Kay Bennson's Blog, page 5

Update Time!

,t's Monday again...

WAR DISTORTION is done! I finished polishing it over the weekend and now it's off to 3 to 4 betas before I send it to at least one person to proofread. After that I have to format it and get it ready for release. Right now I think I'm still doing good with my deadline. Woot!

I started playing around with Book 4 (Going to keep the title a secret for now), but I really think I need to outline it. I know generally what is going to happen, (I've had this story in my mind for years now, it almost feels bittersweet to finally be writing it on paper) but some of the minor details have changed and I want to make sure I give this finale justice. I'm not really feeling it tonight...but hopefully in the next day or two I'll feel differently.

Semi Sweet got a form rejection from that agent. :( I've got a list of others, but I just haven't felt motivated with school and other writing stuff to tweak my query and make a synopsis which is what many agents want on their submission websites. Kind of feeling a bit jaded about the whole thing. Not ready to give up on it getting picked up traditionally yet, but letting it simmer as there is no pressing need to get it published or picked up right now, Squad Treble takes precedence.

That being said, I made a promo thing for Semi Sweet that I don't hate.

Other than that, getting acclimated with teaching my new grade, accepting the fact that my book baby is almost done, my real life baby is one year old, and that I might have gained the quarantine fifteen. (I think seeing myself on camera is making it seem worse than it really is but...ugh)

Until next time,

Kay

Are you there God? It's me, Kay

It's time for your weekly update. Also the first day of school is in less than twelve hours...cue the tears.

Not too much to report, but it's important!

First, I participated in my first PitMad event and...it was kind of a let down. I had many people retweeting so that was good. I even had people commenting on my pitches saying that they loved the concept so that was even better. Likes are what you want though and...I only got one that wasn't people who didn't know the rules. The press that liked my pitch ended up being a vanity press and I'd just self publish instead of taking that avenue. As I stated last week, my pitches were pretty vanilla (not even trying to make a baking joke) but I'm proud that I was able to submit something. We'll try again in December depending on what happens in the next few months because...

I sent a query to a dream agent of mine! AH! She specializes in romance, and her Manuscript Wishlist wanted contemporary and characters that have major growth by the end of the book and I feel like SEMI SWEET checks all those boxes. She requests a lot of fulls so I'm crossing my fingers. I made the mistake of sending it on a holiday weekend so I'm hoping I'll hear back (PLEASE GOD, THUS THE TITLE OF THE POST) tomorrow or the next day. I'll be scrambling to send a full, but I get of work at 2ish. AHHH!

In other news, still editing WAR DISTORTION but I've got less than 100 pages so that's cool. Looking for Beta Readers and Proofreaders. Send me a message in the Contact Me Section if you are interested. 

Alright, I'll leave it here for now.

Kay

Am EDITING

 Hey!

It's your weekly update! And I must confess it's been quite the week in the "real world". I nearly had my Kindergarten classroom ready to go when I was asked to switch to 3rd and 4th grade. I have been vying for this position since May so while I'm thrilled to have FINALLY gotten it, nearly all my free time has been moving my room again. It's gorgeous though, might be the best classroom setup I've ever done! 

I also have recently gotten back into the Sims after not playing it since high school. It's been a mindless way to decompress after all this back to school prep and covid craziness. I found out about this thing called the 100 baby challenge (You aim to have 100 babies in as few generations as possible) I'm at 2/100 so far. I'm definitely a better real life mom than a Sim mom, thank goodness. I've attached a hilarious YouTube series below if you are interested in all the work that it entails. LOL. Okay, so let's actually talk about writing.

I am editing WAR DISTORTION! I made over 200 notes on what needs more detail and tweaking. I'm trying to do two chapters a day in the hopes that I will be done in the middle of the month and ready to have some beta readers look at it. Trying to be realistic that I'm probably going to be busy next week once school starts officially.  I've done 4 out of 21 chapters so far.

PitMad is Thursday and OMG I'm not ready...like I need to write my Query letter and synopsis tomorrow (No Sims until that's done! LOL) I also have to be in a meeting most of the day Thursday as well so I'm going to have to strategically send those tweets. (Or take a pee break or something) Going in with low expectations that way I can be pleasantly surprised or learn from it. I plan on Querying Semi Sweet no matter what. I should have more to report on this next week. :)

Finally, I need to STOP getting cool ideas when I need to finish series and do things that are going to make me money. I have another idea for a stand alone New Adult Romance. Maybe I make it a series? Heart Breathings talked about various stories that take place in the same world. Maybe it could be another story in Denver? Too bad I live in CONNECTICUT! Haha...Apparently a trip is in my future. In the meantime, I'm going to make notes so I can come back to it.

