4 years

Last night I came to a realization. I was looking through this blog of mine, for what I don't remember, but I was scanning through posts past. I came across one about the tornado book. I noted the date. It was 4 years ago!

I can't believe I started writing that back in 2011. That means I've not touched any other manuscript since then.

I'm absolutely melancholy over this. I mean, granted, I've been busy. Never Eighteen came out, then I released Dissected, but that was a year and a half ago!!!

So now I'm determined. I NEED to finish revisions on the football book and decide whether I'm going to query it out or self pub. I'd sure like to get another book  traditionally published, but my GOD, the process takes so long. I mean, either way takes a long time, but we're talking 2 years for traditional, whereas I could probably get it out by the end of the year *fingers crossed.*

Ugh. Where does the time go.?

The publishing path is kind of like the road to Terminus

Yeah, so you're a writer working your way to this great unknown, but you know it's supposed to be wonderful. Terminus! *cough* I mean, publication. Yeah, and you're among others trying to reach the same goal. Some of them falter along the way. They get eaten up by metaphorical zombies in the form of self doubt, rejection, time and lack of motivation.

Zombies are the devourers of motivation.

The path is long and hard. Sometimes you have to kill Zombies on the way. It's not easy.

Sometimes you have to kill metaphorical "bad people"  that get in your way like plot holes, bad story lines, and flat characters.

Then what happens when you get to Terminus *cough* I mean publication? You really have no idea what you're getting yourself into. You feel relief, yet, something is still amiss. Yes, your publisher is really just a cannibal who will eat your soul.

I'm kidding. It's not that bad. Now there are people out there willing to prey on those who have given up on traditional publishing. They are the cannibals. Do your research before going indie. It doesn't cost all that much to self publish these days.

So, I reserve cannibal for the real predators out there, but the publishing industry can be a brutal reality, not unlike living in the zombie apocalypse, but you can do things to make the best of it.

These are things I've learned.

• Most publishers do NO marketing for you after sending the book out to media unless you are already a name or you've written a series and they can see dollar signs in their future. I was very proactive in my own marketing, so mine did a wee bit more, but not very much.
•  Be proactive and give them ideas, they may jump on board. If they don't, do research as to how to best get your book into people's hands without breaking the bank. Information is out there, you just have to find it.
• Some editors are not very communicative.
• If you are waiting for answers on your contracted book, bug them. If you are waiting for answers on an uncontracted book, give them their alloted time (if it's an option) check in and see what they thought. If they don't respond, move on. You don't have time to waste, because...
• The process is painstakingly slow. Once you sign your contract, expect your book to come out 18 months to 2 years later.
• There is nothing you can do about this. You must learn patience. If you have to stay all night in the trunk of a car while a herd of zombies passes by, you do it, no questions asked.
• Don't think that having a great working relationship with your editor means you will work with them again. Sad, but true.
• You love your editor, I know, but sometimes their house gets absorbed, sometimes they don't want your second book, sometimes shit happens and you don't get to work with them again. Keep their contact information though. I think it's perfectly acceptable (at least I hope so and if not someone should correct me) to contact and ask them if they'd like to see some future work.
• It's okay to fire your agent. 
• Sometimes these relationships aren't symbiotic. I know authors on their 2nd or 3rd agent. Find someone you click with. I know it's hard not to jump on the first person who takes you and if you feel you need to go ahead. But if you feel like they aren't doing your work justice, talk to them. If that doesn't work, you are perfectly in your right to terminate the relationship.
• Getting a first book published doesn't automatically mean getting a second book published.
• Yeah, the second book is the hardest from what I hear. I was agentless and didn't want to wait 2 years for my next book, so I went rogue. That may not be the answer for everyone. Do what is right for you.

Good luck on your journey to Terminus, I mean publication. I hope your experience is a rewarding one, as I truly believe mine was, and not full of metaphorical zombies, bad people, and worse yet, cannibals.

