“Author, Author!”

Meet the Lady Writers of Shaggy Dog Productions

Susan Moore Jordan

After many years in the music world, as student, teacher, performer, stage musical director, I wrote my first book in 2013 at the age of 75. Once I had written it, I wanted to hold a copy in my hands and decided to publish it. I opted to “self-publish,” partly because at the time there were fewer choices than there are today.

I honestly thought my book would be “one and done,” but hadn’t realized I had been bitten by the bug. From that first book came others, historical novels all set in the twentieth century, and all including music! Eventually, I embarked on a series of cozy mysteries and am currently writing book #7 in “The Augusta McKee Mystery Series.”

Writing is the most gratifying thing I’ve ever done. Publishing is difficult and demanding. Marketing is the most difficult part of being an author. We all like to think there are people out there who will enjoy what we’ve written. Finding them can be daunting.

After writing and—by choice—independently publishing eleven books (ten novels, one non-fiction), I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to become part of a cooperative publishing venture established by fellow author Belinda M. Gordon. My latest two novels proudly bear the imprint of Shaggy Dog Productions, LLC., and I am preparing to release a “box set” of a Kindle edition of my first three mysteries, also under the Shaggy Dog imprint.

Very little has changed so far as expenses incurred in publishing, primarily a small fee for the book’s ISBN. I had been publishing through Amazon KDP, both Kindle and paperback, and continue to do so but now with my SDP imprint.

I love being a Shaggy Dog author! While I still have the responsibility of formatting my book and preparing it for publication, the sense of community I enjoy now makes the tasks less onerous. Belinda is encouraging and helpful and provides images and memes to assist with marketing. Importantly, being a part of this cooperative means my books appear on the Shaggy Dog website and Instagram posts. All of us who are authors for SDP promote each other’s work.

It’s been a thrill to receive some recognition from two book award programs. The Case of the Slain Soprano and The Case of the Disappearing Director were Finalists in The Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards, as was one of my historical novels, Man with No Yesterdays. The Case of the Slain Soprano and Man with No Yesterdays were also Semi-Finalists in the Kindle Book Awards.

Over the next weeks, I’ll be privileged to introduce you to other Shaggy Dog authors. We have a great variety of offerings on our website! Romance, thrillers, mysteries, paranormal, fantasy, historical … I think something for everyone. You should check us out!

The Shaggy Dog logo definitely identifies us. Look for it!