Friday, January 6, 2012

Introducing Me (Megg) and My 2011 Writing Recap

Tip of the Day: Don't be afraid of independent authors. There's some really great self-published books out there!

Hi! *waves* My name is Megg. I'm a former freelance parenting journalist turned ninja! Oh, well, in my imagination at least. If you want a basic bio about me, click here. Or you can strap on your seat belt and take a trip with me in my handy-dandy time machine.

I know we're supposed to recap our 2011 writing goals. I'm going to break the rules a bit (watch out, I tend to do that) and take you back to 2010. In the midst of a declining freelance parenting career due to poor economic conditions, I submitted novel queries to agents. Perhaps a bit obsessively. I knew there was a reason my freelance career was on the skids - it was because it was finally my time to shine as a novelist. <insert angelic music here>

I had completed two novels, ANATHEMA and SLEEPERS, and was absolutely sure I would easily be able to get an agent, get a book deal, and live the rest of my life in blissful happiness. Um, yeah, didn't quite happen that way. There were the agents who never responded (ugh), then there were the form letter rejections (ugh), and the sweet personal notes telling me my book looked awesome, but that it wasn't for them and never give up rejections (double ugh). There were quite a few who requested my full. I KNEW one of them would take me on. I had no doubt in my mind whatsoever.

Guess I should learn the difference between knowing something for a fact and hoping for something so deeply. One agent offered to take me on if I'd switch genres. That was a deal-breaker for me. One had me submit all my work to her. In the end she just decided to reject me and I'll never know why. Another held on to my work for nearly a year, kept promising to get back to me and never did. By the end of 2010, I was convinced my books would never, ever be read by anyone outside my critique group.

My BWF (best writing friend) Karly Kirkpatrick told me about epublishing. I scoffed. Self-publishing was for people who gave up, right? Not one to automatically dismiss any idea, I researched it. Karly & I talked, and talked, and talked about it. It wasn't until I saw the quality work being put out by so many self-published authors (Konrath, Amanda Hocking, Sarra Cannon) that I decided to jump in the epub pool.

There were no sharks - just eager readers. I'll swim with them any day.

Now we're in 2011 - I epublished ANATHEMA in February. OUBLIETTE in June. SLEEPERS in July. SEVERED in November. THE INITIATE in December. Over 25,000 copies of my books have been downloaded. I have countless new Facebook and Twitter friends. I have met so many new & amazing readers in the last year. I've also sold foreign rights to my books. I don't regret one moment of 2011.

If you follow my A2A posts, you'll learn more about how I accomplished so much. Believe me, I have a TON to say about it too. I'd really love to know what you guys want to hear. Leave some comments below or email me - meggjensen (at) gmail.com - and tell me what you want to learn about epublishing.

I'm so excited to be on A2A and thank you so much to the ladies for inviting me!!!! :D

-- Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber

13 comments:

C. K. Kelly Martin said...

Hi Megg, great tip! Glad to hear you've had so much success in epublishing and I look forward to hearing more about how you achieved it. I definitely intend to read more indie novels in the year ahead. Just finished Helper 12, a great dystopian novel by an indie author.

Megg Jensen said...

Hi C.K.

Thanks for reading my first post. I'm looking forward to talking more about epublishing.

It's great to meet you. :D

Megg

Kate Fall said...

Megg, I'm very happy to have you on board. You're going to be a very fun part of my writing life this year, I can tell!

Kristina Springer said...

Yay Megg's here! Great post! And C.K., I've heard great things about Helper 12!

Andrea Lipomi said...

Hi Megg! Deena's sister here. ;)

I epubbed my massage how-to in 2011, thanks in part to brave indie authors such as yourself. I devour every new Konrath blog post (and all the comments!) like a mad woman. My sales have been steadily increasing since I took the plunge, and this makes me smile.

I'm excited to read your Friday posts!

Andrea

Megg Jensen said...

Kate & Kristina - thanks for popping in!!! I'm so excited to be on this blog. :D

Andrea - that's fantastic news. I love to hear from other epubbed authors who are thrilled with their experience. Let me know if you ever need anything. :D

Jennifer R. Hubbard said...

Welcome aboard!

(from a longtime A2A follower)

Megg Jensen said...

Hi Jennifer, it's great to meet you!!! :D

Megg

Emily Marshall said...

Megg, I'm excited you're hear and look forward to reading your posts.

DeenaML said...

C.K. -- I am excited to buy Helper 12 now that I got my Nook! But first I need to read Sleepers....

Andrea -- when we were talking over Xmas, I underestimated Megg's overall sales and the # of books she put out this year (!!!) It is going to be great hearing from her and hopefully other Konrath lovers will check out A2A on Fridays as well.

Jenn H. -- we luv that you have been following us for years -- and I can't wait for your novel # 2 to hit the shelves this year!

Katie L. Carroll said...

I just came across this blog and I'm definitely going to add it to my blogroll.

I'd love to hear about how you market you e-books.

Megg Jensen said...

Hi Emily & Deena! ;)

Katie - Thanks so much for popping in! I plan to talk a lot about marketing. As an indie, it's a large part of what I do. However, many trads are not receiving as much marketing as they used to, so I hope it's a topic that will appeal to everyone. :D

DeenaML said...

Katie -- thanks for stopping by! I have to say I am also interested in marketing ideas. I'm sure they will transpose to other areas of my life too. :)