When I decided to publish my book, I had already resigned myself to accepting that I might not sell many books, considering that it would be up to my alone to do the marketing. I just didn't want to sell the rights to my hard work.
But that doesn't stop me from checking my sales records every day. And each time I see that I sold another book, even though I'm pretty certain I know who bought it, it still gives me a thrill. For me, I'm not focused on the monetary gain. Instead I love the thought that my work has grabbed someone's interest. It's like a singer that receives appreciation for their voice Or a painter having people admiring their paintings.
I have been working hard doing what I know to market my book. I am being patient, knowing that this will take time. But I can't help being excited knowing my book is being read and hopefully enjoyed. It gives me the motivation to keep writing, and writing is what I have been doing. I will be posting a story blog soon, of a romanic/scandle genre.
Buy my book here on Amazon
Buy my book here on Smashwords
Check out excerpts on my book on Facebook
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
On Retweets for Revenge Unknown
So I never cared much about Twitter...actually thought it was pretty dumb for a long time. I just didn't see the point. I opened up two Twitter accounts to try to 'social network' but I had no idea what to Tweet about.
Then I got my book published and I wanted to promote it so I wouldn't have to pay a publisher to do it for me. So I tried again, and this time Twitter has become my friend. Now that I know what to Tweet, it doesn't seem so pointless.
In fact, I find it's a great way to get knowledge of my book out to people. I have only just begun, about 2 weeks into it, and already I have almost 200 followers.
The most exciting part is when people retweet my postings. Then, not only am I reaching my followers, but I'm reaching all of their followers! Each retweet gives me a thrill because it means that someone has taken the time to read my tweet and found it worthy of sharing. I do my best to return the kindness, finding interesting tweets to share with others.
To all of those who do me the curtisy of retweeting my posts, I thank you greatly and will do my best to return the favor!
Find me on Twitter
and Facebook
Find my book (paperback or Kindle) on Amazon
or as any other ebook format on Smashwords
Then I got my book published and I wanted to promote it so I wouldn't have to pay a publisher to do it for me. So I tried again, and this time Twitter has become my friend. Now that I know what to Tweet, it doesn't seem so pointless.
In fact, I find it's a great way to get knowledge of my book out to people. I have only just begun, about 2 weeks into it, and already I have almost 200 followers.
The most exciting part is when people retweet my postings. Then, not only am I reaching my followers, but I'm reaching all of their followers! Each retweet gives me a thrill because it means that someone has taken the time to read my tweet and found it worthy of sharing. I do my best to return the kindness, finding interesting tweets to share with others.
To all of those who do me the curtisy of retweeting my posts, I thank you greatly and will do my best to return the favor!
Find me on Twitter
and Facebook
Find my book (paperback or Kindle) on Amazon
or as any other ebook format on Smashwords
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Marketing my Book - Revenge Unknown
Gotta say, this marketing stuff is hard...and really time consuming. I was never a big Twitter or Facebook person, never really saw the point in it, since I'm not the kind of person to give people minute to minute updates on what I ate, watched on the TV, or did in the bathroom. But I can see the benefit of it for marketing...although I haven't yet seen the rewards. But it's only been a couple of weeks, so I'm being patient.
I mean...it's not like I'm checking my book sales everyday, certainly not two or three times a day.../guilty. Hey, I'm excited to have a book published. I'll admit to many a headache though, in trying to get my stuff out there. Between signing up for this website (about.me) and that website (klout.com) and posting excerpts here (tumblr) and there (twitter) and over there (facebook) and trying to keep up with everyone else's stuff so I can show that I'm interested in them so maybe they'll be interested in me, I just feel worn out.
This is why you pay for a publisher. But I just don't want to hand the rights to my hard work over to someone who plans on telling me who I can and can't sell it do.
I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet. Although lazy by nature, I am also extremely stubborn. I am determined to make this work, so next step is to get out the business cards and start giving people stuff to throw away...hoping they'll at least glance at it first!
Oh, and I've got another book in the works, a completely different style but still a good read...and two others I'm doing research for that will be tied to Revenge Unknown. I've got a lot of fun hard work ahead of me.
Revenge Unknown
I mean...it's not like I'm checking my book sales everyday, certainly not two or three times a day.../guilty. Hey, I'm excited to have a book published. I'll admit to many a headache though, in trying to get my stuff out there. Between signing up for this website (about.me) and that website (klout.com) and posting excerpts here (tumblr) and there (twitter) and over there (facebook) and trying to keep up with everyone else's stuff so I can show that I'm interested in them so maybe they'll be interested in me, I just feel worn out.
This is why you pay for a publisher. But I just don't want to hand the rights to my hard work over to someone who plans on telling me who I can and can't sell it do.
