Hey ,
This is the weekly Thursday NL for S.M. McCoy for all things fantastical sci-fi fantasy and paranormal adventures with a splash of romance.
If you are on this NL it is because you joined a giveaway, grabbed a copy of My Abett, Kingdom of Acatalec, or spotted my Divine series around and thought that author seems cool, and I would like to stay in touch!
This newsletter is both a little insight into why I choose indie publishing over traditional, and also why there is a delay in releasing book two Acatalec Chosen.
For one, Acatalec Chosen, book two of the Acatalec series is technically written, the story is there, on paper (or Word document), but I have not finished editing/revising. And this is difficult for me to admit, but a large barrier for me mentally is the fact that I published Kingdom of Acatalec through a small press publisher instead of fully indie publishing like the rest of my books.
Before I get into my reasons, please take a look at some indies I wanted to highlight, as I get a bit wordy about this, so consider this a fun intermission:
Indie Freebie!
This man is not where he’s supposed to be. He’s on a space station. He’s light years away from where he should be. And he’s dead.
Cliff Hock is an elite galactic bounty hunter. But even he can’t explain what’s going on. Cliff finds himself prisoner to a police officer that’s gone mad with power. But, by partnering with an attractive alien, Cliff unravels the conspiracy and holds the guilty accountable.
You’ll love this quick, fun read. If you like puzzles that keep you guessing until the end, this Cliff Hock adventure is for you.
Check out this week's Featured Indie Kindle Unlimited Temptation!
Here was my reasoning for why I chose to sign a contract:
- Larger market reach
- Validation
Literally the only reason why I went any other publisher besides myself was in the hopes that there would be a larger reach for my books, and they would put some effort into getting my book seen because they had a vested interest in the book doing well. They get a large chunk of the profit, and though I knew all the marketing efforts would fall on me, I had assumptions that they had a dedicated fan base/ newsletter reach and would promote at their events.
That was my mistake to assume anything, and there were hidden aspects of the publishing process that frustrated me. And I don't mean anything bad about the publication that I went with, they are a very friendly company, and their people are nice. The "process" of publishing was wonderful, from working with my editor, to picking a cover artist from their list and working with the cover artist, to getting the book out into the world. All of that was a smooth process, and I have no complaints.
It is the "post" production process that I take issue with. (I do ask that you do not spread this newsletter around, as there is specifically a clause in my contract that I am not allowed to disparage the company in anyway, though I do not consider this NL as disparaging, but merely an account of my experience, and an explanation for why it isn't the best fit for me.) This isn't really disparaging, but more a reflection on what I wish could be improved upon.
As an indie, I know the cost involved in getting a book published, so of course I expect the company to make their money, but a big barrier to me reaching more readers with Kingdom of Acatalec, as well as me, as an author, being able to promote the book is a cost barrier.
The press gives authors an "author discount" on our own books, and it isn't even enough of a discount to cover the cost of shipping the books, I might as well buy my own book through Amazon and it would cost me the same as buying it direct from my publisher, and I DO NOT get any author royalties on the books I purchase direct. I am the author and yet I spend more to get my physical print book than even a wholesaler. This was not explicitly stated in my contract, and the "author discount" is misleading. If I were a "wholesaler" I could get my own book for cheaper. And technically that's what I am as the author, another wholesaler promoting and selling the book, and in order to sell a book I would need to make some kind of profit for selling it personally.
If I had published the book myself, to be honest with you all, I would have saved a bunch more money on producing/marketing the book. It is highly unlikely that as long as the company has rights to my book that I will make back the money I invested in it. The book may as well languish in its current state.
And as an indie author, this is commonplace for most indie books, but not to toot my own horn, but I will, my Divine Series made back its investment despite being a niche witch/demon/vampire YA adventure book with a small budget to market. It made it to #1 on the Zon a few times, making it a best-seller in the Myths and Legends, Paranormal Romance and Vampire Suspense in 2018 when it launched, it has nearly 8,000 downloads from the zon. And a majority of that is that I got more of the profits myself, and I was able to control the pricing/promotions, and sold print books at signing events.
The sucky thing about those 8,000 downloads is that sadly a majority of people don't read every book in their library, and I will admit I had just started being an indie author and had no idea what to do, didn't even have a newsletter at the time to keep in touch with people. Sooooo, I dropped the ball, BIG TIME!
I cannot afford such a luxury as purchasing the print books of Kingdom of Acatalec because I would not make any profit on it with the way it is currently set up. And any marketing efforts I use for the book I only get 30% back on the profit.
