Hey everyone,

The new year has certainly rolled in and brought a ton of surprises along with it. On January 1st, my publisher Lyrical Press was acquired by Kensington Publishing Corp and is now a digital imprint for this large New York publishing house.

I’m so excited by this move forward by Lyrical, to grow and expand within the digital world. Lyrical will be bringing you more top quality books by fabulous authors and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

Last week I signed contracts for my backlist of books, including Protector, Warrior and Witness Pursuit. They will be back on the market around mid-March once the contracts are received and the books relisted (hopefully sooner.) Enchanter, the third book in my YA/NA series, will also release with Kensington/Lyrical in May. I’m actually sitting on Enchanter’s cover right now, and I can’t wait to show it to you. The moment I’m given the go-ahead, I’ll be blasting that baby about.

Hunter, Highlander’s Captive and Highlander’s Castle are all available on Amazon, so you can grab copies of those whenever you like. And a huge thank you to all of you who have. Highlander’s Castle joined Captive in Amazon’s bestsellers charts within just a couple of days after release, so thank you. Thank you.

On another note, I’ve received several personal emails and messages from aspiring authors this month. I love helping other authors as I can, and I’ve had some great, thought-provoking discussions. I was particularly asked if I was now a hybrid author, a writer who is both traditionally and self published? And if so, how did I come to that decision and why? I’m bringing those questions to my blog this week, and to share the information on it.

As I see it, every writer has the choice of how they want to publish their books, it’s just traveling down that road and discovering how to negotiate all the twists and turns that’s the tough part. Do you want to seek an agent, cold submit to publishers, or self publish? There’s so much advice out there and it’s really hard to weigh everything up and make the right decision. That was the major concern these aspiring authors who messaged me had. They didn’t want to make a wrong choice, so what advice did I have?

I’ve been writing for six years and have been exactly where they are, and understand where they want to head. Writing a book takes time, dedication and love, but that’s only the beginning. Editing a book takes learning our craft, guidance and a ton of hard work. Publishing a book takes knowledge, knowledge and knowledge. Anyone these days can self publish a book, but the last thing you want to do is have a book out there which is not up to grade.

Knowledge is needed. That’s why there are publishers. Publishing is a business, and publishers have that knowledge. Traditional authors come by some of that knowledge as they traverse the path to publication with their publishers. Self published authors must seek that knowledge on their own, and I applaud them for all the hard work they do in getting there. No matter if we’re a traditional, hybrid, or a self published author, we all work hard.

Back to the question though? Why did I chose to become a hybrid author? Honestly, it kind of just happened, and snuck right up on me. First, I wrote a novella (Hunter) and I wanted to use it to market my YA/NA series. That’s what started it all.

I do though have a professional editor, and I’d never release a self published book without having my editor go over my books with the skill and finesse she does. I’m a professional author, and if you read any one of my books, you’ll get nothing but my very best. I will also continue to publish by both means, traditionally and self published. I just love the combination of the two.

I also believe 2014 will be the year we see a large number of traditionally published authors (like myself,) branch out and self publish some of their works. Why not? This is the best time to be a writer, and there are so many avenues open to us.

We just have to make sure we make the right decision at the right time so we keep things moving along smoothly. For aspiring authors. Only you know what’s best for you and your work. I’m sure you’ll seek advice and probably get a ton of information, but weigh it all up for yourself and see what feels right. If you decide though to self publish your first book, I highly recommend you seek an editor. I know they cost money, but is this a career choice or not? Beta readers and critique partners are fabulous people. They do an amazing job. Love them. But professional editors are like gold. Go for the gold. 🙂

If anyone else would like to offer advice, drop in a comment. Perhaps you’re like me and are now a hybrid author. Let me know. I’d love to hear about it.

–ooOoo–

~~ Joanne Wadsworth’s Books ~~

Buy HIGHLANDER’S CASTLE (Highlander Heat #1) at: Amazon Kindle

Buy HIGHLANDER’S CAPTIVE (Highlander Heat Novella) at: Amazon Kindle

Buy HUNTER (Magio-Earth Novella) at: Amazon Kindle

Buy WITNESS PURSUIT (Bodyguards #1) at: Amazon Kindle / B&N Nook / iTunes / Kobo

Buy WARRIOR (Magio-Earth #2) at: Amazon Kindle / B&N Nook / iTunes / Kobo

Buy PROTECTOR (Magio-Earth #1) at: Amazon Kindle / B&N Nook / iTunes / Kobo

Take care this week.