This also means I owe you a post, but, unfortunately, my draft folder is woefully slim this week. Perhaps I can interest you in a sampling of some of my favorites from the vault:
You had a week to prepare. What could you possibly be doing other than crafting new amusing anecdotal stories for our reading pleasure?
Funny you should ask.
That’s right. I have been querying reviewers and am happy to report that advanced copies of The Fair & Foul received 5-star reviews from Readers’ Favorite.
So that’s great for you, but when can us regular readers get our hands on it?
Patience.
You know full well that we as a society have evolved beyond patience. We demand an update.
I would love to give you firm dates, but I am finalizing formatting.
You’ve been saying that for months now.
Formatting is nothing to take lightly. I put an excerpt up. Isn’t that enough?
Which you only announced on Facebook. What are you, some kind of cruel tease? We want dates, woman. Dates!
Enter Amazon: Hmm Allie, I really think you need to give yourself a deadline.
I’d love to, but I want to make sure it is perfect.
Have you ever heard the phrase, sometimes you have to shoot the engineer and go to market anyway?
Just what are you implying…
Failure to comply will result in probation from pre-order program for one year.
What is that?!? Did you just issue an ultimatum?
Amazon drops mic and exits without looking back.
Chirp. Chirp.
You were saying?
Right…
Available for pre-order now
The final proof is in the mail for the paperback version (I swear!) Once I have proven to myself that typos are minimized, the cover is wrapped correctly and no extra pages have been added (which could be as early as next week), I will be announcing the official launch date for my book. One thing is certain – it will be released before November 4th. It’s the final countdown!
I’ll happily accept any help offered as part of this book launch. Please let me know what you might need from me (in addition to the firm official launch date). Tell your friends. Reblog all you want. If you do, please also feel free to shamelessly plug your own links to your sites, services, books, or artisanallycrafted hand goods in the comments below.
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, a thirty second movie trailer went live. I was riding in the passenger seat coming back from our Thanksgiving visit when I saw the news. My initial reaction was OMG! Why is there no WiFi on the highway! Yes, I could use my data plan to stream it anyway, but I am a wee bit cheap, and I only had to be patient for a few hours.
By the time I arrived home, there was practically nothing else in my news feed. Star Wars! Han Solo was back, or at least would be next year! I was giddy. And then it hit me, my book’s re-release had gone live the same day and there was no way I could compete with that juggernaut. Have you ever hosted a party and no one show? It felt kinda like that.
I logged on to my stats. Yep, they looked pretty much as one might expect in those circumstances. I opened up my WordPress Reader and there it was, the Star Wars Trailer embedded in a post. I viewed it and my disappointment was made a little less disappointing. At least my news hadn’t gotten drowned out by something less worthwhile, like, I don’t know… a relatively unknown magazine’s decision to gain notoriety through cheap shock tactics.
A funny thing happened then. The author of that article, a fellow indie author named Michelle Prolux noticed my visit and re-blogged my post announcing my book launch. Suddenly it was like a dam opening. For those unfamiliar with her work, Michelle has written a YA Science Fiction/Romance novel called Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into Itand is the final days of an IndieGoGo campaign to fund her marketing efforts (she, like me, is in the process of re-releasing her work via new publishing channels). Considering the book is one of the perks of contributing, I would urge you to check out her campaign.
While I don’t necessarily believe in Karma, per say, I do completely believe that if you do kindness, others will do kindness to you. I love the idea of paying it forward. So when the opportunity to help in another indie author’s cover reveal popped up, I knew I had to jump on it. Now it is my turn to help another indie author’s big launch.
Cover design by Ravven (www.ravven.com)
I would like to introduce you to Jessica Minyard, author of the soon to be released (Feb 2015) YA Fantasy novel, Stones and Finger Bones.
Jessica describes herself as liking to sing loudly and dance on occasion without being particularly talented at either. Her interests include reading, writing, procrastinating, animal advocacy, musicals, accessories, memes, Harry Potter, and sweet tea.
