L.E. Wilson's Blog, page 4

My New Home – Seattle, WA

Welcome to my personal blog! A place where I’ll be sharing some tidbits about my life and probably some pictures. Okay, A LOT of pictures, because when I’m not writing, I’m taking pictures.

Just over a year ago, my family and I moved to our new home here in the Pacific Northwest. And in August of last year, we took the plunge and bought a house here. That picture right there? Yeah, that’s my new back yard. I took that shot just a few weeks ago. Spooky, isn’t it? I know. I love it too.

We moved from Austin, TX. My husband and I had both lived there for over twenty years (we met there about eight years ago), and both of our sons were born and raised there – Well, except for our little two year “vacation” in Florida, but that’s another story.

Austin is a very cool city, especially if you’re into the music scene, of course. I loved it there when I first moved down from the northeast. I loved the heat. I loved 6th Street (a larger, less historic version of Bourbon Street, with more college kids). I loved the clubs, the music, everything but the food. Tex-Mex is a big thing there. I do not like Tex-Mex, or Mexican, food. I grew up with Italians and Germans and Irish, ok? I do have a few Mexican friends that I am very fond of, however.

Anyway, older now and not so much into the music scene, we decided we’d had enough of the heat and the traffic. So, when the husband got offered a job up here in Seattle, we jumped on the chance, even though we’d never been here before. I don’t regret it.

We actually live in the mountains outside of Seattle, but we’re a quick bus ride into the city. We have wildlife where we live. During the summer, keeping the black bears out of our trash is a constant struggle. We hike the mountain trails. We camp. I actually get to wear my sweaters, and boots! And yes, my cute raincoat…a LOT. But it’s so beautiful here, I can’t begrudge the rain.

I think we’re going to be here for a long time, if for no other reason than it will take me that long to get through my list of “Things I want to see and do in Seattle and the surrounding areas”. I want to ride a ferry. I want to see Orcas. I want to go to the islands, and Canada. I want to explore every single quirky little Seattle neighborhood. I want to go to Mt. Rainier. I want to go skiing. I want to eat at all of the vegan restaurants (btw, the Veggie Grill is AWESOME). I want to ride the Seattle Great Wheel…maybe.

And somewhere in between all of that, I will be sitting in a Starbucks near my home writing.

 

6 Easy Steps to Self-Publish

It’s been just over a week now since my first novel, “Blood Hunger”, went live on Amazon. It’s been getting a lot of downloads and some really great feedback, so I am super stoked!

After a lot of research and mulling over of choices, I decided to go ahead and self-publish my book. I am a new, unknown author, and although I may choose to go with a traditional publisher at some point if the opportunity arrises, I think self-publishing was the best way to get my work out there and learn about the entire process – and there is a LOT to learn. I will try to lay it out as simply as I can here:

1.) So you’ve finished your book, and it’s been proofread and edited until you’re sick and tired of looking at it. Yay! Congratulations! My first suggestion – Put it down for a few days. Give it to a trusted friend or professional editor to go over it, and when you get their feedback, read it over carefully again yourself while making their changes. I went over my novel three times, gave it to my proofreader/editor, and still found grammatical errors/extra spaces etc. that we both missed when it was returned to me. We’re only human, after all. Setting it aside for a few days really helped me to look at it with fresh eyes.

2.) As soon as you have a finished manuscript, and before you send it to anyone else, copyright your work. You can do it online here: http://www.copyright.gov for about $35. This isn’t required, but I would suggest it. You spent months and maybe even years writing, don’t let someone else take the credit. If you’re not sure how to write your copyright page, just google it. There are a lot of examples out there.

3.) Now you need a cover, and actually you can do this at anytime, even before your book is finished if you’re certain of the title. There are many different websites where you can request cover art, and the total cost will run you anywhere from about $50-$300, depending on where you get it done and what you ask for. That’s a broad range, I know, and I may be off on the amounts, but that’s what I found in my experience. I’ll list a few of them here, but there are many other sites if you google it. The most important thing is to remember to ask for the PDF file. A PDF file is a layered Photoshop file. As long as you have this file, you can make changes to the artwork later on if needed- like having it in another language or adding “Amazon Bestselling Author” if you get on that list. Don’t forget to ask for the back and spine if you’re planning on having your book available in print also.

A few sites that offer covers:

http://99designs.com
https://www.freelancer.com
Fiverr.com

IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO YOUR OWN COVER: Kindle, Smashwords, BookBaby, etc. all offer their own services to help you do your own cover if you choose. I, personally, hired someone to do mine. It was just one less thing to worry about that way, and sometimes you can get a better deal.

