I Finally Published a Book! Be one of the first to read it...

It has been a goal of mine since I was about 8 yrs old to publish a book. I have come close in the past, but lacked the maturity necessary to accomplish this goal. Finally, I am in a place in my life where I can give the kind of commitment it takes to see a project like this through to the end.

While I have stayed mainly in the fragile earth forums here at ATS for the past three years, I have played a bit in the writing area and debates. It has always been a hobby, but it wasn't until an idea came to me this past December for a storyline that I was hooked. I was determined that this story was going to get told.

I can honestly say I enjoyed writing it from begining to end...and am still excited about it. The main reason I decided to go with the ebook, is that my goal is to simply put the story out there, to be able to share it with family and friends in an easy/affordable format. It was going to cost me over 20$/piece just to print out a copy for someone to read, so why not go with an ebook option?(much cheaper, only 4.99) You just never know...I might make a few bucks, but it isn't my goal.

The biggest reason I am excited right now, sitting here, is knowing that there are several people that are reading my story. Hopefully they are enjoying it. Being sucked into the world I created for just a little while. What an amazing thing!

SO...if you are looking for something new to read, here is what I've got! This is actually a young adult novel, but I really think adults will like it just as much. It is a very fast read, with a quick pace and short chapters. I don't want to give too much away, but I think that anyone who enjoys the topics on ATS, will enjoy the story.(The main character actually uses a 'conspiracy' forum to get some answers ;-) ) It is classified as science fiction/adventure/thriller. It starts with a meteor shower...and people start getting sick. There is a bit of everything, from a virus, to ancient secret societies and even crystal skulls.

To get some more info, and links to download you can find it all HERE

The title is Bloodline, with author info provided in the link.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

Ordered it and I am looking forward to having something good to read this weekend.

Is the creation of this book the reason that I've not seen too very much of your input on this site for the past few months?

Hi Tara,

congratulations on finally getting it done and out there. More power to you!

And a note for all members: Westcoast (Tara) contacted the ATS site owners in advance and they have given her permission to link to her book in her signature.

~Mike

reply to post by westcoast


Congrats!

I look forward to reading it.

Congrats. Looks interesting. Starting to think I am going to have to break down and buy an e-reader.

Can you get your book on Amazon Kindle?

Congrats and I anxiously await reading this!
I always appreciate members novels or books as they always seem to hit a chord with me.
I will follow up after I've read it and let ya know my personal review.
Although I'm sure my opinion is only worth the proverbial internet $0.02.

reply to post by NiteNGale2


Thank you! It's such a dream come true for me to have people I don't even 'know' reading something I have written.

And yes,that is why I haven't been around much lately. In my dedication I thank my family for putting up with my obession, and it really was! I took about 1.5 months just working on the concept/outline. It got rather involved and I wanted to make sure it was realistic enough to be believable to the reader. Something which may seem simple enough in your head, but when you then try and translate it for others on paper, it gets complicated!!

Thanks again for your support! I hope you like it enough to at least be entertained!

reply to post by JustMike


Thank you! And thank you for your advice and encouragement.

Mr. Springer was very gracious and I didn't expect the opportunity to link to it or start a thread. ATS has been a wonderful place to explore and stretch my imagination for the past three years. Some of the topics in my story were first discovered by me right here on ATS, which is one of the reasons I wanted to share it here.

So I really would like to thank all the mods and Mr. Springer for not only letting me promote a little, but just for providing ATS!!!

reply to post by havok


Actually, I would really like to know what you think! I realize that by putting it out there,I have to be able to take it!! I have a pretty thick skin. Not everyone likes this genre so i wouldn't expect everyone to like it. Writing styles vary just as much as reading preference so I have to be realistic about it. Even it IS good, there will be people who just don't like it. I guess it just depends on how good it is for the genre it falls into. Hard for me to be objective about it, so I appreciate feedback!!

Oh...and to the question about Kindle, YES you can download it onto your kindle through Amazon! I know a couple of people that have been successful at it.

Thanks again to everyone!!

Wow! How hard was it to get permission for the song on your site??

reply to post by TinkerHaus


Sent you a message.

Thanks.

reply to post by westcoast


Ha! Meteor shower and people start getting sick? This sounds less like fiction and more like factual history.

Be warned, the next comet to explode over the Earth WILL contain the plague pathogen......

reply to post by westcoast


westcoast, Congrads on accomplishing your goal! I have always wanted to do it myself, even though I have done a few freelance stories back in the late 90's in Magazines like Backpacker and Outside magazine. I bet I could publish some stuff that has been wasted away for years and years just sitting on some dusty ancient floppy disc.

I always wanted to get a Novel published, and even more so a non-fiction story about survival or strange Phenomena . I have had some crazy experiences while backpacking and climbing in the Sierra Nevada. I can't put into the words the Meteorite that I seen flying over Bridaveil canyon up in Yosemite National Park's wilderness back in 1999.

