When Cassie returned, little Leon’s grandmother was handed down and Ralph Maybeath took her place in the truck. “My turn,” Frank said. So he ferried Ralph up to the house to use Cassie’s clean, modern bathroom while little Leon’s grandmother got reoriented to the idea of sleeping bags and tents and mosquitoes. Cassie told her to shut up when she squawked about mosquitoes for the third time, making little Leon giggle.  

“Shut up,” he said, giggling again. His grandmother gave him “the look”. He shut up.    

Marian and her husband helped little Leon and his grandmother back to their tent without comment, and then gave the old woman a generous spray from their dwindling supply of mosquito repellant.    

“Don’t get it in my face,” she demanded, flapping her hands to disperse the stuff. “I can’t breathe.”    

Little Leon took advantage of her discomfort and ran to the big boys’ tents where Peter and Leon welcomed him with identical grimaces. “Did you poop in the woods?” he asked them, wide-eyed. “My grandmother had to go back to the house.”    

“No, we didn’t poop in the woods,” Peter said. “Now, be quiet if you want to stay with us.”    

“Will you be all right here on your own?” Marian asked little Leon’s grandmother after the old woman crawled shakily into the tent, and after seeing her struggle to get into the sleeping bag.    

The old lady muttered something and turned on her side, facing away from her. It sounded like “…to suck eggs” to Marian as she worked her way back out the tent opening. When she told her husband he laughed. “She said she’s fine,” he said. “Let’s get back to our own tent. I want to show you something.”    

But on returning he fell over Ellison who was still outside his tent on his sleeping bag. Bishop caught himself on his hands and was able to keep most of his weight off the young idiot who thought sleeping in the open was such a great idea, but he still fell onto him.    

“Umph!”    

Then, “Get off me!”    

“I’m trying. Keep still and give me a chance.”    

Ellison forced himself to lie still. True to his word, Mr. Bishop extricated himself pretty quickly without doing any harm. Why couldn’t it have been Marcia falling into his arms like that, he groused as Bishop grunted and scooted and quickly stood up.    

The couple apologized and moved back to their own tent, Mr. Bishop taking advantage of his bruises to lean heavily on his wife who clearly enjoyed the contact. Ellison sat up and looked toward Marcia’s tent. He couldn’t see anything. He wasn’t sure Marcia was even in her tent anymore. And he was supposed to keep her safe.    

Ellison stood up. Getting his feet tangled in the sleeping bag almost proved his undoing, but he was able to maintain his balance; he looked like a human windmill for a minute, but he stayed upright.    

He made his way carefully to Marcia’s tent. And he was right. She wasn’t there.    

END OF EXCERPT.  THE COWBOY’S BABY COPYRIGHTED 2010 BY GRETCHEN RIX. Photos by Roxanne Rix.  

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK: Died On A Rainy Sunday by Joan Aiken.  

A GUEST BLOG BY AUTHOR LINDSAY BUROKER. E-Publishing: Advantages and Disadvantages

Have you been wondering if you should forget agents and publishing houses, turn your novel into an ebook, and start a new life as an independent author?

Thanks to the rising popularity of e-readers (Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc), the number of authors choosing to e-publish has grown tremendously, and it’s hard not to get excited when you read about the indie success stories (some authors making six figures and others receiving traditional publishing contracts with lucrative advances). That said, it’s not a road to riches for most, and it’s not the path for everyone. But it can work for some.

I published my first ebook, a fantasy adventure novel called The Emperor’s Edge (http://amzn.com/B004H1TDB0) in late December 2010, and I’m about to publish the sequel. I also published another stand-alone novel and a couple of short-story collections. I’m not one of those folks making six figures, or anything close to a full-time income for that matter, but I can see the potential. I’ve made back the initial costs of putting the ebooks together (editing, formatting, having cover art designed, etc.), and I’m making a modest part-time income from my writing efforts now.

