Selena Blake's Blog, page 64

Do you believe in Synchronicity?

I do.

There's usually a point in each of my books where I'm trudging through, trying to make sure all the pieces of the puzzle are fitting, jamming to a song thanks to my trusty ear phones.

And then it hits. A crescendo in a song, a puzzle piece falls, and everything comes together. And it's a moment of unequalled beauty. Perfect synchronicity. The clue that I've been waiting for that will hold the book together and make it soar in readers' minds.

I've found it. I write it. I smile.

This is why I write.

Those joyful little moments where a story comes together after lots of chaos, tears, and much tribulation. Triumph. It's all there. And at that moment I believe that anything, absolutely anything, is possible. These characters will be together. They, among all the other souls that they could have found or met, are perfect for one another. And all will be right with their world.

Dragons will be slain. Demons with be exorcised. And true love, whether you believe in it or not, will rein.

Happy reading dear friends. Happy reading.

Talk to Your Genius

One of the things I find extraordinary about the path to publication is all the ideas you'll discover along the way. Sometimes I'll read something that will click with me and I'll save it for later. Other times I will stumble accross the exact piece of information I needed at that moment.

My latest find?

I came across a great video from author Elizabeth Gilbert and it really spoke to me. I love what she says about embracing a power outside of yourself. For me, I know that luck has a great part to play not only in my writing but in my career. Hardwork of course, is a large part too.

This video is almost twenty minutes, but well worth a watch.

As with any time you have success, I think it's natural to worry that you'll never be successful again. You finished your novel, will you be able to write another one? You sold your book, will a publisher buy your next one? You sell X number of copies of your latest release, will you ever hope to sell that many again?

Anxiety, a writer's middle name. Or perhaps, my middle name.

I'll leave you with a final thought:

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. ~Sylvia Plath

Selena

PS. If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up to my newsletter? I promise to be entertaining.

Response to: Books Without Batteries:The Negative Impacts of Technology

As everyone here knows, I'm pro ebook and pro ebook reader. I'm not anti print book by any stretch of the imagination. But I came across an article today that I just had to respond to. Specifically, this part:

"Here's what an e-reader is: a battery-operated slab, about a pound, one-half inch thick, perhaps with an aluminum border, rubberized back, plastic, metal, silicon, a bit of gold, plus rare metals such as columbite-tantalite (Google it) ripped from the earth, often in war-torn Africa. To make one e-reader requires 33 pounds of minerals, plus 79 gallons of water to refine the minerals and produce the battery and printed writing. The production of other e-reading devices such as cellphones, iPads, and whatever new gizmo will pop up in the years ahead is similar. "The adverse health impacts [on the general public] from making one e-reader are estimated to be 70 times greater than those for making a single book," says the Times."

Me again: One ereader does not equal one book. You can read HUNDREDS or THOUSANDS of books on a SINGLE ereader. Many of the fans I know and love read 70 books a year, easily. So buying an ereader is still a green option for them if it fits in their lifestyle.

New Release: Mated to a Cajun Werewolf

IT'S HERE! Book #4 of the Stormy Weather series is now available on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords (PDF, etc.) You've been waiting, but wait no more my friends. I just have one question. Are you ready for a reunion romance that will take your breath away?

Torn apart…

The Deverauxs and Vassars have been fighting for hundreds of years, but somehow Andre and Juliette fell in love. More than that, they're mates. Destined to be together for eternity until betrayal tore them apart.

Together again…

When business sends Andre Deveraux to Savannah he comes face to face with Juliette for the first time in sixty five years. Their crash course renews old memories and desires. With Juliette stranded and the hurricane of the century roaring to shore, Andre has no choice but to offer her a lift.

He's in for the ride of his life.

Stormy Weather Book 4

Erotic Paranormal Romance (werewolf, hurricane)

Warning: Filled with desire that has built for two centuries, one raging hurricane, two passionate, headstrong werewolves and a ride you'll never forget.

(This book was previously released by Cobblestone Press.)

