Haley Allison's Blog, page 5

D.O.R.K- Haley Despard | Book review #2

Haley Despard:

Thank you once again for this great review, A! I will add you to my mailing list for when the second book comes out, and I’ll make a note that you want a copy for review :)

Check out this awesome blogger’s review of Diary of a Rocker’s Kid (aka DORK)!

Originally posted on ablessedbrownie:

Book synopsis: When 16 old Madison Daley finds out that her dad is a rockstar, her world is flipped upside down. Little does she know, this is the first surprise in many more to come.

Ciao cyberspace :) I received my first book ever (Diary of a Rocker’s Kid) to review a couple of days ago, so I’m pretty happy to have the chance to read it. Here’s what I thought of it:

Living life as a celebrity is clearly no dream life, and Haley portrayed this well by showing ups as well as downs in Madison’s life. At the beginning of the book I was unsure how I was going to feel about the story since it didn’t seem well planned, but I’m glad to say that my thoughts developed as the story continued, and I was well pleased with some turn of events. Although the story is a little…

View original 230 more words

D.O.R.K- Haley Despard | Book review #2

Haley Despard:

Thank you once again for this great review, A! I will add you to my mailing list for when the second book comes out, and I’ll make a note that you want a copy for review :)

Check out this awesome blogger’s review of Diary of a Rocker’s Kid (aka DORK)!

Originally posted on ablessedbrownie:

Book synopsis: When 16 old Madison Daley finds out that her dad is a rockstar, her world is flipped upside down. Little does she know, this is the first surprise in many more to come.

Ciao cyberspace :) I received my first book ever (Diary of a Rocker’s Kid) to review a couple of days ago, so I’m pretty happy to have the chance to read it. Here’s what I thought of it:

Living life as a celebrity is clearly no dream life, and Haley portrayed this well by showing ups as well as downs in Madison’s life. At the beginning of the book I was unsure how I was going to feel about the story since it didn’t seem well planned, but I’m glad to say that my thoughts developed as the story continued, and I was well pleased with some turn of events. Although the story is a little…

View original 230 more words

D.O.R.K- Haley Despard | Book review #2

Haley Despard:

Thank you once again for this great review, A! I will add you to my mailing list for when the second book comes out, and I’ll make a note that you want a copy for review :)

Check out this awesome blogger’s review of Diary of a Rocker’s Kid (aka DORK)!

Originally posted on ablessedbrownie:

Book synopsis: When 16 old Madison Daley finds out that her dad is a rockstar, her world is flipped upside down. Little does she know, this is the first surprise in many more to come.

Ciao cyberspace :) I received my first book ever (Diary of a Rocker’s Kid) to review a couple of days ago, so I’m pretty happy to have the chance to read it. Here’s what I thought of it:

Living life as a celebrity is clearly no dream life, and Haley portrayed this well by showing ups as well as downs in Madison’s life. At the beginning of the book I was unsure how I was going to feel about the story since it didn’t seem well planned, but I’m glad to say that my thoughts developed as the story continued, and I was well pleased with some turn of events. Although the story is a little…

View original 230 more words

D.O.R.K- Haley Despard | Book review #2

Haley Despard:

Thank you once again for this great review, A! I will add you to my mailing list for when the second book comes out, and I’ll make a note that you want a copy for review :)

Check out this awesome blogger’s review of Diary of a Rocker’s Kid (aka DORK)!

Originally posted on ablessedbrownie:

Book synopsis: When 16 old Madison Daley finds out that her dad is a rockstar, her world is flipped upside down. Little does she know, this is the first surprise in many more to come.

Ciao cyberspace :) I received my first book ever (Diary of a Rocker’s Kid) to review a couple of days ago, so I’m pretty happy to have the chance to read it. Here’s what I thought of it:

Living life as a celebrity is clearly no dream life, and Haley portrayed this well by showing ups as well as downs in Madison’s life. At the beginning of the book I was unsure how I was going to feel about the story since it didn’t seem well planned, but I’m glad to say that my thoughts developed as the story continued, and I was well pleased with some turn of events. Although the story is a little…

View original 230 more words

$.99 For a Limited Time!

