Lana Pecherczyk's Blog, page 15

Book Review – The Wicked City

Book Title: The Wicked City

Author: Megan Morgan

Date Read: 16th March 2015

Genre: Paranormal Romance / Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Published March 3rd 2015 by Kensington Books

Pages: 248

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Wicked City by Megan Morgan

 

Plot in a nutshell

This story revolves around June Coffin, a Siren who’s accidentally had her twin brother caught by the evil scientist enemies because of her big mouth. After accidentally wiping the mind of a guy she’s just met, Micha, and having his wife killed to escape, she teams up with the paranormal alliance leader, Sam, and basically spends the rest of the book trying to save her brother from their evil clutches.

My thoughts

This book was a little hard to get into, there was a lot of mystery and I felt I had to work a little too hard to start with, I almost put it down, but in the end was glad I didn’t. The author’s take on the urban fantasy/paranormal romance genre was refreshing. The protagonist, June was not your usual ass-kicking chick, but instead, a little crude, allergic to everything, and covered in tattoos. She had the usual attitude and big mouth you’d expect the lead female to have in this genre, and the sex drive too, but I was still drawn to each character’s uniqueness and enjoyed the plot being a little something more political than just battle after battle. I really liked the individual characters and the raw edge the author gave a lot of them. The story was quirky at times, but well thought out. You can tell the author writes erotic fiction as her other genre, sometimes I found there was a little bit TMI in that respect, but I would read the next in the series.

Book Cover Review

Yes, the cover looks similar to a standard PR or UF book cover, but I feel as though the typography is a little undercooked. With so much bare background, there is room to play with the font to make it stand out more.

Get the Book

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Sneak peak – Character line up from my book

As part of my adding extra value strategy for my urban fantasy novel, I’ve created artwork that shows what my characters might look like. I’ve taken special care not to show too much of a face, as I feel this is taking away the imaginative process away from the reader, and could have the opposite effect. I want to entice, not hand deliver the visual.

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Roo likes long walks on the beach while listening to her favourite musician Prince, then when she's had enough of that she takes her dirt bike to work as a barmaid at The Cauldron.









Has a vendetta against Roo. He tried to persecute her and burn her three years ago, but failed. Is now back to prove to the world that she's the spawn of evil and must be punished.









Cash's younger brother, along for the ride to take photos for his editor back home, but really he's keeping an eye on his brothers sanity. Has a not so secret crush on Roo









Roo's bff and a sexy, young, successful, independent woman who sings nightly at The Cauldron, and just happens to enjoy remaining strategically single.









Witch Hunter and highly paid, sought after consultant, (Roo would add highly strung), whose mother think's he's gone off the deep end. His star map tattoo's are visible to only some.









Works in the kitchen at The Cauldron. Is one of Roo's good mates and he has a penchant for making the gullible Kitty believe everything.









Marc is a god who likes honey cakes, tea, travelling starkers and really fit chicks. He has a thing for red heads and has tickets on himself.









Petra is the ancient witch who stole Leila's body because she is obsessed with becoming part of the family, and taking Roo to paradise.






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I hope you like them, the website and book will be coming at the end of next month.

Check out my page here, if you want to read the blurb of the book.

The post Sneak peak – Character line up from my book appeared first on Author Zoo.

How to add value to a fiction book so you can sell more

In marketing, we constantly talk about adding value to your product. This is because customers these days aren’t just going to buy it because you told them to. They are smart and fickle, and with the Internet bringing every competitor to them at lightning speed, you really have to add more to your product if you want to sell it. The trick we use to understand how to do this is to put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and ask: ‘What’s in it for me?’

I’ve found it easy to add value to non-fiction books or products – it’s what I do in my blog every day. You give free advice, free ebooks, free printables, free valuable items. But, how does this translate to fiction, and how can a self-publisher or Indie author add more value?

Additional content that will be displayed on my book’s dedicated website – coming soon

Here is an inside view of how I plan on adding value to my fiction novel. In short, I’m hoping to prolong the experience you get from reading my fiction.

I’m going to do this by:

Creating a website that has character profiles, illustrations and something extra you might not find in the novel … perhaps a sneak peak to the next in the series.
Creating interactive items for the i-book. With technology so advanced now, I’m going to add secret content you can view when you purchase the ibook. Click on the link, and it will take you to a sealed section on my website.
Excerpts from your novel for free on your website
Cut scenes – perhaps your novel was getting too long. Do you have any scenes that can still be used and shared?
Merchandise – otherwise known as SWAG (link to your cafe press or Zazzle store)
Bookmarks
Free wallpapers using your cover artwork
My character works in a bar, so I’m going to release an ebook/flyer that includes special recipes for cocktails
Once you get to the next book in your series or next novel – add a sample chapter at the end of your previous book
Write an in between novella and offer it for free
Video trailers
Create a social media exclusive short series

And if you’re really smart, you’ll think of something you can give for free once people have purchased your novel, when they provide proof of purchase in order to get said free thing, you should have an email in which you can send a request a few weeks later for a book review.

