Singing the praises of Autocrit and opening bank accounts

So like I said a couple days ago, I purchased Autocrit. If you've never heard of check it out. You can get a free test drive on their site. I'm telling you, I cannot believe how many words I repeat. I mean, I knew I used the word "just" two much, but 8 times in one chapter. Um...

Seriously, for those of you thinking about indie publishing it's worth the money at only $117 for the year. Of course, if you don't want to spend that much, they  have other pricing options as well.

I also opened a banking account for my writing. I'll probably end up getting a business license at some point. I'm hoping to make enough money to where it matters. *cough*. I think it's a good idea to keep my writing money separate from my own money anyway, especially since I got the Indiegogo money. This way, I'll be able to keep everything separate for tax purposes too.

I honestly can't wait to get more books written and published, even before I get this one out. I've really enjoyed the process a lot. I hope I keep enjoying it.

I probably going to buy my ISBN numbers today so I can start putting my book out online, on Amazon and Goodreads, etc.

Anyway, that's it. Happy Thursday (I can't believe it's Thursday already).

Enjoy the day!

Indie publishing: Moving forward

I just sent my book on for formatting. I'm so excited. Lori, who I mentioned...I think it was last week, blog about indie publishing. For formatting she recommends Book Design Wizard. She swears by it.

is busy for another week or so, so it's going to take a little bit, but she says once she gets to it, it will be fast. I know not everyone will have someone that can do their editing for them, and clearly, I'm not going to rely on Lori to do mine every time. I have another friend Karla, who I'm sure I've mentioned before. She has a great

If I had my Indiegogo money, there are actually things I'd be doing before the formatting, so I'm kind of going out of order. There is an editing program online I want to run my manuscript through called autocrit. It's $117 a year. It's not your everyday editing program. It helps find overused words, cliches, redundancies, repeated words and phrases, pacing and dialog problems, and more. I'm excited to try it out.

I also want to get my ISBN and distribution set up so I can get my book set up on Goodreads and the like and start some marketing. But for now, I do the formatting. My Indiegogo money is supposed to come in within days, then I can start in on the good stuff.

There you have it.

Indie publishing: The next step

Here's what's going on. I finished my line and copy edits for Dissected (I just need to find the final version, which I'm pretty sure is on my work computer, *crosses fingers*).

Then I send it to be formatted to my wonderful friend Lori.

Next I wait for my money from Indiegogo to be disbursed to I can get my ISBN numbers, set up my distribution and order swag. I've already started designing my bookmarks. Instead of getting author blurbs, I've decided to go with librarian blurbs. A couple librarians beta read for me, and I got their permission to quote them on the back of my bookmarks. Here's what they look like. Tell me what you think. I'd love your feedback. Does it need more? Less? Is there any more info you think I should have on there?

So excited. Things are coming together. I should be able to have proof copies by mid to end of this month, then have a release date set in stone. Summer is such a busy time, I may try to shoot for Mid June. If not mid June, 2nd to 3rd week July.

Happy Thursday everyone!

Reaching goals and moving forward

Me on my 44th birthday

This could encompass many things in my life.

It could encompass reaching my 44th birthday, talking to my counselor, and having her tell me that no, I'm not a complete fuck up and having me leave her office almost believing it. I'm worried and depressed because I'm always tired and I can't get my yard work done or my house cleaned. And I'm lonely.

She reminds me this is because I'm trying to be a good mom. I believe her exact words were Supermom. And I have an awesome job. And I'm publishing my own book. And I'm writing again. And I just got back from an awesome vacation. And I'm going out with my friends and trying to date again but NOT get into a relationship. And I'm going to coach soccer. And I'm kickboxing. And she says, fuck it if you can't clean your house or get your yard work done. Hire someone to do it.

Um, okay. I'll give her that. Whatever.

Reaching goals could also mean I made it to my Indiegogo goal. Yay me!!!! Now I can move forward

Happy Dance

with my Indie publishing process. Where I'm at now: Book is in the hands of editor friend for copy edits and line edits. I will edit when she's done and send to another friend for formatting (god it's good to have friends in this biz). I will start designing and buying swag, bookmarks, buttons, sticks, bracelets. I will buy ISBN numbers. I will research distribution. Those are my next steps for now.

Goal is publication by Junilyish.  I'd say a release party 2nd week July. Book out in time for next school year. I'm excited!!

Monkey Madness Monday: I'm back! and other crap

Okay, after some advisement, I'm back at blogger. We'll see if the spammers stay away.

I just got back from vacation, and on the way home I finished my revisions of Dissected. Yay me!

Now I send it to an editor for copy edits and other ideas.

Next step, fixing those mistakes and moving to formatting. I think this book is still on track to come out in early summer.

Also, my Indiegogo campaign is still running. There are 15 days left and my goal is another $170. If you'd like to contribute and help me get this book on the shelf asap, you can follow the widget to the right. If you donate, you get perks, such as a signed book and swag. Or you can follow the link if you just want to see what the book is about, watch the trailer, or see where the money is going.


I've not pushed the campaign too hard, but now that it's coming to a close and I'm very close to my goal, I may become annoying (as if I wasn't in other ways already).

Happy Monday all. Good to be back at blogger.

What the hell day is it?

It's Wednesday, right? I've been busy, so I haven't blogged for a few days. Okay, that is not the entire truth. I've been lazy too. And tired. And I just haven't wanted to do much of anything. But let's catch you up on some things...

