What does independence mean to you?

In the traditional sense, "Independence Day" means 1776, Ben Franklin and those guys, signing the Big Paper, and fireworks.

But there's a lot of talk lately about "Indy Publishing" -- so what's that all about?

I chose to go the Indy Route for the books I'm releasing this year. Let me hasten to say, it has nothing to do with my publishers (Ellora's Cave, Resplendence, and Wild Rose Press). I love them all and they've all been good to me through the years.

But I find, more and more, that I'm writing books that just don't quite fit in. There isn't a lot of romance, there's not a lot of mystery: there's a blend of the two worlds, each as important as the others. Mystery publishers don't really want the romance, and romance publishers don't really want the mystery -- they prefer to have the book be weighted, one way or the other.

So I thought I'd give the Indy route a try. It's not terribly expensive (I pay for my covers and formatting), and my sales have been okay. Not great but okay. I do very little promo any more, so I'm not surprised that I haven't been 'discovered'. I plan to set my latest book to Free on Amazon in a week or so, and we'll see if that generates any interest.

Sometimes independence is just a matter of figuring out that your path isn't the same as the usual path. It's not a big dramatic shift. It's just a slight jog in a different direction. Before I tried Indy publishing, I had 27 books released. I figured I gave that path a good workout. Now let's see where this new path takes me.