Michael Procopio's Blog, page 11

A List of Fears I Should Probably Keep to Myself

It’s really hard for me to believe that in just under a month I’ll be releasing “Forgotten Monsters“. And while there are so many things I’m excited about with the release, there are a lot of things that get me really nervous. Some days I wake up and think, “Not many people really know about your book. It’s not too late to quietly delete every mention of it…”

So, let’s talk about some of these fears:

The big one is just the fact that people will actually be reading my work (well…ideally). I’ve had people read my stuff before but I’ve never released anything publicly. That in itself is terrifying to me. To share your work with others can you make you feel vulnerable. No, thanks. Don’t need to feel that. But my fears go further. What if these people don’t like my book…like, at all? What if nobody even buys it? Am I delusional for thinking anyone would even want to read this?I am acutely aware of my flaws. I love my book, I really, really do, but I know it’s not perfect. After all, what is? But what if people hate my writing?I’m supposed to market this? I’ve definitely taken a bit of a crash course in book marketing but I’m not going to know what works until I try it out. As someone who loves to plan, that kind of wait-and-see mentality is a struggle for me.I’m haunted by the idea of potential bad reviews. They’re inevitable, I know that, and a few here and there won’t really bother me. I know some people will like my stuff and some people won’t. I’m fine with that. But what if everybody is going to give me 1 or 2 stars? And, similarly, what if I don’t even get any reviews??? It’s urban fantasy, but action scenes are used sparingly. It’s basically a family drama with superpowers sprinkled in. Is that going to turn off people who are really into urban fantasy?Right now it’s family and friends who are going to be picking up my book (if they know what’s good for them!!) but I know they’re not really the target audience. How will I react to their support of me but potential indifference to my story?If people really don’t respond well to this, am I never going to want to write again?

And that just about cracks the surface. I don’t have any answers, really. Fears are gonna creep up. It’s what happens. But I don’t think I’m unique in having these fears, especially so close to the book’s release. It’s the first time I’m doing all this so there are bound to be things that get me nervous.

I’m a perfectionist who doesn’t like doing things unless I am positive I can do them well. But I’m really trying to stop doing that. I want to do more things that scare me. I don’t want to keep holding myself back from doing things that could be really fun and exciting. So, even though people may hate my book or my writing, even though only a handful of people may even read it, and even though none of it may go the way I want it to, I’m really proud to be doing this.

And, let’s be clear, I’m aware that fears can be irrational. I don’t really think everyone is going to hate this. I don’t really think it’s going to be some disaster. But I wanted to talk about my fears because, in some weird way, it helps to minimize them. Writing them all out and reading them back reveals to me that they really are just fears and not reality.

It’s a new and exciting adventure and I’m going to enjoy the ride.

Finding A Book Cover Designer

In a recent post, I wrote a little bit about my experience working with a book cover designer. There was a lot about the process that I didn’t get to that I hope to cover here. So, let’s dive in.

What’s your genre?

If you wrote a book and plan to self-publish, there’s one pretty major thing you need to do before you start thinking about hiring a designer. Identify your genre. It is so important to know who your audience is and what they’re looking for. As much as we’ve been told not to judge a book by its cover, we still do. You may have ideas upon ideas about how you want your cover to look, but it’s important to also make sure that it fits in with other books like yours.

So, take a few minutes to search for book covers in your genre. See what is selling. It will help you figure out a direction you might want to take for your own cover. Your designer will likely have a good idea about genre standards too, but it’s a good idea to figure out what you like and what you don’t.

Brainstorm!

Think about your characters, your setting, your theme. Think about any prominent scenes in your book that you want to see recreated for the cover. Which character(s) do you want front and center? What message do you want to get across? Write it all down.

Each designer is different in how they collect this information. Some may have a form for you to fill out. Others may want to Zoom for a little chat about your book. And some may ask you to compile all the information in a document. Being ready with the above information and being as clear as you can be can make the process a whole lot easier for everyone involved.

Research Time

There are loads of different cover designers out there so how do you know you’re choosing the right one for you? This is when a little bit of research comes in handy. Throughout my self-publishing journey, I’ve relied on Reedsy quite a bit. Reedsy has a Marketplace where you can search for cover designers, editors, and a whole lot more. You can search for cover designers specializing in your genre and you’ll be able to see samples of each artist’s work, as well as reviews from people who’ve used their services.

