Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The Carrot/Stick of Amazon's KDP Select Program

Amazon has a big carrot/stick going with KDP Select.

This was my experience in Select:

1) 70% royalties in a lot of territories.

2) Lending library royalties.

3) Fewer sales got me higher on the charts.

4) Better visibility.

5) Fantastic customer service, the few times I had to contact KDP support.

This has been my experience, leaving Select:

1) 35% royalties, no matter what my price, in more territories than if I had stayed in Select.

2) No longer in the Lending Program, (obviously).

3) Lower visibility.

4) Price changes only reflected on my US page, and not on my other pages. So, even though I ran a big sale, it had no effect on my overseas numbers, because the price didn't change there.

5) Price changes may not be reflected period. I lowered my price for a sale, but I was not able to return it to its regular price. Instead, they're using what should be my price as the crossed out price, and are continuing the sale. Even though my price is back up to normal at all other venues.

(Note: Even after I pulled it out of distribution at the other channels and placed it back in Select, even after emailing KDP repeatedly, I am still unable to raise my price back to normal. My sale ended on Thursday. It's now Tuesday).

6) I have one book that was made perma-free in the US, but continues to have its regular price in all other territories, so the UK ad I bought for it is worthless.

7) My KDP account became oddly glitchy. Sales showed up and vanished, number counters ran forward and backwards, and my royalty percentages changed without my input.

8) When I contacted KDP customer service, I kept getting routed to India and nothing got resolved. All I got were rote responses.

9) Running sales promos costs a lot more money.

10) You need more sales to hold onto your ranking level. Yes, I do think they've either got two different algorithms going, based on whether you're in Select or not.

Thankfully, one of the advertisers I worked with gave me a connection to an actual Amazon person in the US to try and get this all straightened out. I don't know what the outcome will be. But I have to say, it's very tempting to go back into Select, where I won't have all these problems to deal with.

If you want to leave Select, this is what I would do:

1) Try to get a 1-year cushion in your bank account, just in case.

2) Try to have at least one full-length title in Select when you pull the rest out.

3) This is the time to start keeping even better records. Chart your sales and regularly check your royalty percentages. Take screenshots of your KDP sales page, especially if your sales go up. Try to time/date stamp everything somehow. If there's a glitch, and you need to contact customer service, not only will you be routed to India, you will be put in a "prove it" position, and you have to be able to cough up physical proof.

4) Don't just check your US product page if you're changing your prices. Check all Amazon territories. As soon as you notice something is off, contact KDP immediately.

5) Compile e-mail addresses of Amazon employees that you've interacted with in KDP customer service. That way, you can contact them directly instead of going through India and the rote responses first.

Why I think this is happening:

Honestly, I don't think Amazon is trying to screw you if you leave Select. I think they just stop caring about you, if you leave Select. And since none of the other retailers care about you at all, there's no one to pick up the slack.

I also think that Amazon is having software problems on one of their servers, and that server is the one that's dealing with non-Select accounts. Fun, fun, fun.

As indies, we feel a responsibility to our readers to have our books available everywhere. Unfortunately, other than Amazon, the other distributors don't really feel any responsibility to its indie authors. And Amazon only really seems to feel responsibility towards indies who are in Select.

At least, this has been my experience so far. But who knows. Now that I'm emailing someone at Amazon proper, instead of Amazon India, maybe things will change and I will completely change my mind. We'll see.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Cover Designers -- their importance, cost and where to find them!


In today’s world, books are definitely judged by their covers. Your cover is the first thing people see about your book. Frequently, it will influence whether the person goes on to read the book summary, or even click on the sample pages. 

From that point, your writing – both on the summary and the sample pages – will hopefully sell your book. But without a good cover, they may never get to that point.

And if you’re doing a free promotion, your cover could mean the difference between people freeloading and actually reading your book, or freeloading and archiving it instead.

So, your cover needs to convey the tone of your book and be appropriate for the genre you’re writing in. It has to be eye-catching and it has to look professional. But it doesn’t have to be expensive.

A lot of aspiring indies are scared off by the assumed expense of covers, and think they can’t afford one. But you can get a professional looking cover for anywhere from $5 to $500 and up. Seriously. You can find covers for all budget constraints. Decide what you can afford to spend and go shopping.

