A New Trend: INDIE BOX SETS

You all know me.

I'm Krista. Miss Trendy and hip, right?

(For those of you laughing hysterically -- I will get you back!)

I'm actually a little behind the times on this trend--like most other trends, but I digress.

In the Indie world, box sets of ebooks are a huge "thing" right now. Have you see them? They are these fun sets of oodles of books for one super low price of usually like 99 cents.

And my FIRST indie box set, a collection of NEW Christmas novellas titled Love's Gift, is available TODAY for preorder!! My book is the last one, A (kinda) Country Christmas!

I'd (sorta) LOVE for you to go check it out! It's only 99 cents and will also be available for FREE on Kindle Unlimited on its release date, October 19th, so if you're a subscriber of that, mark you calendar!

Since indie box sets are a newish thing, I thought I'd take a second to explain a little how it works.


TYPE OF SET

There are a ton of options when it comes to the set. You can do a LIMITED TIME set or a forever set. You can do a set with your own books, or one with fellow authors. You can box together new books or previously published books. You can do novels, novellas, or eshorts.

For the purpose of this post, we're talking about sets with fellow authors, because that's where the biggest benefit comes from (in my humble opinion.)

THE GOAL

The MAIN purpose of the box set is PROMOTION.

Yes, it'd be fabulous to make some money on the set. And many indie sets ARE making a decent chunk of change off them, even with splitting it many different ways. (In Love's Gift, there are 8 authors. For each 99 cent sale. The profit off that sale is about .35 cents. Split 8 ways.... that's a lot of books to sell!)

BUT!! We'll have EIGHT authors promoting with vengeance the same book. Eight authors with different platforms and reaches. That is 7 times the number of people, theoretically, that we could have reached on our own. (Obviously some have bigger platforms than other so that will vary.)

The exposure and platform building potential for this is quite big! A LOT of indie authors are reaping in the benefits of boxed sets, and many traditional authors are also joining the bandwagon as well!

THE MONEY STUFF

So how does it all work? Each set of authors will set it up a little differently. But basically, one author usually serves as the "publisher" of the book for the agreed upon timeframe. We use Amazon's KDP program to publish the book. I'm serving as the publisher for Love's Gift, so will be our accountant and will disburse funds as I receive them from Amazon. Expenses are split and/or paid out of profits. All authors are listed as authors in Amazon.

EDITING

Again, lots of leeway here. Our set decided to make each author in charge of having their own work edited, then before the set was finalized, each book was proofread by another member of the team to add another layer of quality assurance to our product!

We did the same with covers. Each author was responsible for their individual cover (because will also will be able to publish our works individually as well!) and then we worked on the overall cover design together! Many sets elect to hire an outside designer. Since there were quite a few cover-savvy people in our group, we did it ourselves to help keep costs down.

Want some other examples of some AMAZING indie author sets available?

Here are just a few!!!

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and author of  

Sandwich, With a Side of Romance,  
A Side of Faith
A Side of Hope.

A (kinda) Country Christmas -- Part of the Love's Gift Collection

She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by Sarah Freese of Wordserve Literary.

 

Hope for Faith-filled Fiction's 2015 Forecast

At the end of each year, Library Journal publishes a Christian fiction preview for the upcoming months. Writing this update is something I enjoy as I get to hear from a variety of editors, publicists, agents, and other industry professionals and hear about upcoming releases. I love seeing the covers, too, so it is a labor of love! Here's a preview for next year.

Though I haven't written fiction for the last year or so, I love being immersed in books and it is exciting to see all the directions Christian fiction is going even at a time that many find discouraging. It is true that the number of acquisitions is getting smaller, houses are closing down, all things that can be depressing. But there's a lot to be hopeful for in the direction of Christian fiction.

1) Blurring of the mainstream/Christian lines can bring new opportunities for acquisition and marketing.

No secret that the Big Six becoming the Big Five and several Christian houses either closing or losing their fiction lines have made publishing news in the past few years. The good side of this is...new opportunities with mainstream houses.

This year I was thrilled to receive lists (albeit smaller ones) from publishers in the ABA world. For instance, Susan Meissner, winner of multiple awards in the CBA realm is publishing Secrets of a Charmed World with Penguin. Ted Dekker's books have long flitted between both markets showing suspense fans will clamor for a book with supernatural elements. 

Stacie Henrie is a newer author whose World War I novels Hope Rising and Hope Remembered release from Grand Central's Forever imprint. Henrie's novels are marketed to romance readers who read on both sides of the house with their inspirational messages and clean content.

Takeaway: Interest in hope-filled stories continues to be strong even at mainstream houses.

2) Small may be the new "big" when it comes to publishing.

Secant and Rosebud are two smaller publishers that I contacted. Rosebud was developed by several traditionally published authors with Lacy Williams as the managing editor. They use a print-on-demand model. Secant is an indie publisher based in the Southeast. Smaller size doesn't always mean limited options. Little houses might be willing to go places the larger houses won't and could provide a middle ground between self-publishing and the Big Five.

Takeaway: Don't overlook the idea of starting out small.

3) Christian media is improving and may provide new opportunities.

Christian movies were once thought of as a bit of a joke, but with newer movies like The Vow and Nicholas Cage's version of Left Behind the image is beginning to change. (I know Christian movies still have a long way to go, but at least this genre is growing). 

Chris Fabry's The Song and Rene Gutteridge's Old Fashioned are both examples of book/movie combinations that will be released this winter. Even media versions that don't fully follow the biblical texts, think Noah and Exodus are bringing new popularity to Christian-themed fiction. For instance, The Shadow of the Mountain: Exodus by Cliff Graham is poised to meet the interests of the audience of the upcoming film.