Other services I’ve heard good things about include Fiverr and Damonza. Again, research is key and it’s up to you to determine what is best for your project.

When doing your research, you’re going to want to consider things like cost, turnaround time, how much you love the designer’s work, communication style, and the designer’s reviews.

I found it really helpful to collect covers that I liked so I could share them with my cover designer (hopefully he found it equally helpful!). So, research that too!

Cost and Expenses

If, like me, you don’t have an artistic bone in your body, you likely want to look for a professional cover designer rather than try to do it on your own. A professional looking cover can really draw in potential readers. And that will come with a cost. If you don’t have much of a budget, don’t despair. There are options! You’ll find while doing your research that there are varying prices for book covers depending on the artist.

Think about what you need. Do you need both an ebook cover and a paperback cover? What is included in the price? Do you want the designer to create something from scratch or would you want to save some money and buy a pre-made cover?

So, there are ways to save. Pre-made covers are cheaper. Some designers include social media banners or bookmark design in their prices. It’s really important to determine what you need, what you want, and what you can afford.

Communicate

Lastly, after you’ve hired your designer, don’t be afraid to communicate. Let them know everything you can about your book and your vision. The designers are professionals and have experience. They’ll be able to help you figure out a direction if you’re not sure where to begin. An important thing to remember is that this is your book. You want to make sure you love your cover so that potential readers will love your cover too.

When you receive the first draft from your cover designer be specific about what you like or don’t like. “Start again” is not specific. Do you like the font or would you like it to be more like x, y, or z? Is the character’s pose the way you want? If not, what would you like to see? Could certain colors be darker? Your cover designer will not read your book in order to work on the cover so being open and specific about your vision is important.

Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback from your readers, friends, and family too.

Book covers are often times the first thing potential readers will see. You want them to click into it to learn more about your story. Finding a cover artist that can bring your story to life is a thrill and a great step forward as you prepare to self-publish.

“Forgotten Monsters” Book Cover Reveal!

Well, today’s the day. I’m really excited to share with you the blurb and cover art for my book, “Forgotten Monsters.”

“The power she felt. Her control. She wanted to hold onto it, but she had to forget it.”

One frigid, winter evening Marissa Summers saved someone’s life. She’d used her secret telekinetic abilities to stop a robbery in a park and – lucky her – someone recorded it. Footage from the incident went viral. Though she did her best to conceal her identity by wrapping a scarf around her face, she was easily recognized by the one person she’s evaded for years: her abusive mother, Claire.

Claire makes Marissa an offer too good to refuse – she can bury the growing story and prevent Marissa’s identity from being revealed. While Claire says she has her daughter’s best interests at heart, Marissa soon discovers that her mother’s lies and secrets are far more insidious than she could have ever imagined.

The worst part? No matter how much power Marissa has, it becomes obvious that Claire can still get Marissa under her control with just a few manipulative words.

With her freedom on the line, Marissa must confront her mother, inciting a battle she never wanted to be a part of. Will she find the strength to overcome her past once and for all or will she remain entrapped in the snare of the very person she spent her life fleeing from?

So, yeah, I’m pretty excited about this. Hopefully, you are too! It was such a thrill to see my characters and story come to life on the cover and I really have to thank Hampton Lamoureux of TS95 Studios for it. I’m incredibly pleased with the work he did.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect, and I’m glad that he was so creative. The thought of having to distill my story into something for the cover seemed daunting to me. It’s not one of my better skills. But, that was step one. I crafted a document that contained the plot summary, character descriptions, setting, themes, as well as any book covers that I liked the look of.

Step two was reaching out to Hampton.

Step three was waiting. It honestly felt like an eternity because I was so excited.

Step four was being wowed by the draft that Hampton sent over. I was so impressed by how much he was able to include on the cover. I had some fears before receiving the draft. Would the cover be boring? Would it not align with what I’d envisioned? Would I be able to articulate what I liked or didn’t like in order to get my message across? It turned out, I didn’t really need to worry.

There were a few things right off the bat that I felt needed to be changed to the draft cover. For one, I wanted something a little more dynamic for the title font, and Hampton was quick to add the current font, which I love. There was also too much of the scarf showing along the bottom, so Hampton removed some of it and added texture. Claire, seen in the background, also had longer hair and a few people thought it might be Marissa in both images. Hampton was able to shorten her hair to better differentiate the two characters. He seemed to just “get” what I was going for, and that made the process really easy.

