A to Z: Going Indie: P is for Profitability

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs.  

So now that I'm trying to treat my writing life with a little more respect and be more of a businesswoman about it, I have to pay attention to things like profits. And the big question is how to measure that. 

There's a lot that I've bought for my writing life (see my M post on Money for details), but which things count in my reckoning for whether a book is profitable yet? 

Mostly, I've decided that things I buy that are for author life in general or serve as infrastructure don't go in the reckoning for any single book. So, buying an author banner, getting bookmarks made, paying a table fee at an event, doesn't count. 

But things specific to that book like editing, book cover, buying copies, etc. DO count. 

So for Not Too Late as an example:  I came up with $726.10 as my starting number, my "sunk cost." 

That includes: 

• $62.50 for Vellum (not sure this should actually count, because I'll use it for ALL my future books, but if it does count, that is 1/4 of what the software cost me, since I've used it on 4 books so far)
• $59 for two ISBNs, one for ebook, one for paperback (since I bought in a group of ten--they're cheaper if you buy more at a time)
•  $196.80 editing
• $400 book cover 
• $7.80 for a paper proof copy 

Since then, I've purchased 68 copies of the book for resale. I know that's a weird number, but it's because I shipped to bookstores in weird amounts for consignment arrangements as well as buying for my own in-person re-sale. I've sold 9 copies at full price in person, three at lower price to the cover artist, and one through one of those consignment arrangements. 

When I track how much I spent buying books, I always include the shipping, too. So each book costs me between $4 and $5 on average. So, the copy that sold through consignment paid me $9, but it's really $4 or $5 profit since I had to buy the book in the first place. I hope that makes sense. The copies I sell in person make me $10 or $11 each, for comparison. 

So I've put all that into a spreadsheet and currently, I'm further in the hole than I started, at $834.35. I'm not worried though, because, like I said, this book hasn't actually released yet. This is all PRESALE still.

My *hope* is that the book will be "in the black" within its first six months. So, just in time for Halloween. I'll let you know how it pans out! 

 

A to Z: Indie Publishing: O is for Older Characters

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs.  

So one of the "different" things about my GenX romances is that the people falling in love are in their 40s and 50s. I've read a fair amount of romance in my life, and if you based your ideas about love on romance novels, you could easily come to believe that it only happens to people between 17 and 25 years old. 

I don't mean to denigrate those stories. I've LOVED lots of them. But, it seems like a pretty narrow band of human experience to explore when it comes to love and relationships. If things go well, there's a lot of life to enjoy after age 25. 

And, I'm not 17 to 25 years old anymore. In fact, one of MY CHILDREN is older than that! And I myself am living a second-chance romance with a man I married when I was 34. So many people in my life are finding love either for the first time, or second or third time, in their 40s and 50s. I've got a friend with a really active dating life in her 60s. 

Writing romance for older characters is the same and different as writing for younger ones. 

You can still get the fun of "he said/she said" chapters, using the alternating points of view to build in some fun for your readers who will know what both characters are thinking and feeling, even when they haven't told each other yet.  

The giddy bits and emotions can be very much the same as they would be for 20 year olds. Swooning still happens after thirty, y'all. 

On the other hand, your characters have history. They've probably loved and lost before. This isn't their first rodeo. So some of the kinds of situations that play well with younger characters make older ones seems TSTL (too stupid to live). 

A lot of time the angst and obstacles are more external than internal. People in their middle age kind of know what they want and what they don't want, and are more willing to communicate it, so what's standing in their way when it comes to love has to be something different. 

For Amanda, in Not Too Late, it's the idea of giving up her wandering life and staying put in one town--her hometown at that. She also has to consider whether she wants to deal with romance while she's in the middle of elder care for her mother. 

For Abby, in Acid Reign, it's realizing that steady and reliable doesn't have to mean boring. Abby's losing her best friend to cancer, too. Is this really the time for love? 

For Becca, in Ready or Not, it's giving another man a chance even though she's been burnt before. Besides, her daughter is leaving for NYC, leaving her to face an empty nest. Isn't that enough? 

I've really enjoyed writing these and my early readers are saying good things, so I'm hoping that romance for older characters is a concept that might really have some legs! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A to Z: Going Indie: N is for NetGalley

 

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

So one of the big struggles for indie writers is getting their work seen. The big publishing houses don't do as much for writers as they used to, but having your work published by one of the Big Five does still come with higher likelihood that it will get seen and reviewed. And having reviews is part of how Amazon and other online vendors judge whether or not to surface your book for people browsing their sites. Oh, the dreaded algorithm!

So, one of the ways I tried to garner some early interest and reviews for my GenX romances was by getting them on NetGalley. NetGalley, if you're not familiar with it, is a well established and popular web destination where readers, booksellers, librarians, and educators can get free access to ebooks to read and review. It can be a great way to get the word out there that your book exists!

But, NetGalley is EXPENSIVE. If you just straight up pay for it, it's $500 for a single book…and I had three I wanted reviews for. But luckily through networking with other writers, I learned about a NetGalley co-op, which I could rent a one-month stint with for $63! Much more in my reach, financially. So I rented three months in all, one for each book. 

As of this writing (I'm writing this on April 10th, though you won't see it until April 16th), here are the numbers: 

Not Too Late: 127 requests, 114 downloads, 16 reviews/feedback on NetGalley, 10 public reviews on Goodreads. Language I pulled from reviews to help me know how to pitch the book when I'm selling it: prodigal daughter, self-care read, second chance, feel-good. 

