My Own Brand of Madness

Honestly YA Welcomes Erika O'Rourke

2012-02-08T14:02:00.001-05:00

Erica O'Rourke talks high school regrets today at Honestly YA. *ALERT* one lucky follower will win a copy of TORN and her new book TANGLED. And if you haven't read Erica's books - you are missing out!

Dear Aspiring YA Author

2012-02-03T13:46:00.000-05:00

Dear aspiring YA author,

We have reviewed your manuscript and are declining representation with out regrets. Although your writing is exceptionally strong with a unique voice, we believe the premise is a bit too similar to Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Series. Due to Ms. Meyer’s iconic imprint on teen readership, we are not interested in acquiring manuscripts that contain the following:

· Angst

· Boys that sparkle

· Boys that are serially shirtless

· Any manuscript using any form of the word “dazzle”

· Girls into fashion

· Girls into sweatpants

· Girls that read

· Meadows

· Tall trees

· Indian tribe analogies

· Vampires, Werewolves, or Shape Shifters

· B-list paranormal creatures, such as fairies, shadowhunters, selkies, banshees, ghosts, zombies, mermaids, angels, demons, etc. (because they’re not as cool as vampires and werewolves)

· Teens that are really old

· Teens that age appropriately

· Teens that need to eat

· Teens that don’t eat

· Floating feathers (to be safe, no birds of any kind)

· Extraordinary abilities like mind reading, manipulation of emotions, and seeing the future

· Weather (including rain, snow, and sunshine)

· Prom

· Apples

· Forks (in fact, all cutlery is generally to be avoided)

· Times of day (especially sunset, sunrise and midday)

· Lunar cycles

· Red eyes, golden eyes, black or brown eyes (eyes in general have become cliché)

· Old trucks, motorcycles, and new sports cars

· Love triangles and teen couples (romance of any kind should be avoided especially true love and puppy infatuation)

· Relocating to a new town

· Living in the same place for any length of time

· Windows

· Bedrooms

· Kissing

· Sneaking in windows to kiss in bedrooms

· Teens that move too quickly into marriage

· Teens who don’t get married in opposition to books containing those who do

· Cold and hot (we will not publish any manuscript that references temperature)

· Anything with a pulse

· Anything without a pulse

· Characters that enforce or break the law

· Characters with foreign sounding names, old people names, or trendy names

· The number 17 (no characters of that age, nor any manuscripts containing the page number 17 or a 17^th chapter will be considered)

· Manuscripts with short or one word titles

· Manuscripts with long titles (too contrary to what’s hot in the current YA market)

· Exotic locations like Italy, South America, or private islands

· The Pacific Northwest

· The Southwest (in fact, probably best if you set your story somewhere other than Earth)

· We are also not interested in books set in outer space or alternate worlds

However, if you are able to come up with a fresh YA concept that does not infringe on these areas, we would be most anxious to read it. We are also looking for Dystopians.

Sincerely,

Jane Doe Publisher

(Author note: My new young adult WIP is about one ordinary child and one eyeless grownup who don’t live anywhere, go anyplace, or have any adventures of any kind. Estimated length is 16 pages. It’s guaranteed to be a bestseller!)

YOUR TURN: What else needs to be on the list?

The Experimental Girl, part 2: More Experimentation

2012-01-19T06:38:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone who chimed in on promoted prices vs. every day available price. I am taking THE HALO CHRONICLES THE GUARDIAN off sale and back to $2.99.

I decided to let the .99¢ sale go through MLK Day, so I requested the pricing change ($2.99 , 70% royalty) for on Tuesday. As usual Amazon is taking their sweet time to make the change.

It will be interesting to compare velocity at the higher price with THE WAY LIFE WAS FOREVER continuing as a free promo vehicle.

As of this morning, here are my January 2012 sales results:

THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN ($.99): ~~123~~ 128 (as of 1/19 8:30pm)

THE WAY LIFE WAS FOREVER (FREE): ~~4903~~ 5056 (as of 1/19 8:30pm)

1/30 Results:

THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN ($.99): 203 (and back up to $2.99)

THE WAY LIFE WAS FOREVER (FREE): 8007 (in 1 month!)

The Experimental Girl

2012-01-05T07:08:00.000-05:00

December was an experimental month for me. In November, I published a dystopian short story, THE WAY LIFE WAS FOREVER, at $.99. At the end I included the first chapter of THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN. Then I dropped THE GUARDIAN from $2.99 to $.99 to participate in a holiday promotion called Book Lovers Buffet.

For the purposes of this analysis, I am going to use my Amazon sales.

December 1-24 results:

THE WAY LIFE WAS FOREVER $.99: 4

THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN $.99: 66

I decided to make THE WAY LIFE WAS FOREVER free to promote THE GUARDIAN. It went into effect just after Christmas.

December 26-31 results:

THE WAY LIFE WAS FOREVER $.00: 617

THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN $.99: 53

January 1-4 results:

THE WAY LIFE WAS FOREVER $.00: 767

THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN $.99: 27

The results are so phenomenal that I am going to keep THE WAY LIFE WAS FOREVER free.

Now my dilemma, the promotion for THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN ends 1/15/12. Should I keep it at $.99 with much lower royalties or take it back up to $2.99.

What do you think?

New Book Season

2011-12-01T05:00:00.000-05:00

12/14 UPDATE:

Today is my official Seasons of Reading Blog Hop day. So to celebrate, THE WAY LIFE WAS FOREVER is now free at smashwords for the rest of the month. Happy Holidays!!!

NEW BOOK SEASON:

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. New Book Season. All year long, I look forward to my holiday break—two wonderful weeks off from work, two fabulous weeks to spend with my family, two glorious weeks to read.

I love getting books as Christmas presents, almost as much as I love giving them. As a kid, it was one time of year when I would get a brand, spankin’ new book with crisp pages and a glossy cover…and the smell. Is there anything better than the smell of cracking open a new book for the first time? Ok, maybe a rare edition or six.

One of my first Christmases with my hubby, I gave him a limited edition, hardback copy of one of my favorite stories, The Giving Tree. And when I found out I was pregnant I started amassing books for baby first Christmas, everything from older editions of fairie tales to Sandra Boyton board books to gorgeously illustrated classics.

For the Corp family, books are an integral part of the holiday season. Each December, I diligently fill out our bookstore wish lists. I hit the brick-and-mortar stores for gift cards for teachers and friends. Then I canvas the school book fair and load up on books to give my family.

Kid 1

Kid 2

So what’s on the list this year?

The kids are easy.

My hubby got his new book a few weeks ago (and will be reading for some time—the book is freakin’ huge!):

Me? All I want are: Clockwork Prince & Kiss of Night

And this year, there’s a new twist to New Book Season, my own book!

So, I’m giving away a signed print copy of THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN to one lucky person and donating one on the winner’s behalf to my local public library. Contest runs 12/4 through 12/31. Winner will be announced on January 1, 2012. To enter follow my blog and leave a comment below. Please read the contest disclaimer here.

YOUR TURN: What' terrific tome is on your holiday list?

to find your way to the next post, click here

Thanks to Jo Ramsey and all the Seasons of Reading Blog Hop authors!

ALSO: check out the BOOK LOVERS BUFFET

Honestly YA: High school, like life, is AWKWARD.

2011-11-21T07:33:00.001-05:00

Today at Honestly YA, I'm giving MTV's AWKWARD. some love and sharing my own Carefrontation. Stop by and share yours!

12/4 Nikki DeLoach just shared her Carefrontation to her 15-year-old self, read it here:

Left Field Inspiration

2011-11-16T18:07:00.001-05:00

When I work up this morning, I didn't know that I was about to be inspired, and validated, and encouraged, and changed...But that's kind of the whole point behind blessings. Tonya Kappes's post changed my course.

For her inspiring post HOW BAD DO YOU WANT SELF PUBLISHING SUCCESS, click here.

I have a new short story out!!! THE WAY LIFE WAS FOREVER
It's $.99 at Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords. I'll talk more about the business rationale in a few weeks.

Today I want to know HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?

Sneek Peek ...