DORK Kindle Edition is now temporarily marked down to $.99! 

People are saying it’s:

“Electrifyingly creative”

“Plenty of drama”

“2015 YA Series of the Year”

Here’s the link: Diary of a Rocker’s Kid on Amazon

Please check it out and support this fledgling YA series by reading it and writing a review :) Thanks loves!

-H.D.

How to Write a Novel in 6 Steps

Since finishing my first book, I’ve had a few people ask me how I did it and if I wouldn’t mind sharing some helpful advice. My process was derived from other people’s processes, to be honest, and regrettably I can’t remember where I got every little tidbit of info. What I’m going to do is just give a little step-by-step walk-through of how I personally write my novels, and if I remember where I got a certain piece of advice, I’ll link it here.

So here it goes:

Step 1: Daydream.

This is how I got into writing in the first place. I still do this to this day: I lay in my bed before going to sleep or waking up in the morning and dream with my eyes open. Imagining characters, situations, storylines, romances… Brainstorming is great, but daydreaming and getting to know your characters is how you’re really going to come up with a great storyline. It has to have a personal, real, invested element, because if you manufacture a novel out of thin air, everyone is going to notice.

Step 2: Storyline.

Yes, I use this word a lot. Before I sit down and type “Chapter 1,” I write a “storyline,” which is basically like a summary of everything that’s going to happen in the book.

For example, here is the storyline of my short story that I posted here a few days ago:

“Cass resists her abusive boyfriend, and he comes back at her with force and cutting remarks. Cass keeps her resolve, though, and breaks away from him. He tells her she needs him, but she insists that she doesn’t need a man, and she takes her things and runs out before he can grab her again. Cass hurries down to the pay phone where she calls her estranged friend Rachel, who graciously allows her to stay for a while.”

From that short, to-the-point, easy-to-write summary, I derive points for an outline–which, naturally, is the next step.

Step 3: Outline.

Some people will tell you this step is not important, but that has not been my experience. Whenever I start a story without an outline, I always end up lost at about 10K words. You need to start your journey with a road map, or you’re going to have a very difficult time reaching your destination.

Each main point should be a one-sentence (or few words) summary of the events of that chapter, and then below it you can add subpoints with specific events. You don’t have to go into great detail with this, but it’s good to update it as you go along if you change something, just to keep the arc of the story cohesive. I don’t claim to be perfect with this, but when I don’t do it, it shows up in my writing and my frustration level. So yeah, IMHO, just do the outline. It will save you a headache in the long run.

Step 4: Rough Draft.

BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF with this. Rough drafts are called “rough” for a reason, and it’s more than okay for a rough draft to be imperfect or incomplete at the end. No one is going to write a perfect novel on the first try. I probably tried 20 times before I finally got all the way through DORK for the first time, let alone the 15 million rewrites since then (massive exaggeration… but still).

There will be times in a rough draft where there’s a scene you don’t want to write. For those, I used a tip from Veronica Roth’s blog: http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/2011/11/some-nano-advice-dont-look-back.html

Tip #3 suggests inserting brackets with a scene description if you don’t want to write the scene, which was a LIFESAVER for me. Don’t stop once you’re on a roll. If you want to skip a scene, write it in brackets and keep going. No one’s going to arrest you for it.

Step 5: REWRITE. A LOT.

A true author will rewrite their novel as many times as it takes, even if their fingers fall off and their eyes dry up and fall out of their sockets. YOU MUST REWRITE. And rewrite again. And continue to rewrite until you have achieved absolute perfection (or as close as you can get).

Step 6: Edit.

Yes, even if you plan to hire an editor, you should do at least a little bit of your own editing first. Pick and choose which scenes help the story and which scenes hinder it. Lay down the manuscript for a week and pick it up again, reading over it as if you were reading it for the first time. What makes sense with the story and what doesn’t make the cut? Does this character or that character need further development? Is this storyline compelling enough or is there an element that would add to the suspense and keep your readers interested?