While that doesn’t make me an expert on e-publishing, I figured I could offer some advice for those on the fence, trying to decide between e-publishing and pursuing a deal with an agent and a traditional house.

So, without further ado, here are some of the pros and cons of e-publishing.

Advantages of E-Publishing

It’s a speedy process.

Between the hunt for an agent, the hunt for a publisher, and the wait-time before a book is actually printed and available in a bookstore, the traditional publishing model is slow. You can expect that process to take one to two years, if you’re able to find an agent and publisher at all. A lot of people don’t, and it’s not always a reflection of talent or the saleability of a book.

It’s much different with e-publishing.

For my first ebook, it took me about a month from first deciding to publish it to having it go live. In that time, an editor proofread it, an artist created a cover, and an ebook formatter turned my Mac Pages file into something readable on the Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc. When I uploaded the finished file at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords (a distributor that gets your ebooks into the stores that require ISBNs), it took a maximum of two days for it to go live.

You have full control.

Everything is up to you with e-publishing. You write the story or book you want to write, and you choose the artwork. You also choose the price, and you can experiment with that price at will. This means you can tinker around and see if you sell ten times as many books at $0.99 as you do at $2.99, or if you can raise the price to $3.99 or higher and see if people will still buy.

You can also see novel sales as they’re happening, which gives you insight into what marketing tactics are paying off and which are taking up time and money and returning no profits.

You can potentially earn more money as an indie.

Like I said, this isn’t an easy road to wealth, but, because you’re cutting out the middlemen, you make more per book than you would going through a traditional publisher. Sell your ebook for $2.99 to $9.99, and you’ll earn 70% on each sale at Amazon (with similar royalty rates from other major bookstores). Compare this to the 20% or less most traditionally published authors take home.

Also, the higher prices mainstream publishers sell their ebooks for can be a sales deterrent. At $2.99, your novel might look more attractive to folks than others at $8.99 or more.

Downsides of E-Publishing.

Okay, I can see you’re getting excited, but it’s not all fun and profits, and there are reasons this path isn’t for everyone. Here are a couple of cons.

Upfront costs.

If you want to create a professional looking product, something that can compete with ebooks from publishing houses, you’ll need to invest money up front.

Unless you’re artistically inclined, you should pay for custom cover art. You’ll also want to hire someone to edit your work. It’s best to have a professional editor (you can find freelancers on any job board) do the task, someone who edits for a living and can quote the Chicago Manual of Style to you. The formatting is something you can learn to do yourself if you want to save a few bucks.

I paid $600-$800 each to put together my first two novels, and I’ve seen people spend more if they had heavy line editing done (I had several critique buddies read my work first so didn’t feel I needed that).

You’re on your own for marketing.

While traditionally published authors may complain that they don’t get much help from the publishing houses any more when it comes to marketing, you’re really and truly on your own as an indie. If you’re not willing to push your book and network online, this business is not for you.

That said, I’m a hardcore introvert who isn’t that comfortable with selling either, and I’m doing all right so far. The internet does offer many ways to market, and it’s likely you can find something that works for you as long as you’re willing to invest time in learning. Oh, yeah, and then you have to invest a lot of time in the actual marketing!

There you have it: some of the pros and cons of e-publishing. I hope this article has helped you decide wheher or not this road is right for you. If you want to learn more, please visit my e-publishing blog (http://www.lindsayburoker.com) . I talk about everything from getting started to pricing books to online promotion. If you’re curious about my work, you can also check out my Amazon book (http://www.amazon.com/Lindsay-Buroker/e/B004FSRHUE)  page or my Author Page on Smashwords (Smashwords offers every ebook format out there, so it’s good for any e-reader or even online PC reading) (http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/LindsayBuroker ).

Good luck!

*************************

Thank you Goblin Writer.

I’d like to add that to succeed as an indie writer/publisher, the one quality you need most is patience. With the caveat that you need to write a good novel to begin with, you may find that what starts out selling poorly can build month by month and year by year into a good income. 

