My cousins, Carol and Adam Kunz (co-writing under the pen name of C.A. Kunz), have just released their second novel, Dark Days. It’s a follow up to their first effort, The Childe, and is second in a series of five. I’m not usually a huge fan of the young adult/vampire/fantasy/teen angst genre, but since actual relatives wrote The Childe, I thought I should at least give their book a try. The overall story and their combined writing style pleasantly surprised me (of course I am a little biased).
As many first-time authors discover, no publisher was interested in the work of C.A. Kunz, their teen vampire or her angst. So, Carol and Adam explored self-publishing and decided to go for it.
Being self-published, I was interested in how Carol and Adam were able to market their novel and create a following to move units and (hopefully) get an actual publisher to take on books two through five. I have known several self-published authors and most of their books did not sell enough copies to cover the up front expenses, let alone ever turn a profit.
Carol and Adam decided to divide and conquer. Adam took control of all the social media, creating an active online persona for the fictitious C.A. Kunz. He regularly blogs about characters, tweets locations of book signings and stays active in the small but passionate circle of indie authors. He also uses business contacts through his work at a certain theme park in Orlando to generate interest and low-cost publicity. Along with being Adam’s mom, Carol takes care of all the business dealings, making sure all bases are covered from a legal standpoint. They both appear at book signings and public relations events.
Through some dedication, C.A. Kunz has been able to build a small but loyal following. Their second book, Dark Days, available through Amazon.com and regionally in bookstores, is helping Adam and Carol fulfill a life-long dream of being authors. Pretty cool.