Acid Reign: 53 requests, 45 downloads, 9 feedback on NetGalley, 7 public reviews on Goodreads. Language I pulled from reviews to help me know how to pitch the book when I'm selling it: fresh perspective, welcome change, leans into intensity and emotional stakes, mature

Ready or Not:  62 requests, 56 downloads, 5 feedback on NetGalley, 2 public reviews on Goodreads. Language I pulled from reviews to help me know how to pitch the book when I'm selling it: super cute, adorable dog, humor and heart, sweet pairing. 

For contrast, I published a collection of short stories last October (Stories from Shadow Hill) in part as a learning book on how to do all this. I didn't do any of this review-seeking for it, and to date (six months later), it has no review and has gotten no traction at all online, even though it sells well in person. It's not quite apples-to-apples since Shadow Hill is a short horror collection and these others are romance novels, but it gives me hope that the reviews will make a difference come official release day. 

 

A to Z: Going Indie: Money

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

So, let's talk about money. I know some people consider that rude, but I think transparency about numbers is useful.  What did it actually cost me (in dollars) to publish Not Too Late and the other Gen X romances? 

So, I broke down my math in the first month recap in my Substack series about Going Indie, but here's the money bits: 

So far, I’ve spent:

• Vellum software for formatting: $249.99 (August 2019--bought when I thought about doing this the first time). I’ve used it for 4 books so far, so that makes Not Too Late‘s share: $62.50

• ISBNs: $295 for 10 from Bowker June 2025 which amounts to $59 for the two I used for ebook and paperback of this book. (These are cheaper per ISBN the more you buy at a time, but I figured 10 would keep me busy enough for a year or two—at this point, I’ve used eight of them).

• Editing: $196.80, July 2025 (I got a friends and family rate from a FANTASTIC editor)

• Bookcover: $400 Pd. July 2025 (I hired a person I met through convention life to do all three covers)

• Proof copy from Ingram: $7.80 (September 2025)

That’s a total of $726.10 by my reckoning, but notice the dates in that list. I didn’t spend all of that at once, but spread it out across several months. And the software purchase is an unlimited license, so the more I use it, the less it costs per book.

Buying paper copies of my book (I get them from Ingram) costs me roughly $4-$5 per book depending on  how many I order at a time. I sell them for $15 at in-person events and the pricing will be similar online come release day. That pricing seems to be pretty standard. No one balks at the number if they were thinking of buying it. 

There are other expenses not there in my production costs, but that still matter. To be able to sell at in-person events, I've collected a bunch of things: 

• bins for books storage/hauling: I use a 19 qt from Container Store that is easy for me to manage alone. Roughly $14 per tub and each holds 15-30 books depending on size of the books. 
• 6 foot folding table: $50-70 (I happened to already have one I bought as "the cookie mom" some years ago)
• 4 foot folding table $60 (I happened to already have one I bought in support of gaming parties at my house)
• wagon for hauling stuff around: $60-$200. I have a $60ish dollar one I bought when my kids were doing soccer, but I covet a more expensive one that I can push as well as pull and with better wheels. 
• canopy tent for outdoor events: $120 or so. I bought one years ago, the first time I had an opportunity for an outdoor event and recently upgraded to one that's easier to put my by myself. They can be cheaper if you buy them off season. 
• Tent weights: gotta keep that tent from flying away! $40 bought my the first time a venue required them.  
• standing banner: I've had a couple of retractable ones from Vistaprint. $100-ish. But after the last one broke, I haven't replaced it and haven't decided if I'm going to or not. You can't use them everywhere and they're fussy. 
• table runner: $80 or so. I LOVE mine because it "brands" my table and looks nice, but folds into a tote bag and is machine washable. 
• bookmarks: cheaper the more you buy at a time. My most recent set was $70 for 500 booksmarks. 
• postcards: cheaper the more you buy at a time. My most recent batch was $50 for 100. I used them to create cards that let people buy ebooks from me at in-person events. 
• stickers: again, cheaper the more you buy at a time. My last batch was $117 for 300. 

Me under my canopy with my table runner

You don't *have* to have all that, but some infrastructure definitely helps! There's also stuff I subscribe to not for just one book but for my general writing life: 

• Canva for making graphics: $120 a year
• Mailerlite for newsletter management: how much depends on number of subscribers. Mine is $40 a month. 
• Bookbub websites for my website (not this free one, just for blogging--my other one for branding/selling). $5 a month. 
• Bookfunnel: where I provide download opportunities for readers and can connect with bundle opportunities. $250 a year
• Duotrope: where I find publication opportunties and track my submissions: $5 a month.   

Do you HAVE to do all this? No, not at all. There are a lot of ways you can do this, and you have to balance your goals and desires against financial feasibility and your skillset. 

For example, if you're going Amazon only, you can just use their free ASINs and not buy ISBNs at all. I bought them because I wanted to go wide and not be beholden to the Big River Overlords. Ingram and Amazon also have online formatting options you can use for free. I wanted more flexibility and something easier for me to use. So I bought Vellum. You can also hire people to do layout for you, usually not that expensively. 

There are cheaper cover options, using ready-mades for example. But I'm anti-AI for creative works and it was important to me to work with an artist.  

Each of us has to make our choices about how we invest in our writing lives. These are just the choices I've made. We'll see which ones I later regret and which ones were worth the investment as time goes by!  

A to Z: Going Indie: Launch

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

People talk a lot about "launching" a book…and I've had mixed results. My first novel, I had all the hoopla, including an awesome and well-attended in-person event at a local book store.

Me, my daughter, and my dad in 2015 at the launch event for Going Through the Change. 

 

Other times, the book came out at an awkward moment and I could barely find time to acknowledge my own book release on social media, let alone do any events or promotion. 

