An award-winning journalist, editor, and novelist based in Oregon, L.J. Sellers authored the gripping  “Detective Jackson” series, as well as two standalone thrillers, The Baby Thief
and The Suicide Effect. L.J. Sellers is currently working on futuristic thriller called The Arranger.

 

What made L.J. Sellers switch from traditional publishing to self-publishing? She kindly agreed to give us an interview so let’s find out.

 

 You mentioned once that what pushed you from traditional publishing to self-publishing was a combination of sudden financial drawbacks and Joe Konrath example. With insight, are you happy with that decision?

 I’ve never been happier. I’m finally a full-time novelist, doing what I love and earning a living from it. But I’m not foolish enough to think I’ve got it made. This is a very competitive business, and it’s undergoing constant change, so I’m still working hard to produce new content and to reach new readers. I think that pressure will always be there.

 Are any of your books still under contract by a publishing house?

Happily, no. My publisher only had two of my books, and eventually let me withdraw from the print aspect of my contracts as well. I’ve since signed with Books in Motion to produce the first three Detective Jackson stories as audio books, two of which are available now. I’ve also sold the translation rights for The Sex Club to a Turkish publisher. Go figure that one!

 Did becoming self-published imply significant extra marketing work on your part?

Yes and no. I was doing all my own marketing anyway, including sending out review copies and promo material to bookstores. Most small publishers do very little promotion, and mine was no exception. Her attitude was, “It’s your book, you sell it.” And believe me, I tried. Yet once I set the goal of making a living from e-books, I knew I had to change my focus and increase my efforts. The big difference was that once the royalties started coming directly to me every month, it was very gratifying and motivating, so it was easier to push myself harder and try new things.

 How do you divide your working day between writing and marketing?

At this point, I do promotion first thing, then switch to writing in the late morning and afternoon. When I’m writing a first draft, I have a goal of 2000 words a day. After dinner, I do whatever is most pressing, for example Q&As like this one, guest blogs that are due soon, or emails that need to go out—most of which is some type of promotion.

 I used to write first thing in the morning, between five and eight, before going to work, but that’s not my ideal creative time. I made far more mistakes and needed much heavier editing. I’m grateful to finally be in a position to set my own schedule. But I don’t mean to make it sound leisurely. I work ten hours a day, seven days a week most of the time, and always have. But now, most of my work is also pleasurable, so I’m lucky.

 Does your experience as a journalist and editor play a significant role when it comes to the editing and book cover sides of publishing?

My career in newspaper and magazine publishing gave me many of the skills I employ now as my own publishing company. I can write decent promotional copy, meet deadlines, conduct great interviews, lay out my text for print format, and I have a good eye for design, among many other little things. Still, I hire an editor, cover designer, and e-book formatter to assist me with each novel I publish. I may someday learn to do the e-book formatting and cover design myself, but I’ll always hire an editor. No one can effectively edit their own work. But as an editor, I look at everything critically. For example, the earlier sentence is technically incorrect. “No one” is singular and “their” is plural, but I get tired of writing “his or her.” It’s too formal for blogs and Q&As. Still, I think about these things. It’s part of my training.

 In December 2009, you passed the 10 000 copies/month sale barrier. How long did it take you to get there and where are you standing now?

How long it took depends on where you start from. If you start from the place where I finally got my digital rights back from my publisher and had five books on Kindle with all the royalties coming to me, then it only took four months to reach that point. If you start from the day I sat down to write my first novel (August 7, 1989), it took 21 years and five months.

 From there, my sales continued to increase through March, where I hit nearly 20,000 copies. Since then, they’ve dropped, but I don’t know what my monthly average is. I quit watching my daily numbers months ago, because it’s unhealthy. As long as I earn enough to pay the bills and set a little aside, I’m happy. When my new book launches in September, I’ll watch its numbers for a while, so I can gauge what works and what doesn’t.

 Would you be ready to consider signing with a publisher after tasting the freedom of self-publishing and the success it brought you?

I believe the only publisher I would consider signing with at this point is Amazon Encore, and that’s only because Amazon has such marketing clout, and it treats its authors fairly. Traditional publishing houses are extracting too many concessions, and I would never sign away my e-books rights to any of them. Translation rights are a completely different thing, and I’m actively seeking more such deals. A Spanish publisher is currently considering my Jackson series.

 If you had to start again from the beginning, would you start directly by self-publishing or would you try the traditional publishing again to start with?

Interestingly enough, I actually started with self-publishing. I had an agent for The Sex Club, and editors at major houses said they loved the story and read it in one sitting, but no one bought it because the marketers wouldn’t approve it. The victims were too young and the subject was too controversial…as if teenage sex wasn’t commonplace! So with the encouragement of friends, who all happen to be avid readers and editors, I decided to self-publish the story. But I did it in a very traditional way, and few people knew it was self-published. Then the series got picked up by a small publisher. Another interesting note, self-publishing then and now is in many ways a very different experience. Yet some things haven’t changed. I’m still working with the same cover designer, and I’m still rending ARCs to many of the same magazines and websites.

 If I had a chance to go back and change things, I would have never signed with the small publisher, which wasted two years of my writing life, and simply continued to self-publish. I also would have paid more attention to Kindle in 2009 and started reaching out to those readers much earlier.

 Thank you very much L.J. Sellers for sharing your experience with us. We will be sure not to miss your new book The Arranger coming out this September.

Don’t risk missing our contests or promos. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter!