A Crash Course in Self Publishing. Help!! (with a drawing for a free e-book) ....Roxanne Rustand

I’m thrilled...and just a bit exhausted!  

The Mistletoe Puppy, released last week, is the first of my six-novella Christmas series titled “Coupled by Christmas.”  And now the second, A Montana Christmas, is out this week.  

I loved to travel until the pandemic hit, and was able to use that as hands-on research for each of the novellas in this series. Oh, how I wish I could go back to those places again! It probably won’t happen, now that my husband has retired.  But I can still "re-visit" them when I sit down to write a book and immerse myself in locations that I love. 

If you’d like to learn more about the novellas shown to the left, just CLICK HERE.  

Which brings me to the subject at hand.

I had all of these novellas written before starting the publishing process, but still.  Wow, is there ever a lot to learn when one decides to try self-publishing! 

I've published around forty books and novellas, most with my traditional publisher and some with several publishing services that did all of the work for me, but this Christmas novella series is my first effort at doing it all myself. There are so many steps along the way...from actually publishing an e-book, to getting the word out about it!

Just yesterday, I learned how to create hyperlinks (which means the reader of a blog post can click on words that are highlighted (like the CLICK HERE  a few lines up), and be taken somewhere else. Perhaps to the author's web page, or a place where s/he can find out more about a book.  The other authors here will probably laugh at my naivete, but the revelation of learning how to do these links was a great delight to me!  

The process of "putting a book up" on Amazon and Draft2Digital (which can cover most online retailers, though I chose to do Amazon separately) was new to me as well. All those blanks to fill in,  decisions to make...with the potential of making major errors looming like chasms along the road ahead.  My head was reeling.  I admit it--it was quite a learning curve, which involved reading books on self-publishing, watching Youtube videos, the printing of online how-to guides, and the tremendous patience (and kindness) of my long-time friend Lyn Cote. I really owe Lyn and her husband dinner--plus lots of favors! 💗

I also needed to find a proofing editor to hire for each manuscript. A  cover artist.  And--because my website was out-of-date and had nothing to do with my brand  (country and small-town life, and books about warm, family relationships, in both romance and romantic suspense)  I needed the patience of my web designer.  We are still working on it, but if you'd like to see the progress so far, Click Here. Yes--here's another hyperlink!  😁    

Even though the process is called self-publishing, I discovered that, for someone who is not tech-savvy,  I sure can't do it all alone.  It has taken many hours to learn the basics, and then to implement that knowledge, but it has also been great fun. And knowing there's so much more to learn makes it exciting!   

What do you prefer to read--ebooks, or hard copy books? Do you have any comments or questions about publishing that you'd like to ask?  I'll be drawing a name from those who leave comments, and that person will receive a free e-book.

Here are the release dates for the six Coupled by Christmas novellas ($0.99 each through December): 
October 8^th       – The Mistletoe Puppy
October 15^th     – A Montana Christmas
October 29^th     – An Irish Christmas 
November 4^th   – A London Christmas
November 18^th – A Scottish Christmas
December 2^nd   – Christmas in Paris

Our fall colors are turning brilliant shades here in the Upper Midwest, and this week our temperatures will be dropping into the 30's at night and 50's during the day. I love sweater and jacket weather!  Our horses are all putting on their winter jammies (winter coats) now and our hummingbirds have gone south.  Signs of the season!  Wherever you are, I hope you have been safe from the fires and hurricanes on our east and west coasts, and that you are enjoying a peaceful day.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you'll come again!

Blessings,
Roxanne 

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It's a little early for Christmas, but.... Holiday fiction, and a free novella Roxanne Rustand

It seems strange, talking about the holidays in mid-October.
Yet I just opened the latest People magazine, and discovered a glossy three-page insert on the upcoming Lifetime Christmas TV movie schedule--and those movies start the end of October!

I'm up for a romantic movie any time, but some stores are already putting up their Christmas displays!  If anyone needs a Christmas tree before Halloween, our local Home Depot has their entire Christmas department already set up in full, twinkling display. I don't know about you, but I guess I feel like a bit of an old fogey in wishing that we could get through one holiday at a time in the stores, instead of rushing the commercialism--and muting the true reason for the season beneath all of the tinsel.

Something I do love, though, is seeing all of the beautiful snowy, Christmas-y book covers suddenly appearing on bookstore shelves. I was crushed when our local Super Walmart closed its small book section by the front cash registers...until I discovered that they had opened up a far larger book department in the back.  Whew!  Just this week the dozens of holiday book covers there were so enticing that I wanted to scoop them all up and put them in my shopping cart. My towering To Be Read stacks of books hardly need additions, but oh, those gorgeous covers...

This season, I won't have a new full-length inspirational romance or romantic suspense novel out to join all of those books on the shelves, but I will have something different--a series of five Christmas season novellas, taking place in Paris, London, a quaint village in Ireland, the Scottish Highlands and in Montana ranch country. The first, A London Christmas, will be out at the end of October.

Do you enjoy reading fiction that is set in a specific season? And, since we're talking about Christmas, has anyone here started their planning for a family celebration? I am so dedicated to very traditional holiday meals, like my own mother made...but now I hear everyone in the younger generation wants beef brisket and a turkey on the pellet grill. Should be an interesting combination with all of the Scandinavian favorites!   :)
Leave a comment and be entered in a drawing for a free e-copy of  A London Christmas.

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful autumn!

Roxanne Rustand