Meet Indie Author Loraine Hunsaker

This week my guest is Loraine Hunsaker who uses LK Hunsaker as her author name. I consider Loraine a pioneer, a courageous author who made a choice to forge her own way, by-passing traditional publishers. This is a woman I admire and respect, and I wanted her story told one more time. Her writing and methods are unique and challenging, but she enjoys the gratifying feeling of accomplishment and success.

Without further ado, I introduce Loraine, and she will explain her career path and philosophy. Celia

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Hi Celia! Thanks for the opportunity to talk about my books and publishing experience on your blog this week. I appreciate what you’re doing to help spread the world about indie publishing.

In the vein of indie musicians, who have been making their mark for decades by adding so much more to the music scene than what can be handled or will be accepted by big traditional music companies, indie authors are now coming into their own.

I’ve been publishing my books independently since 2003. I decided to go this way after months of researching the publishing business while finishing up edits of my first-to-finish novel. The traditional method of self-publishing (paying a printer to do a run of books I would have to store and distribute on my own) was too expensive and more work than I wanted to take the time for. I’m a writer first. So to jump in and get my feet wet, I went with a setup company who would do the actual printing and distributing and help with the text and cover creation. There are a lot of these, and I did plenty of comparison shopping before I chose Infinity Publishing (www.infinitypublishing.com) to handle all those details for me. They’re a wonderful small company, one of the only “author originated” companies to do their own printing and to have a representative pick up the phone when an author calls and answer emails almost immediately. I’m very happy with their service and by this time, they’ve become one of the top two names in the industry for combining print on demand (POD) technology with file assistance plus distribution.

My first three books are from Infinity:

http://www.buybooksontheweb.com/resource.aspx?id=1370

Finishing Touches
Jenna Rhodes escaped her mother's idea of a successful, elite life with an early marriage to an unknown artist, but her husband's eventual success has catapulted her into the midst of another world in which she feels she doesn't belong. Now, in her early twenties, she finds herself alone with a young baby and fighting against her overwhelming artistic desires. With memories of the past and the rekindling of an old friendship, Jenna struggles to find her own world. Rejecting her impulses becomes impossible, though, when a handsome magnetic force begins to pull at her spirit.

Rehearsal: A Different Drummer

Susie Brooks is a nineteen-year-old dance teacher whose main stability through an uncertain childhood was her best friend, Evan Scott, a guitarist with a flair for the business world. Evan’s other best friend is Duncan O’Neil, also a guitarist, but with a flair for attracting women’s attention while hiding his past. When Duncan moves into Evan’s world, he changes the dynamics not only within the band, but within Susie and Evan’s relationship. The three friends find themselves struggling with love, loss, and secret passions during the turbulent Seventies. A Different Drummer is the first of a series of four.

Rehearsal: The Highest Aim

With rising fame comes rising tensions and decisions that build relationships or destroy them. Susie, Duncan, and Evan lead Raucous through the music world jungle heading toward the top. Along the way, family secrets are revealed and new additions come along, and the friends must redefine themselves within their new roles. While making sacrifices and reconsidering relationships, they’ll have to choose between clinging to their current worlds and letting go to explore new possibilities. The Highest Aim is the second in a series of four.

With my most recent, I decided to become an actual publisher, as well, which means more work on my part and a lot of learning, but I was already creating my own covers (using my art education) and setting up my own files (self-taught), so much of the learning curve was already done. I went through LSI (www.lightningsource.com) for the printing and distributing. The benefit was a larger distribution, since LSI has UK distribution and Infinity so far only distributes in the US, plus my own company name on my books. I had been putting out eBooks and Hardcover editions under my company for my first three books, but my new book is entirely from Elucidate Publishing:

Off The Moon

"Riveting" Ryan Reynauld is immersed in a world of music, parties, and temporary companionship. Having risen to the top of the pop charts, his biggest concern is objecting to the way his music is produced. That is, until he finds a young woman standing on a window ledge. Against the advice of family and friends, and through media attacks and fan protests, Ryan determines to care for her himself, making a promise that threatens to destroy his career.

Convincing the skittish girl she can learn to trust again comes with a steep price. Sometimes the path to recovery begins by allowing your world to implode.

http://www.elucidatepublishing.net/

For my eBooks, I have an account at Smashwords.com. I love Smashwords because there is no cost to the author, which means I can set lower prices for my books than if I had to pay setup fees, plus they convert it to whatever file a customer wants. They also distribute their premium line to BN.com and other major retailers. All four of my books can be found at Smashwords and BN, plus free read short stories. I’m also part of Operation eBook Drop through Smashwords which distributes free books to deployed service members.

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/lkhunsaker

http://www.operationebookdrop.com/ 

This is a real quick summary of my publishing experience. I run an indie publishing group on writing.com that’s closed to members and have a branch of it on Myspace, but I’m in process of putting up indie pub info on my blog to make it accessible to everyone, so be sure to stop by and watch it fill in:

http://lkhunsaker.blogspot.com/ 

If anyone wants discount codes for my eBooks from Smashwords, they’ll go out in my next newsletter in a week or so. Sign up on my blog or on my website:

http://www.lkhunsaker.com/ 

Info about how to read Rehearsal: A Different Drummer free! will also be there.

Celia, thanks again! I’ll try to be around to answer questions for the next few days. It may be intermittent, so check back.

LK Hunsaker

~ Literary Romance with an Artsy Twist ~

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And thank you, Loraine.

Celia Yeary

Romance…and a little bit o' Texas

http://www.celiayeary.com/ 

TEXAS BLUE-eBook and Print

SHOWDOWN IN SOUTHFORK—eBook

ALL MY HOPES AND DREAMS-eBook and Print

Published by: The Wild Rose Press

www.thewildrosepress.com