Indie Challenge: A note on Self-Publishing by Shelley Workinger

Hello everyone, how's Saturday for all of you? And for those participating in our reading challenge, how many books have you read? You can link your reviews in the comments section of my post HERE. Or click the button below:


Today, we have the author of Solid, Shelley Workinger, stopping by our blog to share some of her thoughts about being a self-published author. Share with us what you think by leaving a comment on this post, or if you have a question for Shelley about self-publishing, just post it. We'll be happy to forward it to her!

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A Note on Self-Publishing

The key to self-publishing is right there in the name: SELF.

You write, you edit, you polish until at last your book is complete.

But that's not the finish line for a self-published author - it's more like the end of part one of a relay in which you must run every leg. Instead of passing the baton to an agent/publishing house, you must now become the editor, graphic designer, promoter, negotiator, even public speaker.

As a writer, you may not have previously explored those roles, but self-publishing provides an opportunity for you to stuff all of those skill sets into your tool kit. The answers and experience you need are out there if you're willing to invest the time, do the research, and go get them!

Such initiative (and guts) required to step out of your comfort zone brings us to the second vital "self," which is self-confidence.

Critics can be particularly harsh on self-published works, calling them "not real books" and deeming them inferior because they weren't produced by a major publishing house. You have to really believe in both your ability as a writer and the work itself to persevere, especially since you don't have an agent to shield you from the most negative feedback.

Only when you've set aside the popular (and highly romanticized) idea that self-publishing is the easiest path for a new author, and researched it sufficiently to appreciate self-publishing for what it is, can you determine if it is the best option for you.

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About the author:

Shelley grew up in Maine, and graduated from Loyola University New Orleans.

She currently resides in New Jersey, and consider all of them home.

You can find Shelley on Goodreads, and if you have any comments or feedback you want to share with her about her first book, Solid, you can drop by Solid's Facebook page, or go to http://www.solidnovel.com/ for more information about Solid.

Interview & Giveaway: J.L. Bryan, author of Jenny Pox!

As part of our Indie / Self-Published book reading challenge, we have J.L. Bryan in our blog today! Myself and Tin are very happy to have him in our blog. I'm currently reading Jenny Pox and I am liking the book more and more as I read through. Look forward to my review in the next few days. For now, I give the floor to Jeff!



Thanks for taking the time in letting us interview you!
Thanks for having me over, Kai!

Can you please describe yourself in 50 words or less?
Hmmm...(Wait! Does that count as a word? I'm burning through even more words now! Must close parentheses ASAP!) I live in Atlanta, I have a wife, a yard, a shed, two dogs, two cats. I've been writing stories all my life, and I have a degree in English literature. In my spare time, I like to work more. I really don't have spare time.

Please give us a very brief summary of what the book is all about and what can readers expect from it.
Jenny Pox is the story of a girl who's born with a kind of nasty curse--whenever she touches people, or animals, she infects them a horrible supernatural bubonic plague kind of disease, and she can quickly kill people by touching them too long. She struggles with this all of her life. She can't touch anyone, she avoids people all she can, which leaves her a social outcast around town and at school. Most of the story happens during her senior year of high school, when she meets a boy with a healing touch--their powers cancel out, making him the one person in the world who can touch her without dying.

Is there an inspiration in writing Jenny? Are any of the characters in the book based on a real life character?
I didn't base any characters on specific people, but maybe on types of people or characteristics picked up from a variety of people. I don't generally base characters on real people, but I may draw specific traits from different people. Jenny was probably the most personal character, with problems like depression and social anxiety--those her social anxiety is backwards, because she's not afraid of people doing things to her, she's afraid of what she will do to them. But it plays out exactly as if she had a deep fear of others.

Was there a part of the book you felt was very difficult to write? From what I've been reading so far, Ashleigh seems like a very complicated character, and the characters are strong and vibrant and not flat at all. Are there any specific message you want to convey through these characters and your writing?
Well, thanks for the comment about the characters being strong and vibrant! I'm not looking to convey any specific message, but I guess we could find some...The message of Ashleigh would probably be don't trust people who seek power, even, or especially, if they wrap themselves in a lot of high moral platitudes. For Jenny, it might be: don't discount that quiet person in the back of the room, because they may be capable of things you can't imagine.