WHAT I’VE READ THIS WEEK—Fatal Tide by Iris Johansen. And The Ballad of Frankie Silver by Sharyn McCrumb.

All photos by Roxanne Rix.

When I first began thinking of publishing to Kindle at Amazon.com I was reading J.A. Konrath’s blog pretty regularly (as in all the time) http://jakonrath.com/writers.htm and I also bought a copy of his book The Newbies Guide To Publishing. Following his progress as he works his way into e-book stardom is both fascinating and educational. If you’re a writer (or want to be one) you should be following Mr. Konrath.

Later I rediscovered Dean Wesley Smith http://deanwesleysmith.com . His Killing The Sacred Cows of Publishingarticles are a revelation. Everyone should be reading this. And all writers should also be reading Kristine Kathryn Rusch at http://kriswrites.com. You will be very, very sorry if you don’t follow what is going on through both these respected writers.

For Word help, check out Terry’s Place: Word Formatting at http://terryodell.blogspot.com. She’ll save you a lot of frustration and trouble.

For short story markets go to http://duotrope.com.

That’s enough links for one time.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK—Dinner On A Flying Saucer by Dean Wesley Smith. The Dead Butler Caper by Frank Norman. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. and Follow the Stone by John Locke. Seems I had a lot of reading time on my hands, but really, all of these were short books except the Dan Brown.

Photos by Roxanne Rix

P.S. In less than one month we will begin accepting entries to Scare The Dickens Out of Us, the ghost story writing contest benefiting the Dr. Eugene Clark Library in Lockhart, Texas. Check the rules at http://clarklibraryfriends.com.

P.P.S. My novel The Cowboy’s Baby is available as a Kindle e-book at  http://amzn.com/B003UYUVZC

I have always read a lot, and like many people I ended up with favorite writers. I read everything by Stephen King, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Charlaine Harris Dick Francis, Anthony Price and too many more to mention. But the advent of the Kindle (and Nook and others) e-reader has changed the playing field. Books are cheap enough in e-book form (often under $5.00) that I’m branching out and reading writers I’ve never heard of (and never would have heard of) and in genres I wouldn’t have touched previously with a ten foot pole. It’s great to find all these other good and extremely entertaining “new” writers.

Here are a few.

HAVE GUN, WILL PLAY by Camille LaGuire. A cross between a Western and a mystery. Quirky, has great characters and was fun to read. Here is its Kindle link—–http://amzn.com/B003TU20I8

THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron. A Newbery Award winner. That’s all you need to know. Here is its Kindle link—-http://amzn.com/B000OI118S

MASTERSON by Richard S. Wheeler. Another Western. This a character study of Bat Masterson. Fascinating and hard to put down. Here is its Kindle link—-http://amzn.com/B003X4M882

ST. DALE by Sharyn McCrumb. A combination romance novel and stock car racing memorial. Great fun, also heartwarming. Its ISBN number is  978-0758207760.

REVISE THE WORLD by Brenda W. Clough. This is a long science fiction novel with a strong romance at its core. It’s about time travel and adjusting to circumstances. Here is its Kindle link—http://amzn.com/B002VWLLYO

I’ve got a lot more. Will save them for another time. There isn’t a book mentioned above that anyone wouldn’t like. Give them a look at least. Thanks.

PHOTOS BY ROXANNE RIX

THE COWBOY’S BABY by Gretchen Lee Rix. Kindle link–http://amzn.com/B003UYUVZC

He went to her, gave her a gentle kiss, and whispered into her ear. “This too shall pass,” he said.

Before the truck returned, Peter had tripped over something behind the pen and lost another roll of toilet paper to the goats that had the spot staked out. His flashlight didn’t deter the animals from tearing the roll apart and running away with it. He had a weird feeling the goats were enjoying the extra attention.   

Baby watched silently from his post. There was going to be some way to get out of this pen tonight, he just hadn’t figured out how as yet. He let Peter leave without expressing his displeasure or letting him know he was there.

