Check out Barbara’s latest interviews!

Top 100 Indie Authors for May 2012 and 28 authors to watch! IReaderReview.com

The Art Career Project – Interview on writing as a career and eBooks This is a very cool site with information on a lot of different careers in the arts. I was thrilled to be a part of it!

Indie Bookspot – Interview with Barbara Freethy Bestselling Author of Summer Secrets and Just A Wish Away An in-depth interview on writing and ebooks – hope you’ll check it out!

IReaderReview – Barbara Freethy #1 on Top 50 Indie Authors in March 2012 I was in great company on this list of terrific ebook authors.

Alexa Parker and Braden Elliott fell in love when they were twelve years old. On a summer day, while searching for sea glass on the beaches of Washington State, they discovered an unusually shaped blue bottle. The ever-imaginative Alexa declared it a genie’s bottle. Popping the cork, they were surprised by a rogue wave that sprayed them with a fine, cool mist. Closing their eyes, they each made a wish …

Before their love had a chance to grow, life, family and tragedy separated the two best friends. Now fifteen years later, Alexa returns to Sand Harbor after her aunt is injured in a mysterious break-in at her antique store. Braden is also back, but he’s not the innocent boy Alexa remembers. His military service has left him with physical and emotional scars.

Can the sweet love of youth be recaptured by two now cynical souls? Can solving the mystery of the past bring them to a new future? Or will it take a wish, maybe two …

I’m so thrilled that my backlist and my two ebook originals have found a new audience. When I started putting up books in January of 2011, I had no idea how much work I was about to get involved in or how exciting the journey would be. I’ve learned a lot about ebooks, cover art, marketing, and social media. But I don’t think it’s fair that every new day someone invents a new social media site that we need to explore! I’m still trying to keep up with the older ones.

In addition to marketing my current books, I’ve been writing, writing, and writing.

JUST A WISH AWAY (Book #2 in the Wish Series) is about first love and second chances and will be released in the next few weeks. Here’s the blurb from the back cover …

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author, Barbara Freethy, takes us back to the beach in an emotional love story between two best friends who have been separated for a very long time.

Alexa Parker and Braden Elliott fell in love when they were twelve years old. On a summer day, while searching for sea glass on the beaches of Washington State, they discovered an unusually shaped blue bottle. The ever-imaginative Alexa declared it a Genie’s bottle. Popping the cork, they were surprised by a rogue wave that sprayed them with a fine, cool mist. Closing their eyes, they each made a wish …

Before their love had a chance to grow, life, family and tragedy separated the two best friends. Now fifteen years later, Alexa returns to Sand Harbor after her grandmother is injured in a mysterious break-in at her antique store. Braden is also back, but he’s not the innocent boy Alexa remembers. His military service has left him with physical and emotional scars.

Can the sweet love of youth be recaptured by two now cynical souls? Can solving the mystery of the past bring them to a new future? Or will it take a wish, maybe two …

I’m really enjoying writing the Wish Series, which are books connected by a common theme of “wishes”. Each book stands alone with new characters and new plots. Book #1 in the Wish Series, A SECRET WISH, is currently available. It’s about three women in San Francisco who are facing milestone birthdays, 30, 35, and 40, and their lives intertwine in a very interesting way. I hope you’ll check out the new series and let me know what you think!

Happy Reading!

Barbara

I’m thrilled to announce that AT HIDDEN FALLS has been nominated for a RITA in the Romance Writers of America contest for Best Contemporary Single Title Romance. Winners will be announced July 28th at the national conference in Anaheim.

Since releasing my new ebook original, A SECRET WISH, and with sales continuing to gain momentum on my other titles, I’ve now passed 1.6 million units in ebook sales for my self published books. It’s so exciting to hear from new readers who have just discovered my list of books. I really appreciate those of you who have written to me and shared stories of how the books have touched your lives. And I am also very happy that you’ve gone on to buy many more of my books. This sales achievement is all thanks to the fans!

A SECRET WISH is book one in my WISH SERIES. Book 2 will be out next month.

I’ve learned a lot since beginning my self publishing venture in early 2011. I thought I’d share some of my thoughts on the process for those writers considering taking the same journey.

Here are my top 5 reasons for choosing to publish your own books versus selling your books to a traditional publisher:

1. Total control of my books and my brand. I’ve been able to take my backlist and re-cover the books to illustrate and emphasize my brand of books. I love the new covers and I think readers like them, too.

2. Along with branding, I can publish books more frequently. I no longer have to wait 10 to 14 months between book releases. When the book is ready to go to the readers, it goes on sale. And this is especially important for series releases. Plus, readers can have confidence now that they will always be able to get every book in the series because the online ebook shelf space is unlimited.

3. Pricing. I love to be able to offer my readers an affordable price on ebooks and also to offer sales — who doesn’t love a bargain? Occasionally, I’ll even give away a free book to introduce new readers to my work.

4. Flexibility and adaptability. Working on my own, I can make quick decisions. I can change a cover if it doesn’t seem to be working. I can rewrite a product description so that it’s more enticing. I can offer a one day sale price. I can add new content to the book like excerpts, character interviews and book club reading guides, fun, bonus content for the reader.

5. Money! As an independent publisher, I get a bigger share of the pie, and I work directly with the online retailers to merchandise my books. I love having that personal relationship with the booksellers!

Of course the flip side of all this wonderfulness is the hard work that goes into being a publisher and an author. I like running my own business and having control over my product but not everyone does. I’m happy to hire a team of professionals to help me produce a quality product, but some writers might prefer to leave all that up to a publishing house. I have enjoyed working with all the wonderful people at the various publishers who have put out my books, and most of them have really worked hard to make my books a success.  But no one cares about an author’s book as much as the author does. And when you’re independent, you can put all your energy into your book. When you’re with a publisher, you’re one of many books that come out each month.

In my opinion, publishing has split into two paths, but this is great news for writers, because in the 20 years that I’ve been publishing, I’ve never seen so many opportunities for writers to get their books to the reading public, even those books that might not fit the hot trend of the moment. But writers also have to be careful that they’re continuing to put out a quality product. If you’re not working with a publishing house, then it’s important to make sure you hire a good editor to go over the work. And cover art also has to look professional. It should be impossible for readers to see a difference between the book of a traditional publisher and an independent publisher.

But then again, there’s all that work … Every author has to decide for themselves what works for them and what their priorities are. I believe that the Big 6 publishers will continue to lose authors to independent publishing if they don’t find a way to improve the terms of their contracts. But for some writers the trade-offs are worth the cut in money. Having mass market distribution of print books is also a factor, but I believe in the next few years we’ll see opportunities for independent publishers to also distribute print books on a larger scale than print on demand. It’s certainly exciting world!

Before I end this post, I also wanted to mention that I’m expanding into the global market as well. I’ve had three books translated into French, German and Spanish and I’m so happy to be able to offer these foreign editions. Isn’t is amazing that writers can now take their work directly into other languages?