Beth Fred is here to day to tell us why she chose to become an Indie Author and to introduce her book KISMET! When you’ve finished reading what she has to say about her important decision come over and say hi to me at SHER A. HART’s.
Why I Decided to Self Publish
Lee, thanks for having me today.
For me, deciding to self publish was a bit of a process. It’s something I always wanted to do, but never had the confidence for.
Then I wrote a really cute “sweet romance.” It got full requests and revision requests from multiple small presses. I vented about the revision requests as they came in, took a week to think, made the revisions and responded. But then I started getting round 2 requests for revisions, and at this point was un-changing things.
True, it’s because each editor is looking for something different, so something one editor had me change another liked, but still, it was maddening. And in addition to un-changing things, there were new changes that I didn’t agree with.
Royalties have always been higher in self publishing. Big publishers don’t buy short stories, and marketing budgets are about the same for a self published author and an author with a small press. And it allowed me greater control. I did un-change things, because I wanted to. I changed something no one told me to. And I didn’t change anything else. I wrote a beautiful story that could have perpetually changed or stayed dormant on my hard drive. Instead, I’m sharing it with the world, still intact. I hope people enjoy Kismet.
About Kismet
When twenty-four-year-old Tiffany escapes her sister Kammy’s too wild Cancun bachelorette party, she finds herself in a bar with the unwanted attention of a gorgeous local named Luke.
Luke may be charming but Tiffany is leaving in two days and doesn’t need any complications. But complications are exactly what she gets when the cops show up to raid Kammy’s party. After Kammy is arrested, Tiffany agrees to have dinner with Luke, so he’ll help her get Kammy out of jail. Kammy’s arrest forces her to spend an extra day in Cancun, meaning she’ll miss a crucial meeting, and as an accountant in tax season, she is already drowning in work. Not to mention, every second she spends with Luke makes it harder to leave. With Luke, Tiffany can forget about work.
But will the airport be their final goodbye?
Luke may be charming but Tiffany is leaving in two days and doesn’t need any complications. But complications are exactly what she gets when the cops show up to raid Kammy’s party. After Kammy is arrested, Tiffany agrees to have dinner with Luke, so he’ll help her get Kammy out of jail. Kammy’s arrest forces her to spend an extra day in Cancun, meaning she’ll miss a crucial meeting, and as an accountant in tax season, she is already drowning in work. Not to mention, every second she spends with Luke makes it harder to leave. With Luke, Tiffany can forget about work.
But will the airport be their final goodbye?
And for a limited time it includes an excerpt from best selling author Lizzy Ford!
Beth Fred lives in Wisconsin with her husband and their little ELF (Emily Lace Fred). She spends her time bringing her day dreams to life on paper, and blogging about bringing day dreams to life.
Find out more ABOUT THE AUTHOR on her website.
KISMET can be purchased on Amazon, B&N and Smashwords.
Hi Lee and Beth – the complications I can see coming in the story would make it worth reading .. good luck and thanks for sharing ..
Cheers Hilary
Awesome cover. And Kismet aounds a fantastic story!
Congrats Beth!
Thanks Lee!
All the best with Kismet, Beth!! Thanks for sharing your fab writerly journey here! Take care
x
Aloha Beth,
Thanks for sharing why you went down the self-pub route… appreciate the post and chuckled when I read about your daughter 🙂
(We have a TUK, CJK and A KTK, so nothing as fun-sounding as ELF 🙂
Beth Fred, I'm sure those revision requests were hard. You're right–each editor is going to have an opinion about how to make it better.
Good luck with your book!
I think it must have been very frustrating to change and un-change the ms. Dealing with a critique group presents the same challenge. What to do when you have conflicting opinions? Making those decisions takes a lot of practice.
Thanks all for the visits!
Those changes and unchanges are really frustrating! Sounds like you've got a fabulous story on your hands. Off to check it out… 🙂
This sounds like a really good book.
Kismet sounds so good. This is my second time hearing about it this week. I liked finding out why you decided to self-publish and I am glad you were able to have more control of your story. Wishing you much success!
~Jess
Kismet is a great story. I'm so happy for Beth.
I'm all for sharing stories instead of letting them sit in our computers. It's great coming across Beth and her work.
Good luck Beth! Way to take control!
Bravo Beth for getting your story out there. Long live Kismet!
Thank you for hosting, lee.
Sweet cover. Yup, all the revisions and edits and changes can definitely be tiresome.
An interesting post, I enjoyed the path Beth took to reach her goal.
Sounds like you're comfortable with your decision, Beth. Each of us has our own path to follow. I'm glad you've found yours.
Changing things back would've driven me nuts!
It is very interesting seeing the different subtleties that lead different writers and authors to choose different publication paths. Thanks to Beth for sharing her story and cover. Wishing you lots of success. :-0