Act One (What Doesn't Kill You Prequel): An Ensemble Mystery Novella
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You’re in control
“You can make no money with someone telling you what to do, or you can make no money calling your own shots. Which one would give you more joy?” my husband asked. “And don’t answer that, because I already know. So I’ll help you.”
And he did.
I’d love to say the result was a gusher, but I’d be lying. It was a smashing success to us, but modest by major house standards. I sold 5,000 copies of my debut novel in the first six months, and almost half of those sales were of paperbacks. Combined with Kindle giveaways during that time period, 50,000 people got a copy of Saving Grace. It was picked up nationwide by Hastings Entertainment for their 137 stores, and regionally by Barnes and Noble. It led to greater exposure and sales of my backlist of relationship humor books. It paved the way for my future books. It beat the performance of most debut novelists with major houses. For all of that, I am grateful and excited, but not rolling in money. What I am rich in, however, is information, tons and tons of information on indie-publishing successes and failures, good moves and missteps.
You’re not alone
So here’s something I know: if you indie publish, you are a needle in a haystack. In 2012 alone, 235,000 indie titles were published, representing about 43% of books published that year, according to Bowker, a company that provides bibliographic information on published works to the industry. There are more than one million Kindle e-books in publication as I type this manuscript, and that number is growing quickly. According to Penguin-owned Author Solutions (not my top choice as a service provider for indie authors, but a valid source of data), its average indie title sells 150 copies. That’s not an annual number, folks, that’s a forever number.
The number of competing titles is growing exponentially. Not only are individuals indie publishing, but so are businesses like AskMen magazine, which has launched a line of books to meet the perceived needs of its customers. And successful traditionally published authors like James Patterson are turning their brands into title-churning franchises, handing over writing duties to flocks of co-authors. So you’re competing with an incredible volume of titles, traditional and indie, individual and business, and it’s increasingly difficult to stand out from the crowd.
Be careful basing your “go indie” decision too heavily on widely touted indie-riches stories. For instance, Fifty Shades of Gray was originally indie published, but it became a massive commercial success only after Random House picked it up. From my perspective, it was still a huge coup that Random House discovered it.
Before you decide whether to indie publish, ask yourself:
—Can I deliver the quality needed to make sales?
—Do I have the necessary business skills?
—Can I promote my books to the point of recognition and sales?
—Will I still have time to keep writing my next books?
And, most importantly,
—Why am I choosing to indie publish?
If you only want copies of your book for yourself, your friends, and your family, and you don’t care about making money, it may not matter to you if you ever sell a single book.
For some of us, despite the odds and the cons, our goals reflect our desire for independence. If you’re one of those intrepid souls, stubborn to the bone and yearning to work like a pack mule, then you’re just the kind of loser who’s right for indie publishing.
If that’s a “hell, yeah” or even a “hmmm, maybe,” read on.
Click here to continue reading Loser.
Acknowledgements
This is the first book I’ve every written with absolutely no plan before I started the first draft, other than to set it before Saving Grace and give all my protagonists a chance to meet up, even if they didn’t all know it. I also had never written a book in alternating points of view. Holy moly! I may never want to do it again. Or maybe I will. It ended up being a fun challenge to differentiate the six women with their voices side by side and one after another. I hope you enjoy the end result, my gift to readers who do me the honor of hanging in with me month after month on my newsletter. You guys. YOU GUYS! Thank you, thank you, thank you! One little novella isn’t enough.
My husband Eric sets the bar high. He always manages to fit me in first, and never leaves me hanging when it comes to the writing. I am a lucky woman, in so many ways. Eric gets an extra helping of thanks for plotting, critiquing, editing, listening, holding, encouraging, supporting, browbeating, and playing miscellaneous other roles, some of which aren’t appropriate for publication.
To each and every blessed one of you who have read, reviewed, rated, and emailed/Facebooked/Tweeted/Thunderclapped/commented about the What Doesn’t Kill You books (so far, this includes Katie, Emily, and Michele, but watch for Ava, Laura, and Maggie, in the next few years), I appreciate you more than I can say. It is the readers who move mountains for me, and for other authors, and I humbly ask for the honor of your honest reviews and recommendations.