What about you? Have you thought of any interesting ways you can give your readers more to experience than simply reading words? Please comment below …

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Pesky Punctuation Down Under

E is for Editing: Self Publishing Tips from A to Z

Grammar, English, punctuation, spelling—these are not my forte. It’s been the hardest thing for me to get my head around because I haven’t been able to find the right info online. Most information I find is based on the USA style, and you betcha, Australian versions are pretty much the opposite. Enter the Style Manual. It’s a book revised for the Australian Government on correct styling rules. Go straight to the top I say!

Here are some valuable punctuation editing and styling rules as referenced from the Style Manual (for authors, editors, and printers sixth edition):

Use the EM dash for signifying an abrupt change, afterthoughts and sometimes instead of parenthesis. No space is to go between the word and the dash! So a sentence might look like this:

I peeled them open, one by one and blinked in the dim haze until I could see thousands of white stalactites blur into focus—spiky piranha teeth ready to chomp down on me.

Did you know that you are supposed to use a double EM dash to mark a sudden break in dialogue? So your sentence would look like this:  I covered my mouth with my hand. ‘What ——’ 

This rule doesn’t really seem to be widely used though, so I may stick with the single EM dash for the break.
In Australia, we use the single quotation mark (‘), not the double (“).  We have to use the opposite for quotes within quotes. So a sentence might look like this:  ‘The Cauldron is not a “sin-bin,” or a “devil’s playground.” It’s a legitimate establishment where people can enjoy a drink or a meal without prejudice, and learn about the history of witches,’ I said.
When using an ellipsis, put a space after the word, then your three dots with no spaces, then a space again, except when it’s at the end of a sentence in dialogue. So your sentence might look like this: ‘Somebody, find me a …’ The rest of his words were lost in the black screeching mist that swarmed the parking lot.

This sentence could easily use an EM dash to cut off the dialogue, but I prefer to think of it as an ellipsis for words trailing off and an EM dash for abrupt cutting off.

So, fellow Australian writers, what do you think. Is this the way you punctuate your writing? Is it over the top, and are there any other pesky opposite rules we need to be aware of? 

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How writing has positively influenced my life

I’m writing this article as part of the Writing Contest hosted by Positive Writer. I came across the topic and thought, wow. What a great way to see how far I’ve come and to give myself a pat on the back for all the hard work so far. So, here goes.

For most of my life, I’ve been good at one thing – art. The world around me saw my work, and said I should do more of it, so I did. But when at the age of eight, I said I wanted to write stories, and even though we were poor, my mother came home with a blank notebook and a pencil saying I should follow my dreams, no matter where they take me for they will make me happy. I wasn’t very good at it, but it didn’t matter because I had her support and I liked it.

She died when I was thirteen, and left her four daughters orphaned. Suddenly, I had lost my dream champion, I was split from my youngest two sisters and had no one to talk to about the challenge of life. So, I  wrote in secret. I poured my heart out daily to a diary and sometimes imagined that she would listen. At the end of the day, even if she couldn’t hear them, writing kept that dream alive.

Eventually, without someone to champion my secret dream, I listened to the world around me. I focused on art and excelled in it. I enrolled in art school, but dropped out a short 6 months into it because I didn’t feel that painting black metaphoric circles everywhere made good art – I just liked to draw. I felt like a phony.

For many years, I hopped from one creative career to another and from one business idea to another, hoping to fill that void – surely the world told me I was good at art, I should follow that path, right? Then how come I felt like something was missing?

One day, I read an article by the author Holly Lilse, and guess what? She started out being an artist because her family was in the business and she was good at it. She listened to logic for many years, then eventually gave in to her desire to write and discovered that yes, you can be good at more than one thing. So, she had done it, could I too? Would I be any good?

But by now, I had two young children, an established marketing career and other freelance design commitments. Where would I even start?

I didn’t think of myself as a writer, even though I did it for work and I wrote in a diary – I’d never studied it. My dream wouldn’t let go, it niggled me at night and it pestered me during the day. My mother’s words never left me; follow your dreams no matter where they take you for they will make you happy. Eventually, I couldn’t sleep and decided the only person holding me back was me.

So, start I did, it was as simple as that. I started writing the story I’d been concocting in my head and sketchbook over the last few years, at a few words a day. Those words became a book, a blog and a new life. Once I opened up to my family and friends, I learned that they all supported me, every single one became my new dream champion.

How has writing positively influenced my life? It taught me to follow my dream, no matter what you think others say. It taught me that I can be good at more than one thing. It taught me that I don’t have to be an expert, or know fancy words to get something out of it.

