a slow start. However, it's now available as a free ebook to members of Amazon Prime. This is a book I've worked on for a very long time and am so pleased to finally have it out there. Writing poetry and short stories was my first love before writing novels.

November and December have been months of mostly dreaming and some writing. I've been working on several different ideas for some new novels. I managed to write partials on some of them and have hopes of finishing and ePubbing them in 2012. For now, I'll just say that I think you'll enjoy the novels I've been dreaming about and writing. If all goes well, I should have a new contemporary romance novel out before spring.

Many thanks to everyone who bought my books from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Smashwords, Apple, Sony, Diesel and Kobo. Many thanks too to those on Twitter who re-Tweeted my many Tweets, mentioned me on Twitter, and/or chose to Follow me on Twitter. Thanks too for the very nice reviews I've received on my books on Amazon and Barnes&Noble.

In the meantime, best wishes for a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful and Prosperous New Year for all.

A Sneak Peek at "Bayou Blues and Other Sorrows"

Here is a sneak peek at the cover for my latest ebook, "Bayou Blues and Other Sorrows." I love how it turned out. My husband, Ben Heyer, did another great job in designing this cover. There is a big advantage having such a talented husband.

"Bayou Blues and Other Sorrows" is a collection of short stories and poems about life, love and other important issues. It should be available on Amazaon by mid-November.

I was originally aiming for a November 1st ePub of my book, only I was sick for all of last week, which delayed the launch. I'm really excited about this collection. It's more mainstream fiction with only a touch of romance.

Some of the short stories in this collection are: "Harry's Garden," "Checking Out," "A Kiss is Just a Kiss"  and "The Night of the UFO." I hope that gives you a tiny hint at what's inside.

Some of the poems in the collection are: "Bayou Blues," "Cartwheels," "Sweet Lips of Time" and "In a Cafe."

I'll let you know the minute "Bayou Blues and Other Sorrows" is available online at Amazon.com.

Learning to be an Indie Author - Part 1

Some things in life are more difficult than others. Learning to be an Indie Author is one of the more difficult ones. I love to write and have been doing so almost as long as I can remember. But translating that into ePubbed books is a long process of trial and error, learning all along the way. This is definitely not something for the faint of heart.

First off, you need a book: a short story, novella or novel. Then you have to edit until you don't want to ever see it again as long as you live. And then you have to edit some more. It helps to have other eyes look at it too. But in this busy world, it's not always easy to find someone who will go through your book with a fine tooth comb. At best, a friend or family member will read the story and let you know what they would have done if it was their book. Not sure if this is really helpful.

I've heard authors say they bribe their friends to read and edit. Oh, yeah? And just where did you find those wonderful friends? I don't know anyone who has the time to carefully read and edit a novel, let alone a short story.

Even when I belonged to writers' groups, they only edited anywhere from the first three pages or, if lucky, the first chapter. No one edited a whole book for someone else, not even when I was a member of the Cactus Rose Chapter of RWA. I still have all those old edits on partials that I boxed up years ago. Gee, I really loved the comments like, "I wouldn't put a kid in the story if I was writing it." Well, if I took the "kid" out, it wouldn't be the same story. Sheesh! Or how about, "A four year old wouldn't talk that way, she'd talk baby talk." Huh? My two and a half year old twin granddaughters don't even talk "baby talk." They talk in full sentences and the words are very clear. So edits like that don't help a writer at all. Those kind of edits/comments are just someone else's opinion and nothing else.

For instance, my husband wrote a sci-fi story that was edited by a writers' group. One of the edits was, "Your premise is all wrong." So what are you supposed to do? Throw out the whole story? Another writer said, "I loved your story." So do you keep the story? Or throw it out? Or completely rewrite the thing?

Having friends/family members edit could cause life-long resentments between said parties. I'd hate to lose a good friend over some stupid comments made about my story, novella, novel. Of course, I have some great friends who, for some perverse reason, happen to like what I write.

So now we come to the aspect of having a stranger edit your book. There's the major problem that Indie Authors are usually pretty poor and can't afford to pay a few hundred dollars to have someone edit their books. Yes, there are "starving writers" out there, just like there are "starving artists." Several hundred dollars per book for edits just isn't in my budget right now. This is where I apologize to my readers. I can't afford an independent editor.