I believe...

Eternal Clock by Robbert van der Steeg

• I believe Tweeting isn't easy.
• I believe my kids are allergic to the dishwasher, the garbage and dirty socks.
• I believe I need more hours in my day.
• I believe if we taught our children more things at home we wouldn't have so many people to blame.
• I believe the internet has a great and unfathomable power that somehow makes me forget blocks of time during my day.
• I believe in pleases and thank yous.
• I believe I don't care if I'm called self published, indie published or rogue.
• I believe sometimes the those who are supposed to care about children the most, treat them the worst.
• I believe words can't hurt you if you don't let them.
• I believe if I had a dinner party with 8 people real of fictional, alive or dead, I would choose Jesus Christ, Jennifer Lawrence, Ellen Degeneris, Marilyn Monroe, Sylvia Plath, Stephen King, Atticus Finch, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Or not. That's actually a really hard choice.
• I believe I can't decide what my platform is.
• I believe the flowers on my kitchen table are dead.
• I believe I'm tired of hearing about the lives of celebrities. 
• I believe George Zimmerman thinking he would get any fans at a gun show
  
  are hysterical.
• I believe LOL Cats still crack me up.
• I believe running is the work of the devil.
• I believe my diatribe has ended.

To self publish or not, that is the question...

I was going to blog about how rude people are, but this came up on Facebook, so I changed my mind.

You all have seen me talk about my friend Gae for like the last 7 years, right? Well, she has a friend that just received her 1st rejection from an agent. I guess people immediately offered the suggestion of self publishing.

As you know, I'm all on board for indie publishing, but truly, I don't see it as a first option. Especially after ONE REJECTION?!?!? Really? Is that what the industry is coming to?  Do we really need gratification that quickly that we don't want to put the hard work in to at least TRY to get a publishing contract with a traditional house any more?

My first book was a middle grade superhero series. I received over 100 rejection letters on it. It is now a file in my computer. It will not be published in its current form. I am however rewriting it and turning it into something very different.

My second book happened to be Never Eighteen. I went through many rigorous rounds of editing and rewrites before sending it out. I received about 25 rejections before it got picked up.

Before I decided to indie publish Dissected I sent it to my former agent, who didn't want ti. I sent it to my editor at HMH. I then sent it out to 5 agents, all who rejected it. Without an agent, without a house, I knew I'd be looking at least two years down the road at a release date. With a traditionally published book under my belt, and fans asking me for the next one, I didn't want to wait that long.

I researched, talked to friends that had self published, and thought about it long and hard before deciding to go that way.

Was it worth it? I'm not sure. Probably? Maybe? Am I glad I did it? Yes. However, I've

not had much time to market the book as I've had many family and personal things come up. But, it does no damage to have the book sit there and wait until I do. And though the sales haven't been great as of yet because of that, there have still been sales pretty steadily.  I don't have to answer to anyone, I write what I want to write, I don't have to wait and I don't have to share royalties with everyone under the sun, making my chunk much bigger.

On the other hand, there's no advance, no books sent to reviewers and media, the editing process is way harder and if I do want reviews from legit sources for instance, Kirkus, etc, I have to pay out the nose for them.

I'd like to be traditionally published again. I'd like to self publish again. I like both ways. But I don't think it's wise to just jump on the self pub bandwagon without trying the traditional route first. It's very rewarding having someone choose you, your work to make their list and put on bookshelves. It's still hard work, don't get me wrong, but to be selected from all the candidates out there from a pool of so many is gratifying.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 8

Today I'm finding it hard to be thankful. I know. Seriously, I'm a glass half empty kind of gal. I can't help it. Just when I thought my book problems were solved for my release party, um, they suddenly weren't. No idea what's happening now. If I'll have books or even a party. I'm a lot panicked and stressed and a little devastated.

So, thankful...hmmmm...

Going to have to put this on hold for a bit...

