Elizabeth Butts's Blog

Four Letter releases 12-26-17

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Hello again!

I have been horribly neglectful of you, and I am very sorry!  But… I’m thrilled to let you know that the long-awaited story of our beloved Nonna (from Secondhand Purses) is about to be released! (WOO HOO)

Unlike Singleish, Secondhand Purses and Thirty Happens; Four Letters is best enjoyed if you’ve already read Secondhand Purses.  It fills the ‘gap’ that occurs in the middle of the book.  This is what Nonna does after Alex leaves.

I took a chance writing a book about an 80/90 year old woman, and it was a challenge to make her modern, yet age appropriate.  This book is a blend of genres…  it’s Chick-lit/Para/Rom-com (that is from my first beta reader).

You can pre-order Four Letters now:

Amazon US:  http://a.co/aO0vSM8

Amazon UK:  http://amzn.eu/77vr5of

Amazon AU:  http://a.co/0UTQfmt

Pre-order Thirty Happens

Thirty Happens by @ElizabethButtsAuthor

Release date: August 30

Turning thirty is a big deal. Getting married is also a big deal. Karyn’s about to do both, and she’s freaking out about it.

From the outside looking in, anyone would think that she’s got it all going on. Amazing fiancé who adores her, job as the top reporter in town and a group of amazing friends. But Karyn had dreams as a kid. She had these amazing, huge goals. She was so close to achieving them, too.

However, as life has a tendency to do, it took a detour. And now she’s turning thirty and it turns out she is nowhere near where she thought she would be at this point in her life. Amidst turning thirty and getting married, she can’t help but ask herself the question:

‘If I could go back and change directions… would I?’

Would you?

US: https://amzn.com/B01IKQRW74

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01IKQRW74

Cover reveal and pre-order links!

I’m very excited to announce that you can now pre-order Secondhand Purses on Amazon.com!

US: http://amzn.com/B019NOE3C4

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B019NOE3C4

AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B019NOE3C4

CA: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B019NOE3C4

Today I revealed the cover of my second book, and I hope you all love it as much as I do.

Release day is January 19, 2016!  Can’t wait

Where in the World is Secondhand Purses?

Today I finished my first round of edits.

I hate editing. Like, seriously hate it.  Why do I hate it, you ask?  Thank you for asking!

I hate it because it highlights every single error you made writing!  UGH!  And it’s scary as heck because, OMG, what if you read your book and it’s garbage?

I’m proud to say I still like it.  (whew)  I made some changes.  I caught a TON of mistakes.

And the exciting thing is… Secondhand Purses has been sent out in the world to my three lovely beta readers.  Which means I’m totally on schedule.  SQUEEEEE!!!!

I can’t wait to release it to you!

Asking for help

So, I’m not good at it.  Not many people I know are.

But sometimes, it is necessary.

When I released Singleish in May, I didn’t know what the heck I was doing. Not. At. All.  I figured, you write a book, you publish it, and people want to read it, right?  WRONG!

I had the writing part handled, the cover handled, I’d created a website (here), I’d created an author page on Amazon, a Goodreads page, a Smashwords page.  I had a special author page on Facebook that I’m so much better at updating than my website (oops).  But I had no idea how to get the word out.

So this time around, I’m admitting it.  I need help.  I contacted Dedicated Ink Promotions and asked for help coming out with an idea for a publicity plan.  I told her I wanted to release Secondhand Purses (affectionately referred to in my head as SHP) around Christmas.

She advised against it.  I tried to argue my point, she stated that her experience has show web traffic is greatly reduced at Christmas time,and that if I actually wanted my book to sell (which I do), I should wait until the second week of January.

Here’s the thing about asking for help and advice…  it’s a good idea to take it if the person you are asking is more experienced than you.  So…I’m taking the advice.

Secondhand Purses will be completed the first week of December (well, first draft, anyway.  Then it’s the ‘fun’ of editing.).  You will get to see the promotional efforts as they unfold.  In the meantime, it’s time for me to stop blogging and get back to writing.

What a difference a cover makes

I’m sure there are set ways I should do things.  Like, I probably should plot my stories down, in a notebook, a timeline on my computer, sticky notes.  Something.

