Finally! I'm Published -- Again.

Excuse me while I sit back and stare at the book cover.

I'm still somewhat amazed that the cover is done,

&

you can

access a sample of the story -- Taking Vengeance -- at

Smashwords. 

You can even buy the story ... if you are so inclined.
[I won't object.]

If you like it, would you please forward it to friends, family, etc who might enjoy it too.
Then, there's the Twitter and Facebook thing.
Thank you.

So, my fifth career as a published writer has begun.  This time as a fantasy writer.  Consider this my first promotion effort.  Now, my work begins.  I need to study what I'm going to do next to market the novella ... and do it.

[I also think I'm supposed be writing something new somewhere around in my copious free time.]

Promotion alert, in case you don't do it already:  

Do you Google your name and/or the titles of your books and stories.  You should for two reasons.  One, of course, is if someone out in the  "web-o-sphere" takes your name in vain.  The other is in case some good news is lurking out there without you knowing it.  I knew WolfSinger Publications would be publishing the novella soon, but I didn't know it had until I checked my "Googles" Saturday night.  There was a link to Smashwords ... and there I was:  published again.

Excuse me while I go check my name on the other major search engines.

Adventures in Reading,
aka:  Learning My Lesson:

While in NYC, I got the itch to look at debut books [after reading Allison Pang's Brush of Darkness].  Since I was in the "flagship" B&N, I had the perfect opportunity to check out solid paper books.  While they didn't have a debut author section, I did find quite a few just by turning the to the backs of the books.  [Yeah, I know I could probably search new authors at the online stores.] 

I came across Cheryle Ann Smith's The School for Brides where a plain, stern-seeming young Regency lady runs a school for mistresses who want to get married rather than ply their trade.  Nice premise.  Nice secondary characters.  But the main character turned into a beautiful redhead who then turned into a stupid piece of fluff the first time she gets bedded by the vindictive love interest.  I skimmed through it enough to know it was decently written, but the main character turned me off.

Hate to admit it, but Brides had me returning to the romance section where I picked up It Happened One Season which featured stories by Stephanie Laurens, Mary Balogh, Jacquie D'Alessandro, and Candice Hern.  The authors were given the same premise:

"A handsome hero returns from war, battle-scarred and world-weary.  But family duty calls and he must find a bride.

"A young lady facing yet another season without a suitor never expects to find herself the object of his affections."  

My favorite story of the lot was by Hern, whom I had never heard of before.   I think the book's going on my keeper pile since the book's a good object lesson on how the same plot metamorphises in the hands of different authors.

Web Promotion and Other Stuff:

Joe Konrath, one of the author gurus of e-publishing has a blog called:  A Newbies Guide to Publishing.  Last week, he wrote a long multi-faceted blog:  What Works: Promo for Ebooks.  It's one of the best summaries I've seen.  If you are promoting some short stories or even a full length book, you might check it out.  I'm sure you'll find some ideas on how to promote your work.  I know I did.

You might like his closing line:  "There's a word for a self-published writer who never gives up... rich."

Of course, you have to have something to promote ... something that doesn't die in the middle.  Justine Musk in her blog, The Tribal Writer, discusses some ways to make sure your book doesn't sink like a soggy cake:  The Secrets and Revelations of a Powerful Middle Act.  She takes the position that your characters need to have secrets which are revealed in the middle of your book.  Oh, I forgot.  You also have to have confrontations.

Progress:

Am a little jittery, got my line edits for Taking Vengeance back to WolfSinger Publications  ... and now I wait for the publication date.  I'd send you there, but they don't have the excerpt up yet. 

How did I celebrate?  I finished off a short story and sent it off to Asimov's.  It's no longer flash fiction, and I like it much better with the bugs crawling around.  My main character got even crankier, a man after my own heart.

Got another short story finished too --  Cavern Between Worlds -- which I'll self-publish so I have two choices up online.  [Yes, mommy, it has been professionally edited.]

Trivia:

  Back to Mother's Day and all the good wishes.  I always think of Mother's Day as the day I changed my mother's life for the worse.  I'm more stubborn than she was.  

How stubborn was she?  She sat in the hospital lobby, refusing to budge, when the nurses said she was too small to be in labor -- until her waters broke five minutes later..  Unfortunately, it was me that popped out ... on Mother's Day ...  rather than "Shirley Temple".

Book Trailer Progress

How's the book trailer progressing?  I think it is.

Yeah,  I'm still sweating the making of my first book trailer.  Sweating, not because I'm worried, but sweating because it's hard work ... and time consuming.  But then, book trailers seem to stay on YouTub forever so it should be worth the effort, someday.  

