Dawn Wilson Writing as Dawn Wilson

 

“Writes as Dawn Colclasure.” For a while, this is what I put on all of my profiles that had the name “Dawn Wilson.” (Wilson is my married name.) I was published under the name of Dawn Colclasure before I got married, and after marriage, I didn’t want to change that. I would have to start all over again and I didn’t want to. So I kept getting published with my maiden name, even though it bothered my husband at first. These days, he understands.

 

After I got involved in publishing, I used my married name. I was happy I could FINALLY have something going on with this name! And, of course, my married name was used when I worked jobs outside of the home.

 

So, for a while, I was Dawn Wilson the editor and Dawn Colclasure the freelance writer, columnist, book reviewer and author.

 

Then came the opportunity to have my children’s books published. Until that time, I published children’s books under the name Dawn Colclasure. This was before I started writing horror. Then I started getting published under that name in the horror genre. When I had a publisher interested in my children’s books, I expressed my concern about being published under the name of a writer of horror. What if the parents of kids who read my children’s books saw that and didn’t want their kids to read my books? So my publisher suggested that I use the Wilson name for my children’s books.

 

Then that publisher shut down before the books were published. And the unpublished children’s books manuscripts I was going to have published with her were in limbo.

 

After that happened, I decided to self-publish these books instead. In fact, I have a whole series that I had an illustrator for and I didn’t have much faith in finding a publisher for these books – or my other children’s books, either.

 

After making this decision, I changed my mind about using the Wilson name for these books, figuring that I could be the kind of author who writes children’s books AND horror. I mean, I’ve been doing that all along, right?

 

A few days ago, I was looking at the children's books page on my author site. I noticed there were not many books. Well, that’s going to change after I get my series published! Once I realized that, I thought of something else: Why not use the Wilson name for these books? After all, “Wilson” would be easier for kids to remember, as well as pronounce, than the last name “Colclasure.” I mean, I should keep my audience in mind for this, right? Wilson is an easier name for kids.

 

Once I decided on this, I made the decision that, yes, I will go ahead and use the Wilson name for my children’s books. It’s not like I have a TON of children's books to change the cover or interior files for this! There’s just a few of them. That’s not too much.

 

And it’s not like I’m known for writing children’s books under my maiden name, anyway. Really, I’m not. None of those books are bestsellers, or anything. So this name change won’t affect sales at all.

 

When I first entertained the idea of using the Wilson name as an author, I had one concern: What if this difference in name was being dishonest? Like I was trying to hide who was REALLY writing those books, or something? It’s not that way at all. I am not trying to hide – just make it easier for kids to remember and pronounce my dang last name! I would never hide my identity from people; I’m proud of my identity and got no problem with saying that, YES, I DO write horror in addition to stories for children. I am flexible like that.

 

But then I realized that using my married name for these books is not a form of dishonesty, but a form of rebranding. Authors rebrand themselves lots of times! Nothing wrong with it.

 

So, that set my mind at ease. And, anyway, I have the name “Dawn Colclasure Wilson” for my emails and some of my social media accounts. (I had to add my married name after I took on the position as editor, as well as proofreader.) Both names are there to let people know that I am one and the same person. I’m one person with two names. Ha. I will answer to either or both names. And both names will still be in those children’s books, on the copyright and “About the Author” pages. Just not as the author listed on the cover.

What Do Authors Want? Their Books to Be Published, Somehow!

 

Posing with my poetry book, Touched by Fire. I was thrilled when it was published!

This year has not been a good one for me author-wise so far. Not only did I receive the news that two publishers were shutting down, but books I was hoping to get out earlier in the year did not get released.

 

But like every good author, I’ve been picking myself up by my bootstraps and pressing onward.

 

The first thing I did was make a list of which one of my books was going out of print, and which publisher they were from. Up until then, I was able to keep this list in my head because there were only two books by two different publishers that were out of print. But recently, that number shot up to the double digits, so I had to write everything down.