(5 hours later)
 
...okay, I had another book crisis. I thought I had books coming for my release party. Then I didn't. then I did. Then I didn't again. Now apparently I do again. Sheesh. Can you say ulcer?

So, I'm thankful for the people who really try to make things work for others. Like Jennifer at Lightning Source who I called in a panic on Monday because I was pretty sure there was something messed up on my order, which turned out to be right, and I wasn't getting my books on time. Then who fixed it so that I could upgrade to expedited shipping to get my books by Monday.

Then again with Sandra who I had to call today when I found out my books went out UPS ground and they weren't going to get here until Thursday, when my party is on Tuesday. She went back to talk to the people I'd already talked to to find out what happened.

And then for Ryan, who helped fix everything, and since my books had already gone out, put another rush, expedited order in at no charge so I would at least get two cases of books by Monday.

Yeah, I'm thankful for those kind of people. The people in customer service who have to deal with people like me who panic and cry. And those ones who have to deal with people that yell and scream and cuss at them. I used to have to do that when I worked at the licensing department. I didn't like that job. Nope, not one bit.

I feel for those people, anyone who works with the general public, they don't have it easy. It's why I always tip well, because I know for every 20% I give, there's going to be some asshole that tips 10%.

There it is, and here are the Friday Scribbles...

Pandora Queue Song: Pitter Pat by Erin McCarley

 















Book and Netflix of the Week: I'm going to let you tell me. I've been so busy I've neither read no watched ANYTHING for a couple weeks now aside from football and Walking Dead. What are you watching/reading?

Quote of the Week:

 

Have a great Friday and a better weekend. Even if it's hard, find something to be thankful for every single day.

Northwest Bookfest

If you're a writer in the Pacific Northwest, you may want to consider attending Northwest Bookfest this weekend. I was on a panel last year, as I will be again this year, and there are a plethora of resources for aspiring and professional writers.

The theme this year is Navigating in the Digital Age, um, totally could have used this a few months ago when trying to figure out how to publish my book.

The focus of this year's bookfest  is on the benefits and challenges of digital publishing. For $99, participants can attend two days of workshops, taught by established writers and trade professionals, on topics ranging from e-books and digital distribution to social networking and online marketing.  There are also a number of free panel discussions, like the one I will be on, for those who don't want to, or can't pay the $99.

Aside from workshops and panels, there are also a number of vendors at NWBF.  You'll find independent bookstores, networking groups for indie publishers, writers, distributors, crafts, editors and more.

On Saturday evening, November 2nd,  Kirkland restaurants and wine shops will team with writers for a special evening of author presentations called “Wine and Words.”

Mixing poetry with jazz is the focus of the Wine and Words evening at Parkplace Books (348 Parkplace Center) at 7 pm, which welcomes the Killer Poet Jazz Band This event is for adults only and admission is FREE!


The Writing Life will take place at Milagro Restaurant, 148 Lake Street South, Kirkland, 7pm, where the downtown restaurant welcomes authors from Seattle7Writers, a nonprofit collective of Pacific Northwest authors. Participating at the Milagro Wine and Words are Deb Caletti, Garth Stein, Erica Bauermeister, Jennie Shortridge and Kevin O'Brien. Moderator, William Kenower

 So, whether you simply need the motivation to  get your ideas down on paper or are a professional  wanting to improve your craft, Northwest Bookfest is the place to be this weekend.

Find me and you may get a signed bookmark of my upcoming novel, Dissected.

Hours:

Saturday: 8am to 6pm
Sunday: 8am to 6pm

Click the following links for more info:

Workshops
Panels 
Exhibitors 
Contact NWBF

F³A: The costly learning curve of indie publishing

You people who are considering indie publishing are very lucky to have me, yes you are. I'm like your trial run through this crazy process. You can live vicariously through me while I make the mistakes you don't have to when you're ready to take the plunge.