Based on this, she and I have a number of things in common. I look forward to her novel’s release and am so happy that I was given the opportunity to be one of the first to see its cover.
Stone and Finger Bones Synopsis:
Aurelia Barone, Jewel of Starry Stone, harbors no illusions about the purpose of her life as heir to the throne. But after two failed betrothals, she starts to feel like nothing more than a pawn being moved aimlessly about a game board.
Until the night she loses everything.
Kidnapped by a wise-cracking mercenary with more than one identity, Aurelia embarks on a mission across land and sea to avenge her father’s death.
But an evil is rising from the ashes of memory. Insidious magic is stirring. The dregs of a once-powerful nation are thirsty for blood and revenge.
They seek to harness Aurelia. To tempt her. To manipulate her.
Back in October I decided to terminate my agreement with my publishing channel. While this decision will provide me with greater creative control of my existing work, it also presented a major challenge in that I did not own the rights to my original cover design. I was going to have to address this as books don’t tend to sell without covers no matter how many times we are told not to judge them.
I reviewed my options:
Sit back and sell nothing waiting for a big time publisher to sweep me off my feet and offer to pay for everything. Because that’s how it works, right…
Do it myself with Photoshop and hope that the casual viewer doesn’t notice the rough edge where I accidentally erased out too many pixels, but hey it is only the cost of a stock photo license!
Purchase a ready-made cover that might possibly, sorta, kinda, maybe represent a scene or theme from my book. Although, if I find a pre-made cover not requiring a full-page of explanation, does that mean the content of my work is so cliché that a suitable cover is on standby? Does that really matter? This option would be shoestring budget friendly. Meaning I could afford to actually do additional marketing with said cover.
Hire a professional hoping that with my limited experience I’m able to identify someone capable of reading my mind in 2-4 tries (and in as many weeks or less) well enough to produce a cover that not only do I like, but readers do as well. Because if reader’s don’t, I just bought myself a nice new decoration for my shelf and little else.
Launch a design contest and throw myself on the mercy of designers, some amateurs playing with Photoshop, some seasoned veterans, but all as hungry to distinguish themselves as I am. Sure, it could potentially cost more than hiring a single professional, but I’d have the one thing I was looking for when I started down this whole road – more choice (and a money back guarantee).
I thought long and hard about my options. It seemed that every 4th tweet that crossed my feed was “Bad Cover = Bad Sales!” No pressure!
After my eyes had gone blurry from viewing pages and pages of images and designer portfolios, I ultimately designed to bite the bullet and launched the design contest (I chose 99designs.com). Entries began to roll in. A few of the early designs looked similar to my Photoshop mock-ups. I felt justified. Talented even (I refused to worry that I made the wrong decision). I began to think maybe if this whole writing thing didn’t work out I could earn some spare change selling my own pre-made covers.
Additional entries started to roll in, and wow! I thought to myself, what an interesting idea – I wouldn’t have considered doing that! Now I understand what separates my Photoshop dabblings from experienced professionals. Keep them coming. In the words of my 2yo, “More! More!”
I found myself with over 160 entries in less than a week, and more than half of them were completely unique (I believe my experience may be atypical – I was told to expect 30). Suddenly all that choice I wanted so badly a week ago was overwhelming. How can I pick just one? What if I pick the wrong one? Too much choice was almost as paralyzing as having no choice. I was once again stressed, but it was worth it.
Thankfully, the contest offered the option of sending out a poll and letting the public vote. After whittling down the list to a few favorites, I asked, and a number of you answered. I am now extremely pleased to present the winner and new cover of An Uncertain Faith!
Cover by Danny Design Studio, Photography by Dave and Les Jacobs.
Just like the seasons, people have the ability to change (Photo credit: symphony of love)
Earlier this week I was invited to participate in one of my area’s working mom’s luncheons coordinated through the city’s Chamber of Commerce. I love these functions because everyone there is not only trying to expand their network for business purposes, but are genuinely interested in swapping tips for how best to achieve work life balance.