Hmm, still working on Dissected hoping to publish by July. Working on some revisions and formatting, then will get it edited. My Indiegogo campaign is still going. Click here to find out about the project, the book, or to watch the trailer.

I've got some interest from over seas for the rights for Never Eighteen. Brazil and Spain have contacted me. It would be really cool, but you never know how those things are going to go.

I've not written. Not a single young adult word in weeks. This is not good. I've been focusing on Dissected, side projects, and life stuff, and I've put the writing on the back burner. I've cleared some things off my plate though so I should be getting back to it this week. Still working on the fairy tale retelling.

I signed up for the SCBWI Western Washington conference. Pretty excited about it. There are some interesting topics this year.

That's about it I think. Other than that been busy with my kids and their soccer, music, drivers ed. I've been kickboxing, and napping quite a bit. (my doctor told me I had to listen to my body, my body quite frequently revolts and tells me to slow down)

What's up with you this week? Do you have any short term or long term writing goals?

"Image courtesy of thaikrit/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net"

Artistic Fundraising Campaigns: A Good Cause?

This topic was brought up on a friends Facebook page the other day and there were some interesting comments. There are a few of these fund raising websites out there now, the first I'd heard of was Kickstarter, there's Indiegogo, Crowdfunder, and Gofundme. They're not just for artistic causes, they can pretty much be used for anything, but since I'm a writer, mostly what I've seen them for are the arts.

I think I've mentioned here on my blog that I recently started my own Indiegogo campaign to fund my Indie publishing project, Dissected. I've kept my requests to my own social network pages, here on my blog, one email to my closest family and friends, and I did send one email out to a handful of book bloggers who have been my biggest supporters. I told them if they cannot contribute and if they feel comfortable spreading the word (not everyone is comfortable asking others for money, and I totally get that, hell, I had to talk myself into doing the campaign at all), I would appreciate it. I'm not asking for much either. I really doesn't take that much to Indie publish a book, but it takes a little. Ya know? In a nutshell, I've tried to be as tactful as possible.

Apparently a lot of my friends have been bombarded lately with a lot of these requests. Personally, I have only received one invite to an "event" on Facebook from another writer, and received a direct message on facebook from an old friend from high school for a cd release (it's how I decided to try indiegogo). I felt these were appropriate ways to do this. For the event, I could either join or decline. I could remove it from my facebook. No biggee. For the friend, we've known each other for 20ish *cough* years, we're both in the arts (he's an actor and film maker as well) so I was happy to help and spread the word for him, but I suppose if people posted their own things to my page without asking, or I continued to be bombarded in my inboxes, I might start getting a bad vibe from these types of fund raising sites.

As a whole, I think, if used tactfully, this is a great way for people to raise money for anything they might need it for, from anyone willing to help.

On the thread on Facebook I spoke about at the beginning, it was brought up that people should be giving their money to more worthy causes, cancer research or feeding the hungry and such. Well, here's my take on it. I give to my local children's hospital every year. Just because I give my old high school friend $25, doesn't mean I'm not going to still give to them. I don't think people would choose between the two. If you have to choose, follow your heart.

Just because you're my friend, even if you're my best friend, doesn't mean I EXPECT you to contribute to my campaign. And I'm not going to be mad if you don't. There are more worthy places to spend your money if you have the extra money to spend at all.  And there are people out there who make it a point to support the arts.

So, what is your take on the fund raising websites that have popped up? Good? Bad? Tacky? Awesome?

Donate image courtesy of Stuart Miles/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Email image courtesy of Patchareeya99/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Dissected Trailer & Fundraising Campaign

First of all, let me give you the cute Monday Monkey.

Now, I'm very excited to announce that I finished the book trailer for Dissected. So, without further ado, here it is. Let me know what you think.

 

Okay, I think I've already mentioned this, but I've started an Indiegogo page to raise some funds to publish Dissected. I'm really not asking for much, just enough to get me started. Find the campaign here. You'll get "perks" for donating, such as SWAG packs and signed books. So you don't get a double dose if info, I'll let you go to the page to see the why's of going indie and the summary of Dissected.

If you can't contribute, it would be awesome if you'd just share the link.

Have a happy Monday. Mine's been pretty shitty so far, but it's looking up.

Covers again and a little fundraising

So, after polling and much research and whatnot, I've chosen a cover. I'm not going to reveal it yet, because I'm still tweaking it. I've also decided, even though I really don't like asking for money, to try to raise the funds for costs of getting the book published. If you're interested in just checking out the campaign, or donating, you can find it here. Even if you don't want to donate, the site is kind of interesting.

Now, you're not giving and getting nothing in return. Oh no. With Indiegogo you get perks. So depending on the level of contribution, you'll get something. My undying gratitude, some SWAG, a signed book, and if you're a local, you could get more.

I'm getting pretty excited about this project. It's taking a lot of research about formatting, publicity (which I know pretty well already, but you can always learn more), book covers, ISBN numbers, distributing, and crap like that. I was thinking about an April release date, but foolish me forgot that I started marketing Never Eighteen long before three months ahead of time.

So now, I'm going for June/July.

That's all the begging I'll do for the day. I'm hoping to have a cover done in the next week. Maybe I can get one of my awesome blogger pals to do a reveal for me. *hint hint*