Publishing is hard! I'd never realized just how many things I'd have to do to make sure I'm ready for this! Every time I turn around I'm getting ideas on marketing before publication, marketing after publication, marketing, marketing, marketing! One really great thing is that I'll be publishing through Little Prince Publishing and had some awesome advice on things to do to market my book!! (okay, I realize I used an exclamation point in every one of those sentences, but I feel they were necessary :) )
I knew that marketing would be key in turning this into a success, but I didn't realize how time consuming it is, and will continue to be. I'm still working on edits and I'm trying to sell my book already. I have my Facebook fan page, my book website, my Goodreads' Author page, book trailer, I'm working on an Author website (with a real domain name) and every one of those things is sucking my time away. At least I know it's not going down into some endless abyss. It will pay off, but I need to do even more work on it.
So, as bad as I am at setting goals and following through, I'm giving myself until this weekend to have my edits done. Then I'll be able to get my next proof copy for the beginning of May. I need to get ready for a giveaway on Goodreads and I really need some ARCs for book reviews by the end of May. That gives me a month. To do another round of edits and finalize everything, so I can spend June promoting the launch.
On a very positive note, I finished my book trailer!! Thanks to the amazing generosity of Grindmouth over at DeviantArt.com who let me use a number of her beautiful photographs for the trailer.
Off to edit!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Choices, Choices...
So, I've sent off for my proof copy of Songbird, which was a scary feeling. Each day I get closer to publishing and I realize how little I know about the publishing world. Over he past few days I've been reading blogs and trying to learn everything I can.
Well, yesterday I spent an hour reading a forum about the importance of book covers. I knew they were important, but I don't think I'd really considered how important and what exactly it is that captures the reader's attention. Until yesterday, I was pretty happy with the cover I created using Create Cover. The stock photo was pretty and soothing, just the effect I was going for. But did it really represent my book. The field has a nice mix of colors, but my book takes place in the city.
After long hours last night trying to figure out my photo program I came up with a new possible cover. All that's left is getting a few opinions.
Well, yesterday I spent an hour reading a forum about the importance of book covers. I knew they were important, but I don't think I'd really considered how important and what exactly it is that captures the reader's attention. Until yesterday, I was pretty happy with the cover I created using Create Cover. The stock photo was pretty and soothing, just the effect I was going for. But did it really represent my book. The field has a nice mix of colors, but my book takes place in the city.
After long hours last night trying to figure out my photo program I came up with a new possible cover. All that's left is getting a few opinions.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Self-Publishing
I've resisted this. I've used every excuse I could think of to avoid doing this. Self-publishing was definitely not something I wanted to do. Everything I read from agents and even other authors (published and not) told me not to even try.
But I'm going to do it. For a long time, I've gone the traditional route, and I haven't completely given up on it. I'm just at the point where I need to feel like I'm moving ahead. So, I'm going to take Songbird and self-publish.
I'll do another round of edits and change some minor things, but as a whole I'm pretty happy with the way it's written. I don't really see this as something an agent will pick up. The number of times I've read things like "don't use flashbacks" is countless, yet that's what this book is about. A girl who lets her memories control her choices.
Today, I went on Create space and started working on the cover. Last year I had used my free proof copy from the Nano competition to creat one, but that was too dark and I felt that it didn't really work with the romance genre of the book. This is what I have so far:
The photo was a generic one that Createspace offers but I'm pretty happy with it and I'm going to play around with it to see if I'll be able to use it for my Smashwords (ebook) cover as well.
The blurb on the back is:
There are defining moments in life when everything changes. For Dani Mays, it was the day she witnessed her father kill her brother. Now seventeen years-old, she still hasn't put it behind her.
After Jace's death, she bounced between her alcoholic mother and foster homes, until she found a permanent place. And a reason to stay: Reece McCabe. He's her best friend, yet Dani wants more from Reece. When he turns her down, he shatters her illusions again.
Faced with losing Reece, Dani struggles to define his place in her life and escape the memories of her brother's death and the influence it has over her choices. Even as she weaves the pieces of her heart back together, the past becomes more than a memory when a former foster brother reappears and Dani begins receiving threatening phone calls.
There are still a couple of points in there that I'm considering changing, so feel free to make suggestions!
I'm actually really excited about this! I still have a ways to go since it'll take me a week or so to edit then another to format. then the wait for my proof copy, but I'm hoping that I can have the Smashwords version up sooner. Then I'll have to work on the marketing aspect!
But I'm going to do it. For a long time, I've gone the traditional route, and I haven't completely given up on it. I'm just at the point where I need to feel like I'm moving ahead. So, I'm going to take Songbird and self-publish.
I'll do another round of edits and change some minor things, but as a whole I'm pretty happy with the way it's written. I don't really see this as something an agent will pick up. The number of times I've read things like "don't use flashbacks" is countless, yet that's what this book is about. A girl who lets her memories control her choices.
Today, I went on Create space and started working on the cover. Last year I had used my free proof copy from the Nano competition to creat one, but that was too dark and I felt that it didn't really work with the romance genre of the book. This is what I have so far:
The photo was a generic one that Createspace offers but I'm pretty happy with it and I'm going to play around with it to see if I'll be able to use it for my Smashwords (ebook) cover as well.
The blurb on the back is:
There are defining moments in life when everything changes. For Dani Mays, it was the day she witnessed her father kill her brother. Now seventeen years-old, she still hasn't put it behind her.
After Jace's death, she bounced between her alcoholic mother and foster homes, until she found a permanent place. And a reason to stay: Reece McCabe. He's her best friend, yet Dani wants more from Reece. When he turns her down, he shatters her illusions again.