Some of the mistakes  have been costly, but I've learned my lesson. Here is the big one: As I've told you, I'm publishing through Createspace and Lightning Source. Createspace does offer expanded distribution through Amazon, but with Lightning Source I can offer retailers a bigger discount, which will incline them more to carry my book if requested. I can also have it returnable. Many bookstores won't carry it if it's not returnable. Also this way Dissected will also be available for libraries and schools to purchase.

You don't have to do this of course. I know writers who use Amazon's extended distribution and are perfectly happy with it.

Here are the mistakes I made:

1) Not ensuring that the book was edited properly before formatting and uploading. Truly, this was mostly just laziness on my part, but I've learned my lesson for sure.
2) From now on, everything will be set up and completed on Createspace before moving on to Lightning source and setting a release date. Why? I will tell you. It's free. Yes it's all free up to the point where you order your proof copies. Lightning Source charges for every resubmission of a digital upload. $40 to be exact. Also, where Createspace's proofs are just under $4, Lightning Source's are $30. And they look exactly the same. Exactly. So there's that.

So there you have it.
 
One more piece of advice, your cover will come back darker than it looks on the computer.

If you don't want to mess with much of this stuff yourself, I think I've mentioned, my friend Rachel and I are starting our own business, Creative Chaos Media. We don't have prices listed on our site yet, but feel free to contact us.

The finish line is fast approaching. The date is set. Last things...get proof copies from Createspace in mail today and make sure cover is all good. Interior is now perfect or as perfect as it's going to be. Resubmit interior to lightning source and finish setting up distribution. Make sure everything online is set to go for November 12th. 

Send proof copies to a couple bloggers who have requested it, Angel and Lea (I hope to hell they like it).

Design and order postcards to be sent to schools. libraries and bookstores. I did this way earlier with Never Eighteen, but I've kind of been overloaded this time and I'm glad I didn't since I changed the book cover.

Order new bookmarks with new cover design.

Design buttons and order.

Contact a couple bloggers and see about a blog tour.

Send out invites for and promote the launch.

I think that's it, but I'll have to brainstorm.

Anyone in the area is welcome to come to the launch party. 

Tuesday, November 12, 7 pm
Garfield Book Company
208 Garfield St S #101, Tacoma, WA 98444 

It's Friday, so I bring you the Scribbles...

Pandora queue song: Hang Me Up To Dry by Cold Water Kids

 Book of the Week: Joe Peace by friend Kerry Dunn. I read an excerpt a couple years ago and had done a video review of the except for the ABNA contest a few years back. I remember it being funny, witty and gritty. I started reading the book and my memory served me right.

Netflix of the Week: Do yourself a favor and catch up on the Walking Dead. Season 4 starts Sunday. Can't wait!!

Quote of the Week: "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." ~ Albert Einsten

Happy Friday, have a good weekend and go make some fun mistakes!

As if I wasn't busy enough...

...I've joined in a new venture with a co-worker. Upon learning the ins and outs of the self publishing world and how much of a bitch it can be, we've decided to offer indie publishing services. 

Yep, we're going to offer consulting, editing and formatting at first. 

We'll probably get into cover design, websites, a little marketing, like small publicity kits, including postcards, bookmarks, and business cards. 

We'll put together press releases and sell sheets. 

I've already done video trailers, so we can do that as well and part of our job here at the law firm is SEO, keyword research and social media marketing, so we'll get into that as well.

Together we have a wide array of skills and talents and we work very well together. We're in the midst of putting our website together. Creative Chaos Media.

We may eventually also offer to publish people's works under my Sock Puppet Press and other imprints I'm planning to start.

We're putting our pricing together right now, but we will be competitive. Keep checking the website for updates.

Happy Friday, here are the scribbles.

Random Pandora song: Life in Technicolor II by Coldplay (Imagine Dragons Radio)

Book of the Week: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Starting reading it so I could finish before the movie came out. Took a little to get into, but now I'm hooked.

