TRYING OUT SOMETHING NEW IN AN OLD BUSINESS

 KINDLE SCOUT

I have put my new release in the Kindle Scout program. I have been reading about the pros and cons to this program. My opinion...doesn't hurt to try it. Amazon is the reason I'm an Indie author. Over the last few years I've been an Indie author I've learned things about publishing. It's competitive.

One would think—write a good book and they will come. The truth is they have to know you have written the book. It's called promotion.

I feel I have been fortunate in one way. A couple of years ago, Book Bub picked up Seductive Secrets under my penname Colleen Connally when it was free. After they did, I began selling books. I'm not a New York Times bestseller, but for the first time readers were reading my stories.

I am a self-taught writer. Like most writers, I wanted to write since I was young. My parents never encouraged my writing. They wanted me to have a career. A sensible ambition. So few really make it being an author. Now I do have a career. I work at a major hospital in Boston. I enjoy my work, but the dream to write never left me.

I have to credit my husband for encouraging to follow my dream. Every book I write is and will always be dedicated to him. He has always believed in me. 

The Big 5 Publishers have rejected me numerous times. Despite the glowing rejections...in the end...the books I submitted sat collecting dust until I became an Indie author. I have been published by Wild Child Publishing and Whiskey Creek Press, but I found you don't have the control of your books with a small/medium publisher. I like the control of being an Indie. But my books with Whiskey Creek Press will stay with WCP. WCP was bought out by Start Media. They promised to let me revise my books and those books, The Tide of Charleston series, will stay with WCP. As a matter of fact, The Judas Kiss is going to be re-released November 12. 

I don't have an agent. I am not a business woman. I think with my heart and write from my emotions. I love writing romance because I believe in a love that can last forever. I'm a history fanatic. I don't think any one will disagree that I'm an old soul. Most of my stories emerge from the past. 

If my main concern was making money, I would be writing contemporary romances. But like I said, I write what I feel. I wish I could just write a book and publish it. To sell it, though, you have to deal with the real world. You have to get your book noticed in the sea of books. 

That is the reason I'm trying Kindle Scout—to find a wider audience for my books. 

If  Belle of Charleston isn't a go with Kindle Scout, I will be releasing it in December. I'm excited about the series. It is my first Civil War saga. It will be my only Civil War saga because it is so personal.

I love being Southern and proud of the fact of being from the Deep South. When I moved North, it is difficult to explain the loyalty one feels being born Southern. Within Southern Legacy, you will find a deep love story along with the conflicting emotions and turbulence the war caused...on both sides and the slaves themselves. There is no simple answers to the questions that arose about the war. Southern Legacy is a serial. It was once one huge book that I called Whispers of a Southern Heart. I'm revising it into four books: Belle of Charleston, Shadows of Magnolia, Born to Be Brothers and The Sun Will Rise.  

I am so glad to have this opportunity to express myself with Southern Legacy Series. If you get the chance, Belle of Charleston will be up on Kindle Scout until November 26. Go to the site and nominate it if you like what you see and read. 

Enjoy! Have a wonderful day!