Yes, there are cover designers who charge a lot of money, who will provide you with both e-book and paperback covers. But there are also designers who work with e-book covers only, at a much reduced rate. And there’s a world of pre-made covers, available at an even lower rate, that you can have the designer modify for a small fee.

And if you pick up an e-book cover, you can modify it into a print cover on your own, via Createspace’s cover wizard. It’s a fairly simple process, although you won’t get that cool graphic wraparound look, unless you have some mad design skills of your own. Just make sure the designer gives you a high-resolution image, (minimum resolution for print is 300 dpi).

Often, as indies, we don’t know how well a book will sell, so it’s tough to commit hundreds or thousands of dollars to the pre-production phase. But I hope this blog post shows you that you don’t have to. You can absolutely get professional covers at very affordable prices.

The covers I’ve had done for my serialized novel, The Gospel of Ruth, have cost between $5 and $50. I wish I could insert pictures into this blog, but I can’t, so you’ll have to check them out yourself on Amazon. Here’s the story of each cover:

Episode One: Cerridwen’s Cauldron cost $5 on Fiverr.com. It was designed by someone who was testing the waters of the cover design industry. Talk about a bargain. It’s a beautiful cover worth much more than $5, and I was thrilled with it.

Episode Two: Twice-Born was a pre-made. I asked the designer to add in the car (and possibly the hand -- I can’t remember if it was already there or not). With the modifications, the cover cost me $50. $30 for the pre-made, $20 for the additional artwork.

Episode Three: Demon Child was another pre-made cover. I found the image of the skull and I sent it to the designer. She added it in to her pre-made for me. This cover cost $40. $30 for the cover and $10 to add the additional design element. (Episode Three is not published yet, but you can see it on my FB page: www.facebook.com/christianamiller.author)

So, you see, you can totally customize pre-made covers or even get a custom cover, for a price that won’t break your budget.

Here is a list of cover designers who’ve done excellent work, many of whom offer fabulous pre-made covers. When you’re in the market for a cover, please check them out:

Cover Designers:

Happy hunting!

Who Am I And Why Am I Giving You Advice?

Indie publishing is a dynamic industry. Changes can—and do—happen daily. It's what makes self-publishing a challenge, but it is also what makes it so thrilling. If you find staying on the pulse of an ever-changing, fluid industry to be exhilarating, then you are right in your element. Becoming an independent, self-published author is a great way to have fun, generate additional streams of revenue and build a new career.
In 2008, I was writing for television on General Hospital: Night Shift. The future looked promising—until the show was unexpectedly canceled. By 2009, I was unemployed but still not worried. After all, I had mad skills. I was a Northwestern graduate and had done post-grad work at UCLA. I had years of work experience in various fields. Another job should be right around the corner, right?
By the time 2010 rolled around, I was worried. My unemployment had run out, my savings were a thing of the past and there were no jobs. Forget writing, I couldn't even get work as a temp. I was using credit cards to pay the bills and scrambling for whatever odd jobs I could snag.
Fortunately, I had also finished writing my first novel about a woman who was in the same boat I was, Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead. The protagonist, Mara, had lost her job and her unemployment was running out. To top it off, she was evicted from her apartment, banned from Beverly Hills, and her tarot cards were predicting her imminent demise. So, against her better judgment, Mara used a little magic to make her world right, and that decision set off a life-changing cascade of events.

Inspired by friends who were indie authors, I decided to take the plunge into the indie world, hoping that by taking control over my career, for better or worse, I would be bringing a little magic into my life as well. After all, what did I have to lose? Career-wise, I had hit rock bottom.

That decision set off a life-changing cascade of events.

I finished the last rewrite of Tillie in April 2011, set up my publishing account in May and launched the book in June, sending it to book bloggers for reviews and authors for book blurbs. Then, in July, I officially let the world know that Tillie was available.

The first few months, I basically made coffee money—$25, $18 and so on. It was better than nothing, but I had no idea how it was going to pay the bills. My credit cards were maxed out, and I was working for a film producer for free, hoping it would lead to a paying gig.

The next decision I made would launch my career.

I co-wrote a short story with a friend for a charity anthology she was editing. Every Witch Way But Wicked was launched in October, featuring a number of already established, indie authors. It was for a good cause, all proceeds went to charity, and I never expected anything to come of it.

