Self-published author Bella Andre to give Book Expo America keynote on selling 700,000 ebooks

SAN FRANCISCO, May 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- San Francisco Bay Area Author Bella Andre will be giving a keynote titled "Making It As An Indie Author: Lessons learned a year and 700,000 ebooks later" at Book Expo America on June 4th at 1:40 p.m. as part of the Digital Book 2012 conference.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120530/SF15836)

Andre's bachelor's degree in Economics from Stanford may have made her an unlikely candidate to write sexy romance novels, but the perfect person to run her own business. She has sold more than 700,000 ebooks, the majority priced between $2.99 and $5.99 at retailers including Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords. Unlike a traditional publishing contract where she would receive 25% of the net price of the ebook, by putting together the cover and descriptions herself, hiring editors and proofreaders, and distributing directly to retailers, she receives 70% of each book she self-publishes at $2.99 or higher.

Her May 24, 2012 release "If You Were Mine" (the fifth book in her romance series about the fictitious Sullivan family) has become an immediate global bestseller, debuting in the Top 50 at all major ebook retailers. "As a reader I love connected series," says Andre. "As a self-publisher, I can take a chance on launching my own 8 book series and then put my all behind it."

Expanding on her U.S. success, she has recently licensed self-published titles to publishers in Brazil (in a "very nice" deal by her foreign rights agent), Italy, Japan and Turkey. She has also contracted  translators to create German editions and has begun to produce audio books via Audible's ACX program by hiring a professional narrator. Five audio books will be out Fall 2012.

Says Andre about self-publishing, "I outline my ebook production cycle from writing the book to distributing it to marketing it to selling it. I've learned how to use graphic design software for my covers and tackled epub coding to create clean digital files. With every ebook, I'm constantly experimenting with new ideas, studying the results, and making adjustments. All of this has enabled me to jump from the mid-list to bestseller lists around the world with my indie releases."

If You Were Mine (The Sullivans, Book 5) by Bella Andre
ISBN: 9781938127212
Release Date: May 24, 2012

• Top 10 bestseller at Barnes & Noble, Apple UK, Apple Canada and Apple Australia
• Top 15 bestseller at Kobo Canada and Apple US
• Top 50 bestseller at Amazon and Kobo US

The author of 23 novels, Andre won the Award of Excellence for Romance Fiction and has previously been published by Pocket, Bantam Dell and Grand Central Forever. http://www.BellaAndre.com

Digital Book 2012 at BEA: http://bookexpoamerica.com/Concurrent-Events/IDPF-Digital-Zone

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SOURCE Bella Andre