I’ve “known” Alicia Rasley since the early nineties, when we were both active on the writing discussion groups (called RoundTables) of the now defunct online service GEnie. I was a rank beginner at the time, while Alicia had already been traditionally published, but she was always gracious and helpful. We bonded over Aphra Behn, and she was one of the first people to read (a very early) version of Chameleon in a Mirror. So it is with great pleasure that I welcome Alicia to my blog.
First off, please tell us a little bit about you and your work.
I write Regency romances and mysteries. I keep threatening to write a small-town Indiana series featuring regular people living regular lives (I live in Indiana and have a regular life myself), but for some reason, no one seems interested!
Do you have a writing routine?
I try to write an hour a day. But I’m still working full-time as a writing teacher, so some days I don’t get the hour in. I also always seem to have several projects going at once, so I spend time everyday trying to figure out which I feel like working on. So… answer is, I say I have a routine, but it’s not a very routine routine.
What made you decide to become an “indie” author?
I was traditionally published for 20 years, and suffered most every horrible offense and injury possible — lines closing just after I pledged them a book, editors getting laid off just after they expressed interest, agents with serious issues who only pretended to submit my books to editors…. And after all the work and rejection and revision and editorial interference, the book would be on sale for three weeks, and then disappear — and the publisher, just for the heck of it, would keep the rights to the book for seven to ten more years. It was the worst system ever, but it was the only one available back then… until a few years ago, when indie publishing became viable and affordable. And I’m never going back to traditional publishing (unless one of those companies offers me a million dollars, but I don’t think we need to worry about that happening).
What have you already published?
I had about 12 books traditionally published, and most of those I’ve republished as an indie author. I also have some novels and some writing books published independently. My Regency romance-mystery just came out in February, Tryst at the Brighton Inn. It’s kind of a hybrid, as I’m publishing the print version myself, and the Kindle Scout program (an Amazon imprint) is publishing the ebook.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on revising a few of my old books slightly to make them fit together better in a boxed set of Regency romances. It will be called Lords of the South Coast. And I’m just starting a new series of young-adult novellas set in the period of the French Revolution, about a group of children and teens who run away from the danger and become the wards of a mysterious noblewoman with a rambling old manor house near London. I like to think that young people will enjoy historical stories about plucky teens overcoming terrible odds to find peace.
I think you may well be right. 🙂 Do you make your covers yourself or do you hire a cover artist?
I am not at all visual, so I rely on a cover artist. Kim Killion did a wonderful job on the Tryst cover. It’s traditional and yet striking.
What do you think are the advantages of indie publishing? Of traditional publishing?
Indie publishing is great because it offers so much control and freedom. For a battered and bruised vet like me, it’s almost a miracle to think I can write what I want, and reach my readers directly without some huge international conglomerate publisher acting as the “gatekeeper” (and usually slamming that gate right on my foot). The downside is that I have to do all the work myself, but I never made enough money for a traditional publisher that they did any marketing for me — so it’s nothing new for me to sell my books myself.
As for traditional publishing, if you are a bestseller and stay that way, you’ll probably be treated well by the publisher. No one below bestseller status has any real assurance of good treatment, but I think the weather is pretty sunny in the highest-selling group. Otherwise, the big advantage of traditional publishing is the prestige. You have some supposedly independent affirmation of your skill as a writer. I think that’s fading (the ultimate judge of our skills is the reader now), but I do think many writers feel more validated if they’ve experienced traditional publishing.
What advice would you give to an aspiring author?
If you’re trying to get traditionally published, give yourself a deadline, after which you’ll indie publish. Traditional publication can move glacially slowly, and sometimes you’ll spend a year trying to get an agent and then the agent will spend a year trying to sell your book, and then there’s a year between the sale and the publication… and three years have gone by. Consider having one book on the traditional publishing treadmill, and in the meantime, publish other books yourself. That way you might well end up with the best of both worlds!
But if (as so often happens) your books never seem to fit the lines of a traditional publisher, give it up and go all in to independent publishing. The readers might love all the stories the trad publishers rejected.
And if you’re planning to go indie, take the advice everyone keeps giving me — to conceptualize a series of stories rather than five “one-offs”. Readers love connected stories with a common theme or set of characters.
Good luck on all your projects, and thanks so much. Alicia! I think you’ve given new authors a lot to think about. 🙂
Getting in touch with with Alicia Rasley:
Blogs
Regency Escapades: http://aliciarasleybooks.com/?page_id=32
Edittorrent (writing and editing): http://www.edittorrent.blogspot.com
Facebook – Alicia Rasley, Author:
https://www.facebook.com/Alicia-Rasley-author-718519868222011/?ref=hl
Twitter – @aliciaregency
Ruth Nestvold - Indie Adventures 