Morgan Elektra's Blog, page 2

Do I Need an Author Logo?

Dear ME,

The short answer is Yes, you do. Here’s why:

As I’ve been working on my site for class, I’ve also been contemplating other aspects of my writer platform. Namely, my newsletter. I neglected it a lot this past year, for which I hope those who are signed up for it can forgive me. I’m trying to be better and more available on social media without losing out on writing time and schoolwork.

Thinking of my newsletter lead me to thinking of giveaways. I don’t have physical copies of books to giveaway, because so far my novels and novellas are all digital. But I could do bookmarks. Everybody loves bookmarks, right? At least, most readers do. If they’re pretty especially.

There are lots of things authors can giveaway.

Tote bags, mugs, pens, pencils, notebooks, stickers, buttons, and of course bookmarks, just to name a few. If you need ideas, check out this blog post from Book Brush, which touches on ten different ideas for swag and how you can go about making stuff, which is great! There’s also this blog on Jane Friedman’s site called How To Use Swag to Support Your Book Marketing that has a bunch of ideas for you.

There are a ton of ideas out there on the internet. Great ones. Especially if you’re crafty yourself. I am not.

But I want to create swag that will be memorable and make people think of me. I wanted to start with bookmarks, because I don’t have much of a budget and I found this site called PrintPlace.com that will do 250 double-sided bookmarks for about $40. That’s within my budget.

So, I wanted to do a bookmark.

But what do I put on it?

One idea I had was a cool/sexy quote. That doesn’t seem too hard. But I can’t just do some random quote. It has to mean something to me or why bother?

What else would go on there, though?

That’s where the author logo comes in. Most people don’t even think of authors having logos, but a lot of them do. Not Stephen King, for sure, because his name is recognizable by itself. But also, he didn’t come up in the internet age when an author needs to build a brand and a platform for themselves. Though, there are some things that don’t change… after all, when you think of Stephen King’s name, you probably think of one of his book covers, and the font they used for it. But I’m getting off track.

An author logo is a way to differentiate yourself.

I’m lucky in that my name is fairly unique to begin with, so I don’t have to worry about that too much. But I still need a logo. I need something to put on my business cards and bookmarks and any swag I do end up making and/or buying. It may be years before I actually do a convention, what with the way the world is, but if and when I do, I’ll need things for my table.

How do I want to portray Morgan Elektra, author?

I had to think about this when making the site as well. I chose the colors and fonts and images all with an eye to how it fits me and my writing style. Now, I needed to expand that thought process to a logo.

So, I of course Googled, “Do I need an author logo?”

One of the first things that comes up is this Kindlepreneur article by Dave Chesson, entitled “Author Logo 101: The Basics to Creating an Awesome Writer’s Logo”. If you’re an author and you’re serious about branding, you should totally read this article. It covers a lot in a brief post and there’s some great information there.

One of the sites that Chesson mentions in his article is BrandCrowd.com. It’s easy to use. Basically, you type in your name or business name and they give you THOUSANDS of options for logos. You can search by keywords. I typed in things like “dark”, “gothic”, “romantic”, but you can type in whatever look you’re going for. And you can tweak the designs colors and fonts, if you so wish. It’s a decent price. Especially as of today 8/22/21, since they’re running a deal. I don’t know how long that will last, but currently it’s only $36 to download the files for your logo.

These three are what I came up with by myself. The kissing skulls was the most popular of the three, but I wasn’t loving it. So I did a round two with the help of a friend (thanks Tanya!)

The kissing skulls remained in first place. So maybe I should have gone with that.

But as much as I liked various aspects of the logos and felt they were worth if for the price, I still wasn’t really feeling like that were ME. And maybe that’s because I just don’t have the imagination for it, or maybe it’s because this particular site doesn’t offer exclusivity. You can pay an extra $145 (still not a bad price) to have the artwork taken off the site immediately, but who knows how many people have downloaded something similar already?

For me, it just didn’t feel right. This is NOT AT ALL a knock at the site, which I think is very cool, or you if you choose to use it. It just wasn’t for me.

So, I was spiraling a little. (Thanks depression!) Because I wanted to love my logo. I’m going to be looking at it a lot. For years, hopefully. I’m going to be smearing it all over all the swag I can manage in those years too. I need to love it.

