Tag: Harper Madigan

Self-publishing and Harper Madigan

So, I don’t think I ever mentioned why I chose to self-publish Harper Madigan: Junior High Private Eye.  For those of you who don’t know, it’s a noir detective story.  It’s also MG, so self-publishing it isn’t the most obvious path to get it into the hands of readers.  A lot of people have misconceptions about self-publishing, or at least that’s what I’ve been noticing lately.  (I did not notice much last year.  Last year was a dead sort of year, what with my doctor mistakenly putting me on way too low of thyroid meds and turning me into a zombie, which made for very little writing and even less of everything else.  But I got a new doctor and better meds and a better dosage.  There’s more to the story, but that’s another post for another time.)

Source: amzn.to via Chelsea on Pinterest

 

Anyway, the hard truth of publishing is that good books do not always get published.  The Rise of Renegade X came this close to not finding any love at all and fading into obscurity on my hard drive.  In fact, Harper Madigan got more editor love than Renegade X, with three separate editors falling in love with it and wanting to buy.  But editors alone don’t decide what gets bought, no matter how much they love it, and their houses said no, they couldn’t sell it.  So here’s me with this awesome book that I still want people to get to read, but no publisher.

So what’s a girl to do?  Put on her DIY hat and PUBLISH IT HERSELF, that’s what.  And you know what?  Putting it all together myself was a lot of fun and I was able to do it quickly and easily and pretty much stress-free.  It was also a great way to get started in the world of self-publishing before putting out The Trials of Renegade X.  I am very pro hybrid-career at this point, and while I hope to continue to find traditional publishers for some books, it’s not something I can control.  I can, however, control how many books I self-publish.

And speaking of Harper Madigan, I have some good news to share about it!  But not yet.  Soon, precioussss.  Soon.  And I have good news to share about Renegade X, but if I wait a little while, it may turn into really freaking awesome news, so, again, we must all wait.

Win Free Stuff!

Harper Madigan: Junior High Private Eye is out today!  *happy dance*  Harper Madigan is a noir detective story set in junior high.  See below for a more detailed description.

To celebrate, I’m giving away 10 free ebook copies (winner gets the format of their choice), and one grand prize of an ebook copy and a signed paperback once it’s available later this month!  The contest starts now and runs through Sunday, March 4th.  I’ll announce the winners here on the blog on Monday, so be sure to check back.

How do you win one of these marvelous ebooks?  It’s easy–I’ll be I’ll be tweeting the entry tweet from my account (@CampChelsea), and you can either RT me or copy and tweet the following message:

 

RT for a chance to win an ebook or print copy of #HarperMadigan: Junior High Private Eye! Full details at http://bit.ly/zK6HfA

 

Winners will be chosen randomly.  You can enter once each day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for a total of three entries.   And if you can’t wait and want to read NOW, you can sample and purchase the ebook at Amazon, Barnes and Noble,  Goodreads and Smashwords for $3.99.

 

7th grade detective Harper Madigan works alone.  He doesn’t need the vice principal assigning him a new partner to keep him in line, especially a stuffed-shirt wannabe-journalist who totally cramps his style.

And he especially doesn’t need his troublemaker ex-girlfriend showing up out the blue and asking for his help. She’s accused of attacking the star of the school musical, and with her less-than-sparkling track record, she’s only one suspension away from getting expelled.

Only Harper believes she’s innocent, and now it’s up to him to prove it, even if it means making an enemy of the PTA mafia, risking his agency, and confronting the mistakes of his own dark past. But when his new partner insists on doing everything by the book, and his old nemesis–the one bully he can’t catch–starts harassing his clients, it’s going to take more than just detective work to solve the case.