Jennifer Allis Provost on self publishing
Today’s author is Jennifer Allis Provost, who very handily volunteered for an interview just when I realised I had a gap in the schedule! Serendipity 🙂 She published her first novel, Rise of the Deva’shi, through AuthorHouse.
Latera enjoyed the charmed life of a princess, first born and heir to her father’s kingdom. Her idyllic existence changed forever when she was spirited away from her home and became lost in the realm of Faerie. For six years, she lived in obscurity as a stable girl until Aeolmar, First Hunter of Parthalan, swept her away from her quiet village. He brought her to the court of Asherah, the Faerie Queen, who had struggled to keep demons out of her land for one thousand years. Latera learned to hunt demons, and her ferocity against her many foes earned her the name Demon-killer, along with the First Hunter’s unwavering devotion. Thrust into a war between the fare who became her family and marauding demon hordes, will she find the courage to meet her destiny?
For starters, could you tell me a little about your first published book?
My book is called Rise of the Deva’shi: A Chronicle of Parthalan. It follows a human girl named Latera who is kidnapped from her home and becomes lost in the faerie realm. She ends up in a land called Parthalan, and after spending many years as a stable hand her quiet existence is again shattered by the arrival of Aeolmar, First Hunter of Parthalan. He needs someone to tend to the horses while his hunters complete a training excercise and hires Latera, but during the exercise they are ambushed by demons. Aeolmar is rendered unconscious, and Latera, who had never before so much as touched a sword, takes up his and defends him against three demons.
So begins Latera’s life as a huntress. She earns the name Demon-killer, as well as Aeolmar’s heart, and believes that she is nothing more than a human with a talent for killing demons until she is again kidnapped and returned to her family in the mortal realm. There, she learns that she is much more than just a human, and that her destiny is to kill the overlord of all demons.
The overriding theme in my book is belonging, and learning that home isn’t necessarily where you’re from, but where you end up. Latera struggles with her seperation from her family, but when she is returned to them she realizes that she no longer has a place in the mortal realm and finds a way back to Parthalan, and to Aeolmar.
How did you approach publication? Were you always planning to self-publish?
Honestly, I had no idea what I was going to do. I thought that self publishing was just what was done with a first novel, and I have a friend who published her first with Author House. So I flipped over her book, went to Author House’s website, and away we went! Now, I am considerably more informed and I am seeking a traditional publisher for my next novel.
Having said that, I don’t think I had a bad experience with Author House. They were very upfront about their charges, and my book looks identical to other paperbacks on the shelves. All in all, they were good to me and I would recommend them to anyone looking to self-publish.
How long did the process take? What were the major milestones for you?
The story floated around in my head for years, and I scribbled it down a few times over the years. Once I finally buckled down and started writing seriously I was done in about three months. The biggest milestone occured when I had the entire plot sketched out, start to finish, and it made sense. That was the first time I felt like a real writer!
What did Authorhouse do for you that you couldn’t do yourself? Do you feel you got value for money?
The big answer to that is distribution. Their titles are available in the Ingram catalog as well as Baker and Taylor, which means that my book can be ordered by the systems already in place at most bookstores and libraries. If the store can’t get your book they won’t sell it, nor will a library stock it. It’s hard enough to get a bookstore to take a chance on an unknown author, but having a ready distribution process in place took away one of the most common complaints I hear from other self-published authors. I’ve also learned that being in these catalogs offeres me a sort of instant credibility with store managers, which is helpful.
I would say that I got value for that reason alone, however I do wonder if I overpaid for the basic production services. I have heard that other self-publishers charge considerably less, but then again I haven’t seen whaty kind of a product they turn out, nor do I know how their titles are distributed.
What kind of promotion have you done since publication? What do you feel has worked best?
I’ve done a few of the basics, and I’ve found that social media sites (Facebook, Goodreads, etc) give me the most bang for my buck. I can reach the widest audience, as opposed to a booksigning where you sit there and hope a potential reader wanders by. I also published Rise of the Deva’shi as an eBook to Kindle and Smashwords, and got 18 downloads in 2 weeks.
Who would you recommend Authorhouse to? Who would you suggest try and different avenue?
If someone had thoroughly researched self vs. traditional publishing and decided to do it themselves, I would absolutely recommend Authorhouse. The key factor is research and knowing your market – honestly, you have to be a marketing genius when you self publish. Luckily, I do have a business degree so I’m familiar with a greater amount marketing concepts than most, but I still have to work – hard – to get the word out about me and my work. Therefore, anyone not willing to act as their own publicist should aim for traditional publishing.
With your background, obviously self-publishing hasn’t been the trial it could have been. What made you decide against self-publishing future novels?
Self-publishing is tough. It took me days of cajoling to get my book into one Barnes & Noble, but a traditional publisher already has the relationships in place to get a book on hundreds if not thousands of shelves. You also run up against a great deal of prejudice – people seem to think that self-published equates with talentless hack. While I don’t claim to be the next Stephen King, I have received unbiased reviews from people who greatly enjoyed my work. I’ve also read self-published works that are abysmal. I believe that if I can somehow convince an agent to represent me to a traditional publisher, I’ll not only gain the credibility of a “real” author, but my work will be available to a larger audience.
I think that’s everything I wanted to ask. Did you have anything you wanted to add?
I will say that I do love hearing from my readers, and they can feel free to email me at jenniferaprovost@gmail.com, or look me up on Facebook.
Rise of the Deva’shi is available from Amazon, B&N and Smashwords (who are running a promotionfr $5.99 ebooks if you enter coupon code QY78N). Jennifer’s wesbite can be found here.
