Jitterbug PR Presents: A Guest Post with Ixeos Author Jennings Wright

Ixeos (Ixeos Trilogy, #1)The McClellands are enjoying a lazy summer vacation at the beach when they are lured from our world into Ixeos, an alternate Earth. Finding themselves lost in a maze of tunnels under Paris and surrounded by strangers, they discover that they have been brought to Ixeos for one purpose: to take the planet back from humanoid aliens who have claimed it. With the aid of the tunnels and a mysterious man named Landon, the teens travel the world seeking the key that will allow them to free Darian, the long-imprisoned rebel leader. But the aliens aren't the only problem on Ixeos -- the McClellands have to deal with brutal gangs, desperate junkies, and a world without power, where all the technology is owned by the aliens, and where most of the population has been killed or enslaved. The worst part? There's no way home.



WTF Welcomes Ixeos Author

Jennings Wright

Guest Post:

Thoughts on Publishing 


Conventional Wisdom

The definition of conventional wisdom is “something that is generally believed; prudence; the ideas, opinions, or understanding that are considered to be generally accepted by the public; a widely held belief on which most people act.”

Notice that nowhere in this definition does it mention “facts” or “truth.” Most people act on conventional wisdom as if it were truth, though, like when doctors didn’t think smoking was bad for you, or when people thought the earth was flat. In general, conventional wisdom is behind the times when it comes to new information or facts, or even new behaviors.

I have found this to be very true in publishing. For more than a century, traditional publishers held all the cards, except for the short time when the dime novels came out. Those were independent publications at first, and are the original mass market paperbacks that we enjoy today. But the traditional publishing houses bought up the dime store guys, and have pretty much run the show since then.

Until Amazon came along. Before the internet and Amazon, independent publishing was called vanity press, and no one meant it in a nice way. These were the military history books your Uncle Joe gave away at Christmas, or the long family tree accounting that your grandfather game all his progeny. They were hardback and expensive, and many a box of books mouldered in basements and garages.

Publishers called all the shots, from genre categories to chapter length to cover design. Royalties were (and still are) 10% until you’d sold more than most mid-list authors combined. Publishing houses not only owned your work in this country, they owned world-wide rights, meaning you couldn’t publish your book in another country, even if they didn’t. And not only did they own your rights when you were alive, most often they kept owning them, even after you died.

Royalties were paid a couple of times a year. Accounting was convoluted and sometimes suspect. Some publishing houses uses underhanded tactics to keep prices low, like selling the book to another division which would bring lower royalties (true story with a well known romance publisher in the UK). Authors dint’ have control of their title or their cover. In more recent years, most marketing was left up to the author, who didn’t get more money for their efforts.

But then true indie publishing came along, and the game is changing. Sometimes it changes so fast that your head spins, but the overall direction is in favor of the self-published author. In a recent survey of traditionally published authors and independently published authors, the majority of traditionally published authors were looking at going indie. The only reason indie authors cited for wanting to be picked up by a traditional publisher was for marketing and distribution – ironic since, unless you’re already famous, they aren’t doing much marketing, and you only have 6 month to sell your book in stores before they yank it.

Like anything that’s new and growing fast, there are mistakes and bad products out there. When something is free, it tends to generate a lot of dusty, unedited, been-in-the-bottom-drawer novels. But that’s okay, because it is also spawning a lot of great, professional, serious authors who are turning out great stories, taking their business seriously, and who are willing to spend some money to produce a professional product.

For me personally, I can’t imagine giving up control over my work to a traditional publisher. For one thing, I write fast, and on my own, I can get 4 or 5 novels a year out to readers. Traditional publishers keep it to one. For another, I’m really particular about cover design, and I would have a hard time being excited about a cover I hated (and since I’d be doing the marketing, that’s a double whammy). Thirdly, I absolutely love the independent author community.

If you’re a writer, even if you haven’t published yet, I suggest you read some of the wonderful self-publishing blogs out there. You’ll be amazed at how generous and gracious other authors are, sharing their highs and lows, passing on what works for them, sending contact information for professionals to help edit, design, and format. It’s truly an amazing community of people.

If you’re a reader and you haven’t checked out many indie authors, I’d recommend looking around Amazon (yes, there are other sites like Nook, Apple, Kobo and Smashwords, but Amazon is the king right now and you’ll find more awesome authors there than most places). There are some really great writers out there writing some truly unique and intriguing stories. Sure, they may not fit neatly into a genre like traditionally published books do, but that’s what makes them so fun. It’s a whole new world out there these days, and a whole lot of indie authors that not only need but deserve great fans.

 About The Author



Born and raised in Rockledge, Florida, Jennings spent her early years reading anything she could get her hands on, when she wasn't spending time in and on the water. She won a prize in the 6th grade for her science fiction stories.

Jennings attended the University of the South and the University of Tampa, graduating with a B.A. in Political Science, and almost enough credits for B.A.s in both English and History. She spent time over the years doing various kinds of script doctoring, business writing, editing, and teaching writing, but mostly having and raising her family, homeschooling her children, owning and running a business with her husband, and starting a non-profit to Uganda.

Thanks to a crazy idea called NaNoWriMo Jennings got back into creative writing in 2011 and hasn't stopped since. She's written four novels and a screenplay in less than a year, with more ideas on the drawing board. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband, also a writer, and two children, and travels extensively.


Author Links


Facebook – www.Facebook.com/JSWwrites
Twitter – @JenningsWright


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