That's part of what I've been excited about in Going Indie: I chose my launch dates. The first book has been ready since December, but I've held it's release date until the other two were ready, since I've heard from several people that quick release is a good strategy for romance. 

So, I've scheduled to release one a month for April, May, and June: 

 

 

That's given me a good amount of time to seek early reviews, engage in promotions, and do a little pre-release research by hand-selling the paper copies early at my in-person events. I'm hoping that all of that will lead to better reception and sales on release day and some follow through to the next book and the one after that. 

 

Will it work? I DON'T KNOW! But I'm excited to find out, and I didn't have to negotiate with anyone but me to choose this approach. 

 

So start the countdown! Launching on April 28! (for my birthday) 

  

A to Z: Going Indie: Knowledge

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

Knowledge is power, right? At least that's what Schoolhouse Rocky taught me, back in the day. 

It's definitely been true in my pursuit of indie publishing. One reason I didn't do it the first time I thought about it was because I was daunted by how much there was to learn. I thought writing the books was hard! But, learning how to manage all the systems to make this dream a reality? Not *that's* hard!

Luckily, there are a lot of ways to learn these days. I already posted a couple of books I found helpful back on my B is for Books post, but I also learned a lot from actually taking classes and training opportunities. 

A big one for me was a Business Boot Camp from Women in Publishing. Making that shift into thinking of my writing life as a business and making sound business decisions regarding it was a tough one for me, so I really appreciated this kind and supportive group of women willing to share their experience and take questions. 

That community was so valuable that I ended up buying a full membership, and I continue to learn from them all the time. 

There's also the in-person route. My public library was a great source for "how to" information. In fact, that's how I met James Maxey, now a good friend, and the guy who introduced me to superhero novels, so is indirectly responsible for my entire Menopausal Superheroes series. 

Every time I spend time with other writers, I learn something. As a group, we're a generous lot. If you've got questions, ask them! Most writers will do their best to help you. 
 

A to Z: Going Indie: J is for Joy!

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

So, here's something I didn't know about Going Indie until I did it--the joy! 

I've been proud of every book I've ever written, and it definitely thrilled my little heart to see my work accepted for publication and made real into a paper book I could hold in my hands!

Me holding my first book, back in 2015

 

But there's something EXTRA EXTRA special about holding that book when you made every decision in it. It's *mine* in a whole different way than those other books were. The credit (or blame) is well and fully mine. And there's really no other word for it. It's a JOY! 

A to Z: Going Indie: I is for In-person events

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

When I started my professional writing life, I wasn't thinking about the non-writing parts of the job. Things like selling my books from tables at book fairs, doing interview on podcasts, networking, publicity…wowzers. There's so much! 

But it didn't take me long to learn that in-person events are an important way a writer can build a relationship with an audience and start to develop a following. So, I embraced it. 

Now, I have accumulated a bunch of gear (a tent, several folding tables, banners, signs, bookstands, etc.) in support of "getting out there" and I use it regularly. Introvert that I am, these events do tire me out, but I've come to look forward to them all the same. 

Me selling my books at Geek and Grub

 

Talking directly to my readers helps me learn how to sell my books. Every book fair is an opportunity to hone the pitch and figure out what part of your book is the hook that will get someone to pick it up and read the back, and maybe even buy it. 

Seeing what other writers do gives me ideas about what I might like to try, too. Sometimes that's getting a better tent that's easier to put up and take down myself just like the one Brittany had. Or learning what specific kind of storage tub is both the right size to hold most books and light enough that I can still carry it (Thansk, Patrick!). Other times, it's learning about individual download codes on Bookfunnel and how I can use those to sell eBook versions of my books at in-person events (Yay! Cassie, you're a genius)!  

A few days ago, I shared my tent at an in-person event with a new author who had never done an event before. She was getting a bit "fluttery" about whether she had all the right things or not, but I reminded her that at the heart, this is very simple. If you bring yourself, your books, and a way to take payment for your books, then you're golden. The rest just makes it better and you can gather it a little at a time.  

Honestly, at this point, I really really enjoy in-person events. A little taste of fame, and an opportunity to connect directly with readers and other writers. It's wonderful.  

A to Z: Going Indie: H is for Hobby to Career

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

One reason I've gone indie in my writing life is that I'm looking to up my game--to move from a sometimes-profitable hobby to a full-blown career. 

I've been working with small publishers for a decade now, and I have seen some good income and career building opportunities during this time, but—what was it Carrie Fisher said? Instant gratification takes too long? — yeah, I'm impatient. 

See, I'm full of ideas. Bursting actually. And trad publishing is sloooooooooow. The distance between "I finished my book!" and "Readers can get my book!" can be one to five years, depending on the circumstances, and whether you already have a publisher relationship or if you're in the submission trenches.  

Part of the power going indie gives me is control over my timelines. I can go as fast as I can go! So, that gives me a better chance of getting more of my imaginary friends out there in the world where you can meet them. 

I'm also in charge of marketing, pricing, distribution choices, etc. And I get the data from everything I try faster. 

So, going indie is definitely putting more work on my plate, but the payoffs are already worth it.  

A to Z: Going Indie: G is for GenX

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

GenX is the famously invisible generation between Boomers and Millennials. We were born between 1965 and 1980 and currently most of us are in our 50s. The women among us are going through menopause. Sometimes we get called the "sandwich generation" too because our parents are old enough to need our care while our children (mostly GenZ) are still young enough to need our support, too, leaving us squished in the middle.

Just kidding! I don't actually hate any of you. 

 

I identify strongly with my generation, enjoying all the memes and jokes about our invisibility, resourcefulness, and independence and when I started thinking about writing romances, I love the idea of writing them for readers my age. I know a lot of people in their 40s and 50s finding love for the first time, or finding it again, and the challenges and obstacles are very different than they were when we were 20. 

In a similar vein to my Menopausal Superheroes series, which gave superpowers to fully adult women with partners, careers, and mortgages to worry about alongside dealing with their new abilities, my heroines in these GenX romances all find love while they're "going through something."  

 

• In Not Too Late, Amanda comes back to her hometown of Bellevue, Kentucky to care for her mother after a hip surgery. Who knew she'd find a second chance romance with a boy she'd known in high school while she's there! And Chris has changed A LOT since she knew him as Turbo, a skinny pimply track star. 
• Abby, the songwriter for the all-girl 80s punk band Acid Reign, was really only looking for a one-night stand to distract her from the fact that her best friend is losing her fight with cancer. But Gavin and her heart had other ideas. If only he wasn't a politician…
• Becca wasn't looking for love. This single mom had enough on her mind, with her now-grown daughter leaving for a new life in NYC, leaving her with an empty nest. David, widowed five years now, didn't really believe love would find him again. Luckily a rescue dog with muddy paws brought them together despite all their reservations, Ready or Not. 

Love finds you when it does, you know? And sometimes you're not twenty and you're already dealing with elder care, losing a friend, or facing empty nest.  

 

A to Z: Going Indie: Fact vs. Fiction

 

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

 I've been taking my writing life seriously and really being a writer for about 12 years now. And one of the questions that continues to throw me is when readers ask if something in a book is "real." Generally they mean, is that factual? Did that actually happen? In particular to *you* the author? 

First off, um, nosy! LOL. Especially in my romance work, is it really any of your business? 

But secondly, the answer is often "Yes, but no." 

Your life and experiences are definitely fodder for your fiction, but most of us are not simply recreating our lives with the serial numbers scratched off and calling it fiction. The way I look at it is the emotional truth of a moment often pulls from my life: I've been in love, been afraid, tried new things, had to deal with unexpected dangers, faced losses, etc. But, the details don't. 

My characters are different people than I am (even if *some* of who and what they are pulls from me and people I know), so they make different choices than I would have. Plus, a lot of my work is speculative fiction, so obviously, I, a middle-aged woman limited by real-world physics, have never flown with just the power of my own body, deflected bullets, or wielded fire, even though my Menopausal Superheroes absolutely have!

 

So for Not Too Late, the first of my GenX romances (the one that officially releases on April 28! Pre-order now!), here are a few "facts" that made it into my fiction: 

• Bellevue, KY is a real place and is in fact where I grew up. The Bellevue in the book is 90% accurate to how Bellevue is in the real world (at least in my POV)
• Like Amanda, the main character, I left for college and never really came back other than for visits
• Like Amanda, I love roller skating and it was a big part of my youth
• Bellevue really has changed a lot since I lived there and does have a Thai restaurant now, which I'm very impressed by
• Bellevue also has stayed the same with my favorite candy/ice cream shop (Schneider's) and sub shop (Fessler's) still rocking the Avenue
• My fella is also a fella that I met in my youth and re-met when I was older…so Amanda and I have that second chance vibe in common. My husband is also three years younger than me, just like Chris and Amanda. 

So, I got to use a lot of my feelings and experiences, but Not Too Late is not just a retelling of my own life through a fictional lens. Writing is weird alchemy that way. 

A to Z: Going Indie: E is for Experience

 Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

When you decide to go Indie, it's easy to fall into feeling like you don't know anything. It can make the whole thing so daunting that it's paralyzing!

But the truth is that we all have experiences that can feed a creative life and skills that transfer when it comes to publishing. And I keep reminding myself that I've learned many other things over the years. This is just more new things to learn. 

So, non-publishing experience that has helped me in going indie: 

1. Graphic design: as a teacher, girl-scout cookie mom, book club leader, and so many other things, I've needed to advertise. So, I've learned to make a perfectly passable flyer, postcard, webpage, etc.  Honestly, I even think it's kind of fun. 

2. Repurposing: as a public school teacher for many years, I never had extra money, so as I've needed storage and various pieces of gear, I've gone shopping in my own house for the things I need. Turns out I already had photography lighting shoved into a closet from that year my now-grown daughter was a teenager who wanted to be a photographer. Turns out the wagon I bought for soccer practice also works great for hauling books. I guess being a packrat in some ways isn't all bad! 

3. Planning birthday parties: I'm a mom, so I've planned a few birthday parties over the years. From simple at-home parties, to venue parties, to full on destination parties. Turns out those event planning skills transfer very well to author events. And authors are easier to wrangle than children! 

 

A to Z: Going Indie: D is for Decisions

 Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

 Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. 

I knew, but I didn't know, you know? 

Going in, I anticipated that going indie would put a lot more decisions in my hands that had previously been decided by my publisher: 
 

• editions to be created: paperback? hardback? audiobook? 
• release date: as fast or as slow as I'm capable of and want
• editor selection: who do I want to work with and can afford? 
• cover art: who do I want to work with and can afford? what should my cover look like? 
• layout/formatting decisions: more here than I expected: size, type of paper, font, drop caps, header style, section breaks (I'm using Vellum and going pretty basic so far)
• blurb language: I usually did write this myself, but now I have the final say
• price: this part is cool--especially if I want to discount to participate in a promotion. It's totally up to me!
• printing and distribution options: going wide? focusing on Amazon? using Ingram? Trying out other printers? 
• review copies and distribution: who gets an early peek? Do we do NetGalley or other paid services? 
• corrections/revisions to the text: getting those fixed is one my timeline now
• imprint/branding 
• author pages: website, Amazon, Goodreads, BookBub, etc.  

