Heavenly Lover is Here

I found out the hard way that the title of your Indie-pubbed book does make a difference. I loved the title of my paranormal romance, Angel. It finaled in contests under that name. I liked the simplicity of the one word title. But, I was ignorant.

I’ve talked with several other author friends of mine. Tina Folsom has been a good friend, crit partner, and my tech guru for the past three years. If you haven’t read Tina”s books, you are missing a great author. You can see her interview on my  5/26/11 blog:

Welcome Author Tina Folsom

More important than her obvious writing talent is the fact that she is about the hardest working writer I know.

I explained that Angel wasn’t coming up on the Amazon and B&N sites. People had to remember my name, and search by that. Okay for my friends and family, not so good for new readers. No one had ever told me this.

My erotic short The Stimulus Package sells because of where it comes up on the searches: right next to a book on why men cheat in Washington DC, the Presidential Stimulus Package, and a stimulus package for church organizations. I am clueless why they chose this title. I think the title for an erotic short is catchy. Nobody knows who Angela Love is, or is searching by her name (yet, she says as she winces).
Kindle: The Stimulus Package
Nook: The Stimulus Package

So, now we will see. Tina helped me get the book up and loaded. It takes a few days to populate, but hopefully next week it will be more prominent.

The other myth that I’ve wondered about is the .99 myth. Head to head, even though Angel is right around 100k words, the Stimulus Package still outsells it 3 to 1. I’ve just stopped that .99 pricing. I mean, it’s 100k words. It didn’t feel right and honest to undercut traditionally published authors who are required to sell their books, even their Kindle books, much higher. I just paid $8.99 for a Kindle version of an author I really wanted to read. I’m supporting the industry.

At the higher price, the rankings have dropped like a stone. But I’m going to leave it that way, for now. It just feels right, somehow. Compared to my other sister and brother writers, it is still cheap. I worked hard on that book. Rewrote it some 50+ times. I’ve vetted it just about every way I can, and now it’s the public’s turn.

At the end of the day it isn’t about rankings, but visibility. I’m just looking for a chance to break in the door with something I’m proud of. Everyone says you can’t have a blockbuster first book. I now understand there will not be an exception made in my case.

Kindle:  Heavenly Lover (A Guardian Angel Romance)
Nook:  Heavenly Lover (Paranormal Romance / A Guardian Angel Romance)

What about you? When you buy, how do you search? How do you find the authors you read? If you are a writer, have you experimented with book covers or titles? I’d like to hear it.