***

After you’ve dreamed up, storylined, outlined, drafted, re-drafted, and edited your manuscript, then it’s ready to be looked at by a professional. I wish I had sought professional help, but regrettably I didn’t. I highly recommend professional editing services or at least getting someone who knows what they’re doing to critique your work, ’cause nothing sucks worse than releasing a novel that’s not really ready yet. I know this from experience, as explained in my last post. DON’T JUMP THE GUN. Seek the help you need when you’re done with this writing process.

Hope that helps! Tell me about your process or your thoughts on this post below! :)

-H.D.

P.S.-Here are updated links to my 5-star rated novel, Diary of a Rocker’s Kid, for anyone who’s interested!

Kindle Edition ($2.99 or free with Kindle Unlimited): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012KXYCLC

Amazon Paperback (free Prime shipping): http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Rockers-Kid-D-O-R-K-1/dp/1515297896/

CreateSpace Paperback: https://www.createspace.com/5617338

Writers, Don’t Do What I Did

This is just a quick little nugget of advice for any and all writers/authors out there.

DON’T. JUMP. INTO IT.

Today makes it a month since my first novel went live on KDP, and since then a ton of it has been updated or changed. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I was not prepared and I should have waited the extra month like I said I was going to. Now, after a month of revising, updating, and taking advice, I finally feel like my product is what I want it to be, which is why I’m willing to sell it in a paperback version.

So yeah, I guess my first release was just a trial run.

I swear the second book’s release is going to be a lot smoother. I’m going to save up the money I need for a blog tour (which I really wish I could afford right now), a book trailer, and a fully-formatted, professionally covered book. By the way, in case you’re new to this biz, you’re going to need at least $1,000 to launch a book successfully with all the bells and whistles. Just FYI. Self-publishing is not free unless you’re just publishing for fun and not because you want to make a career out of writing.

So yeah, to anyone who has a month old copy of my book, I deeply apologize. The new version is pretty different. If you bought or downloaded the old version and didn’t get a free copy of the new one, please let me know and I’ll send you a PDF. This will not be happening again.

TIA for not hunting me down and stoning me to death.

-H.D.

Five Star Rated Ebook Now Available in Paperback!

Guess CreateSpace.com does things a little quicker than I expected. My five star rated ebook is now available in paperback! Here’s the link if you wanna check it out :)

https://www.createspace.com/5617338

Thanks all!

-H.D.

BOOK REVIEW: How to Steal Like an Author by Dean R. Giles

Review as posted on Amazon: (book link: How to Steal Like an Author: Success in Writing Books Through Increased Creativity)

Rating: 5/5 stars

This book is about how to use other people’s success and ideas to fuel your own creativity. The author walks you through every aspect of the writing, publishing, and marketing process, and he gives a ton of key information gems along the way. There are lots of pictures and figures, and also a TON of links to helpful websites for authors. I will be referencing this book throughout the rest of my writing career, and I wish I had read it before self-publishing my first book a month ago. There were a lot of mistakes I could have avoided!

Thank you for taking the time to write an excellent book that will help other authors. I really enjoyed your writing style and will be looking for more of your work.

Haley Despard (as part of review exchange)

Submitted Final Paperback Version!

For review, at least. I proofed it once and only found three grammar errors, so after an easy fix, I put the paperback version of DORK through the review process at CreateSpace for the last time. (I’ve done this like four times already… They probably hate me…)

So yeah, after they approve it for the final time, I’ll be able to proof it once again and finally submit it for good. After that, it will take about 3-5 days to publish on Amazon for only $9.99. Here’s the cover ICYMI:

I’m really looking forward to making this book available to a wider audience. If you would like to be notified when DORK comes out in paperback, please post your email below or send an email to hdespardauthor@outlook.com, and I’ll add you to my mailing list. Thanks all!

-H.D.