There is a bit of decision fatigue…and it is difficult to balance time for handling all these decisions alongside actually writing and creating new work.  

Mostly, I've been pretty excited to decide on all these things. Of course, that means there's no one but myself to blame for the decisions that turn out to be bad ones, but then I get all the credit for good ones, too.  

 

A to Z: C is for Covers

Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

Before going indie, since my novels were published by a small press, my opinion about the covers was solicited and if I objected strongly I had a good shot at persuading John (the head honcho) to make changes or go a different way, but in the end, he was the publisher, and the decision lay with him. 

I feel lucky that I ended up with covers I quite like for The Menopausal Superhero series: 

Still, one of the things I was really looking forward to about going indie was having full control over the covers. It was both exciting, and a little daunting. I don't consider myself much of a graphic artist, but I do have opinions. So, I wasn't going to try to do my own covers. At my skill level, that would have been a great way to end up with something amateurish and off-putting. 

Instead, I hired an artist. I met Hannah (or Spoon, as most people call her) of Spoonwood Visuals at a convention. She had the table across from mine, so I had a lot of time to look at her art and chit-chat with her, and I really liked both what I saw and what I heard. I bought a journal book from her with this art on it: 

 

I really liked how she used color, and I've got a thing for Luna moths :-) So, I asked if she ever did book covers and it turned out she does! So, over the past few months, we've talked themes and ideas and she did the covers for all three Gen X romances: 

 

 

She really did a great job turning my vague concepts into vibrant covers that really represent the books. And check out her artistry on the wraps: 

 

 I love how the heart on the back of Not Too Late comes across and becomes the letter L on the cassette tape on the front. And those Trapper-Keeper-esque details really ground it in the 80s nostalgia that is so much a part of this story!

 

 

Acid Reign is a completely different look with that collage-art style that mirrors so many punk album covers of the 80s and 90s, when Abby Storm, my main character, was rocking the world. The big lipstick kiss on the back is perfect! 

 

 

That cutie on the cover, knocking over the microphone and leaving muddy pawprints everywhere is Roscoe. He's the real hero of Ready or Not and I love the way he's running off the cover, so his head is on the back, disrupting the back-of-book blurb text. 

Working directly with an artist was WONDERFUL and I'm so pleased with what Hannah created for my books. 10 out of 10, would totally recommend the experience! 

 

 

A to Z: Going Indie: B is for Books!

 Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

Going indie in my publishing life required a lot of learning. There's a lot of advice out there--but it's not all good. And there are a lot of "how to write" books by authors that don't seem to actually have published any fiction themselves…which makes me wonder what their advice is actually worth. 

So I just wanted to highlight a couple of resources I found especially useful: 

Stella Fosse is pretty directly responsible for my GenX romances and my decision to use them as my first all-indie projects. 

We know one another through the Women's Fiction Writers Association and I blurbed her book, Write & Sell a Well-Seasoned Romance, which inspired me to take on writing romances for characters in middle-age. The book mixes advice on writing with advice on the indie publishing. All in a personable and easy to understand way. Highly recommended!

 

Another one that really helped me figure out how the business end of indie publishing works was Business Essentials for Writers by James P Nettles. James has been doing this for a while (yes, Jim, I'm calling you old), and this book is chock full of insights and really helped me navigate with fewer missteps that I might have made otherwise. 

 If you're interested in Indie Publishing, these are two great book resources. I also highly recommend the YouTube channel Go Indie Now! if you're more of a video-learning person. 

 

A to Z and IWSG: Going Indie: A is for Anticipation

 

I'm such a popular girl today, that I'm invited to TWO parties today: Blogging A to Z and The Insecure Writer's Support Group. 

Luckily for me, my theme for A to Z is writing related (Going Indie!), so I'm going to try to put these together.  

Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs in AtoZ as well as the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop and its fabulous hosts today: Melissa Maygrove, Cathrina Constantine, Kate Larkinsdale, and Rebecca Douglass!

So, let's talk about Anticipation. 

the infamous moment in the Rocky Horror Picture Show

 

When it comes to Going Indie in my writing life, I considered it from the beginning, which for me was 2014, when I was shopping around Going Through the Change, which would become my first published novel, to small publishers after having already spent two years querying for another novel to Big 5 publishers. 

But, that was 2014. It was harder then. Not that it's easy now, but information is more widely available, some of the stigma and snobbery has abated, and tools and systems have improved. When I looked at it in 2014, I was daunted. I knew I couldn't manage alongside a teaching job and raising two young children, so I put that idea on the back burner. 

But I never let it go. 

There's so much about indie publishing that appeals to me: being in creative control and exerting greater influence over timing ranking high on the list! 

So, in 2025, when my last contracted novel for Falstaff Books was published, I decided my next project would be indie. 

So, that's what, a decade or so of anticipation? Sooooo worth it, though. Hope you'll join me for the rest of A to Z (a post a day, excepting Sundays, in April) to hear about why.   

IWSG's question is all about music today:

April 1 question - If you have a playlist (or could put one together) that either gets you in the groove to write or fits with one of your books, what is it? What type of music or what songs?

 So, how perfect is it that to build a little anticipation for that first indie book, Not Too Late: A GenX Romance, releasing on April 28, 2026, I've got a playlist of the songs that served as my chapter titles.