I was wrong.

Suddenly, readers who bought the anthology and read our story wanted more. By the end of October, I was floored to find out I had sold 226 copies of Tillie. The ball was rolling, and it was only going to get better.

In November, I sold more than 900 copies of Tillie. In December, I sold over 1,000 copies. And then Amazon launched Amazon Select, so I jumped in. When it comes to indie publishing, it's the early risk-takers who tend to reap the most rewards.
Thanks to Select, my visibility shot up and suddenly, I was selling between 1,700 and 3,300 copies of Tillie every month. By the end of June 2012, I had sold over 18,000 books, and I was getting fan mail from around the world. Every day was like Christmas, and every new review was a brightly wrapped present. I crunched numbers, tracked algorithm changes, explored marketing options and discussed the business of indie publishing incessantly.
It wasn't long before I stopped looking for a day job to fall back on and embraced my new career as a full-time indie writer.
Being an indie has enabled me to meet and befriend a world of readers, form friendships with other indie writers, build a dedicated fan base, pay my bills, rent an office, get my daughter into a better school district, pay down my student loans and fund a retirement account. What started as an experiment ended up completely changing my life.
As of this writing, Tillie has consistently been in the top 20 of the U.S. genre bestseller lists for the last nine months, and on the U.K. Bestseller list for the last month.
If you have a passion for writing, if you're ready to treat your career as a business, if you love having total control over your work and are willing to take on the extra responsibilities being an indie entails, this is your time to shine.
For the first time in history, you have the ability to bypass the gatekeepers, carve out your own career, control your product and reach out to readers directly. And you have the support system—from book sites like Kirkus and book bloggers, to freelance artists and editors, to an extended online support system of fellow indies—to make your dream of being a professional writer a reality.
If you're on the fence, I urge you to jump in and give it a try. This is the best time to be an indie. Indie publishing is the wild, wild West of the modern-day era. There are no hard-and-fast rules, everything changes on a daily basis, and the scrub-brushy piece of land you stake out today could wind up being the Napa Valley of tomorrow.

(Originally published on kirkusreviews.com as "Christiana Miller: The Self-Publishing Bestseller on 'How I Did It'.")

Overcoming Writer's Block

You sit down at your computer, fingers on the keyboard, eyes on the blank screen… the very, very blank screen… and it's not getting any less blank.

Suddenly, your subconscious gets intimidated, your mind freezes up and your fingers are paralyzed. You may shut your computer down and walk away from the screen that day, but when you go back, that blank screen is still going to be there. Waiting for you. Mocking you. What's a writer to do?

Every writer goes through that moment of panic, staring at their computer screen, wondering if they should be hitting the pavement, looking for an office job instead. No matter how experienced you are, there are always going to be days when you need to trick your mind into letting go and letting you write.

These are the methods I've developed to short-circuit the panic, so I can get on with writing. Check them out and see if any of them might work for you. 

TIME LIMIT:

Since the hardest part is getting started, my favorite trick is to promise myself that I'm only going to sit down and write for five minutes. Five minutes isn't that long. I can do anything for five minutes. Even things I don't like. Even writing <grin>. Even on lousy days. 

Five minutes is a short enough time that it's not going to panic my subconscious. And I give myself permission to write whatever comes to mind in that five minutes. Even if it turns out to be utter crap. I can always improve it later, in the rewrite. Inevitably, by the time I look up from the computer, an hour or two has gone by and I've gotten quite a bit of writing done.

Some writers schedule a set time to write, every day. I find it easier to set a starting time, and let the ending time be dictated by the writing or other life commitments. If I have an ending time in mind, I tend to start too close to it!

Personally, I prefer the five minute trick to word count, because when you're knee deep in writer's block, word count can be intimidating.

OUTLINING:

Another way to keep from having that panicky "what now?" moment is to write a rough outline before you start. It doesn't have to be detailed—unless that's what makes it easier for you. It doesn't even have to be the entire book. You can do a loose outline of the chapter or section you're writing.

Personally, I enjoy writing without knowing too many details about what's going to happen in advance, so I create a very rough, loose-form outline. However, if you're on a time crunch, creating a more detailed outline will help you meet your deadline. Writers of daytime dramas, who only have a week (or less) to write their scripts, are able to write so quickly because they go off of detailed outlines of their episode (aka breakdowns).

