Marketing with Mandy Spotlight on Self-Publishing: SM Blooding ...

Marketing with Mandy Spotlight on Self-Publishing: SM Blooding

Q: Please take a minute to tell us a little about yourself.
A: Well, the first thing is that SM stands for Stephanie Marie, but only associates and family call me that. Friends call me Frankie, which is a funny story for another time. LOL! I live in Colorado next to my lovely Rocky Mountains. I love to hike, bike, and I?m trying to learn to play the guitar. That?s?not going well.

I?ve dated a werewolf, almost married a vampire who was also a US government assassin?@_@? and am an investigator with Colorado Paranormal Rescue. Boy, do I have stories!

Q: What prompted you to self-publish your book(s)?
A: Well, I?ve been down the published route with a few books back in 2005 thru 2007. Then I got the hair-brained idea to traditionally publish my books. I sold the first three books of my Demon Talker series to TLT Publishing in 2011, but I still have more books than I can contract!

I have friends who have self-published and are doing a phenomenal job with it, so I sat down with myself and said, ?Frankie, what?s going on here, girl-child? You have all these books and even if you tried a gajillion years, there?s no publisher in the world that wants them all.? But they?re all good stories with characters that I loved enough to write about and I want and need to share them with the world.

So I pulled myself off my lazy butt and came up with an insane publishing plan and I?m just going to do this! The industry is really in our favor! Who would have thought that a year ago? Not me.

Q: How has the experience been to date?
A: CRAZY! I sat down and came up with a business plan that should be doable and I think my readers will be happy with it. But to start off, I?m doing almost everything by myself.

I had to sit down and take a very hard look at my budget. As a self-published author, the expense is on me and my $0-checking account. So I had to ask myself: What can you afford to farm out? What are you good at? What do you suck at? What?s worth the money? There are a lot of people out there offering services that really aren?t worth the investment. But there are other things that, OMW, you really need to find someone else to help with.

Then you have to look at the schedule. *looks heavenward* There are so many things to do! And you need to make sure you have time to do it all without stressing. I quickly found out that the writing is the easy part. LOL!

It?s not just about the writing. There?s the edits that you have schedule in, and the promoting, and the socializing, and the reading, and the reviewing (which is essential to staying on top of the market while helping your fellow authors) and then there?s the helping other authors because the indie authors are a GREAT source for socializing and helping you get word of your books out there. There?s just. So. Much. Work.

But the people in the indie side of the industry are fantastic. Whenever I have a question, it?s usually followed by, ?Oh, Frankie, that?s so easy!? LOL!

Q: What do you know now that you wished you knew when you started?
A: I was really fortunate to have some friends who went through this in 2011, so I had a really good idea of what I needed to do and when.

The biggest thing I learned was from Denise Swank. Write a business plan going in and, boy, am I glad that I did. Granted, I?m just starting out, but I feel confident in what I?m doing and the only real anxiety I have is whether or not the readers are going to like my work. Which is exactly what an author should be worrying about.

Q: What tips/tricks do you use for marketing or promoting your own titles?
A: I?m still learning those. Really, it?s all about who you know and what kind of a socializer you are. The people I know of that are successful indie authors 1.) write a LOT of books and 2.) talk a LOT on Twitter and Facebook. And?people talk about them a lot on Amazon and Goodreads.

I think the best tip though, is to remember that it isn?t just about you. There?s a whole world of authors out there trying to make it with you. You support them. Hopefully, they?ll support you.

Q: What is one thing you?d want to tell a newer author, just coming into the game?
A: Do. Your. Homework!

And?You ms might be your baby, but even babies need discipline sometimes.

Q: Could you tell us a bit about your latest release?
A: Try Taking Her Down was originally published in 2005 and was written on a family vacation to Mt. Rushmore. Oh, the things we do for our characters, but it was a long drive. Hello, Wyoming? *head desk* LOL!

After Angel?s sister commits suicide with Angel?s three young children, she swears that things like that will never happen again. She appoints herself vigilante of a group of New York street urchins. Someone has decided these kids need to die. But why? What?s the common thread between all these kids? Is it for money or information or something different? And why is it that no one but Angel seems to care?

Except for Detective Kevin Stephens, he?s not giving up on this case until he finds out why people would want to kill all these children. But will Angel welcome his help? How many more children will disappear without Angel and Kevin?s help?

Q: Can you tell us a little about your current WIP?s (works in progress)?
A: Oh my word! This is a crazy year for WIP?s. I?m currently going through my final pass through of As Night Falls, which will be launching in March. It was another book published in 2005 and actually made it to the top 10 Erotica Sci-Fi book on Preditors and Editors. Raven?s a vampire trying to ensure his race doesn?t become extinct in the President?s New Order. Becca holds the key to their survival, but she?s afraid that if she helps him, she?ll lose who she is and is terrified of what she could become.
Another one in the editing stage is The Dustman, which currently has a May launch date, is a cute Urban Fantasy Romance about a dustman who needs someone to believe in him, and a single mother who needs a little less reality and a little more whimsy. Together, they must save Dreamland from being forgotten.
And the last one I?ll mention today is The Hands of Tarot, my Steampunk novel which is tentatively scheduled for release in July/August. Captured by the House of Wands and kept as the Queen?s pet project, Synn has to find a way to escape before he becomes the secret weapon the Hands can use to take control of all the resisting Families.
The Demon Talker series should be launching this year, too. It s a fantastic series. Demons Are Jackasses has been done for awhile and we?ve just completed the edits of book 2, Those Damn Angels. I should have book 3 finished in the next couple of months.
Can you say INSANE?! LOL!
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