Backlists self-published by authors?

[starrigger]

Most of my backlist is out through E-reads. But I'm planning to add my books that are currently free to the Kindle store, for a low price. Maybe Smashwords, too, just to broaden the exposure. My current thinking is that they'll remain free on my website.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

Since Phenom didn't get back before my patience ran out (a process which, admittedly, can be measured in minutes, very few minutes, when I'm in a bookstore) I picked up the first books of both the Lighthouse and Candlemaking series; I'll report back.

I'm sorry, I didn't know you meant me!!

[Worldwalker]

I just finished At Wick's End. Quite a good read for the price. I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series. Not today, though; staying up way past my bedtime reading one book is enough for one day.

Pro: There is a likable protagonist who is in an interesting situation, along with some really great minor characters (the bean sprout sandwich incident is a classic). Also a guest cat. Recipes in the back.

Con: Some glaring errors a copy editor should have caught ("pour" for "pore", for instance), the villain violated Rule 7 of the Evil Overlord rules, rather blatantly, and the ending felt very rushed. The recipes are all for things I don't like.

Over all, 3 out of 5 stars.

[Patricia Ryan]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

...Smashwords and the like make it simple to upload a Word doc and publish your material, but it's seldom I've downloaded a books from there that didn't need work before I could comfortably read it. Smashwords makes it easy (so does Amazon DTP for that matter), but I wish all their authors would spend the time to get their books to look decent. Hope that doesn't sound to negative or anything, I think it's great all the avenues that e-publishing offers authors to put out their backlists themselves and if they have the know how to do it without help great, but some need help and seem to be forgoing it to do things on the cheap with mixed results....

It doesn't sound negative at all to me, Brian. It's frustrating to try to read a book that's poorly formatted or full of mistakes--yanks you right out of the story. It takes time to properly format and re-edit your work for Smashwords and Kindle--the 12 backlist titles I published took me about a month and a half of full-time work (much of that just in-depth re-reading)--but it's not hard. The Smashword guidelines, in particular, are involved, but real easy to understand.

This is a good topic of conversation, Ficbot. Several times recently I've read comments online about what a good idea it would be to post a list somewhere of authors digitally republishing their backlist. If I didn't have so much on my place, I'd do it myself. I'm as eager as any reader to get my hand on good, professionally vetted, reasonably priced ebooks.

Pat
patricia-ryan.com

[MaggieScratch]

Regency Reads is a group of authors of Regency romances who have republished their backlist in digital.

[Worldwalker]

I just finished the fourth (and, sadly, the last) Candlemaking mystery. I was hugely disappointed with the quality of the text. The story was great, but the text showed every sign of being an un-proofread OCR.

[dreams]

I think, new author member, Tim Myers , heard phenomshel.
As she said he has some of his back list on smashwords. He also writes under the following names:
Chris Cavender, Casey Mayes, Elizabeth Bright, Melissa Glazer, and more.

[jaxx6166]

Kevin J Anderson just recently put up his backlist on smashwords.

[dreams]

MR member author, Paul Levine, has put up some of his novels on smashwords. It includes the 1990 "international bestseller '"To Speak for the Dead"' (book 1 of the Jake Lassiter novels). Night Vision, book 2 is also there.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by dreams

I think, new author member, Tim Myers , heard phenomshel.
As she said he has some of his back list on smashwords. He also writes under the following names:
Chris Cavender, Casey Mayes, Elizabeth Bright, Melissa Glazer, and more.

Thanks, dreams... didn't know he had joined. Actually, I think I might have given him a small nudge that direction about a month ago...I emailed Cleo Coyle about how to get in touch with him about the possibility of getting his backlist on Smashwords, but never heard back. I'm thinking she probably forwarded the idea to him and he acted on it...or at least it would be nice to think I had a hand in these becoming available

[Simon Wood]

I think the great think about the growth in eBooks is that it's allowed me to re-release backlist. So far everything I've released has been previously published, even down to articles I wrote for Writer's Digest.

Currently, I'm wrangling the e-rights back to some out of print works to make sure my entire backlist is out there and affordable.

[Rebeccaforster]

Ficbot, Many of us are posting our backlists. I'm so grateful to Dreams for including me on the MR list of authors. I write legal thrillers and have posted a backlist on both Amazon and Smashwords that includes the bestselling Witness series, Keeping Counsel which was a USA Today Bestseller, Before Her Eyes, a new for digital novel that's garning great reviews. There are quite a few of us who are doing this and so happy to find interested readers. Currently, I'm readying my women's fiction but it's not up yet. Love to have you take a look at my work. All my books are on my website or any of the e-reader stores.http://www.rebeccaforster.com

[FizzyWater]

Kathryn Shay has some of her backlist on Smashwords.

[WillAdams]

Steve Perry has been doing this at his blog for a while now:

http://themanwhonevermissed.blogspot.com/

William

[Rebeccaforster]

Originally Posted by ficbot

The recent thread about Patricia Ryan has me wondering how many other authors there are who have self-published their own backlist titles in DRM-free places like Smashwords. I would like to purchase more books like this! Fun as it can be to discover a new author on Smashwords, sometimes I would rather go with a proven author who already has a solid reputation. I know Konrath has some stuff. Who else can you think of who is a proven, published author who has released their backlist themselves on Smashwords or another indie site?

- J.A. Konrath
- Patricia Ryan
- ?

Hi Ficbot - I have had a long career as a traditionally published author. I am best known for my legal thrillers including a USA Today Bestseller, Keeping Counsel, and the Witness series (Hostile, Silent and Privileged Witness). I was so excited to find Smashwords and all my thrillers are posted there as well as on Amazon. I hope you'll stop by my website to visit and check out my work. Reviews are available on all my books on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.Thank you for asking from all of us backlist authors!

Rebecca Forster
http://www.rebeccaforster.com