No matter what type of publisher you have...

Publishing my first book with Inkshares  was the best thing I could have done for my career as an author! Today, I have my second book out, and it’s on a traditional contract with a NY publisher. But no matter what type of publisher you have, you have to  share your work yourself. I don’t think mass emails work. 

Below is the email I developed and sent individually to my close friends and colleagues to celebrate my new book birthday today. (Feel free to use as template/cut and paste if helpful.)

Wherever you are on your writing journey, hang in there and best of luck! If you’re a reader only, thank you for the support you give us! 

Best,

Kris 

Note: If you buy the book today, it will help support my fledgling career as an author since rankings of sales at launch signal to independent booksellers & Amazon that this is a book worth promoting and featuring! If you buy the book in the next 3 days—ebook, hardback, or audiobook—100% of the royalties will go to NoKidHungry.com, a nationwide effort to help end childhood hunger in the US. If you buy the book anytime, it helps. 

Publishing  Here and There...

ONE MURDER MORE, a traditional mystery, was one of Inkshares first books! Published in 2016, it was a good experience. I believe had I not gone with Inkshares initially, I would never have been published! I just didn’t have it in me to  weather the rounds of agent queries and unsold manuscripts that so many of my author friends describe. 

Once I had that first book "out there", I felt I  could take a chance on what might happen if I went the so-called "traditional" (old-school) publishing route. It worked, too!  My debut thriller, ALL THAT FALL, first for me in that genre, is coming out next week with a NY-based traditional publisher, Crooked Lane, distributed by Penguin Random House. I landed a two-book deal with them, so there is a third to be written, in the wings.

My experience with the different types of publishers has, at least so far, been more similar than not. I’ve had about the same level of attention given to, both very responsive to my questions, and both (and I found this surprising with the traditional publishing) allowing me significant input into the title and cover design. With respect to marketing, both gave what you might expect  for an unknown author in a genre, meaning some (which is important, and I’m grateful for that) but not a lot. 

 

My advice if you are a writer is, to the extent you are able to (I know it’s hard), don’t worry too much about "how" you will get published. Try something, and if that doesn’t work for that book, try something else. The beauty (and the frustration) of being a writer in this day and age is you have options to get your book in front of readers, from  traditional to hybrid to self-publishing.  And you’re on your way, you’re on Inkshares,  that shows you’re serious about it!  

If you’re a reader or  writer and  interested in learning a little more about my path, my process and my books: 

https://www.kriscalvin.com 

Here’s a sampler, my interview this week in The Big Thrill Magazine: https://thebigthrill.org/2021/03/up-close-kris-calvin/…

If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Happy reading and writing!

Kris 

Just dropping by with some news – a paperback release and some upcoming events!

Cadence and the Pearl is now out in paperback! So you can have a shiny physical copy! It’s slightly cheaper directly from JMS Books over here, but you can also find it on Amazon here, and wherever else you like to buy books! It’s full of ocean magic in a vaguely 17th-century setting, about a schoolteacher and a playwright and enchantment. And it comes with a bonus story or two…

The pre-order link for my next little flash fiction short story is up at JMS, too! (I don’t think it’s on Amazon yet, or at least I can’t find it.) “A Sonnet for a Thunderstorm,” is historical and a little steampunk (a retired pirate! a wealthy merchant’s son! 18th century submarines!) and very sweet – and currently only 79 cents, for pre-orders! Release date April 17.

And some more cool things…I’ll be doing a little Zoom talk about Batman as part of the DePaul Pop Culture Conference Celebration of Superheroes on May 1 – the conference is free, if you want to come hang out with us! Details here.

And I got to do a tv interview! Nothing big, and I won’t say too much more now (after all, who knows, they might have more news and end up not airing it or something), but it was very fun. We talked about romance and representation, and had a good time – so I’ll let you all know when it airs!

That’s it for now - stay safe out there!

Dear Henderson House supporters,

Happy April! I hope wherever you are spring is springing. 

Here is a quick update on Henderson House:

• My revisions to the end of the novel are almost complete. Once again, these characters are telling me where they think the story needs to go...and they’re right! 
• Next up, I will do a full manuscript edit. I’m reading Intuitive Editing by Tiffany Yates Martin and can’t wait to implement her process.
• Then the manuscript goes to Inkshares. I’m shooting to be finished by the end of May.

Inkshares has been very forthcoming about their backlog after suspending new releases due to the pandemic. I corresponded with Avalon at Inkshares yesterday and she said they will probably not start on anything new until late summer.

If anyone is interested in reading the revised final chapters, please message me!

All the best,

Caren