A Moment With…Talli Roland

Day thirty of National Novel Writing Month. Earlier, author Julie Cohen took us through her editing process and now Talli Roland talks to us about her experience with self publishing.

Self-publishing provides another route for authors to get their books directly to an audience. I think it’s wonderful to be living in a time when authors have choices. No longer do they need reach readers through a publisher – they can decide what is right for them and for the book.

I had a wonderful relationship with my publisher, but as a small independent, their distribution reach was limited. Most of my sales were ebooks, and I’d spent a great deal of time building up my platform. It made sense for me to go out on my own, hire a cover designer and an editor, and keep my profits. It was very scary jumping ship – jumping off the ship! – but I’m so pleased I did.

It’s been an amazing journey – hard, challenging, and somewhat obsessive – but I’ve really enjoyed having control over everything from cover to content to timelines. And it’s been wonderful to make living from writing, too. That said, like any business, sales can fluctuate, depending on many factors. You don’t have the security of an advance from a publisher, so that can be a little daunting.

There is still a stigma amongst the old school, maybe, but I do think it’s changing as more and more traditionally published authors self-publish, too. It’s hard to deny that you have access to higher royalty rates, and that there have been huge success stories. Many self-published novels are virtually indistinguishable from traditionally published ones, and readers have shown they don’t care how a book is published as long as it’s a good story. It may take more time for the stigma to completely fade away, but I do think it will.

I would urge authors not to rush into anything. Consider what is best for you, and what’s best for the book. Think about your goals, too. Do you want to sell many copies, or are you happy just to put the book out there? Is it in a genre that sells well as an ebook? Are you willing to invest time and effort into making it a professional product? It’s easy to throw a book up on Kindle and hope for the best, but the more you think it through, the more comfortable you’ll be with the outcome.

To celebrate the release of her new book (Married to Measure,) and her christmas novella, Married by Midnight, Talli is giving you the chance to win a Kindle Fire HD 8GB. It’s open to anyone living in the UK & Europe, Canada and the US. There are a few ways you can enter and you can also enter as many times as you like. Just follow this link to see how to enter. The contest closes on 10th December (the day Marriage to Measure is released.)

To find out more about Talli and her novels, visit her website at http://www.talliroland.com/ or Amazon author page. 

You can also visit her blog: http://talliroland.blogspot.co.uk

You can also follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/talliroland and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/talliroland

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Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.