CHANGING APPROACH:

On the other hand, there's a lot to be said for trying something different. If you normally pants it, try an outline. But if you normally write outlines, try flying by the seat of your pants for a change. You may find that approaching a story from a different angle jump-starts your creativity.

Lately, I've found that too much outlining makes writing seem like work. However, pantsing it–which is something I don't normally do–brings back the joy and mystery of writing. But when I think back on it, I think all of my favorite stories and scripts have all been written without an outline.

Each method has its own merits. Mix and match at will.

DAYDREAM:

Another trick I use is, before you start typing, sit down on the couch or the computer chair, close your eyes and daydream your scene. Let it play out in your head. When you open your eyes, immediately type up the scene that you saw. That's when it's going to be the most vivid.

Don't worry about minor changes or logic gaps. Just write it down the way you saw it. You can fix it later. But if you wait to long to write it, you may lose some of the immediate vibrancy of what you're seeing.

WORD COUNT:

Some writers set a word count for the day. And really, if you write 1000 words a day, you'll have written the rough draft of a book in two months. Just make sure you rewrite, polish and edit before hitting that publish button!

PLACE:

Designate a specific place that you go to write. I always write in my office and take care of the business end of writing at home. As a result, whenever I walk into the office, I can't not write. It feels wrong. That's my writing place.

What makes it even easier to keep as a writing place, is that there's no internet connection. So I can't do anything but write, until I get home. If you don't have an office, you can designate a specific area in your house or in your garden. Or at a local café. Some place where you consistently go to write.

When I'm at home, my writing place is sitting at the end of the couch, feet up on the ottoman. Unfortunately, that's also where I do all my marketing stuff, so it's not quite as productive writing-wise as the office is.

CELEBRATE LIFE:

Go do something you've never done before. Skydive, go to a witch's sabbat, fly a plane, drive to a city you've always wanted to visit, go surfing, take your kids to Disneyland, do something. Anything. You'll find that doing something new often jump-starts new story ideas or plot complications or gives rise to new characters.

SCHEDULE THE MUSE:

What you can't do is wait for the Muse to come to you. Muses are fickle and seem to delight in testing your level of commitment. If you always go to your rendezvous place, at the appointed time, and sit down and write, your Muse will eventually start meeting you there. They tend to visit more frequently when they know your schedule.

And for those who don't believe in Muses, what you're doing by creating a schedule or a writing area, is stimulating the creative side of your brain to start engaging during a specific time period or in a specific place.

Another thing to keep in mind while you're writing is that it's about the journey. Be in the moment with your story. Focus on what you're doing now, the images and feelings you want to convey, the characters you want to spend time with. Don't worry about page count or marketing strategies. Just concentrate on telling a complete story. You can always address whatever problems come up, in the rewrite.

REWRITING:

This brings me to my last point. All writing is rewriting. So there's no point in stressing over your rough draft. You may think what you've just written is brilliant, you may think it's utter crap, you may vacillate between the two extremes on a given day. It doesn't matter. The important thing is to get it written down, in a fixed form, so you can rewrite it. You can't polish it if it doesn't exist. Write it down now and you can always fix it later!

(Originally published on Kirkus Reviews as "Overcoming Blank Screen Panic," includes additional material)

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Writing / Publishing Blogs All Indies Should Know About

Whether you're looking for advice, are researching various aspects of the industry, or just want to procrastinate in a way that makes you feel productive, these bloggers all have blogs you should know about.

If you know of a blogger who's not listed, who writes a writing or indie publishing blog, please let me know and I'll add them to the list. I'm also including two forums that I have found to be indispensable in terms of indies giving advice, support and tips to each other:

Blogs You Should Check Out:
http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/
http://aprillhamilton.blogspot.com/
http://blog.smashwords.com/
http://booksat.scarlettrugers.com/bookcoverdesign
http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com
http://densewords.blogspot.com/
http://e-bookformattingfairies.blogspot.com
http://gailcarsonlevine.blogspot.com
http://guidohenkel.com/
http://indeliblewriters.blogspot.com
http://ireaderreview.com/
http://jackson-pearce.com
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
http://jennybent.blogspot.com
http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com (archives)
http://kriswrites.com/business-rusch-publishing-articles/
http://nailyournovel.wordpress.com
http://phoenixsullivan.blogspot.com
http://plotwhisperer.blogspot.com
         (also on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/user/marthaalderson/%5B/url%5D)
http://talliroland.blogspot.com
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/blog/
http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com
http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.com
http://tonyakappes.blogspot.com
http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com
http://writeitforward.wordpress.com
http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com
http://www.bksp.org/upload/index.php
http://www.deanwesleysmith.com
http://www.howtowriteshop.com
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/board,60.0.html
http://www.lindsayburoker.com
http://www.marissameyer.com/blog/
http://www.publetariat.com
http://www.screenwritingtricks.com/
http://www.stevenpressfield.com
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/
http://www.thedominoproject.com
http://www.thepassivevoice.com/
http://www.veronicasicoe.com/blog/about-vero/
http://yearoftheindie.blogspot.com/
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/writing-and-publishing/

Read, enjoy, share and learn a few things! Just don't let it suck up all of your writing time -- because it easily can. But, at the end of the day, what's going to matter more than learning about writing, publishing and marketing, is that you actually managed to get some words on the page.


Saturday, May 11, 2013

What's in a Name?

The reason I named this blog Year of the Indie, is because every year is going to be Year of the Indie. That's my prediction / hope at least. And it's held true now for a number of years.

The other thing I've noticed is that no matter when you become an Indie, the most often repeated statement is a variation of "Awww, man. I should have started sooner. I missed the Indie gold rush!"

Well, while it's true that many indies who jumped on the bandwagon early are now making insanely lucrative livings, the truth is, there is always going to be something going on -- well, at least as long as Amazon continues to be innovative and support their indies. And hopefully, even after that. Now that Amazon's also a traditional publishing house, I'm not sure how much incentive they have to actually help keep indies growing.

After the first gold rush of indie books was over, everyone lamented how they should have gone indie earlier, that they missed the gold rush, that it was now really hard to break in. And then, Amazon introduced Amazon Select, creating a second gold rush.

However, it wasn't long before people started lamenting that, with the changing algorithms, they should have jumped into the indie pool earlier, that they should have grabbed onto Select when it first came out, that the second gold rush was over and it was too late. Tt looked like Select was done with, after Amazon threatened to remove blogger affiliate accounts for too many freeloads.

And then, J.A. Konrath, J.R. Rain and some other big name indies jumped back into Select to prove that it was still alive and still gold-rush-capable, even if it had slowed down a bit.

So what does that mean for you? That it's going to be all right. Whenever you jump into the indie pool, it will be the right time for you. Don't worry about the past, work on maximizing the present.

Amazon Select still exists, and it's still a gold rush for many. For every blogger who dropped listing free books, another blogger stepped forward to fill the void. And many of the established bloggers picked up the financial slack by charging authors anything from a small stipend to an insanely high-priced ad to list freebies.

Even with the changes -- the lesser amount (and sometimes costlier price) of blogger love, the reduced algorithmic weight of freebies -- it's still possible to launch a new book and see astronomical sales.

As a side rant, I know other distributors are complaining about Amazon taking over the indie market. But if the other distributors would give their indies as much support as Amazon does, Amazon wouldn't have the monopoly it does.

There is nothing stopping other distributors from offering similar incentives to Amazon, but they choose not to. They have a laissez-faire attitude towards their indies. Amazon, on the other hand, has a carrot-and-stick attitude. You're rewarded for being in Select, and punished for leaving.

Instead, both Apple and now Barnes and Noble are making it more difficult to publish directly to their sites. But that opened up the door for sites like Draft 2 Digital, which converts and publishes e-books to B&N, Apple and Kobo.

For every door that closes, or gets harder to open, someone shows up to fill the void or take up the slack. You just have to beware of the unscrupulous opportunists who also show up, ready to charge aspiring authors ridiculous prices for huge, pie-in-the-sky promises.

So when's the best time to go indie/self-publish? Whenever it's right for YOU.

Oh, well. For a post that was going to be about titles, I certainly went off in a sideways rant!

Indies Who Are Making A Living

Hello, fellow writers!

In the summer of 2011, I tested the indie waters by publishing my first novel. By winter of 2011, being an indie was my full-time job.

