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?!?

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.

The Indie Process

I suppose while I'm in the midst of going indie I could keep you abreast of the process. So, I've already put the covers out there, which you've seen and weighed in on, and I've done some research on young adult covers and chosen one. I know many of you like the glass heart, but after the research, the cover needs to convey what the story is about, and young adult readers like to see a person on the cover, so this is the one I went with.

I've already done the formatting for the most part. Now I'm waiting to hear back from my beta readers. I've heard back from three of them, and here is a couple of things they had to say.

"Dissected is amazing, but it's a hard, painful read. I believe it's important because it reminds me so much of Go Ask Alice, which changed my life." ~ fellow writer

"I started reading it and well I couldn't stop until I finished it. I love the detail that you put into and it makes it seem like you are right there with Syd." ~ reader

"I liked it. I am disturbed by it. I was sucked in by it...... Your writing allows you to speak to the reader's heart, and that is a gift." ~ school librarian

Once I hear back from the others (I think there are two more), I will press on from there. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. There is definitely a learning curve to this process.