Book Covers & Money

I haven't made much money on my books. I haven't marketed and only have 2 and a half up on Amazon and a couple of shorts up on Inkbok. My third book will be out in August (if all goes well) so I started looking at options for the cover. My last two I did myself (and covers for the shorts on Inkbok) and I think it shows.

Since I couldn't find a good angel man to represent one of the main characters or at least one that hadn't already been used on other books when I searched angel books on Amazon, I used this sunset I shot in Key West. Eh.
For Soul Mates I just put paws across a sky to represent the heaven reincarnation  aspect of the book. Not great but, hey! It was my first book so I didn't have $$$ to spend on anything.

Now I'm working on final edits for No Apologies and I found a cover artist. She sent me a sample of what she'd like to do for me and I'm tingling with excitement! The book is Romantic Suspense and I think she nailed the mood of the book. After seeing her work I know its worth the money. She took my critique of the first two ideas she had and her third one gave me what I wanted. She's working on the final and I'll post it as soon as I get it.

I never knew cover art could get me so excited!

Marketing the Indy Author

Marketing is the hardest part of going Indy.
What should the budget be?
Where should I advertise?
What kind of ad?

It's time. I've been slacking in the marketing department for ~ like~ ever.
I've done a facebook ad. Very easy to do, you can set a budget and say what kind of people you want to see your ad. However, I didn't see any great return on it. But I know this is something I have to do if I ever want to make a living at this writing stuff.

Thinking of places like these:

Indie Author News

Kboards

BookBub

Google Adsense

Yahoo Ads

I'm not sure which would be more productive. I think I need to go find a book about this stuff.

I did get a book recommended by Hugh Howey on Facebook. It talked about creating an email list so you can update your fans, but at my level, with my 3.5 measly little books, I wonder if it would be worth it?

Any recommendations on marketing or a book on marketing for the Indy would be greatly appreciated.

Happy Writing!

Oh wait! This is my new foster pup. He's thin as sticks and was found as a stray in Cliffwood, New Jersey. We're looking for his owners but he must have been out on his own for a long time because he's very skinny.

And he's collecting all the dog toys in the house.

Stop Me From Ranting

I was planning a blog on commas...vexation of my mind....but all this Amazon / Indy hate has sidetracked me. I was just over at Konrath's Blog and felt the need to speak out against the authors who are giving the negative to Indies and Amazon. all I can think of is....who cares?
If you want to go Indy...have at it. Indy lets you say what you want to say without censure. Be yourself, post your book...but beware. . .

Indies aren't resting on their laurels...or books...they work hard at marketing. I should know, I suck at marketing. I start, stop, start, stop...never knowing where to invest my marketing dollars.
Indies are in editing hell from day one, yet they push on for the love of the story.
Indies have to deflect that question; Have I read anything you wrote? (Okay, I always answer this with a wide-eyed stare, "You can read???")
Indies have questions, problems,life and everything else that the legacy authors have,but they have built their empires alone. There are lots of Indies who made it big, who had stories to tell that people loved.

So what's with Patterson and the rest of the (almost always an older and popular) authors who give a f**K about how others are publishing? Why should they care? My life, my book, none of their business.

In my book, Betrayed by an Angel, a publisher once told me it couldn't be accepted because the hero doesn't enter the picture until the second chapter. Like there's a rule that the heroine and hero have to meet in the first five-ten pages. My main man is a runaway angel and the set up is when the heroine discovers she was supposed to die, but her guardian saved her and was banished to earth. Now she has to hunt him down. Could I have changed it and had him appear on page five? Probably. But I liked my book as it was written. It flowed and made sense. So I put it up on Amazon. Go read it and tell me what you think? (Insert shameless plug here.)

My book, my decisions. Why is this a problem to other authors? Please! Someone explain it to me!

The Indies are out there and they're ready to give you a wonderful read. Go find them and when you do, leave a review to make them smile and keep them writing.

The Amazon Hate Game

I've been over at Konrath's blog and reading about all those who are mad at Amazon for offering thousands of writers a chance at their dreams. Konrath (love this guy) has it right. Go check it out.

He sites a few articles that are bashing Amazon including Patterson's attempt to come to the aid of his publishing house. Wait, I thought I read somewhere that Patterson had a team of ghosts and didn't even write his own books anymore? (Hey Jim! It shows!) I have to wonder; what's the point? Why wouldn't an author want to control his own work? Is Patterson so rich that it doesn't matter anymore?