Editing credits go to Rhonda Erb. The beta and advance readers and critique partners who enthusiastically devote their time—gratis—to help us rid my books of flaws blow me away. The special love this time goes to Melissa, Ridgely, Candi, Lindsay, Nell, Michelle, Dina, Tami, Angie, Caren, Sally, Cynthia, Kim, Betsy, Susie, and Kelly. Thanks to Bobbye for putting up with heavy breathing and animal noises while transcribing the original recorded draft.
More thanks to Bobbye for suffering through cover design with me. Isn’t group learning fun? You did great! I love it.
SkipJack Publishing now includes fantastic books by a cherry-picked bushel basket of mystery/thriller/suspense writers. If you write in this genre, visit http://SkipJackPublishing.com for submission guidelines. To check out our other authors and snag a bargain at the same time, download Murder, They Wrote: Four SkipJack Mysteries.
About the Author
Pamela Fagan Hutchins writes overly long e-mails, award-winning and best-selling romantic mysteries, and hilarious nonfiction from deep in the heart of Nowheresville, Texas and way up in the frozen north of Snowheresville, Wyoming. She is passionate about great writing and smart authorpreneurship as well as long hikes with her hunky husband and pack of rescue dogs, riding her gigantic horses, experimenting with her Keurig, and traveling in the Bookmobile.
If you’d like Pamela to speak to your book club, women’s club, or writers group, by Skype or in person, shoot her an e-mail. She’s very likely to say yes.
You can connect with Pamela via her website
(http://pamelafaganhutchins.com)
or e-mail (pamela@pamelafaganhutchins.com).
Fiction from SkipJack Publishing
Fiction from SkipJack Publishing:
Saving Grace (What Doesn’t Kill You, #1):
A Katie Romantic Mystery
Leaving Annalise (What Doesn’t Kill You, #2):
A Katie Romantic Mystery
Finding Harmony (What Doesn’t Kill You, #3):
A Katie Romantic Mystery
Going for Kona (What Doesn’t Kill You, #4):
A Michele Romantic Mystery
Heaven to Betsy (What Doesn’t Kill You, #5):
An Emily Romantic Mystery
Earth to Emily (What Doesn’t Kill You, #6):
An Emily Romantic Mystery
Hell to Pay (What Doesn’t Kill You, #7):
An Emily Romantic Mystery
Fighting for Anna (What Doesn’t Kill You, #8):
A Michele Romantic Mystery
Act One (What Doesn’t Kill You Prequel):
An Ensemble Mystery Novella
The Katie & Annalise Box Set
(What Doesn’t Kill You, #1-3): Romantic Mysteries
The Emily Box Set
(What Doesn’t Kill You, #5-7): Romantic Mysteries
Murder, They Wrote: Four SkipJack Mysteries
by Pamela Fagan Hutchins,
Ken Oder, R.L. Nolen, and Marcy Mason
Nonfiction from SkipJack Publishing:
The Cla
rk Kent Chronicles:
A Mother’s Tale Of Life With Her ADHD/Asperger’s Son
Hot Flashes and Half Ironmans:
Middle-Aged Endurance Athletics Meets the Hormonally Challenged
How to Screw Up Your Kids:
Blended Families, Blendered Style
How to Screw Up Your Marriage:
Do-Over Tips for First-Time Failures
Puppalicious and Beyond:
Life Outside The Center Of The Universe
What Kind of Loser Indie Publishes, and How Can I Be One, Too?
Other Books by the Author:
Eve’s Requiem (anthology), Spider Road Press
OMG – That Woman! (anthology), Aakenbaaken & Kent
Ghosts (anthology), Aakenbaaken & Kent
Easy to Love, But Hard to Raise (2012) and
Easy to Love, But Hard to Teach (coming soon) (anthologies),
DRT Press, edited by Kay Marner & Adrienne Ehlert Bashista
Audio, e-book, and paperback versions of most titles available.
Other Books from SkipJack Publishing
Murder, They Wrote: Four SkipJack Mysteries,
by Pamela Fagan Hutchins,
Ken Oder, R.L. Nolen, and Marcy Mason
The Closing, by Ken Oder
Old Wounds to the Heart, by Ken Oder
Pennies from Burger Heaven, by Marcy McKay
Deadly Thyme, by R. L. Nolen
The Dry, by Rebecca Nolen
Tides of Possibility, edited by K.J. Russell
Tides of Impossibility, edited by K.J. Russell and C. Stuart Hardwick
My Dream of Freedom: From Holocaust to My Beloved America,
by Helen Colin