Tracey H. Kitts: "Pirates Cut Into My Earnings"

Hello Fellow Writers!

Can you believe it's already September 14th? That means my book Punishing the Art Thief will be out in just TWO days. I'm so excited but I'm also a bit freaked out. My dream of being published is about to become true. Then I think - "Oh no, what if my parents read what I wrote? Sunday dinner will never be the same again!" Then I think - "Well, I'm married and we have a baby, so surely they don't think I'm a virgin still, right? RIGHT?" As you can see I'm a little weirded out.... lol

I was chatting with another Ellora's Cave author (who just happens to be multi-published) Tracey H. Kitts, and she agreed to answer some questions for us! Of course the whole literary agent thing is on my mind, so I started off asking her about that.

Shoshanna: Do you have a literary agent? If yes, how did that come about? If no, do you think you need one? 

Tracey: I don't have an agent. But someday, it would be nice:) I don't think that everyone needs an agent just starting out, but eventually once you make it big (and we all plan to, right?) then you'll probably need one. As the literary world goes more an more digital, I find myself pushing back when I'll look for an agent. At first I thought it was really important. Then, I learned to put together proposals and got several contracts on my own. Plus, pirates keep cutting into earnings. So, am I glad right now to not have to pay someone else a cut of my hard earned royalties? Yes. It's one of those tricky things that I'm not always sure about. Right now, I think I'm doing alright by myself.

Shoshanna: I've heard a lot about pirates stealing e-books. That sucks that they eat into your royalties. Any tips on promoting your book once it's out?

Tracey: I think that like a lot of authors, I'm still trying to figure out the best type of promo. I've done a little bit of everything. One of my editors told me that the very best promotion is to follow it up with another good book. I agree with her:)

Shoshanna:  Ooh, me too :)

Tracey: Thanks so much for having me:) "Grab life by the fangs" www.traceyhkitts.com

Shoshanna:  Thanks for being here! And can I just say I am *drooling* over the cover of Sex Symbol!

Okay, it's Shoshanna again. So, fellow writers, I've been having such a ball interviewing other authors for their professional tips and advice. I think it's really helpful to hear things straight from the people who know!

Today will be a busy day for me, because I got back the critique from one of my beta readers of The Wooden Pony, the 5000 word short story I just wrote, and I need to revise and submit it soon for that anthology. I know it's a long shot since they are only accepting 20 stories but it was fun to write anyway!

Have a good week, guys, and if you have any questions of your own for Tracey (or me of course) please put them in the comments and I'll pass them along to her!