I am trying to not get depressed, but I'm seeing all my writing time about to die off and I want to CRY.

Pray for me,

​Kay

Updates and Goals

I guess this is like a weekly thing now? Not really sure if anyone reads this besides me, but I figure it might be good to document what's going on either way. 

So my biggest update to report is that I finished the rough draft of WAR DISTORTION over the weekend. 63,000 words. but I'm sure that will go up as I edit. Maybe this will be my longest Squad Treble book yet? 

Right now I'm still on track for my late 2020 release. I don't want to officially announce it on the off chance that I can't deliver. The next big thing is to read the manuscript and make notes. Some places are ROUGH (There was almost a year where I didn't look at it...big yikes) but the ending kind of got crazy and deviated from what I outlined slightly so I'm pumped! I was a huge procrastinator and I have an editing assignment due for the publishing house I freelance for so I'll probably be reading WD while I'm getting (also known as fighting with) the baby to go down for the night. Did I mention school starts in two weeks? In other news, Semi Sweet is pretty much ready for PitMad. Probably going to do the text to speech website one last time just to check for typos. Probably won't get to that until next week after I finish the editing job. Honestly, I don't think my pitches are that great, but I'm still excited to have something I can actually pitch. The plan is to traditionally publish this one, so we'll see what happens.

Now I guess I can move onto some goals. If you know me in real life, you know that I am all about setting goals. I did it with dance, I do it with skating now. I kinda or do i with work...so why not do it now? Here are some things I'm working towards in the next 3-6 months:

-Stay on top of my deadlines (I can be a procrastinator as mentioned above. If I'm relying on beta readers and whatnot, I need to give them ample time)
-Make around $15 dollars per month. (My goal for August was to double what I made in July which was around that much. We've still got a week and I've almost tripled that amount! I don't think I can count on it continuing to go up exponentially, at least not yet, so I'm going to settle for what I've put. That's nearly 200 dollars if I make that much each month for the whole year, which is probably more money than I made when Enshrine came out in 2017. Not 10,000 a month...but it's a starting point)
-Figure out a marketing strategy that works...(I'm at a loss...honestly.)
-Decide what I'm going to do after I finish my Squad Treble Series (I'm up to three ideas and no...none of them are Eminence. :( Sorry)
-Write book 4! (It's not completely outline, but the BIG stuff is. Will probably (hopefully) start that soon (hopefully))
-Query Semi Sweet regardless of PitMad outcome. (I am not opposed to self publishing this one either, but I plan on giving this one a much for serious try as it wasn't previously published).
-Get back to my Writing Challenge posts. (They claim those posts grow your audience more than these updates do)
-Make a Youtube Channel? (See above, but I also don't have a great place to shoot video so we'll see?)
-Start a Newsletter (I HATE bothering people, but they claim this is a marketing strategy that actually works)
-Make Swag to raffle off/sell (THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN I JUST HAVE TO DECIDE HOW. THERE WILL BE A POST ABOUT THIS SOON!)

Okay that ended up being alot...but I like putting things in writing. It helps me be accountable or feeling really guilty. If you are a writer, what are your writing goals? 

Yours in Writing,

Kay

A (Mostly) Squad Treble Update

Hi Friends,

Summer is starting to wind down and I'm getting so sad! This was such a productive time for me and I have to go back to work in just over three weeks. That's not to say that I still won't be writing, but it will probably be less.

That being said, WAR DISTORTION'S first draft is nearly done! Wahoo! I'm winding down and I'm hoping that it will be finished by the end of the month. I have to switch gears and edit SEMI SWEET Again (There's only 2 weeks until PitMad AHHH!) but I'm still confident that I can keep to my late 2020 deadline.

Some exciting news for you paperback fans is that I received my box of 2020 edition paper backs today and they will be available to be signed. Both LIMITED TRUTH and SHREWDEST FACTION will be available for $10 I've got two 2017 versions of ENSHRINE if anyone is interested that would be $15. If you are local we can do swap and if you aren't we can figure out shipping. 

For my eBook readers, there will be a free day (I'm calling if Buy 1 Get 1 free) for LIMITED TRUTH on Saturday, September 12th (In honor of Dominik's FIRST birthday!). It's a perfect opportunity to get the first two books of the series before WAR DISTORTION comes out around the holidays.

Finally, Limited Truth got a 5 star review recently! I waiting to see when it's featured on the book blog I submitted to and see what they have to say. Wahoo!

