Phoebe M.C.'s Blog, page 4

How I edit my books

 

Because I don’t have a lot of money at the moment to reinvest into my writing I thought I would share with you how I self-edit my books. 

I start by reading my manuscript through and highlighting bits I want to rewrite for clarity, I also fix my spelling mistakes once all of that is done I run the book through Grammarly and fix all the suggestions they make that make sense for my book.

I leave my book for a few weeks before doing that all over again and fixing any other mistakes I find along the way and I will continue to this until I feel my book is finished. I then send it to my beta readers and I fix any edits they find. 

If you are on a tight budget do you do the same as me or do you do it differently? Let me know in the comment section below because I would love to improve myself. 

How to write a query letter

 Writing a query letter is always something I have struggled with. I find it so hard to put my books into words that will attract agents, but I think I finally have it down-packed, and I want to share it with you today. 

The elements of a query letter is something I always never understood until I did my research. 

You should Identify where your book would fit into the publishing industry. Mention the genre, sub-category, word count, title, and subtitle. Providing this information allows the agent/editor to quickly grasp what the manuscript is about, especially where the title fits in the big picture.

You can also include examples of best-selling or award-winning published books in that genre or category, but make sure not to sound overly pushy.

Next, include a hook, which is the meat of the query. Approximately 100 to 250 words will be sufficient and then a short synopsis of your book. Then add a brief author's bio. You also want to include any other books you have published and how you published them and close off with a greatful statement 

I like to use this template to help me structure my query letters and remember to always proof read and edit your letter you want to sound as professional as possible. 

How I wrote and published 10 books in 5 years

Wrongful Love

on the 24th of February 2019, I sat down and decided to start writing. not sure if it was going to go anywhere but I had to try. By may 24th 2019 I had completed writing a 23,528-word novella I set to editing and by June 30th I had finished editing and had sent it away to my aunt to proofread and do some editing. I came up with the name on 8th June 2019 when I was trying to think of a name for a Wattpad book. by 29th may 2020 all the editing was done. And I was sending it off to three publishing houses in hopes of getting published I, however, did get accepted to all three but realized that wasn't the direction I wanted to go with my novella so I self-published on November 17th 2020 Rejected mate

I started writing the rejected mate back in 2018 when I was only fifteen years old, the book landed up being 15k words long. In 2020 I got approached by HiNovel and they wanted to sign it on for an exclusive contract which I agreed too, the money from this book and the two others I signed paid for my book cover for Wrongful love. i edited the book abd made it 20k words now in 2023 its sotting at arpund 30k 
The gamer girl

I started writing the gamer girl in 2018 i then signed it with hinovel in 2020 where i edited it to 30k words
Double trouble

I started writing double trouble in 2018 with a grand total of 30k words hinovel then signed it on am exclusive contract. 
My hybrid mate

on the 1st July 2019, i sat down and started writing, i already had 6k in the story which i managed to do in 2 days. for the first 25 days in July, i managed to write the first draft of the story. i finished the story off with just over 50k words. on December 1st i went back and re-edited and re-read the book and made all the changes i had to, i then reread the story with all the changes and sent it to my aunt to proofread and edit. once that was done i sent the book away and included that the book was one of the books out of three in a mini-series all in a different point of views and different time dates and the average length of the other two books just in case they wanted to pick all three up which would save time. None of the agents wanted to take on my book or the series so I decided to self publish on the 25th December 2022.
The hybrid sisters

this book took from august 2019 to December 2019 to finish the first draft, on August 1st 2021 i started editing and doing all of that stuff. I self published on 11th January 2023.  