2011-11-08T15:39:00.001-05:00

of the cover for my new short story: THE WAY LIFE WAS FOREVER

coming Thanksgiving 2011

Honestly YA's latest post

2011-11-07T17:40:00.000-05:00

Don't miss Lea Nolan's wonderful post of the evolution of the hero in YA. You'll LOL!

http://honestlyya.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-need-hero-or-origin-of-ya-male.html

Honestly YA's new post is up

2011-10-24T06:59:00.003-04:00

Lorie Langdon talks about how being a dreamer inspires her writing in Following the Yellow Brick Road

More Indie Stuff: Marketing, Money, and POD, oh my!

2011-10-20T07:45:00.001-04:00

Happy October!

I'm hard at work on my sequel to THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN. Which means I've been sucked into the black hole of my own brilliance. LOL! That may be a slight exaggeration. I'm busy. My fabulous agent has my literary fiction manuscript, ECHOES OF NEVERLAND, out on sub, which means I'm in writer's limbo. Basically, I'm scattered and writing my brains out.

However, the wonderful world of Indie Publishing goes on. So I thought I'd share some recent (and some not so recent posts) on sales, marketing and POD.

Theresa Ragan has posted her October Sales Update. She's awesome and I wish I had her numbers!
As usual, Dr. Debra Holland's post on September Sales is impressive. I love her transparency!

Traditional publishing is a very real part of the indie equation. To make an informed decision, it helps to understand what traditional publishers typically pay. So if you haven't seen these posts, they

Romance: Brenda Hiatt - Show Me the Money

YA: Agent Mandy Hubbard - Things You Want to Know & Things You Want to Know II

Other posts of note:

POD: CreateSpace or Lightning Source: Which is the more intelligent choice for self-publishing? By Terri Giuliano

WG2E's Indie ePublishing D.D. Scott-Style: Prequels, Sequels, and Short Stories, Oh My!

Write To Publish's 4 part series on Goodreads Marketing. 101 part 1; 101 part 2; 201 part 3, 201 part 4

Stop by Honestly YA for my latest teen related post

2011-10-10T09:04:00.002-04:00

Revenge is a dish best served with corn nuts.

50 Things Under $50 to Promote Your Book

2011-09-15T12:59:00.000-04:00

As a result of some exciting developments, the blogs been a bit quiet recently. Soon I hope to be able to share details.

In the meantime, check out Penny C. Sansevieri's great report:

Fifty Things Under $50 Bucks To Promote Your Book

Going Indie - Is it worth it?

2011-08-25T06:51:00.004-04:00

Time to talk results.

I take this giant leap of faith - so necessary to gain forward momentum in my career - and three months have passed. Some authors are selling tens of thousands, some authors are making thousands a month, and a very lucky few are doing both.

And me?

My results have exceeded my expectations. I have recouped my initial expenses. And most importantly, I have taken the next step in my career. No regrets.

So lets talk Dollars and Cents:

THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN sells for $2.99 eBook and $14.99 print (discounted at B&N but with very little margin for me).

	Sales	Earned
MAY 24th
Amazon	36	$36
B&N	24	$46
JUNE
Amazon	19	$32
B&N	27	$52
JULY
Amazon	24	$45
B&N	20	$38
Print	6	$35
AUGUST
Amazon	19	$35	est.
B&N	5	$9
Print	2	$7
Smashwords (3mo. total)	10	$23

TOTAL	192	$358

A good friend of mine, who published about the same time, has sold in the thousands. While ecstatic for her, for like a second I was jealous of her sales. (LOL Tonya).

Keep in Mind at my Pricing structure: 100 = 700

I considered dropping my book to $.99. While $.99 price point does tend to explode sales, the margin is very low.

$2.99 (70% is $2.093) x100sales = $209.30

$.99 (30% is $.297) x100sales= $29.70; 700sales= $207.90

My choice, earnings at $2.99 or sales at $.99? The authors who are really doing well have a tiered approach (that I plan to model). When their subsequent book releases for $2.99 or $3.99, their current title drops to $.99. That way they are accomplishing both sales and earning. So I'm hard at work on the sequel THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE KEEPER. :)

Here are some other AMAZING indie authors who have transparently shared results:

Norah Wilson

Debra Holland

* Debra also has a great post on price point

Debra's August sales information

Theresa Ragan

Gemma Halliday's results (1 year 600k and counting)

D.D. Scott (on Right side of page)

Cate Rowan on The Ruby Slippered Sisterhood site

Julianne MacLean's promotion experiment (How important are cover and price?)

Know of any other indies disclosing sales? Post a link in comments and I will update this post. :)

Honestly YA: Six authors, one love

2011-08-22T06:44:00.000-04:00

Honestly YA launches this morning. Check out my post: WHAT ABOUT PROM, BLAINE? WHAT ABOUT PROM?

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2011-08-18T14:09:00.000-04:00

IT'S BACK-TO-SCHOOL WEEK!
Did I say wonderful?...I meant painfully chaotic.

So rather than post for the sake of posting, let me tell you what's coming up next week.

MONDAY 8/22 I will be launching a new multi-author blog venture where we talk YA not the business of writing YA. The title of my inaugural post: "What about prom, Blaine? What about prom?"

Swing by Monday morning for a link to the new site. :)

Then on THURSDAY 8/25 I'll be divulging my sales-to-date here: Going Indie - Is it worth it?

For anyone in the Cincinnati area, on FRIDAY 8/26 I'll be headed to the Carrico-Fort Thomas Branch of my local library for the Girls Taking Over the World Young Adult Author Event including NYTimes bestselling author and 2011 RWA RITA winner Julie Kagawa sponsored by the awesome Blue Marble Bookstore.

See you next week!

RWA 2010 GOLDEN HEART YA FINALISTS

2011-08-14T14:01:00.000-04:00

And my collection of published RWA 2010 Golden Heart YA finalists grows with Shea Berkley's THE MARKED SON!

Erica O'Rourke's TORN, Carey Corp's THE GUARDIAN, Shea Berkley's THE MARKED SON

First Love Fridays - Shea Berkley

2011-08-05T07:05:00.001-04:00

Today, I'm thrilled to be talking with Shea Berkley, one of Entangled Publishing's debut YA authors.

CC: Thank you, Shea, for being a part of First Love Fridays: where we explore the glory and angst of first loves, first kisses, first breakups, and life beyond.

Shea: I’m thrilled to be here, Carey. I wouldn’t miss this chance to talk about the teenage years.

CC: Tell us about your first kiss. To protect the innocent feel free to use an alias.

Shea:

My first real kiss... oh heck, please don’t think I was a skank.

Age: Thirteen. So young, but I thought I was soo smart.

Time: Mid summer. Humid and hot, hot, hot.

Guy: Let’s call him “Tex”. Older than me by about two years.

Where: Driveway.

Teen motto: When the opportunity strikes, go with it.

CC: I love that! And I don’t think you’re a skank. Heck, I kissed a boy in third grade because his dad and mine had the same occupation. *chuckle* It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Next Question - How long were you together?

Shea: Ours was a summer love. One of those intense two-week inseparable relationships. He was visiting family and I knew his cousin.

CC: Was he a good kisser?

Shea: It was night time so it was black—the ground, the night and all the parked cars were nondescript. Heck, now that I think about it, I could have been kissing anyone that night. I could barely see.

But no, it was “Tex” because he dragged me out there, very insistent I go with him. He was leaving to go home the next day. You see, he was a summer love, there to visit family. So when he dragged me outside for a “private” talk, me being me thought he wanted to exchange numbers and addresses, you know the usual stuff. I don’t actually remember what he said to me, but it was kinda corny. And then BAM! Lip attack… and sadly no world-rocking. It was over before it really got started. I remember him being nervous. I definitely wondered what all the fuss was about after that. Only when I started dating “Jack” did I finally understand what the big deal was. “Jack” was hands down the best kisser. (sigh)

CC: How did you get over him?

Shea: There really wasn’t anything to get over. He was nice and I liked him, but he didn’t live anywhere near me and I think I only saw him one other summer after that, but by then I didn’t care. I was already with “Jack”, a friend of his cousins.

CC: Have you connected with him since then?

Shea: Nope. If that kiss had been world-rocking, I’m sure I would have written him and called and kept in touch more, but I think we only wrote a few times and then contact just faded away.

CC: Tell us about your most recent project. What role does love play in the story?

Shea: Love plays a huge part in my book THE MARKED SON—love between Dylan and Kera and love for other people who are being treated unfairly.

I love the way being in makes a person feel different, special…and sometimes out-of-control. It’s those emotions that I wanted to tap into when I wrote about Dylan and Kera. They have a once-in-a-lifetime love. It’s something they can’t deny or run away from.

