Jeff Wheeler's Blog, page 14

The Whitney Awards – nominations open

The Whitney Awards are for LDS authors for books published within the calendar year. Nominations are being accepted on-line. If any readers of the Muirwood Trilogy would be interested, please consider nominating it for a Whitney. The link is here:

http://whitneyawards.com/wordpress/nominate/

Thanks in advance!

Conjuring a title for your book

I'll admit, this one has me stumped right now. Normally, a book's title is one of the first things I am able to come up with when starting on a project. I announced on this blog previously that my new project is called Kenatos and so that has been the working title draft of the book. However, it dawned on me recently that there are probably fifty different ways you can pronounce a title like this. As a friend has told me, "when you have to explain it, you lose." The last thing I want to do is confuse my readers, and so I've decided to change the title. But to what?

That's the interesting thing about writing. We connect so much to a story's title (Pride & Prejudice, The Hunger Games, Twilight, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harry Potter). Creating a title to a book is creating a relationship with a reader. There is magic when it is done right. I guess I am still working on the spell. While I do *not* have a current working title for my new series, I can say that it is underway, at about 100 pages so far. I'm taking this one a little slower than normal and not giving away the major plot early on in the book. But I like the characters and the world and I'm relishing the thought of writing some of the future chapters. It is going to be a wild ride.

An update on the Muirwood Trilogy. I cannot be more pleased with the feedback that has been steadily coming in. I've heard from readers as far away as Australia and saw that someone in the UK downloaded the Kindle version this month. Sales of the trilogy are in the hundreds, with more e-book versions being sold than physical books. And I love reading the reviews on Amazon, Good Reads, or notes from Facebook or e-mail that come in from readers. Thanks to all who has spread the word about Muirwood to friends and family. Once we go from hundreds to thousands, that is when things will start to get interesting and maybe a larger publisher will get interested. Keep it up!

How do you pick new books to read?

Where I work, there is a daily poll of employees that asks all sorts of random questions. One came up recently that caught my eye – it was asking what made us buy a book. I voted, of course, and was able to see the total results shortly after. I watched the tallies during the day and took a snapshot at the end of the day (below).

If you exclude the last comment, the order seems to be:

1. Favorite author

2. Friend recommendation

3. On-Line reviews

4. Media buzz

5. Cover

So what about you? How do you find the next book you want to read?

New review for Wretched of Muirwood

A very positive review just came in from ForeWard reviews on Wretched of Muirwood:

http://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/the-wretched-of-muirwood/

Muirwood Trilogy e-books & reviews

I'm pleased to announce that the Muirwood trilogy is coming to the iPad bookstore as well as the major e-book reader formats. The first book, Wretched of Muirwood, is on the iPad bookstore right now and the others will follow within the week. I have Wretched on my iPod touch right now. After a little searching, I discovered that there are aggregator websites that do e-book conversions to the different formats and then feed the different stores (like iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Sony, etc) – it's called Smashwords. After putting the all my books through Smashwords, they have already started selling multiple copies each. Pretty cool!

Here is my Smashwords website: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jeffwheeler

Here is my Amazon website: http://www.amazon.com/Jeff-Wheeler/e/B004SBCEK6/

Since the books were published, I have been getting some great reader feedback. Here are some snippets from my favorites so far. I was also very excited to learn that Foreward Reviews has reviewed Wretched of Muirwood and gave it 5 out of 5 stars with a very positive feedback. Once it is posted to their website sometime this week, I will add the link.

These are my favorite reader responses from the last few weeks:

"The thing that I loved about the books was the fact that the magic flowed so naturally through the book and didn't seem too impossible. Books where magic is too far out and impossible are usually light reads and can't be taken seriously. This story was so real it was like a great recipe for a good story with a dash of magic to add that special zing to it. I loved these books and they are definitely on My List. "

 

"I picked up "The Wretched of Muirwood" and haven't been able to put it down since! I finished it today and was blown away by the amazing story and inspiring messages. The characters had such wonderful transformations and the symbolism was especially spectacular! Thanks for the great read!!"

 

""HOLY COW! I opened your novel "The wretched of Muirwood" yesterday afternoon and read non stop through midnight.  CONGRATULATIONS on a fantastic story and inspirational work. Your story is compelling and exciting without gratuitous violence or sexuality.  Well done!"

 

"I have done nothing this past 48 hours but devour the Muirwood Trilogy. I can't seem to get Lia out of my head! I found myself in the produce section of the grocery store yesterday wondering which apple most resembles a Muirwood apple"

(Answer to the last question = Fuji apples.)

Muirwood Trilogy is on Amazon!

I'm so excited that everything worked out. The books look amazing and it is great being able to hold them in your hands instead of reading it on a laptop screen. I love the covers and the interior layout design – they did a great job over at CreateSpace. The books are available only through Amazon right now. I would have used more distribution channels, but it would have meant marking up the cover price a ton, and I didn't want to do that.

Links to the books are here:

Wretched: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1456399489

Blight: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1456406272

Scourge: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1456406353

There will be Kindle versions for the books (soon) and I'm working to get it on the iPad bookstore as well (fingers crossed). I do not plan on doing much marketing, if any, so please pass this news along to anyone who might enjoy a new YA fantasy series without having to wait for all the books to be finished.

As an aside: it was cute to hear my daughter yesterday. She saw a copy of Wretched in the classroom next door and learned that one of her friends was reading it. Pretty cool!

Proof copies are in

Cover Art for Muirwood!

So, what do you think? Which is better – Concept#1 or Concept#2?

Concept #1 is one image on the front cover. Concept #2 is a blend of two images.

Please send me a note or leave a comment on which you prefer and why.

Muirwood trilogy coming to Amazon.com

I started the Muirwood trilogy over 4 years ago. Some wanted to read a physical copy of the books, instead of being tethered to a computer screen or flipping a stack of printer paper. Books are books, after all, and not everyone has a Kindle or iPad yet. I would like to announce that copies of Muirwood (the entire trilogy) will be available through Amazon and through just about about any bookstore to order next year – likely January.

The interior design is happening right now. The covers are being developed also. I will be using the Muirwood Facebook page to let readers provide feedback on the designs (which covers they like best) and will announce it there when the trilogy is available. Those who did read it by PC or iPad and offered feedback, I plan on sending you a free copy of the trilogy to say thanks!

To join the Muirwood Facebook page, go here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=155152605655&ref=ts

This is not a major publishing contract. I have no illusions about this being a NY Times bestseller. I just want my books to be available to readers in whatever form factor they want, including audiobook if I can find a good voice reader to narrate it. Using Amazon's service was the best deal I've seen. Stay tuned for more!

Landmoor & Silverkin back in print!

I'd like to blame Adam for this post. Yes, Adam – a friend in Rocklin. It was his birthday recently and his mom wanted to get him copies of Landmoor and Silverkin. But being out of print, it was impossible. I just hate that word – impossible. Inconceivable, maybe. But not impossible. So when CreateSpace offered a great discount on their set-up costs, I got the digital files from Jeremy to see if they would work out. Fingers crossed. Waiting…waiting…waiting. Last Friday, the proof copies arrived looking even better than the copies on my bookshelves. I hand-delivered them to Adam last night. The smile was worth it. So, for anyone who always wanted a copy of my first published novels, they are now back in print through Amazon.com, offically, today:

Landmoor: http://www.amazon.com/Landmoor-Jeff-Wheeler/dp/158649001X/

Silverkin: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1586490060/

Coming next year: the Muirwood trilogy.