Nook | Kindle | Kindle UK | PDF, etc

Pitfalls of the $1.99 Price Point

The first four books I released on my own were priced at $.99 which I think is appropriate since they are short stories and short novellas. The fifth book I released by myself is much longer than the first four. At least double. So I decided to try out some new pricing.

Since I wanted the book to be $2.99 with an early buyers discount I set the original price at $1.99. A happy middle ground. Or so I thought.

What I've learned is that $1.99 is a wasteland. You don't get the advantages of the $.99 insta-buy. And you don't get the 70% royalty rate of a $2.99 book. You're stuck in the middle, not selling as many copies and not making the bigger money either.

So what do I plan to do about it? I have a new book coming out tomorrow, the long awaited Mated to a Cajun Werewolf. I plan to offer it and all my other releases at $.99 for the weekend as a Tax-Break sale. Then Seduced and Mated will be moved up to the $2.99 price point. I'll be interested to see where sales go from there.

But from now on I plan on sticking to $.99 or $2.99+ for my releases as I can see no good reason at this point to offer anything in between those two key price points.

Let's look at the numbers.

Comparing The Cajun's Captive($.99) with Seduced by a Cajun Werewolf($1.99) on the Nook. (Kindle and Smashwords numbers are not included here.)

First 8 days on sale:

TCC – 800 copies

SBACW – 643 copies

At first glance the numbers look good. And I'm making more money per copy of SBACW than TCC. Now something to note. On the 8th day TCC sold 484 copies on the Nook. SBACW sold 114 on the 8th day. To date the highest SBACW has sold in a single day is 156.

First 16 days

TCC – 3020

SBACW – 1441

More math.

3020 * $.99 = $2989.80 (40% royalty rate of that = $1195.92)

1441 * $1.99 = $2867.59 (40% royalty rate of that = $1147.04)

So not only have I lost potential readers, I've lost roughly $50.

Let's try a projection. $2.99 for SBACW. Assume that my sales reduce by half, again.

700 * $2.99 = $2093 (65% royalty rate = $1360.45)

Now someone check my math but it appears that at the reduced purchase rate (a projection of course – it could be higher or lower, who knows) I would still make me more money.

Guest blogging at Murderby4 today

Hello friends,

I'm guest blogging over at Murderby4 today. If you're a writer and/or interested in the burgeoning indie market, I encourage you to drop by and read my 10 Commandments of Indie Publishing. My advice to you, from one author to another.

Don't forget, if you have an RSS reader you can get my blog posts delivered right to you. I also have a Google Friend Connect box on my blog now if you use that.

Response to: Almost Famous–Live from L.A.

Does it bother you when an author doesn't have a picture on their website or Facebook account?

It's never bothered me. In fact, I hardly ever noticed. Really the only time I pay much attention is when I can't figure out what in the world their picture is. And the pictures on twitter are so small I can't really get a good look at your mug anyway.

Because of that lack of interest, I've been rather surprised lately at the number of folks who want a picture of me. I'm not a celebrity like Reese Witherspoon and I certainly don't have Angelina Jolie's sexy pout. So why would anyone want to see a picture of me?

Kristen Lamb talks about using a headshot as part of your branding on her blog and the overwhelming majority of her comments were in the same vein. Show yourself! The question of why you wouldn't want to show yourself came up. I have a couple of theories on this.

First of all: security. I know an author who's ex husband stalks her. Not a nice dude. And she's actually pretty well know in the romance world. But she goes under a pen name and doesn't use her photo.

Privacy. Some people just don't want to show their face to the world. Nothing wrong with that. Doesn't bother me.

Pen names. If you're using a pen name you might do it to protect your identity or the identity of those around you. So it follows that you wouldn't want to flash a picture of yourself all of the internet like a real estate agent on a billboard.

So what do you think? Does it bug you when an author doesn't include a headshot?

Twitterview with Jackie Barbosa

You probably know her through fabulous (soon to be finished) series The Gospel of Love or perhaps from her sultry tales published by Aphrodisia. Then again, you may know her from her free reads or her contribution to The Mammoth Book of Scottish Romance. Fairly soon you're going to know Jackie Barbosa by her latest tale of love and lust, Grace Under Fire (SpiceBriefs.)