A wolfs choice gone wrong

On the 1st November 2019, I started writing a wolfs choice gone wrong for NaNoWriMo, by day 24 I had written 50k words and the first draft was complete, it went into its stand-down period and i started final Edit of the book on 4th  January 2023 i started to edit the book and re-read it and it was ready to self publish on 10th of January 2023
The  banshee curse

On the 1st of April 2020, I started to write the banshee curse; with 5,000 words on the first day, I knew I could get this book written in the entire 30 days. on day 32, I had written the whole book at a total of 45,160 words. the book went into the stand-down period. I started editing it on the 1st of December, 2022. By the 3rd of January 2023, the book was ready to be published, and I did this by self-publishing on the 4th of January 2023. 
Endometriosis: a rude awakening 

I don’t remember when I started writing Endometriosis: a rude awakening but I started my edits at the start of 2022 and self published the book on July 21st 2022
Short story collection

I started writing short stories in 2020 and edited them the same day I wrote them after I wrote 14 short stories I compiled them into a book and published them on October 18th 2022

My podcast

 

Last year I started a writing podcast. Since then, I have uploaded nine episodes and had 31 total plays. My podcast is called Writer dream, and I have so many plans for it for 2023. 

How I did with my 2022 goals

 

This year my writing goals were to

Write 100k wordsFinish editing endometriosis bookPublish endometriosis book traditionally I managed to finish editing my endometriosis book while I didn’t publish it. Traditionally, I did self publish it this year I didn’t write 100,000 words that was a bit much with the baby, but I did manage to write close to 80,000 words.
How did you do with your writing goals this year?

The Steel Rose

 

Aspen is a five-foot-six rouge with a dodgy past; her best friend is a troll named Hannah, who she met the night she was an outcast from her pack.

What will happen to the pair of friends as they journey through life together?

Chapter one Teaser

The sky darkened as Hannah ran alongside me; who would have thought that things would have turned out like this? I turn right around the corner and let out a wolfie grin as the wind changes direction and flows through my coat. 

I love this. I think to myself as I continue running, looking back at Hannah occasionally to ensure she is keeping up. 

Hannah is not your average person; she's not a person at all. Her long golden red hair flows down her back, framing her seven-foot stature. Her bright green eyes show she is from the forest we live in, and her horns fit perfectly on top of her head. 

"Hurry up, slow coach", Hannah giggles, somehow getting in front of me.  I bark in return and hurriedly catch up with her.

I observe as the small wood cabin we call home quickly approaches.  The dark, dusty wood cracked ever so slightly from the recurrent earthquakes; the once glass window shattered all over the ground from rowdy teens who thought it was funny to destroy one of the last intact cabins here in the middle of the forest. 

The sky darkened as Hannah held her hand on the rough door handle, trying to avoid a splinter from the nearby wood and pushed her way inside. I turn back to look out over the forest. The birds chee furiously in the distance as the wind picks up, sending beautiful music into the air; I push my way past Hannah and into our cabin, shifting back into my human form. Every bone in my body cracks into place. I slowly grow in height, reaching my five foot six height; my long blonde hair flows down past my shoulders, my yellow eyes switch back to my doe brown; I quickly stretch out my back and sigh in relief at the freeing feeling. I love being in my wolf form, but having lived as a rouge for five years, I don't get to spend much time in human form anymore. 

"Better?" Hannah questions, making me nod happily.

"Much better, now let's eat. I'm starving", I laugh before heading into our kitchen; our cabin might be small, but it's perfectly built for the two of us to live in.

I still remember the day I met Hannah; it was the day I became a rouge outcast from my pack, and with nowhere to go, I ran into a village where I found Hannah, who was imprisoned in a cage but the hunters; It was the first time I had ever come across anything like her, but I saved her anyway, and we have been inseparable Ever since. 

I stare at my plate full of meat and smile at Hannah.

"Thank you", I smile graciously; if it weren't for Hannah, I would have starved to death by now Because I can't cook. 

"You're welcome, your majesty", she mocking bows making me growl lowly.

"No", I state, trying to calm my wolf down

"Sorry, I forgot," she states, making me nod, knowing that she is telling the truth. She would never do anything to annoy me on purpose, and I know it. 

"What are your plans for the rest of the night?" I question, curious as to her answer. 