 

Then I studied this list. After some thought, I selected which of my books would be self-published and which ones I would submit to a publisher who is willing to republish a previously published book. (I know of a few.) And I have been working on making that happen.

 

I have been posting about my ongoing quest to get my books back into print on social media. While I’ve been working on finding the right method to do so – such as getting books reformatted and either getting new or fixing up old covers for them – I have seen posts on social media from other authors way ahead of me in the game running into some problems. And it has really gotten me worried about running into those problems, too! Which is why I reached out to them to start a conversation on what sort of problems they were having and what’s being done to resolve these problems.

 

And while all of that has been going on, it has got me thinking about all of the things that we authors have done and are doing to get our books back into print.

 

See, when you’re a writer trying to get a book published, having a publisher accept your manuscript for publication is the best thing ever. Some of us are willing to sign with ANY publisher; a Big Five press, a small press, an independent publisher, or a hybrid publisher. Heck, even going through a POD service is not out of the picture – nor is self-publishing our books.

 

Whatever it takes to get a book published, that’s what we authors willing to make such concessions are willing to do!

 

Because then, our book will be published!

 

I know of one author who works with a publisher who doesn’t exactly do business as a publisher by the books, but he STILL publishes this author’s books and gets them out there. When I asked the author if he was okay with the way this publisher was doing business, he said he was just happy that his books are being published.

 

For many writers, that’s what they’re after. That’s the golden egg: Publication. And for many, they’re willing to get published no matter what it takes (well, outside of sacrificing their firstborn, of course).

 

Of course, some of us can only do so much to get our books published. There are many of us not willing or able to part with hundreds or thousands of dollars to get our books published. (Sadly, many authors are, and realize too late that they have been scammed.)

 

The reality is that there are many independent publishers out there willing to publish an author’s book without charging them an arm or a leg, but the author who is usually taken for a ride by a scammer is either not aware of them or they don’t do enough research into the many publishers that are out there. This isn’t to say that all of them are really gullible – scammers can be really good at what they do to get cold hard cash from a newbie author – but taking the time to really do some research on publishers is worth it if an author does not want to be scammed.

 

While I understand that many authors really want to get their book published, it’s not worth it if you get scammed. Do your research. I know that getting published is important, but getting scammed by a so-called “publisher” will really sour the experience of getting your book published if you’re out thousands of dollars in the process. (I recommend consulting Writer Beware and subscribing to WritersWeekly. The Horror Zine also maintains a list of reputable publishers.)

 

Aside from this unfortunate pitfall in an author’s quest to get published, today’s technological advances means there are unlimited possibilities for an author to get their books published. Even getting a book published as an audiobook is an option. Books can also be published as installments on sites such as Substack or even through blog posts. Podcasts may also be helpful for the author trying to find a way to get their book published. There are just so many choices available.

 

On the other hand, getting a book published digitally is not the same as having an actual book you can hold in your hands. Many authors prefer this, so they do what they can to make that happen. I strongly recommend that such authors proceed with caution and do their research to find a reputable publisher for this if they do not wish to self-publish their books.

 

Most authors are willing to snap up the best method of publication that works for them, even if some people feel it is not the right one. But as long as their book is published, or back in print, the author will be happy that they have accomplished that goal. And for such authors, that’s all that really matters.

“I Saw Your Post on Instagram”

 

Photo Credit: Atlantic Ambience via Pexels

If a writer wanted to know just what it takes to spread the word about their work and/or their books, there is one common piece of advice that would be given: “Put yourself everywhere.”

 

Yes, it’s exhausting.

 

Yes, it takes a lot of time.

 

And, yes, sometimes it feels like shouting into the void.

 

But it works. Seriously.

 

I know, there are A LOT of people who will see that advice and respond with, “Not everywhere; just in the right places.” In other words, put yourself where your audience is. But what if your audience is spread out on different social media sites? What if your audience is too young for Facebook but on the TikTok bandwagon? Then get on the TikTok bandwagon too – but don’t neglect other social media sites!