It was around the same time as that Cary Stayner guy killed that Naturalist who was living in the park as an employee (he also killed a women and two tennage girls before hand). I remember because when we drove out after our backpacking trip, we passed the road where they found her body and the FBI had it blocked off. When we got down to Groveland, we heard the news that they had caught the sicko.

Anyway, I wrote about this meteorite here at ATS twice. One was in a 'your most crazy story' thread, the other probably just about meteorites in general. These days though I take weekend trips so I can fly fish, but when I was younger I took very long journeys into the wilderness backcountry which gave me a lot of writing ideas.

Sorry, enough about me. You should be proud of yourself. Tell yuh what I am gonna do, I am gonna purchase your Novel and after I am done reading it, I am gonna give it to my Son to read. ~$heopleNation

Ordering it now! I can't wait to read it. Congrats on getting it published

Originally posted by westcoast
It has been a goal of mine since I was about 8 yrs old to publish a book. I have come close in the past, but lacked the maturity necessary to accomplish this goal. Finally, I am in a place in my life where I can give the kind of commitment it takes to see a project like this through to the end.

While I have stayed mainly in the fragile earth forums here at ATS for the past three years, I have played a bit in the writing area and debates. It has always been a hobby, but it wasn't until an idea came to me this past December for a storyline that I was hooked. I was determined that this story was going to get told.

I can honestly say I enjoyed writing it from begining to end...and am still excited about it. The main reason I decided to go with the ebook, is that my goal is to simply put the story out there, to be able to share it with family and friends in an easy/affordable format. It was going to cost me over 20$/piece just to print out a copy for someone to read, so why not go with an ebook option?(much cheaper, only 4.99) You just never know...I might make a few bucks, but it isn't my goal.

The biggest reason I am excited right now, sitting here, is knowing that there are several people that are reading my story. Hopefully they are enjoying it. Being sucked into the world I created for just a little while. What an amazing thing!

SO...if you are looking for something new to read, here is what I've got! This is actually a young adult novel, but I really think adults will like it just as much. It is a very fast read, with a quick pace and short chapters. I don't want to give too much away, but I think that anyone who enjoys the topics on ATS, will enjoy the story.(The main character actually uses a 'conspiracy' forum to get some answers ;-) ) It is classified as science fiction/adventure/thriller. It starts with a meteor shower...and people start getting sick. There is a bit of everything, from a virus, to ancient secret societies and even crystal skulls.

To get some more info, and links to download you can find it all HERE

The title is Bloodline, with author info provided in the link.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

edit on 3-4-2013 by westcoast because: (no reason given)

I've written a book before as well, I originally sold it as an ebook for GBP£19.99 and it was all automatic (people paid and were automatically emailed the ebook), but I was given advice by a "guru" to get it printed so I could get it into book shops - BIG mistake.

I shopped around and found a printer who could do it for £1.08p per copy (softback) on silk art paper if I bought 5000 copies.

I also had to pay a graphic designer c.£1500 to lay it out and add images.

Problem is that when it's on a shelf in a bookshop next to bigger, hardback books it isn't going to sell for £19.99, so I had to reduce the price to £7.99.

Then getting it into the bookshops is VERY hard work, the major bookstores use distributors, so you need to get an account with them, but it's hard - the bookstores won't order unless you have an account with the distributor, and the distributor won't open an account unless you have orders from the big bookstores!

Plus each store is managed locally and the bookstore manager will decide if he's going to stock it or not - so you have to contact them all.

In the end I got it in with the distributor, but they want to make 50% Gross Margin.

So I was selling it to them for £4, which left me with £4, less the £1.08 printing cost = £2.90 profit per copy.

As an ebook my only cost was a 5% paypal fee, so I went from c.£19 profit per copy to £2.90.

But it doesn't end there, you also have to pack the books and ship them to the distributor, which takes time and further eats into your profits.

It took me 18 months to shift the 5000 copies, and my advice to any would be self publishers would be to not bother - you can make far more money and it's much easier and less hassle to sell it as an ebook.

Plus do you know how heavy and how much space 5000 copies of even a thin paperbook are?

Heavy! and take up a HUGE amount of space!

PS - well done on getting the book out there!

reply to post by westcoast


Good for the ATS PTB to allow the OP to post a link to her book, as well as create a thread about it. Only seems to make sense as there are writing support forums here, and the OP is not making a crass pitch, but is rather just "putting it out there".

wow awesome work and congrats on accomplishing a dream. Must be an amazing feeling to get a book published and have other people walk around in a world you created. Hope you keep up the great work and you sell a million copies. Can I ask how many words all up is it?

From another author,
Welcome to the wonderful world of publishing ! Also, Congrats !
Keep on writing the good write !

Is this book on amazon kindle?