Since then, I've been mentoring aspiring indies as well. One question I get asked a lot is: Is it possible to make your living as an indie or is success a fluke?

Well, yes. I just did an informal survey of indies, and within a few days, I had an enormous list of indie authors who make their living as writers.

Once upon a time, one of the blog sites would post the top 100+ indie authors of the month. But I think that was discontinued after August 2012. I don't know why -- unless it was because there were just too many indies on the list and it got to be too time-consuming!

I would love to bring that list back. But, just to get you started, here's a list of indie authors who are making their living with their writing. Some have been making such a great living, they've been scooped up by traditional publishers. 

But if anyone tells you that no one can make a living as an indie author, that success is just a fluke, I have 222 things you can say back to them (and the list is growing every day):

Names of Indies Who Are Making A Living Writing (along with Genre):
Aaron Pogue                                               
Abbi Glines                                                
Addison Moore                                           
Adrienne Thompson                                    
Aiden James                                                Paranormal
Alexa Grace                                                
Alexandra Sokoloff                                        Paranormal
Allan Guthrie                                              
Amanda Hocking                                          Paranormal
Amber Lynn Natusch     
Angie Fox                                                     Paranormal Chick Lit
Angie Stanton                                             
AnneMarie Novak                                        
Antoinette Stockenberg                                 
Artemis Hunt                                               Erotica
Artie Cabrera                                              
Barbra Annino                                             Paranormal
Barbra Freethy                                             Romance
Bella Andre                                                 Erotica
Bernadette Marie                                          Romance
Beth Orsoff                                                 
Beverly Kendall                                          
Blake Crouch                                               Horror
Bob Mayer                                                  Action-Adventure
Boyd Morrison                                           
Brett Battles                                               
Brian D. Anderson                                        Fantasy
Brian Kittrell                                               Fantasy
Bruce Blake                                                
C.J. Archer                                                 
C.J. Lyons                                                 
Camilla Chafer                                             Paranormal Chick Lit
Candice Hern                                              
Carolyn McCray                                          
Cassia Leo                                                 
Catherine Bybee                                          
Catherine Ryan Hyde                                   
Chanda Hahn                                              
Cheryl Bolen                                              
Christiana Miller                                          Paranormal Chick Lit
Christine Kling                                            Suspense & Thriller
Claudia King                                              
Cliff Ball                                                     Speculative Fiction
Colleen Hoover                                           
Connie Suttle                                             
Cora Carmack                                             
Courtney Milan                                           
Dale Mayer                                                 
Dani Amore                                                
Danielle Bourdon                                        
Dannika Dark                                               Paranormal
Darcie Chan                                                 Main-stream Lit
David Dalglish                                             Fantasy
David Gaughran                                          
David McAfee                                             
Dean Wesley Smith                                     
Deanna Chase                                             
Deanna Roy                                                 Chick Lit
Debora Geary                                               Paranormal Chick Lit
Debra Holland                                             
Dee Ernst                                                   
Denise Swank                                             
Diane Capri                                                
Diane Darcy                                                
Donald Wells                                             
Donna Fasano                                             
Donna McDonald                                         Romance
Edie Ramer                                                 Paranormal Chick Lit
Edward W. Robertson                                   Sci-Fi
Elizabeth Reyes                                           
Elle Casey                                                  
Ellen O'Connell                                          
Eve Langlais                                               
Gary Ponzo                                                
Gemma Halliday                                         
Gerri Russel                                               
Glynn James                                                Horror & Sci-Fi
H.M. Ward                                                 Paranormal
H.P. Mallory                                               Paranormal Chick Lit
H.T. Night                                                  Paranormal
Heather Killough-Walden                              
Hugh Howey                                               Sci-Fi
Imogen Rose                                              
J.A. Konrath                                                Horror
J.D. Hallowell                                            
J.R. Rain                                                    Paranormal
J.R. Tomlin                                                Historical Fiction
Jack Kilbourn                                              Horror
James Henderson                                         
Jamie Maguire                                            
Jana DeLeon                                               
Jasinda Wilder                                            
Jason Letts                                                 
Jay Allan                                                   
Jen Talty                                                   
Jennifer Blake                                              Romance
Jessica Sorensen                                          
Jillian Dodd                                               
Jinx Jamison                                              
Joan Hall Hovey                                          
Jody Morse & Jayme Morse                           Paranormal Romance
Joe Nobody                                                