Netflix of the Week: Breaking Bad, first half of Season 5. What can I say. I love those bad boys.

Quote of the Week:“Finite to fail, but infinite to venture.” ~ Emily Dickinson

Proof copies can be hazardous to your health

You've seen this cover on my blog many times now, right. Her pants are clearly blue...

The first proof copy I got back, the cover was sooooo dark. When I mentioned it to Lori, she told me that the covers come back about 5x darker than you send them.

So I lightened it up to what you see here to the left. Lighter skin. A glint on the glass, purple fingernails, BLUE pants.

Yeah, the pants look black. And this time the cover is off center. Don't know how that happened. UGH!!!

So here is the disclaimer on getting proof copies: May cause frustration, anxiety, depression, nausea, vomiting, headache, heart pain. May cause hair loss in the form of you pulling it out by the root. In severe cases, could cause death.

This process is definitely a learning curve. A BIG one. After this round though, the second time, which I'm going to start ASAP with Girl in Motion, will be a breeze, right? RIGHT?!?

Indie publishing: The Next Step

I got my formatted copy of Dissected back and uploaded it to both Createspace and Lightning Source. Now I'm waiting to get proof copies from each company. I'm going to have someone else go through the proof copies. I don't think I can stomach doing it one more time.

I'm not sure why if I've explained why I'm using both companies. I'm using Createspace to sell on Amazon, but Createspace expanded distribution does not offer a big enough wholesale discount, so physical bookstores more than likely would not carry it. So I'm going through Lightning Source, so I can distribute through Ingram and set my own discount price, so that libraries and book stores can purchase the book at a reasonable rate. I'll make less money this way, but I'm pretty sure most of my sales will come through Amazon. However, I'd like the book available through Ingram so it's available if I do library, school and book store visits.

I also got my UPC code and added it to the cover. I set the sale price at $9.99.
Now, once I approve the proof copies of the book, that's it. Time to sell. Of course, I've set a release date of November 12th because I still have some marketing stuff I want to do, and I have a release party I want to set up and I need a 6 week lead on that.

It's getting close to go time, and I'm getting nervous...

Frustration

I'm starting this blog without a title because I have a feeling I'm just going to whine and rant without any clear definition of what I'm writing about.

 I suppose that was a warning to you, this is nothing but a rant today...

I was going to title it Feeling Insignificant, but that sounded so pathetic.

But...

Lately I feel like I'm standing still while the whole world is running, gaining a greater and greater lead away from me.

I can't get my work done at work.  I have no many duties I can't keep up.

I can't get my work done at home. I finally did laundry and cleaned my kitchen last night after days.

I've barely written a word in weeks. I have a website I need to work on. A book that needs editing. My fall publication is at a standstill. It almost feels as if it will never get released.

I have no emails, no Facebook comments, no Tweets. This I blame on not having enough time to keep up with the world. No time to interact with my virtual people. People who at one time I'd talk to all day. People I miss.

If I'm not keeping up with the world, how will I possibly make any sales on my next book.

I think it's finally time to balance my world lest the rest of the world pass me by.

But how do you balance it all? I've asked this question before, I know, but I honestly
don't know how people do it. I work, I write, I edit. I coach soccer, attend music gigs and soccer games for my girls. I have a house, a yard, a boyfriend. I kickbox.

And then there's still this sleep issue I have. This utter fatigue that makes me so tired I have to sleep a couple hours during the day which drives me absolutely nuts and takes me away from things I feel I should be doing.

Last night I thought I would write. But after working, then having to take a nap, soccer practice, kickboxing...I had choices. I had piles of laundry to fold and a dirty kitchen, or I could write. I chose the former. I can let my house be in a state of disarray for a little bit, but after a while it nags at me, scratching metaphorical claws on the door of my mind.

I'm only 4200 words into this current book. That saddens me. How can I be a writer if I don't write?