 

 

 

If that little preview has you humming along, you can can listen to whole thing on YouTube.  I don't always do playlists for my writing projects, but it was a natural fit for this one, with two GenXers meeting again, 35 years after high school and falling in love. Amanda and Chris definitely have an 80s soundtrack playing under their love story. 

 

Thanks for popping by my blog today! 

Theme Reveal: Blogging AtoZ

 

March snuck up on me, y'all. So, I missed the official theme reveal for Blogging AtoZ, so I'm joining in a little late. If you're not familiar with this blog hop, the idea is that you choose a theme and post 26 times in April (every day but Sundays), which gives you one post per letter. Some of the best bit is going around and seeing what everyone else is up to!

The team theme this year is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals." But you can still play along if your theme is something different. Sign-ups are March 23-Apr. 4. 

I've participated several times now. Here are my past themes: 

• 2025: Songs of my Heart 
• 2019: Letters to Dead Writers 
• 2018: Poetry! posts about some of my favorite poets.
• 2017: Places in my Heart 
• 2016: Superheroes
• 2015: My Publishing Journey 
• 2014: Evocative Words 

This year, is my year of living dangerously: moving into indie publishing, so my 2026 theme is right in line with the team theme: Going Indie! I'll post about pursuing this long-considered dream of taking my writing life fully into my own hands and seeing what I can make of it. 

 It's a lot of fun. Hope you'll join in!  

Celebrating My Releases: Not Always a Party, an IWSG post

(Reminder: this site is now ONLY my blog. If you're looking for my book links or contact options, events, or any other aspects of my writer life, please visit http://dangerouswhenbored.com )

 

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy, ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek behind the curtain of a writing life.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.  The awesome co-hosts for the March 4 posting of the IWSG are PJ Colando, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, and Natalie Aguirre!

March 4 question - What elements do you include in your book launch? Or what do you have in mind for your future book launch? Or what advice do you have to offer to others planning to launch a book?

___________________________________

There's been quite a variety of types of book launches in my writing life so far. Some were polished, some fell apart, and some just kind of happened when I wasn't looking. 

When my first book, Going Through the Change, was published the first time in 2015, I arranged for a book launch party at a local indie book store and it was FABULOUS! Lots of family came in from out of town, everyone local in my writing life showed up, and I really felt like a feted celebrity. 

A favorite photo from that day: Me, my daughter and my dad showing our genetics. 

 

I tried something similar for my second book in the series, Change of Life, with a party at my local library through the Friends group. People were super supportive, but my publisher let me down by missing their deadlines and I didn't have any books to sell at my launch party! (sad trombone noise)

So, by the time, the third book, Face the Change, was due out, I was wary…and it was a good thing! Because they missed that deadline, too, and the book was delayed. So, I never really had any formal book launch for that book. I was disheartened. 

It was three more years before the next releases in that series came out.  Rough years with a hassle getting my rights back from the publisher (which was folding), signed on and re-released with the new publisher, and dealing with all my feelings about all of that. (I wrote more about that here if you're interested)

My only launch activities for the re-releases, the novellas (Friend or Foe and The Good Will Tour), the shorts (Through Thick and Thin), the fourth novel (Be the Change), the omnibus of shorts (Agents of Change), and the final novel in the series (Change for the Better) were virtual. 

 

 I *wanted* to have a big event to celebrate finishing the series, but the timing lined up poorly with other parts of life. There was a *lot* going on in summer 2025 and I couldn't find the time and energy to put together any kind of celebration, even though finishing my series was a major landmark in my writing life. 

Some of my short story publications have come with online launch parties--things like zoom parties or Facebook parties. They're kind of fun, and they have the advantage of letting you get people together who aren't geographically convenient to one another. 

As I move into my indie phase, I've taken a different tactic when it comes to my book birthdays. I've been seeking early ARC readers and putting my titles up on NetGalley to try to build a little buzz and have some reviews there on day one. I'm still seeking author events, but I'm more interested in multi-author events and I'm not concerned about whether they line up with release day. I'm planning for the long haul and I know that a book can take off on day one, or on day one hundred and one or day one thousand and one, or never at all--and that a lot of that is outside my control. 

Still, I remember that first launch party with a happy glowing feeling in my heart, so maybe I should think about getting something set up again. We'll see what the future holds.  

 

 

Going Indie: Month Two

February was a blur for me.

I had author events of one kind or another every weekend, trying to build my visibility and keep up connections, while still working my day job, doing my part in keeping our household afloat, keeping up with social media and marketing work, and progressing on the next book.

I did this to myself on purpose, but it was still quite a ride. I worry a little whether I have the stamina I’m going to need for this.

If you’d like to start at the beginning of this story, you can read my Month 1 update here: Going Indie: Month One (on Substack) or here: Going Indie: Month One (on this blog). 

The plan in broad terms is to take my writing life more fully into my own hands and raise it from an occasionally mildly profitable hobby to something that pays my bills. To get started down that track, I wrote three short romance novels which I’m indie-publishing in April, May, and June of 2026.



My GenX romances

I chose romance quite intentionally for both business and personal reasons.

On the personal side, I wanted to write something light and escapist. Like a lot of people, I’m finding it difficult to keep heart in the current political and social environment in the United States and I found it healing to write stories where nice people fall in love. Writing was first something I did for myself, and even though I do it with an audience in mind now, self-expression is still paramount in what I write and why I write it.

I settled on GenX Romances in particular because I’m a GenXer myself and because my best known work to this point is my Menopausal Superheroes series which also centers “women of a certain age.” So, even though Romance is a new genre for me, there’s some connection to my previous work and some of my existing readers are likely to give them a try. That’s sort of business and personal, I suppose.