CC: Ever since Entangled revealed this cover, I've been a little in love with Dylan. :)

CC: Do you have any final wisdom to share with us about first loves?

Shea: I was a chronic dater when I was a teenager. I wanted to find the qualities I liked in a guy, so I went out with a lot of boys, but rarely kissed them unless I was dating them. By the time I was twenty, I knew what I wanted and what I wouldn’t put up with in a guy. I knew the qualities that were special and the ones that were a smoke screen. If a guy ever made me feel unimportant, then I knew he wasn’t the guy for me.

Life is too short to put up with a guy who treats you badly. So go with the guy whose eyes light up when he sees you. He may not be the handsomest, strongest, or most popular guy, but then again, he just might. I married the star quarterback of the football team and the golden boy of his high school. (I was shocked when I learned about his past) But you know what? He has never treated me poorly. I know without a doubt, he’ll drop everything and be by my side when I truly need him. And I’ll do the same for him.

So don’t jump into a relationship. Get to know the guy. Don’t get pressured to go fast. If he’s really worth anything, he’ll wait around. The good ones know the right girls are worth the wait. And trust me, they will wait for as long as it takes.

CC: Great advice! And I can’t wait to read The Marked Son. This is especially exciting because it's your 2010 Golden Heart finalist project. I’ve got my copy on order and I’m hoping it gets here soon!!!

Thanks again, Shea, for stopping by to share the love.

FLF tomorrow

2011-08-04T07:48:00.000-04:00

Since I am deep in the revision home stretch, stop over tomorrow for my First Love Fridays interview with Entangled Publishing debut author Shea Berkley. :)

Got it Covered? I thought I did…

2011-07-28T06:48:00.005-04:00

I really like my cover. I designed it myself with a Shutter stock image on PowerPoint. It worked great for digital. For print, it did not. (Read about my cover design, here.)

Being an ambitious DIYer, I determined I could handle the print cover. Just like my digital to print manuscript experience, my digital to print cover experience was plagued with issues. It was complete trial and error and error and error.

Like any good indie, I did my research. I got a cover template. I did my best to absorb info about spines (so Greek to the mathematically impaired girl). I spent a couple of hours laying out my cover and I uploaded to Createspace.

I thought I did a pretty good job until CS kicked it back to me:

Files for THE HALO CHRONICLES: T..., require your attention

The cover file does not meet our submission requirements for the reason(s) listed below.

The cover file contains live elements that may be trimmed during the production process. Please make sure that all text appears .375" away from the outer edges. Additionally, all elements you wish to appear on the cover, such as text and graphics, need to appear within the live graphics area. Only background that can be cut off should extend through the bleed area.

The spine text is too large for the page count. We recommend reducing the font size and centering the spine text so there is at least .0625" of room on either side. Otherwise, the spine text may wrap to the front or back cover.

Additionally, we have noted the concerns listed below. You may choose to move forward with the below issues as-is; however, we wanted to bring them to your attention.

The cover file contains transparency which will be manually flattened during our processing and may cause a color shift.

The cover file contains images that range from 70 to 93 DPI, which may appear blurry and pixelated in print. For optimal printing, we recommend all images be at least 300 DPI.

So I tried again. I Googled how to flatten the file. I downloaded higher res images. I tweaked my layout, said a prayer, and uploaded.

Files for THE HALO CHRONICLES: T..., require your attention

The cover file contains images at 92 DPI, which may appear blurry and pixelated in print. For optimal printing, we recommend all images be at least 300 DPI.

Better but I still had image issues. It was one of those moments where I grudgingly admitted, “This is why people don’t do cover design on PowerPoint.” I’d spent a lot of time on my cover and still wasn’t getting the results I needed. I was behind schedule, out of my design depth and knew that I needed a professional. Problematic, since I had no budget.

One of my chapter mates, Jennette Marie Powell, is going indie in August with Time’s Enemy, a time travel romance. When she showed me her great cover, she’d mentioned her design background.

So, I approached her for help. I might have begged and pleaded a bit. Now’s the part where I give Jennette my UNDYING THANKS! She quickly fixed my resolution issues and I finally had a cover that CS accepted.

Here’s the digital eBook (my) version:

Here’s the professional print version (Jennette had to make some minor tweaks, mostly in font):

Again a HUGE THANKS to Jennette for rescuing my cover!

Jennette Marie Powell

Author of Time's Enemy, American time-travel romance, coming in August, 2011
http://www.jenpowell.com/ | Twitter | Facebook

Conclusion: My most important take-away is even if I want to design my own cover, I need to collaborate with a design expert for set up. For the next book, I will not hesitate to work with a professional.

Also, I appreciated CreateSpace rejecting what would be a substandard cover with very specific feedback –for free. J

Mood: Grateful

Related topics: A Cover is a Promise

Next steps: Working on revisions for DOON

Your turn: Do you like to design your own covers?

My Self-Pub Journey to Date - My blog version of a clip show

2011-07-21T06:22:00.003-04:00

Next week I'll be wrapping up my journey to publication with my final post on process. Then we'll get into the results. Sales, royalties, and such...

Indie Curious? Self Publishing Made Easy: step by step from manuscript to eBook

Edward Cullen has nothing to do with my cover: Designing my digital cover

Digital to Print - Do the math or suffer the consequences: from eBook formatted to Print

POD Part 1 - The Screwup: Why print formatting was harder than I thought.

Got it Covered? I thought I did... How my cover held up my print process

Coming soon: Numbers don't lie

And for fun (in case you didn't see) Lucas-schmookas! I wrote Star Wars: The first book I wrote

Did ya catch my guest post on the Naked Hero?

2011-07-09T11:10:00.001-04:00

Why I Root For and Write Good Guys

Go Team Good Guy!!!

Digital to Print - Do the math or suffer the consequences!

2011-07-07T05:00:00.007-04:00

If you have been following my journey, you may have picked up that Print on Demand formatting is giving me FITS. L I expected this process to be simpler than digital formatting. It so wasn’t. It didn’t help that I neglected my due diligence in thoroughly researching the POD process. I spent a lot of time comparing Print on Demand providers (see here), but not the formatting and cover processes.

Here’s my digital manuscript to POD print ready manuscript step by step process:

Step 1 Make a Create Space account

Create Space give you step by step tasks to follow. Easy Peasy—mostly…

Step 2 Choose a Trim Size

· Standard sizes range from 5 x 8 to 6 x 9. Most of the YAs and POD books I have are either 5.06 x 7.81 or 5.25 x 8. If you have a book or two you like around the house, measure their sizes.

· Also choose white or cream paper.

Step 3 Do the math or suffer the consequences

· I am sooo not a math girl. So figuring out gutter and outside margins made my brain bleed. You see, they are off center, and right side pages have opposite gutters than left.

· So, I opted to use a preformatted template. Here’s where my lack of math hurt me. I tried many templates and no matter what I tried (Create Space; Lulu; or other) the results were wonky. Crazy headers and footers; ghost lines impossible to remove; and other strange formatting junk. I worried that it was my manuscript, but I tried other manuscripts and even format stripped wordpad documents with the same results. My best results were with these particular CS templates, but even then I had to do some ghetto formatting to make it work (i.e. stripping page breaks and hitting the return like 20 times to create faux page breaks to remedy inconsistent headers.

· Here’s what I did. I took my Smashwords perfected digital manuscript and deleted “Smashwords” copyright. I mirrored the copyrights of printed books I have.

· Then I cut and pasted into the CS template for the size book I wanted. I chose 6x9 and although I considered downsizing, the amount of template trauma I experienced dissuaded me from making changes once I had a print ready PDF.

· Then I “fixed” wonky formatting, crazy header spacing. I added odd/even headers with book title on one side and my name on the other. I added page numbers at the bottom. (You have to format both odd and even page numbers and select “link to previous” EXCEPT on page one.

· Once your manuscript looks right (keep in mind you may have to ghetto format to get spacing and other thing) save it as a PDF.

· Review your PDF to ensure continuity of formatting, headers, and footers.

· Mine the Create Space community for answers and general problem solving.

You now have an Internal PDF - half of what you need for POD print copies of your book. The other half is a cover PDF. Next week I will dissect the flaws of my digital to print cover.

Conclusion: POD formatting is harder than it ought to be. If only there were a perfect template out there. *sigh*

Mood: Perseverant

Related topics: To read my POD provider posting click here.