I'm frustrated.

I think I finally found a title for this blog...

Monkey Madness Monday: Writerly Stuffs

Grumpy Monday Gorilla

I've been diligently typing up these changes for Lori, the gal doing my formatting. Okay, diligently may not be the right word, but I'm doing it where I can fit it in. I've been working a lot at my day job and taking that work home, and have the BF now and something is wrong with my body that makes me want to sleep too much, which feels like one step above narcolepsy, and for which I'm making an appointment today, and I've been to music gigs and soccer tournaments for Things One and Two, but I have been typing them up and the beginning of the book has way more mistakes then they taper off, but I'm getting closer toward the middle, so there you have it...

I got to meet my 2k11 friend Bettina Restrepo last week. She was in Seattle for one night only on her way to a cruise to Alaska. I drove up to Seattle (about a 40 minute drive, but it was rush hour and I don't know Seattle, so I'm sure I was in the busiest part so tack on another 20 minutes). We had dinner in a little cafe called 5 Points, which looks kind schmoozy, but I'd give the food 5 stars. Then we walked around, stared up at the Space Needle, went into the Chihuly store (I had to inform her that the REAL Chihuly Glass Museum, which she wanted to call chilupa, and I couldn't blame her, was in Tacoma, and that our store had things you could buy for $20 as opposed to the $5000 items in the Seattle store). I'd also brought my copy of Illegal for her to sign, so that was very exciting.

Last week I also found out that Jenny Milchman, who I met through ABNA, is going to be in town next week, so I get to go to a book club and meet her. I immediately bought her book, Cover of Snow and will start reading it and pray to god I can finish it by next Thursday.  A normal person can, but a person like me who has not committed to reading a book since, um...let me think...December (don't judge me, I've been busy) is worried, but I'm going to read it as much as I can because I want to read it for Jenny's visit. So super excited about that.

Also found out that a panel I'm to be on was accepted to the Association of Writers and Writing Programs 2014 Conference in February. My friend Gae suggested me to this lovely graduate student who was putting it together. The panel is, In Sickness and In Heath: Writing About Illness and Loss for Young Adults. I'll be on the panel with writers Selene Castrovilla (The Girl Next Door), Jolene Perry (The Next Door Boys), Katherine Ayres (Macaroni Boy) and graduate student Roberta Borger.

So, good times and good news for last week...and getting close to getting that book finished. Still shooting for end of October release date on Dissected. That means I need to get my ass in gear. I have a few free days this week, going to make it happen.

Happy Monday.

Finished

I'm typing up my changes as we speak. And honestly, I was too lazy to finish finding my typos last night. I didn't want to, then a friend of mine, Robert Leland Taylor pushed me to do it. So I did. He has a book out, he's very funny. You should go buy it.

Anyway, when I do copy edits again, I'm going to do them hard copy, like I did with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. I'm finding way too many mistakes. We did them with "track changes" on Word and I think I got lazy. I'm not a good monitor editor. Put a piece of paper in front of me though, and I'm on it.

Plus, you catch other stuff. I had inconsistencies, and other things in the novel that made me scratch my head. Indie writers hear this, make sure your shit is edited!!!

yeah, I just needed this one.

If I had put this book out as is, I would have been raked over the coals. This proof is the epitome of what everyone probably expects a self published book to be. Riddled with mistakes. Ugh.

And time is going by so fast, as this point, I'm praying I can meet my new planned release date of the
end of October. We'll see once I get these typed up and off to Lori and what her turn around time is, then it's a matter of getting another proof from Createspace, one from Lightning Source, then we're off!

Okay, day job calls. I have to go in early because I'm getting a washer and dryer delivered today. No more having to go to the parents, I finally broke down and bought a pair.

Page 5,348...

At least that's how it feels when you're trying to find typos. And when you're finding typos, you also find other stupid little mistakes that I hope Lori doesn't mind changing (nothing big Lori, I promise, just little crap).