After a bit of pure socialization the more formal portion of the program began and the guest speaker took the stage. She was cheerful and energetic during her introduction and I was eager to hear what secrets this person who so obviously had her life together was going to share with the group.
Then she started telling us her life story, and the smile slipped. I realized very quickly how very wrong I had been to judge her particular book from its cover. She talked about dealing with the death of a parent in her early teens, and how she struggled to put herself through college and achieve her dream job. Just as you thought she was going to wrap up her presentation with the old “and they all lived happily ever after,” she told us about her experience with every parent’s worst nightmare, the loss of a child.
You could have heard a pin drop in the room. I felt my eyes tear up as she went on to talk about how she was only able to get out of bed due to her eldest child and the guilt she felt in having another baby later. Amazingly, somehow she had been able to maintain the ability to feel gratitude even after her ordeal; gratitude for her family, her friends, and her extended support network. She told us about how while her family would never be whole, they were made stronger.
She tasked us all to discuss the challenges we individually had faced and how we had been able to grow as a result. In full disclosure, no one at my table felt we could top that speech. Her experience had been too raw, too real, for us to process over the next thirty minutes and a cupcake. We instead choose to tackle safer topics such as the ideal age difference in siblings and the headaches resulting from our local kindergarten enrollment process.
Tasmanian Devil in defensive stance, at Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park, Tasman Peninsula. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I went home that night and my toddler’s terrible twos were in full force. Imagine a Tasmanian Devil hopped up on speed, chased with a pack of Red Bull. You might then have some idea of his disposition. He was having one of those days. His brother wasn’t exactly helping the situation by demanding my attention each and every time I attempted to sit down and decompress. But as much as I might have been tempted at that moment to sell them to the circus, at least both of my boys were home and healthy.
Obviously dealing with the challenges of living with the pre-school set can in no way compare with the challenges of living without them. As I checked on my boys sleeping peacefully in their beds later that evening, I was reminded of how lucky I have been to have my own family and support network.
Usually I would end my post with some related reading, but as I did not participate in the group assignment when instructed, I would like to take this time to complete my homework. In addition to the gratitude I feel towards the support my family and friends have given me, I would also like to express my thanks to a few of my fellow author/bloggers celebrating their own big news this month for unknowingly inspiring, motivating, and/or helping to guide me through the publishing process.
Listed in no particular order –
Shannon Thompson, author of Seconds Before Sunrise, book two of the Timely Death Trilogy. Her novel launches March 27th and is available now for pre-sale.
Kristen Pham, author of Knights of Light, book two of the Conjurors Series. Her newest addition was released on March 10th.
N.W. Harris, author of the Joshua’s Tree Trilogy, received a 5 star review from Readers Favorite this month for the first novel in the series entitled, Joshua’s Tree .
Goodreads has a number of groups which are free to join, and I happened upon a group called Pure Indie Promotion. The rules are simple: A group member’s work is selected for promotion, then all group members do what they can to help improve the visibility of this work in the hopes that their work might be selected next. I am more than happy to do my part as it is very difficult to get noticed when there are so many other books out there with larger marketing budgets than available to most indie authors.
Did you know that there is a real risk of a zombie epidemic rooted in science? It seems that there is a bacteria that infects and takes over the bodily functions of a caterpillar, causing them to climb high up into the tree top where their bodies dissolve until they ultimately plummet back down to the ground in a pile of goo, repeating the process by infecting healthy hosts. For the other comic book nerds out there, think of Venon from Spiderman. You get the idea.
Could you have gone your entire life without knowing this? Probably.
Should we be worried that the bacteria could evolve and impact more developed organisms? Maybe.
Want to think about something else now? Should you pick up a book by an indie author to read? Definitely.
If you are an indie author, and if you help promote my book, I’ll help promote yours.
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Allie Potts 