On a book that is $5.99 on the zon, I make $1.26
As an Indie I could price the book at $3.99 and make $2.70
Don't get me wrong, this pricing difference doesn't make me upset as a publisher does have to make money back on their investment of editing/formatting/bookcover costs etc. But I do use the very same editor that the press uses (I had no idea at the time, but my editor outside of the press, ended up being the VERY SAME editor that worked with me on my book!)
What upsets me isn't the company, they are a wonderful group of individuals, it is that I didn't receive any "benefits" for signing with a company that outweighed the benefits of doing it myself. So really, I'm upset with myself for not believing in myself more and not realizing sooner that I don't need the vanity of proper traditionally published acceptance to do well and thrive.
I guess, what I'm trying to say is that I'm going to be looking into how to void my contract and regain rights to my book to republish independently.
The termination of the agreement before the 5-year-term I believe I would have to pay the publisher for editing fees and etc. Then I would have to hire another cover artist to redesign for the re-publication. (To put this amount into context, I spent $2,700 in my own costs towards marketing and bringing Kingdom of Acatalec to life, which I believe is more than the company invested in my launch and publications costs). And it would have only cost me an additional 550 to have self published this book and had 70% of the profit instead of 30%.
The more you know, I guess. I'm happy for the experience, and I have no ill will towards my publisher. This is by no means me bashing them in any way. They are a great company, and for many authors they are a great option as they cover set up costs and invest in putting your book out there, but it just isn't the right fit for me since I do all the work myself anyways, and they don't offer the right kind of benefits to make it worthwhile for me specifically. Any money I could spend on marketing I'd be spending to earn 30% while my publisher would be making more money on my marketing campaign than me. This just isn't sustainable for me, and it isn't a fault of the publisher.
So, you can see why there has been a bit of hesitancy of spending time on getting book two ready for prime time when it's a series that will require people to read book one first and there has been a cost barrier in seeing it flourish.
I ended up focusing on my alien romances by Sky Robert and in the time since Kingdom of Acatalec was launched in October 2022, I wrote 4 books, 1 is a freebie for joining my Sky Robert's newsletter, 2 are published, Jewel of the Alien Bandit, and Her Alien Prince, 1 is in Beta preparing to launch, Her Alien Savior, and I already have the artwork for book 5, Her Alien Insurgent. I started a completely new pen name with no audience, and this platform is steadily paying back my investment, where I think I can legit be considered a full-time author by the end of the year!
That being said, I am focusing my efforts to raise the funding necessary to terminate my contract so that I can with a clear mind and with lighter shoulders return to bringing the Acatalec series to life through the launch of book two.
I plan on pushing the completion of book two Acatalec Chosen, funding the launch myself, and using the funds from launching book two to reacquire my rights to publish book one, thus launching it with a fresh look, and I think I'll even add in some bonus content. I do retrain my rights to the audiobook, so if you want to support the efforts and like to listen to audio, then go ahead and listen to yours truly read the book to you on all the places audiobooks can be found from an Audible Credit to Chirp, NookAudio and beyond: https://books2read.com/u/4Ajr8e
You can also read the Divine Series, my first book launch of a dark YA fantasy adventure romance with vampires, demons, witches and a chosen one trope. The FMC starts off as kind of a tool that like most teens doesn't quite understand what is going on in life, and the confusion that comes with discovering one's self, then she morphs and grows into a bad ass that is no longer confused about what she wants! It's available in Kindle Unlimited and I have full rights to it, so every page read and book grabbed helps support future books! But I will warn you this series is a slow burn, and by that I mean it feels like it starts slow, but then it grabs you by the eyeballs and sucks you in and doesn't let go. So... yes, I could have done better with the beginning pacing and world setup, I learned a lot since then, but many have said they are so glad they continued and thoroughly enjoyed the story!
Check out the Divine Series:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MB9JJ7K
Check out the Treasures of Trillume Series:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSRBF8T9
Sorry about the rant, it's just been bottled up for a while, and again, per my contract there is a no disparaging clause, and I do not believe my opinions have anything to do with bad mouthing my publisher, nor do I believe anything I have said is confidential information. It's public information to know an author makes 30%, and it's also public information to know that authors are required to fund their own marketing, as is it common information to know that authors must purchase their own print books, and receive an author discount. I did not disclose the discount rates, I only admit that it would be cheaper to buy from another retailer as if I were just another customer, which is true, and I do not hold any ill feelings, nor do I believe the publisher is wrong or bad in their practices, only that they do not work for me.