As I read this book, I know I love it, I think the writing is good (if any of my betas want to pipe in here, feel free to back me up), but I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sick of it. I'm getting close to being done though. I have a Saturday soccer tournament with a long break between games that I'm hoping will put the nail through the coffin and end this thing.

And then I get to move on. Finally. To UPC codes and another proof copy. And then I think we're set. I think. Or not. We'll see.

Monkey Madness Monday: Typos, typos, typos!

I'm going crazy. Seriously. I've read this book over and over again. I've had an editor read it. I know that there are people out there who self publish who don't have an editor read their work and this is one of the reason self publishing gets a bad rap. So much self published work it put out unedited.  It's put out with typos and grammar and punctuation problems and turns people off from indie publishing as a whole.

For the life of me, I cannot fathom having missed so much on the first five or six passes. I'm going to get another proof copy after this one. I'm going to make sure the cover is okay then I'm going to have someone else read it for typos in case I missed any. Again. I know that there are traditionally published books out there with typos in them. It's one of the reasons I refuse to read Never Eighteen since its debut. I don't want to find any mistakes. But for my first indie project, I want it to be as flawless as possible. I don't want anyone to say things like, "well, that's what you can expect after all it IS self published" or things of a similar nature.

I admit, when it comes to editing, I'm lazy, but this? The mistakes that are in there? UGH!!! Some of

them are just plain stupid mistakes.

I'm sure every writer in the world will understand when I say, I'm so tired of this book. :)
The next couple days I'm busting these typos out and getting them back to Lori so she can get it formatted again and I can get a proof from Createspace and Lightning source and make sure we're ok again.

Man, this process can be a real bitch. At least I'm learning and hopefully things will go smoother for the next book, which I'm starting to think I should be starting this process for now.

Happy Monday all.

Major work projects and Dissected proof

Man, I have been working on a major major marketing presentation for work for about three weeks now and I'm finally done. It's why I've not been blogging. I've been having to work on it at home as well as work to get it ready for my office retreat which took place last week. Now life is getting back to as normal as my life can, so here I am, blogging again.

I received a proof copy of Dissected in the mail this week from Createspace. Let's just say, I'm glad I ordered just one. The cover came out much darker then I'd anticipated, and you know what else? I found...wait for it...TYPOS!!!

Yes, I found typos. This is nobody's fault but my own. I truly am surprised that I found typos, but there they were, a couple in the first few chapters. So I emailed the truly gracious woman who did my formatting and asked her to please not kill me, but did she mind if I send her more corrections for reformatting. She said she didn't mind, but I can't help but imagine that she was silently cursing me (or perhaps loudly) as she emailed me back telling me it was no problem.

She also told me that many of the covers she's done have come out two or three shades darker than expected, so I redid mine. Lightened it up and even added a little more color so it wasn't so black and dismal. Now I'm rereading the proof to find any other typos that may be lurking behind the pretty formatted fonts and styles.

I truly can see why many books, indie published or traditional, make it to the shelves with mistakes. It's difficult. It truly is, to find every last mistake, no matter how many eyes are on it or how many times you read through it. Humans and computers are simply not perfect. That is not a cop out, nor an excuse for my failings, it is simply a fact. I hope to catch every last error in my novel. End of story.

I'm in the process of setting up distribution so the bookstores may carry the novel. They are having a problem with one of my scanned forms for the second time though. I don't know why. So, I have to try again.

So that's where I'm at. Here is what the book cover looks like now. I'm thinking about adding a gummy bear to the back cover...

Formatting snafus and moving forward

Had a little snag in the formatting of Dissected, Lori has never worked with Createspace, so a couple pages were not being agreeable. As I'm writing this, I'm once again uploading again, so hopefully it's a done deal.

I'm in the process of designing the back cover. What do you think?