Next steps: Waiting for cover fix… In deep revision on another project.

Your turn: Have you had better success with POD formatting templates? Please share! Also ask any questions you might have. J

POD - part 2 Continuing Drama

2011-06-30T07:21:00.000-04:00

Good morning.

My print release is delayed due to cover rework. :( I can't get the background resolution high enough, so I had to call in an expert. This is another BIG reason to hire a cover designer - they should provide digital and print ready formats (including back half) as part of their deliverables. I do love my DIY cover, but I'm just sayin'... A cover designer is work the money for so many reasons.

I planned on covering the digital to print interior process for today's post. However, as I researched, I found a new template that I want to try. So far, the formatting has been problematic with all the templates I've worked with. The preset headers and footers have been a nightmare. I've sampled formats on LuLu and Createspace and compared to Lightning Source. Finally, I think I might have stumbled on "the one." :)

Also since so many people are at RWA *Sniff* I am thinking if I wait until next week to post, I might be able to provide more value to your journey.

SO instead, I'll ask: Are you at RWA? If not, how you feeling about missing the main event? This year I have a crit partner, a MargaRITA sister, and another good friend nominated for the YA Golden Heart. The YA RITA nominees (including Cassandra Clare) are awesome. And Meg Cabot is the award night emcee. So many of my friends are there and I am BUMMED to be watching from Ohio.

Last year was my first year to attend the conference and it blew my mind.

RWA 2010 Ally Carter, ME, and Meg Cabot

Your Turn: If you are on the sidelines, how are you feeling about it? Will you be following the Awards tomorrow night?

POD part 1 - The screwup

2011-06-23T06:14:00.001-04:00

I screwed up. L After extensive Print On Demand research, I knew I wanted to take the lower risk, minimal investment option of Create Space vs. Lightning Source but I underestimated the learning curve and formatting demands of the print ready process. I’m reworking elements and have bumped my POD release from 6/24 to 7/1. *grrr*

Today, I was going to rehash my CS vs. LS rationale. However, I stumbled upon Robin Sullivan’s brilliant blog WRITE TO PUBLISH and it’s amazing! I enjoy the business side of writing, but with a highly demanding corporate job, 2 small kids, and a hubby who travels M-F for work, I have to prioritize. Robin Sullivan’s blog has just leapt to the top of my priorities list.

Read Robin’s post Why Create Space is better than Lightning Source

Her post covers everything I learned in my research—only she says it more concisely and with the stats to back it up. Thanks Robin!

Conclusion: If you are thinking about going indie, add WRITE TO PUBLISH as part of your writer’s foundation.

Mood: Busy

Next steps: Fixing my CS formatting issues and aggressively focusing on my latest DOON revisions for editor X.

Your turn: What do you think about WRITE TO PUBLISH?

Indie-curious? Self-publishing made easy

2011-06-16T06:53:00.003-04:00

As promised, here’s my easy peasy step-by-step guide to self-publishing.

(note: Do not buy an expensive ISBN or set of ISBNs before starting.)

SMASHWORDS:

· Download Smashwords Formatting Guide

o Follow the guide step-by-step (all 68 pages)

o Don’t do nuclear formatting method unless you have a ton of rogue html code or unfixable formatting issues.

o Save as MANUSCRIPT_SmashwordsEdition.doc

· Make Smashwords account

o Upload MANUSCRIPT_SmashwordsEdition.doc to Smashwords & wait for confirmation of success.

o Smashwords will generate in multiple forms including Epub (Nook compatible) mobi (Kindle compatible)

· Download Kindle for PC and NOOK for PC

o Download MANUSCRIPT.mobi (Kindle) and check formatting

o Download MANUSCRIPT.Epub (NOOK) and check formatting

· If you find formatting errors, fix and re-upload to Smashwords
· Go To Smashwords Dashboard > Distribution Channel Manager

o Opt out of Amazon and B&N distribution

o Yes, really – Opt out of Amazon and B&N distribution!!!

AMAZON KINDLE:
(Make sure you follow the final SW "opt out" step above.)

· Download MobiPocket Creator

o Open MANUSCRIPT_SmashwordsEdition.doc

o Delete “Smashwords” from copyright page (2 or 3 places – covered in SW formatting guide)

o Replace “Smashwords” with "Kindle" & "Amazon"

o Save as MANUSCRIPT_KindleEdition.doc

o For copyright page example download THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN free excerpt.

o Open Mobipocket Creator

o Upload Cover (do not add as first page of MANUSCRIPT_KindleEdition.doc or it will show up twice on Kindle) 600x800 pixels for mobi discussion thread here

o Upload MANUSCRIPT_KindleEdition.doc – Mobipocket Creator will create a .mobi file

o Save as MANUSCRIPT_KindleEdition.mobi

· Make Kindle Account

o Upload your Manuscript cover

o Upload MANUSCRIPT_KindleEdition.mobi

BARNES & NOBLE NOOK:

(the easiest one)

· Make B&N Pubit Account

o Upload Manuscript Cover

o Upload MANUSCRIPT.Epub (downloaded from Smashwords earlier – I didn’t worry about uploading a version w/o “Smashwords” on coverpage since distribution is typically much smaller at B&N.)

· NOW YOU HAVE YOUR BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT Amazon Barnes & Noble AND Smashwords!

· Stop and pat yourself on the back

FOLLOWUP:

· Continue to check Smashwords Dashboard to confirm MANUSCRIPT is approved for premium status (2—3 weeks)

o Once approved – get Smashwords ISBN # (Follow SW ISBN Manager on Dashboard) – Must have ISBN to be eligible for Sony (eReader) and iBookstore (iPad/iPhone/iTouch) catalog distribution.

· Create Author Page on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, & LibraryThing (minimum)

AMAZON example

· Add purchase links to your email signature: Buy THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN (a 2010 RWA Golden Heart® finalist for young adult fiction) at Amazon Barnes & Noble Smashwords coming soon to iBookstore Turn your computer into a free eReader: Kindle for PC NOOK for PC

o more information at www.careycorp.com

· Use Smashwords Dashboard to generate discount and free coupons. Free codes can be used for giveaways, ARCs, and review copies. SW allows recipient to choose whichever form is compatible with their eReader or PC software.

NEXT THURSDAY: Print copies – Are all Print on Demand Providers Created Equal?

Don’t forget the Kindle Indie-pendence Contest ends on July 4^th. Win you kid a Kindle loaded with hot YA and MG titles.

YOUR TURN: What tips or questions do you have about digital publishing?

What can Small Press do for you, you can't do for yourself?

2011-06-09T07:09:00.000-04:00

Good morning all!

I am guest blogging today on The Writer's guide to E-Publishing. What can small press do for you, you can't do for yourself? Please stop on over.

Also, check out the cool indie contest I'm participating in: Win a Kindle for your Kid.

Win a Kindle for your kid

2011-06-09T06:59:00.000-04:00

The INDIE-pendence Day Author Celebration can help keep your kids reading all summer long!

Fifteen independent teen and ‘tween authors are hosting an eReader giveaway in which one lucky parent will walk away with a free Kindle loaded with hot indie Middle Grade and Young Adult books for their child.

INDIE-pendence Day, devised by middle grade author Sybil Nelson, serves the dual purposes of raising awareness of Indie authors and meeting the increasing demand for eReaders among teens and tweens. As more libraries invest in eBooks for younger readers and indie authors like Amanda Hocking top teen summer reading lists, it seemed the perfect time to do something on a broad scale. So Sybil put out a call for like-minded writers. The result was a diverse group of talented writers whose fiction runs the gamut from contemporary to fantasy, from horror to the social concerns of bullying.

In order to enter, participants need only to register on the official INDIE-pendence Day website. Additional entries can be earned for tweeting, blogging, and sharing participating author related info. Activities such as book reviews earn even more entries. Details posted at www.kindleindiependence.webs.com

So come and join the fun by helping your child reach reading INDIE-pendence!

The event runs from June 1 – July 4, 2011.

Three additional prizes include a collection of free MG and YA e-books from participating authors.

First Love Friday with YA author Tina Ferraro

2011-06-03T07:57:00.001-04:00

Happy June everyone! To kick off the long, hot summer months, YA author Tina Ferraro is joining me to talk about her first kiss.