I sat down with her for a twitterview recently and asked the question any good interviewer would ask:

SB: Paper or plastic?

JB: What? Not paper or digital? How about "depends?" (And no, I don't mean adult diapers.) But mostly, paper, bc it's recyclable.

SB: Hey, my kindle is made of plastic.

JB: Haha. So that WAS a book question? In which case, I still say "depends." I love instant gratification of digital.

But I like having the print book, too, esp. for author's signature and also because I can read at takeoff and landing.

SB: How about the "new book smell?"

JB: Not that so much. I actually prefer the "old book" smell. You know, a little musty and dusty. I could snort that scent all day.

SB: Tell us about your new book! So…that's not really a question.

JB: Grace Under Fire is about a clumsy young lady who discovers, with the help of a couple of very good men, that she's…much better in bed than on the dance floor.

SB: Mmmm… When and where is it set?

JB: London, 1795. Wanna see the book video? It's not as awesome as a Dareling Room Video, but I like it. http://vimeo.com/21029602

SB: I like it! So it's available from Spice Briefs. And I saw you've already made #1 on preorders at Amazon.

JB: Well, #1 in coming soon Erotica (there's a double entendre for you), yes. I'm only #25 in coming fiction, last I checked.

SB: #25 is still awesome! There's another book on your website listed under Coming Soon. Care to tell us about that?

JB: Well, that's something I plan to self-publish, but I have no real timeline for it. I got a request for a full from Blaze which sort of knocked my off my original writing schedule for the year.

SB: Oh how exciting! So you're going to straddle the line then? Traditional publishing and Indie?

JB: I can promise, barring injury or death, that the third Gospel of Love novella, According to Mark, will be out in June.

SB: Thank goodness for that. I've been waiting on Mark's book.

JB: As for #25 being good–well, a cricketer's REISSUED memoir (which isn't even fiction) & Thomas the Tank Engine are beating me.

SB: Hey now, I know some little boys who love Thomas the Train. And I've bought a few copies of those myself.

JB: Yeah, but Thomas the Tank Engine in KINDLE? That has me scratching my head!

SB: How about a few fill in the blank questions? My favorite TV show (at the moment) is ___?

JB: You want me to pick ONE favorite TV show? Gah, that's like asking me to pick ONE favorite book.

That said, I'd probably have to choose DETROIT 1-8-7. Phenomenal writing/characters & brilliant acting. Gut-wrenching but good

SB: Oh, I love that show too. But I still haven't forgiven them for killing detective hottie. Personally, I think he faked it.

I think he's going back under cover!

JB: Yeah, the night they killed Detective Hottie, I couldn't sleep. One of the reason I have to say the show works.

SB: And you're welcome to pick a favorite book if you want. *evil grin* If I could have lunch with any author, dead or alive, it would be ____?

JB: I gotta pick the ancient lyric poet, Sappho. I want to find out what the heck she wrote (most of her work is fragments)! For favorite book, I inevitably fall back on ALICE IN WONDERLAND. It's just one of those that gives me happy memories, I guess.

SB: When I was little I wanted to be a _____ when I grew up?

JB: That one's easy. Writer.

SB: Let's make sure the readers can find you. Website, Facebook, Goodreads?

JB: Website: http://www.jackiebarbosa.com; Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jackiebarbosa; Goodreads: Jackie Barbosa

SB: Bookmark those links ppl!

JB: Also, I'll give away a copy of Behind the Red Door (print anthology) and some swag (#romancetradingcards, pretty notepads).

SB: WOO HOO! Prizes! Any final thoughts? (Or suggestions for my lousy Twitterviewing skills? )

JB: Final thoughts sound so final . (And your Twitterview skills are darned good.) But in parting, I hope your readers will check out GRACE UNDER FIRE. I promise hot menage-y goodness and and HEA!

SB: Excellent. We readers like hot menage-y goodness and HEA! Thanks for the twitterview!

JB: No no, thank YOU!

You heard the lady… PRIZES! Leave a comment and I'll draw a winner on Monday.

Did you know Free is a dirty word?

At least it is, according to my spam filter.

