Going Indie on My Next Novel
Kind of a big deal going on in my writing life these days. After writing 13 novels under traditional publishing contracts, I’m going indie for Novel # 14. It will be called, When Night Comes. It’s already finished. In fact, we’re just doing the final edits now.
One of the nice things about publishing independently is that readers won’t have to wait very long to get the book once it’s written. With my traditional novels, it takes a full year for the publisher to release the novel. I plan on releasing When Night Comes in less than two months, on Nov 1st. Oddly enough, this means my 14th book will come out before Books #12 and #13 (due out in April and September, 2015).
Another nice thing about going indie is having creative control over things like the book covers and titles. My publishers always asked what I thought but only went with my ideas about half the time. We liked most of what they picked out but, to be honest, there were a few we didn’t like and wished we could change.
The cover shown here is not the final version for When Night Comes, but it’s close. We still have some tweaking to do. I hope to share the final version within a week. Shortly after that, we’ll make the book available for preorder on Amazon and other online stores.That’s another thing about going indie…the books won’t be available in retail bookstores. They aren’t open to selling indie books on their ever-decreasing shelf space. But the book will be available on all the major online stores like Amazon and B&N, in both print and Ebook versions.
The print books will cost about the same, but I’ll be able to offer the e-book editions brand-new for only $4.99. That’s half the price of my traditionally pubbed books. At least the newer ones (they don’t mark them down until 1-2 years after they’re released).
You can probably tell something else from the book cover. When Night Comes, will be a little different from my other novels. It will still have strong characters and a romantic thread, but it will be more of a true suspense novel. A fun, entertaining read, more than a strong emotional story.
So what’s the book about? Here’s the back cover blurb:
Jack Turner has come back to Culpepper, Georgia to give a series of lectures for his old history professor. Within days, he starts having bizarre experiences at night. Like he’s traveling back in time, experiencing the epic events in his lectures firsthand. He has no control over these experiences and can’t make them stop.
Joe Boyd thought he’d left big city crime back in Pittsburgh when he took a detective job in Culpepper. But his peaceful life ends when two students turn up dead in two weeks. The coroner is saying natural causes, but something doesn’t add up.
Rachel Cook, a teaching assistant at Culpepper, can’t believe Jack Turner is back in her life again. She’s had a crush on him since she was fourteen, but Jack never knew. He instantly seems attracted to her, but she can tell…something is deeply troubling him.
Watching all this from a distance is Nigel Avery. He’s certain this experiment’s about to unravel. It’ll be his job to tie up all the loose ends when it does.
I’ll be sharing some more details about When Night Comes very soon.
