Saturday, March 6, 2010

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:



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.


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.

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:

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:
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

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














21 comments:

  1. Hi Celia, I'll be in and out today!

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  2. It was great to read this, and I shall follow up your blog, Lorraine. I want to dip my toe into producing a Kindle book, but perhaps it might be better to go the Smashwords route. More reading up, I think.

    I wish you joy with your books. Thanks, Celia, for inviting her across.

    Linda
    www.lindaacaster.com

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  3. Thanks for coming by, Linda. I've heard Kindle can be hard to format and I'm glad to leave that to the experts. ;-)

    Good luck with whichever way you go. I'd love to hear of your experience with it.

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  4. Very interesting post Lorraine. I've been hearing more and more about Smashwords. I've downloaded a few books from there.

    Best wishes with your books and plans. I like how you stated that you are a writer first. :)

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  5. Awesome list of books and another great interview. I love the variety of topics your muse takes you through. Good luck with this new book.

    Nan
    www.nancyoberry.com

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  6. Very interesting post, Loraine. I wish you continued success with your career. I comment you for stepping out on your own.
    Celia, I think you've done new things to your blog site since I last visited. Very nice.

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  7. Hi Loraine,
    What an interesting article. You are certainly brave tackling the task of publishing and marketing your own books. You are a inspiration to all of us who are too nervous to take such a gigantic step. Best of luck with all your endeavours.

    Regards

    Margaret

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  8. EA, I appreciate you supporting indie authors through Smashwords! Yes, always a writer first. If the publishing aspect ever tries to take over, it'll be time to make changes. ;-)

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  9. Nancy, thank you! My muse is taking the next one in a new direction. :-)

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  10. Linda, I'm following in some huge footsteps. A lot of now very big names started out self-publishing. The book I'm reading for our library book club this month started as self-published since she couldn't get anywhere until she did it on her own. Lisa Genova believed in her novel "Still Alice" enough to go through iUniverse, and it was picked up by Pocket Books. It happens a lot, although that isn't my goal.

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  11. Hi Margaret, I think I didn't have enough sense to be as nervous as I should have been when I started! Now there's not much point, although I finally know I should have been. Doubts, sure. I have plenty of those. But that's true with anything worthwhile, I think.

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  12. Lorraine you are an amazing example of persistence, talent and spirit. I wish you the best of luck and I admire your courage tremendously.

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  13. Hi Lorraine and Celia,
    Totally enjoyed this article. And a big thank you again to Lorraine for the honest feedback she gave me when I was trying to make my decision on jumping off this particular cliff. I am loving it, but it is not for the faint of heart. LOL
    Best wishes on your writing, LK.

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  14. Mary, I'm flattered! Thank you :-)

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  15. Rebecca, I enjoyed chatting with you about it and I'm sure you'll have much success on this path. Best wishes for yours, as well!

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  16. Hi Loraine and Celia!
    Loraine of all your covers, I adore your last one. Your stories are pretty darn good too. So nice to read more about you and your journey to publishing.
    maggietoussaint.com

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  17. Maggie, thank you. That's my favorite, also. :-) Thanks for coming by!

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  18. Celia and Loraine, what a nice interview! Loraine, it's so rewarding to hear your journey of being an indie publishing author. You inspire. I know you put a lot of heart into your stories.

    Smiles
    Steph

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  19. Hi Steph, thanks for coming by! It's been interesting to watch your path from indie to contracted. :-)

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  20. Hi, Loraine and Celia. Just popping in to catch up on my blog reading :) Very informative interview! You've definately done your research. All the best to both of you. Miss you now that the Spa is closed!

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  21. Hi Liana! Nice of you to pop in. :-)

    I may have to spend some of the Spa time blog hopping instead.

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