Give It To Me

What A Trad-Published Author Learned Publishing First Indie Book

After traditionally publishing five books since 2019, I was looking down the barrel of 2024 with no book coming out. I’d made a name for myself traditionally publishing in romance but—due to very crappy contracts and promotion—very little money.

I was, and am, at a crossroads.

The one thing I did have was a collection of short stories that I’d written for anthologies and my Patreon moldering on my laptop. I was very proud of these stories. They deserved better than to grow mold.

On September 10, I published my first indie book, Give It to Me: Sexy Tales About Women Getting the Good Loving They Deserve. Ten days later, I broke even on all my costs and now everything I earn is profit. This is what I learned during my first venture into the world of indie publishing:

Lesson #1 - Decide early what I wanted out of indie publishing.

There is a siren song of big money when you enter the world of indie. But it is no longer 2012, 7500 new books are published to Kindle Ebooks EVERY DAY, and if you want to even hope for big money, you have to dedicate yourself to a big ad spend. I decided that I wanted to make a little money with this short story collection rather than the no money I was making while the stories sat on my computer. Additionally, I wanted something out in the world with my name on it in 2024. Knowing these two goals helped direct the rest of my decisions as I readied for publishing.

Lesson #2 - It is possible but difficult to limit costs.

With my goal to make “a little” money, I knew I needed to keep costs low. I decided to spend money on copyediting, cover, formatting, and delivery.

Editing: Since most of the stories had already been edited by me or by editors of anthologies, I decided to skip that round of edits and focus on copyediting. I’d worked with Jess Snyder of HEA Author Services in the past and trusted her, but I also got quotes from two additional copyeditors. Jess’s was by far the best quote. For copyediting, I paid her $629.

Cover: I saved a ton by working with dear friend and renown graphic designer John Sprengelmeyer. John charged me pennies for his labor because we’ve always wanted to work together. John will also receive a portion of all merchandise sales and additional income for every $5,000 the book earns. The total I paid for the cover was $250. (I want to underline that this is known-someone-for-30-years pricing. Please do not contact John for design work expecting the same price.)

Formatting: Formatting the book had me in a dither. It was easiest to pony up the one-time fee for Atticus, a formatting app. It was relatively easy to work in. The one-time fee was $179.

Delivery: I decided to enroll in an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) delivery system to minimize pirating. BookFunnel was very easy to work with. For $10 a month, I was able to send out streamlined emails with download links I maintained control of and watermarked PDF ARCs. For three months, I paid $30.

My total costs for the book were $1,088. Left out of this is substantive editing, which I would have paid for in a from-scratch book, and market-priced cover design. I was able to keep costs down for this book, but it still cost me a grand, something to keep in mind for those thinking about indie publishing. I'm going to say it even though I shouldn't have to: Don't steal or use AI-generated covers to cut costs.

Lesson #3 - Have a plan for promotion.

Because my goals were to make a little money over no money and to publish a book in 2024, I decided to avoid spending money on advertising or marketing beyond ARC delivery. As a trad-published author with a crappy contract, I was accustomed to a promotional plan that involved zero to little advertising spend. Instead, I relied on the system I’ve used to promote all my books: early notices and teasers in social media, early giveaways in newsletters, splashy social media efforts for cover reveal and preorders, highlighting good reviews and notable reviewers, and lots of posting and newsletters to build anticipation leading up to the release day. I plan everything out in a calendar at least three months ahead of time and use my afternoons to do all my promotional work. Remember: No one will love and promote your book better than you, so shout about your beautiful baby up to the rooftops!

Lesson #4 – Having an established brand from trad-publishing made meeting my goals easier.

My five trad-published books have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, The New York Times, on the Fated Mates podcast and in other publications and podcasts. I don’t have a large following on social media, but I do have dedicated readers and supportive author friends. So from the first mention online of Give It to Me, I had support and shares without spending ad dollars. In this case, hybrid publishing did allow me to meet my small revenue goals.

Lesson #5 – Indie publishing is a lot of work.

The most important lesson I learned from this journey is that I won’t be pursuing indie publishing. I am a full-time writer and indie publishing felt like a second full-time job when there is only one of me. I have tremendous respect for those who have taken this route and found success and enjoyment doing it.

The one thing I knew the whole time – Amazon sucks.

Because of the chokehold it has on publishing, its changing terms without comment from or recourse for authors, its unwillingness to check abuses, its hands-over-eyes approach to AI and copy cat books flooding the market, the extreme suckiness of its owner, and my own goals, I chose not to include the book in Kindle Unlimited.   


Buy give it to me now!

Get GIVE IT TO ME now!

Today is the day! Give It to Me: Sexy Tales About Women Getting the Good Loving They Deserve is now available in print and ebook! Thank you, readers, for supporting my first indie effort. To show my appreciation, I’m giving away a postcard and a sticker of the book. To enter, sign up for my newsletter or let me know that you’re already a subscriber.

 

Enter to win a postcard or sticker of Give It to Me by subscribing to my newsletter or letting me know that you’re already a subscriber.

