S.J. Reisner's Blog, page 58

The Indie Esoteric: Cover Art

Cover art is one of those things that indie writers either hit or miss. If you don’t have an artistic bone in your body — hire it out. Seriously.

However, if you’re broke or you want to use your own art you are going to need some computer savvy and know-how to make a decent cover. I personally use MS Publisher and GIMP (Free!) for covers I have done myself.

I always start with a cover the SAME trim size as my book. It makes it less likely it will be rejected. Smashwords requires that your cover...

The Indie Esoteric: Editing & Formatting

Now that you’re all signed up for your printing options, or you have written to the offset printer to get more information, let’s take a look at your completed manuscript. The first step before you publish it is to have it edited.

Yes, I realize you may have run it through a spell checker, but real editing goes beyond that. Let me explain…

EDITING

First, most esoteric authors use a lot of words and names not found in your standard spell-check dictionary. It’s really easy to use variant spellings...

The Indie Esoteric: Printers & Distributors

Welcome to the second article in the Indie Esoteric series. In this article we’re going to talk about your first steps into independently publishing your latest esoteric book.So you have a finished manuscript and you have some time. Now mind you you are NOT going to upload your manuscript today. No, today you’re simply going to decide what type of printing and distribution services you need and sign up accordingly. Your manuscript still needs a good edit, polish and formatting before we can u...

The Indie Esoteric: An Introduction

Yesterday I had a conversation with a writer friend who also pens esoteric material. We were discussing the nature of “”occult” small presses. The problem, it seems, is that a lot of esoteric authors write really niche stuff. Some of it so controversial, that the more mainstream professional esoteric publishers won’t touch that material with a ten foot pole.

This puts many esoteric authors in a prime position to be preyed upon by start-up small presses and small presses that are everything but...

Just Because One Can, Doesn’t Always Mean One Should

And by that, of course, I mean go into business for oneself. It’s great to say, “I have an idea and some start-up money – I’m going to start my own publishing house!”, but there are some things that a lot of start-up small presses get wrong, and from my observations – it’s a lot of the SAME things from publisher to publisher. It’s also the reason some small presses can’t keep authors and end up on “Beware” lists across the web.

I consider myself a bit of an expert on this subject for several r...

Why I Had to Start Charging (More)

Once again the question has come up why I started charging more for readings. I figured I’d best write a blog post so not only people know, but I can direct them to this blog post when they ask in the future. Back in 2005 I didn’t charge for readings at all. If ANYONE asked, I would read their natal charts, tarot cards, and even give them Daemonolatry readings (where I connected with the Daemonic Divine) for free.

The problem with free is that everyone wants something for free. I soon found th...

Let’s Talk About Success & Magick

I wrote this post back in December and seriously debated posting it. However, I think it’s time.

There’s been a lot of talk recently, via various magicians, about success. The main gist of it being, it’s great to declare how powerful a magus you are or how “emotionally rich” you are, but if you can’t manifest good relationships, wealth and/or good health, how good a magician are you?

I think these are very valid questions.

There’s also a valid reason I didn’t end up married to someone who was al...

Wisdom in Platitudes

I am constantly annoying my husband with perky platitudes. I’m one of those folks who finds them to be useful reminders when the going gets tough, and even inspiring when I’m feeling down. I also find myself quoting them at others.

My husband, on the other hand, is one of those people who thinks my perky platitudes are annoying bullshit. I’m pretty sure he wishes I’d drop them altogether. However, it’s probably important to point out here that positive sayings are part of the reason I became t...

DOM359 – Excerpt

I should have had this up sooner. Here it is, a VERY unedited excerpt of DOM359 along with the most current cover. Enjoy! :)

“Damien comes home and I haven’t done any of my housework because I spent the day watching television. He is a bit annoyed that I have to order dinner in…” the cursor blinked at her. With a groan she deleted it. This was harder than she imagined it would be. Filling out the checklist had been easy. The idea of being spanked with a hand or paddle, or even a cane or strap...

Ending the Competition

I’ve never been a competitive person. In my younger years I used to ride in horse show competitions. Not because I wanted to compete with others, but because I wanted to push myself. Besides, it was all in good fun. By the time I was fourteen, I found myself soured by competition. Humans can be rather ruthless, and none more ruthless than teenage girls. I didn’t like who I became when I was competing. I didn’t like who my friends became during competitions. When one friend would win a class o...