Nadia Lee's Blog, page 28
February 9, 2011
"How to Format Your Manuscript for Kindle and Nook" on Smashwords
I've been getting lots of inquiries about how I convert my manuscripts to Kindle or Nook recently. So yesterday, I put up a step-by-step guide for formatting your manuscript on Kindle and Nook entitled (appropriately enough) How to Format Your Manuscript for Kindle and Nook on Smashwords for $1.50. It's an expanded version of my blog post on the same topic. Since I wrote that post, I've done three more conversions and learned a lot from each experience. I wanted to share lessons learned, tips, etc. to make it as easy as possible for people to follow along and create an ebook that has a cover, table of contents and so on. (I don't like ebooks that come without a cover, though in some cases it can't be helped.)
The guide assumes that you have some basic knowledge of HTML, such as tags for paragraphs, headings and italics. But you don't need to code from scratch since the guide contains lots of snippets of code that you can easily copy and paste. (It's all done for you!) This should prevent any odd errors due to typos, etc. In addition, my understanding is that Smashwords allows buyers to download updated versions for free, provided that the author replaces the old file with the new one. I wanted everyone to be able to access the latest version easily, should I make any changes. (I'm pretty sure I will as I discover new features, shortcuts, etc.)
P.S. You need a MS Windows computer to use the guide. One of the freeware programs needed to do the formatting isn't available on Mac. Sorry, Mac users! If and when I find a suitable Mac freeware, I'll definitely update the guide and let you know.
© 2008 - 2011 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for Nadia's newsletter for occasional news bites, free chapters, advance looks at works in progress and other cool stuff.
A Happily Ever After of Her Own -- Finally on Kindle!
Devil Falls w/a Angelle Trieste
This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or via the BlogBurst network, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us so we can take legal action immediately.
February 5, 2011
DESTINY ENTWINED and CARNAL SECRETS Available for Preorder
I just put Destiny Entwined and Carnal Secrets on All Romance eBooks for preorder in PDF, epub, mobipocket and MS Reader. Unfortunately, Kindle and PubIt do not allow preorders at this point. *sigh*
Erotic Paranormal Romance
February 14th, 2011
When her lover Theseus deserts her on an island, Princess Ariadne of Crete wishes to forget her betrayal-filled past. Dionysus answers her prayers, seducing her with his godly wiles and delivering mind-shattering ecstasy. However, when he reveals that she's his bride as foretold in a prophecy, she has to take a leap of faith, once more leaving her heart vulnerable to another, or live out the rest of her life on the island alone.
Soleil Noir from Black Sun Reviews called it "the perfect bite-sized erotic romance".
The story is also going to be a Valentine's Day present to my newsletter subscribers. Sign up before February 14th if you'd like a copy delivered to your inbox for free.
Email *
First Name*
Contemporary Romance
March 1st, 2011
After a rapid change in management, Natalie Hall is surprised to find that she's being promoted so quickly. But when it becomes obvious that the new CEO is interested in her on a more personal level, she pushes him away -- she doesn't want to repeat her past mistake of giving her heart to the wrong man.
A self-made billionaire, Alex Damon has his own reasons for pursuing Natalie. Her adoptive father, a powerful U.S. senator, is using his political clout to protect his friends the Rodales, who Alex intends to destroy for ripping his own family apart when he was a child. Furthermore, he suspects that Natalie is spying for the Rodales.
What he hasn't planned on is her unflinching sense of loyalty and integrity, the sizzling attraction between them that threatens to turn into something much more, and the dark secrets that can destroy them both.
BTW -- Yesterday, I got an email from a reader asking me which of my works is interracial romance. So in case anyone else is curious, it's Carnal Secrets. Heroine Natalie Hall is Asian American. 
© 2008 - 2011 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for Nadia's newsletter for occasional news bites, free chapters, advance looks at works in progress and other cool stuff.
A Happily Ever After of Her Own -- Finally on Kindle!
Devil Falls w/a Angelle Trieste
This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or via the BlogBurst network, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us so we can take legal action immediately.
January 31, 2011
Hot Romance for February
Wow, I can't believe January is already over! Time sure flies. This winter's been soooo cold! I ordered a cookbook from BookDepository, and hopefully it'll get here soon, so I can try some delicious recipes to keep me and Hero Material warm.
I have two big news items for February that I want to share with you:
One, Amanda Bonilla, Shawntelle Madison, Sandy Williams and I launched Magic and Mayhem Writers, a new urban fantasy/paranormal group blog. There are lovely giveaways, interesting guests, thought-provoking posts and much much more. Definitely stop by and say hello.
Two, I'm releasing a short erotic retelling of Ariadne and Dionysus's romance, entitled Destiny Entwined, on February 14th on All Romance eBooks, Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook and Smashwords.