But because of the hours I’ve been pulling at my ‘normal’ job, I end up writing a bunch in my head and plotting things out that way.  Sometimes I’ll have an idea for something later in the book, so I spend time writing that, then save it so that I can use it later.

I probably shouldn’t pick a name before it’s written.  But Secondhand Purses came to me and I loved it so…well…there you go.

I definitely shouldn’t make the cover at the halfway point…but I did. HA!  And I freaking love it!  And it has pushed me to set a concrete deadline.  I would love to have it done by a week from Monday (November 30th, my husband and my oldest niece’s birthday) but my hard and fast deadline is December 7th.  I want this bad boy out by Christmas.

And that’s where I’m at.  This cover that I’m absolutely obsessed with has pushed me to set a deadline and I’ve been my writing my fingertips off because of it.

Thank you again, for your patience.  The wait is almost over.

Halfway point!

I am very excited to announce that I am (finally) at the halfway point of Secondhand Purses!

And because I love you, a little teaser :)

This is not a ‘sequel’ or a ‘prequel’ to Singleish, this focuses on one of Ashley’s friends from Singleish.  This is Alex’s story.

To find out what makes her the rough around the edges woman we love, we have to go back to the girl she used to be first.

I can’t wait to finish this story!

Thoughts on Insecurity

Perhaps, maybe, I’m just not good enough.

There, I said it.

I don’t think I’m the only fledgling writer in the universe who has ever second guessed her talent, her ability, or whatever the heck you call someone’s ability to type works on a laptop and create a story.

My spirit soars when someone says my work is fun, funny.  Someone said that Singleish had the best ending they’d ever read.  Seriously, you have NO IDEA how freaking good that felt.  I submitted Singleish for an independent review and got an amazing five star review that blew my socks off.  Literally.  I am now barefoot! Perhaps I exaggerate…perhaps not.

Then, in my downtime, I read.  I read works by people whose talent is far superior to mine (like my good friend, A. E. Murphy).  I am absorbed into the lives of characters who are incredible and dynamic and the tendrils of self doubt creep into my mind.  What if I’m just not good enough?  What if Singleish was a one time deal? What if, in my attempt to dig deeper with Secondhand Purses, I’m trying too hard and I lose what people loved about Singleish.

What if I have the dreaded…dare I say it…sophomore slump.  UGH.

I need to get out of my head.  Time to put words on a page.

Back in the saddle…figuratively

I have been neglectful of you.  I am so sorry.  If you see me in the streets, you are more than welcome to administer the beatings.

I promise, I have good reason!  You see, a personnel change at work has resulted in 3x the responsibility for me.  So, I’ve been pulling 10-12 hour days, every day.

I know, I know.  Excuses.  Always excuses.

My goal for Secondhand Purses was a September delivery.  Um, yeah. No.  It’s October.  OOPS!  My new goal, Christmas time.

I am going to push to get the time to write.  I owe it to me.  I owe it to you.  This WILL happen.  So here I am, on a Saturday.  I have HGTV in the background (I work better when not in complete silence), and although I have a garden that needs pulling up, I’m typing.

This will happen people.  Please, keep being patient with me!!

Much loves, always!

Where stories happen

I have been crazy busy with life lately, but while I’ve been busy, I’ve been writing in my mind. Maybe you think that sounds crazy, but it works for me.

I found out with Singleish that as much a writer may THINK they know their story, a book starts to write itself.  Yes, my fingers are flying on the keyboard, but the direction I think a book will take sometimes doesn’t happen.

So when I’m not able to sit for a couple hours and type, I think about the story, the characters, and what happens next.  I write in my head.

I am on vacation from work this week, and had an idea of what that would mean: endless writing.  However, I had to do some work from home on my vacation, we had solar panels installed, I had to seal our deck, I had to pain our front light fixtures’ mounts, I had to volunteer at the cat shelter..  and, and, and.  This morning, as I was sealing the deck, I pondered Alex.  And Nonna.  Oh, you don’t know Nonna, do you?  You’re going to love her.  She’s awesome!

Anyway, the words are flying from my fingers now, as I’ve added an additional 2,000 words to Secondhand Purses.  I would like to be finished by the end of September, but am not giving myself a concrete timeline because the truth of the matter is, I want this to be great for you!

Until next time, I need to go disappear with Alex and Nonna.