Did get the music part nailed down ... though not "done", but it's nice to know what I want is possible.

From what I see on AW Water Cooler and from searching "making book trailers", the things seem to be a popular topic.  If you are interested in seeing what the "big boys" are doing, you might check out:  In Search of the Ultimate Children's and YA Book Trailer.  They've got some interesting examples. 

On the personal end:  I'm getting quick responses from a book trailer maker ... who likes my daughter's harp music.  Granted the elf and Celtic harp music is sort of a cliche.  But then, my daughter's playing isn't the usual stuff most harpists pluck from the strings.  [plug:  You can get free samples of her music.]  Funny thing, though.  In my various Half-Elven stories, no one plays the harp ... that I can remember.  Drums.  Fiddles.  Whistles.  No harps.

Has anyone had a positive or negative experience with book trailers?  I'm doing this to increase name recognition ... and hopefully, to sell some "books".  Who knows how successful it'll play out. 

[Books is in quotes since what's being published is a novelette since I think it's too short to be classified as a novella.   Have you noticed that quite of few e-publishers do short stories as singles?]

Publishing, Better the Second Time Around?

The Read ...

Mid-list authors get no respect.  At least, that's the impression you get from many of the writing blogs and forums -- but there are exceptions.  Writers who persevere and end up writing a popular series.  Their publishers reward them by reprinting their back list.

Okay.  A second chance happens to best-selling authors and people who get back their e-rights all the time.  [But, that's another story.]  

Today, the read's about Masques, Patricia Brigg's first published novel which had gone out of print.  Her introduction is well worth a trip to a mortar-and-brick store to read the introduction where she discusses the process.  Her Mercy Thompson series [about a coyote shapeshifter caught in a world of European werewolves, vampires, and fae] opened the republishing doors for Briggs. She revised Masques and was rewarded with a pop onto the New York Times best seller list.

Oh, the book.  Imagine the damaged son of a power-mad mage finding a magic-wielding mercenary who helps him defeat his father before he destroys their world.  Actually, the book is written from the mercenary's viewpoint and was a good read deserving of being on the best seller list.

Problem:  She gave me an excuse not to market.  I need to revise.  Yeah, I do.  See "progress" below.

Web and Other Stuff ...

Promotion has been pushing to the top of my mind for a while, so all the articles about book promotion ... and other writing too.  Arielle Ford, a publicist and writer, recently did an article on "The Rule of 5 for Book Promotion." in the Huffington Post.   Bottom line: she likens promoting your writing to a marathon rather than a sprint.  --  This is courtesy of Writer's Beware who listed it on Facebook.

If you think an agent will solve all your post-writing problems, think again.  Rachelle Gardner (agent blog Rants & Ramblings) ... talks about what happens when an agent fails.   Actually, the blog links to a series of blogs by Wendy Lawton, another agent, in Books & Such who had the courage to tackle the ticklish subject.

More on promotion:  Author K. C. May give a nice idea for using Kindle to promote your book in her blog:  Writer in Training.

Progress ...

Write?  Market?  Promote?  All three at the same time?  

After realizing my first attempt at fiction -- written to amuse myself --  was over 400,000 words that could be cut into three books [the Far Isle Half-Elven] plus leftovers, I went on to write three more self-contained book manuscripts.  The YA/MG stuff which is laying around in various stages of revision.  

Even developed a nice writing pattern.  Draft a manuscript in the first half of the year.  Revise the manuscript in the year.  Then, I discovered the usefulness of critiquing and beta-reading, where I played with the manuscripts, changing them over time.

Problem:  My writing skills for long stuff kept improving.  Now, I'm staring at four manuscripts wondering how I'm going to retool.  [Plus, I have all that draft material lurking in the computer files.] --  I think I've found my excuse to a void marketing.  *heh.  heh.  heh.*

What makes me think I'm not procrastinating?  Well, There Be Demons was very nicely beta-read, thank you.  Lots of revision done.  Thought it really was ready to market.  Even have been compiling a list of fantasy-liking agents who might like the kind of fantasy I write.  Then, I happened to revise the first 300 pages of the Prologue.  After it was reduced to 250 words, I read so much better.  --  I think I've found a wondrous Mobius strip to play on.

Trivia ...

Something's wrong ... major big time wrong.  The last three books I've read showed up on the New York Times best seller list on Sunday.   [Dark Slayer (Feehan), 61 Hours (Child), and Masques (Briggs)]  Things I like usually don't become main stream popular.


Oh, I've made it to 300 Tweets.  [@kaytheod]