I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet. Although lazy by nature, I am also extremely stubborn. I am determined to make this work, so next step is to get out the business cards and start giving people stuff to throw away...hoping they'll at least glance at it first!
Oh, and I've got another book in the works, a completely different style but still a good read...and two others I'm doing research for that will be tied to Revenge Unknown. I've got a lot of fun hard work ahead of me.
Revenge Unknown
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Never Ending Revision- Beach Dream
So I went through some of my unfinished works to see what I could work on next and I came across a short story I wrote a while back, called Beach Dream. I have a physical copy of it printed out and chilling in my 'writing binder', but I can't seem to find an electronic copy (even though I obviously had one at some point and time). No biggy, I happen to love typing, so this is a fun excuse for a lot of typing.
Of course, as I type I must read and as I read I find so many typos and mistakes, as well as parts that need serious revision. Sadly this was a story I was hoping to have ready for the public soon because it is a completed work. Or mostly completed.
Funny how our first drafts can seem like sheer brilliance. I remember the first draft of Revenge Unknown, I was so proud of it, I felt like the scenes were so raw and emotion invoking. They were perfection in one shot, I thought. I mean, everyone who read it told me it was good. That is until one guy read it and said to me "it's a good first draft".
I was highly offended of course. I mean, who's this one guy to not recognize a great piece of literature?? Then I put the book away for a while, got distracted with life, and eventually came back to it a few months later. And rereading it, I still felt that it was a great story and a good read, but needed a lot of work. And so I worked on it, and worked on it, and worked on it. I think I have ten drafts of the same story.
So here I am, in the same place with Beach Dream. The story is fun and exciting to read, but needs so much work, it's almost intimidating. For now I will focus on getting it typed up, so I can become reacquainted with the story, then I will begin the revising process.
Of course, as I type I must read and as I read I find so many typos and mistakes, as well as parts that need serious revision. Sadly this was a story I was hoping to have ready for the public soon because it is a completed work. Or mostly completed.
Funny how our first drafts can seem like sheer brilliance. I remember the first draft of Revenge Unknown, I was so proud of it, I felt like the scenes were so raw and emotion invoking. They were perfection in one shot, I thought. I mean, everyone who read it told me it was good. That is until one guy read it and said to me "it's a good first draft".
I was highly offended of course. I mean, who's this one guy to not recognize a great piece of literature?? Then I put the book away for a while, got distracted with life, and eventually came back to it a few months later. And rereading it, I still felt that it was a great story and a good read, but needed a lot of work. And so I worked on it, and worked on it, and worked on it. I think I have ten drafts of the same story.
So here I am, in the same place with Beach Dream. The story is fun and exciting to read, but needs so much work, it's almost intimidating. For now I will focus on getting it typed up, so I can become reacquainted with the story, then I will begin the revising process.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Appreciation of My Work
Every time someone shows interest in my book, 'Revenge Unknown', I get an excited thri8ll. I worked very hard on the story. Every time I thought it was finished, I would read through it again, checking for typos and find ways to improve on the story.
For me, the hardest part to revise and edit was the dialog. I found I had whole chapters of almost straight dialog. I had to find ways to add descriptions and break up the constant dialog without being too distracting.
I also learned to not be too descriptive. For one, it can be hard to find the right words without becoming too wordy. The reader also needs to be able to use his or her own imagination. Too many details become limiting.
One of the most headache inducing problems I had was having to convert colloquial terms into more universal terms.
The story itself was easy to write, flowing imagination to pen with so little effort my hand would be cramped, my handwriting barely more than a scribble in an attempt to keep up with the flow of thoughts.
The revision process of turning a story into a readable book was a much more difficult and lengthy process and every person that takes the time out o their lives to read my work has my undying appreciation.
For me, the hardest part to revise and edit was the dialog. I found I had whole chapters of almost straight dialog. I had to find ways to add descriptions and break up the constant dialog without being too distracting.
I also learned to not be too descriptive. For one, it can be hard to find the right words without becoming too wordy. The reader also needs to be able to use his or her own imagination. Too many details become limiting.
One of the most headache inducing problems I had was having to convert colloquial terms into more universal terms.
The story itself was easy to write, flowing imagination to pen with so little effort my hand would be cramped, my handwriting barely more than a scribble in an attempt to keep up with the flow of thoughts.
The revision process of turning a story into a readable book was a much more difficult and lengthy process and every person that takes the time out o their lives to read my work has my undying appreciation.
Writing a Sociopath
What was it like to write a sociopath?
In my novel Revenge Unknown, one of Cassidy's personality alternates, Chloe, is a homicidal sociopath. I have to say that writing Chloe was my favorite part. I have a darkness in me, like most of us, that delighted in taking vicious revenge of evil men. Our society does not allow us to do so on our own as individuals, and right so, but sometimes this can leave us feeling jilted.