I went Indy a few years ago and don't have half the stuff up that I should have by this time. I worry too much about the polishing and I'm always working on my next book. There are too many books to write and too little time. There are several reasons I went Indy and none had to do with money. Don't get me wrong, any money would always be nice, but that didn't push my decision. I went Indy because I just want to write. There is where the joy lives.

If I were with a publishing house and scored the contract as a romance writer, I doubt they'd like it if book two of three were a mystery or a zombie book, or that vampire idea I've been cooking. If I had a contract I'm sure I'd lose a bit of control. My work would be a shared decision with someone in an office that makes decisions, not on my work alone, but on several factors. Climate of the industry, length of the book, what's hot, and their own personal preferences.

Bah!

How many ditched the the Harry Potter book for some of those reasons? Why did they make that decision? The quality of the book was probably not the issue, yet they still rejected it.

One of the criticisms of Indy books is the quality of the book, but that doesn't really fly, does it? I've seen books come from the big publishing houses that had typos and grammatical errors. I've read lots of traditionally published crap. Sometimes my hand itches for that red pen! Then I've read Indies who are outstanding and some with problems. There's really not a big difference in quality between traditional and Indy.

So why go Indy? Or better yet, why not?

Control is an awesome thing when it comes to your own work. 

The Balancing Act

One of the hardest things in writing is everything else in life. The day job, the kids, hubby or wife, extended family, doctor visits, and on and on...

So how does a writer find the time to write? It's always hard to clear the head enough to get the words flowing. Is this more of a problem for women? Traditionally, women are the care givers and are constantly thinking about others. Do the kids have what they need? Laundry done? What to cook for dinner? Carpool? Take care of that fiverr gig. (Check out my fiverr in the right column!) Oh yeah, write the book!

I started a new job which, so far, I'm loving. The people are great and I get to write stuff for their website. I do a lot of other things too but I'm most excited about the writing. Like all jobs there's a learning curve and between that and finals, my book has fallen to the way side. I haven't touched it in three weeks.

THREE WEEKS! Yikes! I can't believe that. Its so sad. I have such high hopes for this book. No Apologies was fun to write. It came from writer's block and to break through I just let myself write badly. As I read through my pages I found I liked the book. It has tension, some funny parts, and a little romance.

I need to find balance. Carve out that writing time and stick to a new schedule to get this book edited and off my desk. I think every change in our lives calls for a new writing schedule.

What's your schedule? When do you write? Has change ever knocked you off your book?

Harmland Dark Tales - A Review

I picked up this book a while ago, but just got around to reading it. My only question is: Why did I wait so long? Harmland is definitely a 5 STAR read!

Harmland by Charles Allen Gramlich is a great collection of short and creepy tales that will stay with you long after you turn the last page. Each story brings out both psychological and supernatural elements that will keep you guessing till the end.

If you've ever watched the Twilight Zone or enjoyed an Alfred Hitchcock movie then Harmland is definitely your kind of book. Hitchcock stories had you guessing till the end and would then slap you with a major twist, Gramlich hits you just as hard. His use of language and description had me jealous of his ability to paint vivid pictures with his words.

The parrot still haunts me.....go read Harmland and you'll be haunted, too.

Left Brain Right Brain Insane

I wish for a life where I can write and/or paint all day. This tree was a housewarming gift for a friend. It took me four hours and I'm pretty okay with how it turned out. 

I think all writers are artists and all artists are writers. Even if they don't know it, I believe it comes from the same side of the brain. The theory goes; left-brain people are more organized and systematic. Right-brain people are more creative and intuitive. I think art takes organization and is systematic so I don't understand this theory. To make a tree I have to stare at trees, absorb tree structure...then sketch it and outline it and on and on...

Writing is the same. Even if we start with random writing and just pushing forward without knowing where we're going to end up, writing -   good writing- has structure. It takes the systematic placement of elements in a story to create direction and plot for the story. Then we throw in all that creativity and we've got one best selling novel. (at least that's what I've heard. . . I haven't hit best seller yet.) 

So right brain, left brain doesn't make sense. I'm thinking those who invested the research into this theory might have missed something. But just to be sure...I'm going to go take the test. 

Below is the tree I painted Sunday for a friend. The right brain sketched it out, the left brain filled it in...wait, maybe that was left to sketch and right to fill...or ....