I hope to have more fun things to share later in the week!

Yours in writing,

Kay

War Distortion Cover Reveal and Teaser

I am so pumped to be sharing the cover of my next book in the Squad Treble Series! Book three is going to be called WAR DISTORTION: A Squad Treble Novel. It's been so much fun to write and it's different than the first two books.  IT'S GORGEOUS! I was practically flying around my house when I opened the file. Thank you Eeva Lancaster and The Book Khaleesi for knocking it out of the park again!

Now for the teaser...

The Thanksgiving holiday should be a welcome break from Owen and the Chi Rho Iota Corporation, but Cassie has too much on her mind to relax. The mysterious organization is planning on taking over the world and Squad Treble has no idea how to warn anyone without putting themselves in danger. Add strained relationships and unresolved feelings, and it doesn't seem like a joyous holiday is in store for anyone.

When one member of Squad Treble goes missing and another betrays the group, Cassie isn’t sure if she can handle much more. It’s the advice of an unlikely ally that makes her realize that she and her friends are the only ones that can make a stand and in turn save their teammates. The only option they have is war.

My hope is to have WAR DISTORTION ready for purchase by the holiday shopping season.

Well, better get back to writing to make that happen!

​Kay Bennson

One Month Indie

Technically, It has been a bit longer than a month, but I digress.

There was a time in my life where I thought being a self published indie author was "settling". While I would still like to be traditionally published, I'm pleasantly surprised with my experience so far. I feel like I'm actually enjoying promoting myself (maybe I should have tried it more when I was with a publisher). It's been fun to make social media things. I've also really had fun connecting with fellow writers on Twitter (I've gained hundreds of followers this month! Yay WritersLifts!) While I wish they were readers too, I'm still happy to get exposure and help other writers in the process. Lastly, It's been cool to watch sales slowly come in. I used to have to wait for my end of the month email from my former publisher to find out if I made anything. I'm pleased to say that in this one month of being Indie...I've made more than half of what I made last year with my former publisher. Not the $10,000 dollars a month that an author I've been watching on youtube makes, but I guess you have to start somewhere.

So let's talk updates first and then I'll talk about what's coming. 

ALL of my books are now available as paperbacks in addition to ebooks. Limited Truth's print cover was a pain in my rear, but it's all good thank goodness. I have been playing with the prices to see if it will help sales, and I think it's too early to tell right now if it's helping or not.

I've also been working on getting my books on other sites like Barnes and Noble, Google Play, and iBooks. So far Barnes and Noble has everything Amazon has, I'm still waiting for account verification on Google Play and iBooks.

My cover artist (who is a doll and you should all use her! She does great work and you don't have to break the bank!) http://www.thebookkhaleesi.com/ gave my Squad Treble Series a refresh in honor of being free from my former publisher! They pretty much look the same, but it just looks crisper! Aren't they pretty?


Now for things coming up...

I will be doing a COVER REVEAL for book three in the Squad Treble Series on Monday! I did things a little backwards, and I had the cover made before the book was finished. I thought that it might motivate me now that I have the freedom to work as I wish. It's working because I've been furiously typing away! It's so nice to be back in Settontown. No promises on a release date (I have to go back to school in some capacity in over a month) but I'm hoping no later than the Holidays.

I'm going to continue to keep working on promoting myself and advertising my books. I'm thinking maybe I'll have a monthly budget for this. Worried that I will spend more than I gain, but anything is better than what I was doing before. 

That being said, if you do reviews in exchange for free copies of books, I will HOOK YOU UP. 

Yours in Writing,

​Kay

Updates

Playing around those book aesthetic pictures. Don't hate it. I feel like a lot has happened since I got the rights back to my books and I wanted to update you on things.

You already know about Semi Sweet, but I have started editing and making notes for my next draft. I have been putting each chapter into a website that reads it aloud and it's been extremely helpful. It finds all those pesky missing words that you would probably gloss over because you know the story so well. It also helps with punctuation and over using words. I can only do so many chapters a day without wanting to go crosseyed though. I think I also finally figured out my timeline so I can finally get that tightened up. 

As for my other books. I made the executive decision to self publish my three previously published books. All the places I submitted passed on them. I get it, and though I'm disappointed that my Squad Treble Books will never be traditionally published, I am still happy that they will finally get finished. Right now all three titles are available as ebooks and Enshrine is available as a paperback as well. The other two should hopefully be not far behind. I don't want to give too much away right now as I want it be a surprise but I've worked on the 3rd Squad Treble book recently and I'm hoping to be able to drop the name (and the cover because I can never wait and do anything the right way) at some point in the distant future.