Writing detailed murders of men that were obviously bad men who did bad things was theraputic for me. (Just a side note, I am not anti-men or hateful towards men in anyway)
In my novel Revenge Unknown, one of Cassidy's personality alternates, Chloe, is a homicidal sociopath. I have to say that writing Chloe was my favorite part. I have a darkness in me, like most of us, that delighted in taking vicious revenge of evil men. Our society does not allow us to do so on our own as individuals, and right so, but sometimes this can leave us feeling jilted.
Writing detailed murders of men that were obviously bad men who did bad things was theraputic for me. (Just a side note, I am not anti-men or hateful towards men in anyway)
Friday, May 3, 2013
Why Multiple Personalities- Excerpt from Revenge Unknown
When I was a little girl, I dreamed of being a doctor. Hwne I got older I lost interest in that field and was unsure what to do with my life.
Although I have laways loved writing and made up stories all the time, I did not believe I could make a living from writing.
Then a friend of mine was diagnosed with a serious mental disorder that I had never heard of. So I looked it up and was introduced into the fascinating world of mental health and illness. It was then I discovered my love for psychology.
Since then I have completed my associate's in psychology and am working on a BS in social work. As excited I am to work in the field of psychology, I have discovered another place for what I have learned, the world of fiction.
In writing fiction, I find my characters are limitless. I can explore mental illnesses from both the sufferer's and the counselor's perspectives. This makes for a very dramatic story, the most fun to read!
Excerpts from Revenge Unknown
Buy ebook
Buy Paperback
Although I have laways loved writing and made up stories all the time, I did not believe I could make a living from writing.
Then a friend of mine was diagnosed with a serious mental disorder that I had never heard of. So I looked it up and was introduced into the fascinating world of mental health and illness. It was then I discovered my love for psychology.
Since then I have completed my associate's in psychology and am working on a BS in social work. As excited I am to work in the field of psychology, I have discovered another place for what I have learned, the world of fiction.
In writing fiction, I find my characters are limitless. I can explore mental illnesses from both the sufferer's and the counselor's perspectives. This makes for a very dramatic story, the most fun to read!
Excerpts from Revenge Unknown
Buy ebook
Buy Paperback
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Where 'Revenge Unknown' came from
Six years ago, I went through the hardest thing I hope to ever go through in my life. It was a time of turmoil and betrayal. Those I turned to for help abandoned me, let me down, turned on me. I felt cheated and abused by life and hated any song or story that had a happy ending. My story was not ending happily and I resented how every sad story seemed to end with some form of happy. I was angry at a good many people and at the world. So I wrote.
I wrote in my journal, but after a time writing about my life was depressing. So I turned to fiction. If I could not have justice in real life, I would take revenge in fantasy. I began writing gruesome scenes that were filled with violence and rage. And I felt better. The scenes we're so raw and so powerful, I had to create a story around them.
At first it was broken and filled with random scenes. The first draft was crude, although amazingly brilliant in my eyes. Then life took me away and I put my story away.
It took six years to create, finish, revise and edit my story. As I embark on this journey towards publishing, I often think back on those first days of writing. Filled with hated, rage, and anguish, I sat in a booth of the restaurant I worked at, writing horror in a pale blue miniture notebook, scribbling so fast that some parts are almost illegible. I still have that notebook, and every piece of paper I scratched pieces of my art on.
I love my book. I have read it so many times that I find myself sick of the story, only to want to dive back in yet again. For every person who reads it I get a thrill. So please, dive into my story filled with twists and horror and hope and pain.
Excerpts from Revenge Unknown
Buy paperback
Buy ebook
I wrote in my journal, but after a time writing about my life was depressing. So I turned to fiction. If I could not have justice in real life, I would take revenge in fantasy. I began writing gruesome scenes that were filled with violence and rage. And I felt better. The scenes we're so raw and so powerful, I had to create a story around them.
At first it was broken and filled with random scenes. The first draft was crude, although amazingly brilliant in my eyes. Then life took me away and I put my story away.
It took six years to create, finish, revise and edit my story. As I embark on this journey towards publishing, I often think back on those first days of writing. Filled with hated, rage, and anguish, I sat in a booth of the restaurant I worked at, writing horror in a pale blue miniture notebook, scribbling so fast that some parts are almost illegible. I still have that notebook, and every piece of paper I scratched pieces of my art on.
I love my book. I have read it so many times that I find myself sick of the story, only to want to dive back in yet again. For every person who reads it I get a thrill. So please, dive into my story filled with twists and horror and hope and pain.
Excerpts from Revenge Unknown
Buy paperback
Buy ebook
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