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Cassandra Carr: Why I Went Indie
Monday, March 10th, 2014

Why I Went Indie

In a little over a week, I’ll celebrate my third publishing anniversary. In late 2013 I made the difficult decision to go almost totally indie. I still publish with one publisher, Twenty or Less Press/Sybarite Seductions, and owe Loose Id one more books, but at this point I’m about 90% an indie author. Why did I do it?

1. I was getting frustrated at not being able to do anything if a book languished. I couldn’t change the price, the cover, or any of the other little things I experiment with now.

2. I was tired of giving a publisher half of my royalties (sometimes a little less). On books priced $2.99 or more, Amazon pays 70%. Of that, most publishers pay the author 35-45%. So overall, out of a $2.99 book, if you make a 40% royalty, you’ll have $1.09 (or so) per book. If you’re indie, though, that number rises to $2.10. Yes, almost a dollar more for each book.

3. I can get works to the market faster if I don’t have to wait for the book to be read and accepted by a publisher, sign the contract etc, etc, etc.

There are other reasons, but those are three that were most important to me. Now, I want to be clear: publishers are great—for some writers. Publishers, specifically Loose Id, gave me my start and I’m grateful to them. This decision had nothing to do with hating publishers or thinking they’re ruining the industry. It’s about me, not them.

I’ve released several books in 2014 already and have another coming 3/19. One of my recent releases is Public Affairs, a 50k spicy contemporary single title. Here’s the blurb for it:

Public Affairs

Nate O’Halloran is a PR superstar, an expert in crisis management for his image-conscious celebrity clients. When his college roommate, now a hospital director in Buffalo, calls to beg for his help– a cancer researcher on staff has disappeared with millions of dollars’ worth of government research funds– Nate agrees to help right away, though this situation is pretty small potatoes for him.

Val Chase, the hospital’s PR director, is none too thrilled when Nate shows up; does it mean her boss doesn’t trust her to handle this mess herself? Against her better judgment, Val decides she and Nate have to work together to save the hospital’s reputation, though the explosive attraction they feel is making any actual “work” difficult…

Buy links:
http://amzn.com/B00HTBY05O
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/public-affairs-cassandra-carr/1117961200?ean=2940148180258
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-publicaffairs-1395188-149.html

Author Bio:
Cassandra Carr is a multi-award winning romance writer. When not writing she enjoys watching hockey and hanging out online. Cassandra’s books have won numerous “Best Book Of” awards and her novella Unexpected Top was nominated in the E-book Erotic Romance category of RT’s Reviewers’ Choice Awards.

She thinks the best part of being a writer is how she writes about love and sex while most others struggle with daily commutes, micro-managing bosses and cranky co-workers. Her inspiration comes from everywhere, but she’d particularly like to thank the Buffalo Sabres, the hockey team near and dear to her heart.

To learn more about Cassandra, check out her website at http://www.booksbycassandracarr.com; like her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCassandraCarr, or follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Cassandra_Carr.

4 comments to “Cassandra Carr: Why I Went Indie”

  1. Melissa Snark
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    · March 10th, 2014 at 9:16 am · Link

    Thanks for the insight. I’ve experienced familiar feelings of frustration myself. So far I remain about 50% in my Indie versus with a publisher efforts because being self-published means so much extra work spent on things other than writing. You’re right on the nail head though about the money.



  2. Cassandra Carr
    Comment
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    · March 10th, 2014 at 6:01 pm · Link

    Hi Melissa! Thanks for stopping by!



  3. Michelle - Snarky Mom
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    · March 11th, 2014 at 6:41 am · Link

    Cassandra, that’s really interesting info! I often bitch about the cost of digital books, especially when the digital version is more expensive than a paperback. Publishers haven’t figured out the Wal-Mart mentality of lower cost equals greater volume. I’m always appreciative of indie authors who take into consideration their readers’ budgets by not trying to price match the big publishers. We ALL like profit, but I’ll tell ya that I have walked away from purchasing a book that I feel is extravagantly priced. Sorry, but I just consider it an insult to my intelligence to expect me to pay 5-6 cents per Kindle “page” — unless, of course, a visit from the cover model is included in the price 😆 !!



  4. Cassandra Carr
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    · March 11th, 2014 at 7:21 am · Link

    Hi Michelle! I’ve walked away from purchases as well. Though there’s definitely such a thing as devaluing your work, there’s also a tendency by publishers especially to overprice ebooks – given the current economics of pricing. Thanks for commenting!



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