There are some advantages though. I have a Bachelor of Arts in English. That has to count for something. I know how to edit and have edited other peoples' writing, so I should be qualified to edit my own. Plus, I did technical writing for years. I mean, I was actually paid to write. So that should count for something. So I can and do edit my own work. It doesn't mean I'll catch everything, but I do the best I can.

Now we're back to square one about learning to be an Indie Author. You've written your book and edited the heck out of it. Now you have to make sure it's formatted correctly. So you go over and over it with another fine tooth comb to correct any formatting problems. You and Word have become close friends and adversaries at the same time.  You learn to plead with Word and praise it and, at the same time, curse it's quirks. But eventually you get the formatting right too.

Now, you have to learn how to ePub on Kindle Direct Publishing, Smashwords and if you're really daring, on other sites. The first few times is often trial and error. What's a vetter error? You'd better read the Smashwords Style Guide. KDP has it's own quirks too, so you have to read the Kindle Direct Publishing Style Guide too. In fact, you start reading style guides and how-to-ePub books like they're going out of style. You learn some things, but mostly just get confused. Eventually, you just jump in there and ePub your first book.

You think the second book will be easier to ePub, but you're wrong. By the time the second book is ready to ePub, you've forgotten everything you learned the first time around. The third book isn't much easier. I'm told that eventually it all starts to click in your "old brain" and it gets easier. I'm still waiting for that moment.

Before I forget, Indie Authors need to learn about book covers. Remember all those gorgeous book covers that you've taken for granted for years? Well, now you have to create one of your own. If you have an enterprising, talented (though very stubborn) husband like I have, then you're halfway to a good cover. I must say some interesting arguments (fights?) can occur over book cover design. In the end, if you're lucky (and still married) you have a great book cover. Then you have to figure out how to add the cover to your formatted book. Nope, nothing is easy in the early learning process, but it has to improve somewhere down the line. Doesn't it?

I'm realizing now that this post is a really long one. So I'm breaking it into parts in order to get Part 1 out there. Part 2 will be posted soon. Thanks for your patience. Oh, did I forget to mention that patience is one of the most important parts of being an Indie Author? Well, I'll get into that later.

(NOTE - Please forgive me for any errors in this post. I don't have time to do a fine-tooth-comb edit of this post. I just wanted to get this info/advice out there for anyone thinking about becoming an Indie Author. I don't intend to discourage anyone. My intent is purely to let you know that it's not easy. Read all you can about ePubbing and it will help you along the way. I would spend more time on this post, only I have my next ebook, Bayou Blues and Other Sorrows, which is running behind schedule. I intended to make the book available online today. Only I was sick for the last week and lost all that time. So please forgive me for the delay. Bayou Blues... will be available in the next week or so. Thank you for being patient. Please check back over the next few days to read more posts about "Learning to be an Indie Author.")

"Moon Over Madness" Released

I am really excited to announce that my latest ebook, "Moon Over Madness," a paranormal witch/vampire/ghost novella was released today. It is now available online at Amazon.com and Smashwords.com. This was a really fun book to write with lots of twists and turns and interesting characters, including a hundred pound puppy named Jake.

Amazon link to "Moon Over Madness"

http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Over-Madness-ebook/dp/B005T8MQD2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317957417&sr=8-1

Smashwords link to "Moon Over Madness"

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/94451

No Winners

There were no winners for my "Outback Love" contest.  I guess no one wants to win a book by a new indie author. Oh, well. Maybe sometime down the line?

This brings to mind writer/author, Karin Cox's, recent blog post about "Respect." It's all about the need for respect between authors and the need for respect from authors for their readers. I think all writers/authors should read that post. You can find it at: karincox.wordpress.com

I'm noticing there's a great deal of animosity from established authors against indie authors. I haven't personally experienced animosity directed at me, but I've heard from other indie authors, ones who have been out there in the fray longer than I have. In some cases, it's carried to the point of hatred. Apparently, established authors think indie authors are going to take away their books sales and fans. Well, if an indie author is good enough to attract fans and book sales, then bravo. That's an author who should be published, whether it's with a big name publishing house or ePub.

The ePub industry is here to stay, whether established authors like it or not. I understand, that's a scary proposition. Will paper book sales drop? Yes! Will ebook sales increase? Yes! That's a fact of life. Times are changing. We can't stop progress. So we just have to learn to live and work with it.