I've made more money this week with self-publishing than I did most of 2019 for my books with my previous publisher and I've really tried to up my game with promoting myself. I've had to spend a bit of money, but I'm hoping that it will help in the long run. So far I'm having the best results with Twitter but I'm hopeful that it will all work out. Thinking about another blog tour (especially because I can say it's a new 2020 edition hehe)

Also, I may make audiobook versions of my Books? Jon has the equipment so why the hell not? Overall, feeling very positive about things and feeling like a real career writer. (Mostly because it's summer and mostly because reality is a terrifying place right now and this keeps me busy)

So plan to hear from me more (Yes, I know I've said this before). I might have to be annoying now so that every couple of days someone buys my books. LOL.

Yours in writing,

​Kay

Introducing: Semi Sweet

So I finished the initial draft of my 4th book. It's a serious accomplishment as I have not completed anything since Fall of 2018. No lie, I've got at least half a dozen partial manuscripts, but between stuff covered in my previous post, day job commitments, and having my son, nothing was really sticking. Hopefully I've got my groove back and the 5th and 6th book and so on can follow.

Not sure if other writers can relate, but I jokingly refer to completed stories as my book children. I made them, they are a piece of me. This particular book is special because I feel like it's proof that I'm getting older. I feel like my writing has improved (Thank you, content editing), but it's the first book that isn't trying to be something it's not. People swear. There are some morally grey choices, All  of my main characters are over 20 years old. 

There was a point in my life that if someone asked me to share what this story was about, I would have told them this tale would never see the light of day. I can't go into all the details why, maybe someday I'll be able to, but this story started out as a bit of a real life alternate universe but changed a lot. It got better (and less cracky) with age. LOL It has some dashes of real life (I worked at a courtesy desk at a grocery store like Olivia), but nearly everything else is original.

So what's next? I'm giving myself the weekend off. (It's so weird. I kind of hate it) and then editing really starts on Monday. I have a couple pen pals that expressed interest and I've been sending them a chapter at a time so the first two thirds have already been revised but the last third needs to be worked and then I'll probably do it all over again. I had someone tell me about a cool editing app that I'm going to try. The short term goal is to have it ready for PitMad on September 3rd as I've never had anything ready or not previously published in time. After that, it's back to querying. I'm hoping that because it's not so niche that maybe I'll have better luck.

So here's to secret admirers, doomed relationships, disco parties, crappy part time jobs, Colorado, estranged families, unconventional adoptions, huge dreams, and of course, cupcakes

Your in writing,

​Kay

I Did Something Crazy

So Kay Bennson might be dead.

Don't worry, I am very much alive and well it's just that I am no longer with my publisher. The past week has been a bit of a whirlwind but I haven't been this excited about things in a while!

Let me give you the short version of the tale:

-I hadn't been happy with my publisher for a while.
-Enshrine's contract was up at the beginning of June and I had decided I wasn't going to renew.
-On a random whim I asked if I would have to pay to break my other contracts early.
-They said yes and before I could make a choice they just gave me the rights back to everything

So now Squad Treble in addition to Enshrine are free to do with as I wish. I kind of went out on limb and sent Limited Truth to a few agents hoping that the whole stigma of something being previously published was over and wouldn't a deterrent, but it seems that that mindset is alive and well. I get it, most traditional publishers want a "sure thing" I just feel like I wasted one of my best stories on my old publisher because I was scared of it being rejected...

That being said, I'm not giving up hope yet. I'm waiting to hear back from two more agents (really just one, it sounds like one takes FOREVER to get back to you even with form rejections. I also sent a query and the first three chapters to the publishing house that I edit for. Honestly, it was my dream for them to have Enshrine back when I was looking, but they had passed at the time. This was before I worked for them so I'm hoping (really really really hoping) that they will at least consider it even if they end up passing (though I think Limited Truth is better than Enshrine...in my humble opinion). If they decide that they don't want it because it's been previously published as well...well it's off to self publishing.

I'm still slightly conflicted on how I feel about this. I know many people who self publish and love it, but it's really not good enough for me. It's also going to cause me to to have to be obnoxious with trying to sell my books but I guess I'm going to need to be better about that anyway. On the other hand, I can finally write all the sequels and spin offs to my heart's content now and no one can tell me no about my covers! Silver linings I guess!

So back to the Kay Bennson thing. Obviously if I have to self publish, I'll most likely be keeping the pseudonym but I may go to my real name if someone else picks up the Squad Treble. So stay tuned I guess.