Also, I read and blurbed a how-to book about writing romance for older characters (Write and Sell a Well-Seasoned Romance by Stella Fosse) and it sparked an interest in me to explore love stories for women in their 40s and 50s. I’m a sucker for a good prompt, which is probably how I ended up doing so much short-story writing for anthologies. So, Stella, these three books are probably your fault.

On the purely business side of things, well, romance sells. Romance readers are voracious! That’s a good reason to try writing it if I’m serious about making a living from my words. Romance with older characters looks like it might be a niche that’s building momentum, too. I keep finding more in the sub-genre the more I look for it.

Contemporary romance was the top subgenre in the U.S., with 32% of unit sales in 2023 (Publishers Weekly)

As I wrote these books, I found that the alternating point-of-view structure and clear genre and trope expectations meant that I could write more quickly than I have written my other books. (3-6 months for the first draft of each instead of 1-2 years).

When February rolled around, I had already seen all three books through editing (hired) and formatting (did it myself in Vellum) and gotten two of them into the system at Ingram. I was only awaiting the cover for the third book. I detailed my spending for the first book in my previous post in more detail, but I spent just over $700 producing each book, so I’m starting this experiment $2100-ish in the hole and we’ll see how long it takes me to “earn out.”

Even though I don’t plan to release these books until April, May, and June, I went ahead and ordered copies of both Not Too Late and Acid Reign with plans to hand sell them at my February events. They cost me between $4 and $5 a copy and I’m selling them for $15 each.

I know from past experience that selling your books in person is one of the best ways to learn how to sell your books. It gives you a chance to pitch hundreds of people and see what lands and doesn’t land with audiences. What tag line or approach makes someone pick up the book and read the back? What makes them decide to actually part with their hard-earned dollars and buy it?



More people picked up Not Too Late than Acid Reign to look at, which may have to with the bright colors and the appeal of 80s themed retro designs at the moment. Though my pitch for Acid Reign was pretty well received: “a punk princess falls for a politician; it’s complicated.” I haven’t landed on how to quickly pitch Not Too Late yet.

In February, I took these books (along with my others books—the Menopausal Superheroes series and some short horror collections—to two small local brewery events and a bigger book fair at a larger brewery with a Valentine’s theme. I’ll take them to a local horror film festival this weekend. That last one might seem odd, but, as a multi-genre author, I generally take at least some of all my books when I do an event. Sometimes which things sell where is unpredictable. So we’ll see if horror fans also buy romance or not.

In marketing work, I also finished my one month NetGalley co-op rental for Not Too Late and started a second one for Acid Reign, working under the theory that having reviews lined up on publication day will help me with online sales. I’ll have to wait until April to see if that proves true, but it has already given me some pull quotes and reviews I can link to for social media promotion.

As of this writing, 127 people requested Not Too Late, 114 people downloaded it before my NetGalley offer archived, and so far, 15 have reviewed on NetGalley, and 10 have posted their reviews to Goodreads. This might still collect more reviews ongoing.


For Acid Reign, I’ve had 53 requests so far (it’s still open for another few days if you want in), 45 downloads, 7 reviews on NetGalley, and 4 reviews on Goodreads. While I feel like the cover of Acid Reign is right for the book, I wonder if the darker colors and less playful design have something to do with the lower number of requests.


I’m starting a NetGalley offer for Ready or Not next week, which also has a brighter, lighter cover (with a dog!) and we’ll see how that plays.

Additionally, I devoted some time reaching out to bookstores to see if they’ll host me or sell my books, setting up consignment arrangements with a few places, and pursuing media coverage (with very little success).

I’m also working with an audiobook narrator on Not Too Late, and I LOVE Maggie’s voice and how she’s interpreting my characters so far.

And I made some pretty good progress on The Architect and the Heir, my next project. It’s a Gothic romance, so another new genre for me, but it does let me use some of what I’ve learned writing horror and romance and tap into a lifelong love of Gothic settings and trappings. I grew up on Universal Monsters, Dark Shadows, and Daphne du Maurier, among other things, after all.

I wrote 7,000 or so new words on the project and revised 9,000 or so. I’m bad at guessing how long it will take me to finish things, but it feels like I’m in the final third, so I’m hoping to finish a full draft by the end of March and get started on the revision.

And I approved the cover design!



I tried out a service for this one, since I ran across a good deal and you can opt out of the use of AI in the creation of your cover. The process wasn’t as much fun as working with the indie artist on the romances, so I don’t know if I’ll go this route again, even though I am pleased with the design and it was less expensive.

I am the stubborn girl who is going to try and make it as a romance writer without putting her books in KU because I disapprove of how the Big River site does business, so obviously I don’t make all my decisions just on what makes the most business sense. Sometimes, it’s about what feels right, and this cover company feels a little too slick.

Ethics versus profits, huh? Tale as old as time.

Going Indie: Month One

2026 is my year of living dangerously, by which I mean I'm becoming my own publisher. I did some foundational work for that in 2025, which I wrote about here, but the real push started with the beginning of the new year.

Now that we've flipped the first month of the calendar, I thought it was time for an update. I want to document this for myself and as a help to others. 

My wall calendar: pollinator themed this year!

For starters, I should set the stage. Context is everything, after all. 

I've been a traditionally published author for about 12 years now, through small presses. At the end of 2025, I had completed my Menopausal Superhero series, had my stories included in about 20 anthologies, and had just put out my first indie book, a short story collection that I thought of primarily as my learning project (though I do love those stories): Stories from Shadow Hill. 