After I prepared my latest newsletter I had it send me a draft, as usual. This draft is sent only to me so I can make sure everything looks okay before *gulp* it gets sent to all my newsletter subscribers.

Today's subject line read: New Free Read Chapter, Coupon for Seduced

I kept waiting for that draft to hit my inbox. Waited, waited, and waited some more. This should have been a quick process! I contacted the all knowing Ally. "Check your spam filter?" Oh! Duh.

And there it was…actually, there they were. The first draft I sent and then the follow up draft I sent later because the first never showed.

Having read an article about paying close attention to your wording for things like subject lines and sign up forms I thought perhaps a change was in order.

New subject line: New Chapter of Ready & Willing, Plus Coupon for Seduced

Send new draft and there it sits in my inbox.

So, a quick note to all the authors in the audience, be careful about putting "free" in the subject line of your email. I know it's catchy to an actual reader, but it might not make it through the spam filter. #lessonlearned

Question: Do you know of any words that will get your email trapped in a spam filter? Share below.

Seduced by a Cajun Werewolf on sale!

Seduced by a Cajun Werewolf is finally available! This is book 3 of the Stormy Weather series (previously titled Bound & Determined) and I've completely rewritten it. I've also added 14,000 words which is almost half of the original size. This book has always been tough for me, emotionally and writing wise. But I'm super proud of it and am really, really happy to finally be able to tell Laurent and Violet's story the way I think it should be told.

Use this coupon code: EC57P to save 35% off the list price at Smashwords. www.smashwords.com/books/view/49125

It's also available on the nook: search.barnesandnoble.com/books/product.aspx?ean=2940012312365

(Available on Kindle today or tomorrow, so check your Kindles regularly!)

From the Nook Description box:

~*~ Special Price: $1.99 (one week only!) ~*~

Ultra sexy werewolf Laurent Deveraux thinks that Violet, the love of his life, died two hundred years ago until she shows up in New Orleans looking for him.

Violet, now a vampire, thinks she's someone else. Her powerful and dangerous sire has bound her memories, taught her how to kill and Laurent is her next target.

Laurent is determined to awaken her memories and her undying passion before danger steals her away again.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Stormy Weather: Book 3

Erotic Paranormal Romance (werewolf, vampire, New Orleans, hurricane)

34,000 words (appox. 125 pages)

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER ONE

A mellow jazz tune filled the room and the hot breeze blew into the space like a blow torch. A single figure cloaked in darkness entered and crossed Laurent's line of sight. The woman kept to the shadows and settled at a table in the opposite corner. She was dressed in black from head to toe, and Laurent immediately discarded her as Goth or a wanna-be vamp. Plenty of those lived in the city.

But then the scent of roses wafted under his nose, tickling his memory. He crossed his arms over his chest and pushed the recollection away. Only, it didn't want to go. It remained as fresh in his mind as it had the first time he'd smelled that sweet floral scent. Two hundred years did little to erase the memory of that day.

Or of her.

Long brunette curls framed her angelic face, and she had the brightest blue eyes he'd ever seen. They changed with her mood. And her smile, Dieu, her smile could charm even the most chaste saint. Her image flashed before him like a blip on the television screen.

Laurent shook his head.

"You all right, cousin?" André asked in that quiet, deep voice.

Laurent nodded. "You guys should go on home. You don't have to stay with me."

"You sure?" Burke finished off his beer.

He nodded. "I'll get the bill." After all, he'd done the most drinking.

They stared at him for a moment, and then got to their feet. He watched them depart. Lifted a hand to wave goodbye. Then tossed back another shot of whiskey.

Damn his high metabolism.

Laurent savored the darker hours, when he felt most at peace, closest to his true self. These were the hours during which he didn't have to work so hard to hide.

Electricity sizzled through the bar, and cold fingers tried to reach into his mind. He slammed the door shut on his thoughts and looked around the room suspiciously, his gaze falling on the newcomer in black. A ray of light sliced across the room, briefly highlighting the woman's face. Brilliant blue eyes met his, and he sucked in a breath.

No. It wasn't possible. He struggled with the reality of what he'd seen…and of what he knew to be true.

And just like that, the light was gone—and so was she.