BIO:
Have you ever had a dream? We mean one of those ‘impossible’ dreams that you know is out there if you can just reach out far enough? A dream job is the one where you get paid to do what you love. That is how HKD Books was born. But it was a long pregnancy. Before I could start HKD I had to get a degree, so I put on my big girl panties and went to university, studied Media and focused as much as I could on Publishing especially Romance. I even did an Intellectual Property essay, which was used in the Media and Communication department’s yearly digital magazine, Neutral. http://neutralmagazine.com/article/intellectual-property/.
I also conducted an in-depth research project, asking romance readers, what they read and when, what they like or dislike in books and characters, as well as critically analysing a number of romance books from the list of favorite authors listed by the focus group.
Kim, an HKD team member, is finishing her associates degree, in English Literature and Women’s studies and writes under the pen name Gemma K Murray.
Website: http://www.hkdbooks.co.uk/
Q: Describe your job.
A: Our job is to help an author(s) with any part of publishing, that isn’t writing. I don’t have that skill and Kim has her own books to write. But we can help with content editing, line editing, publishing, book covers, and promotional work, for both new books and your back catalog.
Q: What motivated you to get involved in the romance industry?
A: I used to read mainly children’s books, I found that if I had read a book, I could encourage the children, both my-own and the school kids I worked with, to enjoy and find excitement in what they were reading. Then I stopped smoking, and the first rough day my mum pulled her book out of her bag and sent me to read. I was hooked, I owe a lot to that book, Nora Robert’s Northern Lights, from there I found her JD Robb books and from future I found paranormal romance and Keri Arthur. Keri led me straight to Coffee Time Romance, that was October 2007 I’ve been there ever since, first as a moderator, then a reviewer and that’s when I decided I wanted to edit. I was reviewing books, which were good but only need a little work to have made them great, with some it was just a good line edit, so errors didn’t through you out of the story.
Q: Ebooks or print. Do you read both? If you read ebooks, what reader do you have?
A: I have to say both, I have a problem with light sensitivity and I have found the greyscale screen on e-readers helps, so now the books I would buy in print to add to the bookcase still get bought, and I also buy the e-book so I can read it comfortably.
Q: What do you consider the best way for an author to do promos?
A: That depends on the author, everyone is different and it is important to do what you are comfortable with. If you’re a Facebook fan and you hang out there a lot, then Facebook is the place to be. If you are not comfortable there, then a chat/party isn’t going to work, the readers are going to know there is a problem and won’t enjoy the event. It is better to find somewhere you are happy, if you are excited about what you are doing, your readers will be as well.
Q: What’s the one most important thing a reader/author should know about your business?
A: Talk to us, if you want something that isn’t listed on our site, tell us and we will either find a way to do it, or help you find someone who can. We work with three amazing companies, who are all experts in what they do. Between us we have hundreds of contacts and I’m certain there isn’t a problem or service we can’t work out between us. An author recently asked what we could offer on a month by month basis for her back catalog. We now offer a monthly service leaving our author with more time to write, while still maintaining an online presence and exposure for her earlier books.
Q: What are your guidelines for a writer/author to submit a book/manuscript for a review or to sell?
A: This is something we have thought long and hard about, for promotional work we don’t have any restrictions, but for editing work we feel it is important to restrict the books we accept to ones we would love. For example, I don’t read thriller books, ever, I have little knowledge of them and I really don’t enjoy them, I don’t even watch thriller movies. Although we could probably do a technical line edit, we would not be able to offer a constructive content edit, even if I did manage to finish reading it.
With that in mind we ask that you send us a few chapters of your work, we promise not to judge your writing level we just want to make sure we can love your characters. Sometimes a book with needing more development work is more fun to work with, it brings out the teaching assistant in me, I love working with people to develop what they do and seeing them achieve their goals.
Please add anything else you feel is important.
Contact us at: hkdbooks@gmail.com
We could not offer all we do without our friends and experts, please visit their sites.
http://www.coffeetimeromance.com
http://stellaprice.deviantart.com/gallery/5827427
http://bewitchingbooktours.blogspot.co.uk
Thank you so much for having us with you, and please don't look to closely at my editing, I am suitably ashamed
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the glimpse into HKD, Hollie. I hadn't given thought to author services until now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining us today. :)
Thank you for being here today, Hollie. I'll check out your services.
ReplyDeleteThank you Rose, I hadn't thought about the practical side of being an author until recently, I'm not one, but I have started to learn that it's as much about how much time it takes to do things as it what you are able to do yourself. So as I learn more about the needs of authors, I am aiming to be able to offer, practical author services.
ReplyDeleteThank's Sandy, if there is anything we can help you with let me know.
ReplyDeleteHi, Hollie! and great to see you here too. With all the media stuff we have to do now, having a helping hand would be most appreciated.
ReplyDeleteGreat to have you here Hollie! Seems like forever since we've chatted, but I see you're keeping very busy! :)
ReplyDelete*waves at Vicki, yeah my media degree took me in a whole new direction, but as you said, it is time consuming, but oh so much fun
ReplyDelete*runs and pounces Nicole
ReplyDeleteYes I am busy, but I busier would be better lol. How are you?
Great interview. Lots of good information.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rose, I hope some of it is useful
ReplyDeleteThank you for an interesting blog. There's a big market for author services with all the indie books. I won't publish any book that hasn't been edited. I'll check into your editing services.
ReplyDeleteBows at Cara's feet.
ReplyDeleteIt so good to hear that, I spend a lot of time explaining that indie does not mean you don't get your book edited, you just pick your editor.
Need help with publicity so I'll be glad to check out that side of your business.. Interesting blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jean if there is something you would like that isn't listed email me and I can make a custom service for you.
DeleteThank you for stopping by and sharing your services with us. As authors, we get so caught up in the book then promotion that we feel swamped. I'm sure you are a blessing to us and seem to have so much to offer!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Thank you Melissa, that's really sweet, it's what I wanted to do, help authors. I can't write but I can pretty much manage the rest of it.
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