i want to be traditionally published.

So like everyone else, I worked hard to master the painstaking process of writing query letters, blurbs, and of course I polished my first three chapters to the death. I stalked all my favorite agents, authors, bloggers, reviewers - everyone who could help me improve as a writer. I constantly checked the list of Query Tracker to find out who just got repped and I went to AW and Blueboards to know more about what's hot, what's not, and just commiserate with everyone else when you get rejected.

i wasn't altogether unsuccessful.

  • I wrote my first novel when I was 18. Did not try to have it publish it because I thought there was no market for it in the PH. Then a few years later out came a book that was in the very genre I thought didn't exist in the PH. I wrote right away to its publisher and voila! My first book - A Fling to Remember.
  • I want to write paranormal romance. I tried querying around in the PH. No can do - for various reasons. 
  • I queried e-publishers. Got Evren: Enter the Dragonette pubbed by e-publisher. It languished in the 300k ranks of Amazon.
  • I completed another novel - this time I'm ready for the big league! Or so I thought. My YA Horror Death Loves Me Not had a loooot of near-misses. And they were very famous agencies. It underwent a major rewrite when a famous agent told me to get the romance out and stick to the horror. She said she loved the term "paper eyes" - which I used to describe my ghostly antagonist. She liked the references to Straub and King - with an eye for a YA audience. 
  • I completed the revision and after a few more hits and misses I GOT AGENTED - the agent isn't in the A list but has been around for a long time and is known by most people in the business. Unfortunately, the relationship I thought I'd have with the agent didn't turn out the way it was supposed to. Or maybe I was just not ready for the kind of fortitude a represented writer must have. End of story: I TERMINATED MY REPRESENTATION CONTRACT WITH THE AGENT.
  • I wrote another manuscript - Drawn. SUDDENLY I got all sorts of requests from TOP AGENTS AND AGENCIES in the (US) industry. People who were notorious for their "no response means you're rejected" policies. OMG - the agent of XXX. The agency of XXX. All famous. And then NOTHING. 
  • I thought to myself, ENOUGH. I want something to happen NOW. So I decided to push through with indie publishing.
*Note: As it turns out, during the time I was sending out queries, which was roughly the same time PH was hit by one of its worst storms in history, my emails were lost in cyber universe. I wrote to one literary agent - he ended up rejecting Drawn - for a second time, and he told me he didn't get any email. By the time he replied - I had already signed with my e-publisher. 

i became an indie author.

  • I did not self-pub right away. When Sapphire Blue Publishing closed its doors, my rights to Evren reverted back to me and I decided to sell it to my former boss (I used to write articles for her), who at that time was mostly working on publishing ebooks. The first book is always the hardest to market. I know my road to publication would have been a LOT ROCKIER at the start if not for my publisher's involvement. I will always be thankful to her for that.
  • My publisher changed the cover of Evren, enrolled it in Kindle Select, and did her usual marketing magic on Facebook. In the first week alone, it went up to the Top 1000 on Amazon and for at least a month it stayed in the Top 100 of its category. If I write the sequel - like I did with The Werewolf Prince and I - pretty sure Evren will get back to ranking. That's just the way series do in Amazon. :) From this, I learned about the power of having the right cover AND using the right marketing tools.
  • I'm always thankful with how honest my publisher waswith me when it came to critiquing my manuscripts. I remember being initially reluctant to have The Werewolf Prince and I published - it was only because my publisher loved it so much that it saw the light of day. And what do you know? It's one of my most successful books so far, reaching as far up as #200+ in Amazon and giving me a Top 20 spot in Erotica. The sequel hit the Top 500 on its first day of release and is still in the top 500 after over a week (and counting I hope). It also got the first book ranking again in the Top 1000+ range.
  • Not all my books did well. Ironically, those books that got me the attention of literary agents also happened to be my least-performing books. :P Ah, the irony, right?

i decided to self-publish.

  • I decided to self-publish because with my publisher owning rights to my books, I wasn't paid royalties from it. I still wasn't earning enough to make a living from it. Also, I have a hard time meeting deadlines set by other people than myself. Deciding to self-publish was the most terrifying decision I ever had to do in my life, but it was also the best thing I've ever done. I'm so glad I found the courage to cut the apron strings so to speak and forge my own path. Self-publishing changed my life for the better, and it continues to make my life more fulfilling every day.
  • Before I started self-publishing, I did my research. I read all the books I could get my hands on about self-publishing and I lurked for hours on writing forums. 
  • I wouldn't be where I am now without the help of other authors. That's the nicest thing about the writing community - especially the indie one. We help each other, and indie authors are especially open when it comes to sharing information. It's like what Seth Godin said - you will never see Tim Cook write, say, a positive review on Android phone but authors give each other nice blurbs for their newest books all the time.
  • What little success I enjoy now can be attributed to being both business-minded and passionate about my work at the same time. To be successful in self-publishing, you cannot just make decisions as an author. You need to think like a publisher, too, since that is essentially what you are.
  • The most surreal part of self-publishing is being able to reach readers all over the world - and even getting to hear from them, too. 'Nuff said.