 

Early readers have already said wonderful things about Give It to Me:

Super sexy, gorgeously emotional, and centering Latinx love, Give It To Me has fourteen high-heat short stories and something for everyone— slice-of-life moments between long-term partners, first (and last) encounters, and a few cameos from your favorite Filthy Rich and Milagro Street characters…. Overall, for the people saying romances aren't political, they haven't read Angelina M. Lopez. The fourteen short stories felt as empowering and timely as they were sexy, which is no mean feat. I'd absolutely recommend this to any contemporary romance reader.—Triviareads, Goodreads reviewer

 In Give it to Me: Sexy Tales About Women Getting the Good Loving, Lopez gives us a collection that shows her range as a story teller. From the jet-setting billionaire and her wine making prince to a woman who has gone back to school looking for some precious alone time in the library stacks, Lopez is writing about women getting what they want….—Rochelle, Cannonball Reads

…These aren’t throwaway sexy stories but lush, rounded, well-characterized tales that are also sexy.—Guiltless Pleasures, Goodreads reviewer

If you’re still on the fence about purchasing, you can read snippets from the book on my Instagram account. Here are some fun ones:

Give It to Me is available in print and ebook on Amazon, B&N, and Bookshop. You can request it from your local bookstore or at your local library. You can also get signed, personalized copies here. And, because the cover by the amazing John Sprengelmeyer has been so popular, you can buy posters, stickers, and postcards here as well!

Get to the "good parts" quicker with my steamy short story collection, GIVE IT TO ME

I never used to write short stories. My favorite romance novels of my youth were brick-thick doorstoppers. Why write short?

But when agents rejected my first manuscript with helpful critiques of the dialogue, I decided to write a short story using only dialogue. To my surprise, the challenge worked. My dialogue did improve because of the focus on it. But I also realized that the confines of a a short story forced me to make my characters crisp, the world interesting, the conflict tight, and the love scenes HOT! In the boundaries of a short story, I could explore worlds, concepts, and couplings I wouldn't have the time or energy for in a 100k-word book.

Give it to Me: Sexy Tales About Women Getting the Good Loving They Deserve is the result of my love affair with the romance short story. Behind the fabulous cover by designer and illustrator John Sprengelmeyer are fourteen sexy short stories, the result of letting my storyteller imagination fly.

In it, you'll find hot stories of marriage and a sweet telling of an anonymous threesome. You'll find front-seat love with a supernatural hunter and paddle board kisses with a Hollywood movie star. You'll find an age-gap whodunnit and a magical gang bang of how-many-are-doing-it. I hope you gasp. I hope you laugh. I definitely think there will be a few tears.

 
 

The cover is the brainchild of a dear friend of hours, renown illustrator, designer, and syndicated comic strip artist John Sprengelmeyer. John now regularly works with director and comedian Kevin Smith. But my husband and I traveled with John before we had kids. He was one of four people who knew we were eloping. We almost killed John when he tried to sleep in our cat-hair-infested guest bedroom without his allergy medication. Kevin, he was our friend first. 

I'd wanted to work with John forever and was thrilled that this self-published collection finally gave me the chance to do so. When I'd suggested the Rosie the Riveter theme, John said he'd thought of that, too. Instant kismet. But John came up with the unique, killer concept of one woman representing all the fierce women of the stories and as many men as space would allow worshipping her. When I posted it to my newsletter, the response was so strong that I’ve already added prints of the cover to my store!

You can preorder now! I will be adding more retailers as we get closer to release date. I hope you're as excited to read this book as I am excited for you to read it!

Steamy short story collection coming in September

I’m thrilled to announce that I will be releasing my first steamy short collection this September. Give It to Me: Sexy Tales About Women Getting the Good Loving They Deserve brings together 13 already-published stories in one hot book and will also include two brand-new stories. Think about it this way: With this short story collection, you'll get to my "good parts" that much quicker!

Here's the description:

Critically acclaimed romance novelist Angelina M. Lopez brings you fifteen steamily explicit and highly romantic stories of hardworking women getting it good from men who worship them. Author of After Hours on Milagro Street (Possibly my favorite book of the year, NYT-bestselling author Sarah MacLean) and Full Moon Over Freedom (A scorchingly sensual love story, Booklist), Angelina is known for writing “unlikeable” heroines who have great sex. 

 Discover what happens:

  • When a widow askes her deceased husband’s best friend for the one thing their new friendship isn’t providing

  • When a jewel thief is drawn to an ancient drum and becomes part of an orgy of sex and magic with ghostly entities and the museum security guard she’s admired from afar

  • When an exhausted academic tries to get a little private time in the library stacks and is offered a hand by the hot guy in a hard hat who discovers her

  • When a divorced soccer mom pounds on the door of two men having waaaay too much fun in the motel room next door—and then is invited to join them

  • When a sexy Hollywood action hero shows up in a stressed-out CEO’s office offering to help her relax

  • When a burly bodyguard with a heart as big as Texas wants to turn a once-in-a-lifetime one-night stand into forever

Give It to Me gathers Angelina’s steamy short stories from anthologies, audio podcasts, and her popular Patreon into one collection, as well as offers two brand-new stories that include a vineyard visit with the lady billionaire and her prince husband from Angelina’s much-loved debut, Lush Money. Celebrate getting it good from an author whose books are “flaming hot.” (NYT-bestselling author Sarah MacLean)

I can’t wait to share the cover from dear friend and wildly talented illustrator/designer John Sprengelmeyer. John and I have known each other for over two decades, and I have always wanted a chance to work with him.

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