Greetings from Rita Hestand
I know, you thought I forgot about this little letter
didn't you. Well, I've been a little busy lately.
All my books are now coming out at Writer's Exchange.
You can view them at: <http://www.writers-exchange.com/epublishing/rita-h.htm>
I'm sure a lot of your readers wonder why writer's change publishers
so much. That's a good question.
So this newsletter is going to talk about publishing books.

* * *

I've been with several publishing houses now, in the ebook
industry. The first one, a nice young company with a lot of eager
beavers, but lacking knowledge in the industry itself. Schedules
were missed, and by passed, advertising was nil, and people just didn't
get the word about it. The company folded. Partially due to the
inexperience, and also to the lack of funds to fianance all the
projects (books).
This isn't unusual in this business. Ebooks are a new diminsion
in publishing, and by now, I hope all of you are beginning to see some of what
the ebook industry is trying to do.
If you are a romance reader, you will quickly learn that the ebooks
of today take you a step beyond the traditional print published books. In other
words they don't adhere to formula. That my friends, is why I'm following the
ebook publishing road. I write contemporary (mostly) and I don't want to follow
a formula to write my books. I want my characters to be the kind of people you
can get to know and like. I want them to be believable. Not little Barbie and Ken
dolls that never do a wrong thing. I want you to sigh when you are done with my book,
not because it was so perdictable, but because it entertained you to the end.
Okay, so now you know why I'm in this business. Lets talk about e-publishing
for just a moment. Some people are afraid to tackle an ebook. Some are just afraid to
tackle a computer yet. But let's face it, someday we are gonna run out of trees, sad as
that is to say, it's the truth. If you don't believe me, notice the birds in your town and
how they flock at the malls and buildings. Trees are being cut down every day, to build homes,
to furnish factories with paper products. And the animals are homeless, so to speak.
I care about this. I hope you do to. As little as it may seem, buying or trying an
ebook, is saving part of a tree. Thank you.
Now, why do writers hop from one publisher to another? Well, it's the industry and the
youth of it, that causes some hopping. Some companies go into business not realizing that it is
like any other, you need money, experience and you have to work your buns off. A lot of young
hot shots think they are gonna get rich selling books on the internet and retire. Bullpucky!
Ebooks are in their infancy. There are still a lot of people afraid to read on their computers,
or that won't read on their computers. The readers are still too high for some. That's true, but
like any new product, they will come down. They already are!
But I'm getting off subject again.
As a reader, do you often wonder why you have to go from the author's website, to the publisher's
website, and sometimes to another just to buy the book? Of course you do. And yes, it only takes a few
clicks, but it seems to take more and if you have a slow computer, it's frustrating. Well, as a writer
I have to tell you, we don't control this part of the ebook process. Most of us sell our books on the
publisher's site, because that's where the publisher wants them sold. Now bookstores are opening up on
the net all over the place and publishers are listing their books and selling them through them too.
Why am I telling you all this? Simple. The more familiar you are with buying and where to buy
the more you will try our books.
Fictionwise, is one of the biggest outlets for ebooks right now on the net. <http://www.fictionwise.com/>
You can find many of the ebooks there. Ebook AD is another outlet. Ebook Home is another. But no matter what
store you shop, you can always find the book through the publisher.
There are many great e-publishers, and I'm going to list a few here so you can become familiar with thier names.
Hard Shell Word Factory, is one, the CEO, is Mary Z. Wolf, a giant in this industry but very approachable to any reader.<http://www.hardshell.com>
Wing E-Press, <http://www.wings-epress.com>. Writer's Exchange E-Publishing, Sandy Cummins is the CEO there, the address is <http://www.writers-exchange.com/>
Amber Quill Press, <http://www.amberquillpress.com> A new and upcoming e-publisher. Awe-Struck, is one that's been around a while,
<http://www.awe-struck.com> DiskUS, <http://www.diskuspublishing.com> New Concepts, one of the oldest ebook publishers. <http://www.newconceptspublishing.com>
These are a few that are quite reputable and have many good writers on thier staff. Visit them and check the books out.
Why does a author leave a e-publisher? Same reason a writer leaves a New York publisher, money, time schedules, company folds,
or company doesn't pay on time. There are many factors, I've used almost all these reasons.


Most e-publishers are great to work with. Writer's like them because they don't destroy
the writer's work. They also don't want to wait on the overly long waiting line for replies to their
work from print publishers. The odds of a publisher reading your work in New York and liking it well
enough to send you a contract are so slim that a lot of the writers are turning elsewhere--e-publishing.
Truth be known, the money isn't as good in e-publishing. We aren't getting rich doing it, in
other words. So why bother, you might wonder? Well, a writer writes because they have to, it's inborn and
nothing will change that. Whether we get published or not, we write. My answer to this question lies in my
age and my experiences. I'm a born gambler though, and I truly think that ebooks will take off.
I'd love to know how many of you read your books on a reader, and what percent read the books on
the computer. Do you enjoy it, or not? I'd love some feedback as to your own reactions to ebooks. So if
you have any comments, suggestions or ideas about them, please feel free to e-mail me about them.