CC: Thank you, Tina, for being a part of First Love Fridays: where we explore the glory and angst of first loves, first kisses, first breakups, and life beyond.

TF: Haha, I live and breathe this stuff!

CC: Tell us about your first kiss. To protect the innocent feel free to use an alias.

TF: Okay! My first kiss happened under a tree in a vacant lot in middle school. The funny thing is that he told me it was his first kiss, too, but in high school, I found out he'd told the same/done the same with one of my very good friends a year earlier. So forever I will think of him as a serial first kisser. But a sweet and cute one!

CC: OMG—that’s hysterical! Was he a good kisser, at least?

TF: LOL--hard to say. I think I was too obsessed on the fact I was actually kissing a boy to make a real memory of the event. (Haha, says she, the author of a book called The ABC’s of Kissing Boys!)

CC: Was there a love connection?

TF: I’d say a “crush connection.” He “asked me out” that afternoon and we were a recognized couple for a month or so. Later he transferred to a private high school while I went to the public one, so our paths stopped regularly crossing.

CC: Have you connected with him/her since then? Have you gone searching for him/her on Face book?

TF: We still have mutual friends, so I know he’s happy and doing well!

CC: Tell us about your most recent project. What role does love play in the story?

TF: My agent is presently reading the full of my latest young adult novel. At present it’s hush-hush on the specifics, but believe me when I say there is love and kisses--although not a first. In fact, the confusion that the main character feels about her first kiss (back in middle school--wonder where I got that idea?) is what lays the groundwork for the a-little-bit-crazy plot! But I promise, it’s all made-up from there!

CC: I will actually be seeing your agent today, I’ll be sure to tell her about you being my FLF guest. ;) Do you have any final wisdom to share with us about first loves?

TF: Cherish the memories, but it’s okay to move on, too!

Tina’s *amazing* RITA nominated book The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, is a perfect summer read. So add it to your beach stack today! You won't be sorry.

Are you as sick of me as I am?

2011-06-02T06:25:00.001-04:00

Release week for THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN is finally over. If I’ve done my promotion right, you all are sick of me. J Heck, I’m pretty sick of myself. The promotion continues. I’ll still be blogging at a few sites this month as well as my own. I’m participating in a really COOL MG and YA indie author kindle giveaway. I’ve been and will continue to network with valued industry professionals. I’ve got a conference coming up this weekend that I’m prepping for—creating some promotional material.

Out of the gate, sales are better than I anticipated. Between Amazon Barnes & Noble Smashwords I’ve sold nearly 100 copies. I’m getting 4 and 5 star ratings and reviews at the above sites and Goodreads. (So one rated my book 3 stars – I will not obsess about it!) Despite the rigorous line edits, someone else found some typos. (Crap! See mantra above.)

Overall, I just survived one of the most exhausting, momentous weeks of my career. It was completely worth the hard work. And the work is not over. But I’ve got to pull back and refocus enough that writing becomes my priority. I have projects stacking up. Not a bad position to be in.

Conclusion: Acting as your own publisher is more time consuming that difficult. There are so many systematic resources that help. Later this month, I’ll post my step-by-step analysis of my process/How to guide.

Mood: Rested

Related topics: Win a Kindle for your kid! Fantabulous MG and YA indie author giveaway.

Next steps: Write, conference this weekend, write, In about a week I need to start getting THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN print-ready.

Tomorrow is the FIRST LOVE FRIDAY!!! To celebrate Tina Ferraro will be joining me to talk about her first kiss.

Your turn: What’s your current writing priority?

Don't you... Forget about me.

2011-05-29T09:56:00.002-04:00

On Friday I virtually sat down with Golden Heart finalist author and fellow MargaRITA Vanessa Barneveld to discuss THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN. We talked about everything from my sad prom experience, to John Hughes angst influences, to my own real-life teen guardian angel experience.

Due to a stomach bug, I didn't promote like I wanted, so in honor of the long weekend we're keeping the stories going. Got your own guardian angel story or a favorite John Hughes movie? If you haven't had a chance to stop over yet, don't be a neo-maxi-zoom-dweebie, be sure to come by and share. HERE.

Funny story: Last week the hubby and I went to my 10-year-old’s band concert where they played the theme to Bridge on the River Kwai. Hubby turns to me and says, “Man, I really want to watch Bridge on the River Kwai.” and I’m thinking, “Boy, I really want to watch Breakfast Club!” Ha!

The winner of Tuesday's THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN release day eBook is Athena_Grayson. Athena, please email me at careycorp(at)fuse(dot)net.

Happy Dance

2011-05-26T05:30:00.001-04:00

The book is out. So far, so good. I'm exhaused, so I'll recap my eBook journey next Thursday as well as looking ahead to print.

Like any milestone, it's important to stop and celebrate. Rather doing my own happy dance, I'm going to to let Judson Laipply do it for me.

Tomorrow, I will be stopping by my dear friend Vanessa Barneveld's blog to talk about my inspiration for THE HALO CHRONICLES series and my real life *honest to God* guardian angel story.

THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN release day!

2011-05-24T05:40:00.008-04:00

“Thrilling and oh-so-romantic, THE GUARDIAN will keep you up all night, turning the pages!”

–Kristi Cook author of HAVEN

Rated five stars on Barnes & Noble.com and Goodreads, THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN is now available in all eBook formats.

Buy THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN (a 2010 RWA Golden Heart® finalist for young adult fiction) at Amazon Barnes & Noble Smashwords coming soon to iBookstore

Turn your computer into a free eReader: Kindle for PC NOOK for PC

more information at www.careycorp.com

The day has finally arrived and to celebrate, I’m giving away a free digital copy. This contest will run until midnight Wednesday 5/25.

FIRST:

“Like” THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN facebook page

Tweet, post, or share this post, Or add to your goodreads TBR

THEN:

Paste the link in the comment section of this post. Each link is worth one entry.

I will announce a winner Thursday morning.

Friday, I will be hanging with Vanessa Barneveld at Authorness. I will be sharing my *honest to God* teenaged guardian angel story and asking readers to share theirs. Plus, there will be another chance to win a digital copy of my book. You won’t want to miss it.

I promised to reveal my very first book. Click below. J

Lucas—shmookas! I wrote Star Wars.

2011-05-24T05:30:00.004-04:00

Here’s a book from a little, unknown author written back in 1977. Me! Did you know I wrote Star Wars? It would be hard to prove. Perhaps I could have it carbon dated, but I’d rather have it preserved in carbonite.

A long time ago in a classroom far, far away....

C3PO, R2D2 and their happy friend "WC" *insert wookieespeak*

Saw Princess Leia's hologram

Then Barbie - or is that Leia? - and her bf Luke (Hey, you thought they'd get together, too! But as I matured I realized the real catch was Han *insert swoon*) went off to save the universe from intergalactic tyrrany and some evil dudes.

On left - Death Star or maybe an easter egg?... On right - Darth Vader and some Stormtroopers going to the Bengals game.

Since all good sagas end in a cliff hanger, I ended on the terrifying proposition of SPs. Just what are they? We have no idea. Perhaps they're Scary Pigs. (In all likelyhood, this is a Tusken Raider, representative of the vicious Sand People, which scared the bejeezus out of this seven-year-old author.)

The Force is also strong in my most recent novel. In THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN, Alex’s best friend Derry is a huge Star Wars fan. He spent most of his life in foster homes and his number one fantasy was that C3PO and R2D2 would show up with an intergalactic message of great importance. Together with Alex, Derry and the droids would speed away from their home planet and wretched lives.

May the Force be with you my wookiees!

Disclaimer: This humble author would never presume to take credit for the life-changing Star Wars saga. Let it be further expressed, that George is a demigod and I geekily worship at his feet.

Buy THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN (a 2010 RWA Golden Heart® finalist for young adult fiction) at Amazon Barnes & Noble Smashwords coming soon to iBookstore

Turn your computer into a free eReader: Kindle for PC NOOK for PC

for more information at www.careycorp.com

Losing it

2011-05-19T07:00:00.001-04:00

Less than one week until book release.

This morning I had an eloquent analogy about the Kentucky Derby and the home stretch. Then I got in the shower—where I usually have my best thinks—and it all unraveled. Not only did I lose my extremely clever, relevant, and (dare I say) world-changing opening. I couldn’t remember if I conditioned my hair or merely thought about it. Bottom line: I’m losing it! ;)

So today, I’m going to give a quick update on where I am, and then open up the cyber floor for questions: Professional, personal or other—my filters are down, so ask away.