 

That’s my opinion, anyway. As a freelance writer, author, and book reviewer, I try to be on as many social media websites as possible. The same goes for the work I do for Twisted Dreams Press.

 

And as much as it makes me cringe to use X, I use X (when I remember to!). But I only use X for Twisted Dreams Press.

 

So imagine my delight when I got an email from a prospecting author who started his inquiry with “I saw your post on Instagram.” If ever there was a form of validation that all those promotional efforts I do on social media sites is not a waste, this is it.

 

Sure, I don’t get these kinds of messages very often, but it is nice to receive them. It lets me know that I did NOT waste my time posting THAT particular thing on THAT particular site. (And, of course, this also means that my targeted audience is indeed on that particular site.)

 

I may not be doing much promotion on my personal Instagram, but for the promotional posts on Instagram that happen to catch someone’s notice, those are the golden moments that tell me that, hey, maybe I did something right!

 

But it’s not just receiving a message that I pay attention to when it comes to gauging whether or not I am on the right path promoting on a site. I also pay attention to likes, reactions, and comments. I notice if a post goes viral (oh, I had FUN thanking over 100 people for sharing one post in particular after it got lots of reposts on Bluesky), as well as the posts that don’t do very well at all.

 

I used to wonder why businesses pay attention to such things and why it even mattered at all. Now I know that looking at how posts do on certain social media sites and if they go viral is just as important to the writer as it is for a business. We writers are trying to promote our work/ We’re trying to get the word out about something that was published. We also want to show that we are taking this writing thing seriously, because, guess what? Editors, agents and publishers notice these things. They are on social media too. It’s important for us to position ourselves as serious writers worth their time and attention.

 

Some people may feel that we should only focus our energy on the platforms that work, whether it’s Substack, Instagram, TikTok or YouTube. As for me, I’ll keep spreading myself out on various social media sites. I don't use all of them every single day (I'm usually on Bluesky and Facebook every day), but I'm there. Sometimes, I'll make an appearance on the other ones too. 

 

I don’t use all of my social media sites for my writing, but at least I’m still there. And I’m willing to share a post so that my voice among the hundreds of others on the site is not a silent one.

Draft2Digital is Going to Start Penalizing Indie Authors with Low Sales

 

Photo Credit: Gustavo Fring on Pexels

 

Self-published authors and independent publishers who have used Draft2Digital (D2D) for publishing books were given unfortunate news this week: Anyone who did not earn $100 in sales in a year would have to pay an annual fee of $12. That may not seem like much, but for a lot of self-published authors using Draft2Digital – myself, included – annual sales of books typically did not reach that magical amount of money. Never mind that Draft2Digital already takes a large cut of sales of each book sold through their services. Now they wanted their clients to pay a fee if they don’t earn $100 in sales in a year.

This penalty for failing to earn a minimum of $100 a year in book sales feels like a punishment for not being successful in selling our books. It’s basically penalizing an author for being poor.

 

As an author and a publisher, I have to say that the one thing we do not have any control over are book sales. Believe me, I know. I once spent three months doing ALL THE THINGS to promote and market a new book, but there was not a single sale of this book in that time period. That’s right; I worked my ass off to promote my book, only to earn ZERO sales for my efforts.

 

Because of this fee that Draft2Digital will begin charging, a lot of authors and independent publishers I know who have used them have reacted by canceling their Draft2Digital accounts and taking their business elsewhere. 

 

Until I started using Draft2Digital as well as Smashwords (which is now in partnership with Draft2Digital), I used Kindle Direct Publishing, which is a service offered by Amazon. I started out using CreateSpace before it became Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). But after I ran into a host of problems in trying to get books and covers formatted, I switched to Draft2Digital.

 

That worked until it didn’t.

 

I was planning to once again start using Draft2Digital when I resume self-publishing books in June, but in light of this recent turn of events, I am not so sure.