I have to admit the ePub industry is a Godsend for me. I started writing seriously in my college days. I got zillions of rejection letters, but none were rejected due to the content of my writing. I was told one novel, "Firefall," sounded great, but it was too long (899 pages) for an unpublished author. I was advised to write something shorter. I wrote "Outback Love" and was told that they'd publish it if I was already a published author. Huh?

I received rejections from agents, my favorite being, "If I could only have worked with you from the beginning." The beginning of my novel? The beginning of the romance industry? The beginning of the publishing industry? The beginning of time? I never got an answer on that.

Yes, I kept every one of those rejection letters. I wanted to keep a paper trail of my writing career. Due to all those rejections, I wrote in spurts. A year or two of writing and then years of working, family and living life. More years of writing. Then more years of living. This pattern went on and on. All those years in between just added more fuel to the fire. It gave me more life experiences to write about, more travels and locales to add to my books.

I'm not the kind of person who gives up easily. Though the years I've just kept writing. A poem was published in a literary magazine. Several articles about boating were published in national boating magazines. I wrote bunches of short stories, none of which were published, but I enjoyed writing them. My favorite rejections on my short stories were received on "Harry's Garden." I received two rejection letters on the same day for "Harry's Garden." At that time, I'd long since given up sending my stories out to just one magazine at a time. I was sending the stories out to two or three at a time, supposedly a no-no, but I did it anyway. Oh, my!

Anyway, two rejection letters arrived simultaneously for "Harry's Garden." One said, "I love the beginning of your story." The other said, "I love the end of your story." Huh? I thought, why couldn't the two get together and decide they loved the whole story? By the way, I love "Harry's Garden" and it will eventually be ePubbed in my collection of short stories and poems, "Bayou Blues and Other Sorrows," which I plan to ePub before too long.

Rejection letters don't mean you're a poor writer. Acceptance from a publishing house doesn't mean you're a great writer. It's all about writing the best novels, novellas, short stories or poetry that you can. Then it's about timing. Was the reader having a good or bad day? Had the reader just finished three manuscripts ahead of yours, all with the same theme? Did your reader just happen to love your hero or heroine, because the reader identified with one or both at that particular moment in time? It also has a lot to do with luck. Did the stars, moon and planets align in the precise way on that particular day?

I don't regret getting rejection slips through the years. They made me a better and more determined writer. For several years I was a member of RWA and the Cactus Rose Chapter. Along with a couple other writing friends, we started Desert Rogues, our own writing group. Several writers came and went in our group, but eventually there were just four of us, whom I mentioned in a previous blog post, but here they are again: Ruth Kerce (who writes erotica, ruthkerce.blogspot.com ), Michele Bardsley (who writes urban paranormals and romantic comedy, michelebardsley.com ), Nancy Lynn (who wrote a really fun romantic comedy) and me, Teri Heyer (contemporary romance, paranormal and trying other genres). So now all four of us are published authors. Really cool.

At some point, I'd like to think the animosity between authors will eventually ease up. After all, we're all in this great big pot together. Some are on the top of this stew and others are simmering on the bottom. But when the chef comes along and stirs that pot, we're all going to get mixed up. Hey, I love food, so I had to use that analogy.

Anyway, I respect all writers/authors, big and small, established and indie. All of us have some great stories to tell. I'm a voracious reader myself, so I respect all readers too. I know what it's like to have a big name author treat a reader like crap. Yep, a couple big-time authors have been on my "Do Not Read" list forever, because they were so rude to me when I met them that I'll never again buy one of their books.

Writers/authors need to remember that every person out there is a potential reader. So be nice. Play nice. Treat your potential readers with respect and they'll stick by you forever, through thick and thin. They'll forgive your writing a slow, boring book now and then, so long as you follow it up with something good down the line. But treat your readers like crap and they won't buy your books no matter what you write. And it could be as simple as your reader saying, "Oh, it's so nice to meet you." Only you don't respond and turn your back on said reader. Believe me, it happens and all too often.

For those of you who are interested, I'm going to keep writing. My next release is a novella, "Moon Over Madness," which will be ePubbed by next week. It's a light-hearted paranormal about witches, vampires, ghosts, and those are the good guys. There's some bad guys too. It's a fun read for October and Halloween.