Then Tuesday, I’ll be doing a very special Launch Day blog. I’ll be giving away a free digital copy of THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN. **And I’ll be unveiling the first book I ever wrote** It’s from 1977. Prepare to be amazed and blown-away.

Where I’m at: Formatting done. Uploaded to Smashwords, B&N, Amazon Kindle. Waiting for publications to clear, then I’ll do a final check to make sure everything looks right.

Conclusion: In the home stretch, focus is the most important thing.

Mood: Dry?

Related topics: Theresa Ragan sold 10,000 books in 10 weeks. Whether traditional or indie, her blog will inspire you. Be sure to check out How I Got Started.

Next steps: final checks

Your turn: Ask me anything you want!

Everything Happens. (wisdom from Dr. Horrible)

2011-05-12T07:00:00.000-04:00

I am a HUGE Joss Whedon fan. He could announce intentions to produce his grocery list and I would salivate with anticipation (like I’m drooling over the reported Dr. Horrible sequel).

My whole family LOVES Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. In DHSAB, Penny says something that really resonates with me:

“Everything Happens.”

No silver lining, no message of hope. But it’s not pessimistic either. It’s pragmatic and it speaks to me.

So, I’m less than two weeks away from my first release and there have been recent developments with my co-written manuscript, making the more traditional publishing route, that are demanding my attention. Everything happens. Time for me to take stock and work smarter.

Where I am.

eBook: Line edits are done and I am two-thirds of the way through the 60 page formatting guide for Smashwords. Working the manuscript as I go. Several loops suggested starting with Smashwords would make the Kindle work easier. Luckily, I auto format everything, which makes changes easier. I’m planning to upload this weekend.

Conclusion: eBook - so far, greatly detailed but not hard to format.

POD: Lightning Source or Create Space. I’ve done my due diligence and concluded Lightning Source really is designed for small press. As a self-publishing indie author, Lightning Source requires more time, money, and initial set up. I’ve talked to my industry insiders, including a dear friend who made her career as a bookseller for Barnes and Noble, and have determined that LS does not work to my advantage. It will not open doors for opportunities for extra distribution. As far as B&N is concerned, I’ll be classified as prepaid, POD only and forever.

Conclusion: LS is a lot more risk and I’ll have to sell a lot more print copies to recoup my initial investment. Since the focus will be on digital, I’m going to take the lower risk investment option of Create Space. I won’t work on this till after digital release, so I do have time for a few questions I want to ask other authors about their CS. And I seem to recall some loop discussions about CS reliability with royalties—must Google that.

Marketing and Promo: Working on my plan. Have a few things in the works. Need to be ready as soon as eBooks are uploaded. Feeling a bit behind on this. But I do have a kick-ass little booklet in the works for an upcoming conference.

Other: Have to prioritize co-written project and address recent developments.

Mood: Can’t describe how I feel and no time to dwell

Your turn: Any advice to help maximize and focus my THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN marketing efforts?

Read before you buy at http://www.careycorp.com/.

FIRST LOVE FRIDAYS featuring KRISTI COOK

2011-05-06T05:46:00.001-04:00

CC: Thank you, Kristi, for being a part of First Love Fridays: where we explore the glory and angst of first loves, first kisses, first breakups, and life beyond.

KC: Thanks for having me! Sounds… fun?

CC: Tell us about your first (love, kiss, breakup – your choice). To protect the innocent feel free to use an alias.;)

KC: I met my first love (I’ll call him “Jack”—not his real name!) near the end of ninth grade—we didn’t have any classes together, but we were in the same lunch period, and I had noticed Jack because he had really pretty blue/green eyes (and who *doesn’t* love a pair of bright blue/green eyes in a tanned face?!). Then I heard from a mutual friend that Jack had a big crush on me—and yeah, that was pretty much enough for me like him back. Yes, I will confess to being *that* shallow. But c’mon, Jack was super hot—very athletic, with those great eyes—and he was into me. That was enough for me.

Next thing I knew, we were exchanging phone numbers by my locker, and we went on our first date the following weekend. Jack’s parents drove us to the movie (“Romancing the Stone”) and then picked us up and took us back to their house for strawberry shortcake. Ah, yes....such an innocent time! I’m pretty sure our first kiss didn’t come till the end of the second date—after he’d spent the entire movie (“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” this time) working up the nerve to hold my hand, which he finally accomplished about three-quarter-ways through the movie. I barely saw any of the movie—I was way too focused on watching his hand creep toward mine on the armrest at a painfully slow rate.

CC: That’s so adorably sweet. How long were you together?

KC: A long time! Almost a year and a half, till just before my family moved away (yes, my parents were cruel enough to make me move to a new state—from Georgia to Florida—the summer between my sophomore and junior years in high school!).

CC: How did you get over him/her?

KC: It wasn’t easy. I was your stereotypical angsty, sobbing girl for a while there, convinced I would never love anyone else the way I’d loved Jack. I think being in a new state/new school, away from him, made me idealize the relationship we’d had in a way that I wouldn’t have done if he’d still been around. Because looking back, we really didn’t have anything in common, except each other. I don’t think I really got over him until the next time I fell in love, near the end of my junior year.

CC: Have you connected with him/her since then?

KC: Actually, we’ve pretty much stayed in touch all along, as weird as that sounds—though not as much in the past few years. We wrote letters, we visited each other in college (though it was always platonic). I continued to receive Valentine’s Day cards from him every year through high school and college! It was probably a good thing that I moved away—it probably helped preserve the warm feelings we had for each other, because we never had to see the other, walking down the hall with a new girlfriend/boyfriend, so there were never any jealousy issues or anything. Just...mostly happy memories.

Actually, I had a book signing in Georgia not too long ago, and his mother actually showed up! I spoke with her for a good two or three minutes before I recognized her, and I then I totally freaked out! Happy tears. She pulled out old photos of the two of us together, and then photos of him and his wife and two kids. It was great!

CC: What’s next for you and what role does “first love” play in the story?

KC: I think what I enjoyed most about writing HAVEN was recapturing that all-consuming feeling of “first love” and exploring it, throwing some major obstacles in the way. In HAVEN, Violet and Aidan connect in that instant way that some teens do, and then spend the rest of the book discovering their connection, and trying to figure out what it means. Violet, who has the gift of precognition, sees a vision of what she thinks is Aidan’s death, and it appears as if she’s the one who kills him. So...yeah, that’s a lot more angst than most teens have to deal with in regards to their first love! Over the course of the book, they learn that they are basically natural-born enemies, and they hope their love can overcome that. At the end of HAVEN, it looks like it will. But I’m writing the still-untitled sequel now, and their enmity begins to rear its head a bit more. Things get a bit more...dangerous.

CC: I do love Aiden and Vi’s story and can’t wait to see what’s next for them. Do you have any final wisdom to share with us about first loves?

KC: Just that it’s an important learning experience, as painful as it can be. I’ve had people tell me that those first love feelings weren’t “real”—that I didn’t really love Jack. But I think they’re wrong—it *was* love, and those feelings were genuine and strong. But there are many different kinds of love, and first love isn’t necessarily “forever” love. I think it would have made our breakup much easier if I’d realized that then, and appreciated the fact that, even though I did love him, it didn’t mean we were supposed to be together forever. Still, they helped shape the person I am now, and make me truly appreciate the forever-love I have now.

Find out more about Kristi, he books, and where to follow her at www.kristi-cook.com

Come back the first Friday in June for the next edition of First Love Fridays.

Next regular post: Thursday 5/12

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Edward Cullen has nothing to do with my cover

2011-05-05T05:24:00.007-04:00

Before I start, I have to share this hilarious story. On Tuesday, a coworker told me about her sixty-year-old Twilight-obsessed mom and the life-sized Edward Cullen cutout she keeps in her basement rec room. Apparently, Edward scares many an unsuspecting visitor.

Recently, the ADT alarm went off while her mom was out shopping. The cause was a faulty door latch. When the police arrived and saw the door wide open, they went inside to investigate. Long story short, law enforcement nearly shot Edward Cullen for breaking and entering.

What does Edward Cullen have to do with today’s topic? Absolutely nothing. It just makes me smile as I shift gears to talk about my book cover process.