Before Cassie returned, Ralph Maybeath came up to Frank and apologized. “I knew I should have gone with them,” he explained. “I need to go to the house with the next bunch. Soon.”   

“Next bunch?” Frank said.   

Ralph looked at him. Frank looked back.  

“I’ll just stay here,” Ralph added. “They should be back pretty soon, right?”    

Frank didn’t answer, just pressed his lips tighter. Cassie’s sleepover wasn’t getting off to a very good start. And then he saw the Bishops who were sitting outside their tent with a lamp at their feet and looking at the night sky with binoculars. The little boy Leon was with them, Mr. Bishop helping him with the glasses, probably showing him the Milky Way, Frank guessed, from the way Bishop threw up his arms and pointed over his head and then down. His wife turned off the lamp at that point; all they had now were star shine and moonlight. Frank looked up at the stars; for the moment everything was peaceful.“It’s beautiful out here,” Ralph said quietly.    

Frank didn’t reply. From where he stood he could also see flashlights from Ellison’s tent and from Marcia’s tent. He could see the outline of their bodies. Marcia was putting up her things, but then laid down and turned out the light. Ellison opened the flap to his tent. Frank saw him drag the sleeping bag out into the open before he turned his light off. The moonlight illuminated him enough for Frank to see him lying on his back, possibly also watching the stars.From a distance Frank heard Leon’s voice. “Mom, I need to take a leak. I don’t have to go back to the house, do I?”    

Frank couldn’t hear Leona’s response, but he did see her when she switched her flashlight on. Before too long he saw Peter and Leon headed back to the pen area with two rolls of bathroom paper. He did quick addition in his head and then ground his teeth. They were really making a run on toilet paper, these people, he thought. Before too long their supply would be gone.

TO BE CONTINUED…

COPYRIGHT 2010 by Gretchen Rix. Photos by Roxanne Rix. The Cowboy’s Baby available at http://amzn.com/B003UYUVZC .   

WHAT I’VE READ THIS WEEK—Sucker Bet by James Swain and The Sari Shop Widow by Shobhan Bantwal.

PHOTOS BY ROXANNE RIX

WHAT I’VE READ THIS WEEK—Dead Reckoning  by Charlaine Harris. And A Feast For Crows by George R.R. Martin.

I am almost through with the second draft of my novel Arroyo. I have finished four out of five segments and have been pretty pleased with what I have. While working on this I became reacquainted (as a reader) with Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch via their respective websites; they have a lot of useful information to impart. If you are a writer, you need to be reading their blogs. 

Dean Wesley Smith has Killing The Sacred Cows of Publishing at http://deanwesleysmith.com.  There is lots and lots of useful information here. One of the reasons I’m bring this up now, is that he talks about rewriting in a way I have never heard before.  And, of course, here I am rewriting Arroyo. However, turns out I was pretty much following his advice before I read it: what I already had on the page was good and didn’t need much tweaking other than reformatting, correcting errors and making sure the continuity was correct. I have a new hero.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch has The Business Rusch Publishing Series at http://kriswrites.com. Her writing is about the business end of writing and is every bit as interesting as Sacred Cows, though much more technical as it is dealing with contracts, agents, publishers, publishing and more.

After I finish this second rough draft I have one more to do. I still see a few plots that need to be tidied up, I’ve got a bit more research to do, and I need to redo some sentences. Maybe I should be doing that now in the second draft, but I want to see the whole as I originally wrote it (mostly or minimally untouched by my editing pen) before making third draft decisions.

Read these people, please. You will learn so much no one else is willing to tell you.

WHAT I’VE READ THIS WEEK—Simply Irresistible by Kristine Grayson.

Photos by Roxanne Rix

THE COWBOY’S BABY is available as a Kindle e-book at Amazon. com. Here is the link.

http://amazon.com/The-Cowboys-Baby-ebook/dp/B003UYUVZC.