Next steps, setting up distribution with lightning source, getting barcodes. I haven't really looked into that yet, but I think it's fairly self explanatory, and setting my sale price. The book is a little longer than Never Eighteen and I'm considering donating a dollar of every sale to Mary Bridge Children's hospital here in Tacoma, so I'm thinking about a $9.99 sale price.

OH YEAH!!!! The book is done uploading and NO ISSUES THIS TIME!!! Woot! Means it's time to move forward.

I also still have to design postcards to send out to connections I made with Never Eighteen, libraries, schools, and indie bookstores, though I can't find my mailing list. knowing me, I wrote it all down by hand and threw it away, because I can be a complete idiot like that. (hopefully not, but yeah, it's been known to happen). I need to design buttons. The book cover makes that a little tricky, but I'll come up with something. And stickers. People like stickers. I also want new business cards.

I've pushed my release date back to August 27th so I can set up a local launch party, for which I need about 6 weeks lead time.

I met up with a bunch of indie writers in Tacoma last week. It was a very cool experience. I know I can learn a lot from that diverse group.

Almost done!!

Monkey Madness Monday: Indie Publishing, Getting Closer

Received my second round of the formatted version of Dissected. Oh, it's so pretty. Found just a
couple more things that needed changing, so the next version should be it, then guess what. I make it a printed book! MEEP!!!!

What comes next? I need to come up with a sale price, set up distribution and get my bar codes in place.

As far as the sale price...the book is about 246 pages. A bit longer the Never Eighteen, which was $7.99. And I'm thinking about upping the book up a buck so I can donate some to my favorite charity, Mary Bridge Children's Hospital for every sale. So, I'm thinking $9.99 or $10.99. What do you think? Is the latter too much?

Then Lori, who is formatting my book will format the e-book version for me. She's been a God send, as have many others in this crazy process. I could not have done this on my own. Well, I could have but I'm sure it would have been a fiasco. :)

I also still have to design and order buttons and I need to get postcards designs and sent to bookstores, libraries, and schools. I'm wondering, do I mention the fact that the book is indie published? Hmmm, what have you other indie authors done if you've actually published in print?

Indie Publishing: Moving Forward

Yesterday I decided to order a little swag. Some of my fellow writers have called me the queen of Never Eighteen came out I may have gone a little overboard, but I wanted to test out different types of swag to see what people liked. The favorites are bookmarks, buttons, stickers, and silicone wristbands, so those are what I'm sticking with this time. I also want to buy postcards to send out to schools, libraries and bookstores.
swag. When

So, yesterday's orders consisted of bookmarks and wristbands in black, red, and white swirl that say Dissected on one side and have my website on the other side.

My book is also officially being formatted, Lori posted about it on Facebook yesterday, SQUEE!! Once I get that back I have a little more editing to do on it. Then I upload to Createspace to create my book, look into getting my bar codes, set my price and figure out how to set up distribution.

Things are coming together. I'm hoping my release date of July 16th is still realistic. Okay, that is all. Have a great Tuesday.

Adding to Goodreads

Even though most writers have a love/hate (mostly hate, not me, doesn't bother me much) relationship with Goodreads, I've added my novel, Dissected to its list of books (it's cool to see my book up there). Why you ask? So I can get some pre-publication buzz, and so I can host a giveaway, which I will post next week. And now people can add it to their to-read list. Of course now I'll probably get requests for ARCs which I won't have, but oh well. I may send out some proof copies to bloggers I've worked with before and respected, but not very many as I'll have to pay for those copies.

I've been trying to add the book to Amazon as well, with no luck. I've sent them an email, so hopefully it will be resolved in the next couple of days.

I've also sent it in for formatting, which I'm super excited about. I can't wait to see what it looks like in book form. It's going to be about the same size as Never Eighteen. I think I'll keep all my books about the same size, unless they're just too many pages to do that, but I think Dissected will be around the same word count when I'm done with it.

That's all for today. Have a great Thursday.