On a scale of normal to Rain Man, I skew toward the normal side of the spectrum. Usually. But when I decided to focus on book covers, I went a little crazy.

Since I enjoy that kind of thing, I decided experiment with designs and see what I could come up with on my own. But if my attempts SUCKED, the next step would be to hire a designer. Then the madness set in.

First, I looked at Photoshop and similar programs, but they were expensive. I briefly contemplated using my son’s summer camp funds on software before talking myself down. I decided for my first try, I would use programs I already had. I do a TON in PowerPoint, so I started there.

PowerPoint seemed to have the elements I needed, but I needed images, so I started trolling stock images. I realized that not all stock photo sites are created equal. Some, like shutterstock (http://www.shutterstock.com), included covers and print runs under 250,000 as part of the purchase. Others were more limiting and expensive.

Once I found my images, I needed to fade them. This was the biggest obstacle. Microsoft office programs do not have this capability. So internet research brought me to the free GIMP software. It’s not terribly user friendly, but I was able to manipulate my image through trial and error.

My literary fiction project was easy. The first attempt got me halfway there and the second pass added missing elements. I LOVE the result! (More on that in the future.) For THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN, I spent the week of spring break in an OCD-induced haze creating version after version and testing it on my inner circle. I made about 30 craptastic covers before coming up with a design that I felt good about. But there’s always room for improvement. Some of you may have noticed the little tweaks I’ve made over the last week based on feedback—THANK YOU!!!

Here are some of my favorite Craptastic Covers:

Conclusion: I enjoy cover design and am satisfied with the two covers I’ve created but I haven’t given up the dream of one day having a cover designed by Cliff Nielsen or Julianna Kolesova. And if I can’t create a cover that makes a promise, I need to hire a professional.

Mood: Manic

Related topics: DIY covers blog by Katie Salidas

Next steps: Figure out/set up my author presence & upcoming project on Amazon (maybe B&N)- decided to wait until after cover reveal; research POD (print on demand) providers & costs-in progress; ~~finalize production schedule~~; ~~decide whether or not to hire a line editor-in progress~~;

Come back tomorrow for my First Love Friday interview with HAVEN author, Kristi Cook.

Your turn: Who are some of your favorite cover artists?

Read before you buy at http://www.careycorp.com/.

THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN (The Big Cover Reveal)

2011-04-28T05:30:00.022-04:00

I’ll share more about my cover designer, and how the design came into being next week (5/5).

Your Turn: What do you think? Can it compete with New York covers?
Record your answer in the poll below.

**Please note, starting 5/1 this blog will post every Thursday and the first Friday of the month**

Thursday 5/5 – My Cover uncovered, plus my self-pub learnings and TO DO list

First Love Friday 5/6 – HAVEN author, Kristi Cook shares her tale of teenage love

A Cover is a Promise

2011-04-27T05:30:00.011-04:00

It’s no secret that beautiful covers drive purchases. Book lovers love to browse. They impulse buy. An eye-catching cover followed by a compelling blurb makes the sale. Heck, I’ve bought second and third copies of classic literature I own because the covers were so “pretty” or unique. And I cannot walk through a bookstore without purchasing something that’s grabbed my attention.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about book covers. For me, good covers combine art and text into an overall concept that evokes an intellectual/emotional response. Together, the cover elements create a theme while the individual components hint at important details. A good cover draws the reader in with the promise of a certain type of story and entices him/her to read the descriptive blurb.

What makes a good cover good?

A good cover sets an expectation. It indicates to the reader what kind of story he/she will encounter: simple, complex, vibrant, romantic, secretive, paranormal, edgy, contemporary, historical, fantasy, etc. It conveys what settings and concepts will be encountered.

A good cover sets a mood. Is it dark? Light? Playful? Angsty? Sweet? Mysterious? Bereft? Stark? Powerful? Scary? Spiritual?

A good cover is a riddle. A good cover makes the reader ask himself/herself questions: Who are these people and why are they so happy? What’s the secret he’s keeping? Why is she so sad? What’s so important about the object on the cover? What does the symbolism stand for?

A good cover entices the reader to action: It makes them want more information about the story. They have questions that need to be answered and hopes that the story will deliver on its promise. They have to turn the book over and read what it’s about.

A good cover is the reader’s first opportunity to bond with your story. Author endorsements, bestselling claims, and stylistic designs are intended to appeal to a certain type of reader. These elements build trust with the reader before they’ve even opened the book.

Here are some of my favorite covers:

Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones: Who is this hot guy existing in Technicolor above the world we know? Oooh, Holly Black likes it—it must be good! Other thoughts: fantasy elements, complex world building, urban, gritty and beautiful.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen: (we’ll skip the movie tie-in version and go to the original cover). Whimsical with an air of mystery. Vibrant. To me the boots covey power and an element of being untouchable but the story centers around someone watching from the outside. I’m intrigued. Love the curve of the word “ELEPHANTS.” It feels more majestic than the rest of the text, like a beast with a mind of its own. The NY Times bestseller claim reassures me the story will be worth reading.

Lisa McMann’s Wake: Dark. Cold. Distorted. Disturbed. Nightmares. Stark.The reflection of the text makes me think the bad dreams bleed over into waking. I want to know who’s having the nightmares and why.

Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely: the beauty of the flowers contrasted by the distorted beauty of the holder. Darkness lurks around the edges. The font is lovely (for me, this sets expectations for beautiful prose—and Melissa delivers).

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: Militaristic. Austere. Symbols hint at sci-fi/futuristic. The bird is important—why? The unique block font makes me think rigid, asymmetric, unfamiliar—maybe dystopian.

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles: Dark love story. Edgy. Definitely contemporary. Title font makes me think blurring social lines—shaking things up a bit.

Conclusion: If I am self-publishing, I need a top-notch cover design that conveys my book’s theme and makes promises my story will deliver.

Mood: Excited about tomorrow’s big cover reveal—and kind of sickish about it, too!

Your Turn: What are some of your favorite covers and why?

The Ineffectual Risk-taker Conundrum (which leads to my self-publishing PROS and CONS list)

2011-04-26T05:55:00.002-04:00

I am a risk taker, an entrepreneur, and a visionary. In the corporate world, I earn my living by making things happen. I ensure billion dollar businesses continue to move forward. And yet, in my writing career, I felt stagnant and helpless. When it came to getting my stories into readers’ hands, I was ineffectual.

So why did it take me so long to leap in this direction?

Honestly, there is a mismatch between digital publishing and core YA readership. Teens still want physical books they can hold in their hands, and after reading, place on a shelf in their bedroom. In part, their books define who they are. Although some kids are using eReaders, the majority are not. In YA, bonding with a story = hardcopy = for keeps.

For a YA story, not being in bookstores in a HUGE CON.

Fortunately, YA now has a lot of older, cross-over readership who do have kindles and nooks and iPads—oh, my! If I was going to self-pub, I needed to adjust my core demographic to this market. Because I have a passion for connecting with teenagers, it took me a long time to realign my target reader. Not that I don’t LOVE the cross-over YA readers (or Yougers as I like to lovingly call grown women, like myself, addicted to YA), but self-publishing meant accepting that this story would never be housed next to Cassandra Clare and Suzanne Collins at my local Barnes and Noble. L No eager bookseller would grab my book, thrust it into the hands of some wide-eyed teenager, and say, “You have to read this one!”

I had many CONS rolling around in my brain but it took some work to create a PROS list.

CONS:

· Missing core part of the YA reader demographic –teens

· No stumbling upon my book at my local bookstore L

· Self-pub still has some "vanity press" stigma

· LOTS OF WORK

· Readers have been burned by poor quality, self-pubbed material

· My story will most likely get lost in the deluge of eBooks

· No publisher sponsored big book release (Did I really think I’d get that going the traditional route?)

· No advance (But if I’m in this for the money, I’m probably in for a rude awakening!)

· LESS TIME TO WRITE!

PROS:

· My story would get read! YA lovers would have an opportunity to read it (Whether 2 readers or 200, this story would exist in the digital universe for readers to find and hopefully love.)

· With POD (print on demand), hardcopies could be available to order

· Agility/Complete control over a release date (no 1-3 year wait)

· Cover control

· Could call myself an “indie” author and my book “indie” published (We’ll debate the semantics of indie vs. self-pubbed another time.)