Since the cover is now public, I’ve added a new page for the book, where you’ll find the cover, blurb, and a fun little playlist of songs inspired by the characters and events in “Forgotten Monsters”. And we also now have an awesome little banner at the top!

So, this is all really happening now. I’m publishing a book (on September 21, 2021, in case you forgot!). Ahhhh!

And here we go…

Why I’m self-publishing

I always knew I wanted to publish my book, one way or another. I put all this work into it over the years and I’m pretty proud of it, so why wouldn’t I want people to see it?

After completing edits on “Forgotten Monsters” (okay, that’s a bit of a joke since I haven’t actually stopped tinkering…), I looked into how I could get a literary agent. I initially wanted to be trade published for a few reasons – marketing opportunities being a major one – and finding an agent was the first step.

There is so much involved in finding an agent and every agent has their own requirements. It can be one heck of an arduous process. You need to write a strong query letter, basically boiling down your intricate story to introduce characters, conflicts, and stakes in only a few short paragraphs. Sometimes you need to add comp titles to your query letter. Sometimes you need to include a complete synopsis. Sometimes you send in the first five pages of your manuscript, sometimes the first fifty. A lot of the time, after you don’t get any bites, you have to go back to the drawing board and strengthen all the components I just listed. Rinse and repeat.

As much as skill is required in this submission process, so is luck. Agents receive hundreds of submissions a week. Sometimes excellent work slips through the cracks, so you try another agent, and repeat the process until you land one or you decide to do something else.

They say that it can take upwards of one hundred query letter submissions before you get your agent.

And you have to be patient. Some agents take days to get back to you and some takes months. I think I probably queried about twenty agents, so probably not enough, but it wasn’t working for me. And, ultimately, I wasn’t very patient. Maybe I could’ve tried improving the query letter or the first few pages for the millionth time. Maybe my book’s genre wasn’t a big seller at the moment. Whatever the reason, I wasn’t having luck with agents and I decided to do things on my own.

It’s been a rough couple of years in more ways than one so I’m trying this whole new thing where I do things that I want to do. Carpe diem, or whatever.

So, I’m self-publishing. I want people to read my book. It was doing nothing just sitting in a folder on my computer.

I have hesitations about self-publishing. I don’t know the first thing about marketing myself. Sure, I’ve done research. I have an idea of what I need to do. But, until it comes time to do it, I won’t know what works and what doesn’t, so it’s going to be very learn-as-I-go.

I laugh when I think about trying to convince people to buy my book. I imagine it will go something like this:

Me: You should read my book, “Forgotten Monsters”! Although, maybe it’s not for you. You don’t have to read it, actually. It’s totally okay if you don’t. I shouldn’t have even asked. I’m sorry. Are you mad?

I’m trying to manage my expectations too. I’ve read that it can take four or five books before you develop an audience. This will be slow, but I want to have fun with it at least.

Will I get discouraged if only a handful of people read my book and only a smaller amount like it? Maybe. But, I’ll still have done something that I want to do, something that scares me, and I feel like that’s a huge accomplishment in itself.

While this trilogy (have I mentioned that “Forgotten Monsters” is the first book in a trilogy?…’cause it is) will be self-published, I’ll try to get an agent again. Ideally, being self-published with some books and trade published with others would be the way for me to go.

I have so many ideas and I’m excited to see where they’ll take me.

An Announcement!

I’m so excited to announce that I have an announcement!

On September 21, 2021, I will be releasing a book. The title? “Forgotten Monsters.” The genre? Urban fantasy. I’m so proud of it and I’m so excited to finally share it with the world. It’s taken me a long time to work up the courage to do this, but I’m doing it.

Watch this space as I’ll be providing updates on the book leading up to its release. I’ll be sharing the cover and blurb with you very soon. Bear with me as I get this site and everything else in order. You’ll soon realize that I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.

In the meantime, make sure you sign up for my mailing list! Everyone who signs up will get a free short story, “A.I. Advertising Intelligence.” (If the welcome email doesn’t show up in your inbox, make sure to check your spam folder.)

So, stay tuned!