Lockhart’s animal shelter needs help. Because of the economy a lot of their donations have dried up, but the dogs and cats keep coming in. If you have the funds to spare, consider a donation. Their address is 547 Old McMahn Trail Lockhart, Tx 78644. Phone number is 512-376-3336. And if you are local (I mean Austin, too. It’s not too far to drive), come and pick out a pet to take home. Thank you.

Photos by Roxanne Rix.

WHAT I’VE READ THIS WEEK—The Man who Knew Too Much by G.K. Chesterton.

With an approving smile, he saw that the Bishops had set up their tent with no problems. They were busy dragging their sleeping bags and pillows inside and barely acknowledged him as he sauntered by checking on things. The three boys also had their tent up. He didn’t have to worry about Alan and Jeremy, he had no thought about them at all, they knew what to do. But the minister was having the same trouble as Ellison and Marcia. He strode over to help, irritated that a grown man couldn’t do any better, and was stopped by Leona. “I’ll do it,” she said, grinning just like Cassie would have. She almost took his breath away. 

“I just don’t understand how you’ve got my wife’s face,” he blurted. 

“Hold off a minute, Ralph,” she called. “I can fix it. Let me talk with Frank first.” The minister stopped huffing and went off to find a bench to sit on. Frank stepped forward to help Leona with the tent. “Wife?” she asked, smiling warmly. 

“You mean Ralph didn’t blab?” 

“He doesn’t seem the blabbing type,” she said, helping with the tent. They got it set up and stood looking at one another. “I assure you, we’re not related in any way,” she said. “Cassie and me. Just a fluke of nature.” She studied him. “Should I cut my hair, maybe?” she asked. “Or dye it brown. Or maybe start wearing long dresses. Would it stop bothering you then?” 

“Bother isn’t really the right word,” he said, stopping when he heard her quiet, knowing laugh. Leona was certainly a better woman than he had thought. 

“By the way,” she said, giving him a serious look. “Congratulations on the wedding. I don’t have to tell you not to break her heart, do I?” 

“I’ve spent the past five to ten years protecting the woman,” he replied. “I’m not going to suddenly go off track and let her get her heart broken.” He paused. “But I can’t believe she suddenly decided to marry me.” Then he shrugged. “No matter. It’s a done deal. The why of it doesn’t matter all that much. 

“And thank you,” he said. “We got married yesterday. The ceremony was real nice.” 

He looked at the tent they had just assembled. “You’re not sharing this tent with the minister are you?” he asked, not knowing if he was appalled or secretly pleased that she might have fixated on the preacher. 

“My tent’s over there, near Leon and Peter and the little kid. I’m here to get reacquainted with my son,” she explained, “not to try to seduce the local preacher man. I was just helping him with his tent.” 

Leona turned her head. She heard someone stomping toward them in the dark. “I think that’s Cassie coming this way,” she said. 

“Damned right it is,” Cassie exclaimed. “Frank! I’ve got to drive that impossible woman back to the house before she pops a gullet.” She took several deep breaths when she got to them. Looking Leona up and down, Cassie made a little hiccupping noise and held out her hand. She grinned broadly. 

“Girl, you do look like me,” she said. “No wonder I couldn’t pry Leon away from this place with a crowbar. Of course, you look like me fifteen years back, and on a very good day. I’m glad you’re here.” 

She changed the subject after Leona shook her hand. “Since I have to drive back anyhow,” she said, “do you need to go with us?” she asked. 

“Not unless Leon does,” Leona said. 

“I’m asking around. Don’t want to be driving around in the truck all night long. Frank, I’ll be back in a bit. Don’t worry.” 

To Be Continued… 

The Cowboy’s Baby copyright 2010. Photos by Roxanne Rix 

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK: Liege-Killer by Christopher Hinz. I loved this book when I read it the first time in 1987. I still love this book re-reading it now.  Available as a Kindle ebook.