 

One problem with using KDP is that a lot of people boycott Amazon. They refuse to buy ANYTHING from Amazon, or even get a free ebook. (Not everyone has a Kindle Unlimited account.) You would think that Amazon’s Expanded Distribution program, which allows for books to be available through other sites such as Walmart and Books-A-Million, would solve this problem, but unfortunately, it’s not a very broad reach. What Draft2Digital offered was making ebooks AND print books available through more sites, such as Kobo, Thalia, Apple Books, and more. An author really wants to have their book EVERYWHERE in order to increase their chances of more sales and visibility – AND especially to appease the crowd who refuse to buy anything from Amazon!

 

Another thing that Draft2Digital did for authors who published through them was eliminate the tedious work of formatting ebooks for various sites, such as Kobo, Smashwords and Apple Books. This was another thing that appealed to me, since I don’t have formatting software like Atticus, so formatting is a nightmare for me.

 

And those perks were great, but now they are ones many of us have been forced to go without once we choose to leave Draft2Digital over this very unfair annual fee.

 

This whole situation has brought up a lot of discussion over whether authors should pay to publish, as well as sparking controversy over the ones who choose to leave Draft2Digital because of this fee.

 

In an email by Ricardo Fayet, one of the founders of Reedsy, he takes a stab at trying to justify just why D2D is now charging an annual fee:

 

“In the AI age, this doesn’t seem sustainable anymore. Distributors like Draft2Digital have a responsibility to the retailers they work with, and part of that responsibility is to make sure that the books they send to them don’t infringe on copyrights, don’t contain plagiarism, and aren’t full of AI-generated nonsense.

 

Running these checks has a cost — and not running them would have a much higher cost, as retailers would just start treating all D2D books (and all indie books in general) as spam.

 

So what’s the solution? We just saw it: introducing fees high enough to prohibit scammers, but low enough to keep publishing accessible.”

 

First of all, it would seem that us authors who DO NOT use AI and are not plagiarizing content in our books are going to carry the brunt of those who refuse to follow the rules. We have to pay just to prove that we are honest.

 

Second, while the fee may seem small, that is not at issue here. What is at issue is the principle of the matter. We should not have to be forced to pay an annual fee just because we failed to earn $100 in a year, which would make The Powers That Be at Draft2Digital very happy because that would mean more money for them. And since we won’t be bringing in more money for them, we will have to pay a fee, which is equivalent to being taxed.

 

And contrary to what Fayet states in his email, I will NOT use this fee as an incentive to work harder to promote my books published through Draft2Digital. Been there, done that. Won’t do it again. (I DO promote my books, but I don’t put an insane amount of energy into it. I don’t have that kind of time!)

 

Yes, we could just ignore this whole mess and explore other options to self-publish our books, but most of those other options do not look good.

 

In Fayet’s email, he notes that B&N Press will no longer list any book on their site which is less than $14.99. I publish a lot of poetry chapbooks, and none of them are for sale for that amount of money (and they never will be; it’s an outrageous price to pay for a book that is only 25 pages).

 

As far as Lulu is concerned, while I have heard good things about them, I have also heard that they usually take longer to publish a book or ebook.

 

IngramSpark is another option. They do charge a fee to “go wide” (which means to have your book available on more retailer sites), but so does KDP (the charge is a higher cut of royalties). IngramSpark also charges a fee for their clients who want to get one-on-one support from customer service. Actually, this article breaks down the fees one can expect to see when using IngramSpark.

 

Kobo Writing Life is another option. They do not charge fees and authors receive a higher percentage of royalties. Read their FAQ here. Additionally, they allow for books to have a price as low as $2.99, something that is desirable for ebook publishers.

 

So, while many indie authors and publishers are expressing their displeasure over Draft2Digital’s recent installment of fees, keep in mind that there are other options. As for me, using D2D was nice while it lasted, but because of this annual fee, it looks like I won’t be using them anymore.