I've been pretty happy with my trajectory in my writing life (despite ups and downs along the way), but I wanted to move from "hobby that pays for itself and occasionally a little better than that" to "viable side hustle" and then to "pay my bills with this." And even though working with a small press is faster than the glacial pace of a Big 5 Publisher, it's still slower than I want to go. 

I've long had an interest in "going indie" but I hadn't done it yet. I was concerned about managing all the work of it, and unsure if I could support the initial financial burden to do it the way I wanted to. But, three years ago, I left teaching for a corporate job that is less stressful and pays better. My youngest child turned 18 years old, and I started to feel like maybe I could take this on now. I had more time, more knowledge, and more money to invest. 

I don't like how Amazon exploits creatives, but I recognize the stranglehold they have on our industry, so I wanted my books available through the big river despots, but not beholden to them--no exclusivity. So, I'm "going wide" as they call it--trying to have my books available on as many platforms as possible: ebook, print, and audio. Everything, everywhere, all at once. 

I'm not very business and number oriented as a rule, but I'm trying to corral my brain weasels and improve that. My sister is an accountant and is helping me, and I sought out training, education, and learning opportunities, both casual and more formal about running a business and about some aspects of indie publishing as well as marketing. 

So, now it's 2026, and my first "real" indie book, Not Too Late, a GenX romance will launch April 28, 2026 (for my birthday). 

 So far, I've spent: 

• Vellum software for formatting:  $249.99 (August 2019--bought when I thought about doing this the first time). I've used it for 4 books so far, so that makes Not Too Late's share: $62.50
• ISBNs: $295 for 10 from Bowker June 2025 which amounts to $59 for the two I used for ebook and paperback of this book. 
• Editing: $196.80, July 2025 (I got a friends and family rate from a FANTASTIC editor)
• Bookcover: $400 Pd. July 2025 (I hired a person I met through convention life)
• Proof copy from Ingram: $7.80 (September 2025)
• Audiobook cover: $50 January 2026
• NetGalley Co-op 1 month rental: $63 January 2026 

That's a total of $839.10 by my reckoning, but notice the dates in that list. I didn't spend all of that at once, but spread it out across several months. And the software purchase is an unlimited license, so the more I use it, the less it costs per book. 

I anticipate spending about $400 more on my audiobook narrator. Rather than a royalty share, I'm opting for paying $75 per finished hour and then not having to manage periodic payments thereafter. I did look into being my own narrator, but decided that's more than I want to take on at the moment. Maybe someday. 

Not Too Late has been up for preorder since September in a lowkey way. You can find it, but I haven't promoted it yet.  I put together a books2read link I could use for social media so that people can preorder wherever they might like to. https://books2read.com/NotTooLate which is free and has been really useful for connecting with other folks. 

My big focus in January was getting some early reviews lined up. So, I made a google form that I sent to my newsletter subscribers and posted around social media. That has netted me 9 ARC readers. I set up a bookfunnel download page to use with that, figuring I'd need a bookfunnel account ongoing anyway. 

My research suggests that roughly one quarter of the people who take an ARC will actually read and review it, so I wanted more than 9 people. I checked into NetGalley. NetGalley is a great way to connect with booksellers, librarians, influencers, and just plain old readers, but it's EXPENSIVE ($575 for one book). Luckily, because I have worked on building my network these past twelve years, I had people to ask and learned about NetGalley Co-ops. I rented a month on NetGalley for $63. 

As of this writing, that netted me 127 requests with 114 who downloaded the book. So far, I have 11 reviews and one set of feedback without a review on NetGalley and 7 reviews on Goodreads (which is the only venue where people can review a book that hasn't been released yet). 

For comparison, I didn't do any of this with my learning book Stories from Shadow Hill which came out in October and as of this writing, it doesn't have any reviews at all. 

But here's the thing with going indie: while all that was going on, I was also juggling several other things in the month of January:  

• Managing that NetGalley offer, vetting and approving requests
• Arranging for audiobook narration of Not Too Late, which meant uploading the ebook separately to Amazon so I could claim it on ACX
• Realizing I'd need an audiobook version of the cover, and negotiating that with my cover designer
• Realizing I'd want audiobook versions of all three of GenX romances, so negotiating that with my cover designer
• Finalizing the cover design for the third GenX romance
• Writing the blurb for the third GenX romance (the hardest part, IMO) 
• Working with another audiobook narrator for mini-audiobook productions of one of the short stories from Stories for Shadow Hill 
• Getting Beware Cheap Houses (the aforementioned story) up on ACX (which is when I learned that there has to be an Amazon ebook to go with a book you want to make an audiobook of for ACX)
• Creating graphics for social media and other promotional stuff, then keeping up with posting and interacting on social media (I do Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and Threads mostly) 
• Arranging for another NetGalley rental in February for Acid Reign, the second GenX romance 
• Networking with other romance writers to set up future author events and collaborations
• Giving a reading at a local bookstore
• Arranging for several author events across the spring 
• Ordering copies of books for said events 
• Sending out press releases in my hometown for Not Too Late, since it's set in Bellevue, Kentucky 
• Beta-reading/critiquing two books, a short story, and a piece of a novel for author friends
• Finishing a promised short story for an upcoming anthology: Disruptive Intent (The story is a Menopausal Superheroes short called Ricochet Happens and I'm excited about it!) 
• Picking back up an unfinished novel to work on, a Gothic romance called The Architect and the Heir.  

See how low writing fell on that list? I feel like that'll be my new challenge: balancing all the "business" with the actual creation of new works.  

So, that's where I stand at the end of my first month of living dangerously. It's busy, but it's also exciting and I really think I'm going to love it!