When her lover Theseus deserts her on an island, Princess Ariadne of Crete wishes to forget her betrayal-filled past. Dionysus answers her prayers, seducing her with his godly wiles and delivering mind-shattering ecstasy. However, when he reveals that she's his bride as foretold in a prophecy, she has to take a leap of faith, once more leaving her heart vulnerable to another, or live out the rest of her life on the island alone.The story is also going to be a Valentine's Day present to my newsletter subscribers. Sign up before February 14th if you'd like a copy delivered to your inbox for free, and please let all your hot-romance-loving friends know.
© 2008 - 2011 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for Nadia's newsletter for occasional news bites, free chapters, advance looks at works in progress and other cool stuff.
A Happily Ever After of Her Own -- Finally on Kindle!
Devil Falls w/a Angelle Trieste
This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or via the BlogBurst network, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us so we can take legal action immediately.
January 15, 2011
Romance Writers of Australia Flooded Communities Book Appeal
I don't generally publish one of those "help us" or "give us money" types of post on my blog. But this one really caught my interest and I wanted to bring people's attention to RWAus's Flood Appeal:
RWA Flooded Communities Book AppealWe've all seen the devastation the recent Queensland floods have wrought and have wondered how we can help. We know that for many affected families, books will not be high on their priorities list for some time to come.
But…
We also know how valuable books can be in providing time out when reality gets tough.So…
With the aid of some wonderful volunteers, we've put together a Romance Writers of Australia Flooded Communities Book Appeal.What we need?
FICTION BOOKS! Romance books, children's books, young adult books, genre books, whatever -- either new or in sparkling condition.Please send them to:
RWA Flooded Communities Book Appeal
PO Box 1717
Noosaville Post Office
Noosaville BC
Queensland 4566When to send them?
Now! And any time over the next few months. The books will be boxed and delivered to the appropriate libraries/schools/neighbourhood centres/community centres in batches as soon as the communities are ready to receive them. We'll be liaising with councils, libraries and schools to ensure this is done appropriately. Feel free to pop a note inside, or if you're an author, sign it.Questions:
If you have a question about donations, email Jess Anastasi.
If you work in a library / council / community centre / school in a flood affected area, email Rachel Bailey.
Cash Donations
If you would prefer to make a cash donation, please donate to the QLD Premier's Flood Relief Appeal or for the animals, donate to RSPCA Queensland.Q&A
Q. I'm overseas and would like to donate but the cost of sending books is very expensive?
If you are an author, send one copy of a book. This will keep your individual costs down, but will also contribute to our book appeal.
Alternatively, consider buying a book from The Book Depository, which offers free postage to Australia. The book can be sent directly to the appeal.
Cash donations can be made to the charities listed above.
Q. I'm in Australia and have many books to donate. What is the cheapest postage option?
Australia Post offers a 3kg satchel anywhere in Australia for approximately $10. Please ensure the books are wrapped in bubble wrap to miminise damage in transit.
Band together with friends, your family, your writing group and send books together to minimise postage costs.
Q. I'm in Brisbane. Can the books be dropped off?
We have a drop-off point in Carindale available. Please contact Jess Anastasia for further information.
If any other RWA member in Qld can offer a drop off point, please contact Rachel Bailey.
The appeal page on the RWAus blog will be updated weekly with news on the appeal.
So if you have any books you don't to keep, please consider donating them to RWAus.
© 2008 - 2011 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for Nadia's newsletter for occasional news bites, free chapters, advance looks at works in progress and other cool stuff.
A Happily Ever After of Her Own -- Finally on Kindle!
Devil Falls w/a Angelle Trieste
This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or via the BlogBurst network, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us so we can take legal action immediately.
January 11, 2011
As Promised…Pictures from the First Anniversary Dinner!
Hero Material and I celebrated our first anniversary last week. We went to the restaurant where we had our wedding reception. It's one of the most expensive restaurants in the city, but the food is always marvelous and the service sublime.
Hero Material made the reservation, etc. Actually I was surprised that he pre-empted everything because I wasn't sure what to do about our wedding anniversary or anything else like that. (Let's just say that I was a little frazzled about the pregnancy and morning sickness in November and early December.)
Thankfully my morning sickness went away, and my tummy felt fine that day. Yay!
Here are the photos.
This is a view of the city from our table.
Table setting with a complimentary rose from the restaurant. You can see Hero Material's champagne and my OJ.
Us at the restaurant -- we had a corner table with a lovely view. In Japan, the tables closest to the most windows are considered the best. I was in a black strappy dress, but since it was so cold, I also had the pink cashmere shawl around me. (If you've been following my blog, you probably remember that Hero Material bought me one on our honeymoon in Thailand.) It was soooo warm and soft against my bare shoulders, arms and back.
Food...! Everything was super delicious. I gobbled up everything. (Sorry about the fish picture...I took a big bite before taking the picture because I couldn't wait...!)