Many thanks to all who have waded through and read this particular blog post. I needed to say these things and I hope you all understand. Many more thanks to the readers of my books.

Procrastinating

I'm probably better at procrastinating than anything else. I have no problem finding one thing or another to distract me from what I should actually be doing. Though I like to think I'm not alone in this trait. I must be related to Scarlet O'Hara, because I'd rather think about or do something tomorrow rather than today.

Well, this isn't a good trait for a writer. So I'm having to write against the grain, make myself do now what I'd much rather do later. Oh, I have lots of story ideas bouncing around in my head and as many more partials in boxes in my closet. Those are all stories/novels I'll finish later, much later.

Anyway, it was a milestone for me to ePub my books "Outback Love" and "Jetting Away," because I would have rather finished them later. But I did something uncharacteristic for me and wrote both of them in record time. I write fast, when I make myself  sit in the chair and write. It also helped to have a fair amount of nagging from my husband, mom and best friends. But now I'm in the groove so to speak. I've made a bargain with myself. I give myself time to procrastinate and then I sit down and write, usually around 2,000 words a day.

So let's see, there's that box of partials in my closet. I will get to them, one by one, eventually. But in the meantime, these new stories keep popping up in my head and insist that I write them first. I guess it's pretty much a case of "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." The stories that clamor the loudest in my head get written first. The others have to wait their turn, because I'm busy procrastinating.

In case you haven't noticed, I'm procrastinating right now. I should be finishing my novella, "Moon Over Madness," which will be released as an ebook in early October. Instead, I'm writing this blog post about procrastinating.

Indie Authors

I've started wondering if indie authors are supporting other indie authors. I can't help but feel that's important in this ePub industry. After all, if we don't support each other, like buying each other's books, then who will? I, for one, buy a lot of indie books. Finding a new author is exciting. So I search for the indie authors and download one ebook after another onto my Kindle. What a wonderful surprise as I read each book. And the coolest thing, I keep going back for more. Am I addicted to indies? Maybe so.

So what I'm asking is, am I the only one? Or are we actively buying each other's books? This is important. We're in this together and, it seems, we need to stick together. This is a "Paying it Forward" kind of thing. I buy your books and someone else buys mine and so on to keep the ball rolling.

Remember, as indie authors we're starting out at a grave disadvantage. No one knows who we are. That's a scary proposition to readers who want to know what to expect. We're an unknown quantity. But, trust me on this, we indie authors have some great stories to tell.

So set aside some money each month, whatever feels right, and spend that amount on indie ebooks. Try out new authors, new story ideas. Take a chance. I've been doing this for a long time and have come across some great books by some wonderful authors. In fact, I did this long before I became an indie author myself.

Think of it this way. What if you threw a party and nobody came? That's how it is for us indie authors. We're having a party and right now we're waiting to see if anyone walks through that door.

Well, enough said. I just had to get this out there. Sorry to anyone who might be offended by this. It doesn't mean we're abandoning our favorite authors in order to buy unknowns. No, we'll keep reading our favorites and at the same time discover some new favorites.

It's like when my grandson was asking me about my giant 100 pound puppy, Dude. I assured him that Dude was really sweet. "But Nana," he said. "Are you sure about those teeth?"

Well, I can't guarantee that every indie book you buy will be the best of the best. But chances are, you'll discover some really great reads.

A special thanks to all readers who take a chance on us indie authors.

ePub of "Jetting Away"

Yea!!! The ePub of "Jetting Away" happened yesterday. It's a short story prequel to my contemporary romance novel, "Outback Love," but it can be read as a stand-alone. "Jetting Away" is available as an ebook at Amazon.com and Smashwords.com.

It's so exciting to now have two books out there. Once again, I'm on a "high" and can't wait to finish writing the next one, "Murder on Sunday Beach." Guess I'd better get busy in order to meet my self-imposed September deadline.

My dogs, Shani and Dude, think I'm spending way too much time writing my books. However, all I had to do is remind them I'm earning money to buy them dog treats. Hey, that's all it took. Now they're taking a mid-day nap and snoring away.

"Jetting Away"

I'm just finishing up writing a short story prequel to "Outback Love." This is the story of what happened in San Francisco that made Priscilla Alexander want to escape to the Australian Outback.

