Kindle Direct Publishing and Indie Publishing and what they mean for New Authors. Plus a giveaway!

Kristi Loucks is offering A Life Interrupted to one lucky reader who comments. I will draw a name and Kristi will offer that person a digital book in ANY format. 

by

Kristi Loucks

Whether a writer is new to the world of publishing or a seasoned veteran, the opportunities offered by independent publishing and Amazon’s KDP Select is opening doors that have never been accessible before. 

Just a few short years ago, unpublished authors were likely to have their work collect dust in the middle of a pile of manuscripts, unread.  Today, writers have the opportunity to get their work into the right hands, those of their readers without waiting.  We are able to share our work on all of the same platforms as traditionally published authors and thus, allowing indie authors to compete with the best of the best.

This is great, right?  Of course it is, but for every step forward there is inevitably a step to the side, too.  These new publishing avenues are great in that they make being a published author possible for many a talented writer who may never have found a voice through a traditional publisher, but they are also negative in the respect that they leave some key ingredients out of the formula.  Most notably editing, cover design and formatting.

These things are pretty basic, but they are not always something that writers can, or should do themselves.  Often neglected because of cost, purposely swept aside with the thought that they can be addressed later.  While it is easy to see how some may rationalize that once they have a few sales they can invest in these services, it can often be too late.  In most cases, a writer will only get that one opportunity to make that crucial first impression after all.

Kristi Loucks is part of the VBT

As an indie author myself, I know that we fight an uphill battle against what is at times perceived as lower quality work.  That perception is changing, but it is on all of us to make sure that continues.  There are an outrageous number of phenomenal authors who have gone the indie route; authors who we may never have read were it not for independent publishing and KDP Select.  

In addition to making the process attainable to many more aspiring writers, there is also a whole new opportunity to market yourself and your books with Kindle’s free sales, but that too has caused a stir for many publishers and writers wondering if it has the potential to hurt the sales of other books. 

While I don’t have any data to prove one way or another, I personally don’t think it truly hurts anyone.  KDP's free sales are powerful marketing tools for new authors who may have been buried in the mass of kindle offerings, but I doubt that a reader would pass over a book by their favorite author for a freebie.  At the end of the day, free or not, I believe the reader will buy a book that interests them based on the storyline and not the price (provided that the book in question is priced appropriately).

As with most things in life, there will always be more than one way to achieve our goals.  The choice that is right varies from one individual to the next, and how each person takes advantage of these opportunities is often what matters most.

The truth is that it has never been easy to make money as an author, while the independent publishing movement has made it easier to get published, it will not guarantee you an audience.  You are still going to have to work long and hard to establish yourself among the sea of talented writers from both the indie and traditional publishing worlds, but as my grandfather once told me, “No goal that is worth achieving is ever free, or easy.”

 Kristi Loucks is offering A Life Interrupted to one lucky reader who comments. I will draw a name and Kristi will offer that person a digital book in ANY format. 

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A Life Interrupted

Jared BelaForte spent his life protecting the people he loves and the place he calls home working for a government appointed task force called The Greater Wilmington First Response Team or GWRT. A group comprised of his friend and half brother, Dylan Spencer. His father’s old partner with the Wilmington PD, Alex Kelley and his cousin Jules Devereaux. Rounding out the team was Shay McElroy, a profiler who also happened to be the love of his life.

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Everything seemed perfect in his life, he had love, friends and family surrounding him and his team was on the verge of putting an end to the reign of a known trafficker who dealt in drugs and women. But in one moment, the man Jared had spent years trying to put away interrupted that life.

Sergei Dolenov is that man. He deals in drugs and dolls, a family business you might say. He had been able to stay under the radar in the sleepy port of North Carolina that he called home these days. But when the Governor put together a task force to disrupt his business, he took on a new target. Jared BelaForte.

After two years of torture and pain, Jared believed he would die in Dolenov’s “care”. But just when all hope is lost, an opportunity to escape presents itself. Two years to the day, Dylan got the phone call. Jared was in the local ER, and he was alive. Jared also learns that there was one other person that was left behind when he went missing, his little girl Sera, now just 17 months old. She was the glue that held Shay together when all seemed lost to her.

Can he pick up the pieces before the man responsible returns to finish the job he started?

About the author - Kristi Loucks

Author Kristi Loucks

Kristi Loucks is a Pastry Chef and Cake Designer with a degree from Le Cordon Bleu Chicago.  Her writing and storytelling has always been a way to manage the day to day stresses of working in the world of restaurants and food service.  

Kristi started writing in High School and has continued to share her work with friends over the years.  While she never planned to pursue writing professionally, a supportive friend armed with a copy of her debut novel, A Life Interrupted happened to share it with the right person. 

Since her debut was released in September of 2012, she has also released a novella, Delivery of Fate and is currently working on a new full length novel called The Rose Red Reaper, the first in a new series based in her home town of Chicago, IL.

Ms. Loucks currently resides in a suburb of Chicago and runs a bakery in a North Shore Suburb.

Now for something to whet your appetite!

A short excerpt - A Life Interrupted

Twenty-four months. It had been exactly two years since Shay had last seen Jared BelaForte, the man that she loved. Some days, it felt like an eternity. And in others, she would wake up and smell his scent surrounding her like he had been at her side moments before. The only thing she could count on from day to day was that she missed him.

There had been so many things she had wanted to tell him. Things she no longer believed she would ever get to say. He wasn’t coming back.

She had spent the last twenty-four months reassuring herself that there was hope. But, today she woke up with the sinking notion that he would never again look at her with his cerulean eyes. She would never hear him laugh or admire his beautiful smile and he would never get to meet his daughter, Sera.

When she woke up this morning, she cried. She cried the tears she had been keeping to herself for the last two years. She cried tears for all the things he had already missed. And she cried tears for all the things she knew her daughter would never have.

She would never know her daddy. His half brother, Dylan had stepped into the role of Daddy to Sera. Though he adored her as if she had been his own, they both knew that her little girls’ daddy could not be replaced.

In spite of the hardship, Dylans’ little girl Ellie had become like a big sister. She spent afternoons on the beach with Sera, Shay and Dylan as they splashed in the surf and Sera loved watching Ellie bury her daddy in the sand. Her little girl was the glue that held her mom together. She was the only reason Shay had not crumbled and they all knew it.

Shay felt his presence everywhere she went. Some days, she even thought she saw him on a busy street corner, down the beach or even outside her window when she looked down at his truck that she drove to work.

Her heart ached every time she felt it idle, but at the same time she found it impossible to let go of any of the possessions that she knew he loved, especially his truck. Even if he wasn’t coming back.