"Might go and find my prince in shiny armour", she laughs before gulping back her coffee 

"I'm kidding; I will probably just go to sleep with you tonight because I'm beat after our run", she states.

"Strange, you normally go out and don't come back until the early hours of the morning", I state back, making her nod.

"Not tonight", she smiles before eating her bacon and eggs. 

I finish off my plate of meat before taking my finished dish up to the sink and rinsing it off to make it easier to clean after my coffee in the morning.

"I might go to bed early", I smile before kissing Hannahs's cheek good night and heading into my dimly lit room.

My dresser is pressed up against my left wall, my book collection placed on top of the draws, as well as a few photographs I have picked up over the years. The only family photo I have is framed and hung above my bed, which is opposite my dresser on the right wall, and my sheep skin rug is placed nicely next to my bed so that I don't get cold feet in the morning. One of my biggest pet peeves is having cold feet.

I jump into my bed and close my eyes, praying for a peaceful sleep.

5 things i would do if i suddenly had millions of dollars

 Five things i would do if i suddenly had millions of dollars.

1.) hire a professional editor: while I’m okay with doing my own editing with the help of Grammarly, I know a professional editor would do me good; I just don’t have the money for that at the moment 

2.) get book covers made up: while I think I’m a good cover artist I could definitely use someone else to create my book covers

3.) buy a Maine coon: I have always wanted a Maine coon 

4.) buy a car: I desperately need a car now that I have my license not only to continue learning to drive but to get from point A to point B

5.) buy a house: I want to own my own house so that I can give my daughter and myself the stable lifestyle that we need. 

how to use social media to help promote your books

 

Promoting books can be challenging, but we live in a world where social media can be really a valuable tool to promote your books. 
Using social media for your writing can be difficult but not impossible. I have all my writing social media separate from my main social media. I run a blog, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook page and podcast all to do about writing. 
It can be hard to juggle it all but find what social media will work best for you and go with it, I don’t use tiktok for my writing but I could if I really wanted too. 
The key is be consistent and don’t always promote your work do it sparking and upload content about writing in general and then share your work every now and then. This is the process I have found to work for me the most. 
I post every second day on my Instagram and Facebook page, once a week on my podcast, twice a day on my Twitter as I can. This might be too much for you but what ever schedule you decide make sure you stick to it. 
Do your research on keywords and use them effortlessly so that you can get the most views possible on your work. Don’t use hashtags with a lot of posts but don’t use ones with only a couple because you won’t get seen that way look for the middle ground. 
My last tip is to have fun with it. 
What are your tips for social media promoting and writing? Let me know in the comments. 

My favourite author quotes

 

Author quotes are something that amaze me, this is my updated favourite author quote list

All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you: the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. If you can get so that you can give that to people, then you are a writer. - Ernest HemingwayA story is a letter that the author writes to himself, to tell himself things that he would be unable to discover otherwise. - Carlos Ruiz ZafónQuiet people have the loudest minds. -Stephen KingLearn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning. - Albert Einstein
 writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. -Thomas MannThe most effective way to do it, is to do it. -Amelia Earhart 

Writing update July 2022

 

Hi everyone, it’s been a while since I’ve done a writing update, so I thought I would jump on and write away update on how my writing is going because a lot has happened since my last one.
Where to start is going to be the tricky bit. I think I’m going to start with project hybrid. I have almost finished editing the book. There are only five more days of editing, and then the read-through I have sent it away to 2 different agents, which marks 4 agents in total the book has been sent to The first two declined the book because it wasn’t what they were looking for at the moment but I’m waiting to hear back from the two newest agents.
project endometriosis is being rewritten because a lot has changed with research and also my personal life so I’ve decided to completely re-write the book with the original draft being the basis of the structure  
other than that I’m only working on one other book and that is project gang and I’m really excited ants definitely a different one from my normal writing style but I’m really enjoying writing it I’m doing it for nanowrimo July 2022 and I’m already 3000 words into the first manuscript.
How have you guys booked been going let me know in the comments I am excited for you guys to check in and let me know.