Self publishing, podcasting and me

by Brian Holtz
(Canon City, Colorado)

Genre: Science Fiction

My name is Brian holtz and I have written two novels and I am working on a third. I have written seven shorter works of various lengths also, two of which I've published, one in an online webzine, and the other in a brittish print mag.

My first novel, Nephilim Push, I self published with what was then 1ST Books. It is now known as Authorhouse. My expirience with them was good, for the most part, other than the high cost of publishing. It cost me around $500 to use them, but back then I suppose I didn't know any better. I was pretty new to the whole DIY thing. Previously I'd spent my time preparing submissions and recieving rejections. I had no idea that vanity publishing was an option.

After everything was said and done, I sold about a hundred copies in my local community to family and friends, and a few more online at Amazon.com and other retailers.

My next effort was a science fiction novel for young adults. It is titled Collapse at hidden Verse Three-Three-Two. I published with Lulu.com this time and have found it to be not only more cost effective, but I have much greater control of the layout of the book. I've sold about 80 copies so far, and we'll see how it does online, as it has just recently appeared on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble, etc.

One thing I have done differently this time is that I have podcasted the book on Podiobooks.com for free listening to the masses. It is in 19 individual chapters. I've gotten a wonderful response from all who have checked it out and my fiction is now getting to more people than ever before. As of today it has seen over ten thousand downloads from the Podiobooks website and places like Itunes, with about 100 to 200 more each day. And it's only been available for just over a month. Keep in mind that the big dogs of podcasting like Scott Sigler and Mur Lafferty are seeing far greater numbers than that, but I feel like it's a good start. I would recommend podcasting to anyone who is concidering self-publishing thier fiction. Putting the episodes together is alot of work, but it's also fun and very rewarding.

So I've been writing for about 13 years now. I've always been a creative person. I was an artist first, and I have a degree from the Institute of art in Denver. I paint with acrylics and have painted both of the covers for my books.

I have always enjoyed reading dark fantasy, suspense/horror and sci-fi, mostly. So when I decided to try writing myself, those were the genres I was drawn to.

Obviously, being the next Stephen King is the holy grail of what we as authors are trying to aspire to, but for now, I'm pretty happy just getting my work out there to as many people as possible and reading and writing as much as I can.

Visit Darkside Sally.