· Very low overhead; set my own, affordable purchase price for eBooks

· I could move to the next step in my career

· Get back some creative control

· I could finally start on a sequel

Conclusion: When I laid it out, my PROS were more compelling than my CONS. Time to leap!

Mood: Frenetic (just got line edits back)

Related topics: Agent Natalie Fischer has a great post from the opposite side of the coin entitled, “Why I’m Scared (to self-publish)”

Great post by Amanda Brice about her journey as an indie-author: here

Your turn: When it comes to self-publishing, what are some of your PROS and CONS?

Many Roads to Oz

2011-04-25T05:12:00.003-04:00

If you’re familiar with L. Frank Baum’s books you might know more than one road leads to Oz. There’s even more than one Yellow Brick Road (Dorothy Gale, supposedly, took the harder of the two). Assuming all roads lead to Oz, how could I figure out which road was right for me as an author?

Trial and error?

I did that. I tried traditional, had some moderate success in breaking through, and then the path began to crumble under my feet. As I started contemplating other roads, I came to a realization—I was not the traveller.

The traveller is my story—my manuscript or series—and just like each project has its own voice, each story has its own path. This revelation enabled me to choose multiple roads at the same time. One project is sitting in agent slush piles in hopes of going the traditional route to publication.

For THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN, I was on the outside of the trend looking in. The big six (publishers) jumped all over angels and have since moved on. More than two years ago, I was at a book signing when an author—a big NY Times best-selling author—asked me about this recently finished project. Her response, “Oooh, angels are so hot right now. You should try to sell it asap.” Great. I’ll get right on it. By the time it got some serious attention—and praise, even—from agents and editors, angels were over. I could shelve the project and wait for angels to cycle through again, or I could choose another way.

The thinking on my literary fiction story is a little different. It touches on subject matter that is about to explode in film, TV and publishing. The agility of self-publishing, in this case, gets me ahead of the trend. I’ll explore this in greater detail as I get closer to the August release of this project.

Conclusion: Publishing is no longer a world of either/or and the diverse or “multi-pronged” approach is a sound strategy.

Mood: Energized and a bit overwhelmed. ;)

Related topics: Multi-published author Trish Milburn (Tricia Mills) has a great post about her multi-pronged business plan and how one of her “homeless” projects found its way into reader’s hearts through self-publishing. Read it here.

One more thought provoking post: Why Digital Self-publishing Frightens Some Authors by Michael A. Stackpole.

Next Steps: Figure out/set up my author presence & upcoming project on Amazon (maybe B&N)- decided to wait until after cover reveal; research POD (print on demand) providers & costs-in progress; ~~finalize production schedule~~; decide whether or not to hire a line editor-in progress; schedule a guest blogger for 4/29 & 5/6 “First Love Fridays”-in progress; WRITE

Read before you buy at http://www.careycorp.com/.

Your turn: Where are you in your journey? Which road are you on?

A little like being naked—a lot like being liberated

2011-04-21T06:40:00.001-04:00

The first time I thought about self-publishing as a viable next step in my career, I felt—as my seven-year-old would say—a little sickish. It’s a little like walking naked through the literary community with a sign on my back that says, “Pick me apart.” Did it mean I failed in traditional publishing? Would the writing community scoff at me? Shun me? Should I continue to target traditional publishers, start something new and just bury my current manuscripts? Why was I contemplating something still so often synonymous with “vanity press?”

As I often do when faced with a crossroads, I went into heavy research mode—a couple of months’ worth. The information available is abundant, and at times, overwhelming. But here’s my take on self-publishing.

What self-publishing is not:

Not a “F*%! You” to traditional publishing.

Not a way to validate my skills as a writer—this should be established way before contemplating this step.

Not a way to make a quick buck.

Not a way to get my name out there—although that is often a benefit being published, the focus needs to be on sharing a quality book.

Not a short cut to publication—there is more risk and work associated with self-publishing than traditional routes.

Not an alternative to skilled revision and editing—all writers should strive to grow in their craft and to publish the best manuscripts possible.

Not an indication that I’ve failed as a writer.

It’s not an either/or career decision. I can self-publish one manuscript or series and still shop other projects with agents and editors.

Not easy.

What self-publishing is:

A viable way to take a next step—a step I’m qualified to make—in my career.

A more agile timeline than traditional publishing houses. (I’ll elaborate on that in the future—when I focus on the rationale for my literary project release.)

A viable means of sharing quality books with readers.

Hard work! To be successful, I must wear lots of professional hats.

Biggest Fears:

Book not edited properly, polished enough or formatted correctly.

Not having the capacity to promote/market book as needed.

Getting in over my head.

Inadvertently alienating those in mainstream publishing.

Becoming “that writer” who does nothing but promote their projects.

Making very public mistakes.

So why do it?

Sometimes a manuscript (even a very good one) cannot find the right fit in traditional publishing.

Often it’s timing—a genre or subject has trended and is on the decline; the big publishers have bought up their projects, editors don’t want it, agents can’t sell it. It may be equally as good as or even better than similar books coming out, but the timing isn’t right. It’s too late.

I know I’m a good writer with a fantastic story to tell.

I have a strong corporate background in sales and marketing that I can leverage.

Most importantly, I have an AMAZING village behind me—a supportive writers’ group, my critique partners, past Golden Heart and RITA finalists, authors, bloggers, booksellers, friends and most importantly, my family. I am surrounded by people who believe not only in my stories, but my ability to take on the role of publisher. I am truly blessed. J

The conclusion: For different yet equally compelling reasons, self-publishing is perfect for two of my finished projects—my young adult supernatural series THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN (5/24) and my stand-alone literary fiction novel ECHOES OF NEVERLAND (8/9).

The more I contemplate the journey ahead of me, the more that sickish sensation dissipates. For the first time, I feel in control of my career and very excited!!! After all, I’m releasing my first novel on May 24, 2011.

As my good friend and fellow author, Erika O’Rourke, often reminds me, “A rising tide lifts all boats.” I will be blogging about my experience, and anyone who wants to ride the waves with me is most welcome.

Project: HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN

Release date: eBook 5/24; trade paperback 6/21

The big cover reveal: Thursday 4/28.

Mood: Excited and a little sickish

Next post: 4/25

Steps (for weekend 4/22-24): Figure out/set up my author presence & upcoming project on Amazon (maybe B&N); research POD (print on demand) providers & costs; finalize production schedule; decide whether or not to hire a line editor; schedule a guest blogger for 4/29 & 5/6 “First Love Fridays”

Read before you buy at www.careycorp.com.

Your turn: What is self-publishing to you? What isn’t it?

Tomorrow begins my self-guided journey to publication

2011-04-20T06:38:00.000-04:00

Stay tuned...

My Own Brand of Madness

Honestly YA Welcomes Erika O'Rourke

Dear Aspiring YA Author

The Experimental Girl, part 2: More Experimentation

The Experimental Girl

New Book Season

Honestly YA: High school, like life, is AWKWARD.

Left Field Inspiration

Sneek Peek ...

Honestly YA's latest post

Honestly YA's new post is up

More Indie Stuff: Marketing, Money, and POD, oh my!

Stop by Honestly YA for my latest teen related post

50 Things Under $50 to Promote Your Book

Going Indie - Is it worth it?

Honestly YA: Six authors, one love

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

RWA 2010 GOLDEN HEART YA FINALISTS

First Love Fridays - Shea Berkley

FLF tomorrow

Got it Covered? I thought I did…

My Self-Pub Journey to Date - My blog version of a clip show

Did ya catch my guest post on the Naked Hero?

Digital to Print - Do the math or suffer the consequences!

POD - part 2 Continuing Drama

POD part 1 - The screwup

Indie-curious? Self-publishing made easy

What can Small Press do for you, you can't do for yourself?

Win a Kindle for your kid

First Love Friday with YA author Tina Ferraro

Are you as sick of me as I am?

Don't you... Forget about me.

*Happy Dance*

THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN release day!

Lucas—shmookas! I wrote Star Wars.

Losing it

Everything Happens. (wisdom from Dr. Horrible)

FIRST LOVE FRIDAYS featuring KRISTI COOK

Edward Cullen has nothing to do with my cover

THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN (The Big Cover Reveal)

A Cover is a Promise

The Ineffectual Risk-taker Conundrum (which leads to my self-publishing PROS and CONS list)

Many Roads to Oz

A little like being naked—a lot like being liberated

Tomorrow begins my self-guided journey to publication

Happy Dance