Takeaway: Consider how Christian media can provide a possible audience for your novel as you market to possible publishers.

4) Christian fiction is getting less and less shy about tackling the tough subjects.

Christian fiction has long left the realm of mere bonnet fiction, but is becoming more and more bold with the years. News events, whether abuse in the clergy, domestic violence or suicide are being tackled in Christian fiction. Mercy's Rain by Cindy Sproles tackles misconduct in the clergy and in the wake of Robin William's shocking death The Boy Who Loved Rain releases this upcoming winter.

It is encouraging to see Christians become more engaging in the culture with a realization that our children will learn about these topics either from us or from the world. Rather than a complete sheltering, Christian fiction is often providing a faith-filled context from which to view the world.

Takeaway: The very issue God is speaking to your heart just may be the story you need to write.

5) Its all still about a love of story.

In spite of the challenges of marketing and social media, its still all about story.  Bottom line a good story with a uniqueness to it and intense plot twists can overcome challenges in this brave new world of publishing. 

Takeaway: Tell YOUR story.

Comments: I'd be curious to hear what books you are excited about that will be releasing in 2015 and why.

The Future of Hope-Filled Fiction, Part II: What's Coming Up & Why It Matters

A few weeks ago I spotlighted a few of my favorite upcoming releases, based on a recent article I wrote for Library Journal's November 2013 issue. You can read that here. And you can find the article here.

Today I would like to spotlight a few more websites for readers interested in following the trends and then mention another half dozen books I think are significant after perusing the release catalogues, conducting e-interviews, and surveying the web.

NovelCrossing was created last fall and continues to grow in its offerings. Created by Waterbrook Multnomah books, it is a sort of Goodreads of Christian fiction with so much to offer the CF reader. In addition to updated news, a calendar of releases and loads of great interviews and reviews, Novel Crossing has WONDERFUL interactive tools for readers.

There are reviews by a variety of readers. You can create your own bookshelves of books you want to read, have read, or are reading just as you can on Goodreads or Library Thing. There are over 5,000 titles in the database. If you run a book club, there are also great features here including sample questions and ideas for your next gathering. And this site is planning more for 2014.

Amish Living is a great site hosted by Thomas Nelson. I wasn't even aware of this site until writing my article. it features online book clubs for Amish subgenre lovers. According to a Library Journal September survey, Amish fiction is the category of CF offered by the most libraries across the country. Authors Wanda Brunstetter and Beverly Lewis' books are among the top four CF authors included in libraries.

Its social network has almost 8K members and is very interactive. You can chat in forums or groups. There are pages about all topics Amish including recipes, travel, and furniture. Interactive book clubs share monthly discussions about a variety of books in the subgenre. I think this site is significant because of the interactivity and community it offers. Even if you aren't an Amish fan, its worth a look.

Thirdly, I learned about a new-to-me site, Edelweiss. Similiar to NetGalley, bloggers and professionals can request review copies of advanced and new releases. Perhaps I'm behind the times and everyone else knows about this site! What is great about Edelweiss Above the Treeline is that you can peruse upcoming book catalogues. What better way to trace the trends than that! Edeleweiss is a very useful site for retailers and libraries but I believe it is essential for us to stay current in trend-watching and this site can help us do it.

Here are a few more books I think are representative of what's new in 2014:

1) Amish Vampires in Space by Kerry Nietz:

OK, yes, I know (cringe).

In the words of one of my favorite songwriters, anything goes, right?

Pushing the envelope, we may at first simply laugh at the title, but it is a reminder that satire is entering the Christian fiction realm. Christian fiction and a sense of humor can go together.

And perhaps the absurd can find its way into Christian fiction, whether for good or ill.

2) The Miting by Dee Yoder:

Amish fiction has typically been the realm of the idyllic, happily-ever-after ending but we're beginning to see a new style of Christian fiction. An example would be the release of Alice Wisler's Still Life in Shadows inspired by a character in National Geographic's Amish: Out of Order series.

This upcoming year sees the release of several books about Amish and Mennonites who have a different view of the lifestyle. In these books, the members find the life restrictive and legalistic and find themselves in a different type of Christian life in the outside world after an "escape."

Still other releases feature Amish young people during their Rumspringa (a teenage time of questioning) who must decide whether to stay or leave. In these books, the decisions made are varying. This is clearly not your mother's Amish fiction.

3) Defy the Night by Heather and Lydia Munn:

Christian young adult fiction has increased its scope. Contemporary issues and fantasy have long been staples of the YA Christian fiction market but I'm thrilled to see historicals and other offerings for the young adult market.

To increase that diversity, a new CF YA line has been launched this fall, Playlist. Can't wait to see what will be coming next! Since I have a daughter in the preteen years I am especially anxious to see quality and faith-filled novels in the young adult and children's markets.

4) Edwin by Edouardo Albert:

A debut novel about Christian Britain's early rulers is set in a unique time period. The medieval time period is one that hasn't had very much attention in CF and I'm glad to see it getting a chance.

Noteworthy also is the fact that it is published by Lion Fiction, an imprint with a 2013 launch that has made it a goal to publish fiction with "complex characters and exciting historical settings." Offerings include: mysteries, historical fiction, fantasies, and women's fiction.

5) For Such a Time by Kate Breslin:

World War fiction is hitting it big with the anniversary for the Great War (many of those titles coming up as mentioned in my previous installment with the popularity of Downton Abbey). World War II is another popular choice.

Breslin's debut book and How Sweet the Sound by Amy Sorrells are a few books that tap into biblical history to make parallels to historical and contemporary times.




These covers are books I can't wait to devour. How about you.

What books are you most excited about that are set to release in 2014??