Hello from another writer, who lives in Folsom, CA.

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CaptnAndy

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I'm a little past the newbie stage of retirement. After the 4th time, it finally stuck in 2010, and I started getting serious about writing. I had written lots of business stuff over the years, and started 3 or 4 novels, but they were always a lower priority. I finally self-published BB-39, a Greatest Generation story, in 2011. I started in 1990. Since then, I have published several other books in eBook, POD, and Audio formats. I have 3 more in the pipeline, with two ready for Beta Readers.

I have been an insatiable reader since I was a kid. After 4 years in the USN during Viet Nam, I spent 40 years working as an electronic tech, an engineer, exec., and CEO. Then I got my Captains License and ran a charter boat on a NC island, along with a large property management business, and finally, I opened a Hobby Shop/Slot Car Raceway in IN.

I grew up in NM, and we have lived on both coasts and the mid-West. I have traveled on business all over the US and a lot of the world. We returned to CA to be closer to our 3 grandchildren. Our blended family's 4 children are on both coasts and the mid-West. Although I've had a few medical issues in the past, I'm active, fit, and in pretty good shape for a guy my age (71).

I joined this site in the hope of connecting with some other senior writers. Having generated a lot of stomach acid going through the self-publishing process, I hope to be able to help others to avoid some of the pitfalls I have encountered.

A.G. Kimbrough, AKA CaptnAndy

agkatfri (at) gmail (dot) com
 

Welcome, CaptnAndy, glad you are here. I'd be glad to hear all you have to say about self-publishing. Do you have any experience with Smashwords? I'm finally leaning toward doing that. I tried it once before, and the company ripped me off for twenty thousand dollars. That was before all the digital opportunities.
 

In 92, I was thinking about publishing my first book. Fortunatly, I had been working with computers since the early 70's. I did a lot of web research and quickly found there were more people, and money being made "helping" authors get published, than the authors ever made. After sending out a 100+ queries, and researching those who replied (98% scams), I received a reply from a reputable agent. He had read my sample chapters and liked the, but the reality of the industry is: It was not worth his time to attempt finding a reputable publisher to even look at my book, since I was not an axe murderor, a sports/movie/music star, or a politician. I put the novel on the shelf, and left it there until 2010.

BY that point in time, self-publishing was a possibility. I again found plenty of companies who would be happy to take my money, and publish my work as a POD hard copy, or an eBook. I studied them, but decided to try and do it myseld using the early tools from Amazon, for the Kindle. It took almost a year, before I released the first edition of BB-39. At that point in time, Amazon required books to be uploaded in their version of the HTML format. Although I had used Basic and Assembly languages, I didn't know HTML. Fortunatly, the process is much easier today, and you can submit a .doc file directly to Amazon.

I stopped the Kindle Select program that required exclusivity with Amazon, and created Smashwords editions on all of my ebooks. My Amazon sales dropped, and the Smashords did not sell enough to offset the reduced Amazon sales. I dropped the Smashwords sales and returned to the Kindle Select program. My lack of success with Smashwords may have been partially my own fault, since I was not doing a lot of active promotion.

You can find my books on my Author's Page at:

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008J28CME

For more detailed discussins send me your direct email address in a message.
 
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CaptnAndy, Thanks for the info. My first book came out in 1993. My agent was Eleanor Friede, the woman who discovered Richard Bach and Jonathan Livingston Seagull. She was the one who made it happen for Richard. Richard referred me to her. It was a nice thing for him to do. But she was basically retired at the time and had someone else handle most of it. It was a small press. I'm sorry I signed the contract I did. My next book was a co-publishing deal. The guy gambled away 10.5 million dollars of company assets and spent some of it on hookers. That's a lot of sex. ;) My take was part of that. He went bankrupt. I've been searching for agents for years. I had one again for a while but he became ill with lung cancer. I'm afraid he is not going to make it. I have eight books in need of publishing. Except for the first one, they are literary fiction which overlap into other genres.

I know about Create Space through Amazon. The problem with them is that they want to gobble up everything they can and have access to a person's stuff to use as they see fit. I will not participate in that form of Big Brother...in some ways they are the same as Google. They want to own every part of who and what we are. I've been studying and researching this kind of thing for years. I will do Smashwords because it's free. At some point I may want to put the books out in print, and then I will revisit my decisions. Okay, I'll send you a message with my email address.
 
Hi Andy!

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