As a reminder, please do not go hunting for who my publisher is and publicly say anything bad about them. They are nice human beings. I'd like to cut ties with them in a friendly and diplomatic manner once I've acquired the funds to pull the rights back.
Until then:
Support the future books by checking out Kingdom of Acatalec, or even reading through the Divine Series or checking out my new pen name Sky Robert:
Request Kingdom of Acatalec in your library! Or grab from all the places here:
https://books2read.com/u/4Ajr8e
Kingdom of Acatalec is now in the following digital Library systems:
Allen County Public Library
Howard County Library System
Mauney Memorial Library
Kingdom of Acatalec is a fantasy adventure set in a futuristic world with deadly drone races, a kingdom with a mysterious secret that could end both civilizations, and along the way you have two magical dudes that she crushes on, but she's got more important things to do like survive this new world with the skills she's honed through adversity.
https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Acatalec-Book-1-ebook/dp/B0B4V9867P/
Magical world of aliens, check.
Lots of secrets, and world building check, and check.
Mystery, murder, and lies... Absolutely!
The romance takes longer to develop, yup.
MC is in a wheelchair, and that doesn't stop her from kicking ass, YESSSS!
It starts off slow, then takes off like a rocket and sucks you into the new world of Acatalec, full of adventure, romance, magic, and a futuristic Seattle with sciencey possibilities like drones as the future of transportation, brain implants like what we see Elon Musk engineering, and contact lenses that connect with it.
Here's what people have been saying about the book so far!
Go start reading/listening to Kingdom of Acatalec . Available in all the places books/stuffage is sold including Kindle, Audible and more! Even request the book at your local library! I would absolutely love it if you did that!
Kingdom of Acatalec: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B4V9867P
Already read the book? Thank you from the bottom of my squishy heart, please share your thoughts on all the places readers gather, even on your favorite Facebook groups! Many indie authors such as myself are not allow to self-promote on many groups, so your word of mouth means everything!
Review Kingdom of Acatalec on Amazon -- BookBub -- GoodReads
Review My Abett The Prequel on Amazon -- BookBub -- GoodReads
Don't forget to dig out your free book My Abett and give it a read, you can devour it in under 2 hours for a small reality escape.
You can read My Abett with Kindle Unlimited to help support the universe of Acatalec, or fish it out of your readers from downloading your freesies copy from Bookfunnel 🥰💞
Grab My Abett: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/pzx6j7x29n
Read My Abett on KU or become a verified reader for 1.99 to help support the next book in the Acatalec Series: https://www.amazon.com/My-Abett-Fantasy-Adventure-Acatalec-ebook/dp/B0B72GF5DJ/
Did you enjoy reading My Abett? Consider leaving a review on the zon, or on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61872483-my-abett
This book takes place before Kingdom of Acatalec, but I wrote if after, so reading it first does change how you read this book, as information is revealed that isn't known in book one.
~Stevie, author of all things fantasical and otherworldly adventurous, mom of a few humans in training... including my hubby. Overall booknerd, and yes... I am writing this in my pjs. Why not?
This Newsletter is weekly on Thursdays! But I can move you to the monthly, if you'd like to hear from me less often. Just reply to this email saying "monthly".
Featured Indies Experience the Magic:
And last but not least!
My Launch of my nom de plume Sky Robert:
What if there was an alien exchange program for humans to visit other planets? And one of those hunky aliens happens to be your fated mate?
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Check out Kingdom of Acatalec: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B4V9867P
Check out the Divine Series:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MB9JJ7K
Check out the Treasures of Trillume Series:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSRBF8T9
Disclaimer: Sometimes, not all the time, I do use affiliate links, at no cost to you, and I only recommend or promote things that I personally trust, checked out, want to read or have read myself. Books that I myself would share with friends and family. I do not sell your email/information.
I also do not buy/spam emails. If you are on this newsletter it is because you clicked a marketing consent when you entered a sponsored giveaway for books, grabbed a free copy of one of my books, read one of my books, saw me on socials and thought, hey that person seems like my kind of weird and decided to click that join newsletter to find out more. Affiliate codes help support this newsletter and future books.
If you're here it is because you wanted to join me in book rants, and if you don't want to anymore you are free to unsubscribe at any time, and also welcome to return at any time as well. I think that covers things... if I missed something feel free to email me.
I am a human behind these strange goings ons, so welcome to the weird, the strange, the fantastical, and all the book love I can give.
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