Luckily, another friend (thank you Crissy!) reminded me that we have an artist friend who does graphic design and has mentioned doing logos before. It couldn’t hurt, Crissy said, to just ask her about her pricing. Which is true, so I did.

Melissa from Melissa B Fine Art has been a friend for almost 20 years. It’s silly of me not to have thought of her earlier, but I’m silly. She knows me and has read some of my writing. She’s a fellow horror fan. Plus, she’s just a cool lady.

I messaged her on Facebook and gave her some images, including the ones I’d made on the website, as well as some vague ideas what I was looking for. Basically, something dark, a little sexy, and unique.

Her pricing for logos starts at $40 and she had something for me within a day. I mean, that’s special treatment turnaround time because she loves me, I think, but still it proves she can come up with something good, fast. And, boy, did she! I love my new logo and feel like it was worth every penny. I hope you like it as much as I do, because you’ll likely be seeing it a lot. On the site here, in the newsletter, and maybe even in my email signature. Better get used to it!

Do you want to see? I know you do! So without further ado, here it is:

Isn’t it amazing? Thanks again to my friends for helping me get here.

Love,

ME

Can You Hear Me Out There?

Things may be changing around here. I’m not sure what or how yet, but I figured I’d post a heads up. You may see some stuff moving around or going away or whatnot.

What the heck is going on?

Well, see, I’m taking this class in the course of getting my MFA (that’s a Master of Fine Arts) in Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University. The class is called ‘Finding & Reaching an Audience’. Basically, it’s supposed to help strengthen our skills on the business end of writing, help us figure out how to get the word out about our brand and maintain an author platform.

Maybe you’re well-versed in the publishing world, and you know what a platform is and does. Or, maybe you’re like me and still struggling to understand this many-faceted concept. Let’s break it down a little.

What is a writer’s platform and why should you have one?

According to industry guru Jane Friedman in her blog post A Definition of Author Platform, a platform is “an ability to sell books because of who you are or who you can reach”. It’s a seemingly simple explanation for a complicated idea. I really recommend you read the entire blog post. And while you’re at it, check out Friedman’s other blog posts as well. They’re all informative and mostly quick reads that are insightful about the publishing industry.

If you’re a celebrity for whatever reason, you have a built in platform… a following of people who are likely to listen to what you’ve got to say and are even more likely to buy your product. You don’t need to be a celebrity to have a platform, however. You can have a blog that gets hundreds of thousands of hits per month, or 20 million Twitter followers, or whatever. My platform is, technically, all the people that follow me here on the blog, and on Twitter, and Facebook. You’re supposedly listening to the things I shout into the internet ether.

Of course, there’s more to that than meets the eye.

I need to engage you guys, to post things that interest you, be eye-catching. I need to do all of these things–and more, that’s what I’m learning in this class–in order to grow my following and increase my platform. That way, when my next book comes out, it’ll sell well.

I’m not looking to be a gross billionaire who goes to space or anything, but I would like to be able to write full-time, and in order to do that I need a solid platform and a dedicated following. One of the ways of building the foundation of a platform is having a website. Like mine. Or, hopefully like mine. This is where the construction comes in. Throughout the course, depending on feedback from my instructor and peers, I may be switching some things around. The blog won’t go away, that’s for sure. I like having a place to ramble, even if there are only a few of you listening. Plus, I’m definitely going to blog about any significant changes to the site.

But, things may change or move around or get renamed. They may get changed and then change back! Who knows? Not me.

If you’re reading this, take a look around the site. Tell me what you think in the comments. What do you like about the site? What don’t you like? What would you change if it was up to you? What do you think works? I want your input!

Or maybe you love everything and think it’s perfect. That’s nice too. Just, chime in below.

Now, if you’ve read this whole thing all the way to the end, I know we’re pals. You probably liked, shared, and commented before I even asked. Well, here’s a special secret just for you. If I get ten people or more commenting on this post (that’s ten individual post authors, not just ten posts), I’ll enter you all into a raffle for a $10 Amazon Gift Card! Each like, comment, and share will count as one entry in the raffle. Winner will be chosen by random number generator. If I get enough comments, I will post a winner of the raffle on Monday, August 9th 2021 here on the blog!

~ME

What to Write When I Don’t Feel Like Writing

Dear ME,

Movies and TV always depict writers sitting at keyboards (or more rarely with a notebook in hand), fingers thundering away as the words flow out of them like water. And I’m not gonna lie, sometimes it’s like that. When it’s really good, it’s like that. It’s smooth and satisfying, like water, but thick and essential, like blood.

