Wrage: Blog Tour (+$25 Starbucks GC Giveaway!)

Title: Wrage
Author: Joseph Spencer
Series: Sons of Darkness #2
Pages:n/a
Format: eBook
Genre: Supernatural

Synopsis:
Sometimes the toughest fight lies within yourself.

As more dark secrets come to light, the battle for souls push Prairieville to the brink of war in the living and supernatural realms. 

Jeff Wrage swears a blood oath to Abaddon, the supernatural avenger of murder victims, to hunt the crooked cop who butchered his wife. Jeff wonders whether he can be the executioner Abaddon requires. Their pact throws the supernatual realm in chaos and threatens to trigger an apocalyptic fight for control of the afterlife between the Sons of Darkness and Sons of Light foretold in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Orlando Marino sees the death of Cyrus Black as his opportunity to restore the Marino family's stronghold in Prairieville’s organized crime scene and become a mob kingpin. He unleashes a plague, turning its victims into mindless followers. Cyrus' heir is busy rooting out a traitor and is unable to stop the coming turf war in the realm of man.

The fate of all rests with Homicide Detective Anna Duke, who steps into the shoes of her mentor while coming to terms with unrequited love. As she tries to clear the fallen hero's name, she takes on a case where corpses go missing. Her new partner is reported dead. She learns the truth about her true identity and uncovers a trail of secrets questioning her tragic past. She journeys to avert the destruction of all creation.

Ever thought about becoming an author? Have you wondered about going for a traditional publishng house, or if you should go it alone? I've got Joseph here to share about the reasons to consider self-publishing! 

Reasons to consider self publishing

Traditional publishers and several well-established authors such as Sue Grafton and Jodi Picoult have not minced words when talking about self publishing. They view the recent explosion of self-published authors and independent presses much like a dog views a mailman with a bone hanging out of his pocket.

Self publishing blindsided traditional publishers, and broke up the monopoly of the marketplace they enjoyed for many years. They used to control distribution throughout the United States and all over the world. With a strong base of readers shifting their habits either exclusively or in part to ebooks, writers regained freedom in the distribution chain.

Traditional publishers and agents get angry when you take money out of their pockets, and that’s exactly what the self-publishing boon is doing. Self publishing affords authors the chance to publish their work and make it available cheaply while printing paperback copies on demand without spending thousands of dollars on copies up front.

Here are things to consider if you’re an author and the traditional publishing experience hasn’t been what you expected.

1.      Reject rejection

In the traditional publishing world, there’s a gauntlet of people standing in the way of making your publishing dreams happen, and rejection from anyone of them along the way can table your manuscript. Traditional publishers tend to gamble on works similar to what’s hot right now such as Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series or E.L. James’ BDSM erotica. If you fall out of this scope, self publishing gives you a chance to let the marketplace rather than gatekeepers from traditional publishers decide on your success.

2.     It’s all about the money

Authors keep more of the profit with no middlemen like agents and publishing houses taking their cut. It’s not uncommon for authors to receive only 25-40 percent in royalties on their ebooks and print books from traditional publishers. Let’s say your ebook costs $6. After Amazon takes 30 percent, let’s say you get 40 percent of what’s left for your royalty. That would mean you get $1.68 per book. If you self publish, you’d get $4.20 – three times what you’d get from a traditional publisher.

3.     Fast cash

It’s not uncommon for traditional publishers to pay royalties quarterly or even slower. Therefore, authors are left in the lurch for months trying to guess how much of a check they’ll receive. Create Space, Kubit, andKindle Direct Publishing all pay monthly, so your wait to see the fruit of your labor isn’t quite as long.

4.     You pick your timeline

Only you know what best fits in your personal schedule. So, if you want to sync your book’s launch perfectly with your life, self publishing is an easier way to accomplish that. Traditional publishers usually release books quarterly or in accordance with release windows which fall within seasonal shopping habits. There’s nothing like planning a trip well in advance and then having your book release fall smack dab in the middle of the vacation, which either causes you to cancel your plans or puts you behind in book promotion.

5.     Control freak

When you self publish, you are accepting more of the risk certainly. However, you also can move swiftly to make corrections. You’re in charge of oversight of your work, and can make decisions quickly as to editorial content, design layout, and marketing of the book. During the traditional publishing process, it’s possible for the author’s voice, tone, and creativity to be altered by editors, artists, bean counters and other managerial staff.

Joe Spencer is the author of Grim, a paranormal crime thriller released by Damnation Books in September 2012. It’s the first in the planned Sons of Darkness series. His second book, Wrage, is due out in 2013. He can be reached at www.josephbspencer.com.

Joseph knows that we book lovers adore coffee, so as part of his tour, he's giving out a Starbucks Giftcard!  That's 25$ to be exact, and can buy you lots of delicious coffee to nom on while you're reading a lovely book...like Wrage? Comment below to win!