Things were not going well for Priscilla at work. The morning's big meeting was disastrous. At first, Priscilla locked herself up in her high-rise office. Then a co-worker, Darcy, convinced her that she needed to get out of the office for a few hours. Maybe head to the salon to have her hair and nails done?

Priscilla escapes from the office and heads to the salon, stopping en route to buy a couple of yummy donuts from San Fran Donuts. Then she stops at a magazine kiosk and buys a copy of "Travel Adventures Magazine." That's how the escape idea comes about.

A couple weeks later, Priscilla is jetting away to Australia and an unforgettable adventure into the Outback. She's already dreamed about meeting a to-die-for hunk in the Outback. But she isn't looking for any guy, hunk or non-hunk. She doesn't need a Mr. Right. She doesn't need anyone. Priscilla wants to make this escape all on her own. Or does she?

"Jetting Away" should be available on Amazon.com and Smashwords.com in the next few days. It will be offered as a "freebie" eBook download. So don't hesitate to get your free copy of "Jetting Away." You'll want to escape to Australia right along with Priscilla.

Great News for "Outback Love"

I'm excited to announce that "Outback Love" is now available as an ebook on Smashwords.com, in addition to Amazon.com. More venues means more readers. Now I'm waiting to hear if "Outback Love" will be accepted for premier publishing, which will make it available on Barnes & Noble online and Sony online. I should know about that in the next week or so.

This is all happening so fast. One minute I was unpublished and the next published. Really cool. This makes August an important month for me. And I just thought August was a hot summer month. Go figure.

"Outback Love"

I'm really excited about the ePub of my debut novel, Outback Love, a contemporary romance set in the Australian Outback, which is now available as an ebook on Amazon.com. It's currently listed for .99 cents, which is a bargain in this economy. Please buy my book today and help out a "starving writer." That said ... I had a fun time writing Outback Love and hope that you will have just as much fun reading my story.

Priscilla Alexander, a city girl from San Francisco, is taking an extended vacation, alone, through the Australian Outback. She is not looking for Mr. Right, not in Australia and not in the Outback. But Ian MacAlister, an Aussie hunk wearing a bush hat adorned with crocodile teeth, comes to her aid. Will Priscilla decide that Ian is her Mr. Right after all? Will Ian decide he wants to fill that forever role in Priscilla's life? Please read this story of Priscilla and Ian's romp through Australia and the Outback as they struggle with their momentous decision to stay together or walk/run away.

The inspiration for Outback Love was a 3 week, 5,000 mile journey through the Australian Outback which I took with my husband, Ben, a few years back. It was a grand adventure and many of the locales we visited are written into the book. We traveled the Outback in a conversion van and actually stayed at all the hotels and motels I wrote about. We came back home with bunches of photos, a very long home-movie and lots of memories and dreams. Would we venture back to Australia and the Outback? Yes, in a minute, only we'd take more time to visit all those places we missed in the first trip.

As far as writing goes, I've been writing since my grammar school days. I had a vivid imagination even then and wrote about cowboys and Indians, traveling the Oregon Trail, dogs, horses and adventures.

I'm so excited that, with today's technology, books can now be published as ebooks. So Outback Love is my debut novel on Amazon.com. It's now available as a download to your Kindle, PC, iPhone, Blackberry, Nook or any other eReader.  If you don't own a Kindle, then just download the free Kindle Reader App from Amazon.com. It's a wonderful way to enjoy reading.

Outback Love should be available on Smashwords.com within the next few days or so. I'll be sure to announce it here on my Blog when that happens.

I'm currently working on my next novel, Murder on Sunday Beach, which is a mystery/romance set on the Florida Panhandle amidst the white sugar-sand beaches and turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This is the first book in the Abby Love Mystery Series, which should be available on Amazon.com and Smashwords.com in the next few weeks.

My husband, Ben Heyer, and I also wrote a Futuristic/Thriller, Firefall, which will be offered on the same venues as Outback Love. The trilogy, which should be available in the fall, is Firefall: The Rising (Book 1), Firefall: The Journey (Book 2) and Firefall: The Dawn (Book 3). I'm working on the final edits now.

In future posts I'll be adding some of the photos I took in Australia, in addition to photos of our beautiful Gulf Coast beaches.

Please check back to hear the latest news on my writing, future ePubs, and adventures.

You can read more on my Facebook page and my Amazon Author's Page.