The Missing Ingredient in Your Writing

I was just over at Blogging on the Side (whom I found on Pinterest) and realized something that made me feel stupid.
I love writing.
No, that's not what made me feel dumb.
I have several blogs, some more active, some neglected. A few that I have great ideas for but for some reason, never execute any. And then Blogging on the Side posts this one; How to hit 1,000,000 in a year of Blogging.  The biggest thing I learned from this article is discipline. Something my piano teacher once said, "We must learn to discipline our talents."  I believe this is especially true for writers.

Writers usually have a project they're working on. Whether its a book, articles for work, or other writing, actually getting the words on paper, cutting out that time slot, is the hardest part. I can write. So why don't I?

I can ask myself the same thing about dieting. It's not that I don't know how to lose weight, it's that I don't know why I don't do it. (Hic!) I almost said "I'm not stupid."  (see first paragraph;)~

Discipline. I wonder how many people decide to tattoo that somewhere? Its an often forgotten element to any work from home/self-employed career where we have to find the motivation within. The day job is easy; go to work, do what you need to do or get fired. Simple.
Writing? Not so simple. If I don't go to work I'm stagnant. I don't move forward, but I'm not going backwards.

So where's your discipline?

It's NANO time!

This NaNo season my daughter and I are exchanging character sketches. The sketch we get has to be the main character of the story. A simple challenge.
I gave her a woman about the same age as she is, who is a celebrity photog. Meaning she chases celebrities for the best shot. Have fun with that! :)
I think I'm so smart.
So what does she give me?
A 12 year old girl genius. The kids a college student. A 12 year old college student!
Oy!
Its going to be a long NaNo...

So tell me? Do you NaNo and what's your biggest writing challenge?

Happy Endings, Closure, & Cliff Hangers...

I like happy endings in a book. I want the hero to come out on top and the bad guy to find justice. (or Karma...that's sometimes as good as justice) I also want closure in a book. Tie up the loose ends and finish all parts of the story. I try to do this in my stories and I hope my readers think so.

I also like to leave them looking for the next book. Just a little whisper in the last page that lets them know part of the story lives on. Not in the way a serial would do it, but more like one or two of the characters coming together to form the a totally separate story.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm torturing the reader by doing this, but maybe its just the writer wondering...what if?

In Betrayed by an Angel, one of the angels is reminded by the higher ups that his work isn't quite finished and the last page is that scene. The the book ends. I've started that next story but haven't finished it. Will my readers get mad if I'm slow to the gate with that next book? I'm not sure. I haven't really given enough information to explain the next book, but just a little tease.

Do you make sure all story lines within your story are closed? Do you always have a happy ending? Or do you end with a teaser?

Writers Need Writers

Its a fact; I'm definitely more productive when I'm around other writers. Its like when you have a good friend who always makes the healthy choices on the menu, you follow. Or if you're with the one who eats ice cream...you tend to eat more ice cream. When I'm around other writers talking writing, exchanging ideas, asking questions, finding answers, I become more writing centered.

I'm loving the writing sites I've found on Facebook! Writer's Around the World is a great group just there to talk about writing. Nirvana. They also have rules about what can be posted on which day and that helps keep the group on track. Well done, WAW. You guys rock!

Indie Author Group is another good one dedicated to Indie authors. No promo just exchanges with other authors talking shop. I love it.

I've found a few others and most seem great. The ones with promo rules are best. As writers wanting to shamelessly promote our books, we need a little restraint!

There are also reader-author sites to connect with readers and share you work. I do a little of that too.

Not that I didn't enjoy Facebook to a degree, but I have to admit seeing what people ate for dinner or discussing medical issues didn't keep my interest. IMHO; foot fungus reports don't belong on Facebook. Eeesshhh! But now I'm with my peeps, the writing peeps and I'm in heaven.

So tell me??? What's your fav writing site? Link us!

Updating Book Cover

After reading a few articles about book covers and how people interested in certain genres look for certain types of art on the cover I thought it was time for a change.
On my first cover for Betrayed by an Angel I couldn't find a decent angel photo that hadn't already been used or didn't look goofey, so I went with a photo of a sunset that I took in Key West.
After reading about the importance of book covers I found a cover designer who changed the look of my cover.

From this:

 To this:

I told her there was a scene in the book where the they were on the beach and there was lightening and a few other things and this is what she sent back to me.

I think it works. Kissing couple = romance and beach and lightening maybe give a hint of a threat? Either way I'm happy. 

Now I'm curious to see if it makes any difference in sales....

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.