4.) You have your finished manuscript, your copyright, and your cover. Now you need your descriptions and your Author Bio. You’ll need a long description and a short description of your book. If you’re not sure how to do this, look up some of your favorite books/Authors in the same genre as yours on Amazon for some examples.

5.) There are many publishing options out there. You can choose to upload your book separately to Amazon, B&N, ibooks, etc., or you can use one service like Smashwords or BookBaby to publish it on multiple different venues all at once. With Amazon, you need to format your manuscript for upload yourself, but they have instructions on how to do that (you can also find Youtube videos online to help you). The other services will normally convert your file for you. (Some advice: If you haven’t started your book yet, type it in Word and format it from the get-go. It will save you a LOT of time later on. I have a Mac computer and wrote my book in Pages originally. I love Pages, but I didn’t format it correctly when I was writing and I had to move my manuscript over to Word and re-format it. Pain. In. The. Butt. The book I’m working on now is being done in Word for Mac.)

 I chose the Amazon KDP Select program. With this program, you agree to publish your ebook exclusively with Amazon for 90 days. You can also publish in print (I used Createspace), but your ebook must be exclusive to Amazon. In return, you get to use their marketing tools, your book will be available for their Kindle lending program, and it will available worldwide.

The KDP Select program has a marketing tool called “Free Book Promotion” that you can use 5 times during your 90 days. Now, I have to admit, when I first heard about this, the idea of giving away my hard work for free just got under my skin. It seems counterproductive to me. I mean, we all want to earn a living doing what we love, not give it away for free! But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Readers are much more likely to take a risk on a new author if they can download your book for free, right? And what new authors need is exposure – lots of exposure – and reviews! My first promotional day, which was just a few days ago, I had 682 people download my book. Hopefully, the majority of these readers will consider leaving a review, add it to their Goodreads list, and recommend it to friends.

So I’m going to use the KDP Select program for the first 90 days, and then I plan on dropping out of the Select program (still leaving my book on Amazon) and using Smashwords or Bookbaby to get my book to the other venues after that.

6.) Last but not least, I wanted to touch on the most important aspect of self-publishing – Marketing! I’ve got to tell you, the one place that I have found to be the most bang for my buck so far is Facebook. They walk you through the entire process of creating an ad, and you can choose how much money you want to invest. Of course, the more money you add to your campaign, the bigger audience you will reach, but you can do an ad for as little as $5. I put up an ad for my free promo day on Amazon, and again, 682 downloads!

I put up ads on Facebook every chance I can, and I always see a noticeable upswing in sales on those days.

Goodreads is another good one. I have an author’s page on there that I recently set up – Goodreads – and have really been enjoying getting to know the other readers, and participating in the Group discussions. It’s a great place to network.

Some other marketing ideas:

Press Releases- there are many sites where authors can upload press releases for free. It’s best to do this a few weeks before your book launch. Here is the list of the ones I’ve used:

http://www.prlog.org
http://www.1888pressrelease.com
http://www.openpr.com
http://www.onlineprnews.com
http://bignews.biz

Bloggers – A lot of bloggers will review your book for free. You can send them a PDF file, or gift them a book. Just make sure they read your genre.

Facebook- Set up a Facebook Page

Twitter- Set up a Twitter Account and be active on it

I have to admit, my husband was an enormous help in this department. He has had websites and has his own game app company, so he’s much more familiar with all of this stuff. Thanks honey!

So I hope this was helpful! Personally, the whole self-publishing thing was a bit overwhelming for me until I sat down and made a list of all of this stuff. Just go through it step by step, and before you know it, you’ll be a “Published” Author! Good luck!

Vampires Have Landed in Seattle!

Press Release

Vampires Have Landed In Seattle

“Don’t miss the exciting introduction into this new world! A world where vampires and werewolves work together to fight a growing evil, where witches have the powers to control them, and where fate plays cupid at the least opportune times.” 

Issaquah, WA, December 23, 2014 – Local author L.E. Wilson has launched her debut novel “Blood Hunger”, of her new “Deathless Night Series”.

“Blood Hunger” is an adult paranormal romance novel, that tells the story of Nikulas Kreek, a 600-year old vampire whose brother has gone missing, and his opportunity to save him. To do so, he enlists the help of Emma Moss, a small town girl with a predictable life and a horrifying past, who has no idea of who, or what, she really is. Yet, Nik knows a secret about the Moss family, a secret that can help them both. Bound together by more than just their cause, Emma and Nik set out on a rescue mission. What he couldn’t have predicted, however, was the fatal attraction he would have for her. Now Nik has to decide whether to leave Emma to live her human life in peace and end his own in the process, or surrender to the forces that are drawing them together.