Joel Goldman                                             
John Daulton                                              
John Locke                                                 
John O'Brien                                              
Joseph Lallo                                               
Joseph Nassise                                             Urban Fantasy & Horror
Jude Hardin                                                
Judy Angelo                                               
Kara King                                                  
Kary English                                               Fantasy & Sci-Fi
Kate Danley                                                
Kate Perry                                                   Romance
Kathleen Brooks                                          
Kathleen Long                                            
Kathleen Valentine                                       
Kathy Bennett                                             
Katy Evans                                                 
Kay Bratt                                                   
Kelly Harper                                               
Kelly McClymer                                          Chick Lit
Kirstie Cook                                               
Kristen Ashley                                            
Kristen Lamb                                              
Kristie Cook                                               
Kristine Kathryn Rusch                                
L.J. Sellers                                                 
L.M. Ironside                                             
L.T. Ryan                                                  
Lacey Weatherford                                       
Lauren Royal                                              
Lawrence Kelter                                           
Lee Goldberg                                               Mysteries
Liliana Hart                                                 Romantic Suspense
Lindsay Buroker                                          
Lisa Mondello                                            
Lisa Renee Jones                                         
Lisa Scott                                                   Chick Lit
Lizzy Ford                                                 
Lola Stvil                                                  
M. Louisa Locke                                         
M.J. Rose                                                  
M.P. McDonald                                          
Maggie Ingles                                             
Marie Force                                                
Mark E. Cooper                                          
Mark Tufo                                                  
Marla Braziel                                               Romance
Marti Talbott                                              
Matthew Mathers                                         
Melanie Nilles                                            
Melissa Foster                                            
Michael Bunker                                            Sci-Fi
Michael J. Sullivan                                      
Michael Prescott                                          
Michael Stephen Fuchs                                  Techno-thriller
Michael Wallace                                           Thrillers
Mike McIntyre                                             Travel Memoirs
Mimi Strong                                              
Minx Malone                                              
Monique Martin                                          
N. Gemini Sasson                                        Historical Fiction
Nick Spalding                                             
Noel Hynd                                                 
Paige Weaver                                              
Patrice Michelle/P.T. Michelle                       Romance/YA
Patricia Ryan                                              
Phoenix Sullivan                                          Thrillers
Quinn Loftis                                               
R.J. Parker                                                 
Rachel Astor                                               
Rachel Hanna                                              
Rachel Schurig                                             Chick Lit
Rachel Van Dyken                                       
Raine Miller                                               
Rebecca Donovan                                        
Rebecca Forester                                          
RJ Parker                                                   
Robert Crane                                               Fantasy & Sci-Fi
Robert Gregory Browne                                
Rose Pressey                                              
Roxie Rivera                                               Erotica
Russell Blake                                              Action-Adventure
Rusty Bigfoot Wilson                                  
Ruth Ann Nordin                                        
Ruth Cardello                                             
Ruth Cardello                                              Romance
Ryk Brown                                                
S.L. Baum                                                 
S.M. Reine                                                
Sandra Edwards                                           
Sara Fawkes                                               
Sarah Woodbury                                          Historical Fiction
Sarra Cannon                                              
Saxon Andrew                                            
Scott Nicholson                                          
Shadonna Richards                                      
Shalini Boland                                            
Shayne Parkinson                                         Historical Fiction
Sibel Hodge                                               
Stephanie Abbott/Emma Jameson                   
Stephanie Bond                                           
Stephanie Rowe                                          
Susan Fleet                                                
Susan Kaye Quinn                                       
Susanne O'Leary                                           Chick Lit
Suzanna Medeiros                                        
Sydney Landon                                           
Tallulah Grace                                            
Tammara Webber                                        
Teresa Wilde/Teresa Morgan                         
Terri Reid                                                  
Theresa Ragan                                            
Tina Folsom                                              
Tina Reber                                                 
Tonya Kappes                                              Mysteries
Tracey Garvis Graves                                   
Ty Johnston                                                Epic Fantasy
V.J. Chambers                                            
Victorine Lieske                                          
Will van der Vaart                                       
Willem Thomas                                            

And for all the aspiring indies, keep at it and I'm sure it won't be long before you join the list as well!