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:

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.