Last year Sarah England, Catriona King, Gina Dickerson, Shani Struthers and I decided to buy back some, if not all, of our book titles and self publish.
Courageous, or suicidal?
We have all had books published, indeed Catriona has had 13 titles released in one series alone, and the rest of have a fan base mostly on Amazon, though in my case it's predominately in book shops in the UK. We made the decision with our eyes open and formed Authors Reach Ltd to publish, promote and market our titles to the readers of books, wherever they may be and whoever they are. Most importantly we knew we worked well together as a team and would add massive value to each other's efforts.
And so it has proved.
We now have successfully working relationships with Nielsens, Ingram Spark (LightningSource) and Gardners (the UK's biggest book distributors). New editions of existing books, as well as new titles, are coming out under the Authors Reach banner and our marketing initiatives are bearing fruit in increased sales.
Making the book seller and reader markets aware of us is a major priority, so getting our books on shelves, in libraries and in schools is key. We have a number of signing sessions lined up, and three shops in the South have agreed to sponsor and hold Authors Reach launch events. We will also be talking to the Film and Creative Writing degree course students at a top university in March. We will also be starting a marketing campaign to independent book shops, by post, email and phone, though one major chain has already expressed interest in taking our books and another is a target.
Meanwhile, plots have to be thought up, books have to be written and manuscripts have to be edited. The life of an author isn't all fan worship and book signings.
Have a look at our website on www.authorsreach.co.uk. You can buy signed copies of our books there (we'll even pay the UK postage), and find out more about myself, Shani, Catriona, Gina and Sarah and Authors Reach Ltd.
Blog on, Dudes!