CAREER MILESTONES

  • The Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance, a multi-author boxed set I was a part of - is a three-week USA Today and two-week New York Times bestseller (as of 12/5/2013). That makes me a USA Today and New York Times bestselling author!
  • Other boxed sets that made it to USA Today: Tangled: New Adult Romance Boxed Set, Love & Laughter: Romantic Comedy Boxed Set
  • Other boxed sets that made it to New York Times: Riding Desire: Alpha Bad Boy Biker Boxed Set
  • From December 10 to December 31 2013 (technically my "first" month to self-publish with some help from an author friend), I sold over 2,000 copies of Book 2: The Art of Trusting a Greek Billionaire (the only book I have out that is NOT owned by my publisher OR a part of any boxed set) on Amazon and 300+ more on Barnes & Noble. That means almost 2,500 individuals actually purchased my book last month - and most of them are not even from the Philippines. You guys rock! :)
  • My first Amazon Top 100 books are my two solo boxed sets - Eternally Seduced (Top 40) and To Love a Shifter (Top 60). It's very surreal!
  • My best release to date is The Art of Forgiving a Greek Billionaire (Book 4). Its first day ranking peaked at #223 and it was #1 on Amazon US' Movers & Shakers list. It's also my best-performing book on Barnes & Noble, making it to the Top 200. At present, it's #152 (March 11, 2014, 4:52 AM).

now i want to help you!

So there you have it. My road to publication - and I tried to keep it as brief as possible. 
I'm honored, blessed, and just plain lucky to be doing what I love and having the most awesome readers in the world and I believe that if you want it enough YOU WILL GET PEOPLE TO READ YOUR BOOK, TOO. AND THEY'RE NOT EVEN RELATED TO YOU BY BLOOD. :) Our paths may differ - you could be the next Suzanne Collins for all I know and then months from now I'll be the one begging you for an autograph. Or the next E.L. James...who knows, really?
I don't know that much - I admit it freely - and I'm still learning, but what I do know I am willing to share with you. So please, feel free to ask anything! 

traditional publishing versus indie or self-publishing

Most people are torn between traditional and self-publishing. I personally believe there's no right or wrong decision here - it's all about finding what's BEST for the TYPE OF CAREER YOU WANT. But in any case, here's my take on it.

what you can expect from indie / self-publishing

  • You need to create your own "A-Team". This means finding your own cover designer, editor, and in some cases, you may even have to hire your own virtual assistant.
  • You are responsible for the overall quality of your work. This means developing the ability to be OBJECTIVE about your work.
  • You need to spend your own money on marketing. How much you spend depends on a lot of things.
  • You need to be business-minded. You need to develop pricing strategies and understand how the market works - and all that's just the tip of the iceberg.
  • You must be ready for people to think you are NOT a real writer. And when I say "ready", by that I mean being able to accept that people are entitled to their own opinion and your time will be put to better use if you just learn to shrug off the negative and focus on your work.
  • You will have a hard time getting even local bookstores to pick up your books. For this to happen, you either have to find an agent to negotiate a print-only deal for you (or you can do the negotiating on your own) OR you wait until someone approach you and make an offer.
  • You enjoy greater creative liberties as a self-publisher. You can afford to cater to niches that traditional publishing ignores. This is what I do, and it's why I'm able to enjoy writing as my full-time job.
  • You have better chances of earning enough for a living as a self-publisher - IN MY OPINION. This is still a hotly debated topic, which is why I have to make clear that this is based on my opinion alone. I respect those who think otherwise and I have no interest in defending my opinion.

what you can expect from traditional publishing

  • Only a very small percentage of editors accept unsolicited queries. Because of that, you will likely need to find a literary agent first.  To find a literary agent, you need a complete and polished manuscript. You then need to write a query letter, preferably tailor-made according to the agent's requirements. Just Google stats for getting an offer of representation and you'll understand why this part of a writer's life is called "query hell". Once you do get an agent, you will likely work on revisions for your manuscript before your agent starts knocking on editors' doors. Getting a publishing deal is even harder than finding an agent, and again you just need to Google publishing stats for this to understand all the hoop-jumping you need to do before your book gets into bookstores.
  • You will most likely get an advance when you have a book deal, but you will then have to "earn out" your advance before you're paid royalties. Advances aren't paid with just one lump sum, though. Be warned about that! Again, please Google about how traditional authors are paid before you start thinking that having a book deal means regular paychecks.
  • Marketing budgets are no longer an automatic part of the deal for traditionally published authors. Most likely than not, you will have to do the same thing indie / self-publishers do to market your book.
  • Not everything you write will have the green light from your publisher, editor, or agent. If they say no, it's possible that you won't be able to self-publish the work they gave a thumbs-down to. What you can write will depend on your publishing contract.
  • Bragging rights! That's probably the best thing about being traditionally published, Nuff said.