But most of all, it taught me to be happy.

So, there it is. If you are a writer, use this opportunity to reflect on the positives writing has brought to your life. Comment, and share below.

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5 tips to keep up productivity for a writer on holiday

I’ve been a bit AWOL lately, with an impending deadline for my debut novel and holidays. Holidays. By definition, you should be relaxing. ‘But writing relaxes me!’ I hear you say. That’s true for some of us, but you pay all this money and you have family commitments–you can’t let everyone down. So, how can you push through with your writing project, stick to a deadline and keep everyone happy?

For starters, decide what’s absolutely necessary and what can wait. Then explain to friends and family what your situation is, make sure you have support.

Try these tips for working on a deadline

Print out a manuscript and work on it when you might otherwise read to relax, or when everyone is having some ‘me’ time
With the support of your family, work out a barter system–you watch the kids while the other adult goes exploring on their own, then you swap and you can get some time to write
Get up early while everyone else is still recovering from the night before
Learn from your experience and write in a diary/notebook
Relax! Sometimes actually having a break resets your mind so that you are ready to tackle your writing problems head on when you return to work

What about you? Are there any tips you can pass on to keep up productivity on a holiday?

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How much does it cost to self-publish my own book?

C is for Costs – Part 2 of the ‘Self-publishing from A to Z’ series

Today, I’m going to talk about how much it costs the author to self-produce and publish their book. I’m speaking in both, actual costs and hypotheticals. I’m only half way through the process of publishing my own novel, but I can update you on what it’s actually cost me so far. The list below is my own personal cost’s in self-publishing, you may have a completely different set of goals and costs.

How much does it cost me to self publish?

Writing your novel – Free if you fit it in the gaps of your life. My point is, if you don’t quit your day job to write, then you aren’t sacrificing any money to do the writing.
Start a blog – I believe this is important to start before you’ve finished your novel. You can use free platforms like WordPress, or Tumblr. I’ve gone for a self-hosting wordpress platform so I have more freedom over my back-end. I used Go-daddy and took benefit of a package deal, The first 12 months cost me less than $30. I purchased a theme though, and that was an extra $60. If you choose to get some professional branding done, you will have an extra fee here, once again.

Save money here by, using free images from Flickr or Google in the ‘creative commons license’.
Start an email list – I use Mailchimp, it’s free.
Edit your novel – I believe it’s super important to have this done by a professional outsider, the editor I chose was also my lecturer from a writing course I completed. Her name is Ann Harth, and she’s amazing. In total, she’s looked at it once, but I will get her to look again. She charges anywhere from $120 for a mini-assessment to an amount by the hour.

Save money here by enlisting the help of your writing group or friends and family. There are apps that can help you proofread – such as Grammarly and Hemmingway.
Design your book cover – This cost me about $5o to buy the stock images. I used Photoshop and InDesign, software I already pay a subscription for. I’ve just discovered this amazing online app called Canva. You can design kindle covers for free from templates. I’ve used it to create my in blog image. For a small fee, you can go to crowdsourcing places like Freelancer and 99 designs. Or try commissioning a private illustration from Deviant Art.
Design the inside of your book – This will be zero costs to me as I am a Graphic Designer and have Adobe InDesign skills up my sleeve. There are great templates you can buy from The Bookdesigner Website for a small fee that use either Word or InDesign. Learning the Adobe program is a benefit I highly recommend and will save you money, in the long run.

Other costs I’m predicting:

All about A to Z in Self Publishing blog post series

Launch party – I’m hoping to hire a local library room for little to no cost, or using a private room at a bar or cafe. It all depends on how much catering you want to supply etc. I’ve got an intensive launch plan in my marketing printable kit if you need guidance here.
Merchandise (I’m going to create posters to help merchants sell my book)
Print costs – using companies like Createspace and Lightning source. Costs here depend on how many books you want to stock for your launch, and to hand pedal to merchants
Advertising – do you want to spend money on advertising or reviews? I’m going to try to get lots of free reviews first before I spend money on this area.
ISBN – I think this is around $100

An important thing to remember when thinking about publishing your own books is the cost is spread over months, if not years, depending on your goals. So, instead of freaking out over the total cost, give up something small – like smoking, coffee, alcohol, and put the money in a savings account. By the time you actually need some money, you’ll have enough to spend.

So what’s the actual total for me? Well, seeing as I haven’t finished yet, this is an estimation. By the time I’m finished, I will have an e-book, a print book, a website and an i-book. I’m guessing my total costs will be $1500 to $2000. Most of that is on editing, print costs, merchandise and the launch. I hope getting an inside view of my own costs has helped you with your own publishing journey.

I’d like to know how you have cut costs in self-publishing, write a comment and share.

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