The Ups and Downs of Actually Selling Your Book

My very first book EVER went live on Amazon two days ago! I went with the KDP Select program, hoping the promotional days would help me gain exposure. I’ll get back to that whole self-publishing process later, but I have to say, once I got a grasp on it, it wasn’t as daunting as I’d expected.

But anyway, back to the sales. On my first day live, I had three people purchase my book! Yay! Three strangers actually purchased what I’d written (My family is waiting for the promo days). I was on cloud nine all day, and so excited to have actually made a sale!

This morning, I went into KDP to look at my sales reports. Two out of the three people had returned the ebook through Kindle’s return policy. (If you’re a new author and are unaware of this policy, Kindle readers have seven days to return a book after purchasing, no questions asked.)

What? How could this be? A year’s worth of my time and effort, returned?? Honestly, I felt like crying at first. And then I started to obsess over it: Did they read it and return it? I mean, Amazon lets you read the first few chapters before you ever buy it, so were they one of those people that treats Amazon like a library? Did they order it by mistake? Did the cover/description/category lead them to believe it was something it wasn’t? And the most terrible thought of all – Does it really suck?

I, personally, think it’s a great read (but of course, it’s my baby). Nothing too deep, it’s a paranormal romance after all, but I thought it was well-written, funny, romantic, hot – everything I like in the books I read. Which led me to thinking – Why did I write this book? I mean, of course, I would be completely thrilled if others enjoyed it as much as I did, and it would be great if it brings in some money and I could help supplement our income doing something I love so much.

But the real reason I wrote this book was for me. I’ve always wanted to write, and I LOVE a good paranormal romance series, so I created one of my own. I enjoyed every minute of the entire process. I have five more books already planned out for the series and I’m very excited to bring them to life! Maybe I’ll hit my stride somewhere in the process of writing them, and maybe not, but I’m not going to give up.

So if you’re a new author and your sales aren’t what you want them to be, don’t give up! If you love it as much as I do, keep writing, and don’t stop. Not everyone has to like my books. People have different tastes, and that’s perfectly okay. However, I do hope that some people enjoy my work as much as I do though. I love getting lost in a good book. It would make me very happy to be able to provide that escape for others.

Happy Writing!

For Writers: Traditional vs. Self Publishing

Now that the first book in my series is actually finished (woo-hoo!), I find myself asking the same question a lot  of     new authors are asking – Should I submit my manuscript to a traditional publisher, or should I go the Indie route  and self-publish?

I’ve been looking into both of these, and I think they’re both good options. However, they are very different processes. Which one is best for you? Well, that depends. Do your research, and pick the one that will work for you. Here is a breakdown of the overall processes for you that I’ve discovered so far.

Going the traditional route entails these basic steps for a book of fiction:

1.) Find an agent – An agent is basically the middle man between you, the author, and the publisher. They will take your manuscript and submit it to publishers they think will accept it. Once they find a publisher for you, they will negotiate the best deal for your work. A good relationship with your agent is crucial. They will be the go-between between you and the publisher, getting you the best contract, working with the publisher to extend deadlines if needed, getting you better dates for a book tour, and more. In return for these services, the agent will get a percentage of your sales. They will also be your biggest champion.

2.) Once your agent has found you a publisher, the publisher will take care of marketing, printing, publishing and selling your book at no upfront cost to you.  Sounds great, right? The only downfall that I’ve run across in my research is that it takes a lot longer to get your book out there when you publish it traditionally. Depending on the length of time it takes your agent to find and negotiate with a publisher, it could be years before you actually see your book on the shelves.  If time isn’t an issue for you, and you don’t mind giving up some control to your publisher, I think this would be a great choice.

The important thing to remember here, is you should never, ever, pay any money up front. Ever. That’s not how traditional publishing works. If anyone tries to get money out of you to publish your book, run! Run away!

If you decide to self-publish, you can expect to:

1.) Control everything from deadlines, to editing, to cover art, to marketing, to printing.

2.)Pay money up front out of your own pocket for all of the expenses, including printing and marketing. However you maintain all rights over your work, and you maintain all of the control.

Personally, I like the sound of having more control over my books. As such, I think I’ve decided to be an Indie author. At least for now. Of course, it’s also a lot more work on my part, and more money I’ll have to pay upfront. Luckily, I have a tech savvy husband to help me.

I will keep you updated as I work through the process, and let you know of any deals I find along the way!

 

Happy writing!

Almost there!!!!

I can’t believe it! My first book is finished! Actually finished! Woo! Thank you so much to everyone who has helped make this process a reality for me!

Now let’s get this baby published!

So Excited!

Writing my first book!  So, yeah…Can’t talk right now.  But I will be back soon.