But the percentage of time that writing comes good? I’m just making up numbers here that feel right, but I’m going to say, being generous, 30% of the time. That leaves a whopping 70% of the time when writing is hard work, when the only moisture you’re getting is from your own tears.

There’s so much to writing that doesn’t ever really get talked about by anyone outside of writers, perhaps at a convention or in an MFA program. There’s planning and research and editing and running a business. That’s right. You want to be a writer? Now it’s a business and you’re the CEO. Even if you decide to go the way of traditional publishing, you’re still in charge of producing the product everyone is going to work on. You’re still the manufacturer. A manufacturer of stories. Sounds glorious, right? And it can be. But… not all the time.

What a lot of people won’t tell you is that writing is hard work. Like, really hard. *imagine I inserted a Chuck from Supernatural gif here*

Hemingway famously said, “There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

No offense intended to the man, but that’s only true when it comes good. Then, you’re just bleeding. It’s pouring out of you onto the paper through the pen, typewriter, or keyboard. Maybe you’re making a mess, maybe you’re making a masterpiece. Maybe you’re just telling a good tale.

But the truth is, if you’re going to be a writer, you have to sit down even when you don’t feel like writing and do it anyway. You have to plunk your butt down in the chair in your office of choice (bedroom? Starbucks? local park? wherever) and put your fingers to work even when what’s coming out feels like the veriest trash.

To continue Hemingway’s analogy, you have to write even when the blood won’t flow. You have to keep digging at your skin and eking out every bit, drop by drop.

Maybe you can’t write your novel today, because it’s feeling cardboard and reading it makes you feel like the biggest hack on the planet. That’s okay. Go write something else.

Write fan fiction (but for god’s sake don’t steal other people’s work and claim it as your own).

Write a blog post, like I’m doing now. Share your angst with the world.

Write a poem or a short story that has nothing to do with anything you’re currently working on.

Sometimes you can’t write, the blood won’t flow, the vein has collapsed. But you’ve gotta keep going. Tap a new vein. Find the right one and it’ll bleed sweet for you.

Sound gruesome? It may well be. But it’s the truth.

You have to work through the fits and starts and just bad writing, though. There is going to be bad writing. Accept it. It’s okay. Everyone writes badly from time to time. We just generally don’t see those versions. We get polished versions that have been run through dozens of sets of eyes.

We don’t get to see the stuff the Big Bads write that resembles a dried out cat turd. But I guarantee you that every writer has those moments. Still, they persist. They keep on writing. They edit and edit and edit and then edit some more. They don’t give up.

You can’t either.

If you want to be a writer, you must persist. You have to put the words down on paper, either literally or in a Google doc. You can edit shit writing. You can’t edit a blank page. If the story just stays in your head, it’ll rot your brain worse than candy and trash TV. You have to get it out of you.

And then, you have to keep working. Edit it. Rewrite it again. Edit it better.

Manufacture the fuck out of all the stories.

Bleed.

Then, once you’ve got a finished product, you can start worrying about the hard stuff, like self-promotion.

Seriously though, get your ass in a chair and get your fingers on your keyboard. Maybe not every day, but most days. You can do that. You know you can. You have the time, if you want to make it. Watch one less episode of Criminal Minds, or spend less time on Facebook. You can do it.

Even when it sucks. Like tonight.

See? You did it. That wasn’t so hard, was it?

(Yes, yes it was. And it still feels like dog turds. But it’s something I got out. I tapped a small vein. And that’s better than nothing.)

Love,

ME

Am I Grown-up Now?

So, I turned 40 on this past Friday. The “big four-oh”. I felt like I should have done something crazy or over-the-top, something to celebrate the big day. I contemplated getting another tattoo. I didn’t, but I still plan on doing that at some point. But no. Friday, I had a few drinks with my girls over Zoom. It was fun. Then Saturday the mister took me out for sushi. It was delicious.

It was a nice birthday, but it didn’t feel any different then the thirty-nine before it. Less momentous then some. Less dramatic. At 30 I had a party at the roller rink near where I grew up. My favorite present that I got was a Twilight Barbie that my big brother gave me. He really got the spirit of the party.

I rejected the idea of being grown-up then, but I spent the last week contemplating my past and wondering if I counted as grown-up now.

