Finally took the plunge and published my book on Amazon

[Edgewriter]

Hey guys,

My latest book is out. It is the second book of the Jharro Grove Saga and the seventh book in the Bowl of Souls series overall.


Here's a link to the book http://www.amazon.com/Protector-Grove-Bowl-Souls-Book-ebook/dp/B00M3I5EU8/

Here's the description:

"Jhonate's reprieve from her father has been cut short. She is forced to return home to Malaroo, bringing Justan along with her. The journey she has avoided for so long has become all the more difficult because someone wants Justan dead.

The rogue horse Esmine, a mythical beast of remarkable power, has been captured by a troupe of dwarf smugglers. They are taking her to the nation Alberri where a gnome scholar awaits with a vicious plan to sacrifice the beast and bind its powerful soul to make a weapon of mass destruction. Tarah Woodblade must gather a group of warriors and rescue Esmine before she is taken to Alberri.

Evil stirs. Darkness is building. But can anyone trust Xedrion, The Protector of the Grove?"

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Finally finished reading book 6, on to 7....

[soguru]

I'm really interested in writing some... fiction and publishing it on Amazon for kindle, e-readers, etc. Anybody know who I need to get in touch with to make that happen other than a good agent? For that matter, how can I even get in touch with a good agent? I heard it's damn near impossible.

[Edgewriter]

Getting an agent can be tough. They are bombarded by submissions. I sent out more query letters to agents then I can remember and received nothing but form rejection letters back. Finally I had to publish it on my own.

If you want to do something like that, here's a simplified outline.
You don't need to get in touch with anybody. First, you write your book. (The hardest part and one that few people finish.) Then you polish it to make it as good as you can on your own. Then you share it with friends and get their help editing it. Some people take their work to an editing service and pay for it, but I hear stories about authors who get back a product that still isn't ready.

Then you put a cover together. A good cover is very important.

As for publishing it on Amazon, that part is easy. Go to KDP and follow their instructions.

After that, it's all about promotion. Use Social Media. If your book is good, then it will generate positive reviews and start getting sales.

I published my first book in May of 2012. My tenth book is coming out at the end of August. If you want more information, you can check out my posts  at http://trevorhcooley.com/

[soguru]

Thank you.

[Edgewriter]

Hey guys. Funny thing I just learned.

The current narrator for my audiobooks is a comedic writer and once wrote for two episodes of MST3K. One of them was Time of the Apes.

[Sideswipe]

Nice.

[SJP]

Question about the narration stuff: was your narrator through the Amazon platform, HDX, I think it's called?  I was going to put my first novella eBook in print form soon, and thought it might be fun to record my own audiobook as well, and didn't know if your narrator got placed through that or not (I was also considering trying out for that myself if anyone would hire me for their own books).
EDIT: My mistake, it's called ACX.  HDX is that thing that Vudu does for "better than HD" picture.

[Edgewriter]

Yes, it's ACX.
It has worked really well for me. I put my book out there as available and waited for narrators (or producers as they say) to send me auditions. If I wasn't getting anyone I liked, I would listen to samples by narrators and send messages to ones I liked asking if they would be willing to audition.

So far I have had two narrators and both have been great in their own way. I have split royalties with them, which has worked well. You can see the books here to get an idea: http://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_pd_Sci-Fi_c2_1_auth?searchAuthor=Trevor+H.+Cooley

If you split royalties, you share 40% of the sales equally with the narrator. This is a six year contract.
If you narrate your own, you would get to keep all 40%
Also, you can pay the narrator up front. Most of the good ones work for $200 per finished hour or so.

[SJP]

That hourly one sounds a like a good way to pick up a couple of bucks, though I think I'd need a few under my belt before I started charging an amount like that.

Also, it's weird that if you want to put up your own projects AND do narration for other people, you have to set up two different accounts.  You can't combine being an author and do voiceovers unless you solely record your own book.  Sounds counterproductive, but hey, at least I found a few I can try reading for until I can do my own.

[Edgewriter]

Hey everyone, it's been a while and I thought I'd give you an update.
In the last year I've published two more books. One of them is the first book in an new series. It's a fantasy western titled, Noose Jumpers. https://www.amazon.com/Noose-Jumpers-Mythological-Trevor-Cooley-ebook/dp/B01IK3O8SI

I also released the Tenth book in the Bowl of Souls series and the penultimate book of the Jharro Grove Saga: Priestess of War. https://www.amazon.com/Priestess-War-Bowl-Souls-Book-ebook/dp/B01MS0TLEU

All my books but the most recent one are all on Audible as well. I'm running a promotion right now for a free audiobook in my series. If you are interested, message me and I'll reply with acode for your free copy. Thanks!

[Edgewriter]

Just a heads up. My newest book is here. It's the last book of the Jharro Grove Saga and brings to close storylines that have been running since book one of the previous saga.

https://www.amazon.com/Behemoth-Jharro-Grove-Saga-Book-ebook/dp/B073MW9T6X

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Guess I've got to get reading, I still haven't finished book 7...

[Edgewriter]

This one is Eleven overall.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

During the 3 day power outage I did a lot of reading.  With everything going on I haven't read much in the last year and a half so had a lot of catching up to do.  Finished up book 7, read 8 and 9, just now starting on book 10.