The manager told us that our meal was completely comped. We were very surprised, as we had expected to pay some portion of the cost. (The hotel where we had our ceremony had sent us a coupon we could use at the restaurant, but I was pretty sure the price of our meal would be more than the amount covered by the coupon.)
Anyway, there was a lot of bowing and thank-you's and congratulation's and so on. I'm not sure if we can go back next year for another leisurely meal with a small baby, but I sure hope so...! I totally love that restaurant!
© 2008 - 2011 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for Nadia's newsletter for occasional news bites, free chapters, advance looks at works in progress and other cool stuff.
A Happily Ever After of Her Own -- Finally on Kindle!
Devil Falls w/a Angelle Trieste
This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or via the BlogBurst network, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us so we can take legal action immediately.
January 7, 2011
Happy 2011!
[image error]
I can't believe 2010 is over, and it's officially 2011. I've been super busy, mostly with holiday stuff, of course.
Christmas is not a big deal in Japan, but Hero Material and I celebrated on Christmas Eve at Mario's Bistro. Very yummy Italian dinner. Unfortunately the restaurant was a bit smokey from a lot of smokers, and we couldn't linger as much as we'd like because the cigarette stench gives me a major headache (which then makes me nauseous, which is not a good thing, especially for a pregnant woman!).
Then I tried to stay warm. I know it snowed a lot in America, and it was the same in Japan. Thankfully we didn't get any snow in our city, but it was freezing. Burrr.....
New Year's was lovely with home-cooked meal and so on. On the fourth, Hero Material and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. It was really romantic. I'll post some pictures soon, I promise!
The biggest goal for me this year is to stay healthy. This is more important than before since I'm pregnant. And the second biggest goal is figuring out how to do what I need to do (spending time with Hero Material and balancing work and writing) with the new responsibility called motherhood.
I hope everyone had wonderful holidays. Here's to another fantastic year.
© 2008 - 2011 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for Nadia's newsletter for occasional news bites, free chapters, advance looks at works in progress and other cool stuff.
A Happily Ever After of Her Own -- Finally on Kindle!
Devil Falls w/a Angelle Trieste
This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or via the BlogBurst network, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us so we can take legal action immediately.
December 9, 2010
Things I'm Thankful for This Holiday Season
[image error]
Sorry for the late update! I've been less than glowy for a while. (I think the pregnancy glow is a myth!) But I'm finally okay now.
2010 has been a difficult year for many people. If I listed challenges and so on, I think I could probably end up with a novel. Instead of just thinking about difficulties, I wanted to think about good and positive things, so that I can end the year on the high note.
Because no matter how hard 2010 was, I have so many things to be grateful for.
I'm grateful for my family and friends who are always there for me.
I'm grateful that Hero Material and I have gainful employment and that we can provide for our first baby when s/he comes next June.
I'm grateful for the support network of industry professionals and other writers and readers I have. They've been instrumental in keeping me sane.
I'm very very grateful for my readers.
I'm grateful that I'm in relatively good health.
What are you thankful for this holiday season?
© 2008 - 2011 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for Nadia's newsletter for occasional news bites, free chapters, advance looks at works in progress and other cool stuff.
A Happily Ever After of Her Own -- Finally on Kindle!
Devil Falls w/a Angelle Trieste
This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or via the BlogBurst network, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us so we can take legal action immediately.
November 2, 2010
Happy November!
[image error]October was a great month -- personally and otherwise. I'm pregnant, and my baby's going to be born in mid-June. And yes, I found out that I didn't gain as much weight as I thought. I know it's shallow, but it made me feel better.
Yesterday I met a friend of mine who's pregnant with her second child. She told me my doctor is really famous, which I didn't know since I chose her for her excellent English. Then my friend added, "She's also very good at performing abortions." It's a totally cultural thing, and she didn't mean anything malicious. She was doing her best to reassure me that my doctor's a renowned expert in every aspect of pregnancy and that I should feel 100% anshin (peace of mind and spirit) about my first pregnancy. But it just sounded so hilarious, I burst out laughing. (So did Hero Material when I told him.)
As for non-personal news, I can't share any yet. But I'll definitely update everyone as soon as I can.
On the writing front, I'm trying to go through All's Fair 1st beta comments -- alas, there are more issues than I'd expected -- and do NaNoWriMo this month. I'm trying not to do to much -- my brain's turned into mush and I tire easily these days, even when I'm just reading a book! So I'm trying to do little bit at a time and rest frequently so that I don't feel exhausted.
(Other than being tired easily, foggy-brained and sleepy, I'm doing pretty well. No morning sickness or anything like that. So I count myself lucky. )
Hope everyone has a lovely and productive November!
© 2008 - 2011 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for Nadia's newsletter for occasional news bites, free chapters, advance looks at works in progress and other cool stuff.
A Happily Ever After of Her Own -- Finally on Kindle!
Devil Falls w/a Angelle Trieste
This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or via the BlogBurst network, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us so we can take legal action immediately.