It’s only in the last couple of years that I’ve finally come to terms with the loss of a couple of people who were important to me, even though it happened 20 years ago. I’m just dealing with what it means that I can no longer see or talk to those people again, except in my dreams.

That feels significant. It feels grown-up. Not that I really know what that means.

I do know that I’m just really starting to deal with with the trauma of those losses. I’ve been carrying a lot of things around for 20 years, through various jobs and locations, one move to the next, and wondering why I wasn’t feeling any better. Well, I had tried to close the door on that trauma and move on, but I hadn’t actually let myself go through it. It sucks, but the only way out is through.

One thing that this process has done is made me less afraid. I used to be afraid of a lot. Everything, really. Especially my emotions. I shut down a lot, and it cost me relationships and friendships, because I wouldn’t let people in. I tried to avoid hurt by not fully opening up to people. I kept even my closest friends at arm’s length. If they really knew me, I thought, they wouldn’t want to be friends with me. Who could love a broken thing like me?

My mind and heart can be dark places. I don’t know if that’s true of everyone, but I do know it’s not just me. I also know it doesn’t make me a bad or unlovable person. This is what my brain tells me when it starts stewing in its chemicals. But fuck that. It’s lying.

20 years ago, I thought keeping people out protected me from loss. Now, I know that pain will still find a way through those walls, and keeping people out only makes me lonely. The friendships I’ve developed in the last several years are deeper and more honest than ones before because I’m not trying to shut down anymore. Not that those friendships and relationships from years ago weren’t important to me. In fact, it’s just the opposite. The more important they were to me, the more scared I was to lose them. But of course, time and life being what they are, I still lost some of those people. And that’s on me. I accept that.

Or, I’m beginning to accept that, anyway. It’s not easy. None of this is. That I know. But I still don’t know if I’m grown-up yet. What do you think?

~xxxM

New Year, Same Old Me

Hey, folks. It’s been awhile. Like, over a year. I’m sorry I was silent for so long. 2020 was… not conducive to writing. Not even so much as a blog post. I mostly just hunkered down and waited for it to be over. My depression and anxiety got the better of me a lot, but I kept taking my meds, at least. I got my Bachelor’s in English and Creative Writing, and I started the MFA program for Creative Writing at SNHU. Things weren’t entirely horrible for me personally.

I hope you made it through, too.

Maybe you’re expecting some kind of introspection about the previous year, or some resolutions for the year ahead in this post, but you’re not going to find that here. At least, not right now. I don’t want to dwell on the negatives of last year, of which there are many. I CAN’T dwell on them, for my own mental health. I have to accept and move on.

This year is going to be better anyway.

Okay, so it started off a bit rocky with the elections and insurrection in the capitol. Not to mention the continued COVID situation. But I’m optimistic. There’s a vaccine and people are finally starting to get it. One day things might be semi-normal again.

Until then…

I just recently got my first acceptance of the year! My short story “Swallow the Moon” will be appearing in HellBound Books’ The Devil’s Doorbell II, an anthology of dark erotica. I wrote “Swallow the Moon” several years ago for a specific submission call and it got rejected then. Now, it’s found a home. Just goes to show you that persistence is key. If I hadn’t kept looking, it would have just stayed in my Drive, collecting metaphorical dust.

My goal this year is to get the rest of my short stories published. I want to find them homes. In that regard, I’m getting an editor to take a look at the ones I think need some work still.

I’ll also be working on another novel as part of my MFA program. This one is an urban fantasy, so that’s something new for me. I’m excited about it. Another goal I have this year is to participate in the online community more, which means both in groups and on Twitter and Instagram. (I just passed 1,000 Twitter followers, so that’s exciting!) That also means (I hope) more blog posts here. We’ll see. I’ve made a goal of spending 1 hour a day working on my platform, so that should give me some time to focus here.

So… same old me. Still writing. Still doing the work of fighting depression and anxiety every day. I’m in a pretty good place, with an excellent support system of friends and family, thankfully. I know how lucky I am.

This last year has been a special hell. If you’re struggling and need to talk to someone, please reach out. The National Suicide Prevention line is 800-273-8255 and it’s available 24 hours a day. You are needed. You are loved. Hang in there.

~xxxM

Freebies!