Given the chance, is there a part of the story you would change or re-write?
Since I'm an indie author, I can make changes any time I want and upload new files for the ebook and paperback. If I see something I want to change, I change it.

What do you think is the biggest challenge an indie writer can face?
The biggest challenge is letting people know about your work. Once people try it, they pretty much judge you the same way they would judge any author. So far, the reviews and other feedback on Jenny Pox has been tremendously positive, but I'm still working hard to let people know the book is out there. Book bloggers are hugely important to indie authors for this reason! Book bloggers will help people discover your book, if they like it themselves.

Of course, just as with traditonal publishing, your book needs to be engaging, well-written and carefully edited. But there's nothing new about that.

Is there any advice you can give for aspiring writers who wants to take a stab at the indie writing scene?
The biggest issue is always quality. It takes years to develop your craft. If you're putting a book out independently, you are completely responsible for the quality and editing. A bad book isn't going to go far, because no will recommend it to their friends and it will just get bad reviews, or no reviews at all. So make sure the books you put out are professional quality. Covers are hugely important, too.

Beyond that, the water's fine, jump right in. There is a tremendously supportive community of indie authors over at Kindleboards, for example, and we constantly share our discoveries and experiences with each other. You can learn tons of vital information for free just by hanging out and goofing off with other writers.

Thank you, Jeff. Is there anything else you'd like to say to our readers?
Thanks for taking the time to read this interview! At the moment, Jenny Pox ebooks have been discounted $2.39 on Amazon Kindle, and trade paperbacks are just over $9. Amazon did these discounts, not me, so I'm not sure how long they will last. So this is a great time to try a free sample of Jenny Pox on Amazon and see if you like it.

Thanks again for having me, Kai! I appreciate all the work you're doing to introduce readers to good indie authors. Readers can save lots of money and find lots of great reads if they start exploring the indie scene.


We have a giveaway! In light of helping indie authors spread the word about their books, Jeff was generous enough to provide an ebook copy of his book, Jenny Pox, to one lucky reader! And yes, this is INTERNATIONAL, so everyone can enter! Contest runs until November 12th!

Here's what you need to do:

- You need to be a follower of the blog to join the contest
- Comment on the interview
- Fill out the form below

Our Own Reading Challenge!

I talked about "hidden jewels" among all the stellar books that I keep on seeing on Goodreads on my previous post, and after reading Falling From Grace, I thought I'd read other books that aren't so popular, but are good. A friend of mine and fellow book blogger, Jennilee of Reading Lassie and I are taking on a challenge we made:


We picked 16 books that we will read until December 19th. Basically we'll just read and review the book. But we'll also try to post interviews and maybe a few giveaways if we can.

1. Falling From Grace (Grace #1) by S.L. Naeole - FINISHED / REVIEWED
2. Bird Song (Grace #2) by S.L. Naeole
3. Black Halo (Grace #3) by S.L. Naeole
4. Hush Money by Susan Bischoff
5. Switched by Amanda Hocking
6. The Crescent by Jordan Deen
7. My Blood Approves #1 by Amanda Hocking
8. Jenny Pox by J.L. Bryan
9. Branded : Fall of Angels by Keary Taylor
10. Portal (Portal Chronicles, #1) by Imogen Rose
11. The Thirteenth Chime by Emma Michaels
12. Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens
13. Book of Love (Knight Angels, #1) by Abra Ebner
14. The Emerald Talisman (Talisman, #1) by Brenda Pandos
15. Solid (Solid, #1) by Shelley Workinger
16. The Light of Asteria: Kailmeyra's Last Hope (Kailmeyra, #1) by Elizabeth Isaacs

Feel free to participate if you like! Just go grab the picture and put it somewhere in your website. Or if you're reviewing an indie/ self-published book, put the picture on your post and link back! We don't have any incentives to give yet, I might have one to celebrate the end of the challenge on the 19th, but for now we just want to get the word out there about these books. We hope you can join us!