After a Nine-Year Absence, I’m Self-Publishing Again

It’s hard to believe that nine years have passed since I released my second Alex Bellamy mystery, Fatal Encryption in 2008. The book first appeared in paperback, then a couple of years later in ebook format.

After that, I landed a contract with traditional publisher, TouchWood Editions, who released four of my Casey Holland mysteries. Working with TouchWood was an interesting, eye-opening experience and, although they helped me in many ways, we’ve now parted amicably. I’m now ready to publish the fifth Casey mystery, Knock Knock, myself.

It’s really interesting to compare how my self-publishing experience has changed from 2008 to 2017. First, what’s stayed the same? Hiring a good editor and jacket designer, for one thing. In my last post, I discussed my dilemma about choosing an image for the jacket cover. I’ve now found an experienced jacket designer, whose work and price I like, and who was recommended to me by a colleague. At the moment, I’m in the process of completing a detailed questionnaire about the book to give their designers a clear idea of what’s been done, and what should be done.

I’ll plan some sort of launch as I did with Fatal Encryption. I have a venue in mind for a possible fall release, but details needs to be ironed out. I’ll tell you what else stays the same…preparing a detailed, to-do list that includes acquiring an ISBN, preparing front and back matter, and the crucially important back cover blurb.

So, what’s changed? Again, based on the recommendation of several colleagues, I’ll be publishing through CreateSpace this time instead of a local printing service, and ordering far fewer copies at a time than I did with Fatal Encryption.

Although, I’ll be seeking review requests, as I did last time, back in 2008, I spent a small fortune mailing copies of what was a fairly large book to interested reviewers. This time, I’ll send PDFs; reviewers seem to prefer them anyway.

My marketing plan will also be different, but we’ll get to that in later posts. Meanwhile, I need to finish the final edit before handing it over to my editor next month. Production is underway! It’s an exciting time.