MY PUBLISHING JOURNEY: Author Cherie Colyer

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MY PUBLISHING JOURNEY: Author Cherie Colyer

Have you ever wondered how authors get their start?
How do they get agents?
How do they get published?
Is it luck? Talent? Drive?

This segment is an attempt to satisfy my immense curiosity...to answer the one question I'm dying to ask every author out there: How did your book become a book?

Visit the full catalogue of "My Publishing Journey" interviews HERE.
Today's Featured Author
Cherie Colyer
www.cheriecolyer.com

Author ofThe Embrace Series &
Challenging Destiny

Welcome Carrie! First, please give us a brief summary of how you got where you are and why you chose that path.
Lots and lots of practice, patience, and perseverance. Writing isn’t easy and finding a home for our beloved stories can be difficult, but it is well worth the journey. I’m traditionally published. I chose this path because my targeted audience isn’t online as much as adults, or at least they weren’t when my first book came out. After querying several agents, hoping to find representation for my YA paranormal romance/thriller, Embrace, I decided to query smaller publishers. At the time, my publisher was a growing company and I was thrilled when they loved my story. Readers’ response to the first novel led to books two and three in the series, so, of course, I stayed with the same publisher for these books.
AGENTS
Do you have an agent?
 I did, but recently I decided it was time to part ways, which is a scary thing to do. But in my case, I believe it was for the best.
How many queries did you send?
  For Embrace, I had revised the book a few times. So for the version that sold, probably ten to fifteen.
If you don't have an agent, is it by choice?
  It is, but I have a new story ready to be submitted, and I hope to find an agent to represent me.

TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING

How did you (or your agent) find your publisher?
  I have two publishers. I found my first publisher by checking who published the book I had been reading at the time. I felt my paranormal romance/thriller, Embrace, would fit nicely into their YA catalog, saw they were actively seeking new stories, and that they accepted queries from unagented authors. I don’t remember how I found the Wild Rose Press, but I’m glad I did.

How long did it take to find a publisher?
  For this question, I’ll focus on my first book. If you count the agents I queried, about a year. I would send out a few queries and if I received feedback, revised based on that feedback, and then queried a few more agents. After several months, I decided to queries a couple smaller publishers also.

What do you like about your publisher?
  At the time my first two novels were published, Omnific Publishing had a great editorial process and I absolutely adored working with my developmental editor. They also assigned each author a marketing representative who helped authors build their online presence, coordinated book launches, created book trailers, and sent out press releases. Their in-house designer also created bookmarks and business cards upon request. Being a new author, these little details made a huge difference. Sadly, by the time the third book in the series came out, they were cutting back and no longer offered most of these services and things have changed even more since the release of Entwined.

The Wild Rose Press also has a great editorial process and they keep in touch with their authors, providing marketing opportunities and new offers as they become available. They're also very responsive to emails and they have several forums for both readers and authors that offer a ton of information.

What do you dislike about your publisher?  Because they are smaller publishers, it’s harder to get my books in bookstores and to get reviews from larger book reviewers like Kirkus, which help librarians and booksellers find books.
Did traditional publishing get your book(s) in Barnes & Noble or other bookstores?
  Yes, but not as many as I would have liked.
Did your publisher produce a hardcover of your book or just paperback?
  My books are in just paperback.

Did your publisher create an audio book for you?
  The publisher for my series did not, but the Wild Rose Press did. Challenging Destiny will be available on audio book this spring.

MARKETING
What marketing tactics worked for you?
  This is ever changing, I think. Bookbub is great, and then I also had good success with blog tours and book blasts.

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Published on March 09, 2018 19:57

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