If you haven’t picked up your copy of Protecting His Pack yet, you’re going to want to keep reading…

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I know the holidays are a tough time for a lot of people. Money gets tight. But I still want you to read my very first M/M novel ever! So I’ve entered Protecting His Pack into this giveaway!

That’s right, you can get a mobi or epub copy of the book totally FREE for the next few weeks. All you have to do is sign up for my newsletter and it’s yours.

While I’m tooting my own horn here, I should mention that there are nearly 30 books in this giveaway by various authors, some M/M and some M/F. You should click here and check them all out. You might find a few new authors to love! (Aside from me, because you already love me right?)

If you’ve already got your copy of Protecting His Pack, then please remember to leave a review at places like Amazon, Goodreads, or wherever you purchase your books. And thank you for reading. I love you too!

~xxxM

Newsletter Madness!

So, one of the pieces of advice I’ve received from people lately in regards to marketing my books is that I should have a newsletter.

Personally, I was dubious. I mean, I’m surprised that people sign up for my blog and I know how sporadic I am here. I keep being endlessly surprised that people want to know about my work. I’m thoroughly glad though. I want to connect with readers like you.

So, far be it from me to ignore the wisdom of my elders and betters. They talk, I’ve listened.

If you’re here now, you can go to the Home page and get a pop-up to sign up for my newsletter. Please sign up! I promise I won’t bother you too much. I’ll be sending out a once a month newsletter starting in the new year. It’ll be the easiest way to keep up-to-date with what I’m doing and what I’m publishing, from me straight to you email inbox.

I know it’s just one more thing you’ve got to click on, but I would appreciate it so much. Think of it as a Christmas present from you to me, one where I give you back a present every month forever!

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Protecting His Pack is Here!!

Guys, I can’t tell you how excited I am. My very FIRST novel is live and ready to buy just in time for the holidays!

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I’m so thrilled with the way the cover came out. That’s extra accolades to my editor Jennifer Ayres, who also created the cover art.

Now, it’s just to promote it and get those reviews! If you’ve got a blog, Instagram, podcast, Youtube or whatever where you do reviews and you’d like a copy of Protecting His Pack to review, contact me!

Otherwise, check out MLR’s page where you can buy direct, get from Amazon, or read an excerpt.

Protecting His Pack at MLR Press

100 Days of Writing – Week #2

Project worked on: Burned (UF/paranormal romance) & Unnamed WIP #2 (paranormal romance/mpreg)

Starting word count: Burned – 9919

WIP #2 – 0

Ending word count: Burned – 10515

WIP #2 – 1420

Time spent writing: Not enough

Thoughts:

I slacked on tracking this week, and it shows. Not only did I miss posting here, but I had several zero word days. Thankfully, I did also manage a breakthrough in worldbuilding on Burned. While I haven’t included those words in my weekly word count, I actually do count that toward writing. Worldbuilding is an important part of paranormal romance/urban fantasy. And I figured out a big, important part of the story.

I wasn’t trying to, I was actually just attempting to come up with terms for the various minions a demon lord employed, but in figuring that out I answered a question I hadn’t realized needed answering and the pieces started falling into place from there. That’s always a good feeling.

I also started a new story. I swear I was going to concentrate on just Burned this time around, but I woke up from a nap with the beginning of this story nearly whole in my mind already. I didn’t want to ignore it and let it slip away. That doesn’t mean I’m not still working on Burned. That’s still my first priority. This unnamed project is something to work on when I want or need to take a break from Burned and write something a little different. (It’s a more straightforward romance than Burned.)

So that’s that. I didn’t do great this past week. But I’ve got time to get back in the swing of things. It is now day… 17 of 100. We’ve just barely started. I’m going to really try to stick to blogging every day, but some of these gaps may happen. Life can get pretty busy sometimes and I’m more concerned with getting in writing time. But I do plan on trying. Journaling has never been my thing, but I want to hold myself accountable for these writing days. Onwards and upwards!

~xxxM

 

 

100 Days of Writing – Day #7 & 8

Project worked on: Burned (urban fantasy/paranormal romance)

Starting word count: 9277

Ending word count: 9919

Time written: 20 minutes

Thoughts:

I let depression get the better of me on Saturday and spent most of the day in bed. No words happened. It’s really frustrating when you want to do something and yet there’s just no drive to even lift your head. But today was a better day. Still struggling, but I managed words.

Burned is coming along, slowly but surely. I just have to remember that.