Faced with losing Reece, Dani struggles to define his place in her life and escape the memories of her brother's death and the influence it has over her choices. Even as she weaves the pieces of her heart back together, the past becomes more than a memory when a former foster brother reappears and Dani begins receiving threatening phone calls.
There are still a couple of points in there that I'm considering changing, so feel free to make suggestions!
I'm actually really excited about this! I still have a ways to go since it'll take me a week or so to edit then another to format. then the wait for my proof copy, but I'm hoping that I can have the Smashwords version up sooner. Then I'll have to work on the marketing aspect!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Writing What You Read? Maybe Not.
Write what you know. What you read. I've heard it so many times, that this is what good writers do. If you want to write science fiction, then read it. If you want to write romance, then read it. On and on. So many times that I feel guilty for not actually doing it.
I write YA. But I don't read it. Oh, I've read a few pieces, but for the most part I'm just not interested in the stories that are out there, and those that I am are just not written well. I read romance. I have since I was 14 years old and found an old Harlequin in a garage sale box my mum had in the basement. I've probably read well over two thousand romance novels and for my favorite authors, I've read their's multiple times.
But I can't write it.
Not because I don't know it or like it. But because I do. I love reading about characters falling in love and facing problems, only to over come them to have a happy ending. (Although, I have to admit that I am the last, absolute last, to suggest seeing a romance movie)
YA romance though, is entirely different. The characters are in an entirely different place than those in regular romance novels. And for me that appeals to my imagination. I've read so many romance novels that I'd feel as if anything I wrote would just be a convergence of those themes, and stories, and characters. By writing YA, a genre that I have read very little of, I'm able to keep it my own. I love reading the YA work on tNBW, but that's because I'm reading it not just for pleasure, but with a critical eye. I can critique and suggest and know that where their story is going is vastly different from mine.
So for me, I'm going to put this idea of 'write what you read' to the side for now, and keep my work separate from my pleasure.
I write YA. But I don't read it. Oh, I've read a few pieces, but for the most part I'm just not interested in the stories that are out there, and those that I am are just not written well. I read romance. I have since I was 14 years old and found an old Harlequin in a garage sale box my mum had in the basement. I've probably read well over two thousand romance novels and for my favorite authors, I've read their's multiple times.
But I can't write it.
Not because I don't know it or like it. But because I do. I love reading about characters falling in love and facing problems, only to over come them to have a happy ending. (Although, I have to admit that I am the last, absolute last, to suggest seeing a romance movie)
YA romance though, is entirely different. The characters are in an entirely different place than those in regular romance novels. And for me that appeals to my imagination. I've read so many romance novels that I'd feel as if anything I wrote would just be a convergence of those themes, and stories, and characters. By writing YA, a genre that I have read very little of, I'm able to keep it my own. I love reading the YA work on tNBW, but that's because I'm reading it not just for pleasure, but with a critical eye. I can critique and suggest and know that where their story is going is vastly different from mine.
So for me, I'm going to put this idea of 'write what you read' to the side for now, and keep my work separate from my pleasure.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Character Appeal
So, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about characters. Okay, I've really been spending a lot of time watching Criminal Minds - all 5 1/2 seasons in about 4 weeks (how did it take me so long to figure out this is one of the best shows ever??)! What does a TV show have to do with my writing? Well, if you've seen Criminal Minds you know that the cast of characters is just that perfect mix. There's the typical FBI agent types and then the eccentric ones that make the show. I love crime shows, and for the most part they consist of those normal characters, nothing really outside the box, but for some reason these characters just stick with me. Penelope Garcia and Dr. Spencer Reid are so not what I would think of in a show like this, yet they are my favorites and their interactions with the other characters make me like those characters as well.
So, again, what does this have to do with my writing? Basically it got me thinking about how in YA and, really in any kind of romance novel I've ever read (and I've read a lot), these types of characters are secondary ones. Garcia's character is too wacky, too big, too loudmouthed. Reid's character is too nerdy, too socially awkward, too skinny. Yet they are the ones I love, because they seem more... well, more me. It had me looking at my writing and the work I've produced. My characters are those typical ones you expect to find.
I realize why I haven't written a Garcia or Reid. Garcia is not that ideal lead girl, she just too much. And Reid, well, a character like him would require a lot of research :) But maybe that's the problem I'm having with my characters. They're starting to feel the same, because I haven't been willing to step outside my comfort zone, to spend the time to really develop a three-dimensional character that a reader will love for their oddities. I've been stuck taking the safest route in ensuring character appeal, without really thinking about the characters.
A while back I wrote about observing people, and I really think I need to do that more.
On my iPod:
Nautical Disaster by The Tragically Hip
So, again, what does this have to do with my writing? Basically it got me thinking about how in YA and, really in any kind of romance novel I've ever read (and I've read a lot), these types of characters are secondary ones. Garcia's character is too wacky, too big, too loudmouthed. Reid's character is too nerdy, too socially awkward, too skinny. Yet they are the ones I love, because they seem more... well, more me. It had me looking at my writing and the work I've produced. My characters are those typical ones you expect to find.
I realize why I haven't written a Garcia or Reid. Garcia is not that ideal lead girl, she just too much. And Reid, well, a character like him would require a lot of research :) But maybe that's the problem I'm having with my characters. They're starting to feel the same, because I haven't been willing to step outside my comfort zone, to spend the time to really develop a three-dimensional character that a reader will love for their oddities. I've been stuck taking the safest route in ensuring character appeal, without really thinking about the characters.
A while back I wrote about observing people, and I really think I need to do that more.
On my iPod:
Nautical Disaster by The Tragically Hip
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