This indie author thing I’m doing doesn’t come with a definitive handbook. Why hasn’t someone written it yet? “Guaranteed Success for the Indie Author.” That could be a big seller.

I’m just slightly over the three-year mark of publishing indie, so I still feel like a newbie in may respects. I have learned a few things, thankfully, and I don’t make as many mistakes as I did on my first release.

In 2015 I released my fourth novel, completed my fifth, and got a good chunk of my sixth written as well. Now that I have a small list of available books and others on the horizon, I have to begin to strategize differently compared to when I started this fun adventure.

Amazon has of course been my main-stay through all of this. I’ve counted on KDP Select as a means of getting my name out there through offering free promotions and deeply discounted promotions. I’ve had a number of successes through this method, but now that I’ve reached this point, I started to realize that I want any reader on any device to be able to have access to at least some of my books.

So I’m in the process of removing my first two novels off of KDP Select and will be publishing them through Smashwords for optimized distribution through many different channels. The point of this move is this: if someone by chance runs across my name, website, or Facebook page, I want that person to be able to run into my books regardless of whether they read via Kobo, Apple, or B&N. I feel like I’m finally at a stage where I need to be everywhere.

Maybe I’ve waited to long to do this. It’s impossible to tell, but I’ve made the decision to permanently lower my prices on my first two novels and broaden their scope. We’ll see how it goes.

My two most recent novels will continue on KDP Select because I see the value that I’m getting from that program.

So here’s to trying new things. I’d appreciate any thoughts you might have.