Lauralynn Elliott's Blog, page 10

ROW80 Round 4 Goals

I complete forgot today was the beginning of Round 4! My, how time flies.

So here is what I hope to accomplish this round.

1. Write at least five days a week.

2. Write for at least an hour each time.

3. This is a big goal, but I would love to have my cozy mystery finished by the end of the round. It’s probably not going to happen, but 80 days is 11.43 weeks. Multiply that by 5000 words per week. I could write 57,150 words by the end of the round if I stuck to goals 1 and 2. And I already have a couple thousand words written. Plus, I usually write more than 1000 in an hour now, so there’s a little wiggle room. So it’s POSSIBLE.

4. Get my science fiction romance plotted out.

Goals 1 and 2 and can be measured each check in. But achieving goal 3 can’t happen until the end of the round. And goal 4, well, whenever it’s done.

Formatting for Print

When I format my books for ebooks, it’s SO easy. I can do it quickly with no problems. All Romance has several formats, but you have to convert them before uploading, so I do Mobi, Epub, PDF, RB, LIT, html, etc. I never have any problems. BUT, when it comes to formatting for print, there are so many things you have to do. I keep forgetting what order I like to do it all in, so I decided for next time I needed to make a checklist. I thought I would share it here since someone else might benefit from it.

This is all done in Microsoft Word. I’m assuming you already have the paragraph indents done. Some of these steps might not apply to you.

1. Change the pages to the size you want the book to be. I do mine 5.5 x 8.5

2. Change it to “justified”. This is where the right side lines up, which is the norm for print books. Some people do this for ebooks, too, but I don’t see a reason for it.

3. Add the “gutter” so that when the book is bound, there is room in the margin. You have to choose “mirror margins” and the gutter should be on the left side on the odd pages and the right side on the even pages.

4. Change the chapter font and add a graphic under the chapter if you want one. This is entirely optional, but I like my chapters to have a different font with a graphic.

5. Go through and make sure all chapters start on an odd numbered page. If they don’t, add a white page right before it. This isn’t absolutely necessary, but it looks more professional, and most traditionally published books are like this.

6. Add your headings. Your name goes on the even pages and the title goes on the odd pages. You should choose “different odd and even” and “different first page”. I always leave off the headers on the blank white pages and the first page of each chapter.

7. Add your page numbers This is the bane of my existence. I hate adding the page numbers. Sometimes this goes smoothly, and sometimes I get so frustrated I have to come back later. This last time was one of the frustrating times, but then I suddenly got it. One of these days I’m going to write down DETAILED instructions as I go. Again, I don’t like page numbers on the blank pages and first pages of chapters. OR the title page and copyright page. The way you make this happen is you have section breaks, not page breaks between chapters and also between the title page, copyright page, and blank pages.

8. Tell your cover artist how many pages your book is so she can make the cover the right size! :)

These are NOT detailed instructions, it’s just a checklist. If I left anything out, please let me know. I had to do this from memory since I’ve already done the book. Also, if someone sees anything I need to reword, let me know.

ROW80 Check-In 9/21/14

There’s been some progress this past week. I finished the beta read and got it back to the author. I’ve made a lot of progress on my paid proofreading job, which is due the end of this month. Once that’s done, I’ll get the other proofing job started, because it’s also due by the end of the month.

Now, for my own stuff. I can’t believe it’s only nine days until my Facebook release party! That means I better get those edits done quickly! The major thing that needs to be done is adding the scene a beta reader suggested. I also got some writing done on my cozy mystery.

Okay, so here’s why I actually got some of my own writing stuff done. Kait told me I HAD to work on my own stuff for 30 minutes four days a week BEFORE I worked on anyone else’s stuff. And she sent a little animated pic of Dean Winchester watching me, so I have to do it. Kait and Dean say so.

Busy, Busy! ROW80 Check-In 9/18/14

Yeah, I’m a day late.

In my last post, I had listed four things I had going on. Well, I’ve added another proofreading job, but this one is a second pass-through, so it shouldn’t take too long. I have to get one job done because I’ve been paid already. :) I need to get the beta read done, too. So I’m focusing on those two things first.

I just want to say I will strangle anyone who suggests I go somewhere or do something Saturday. My whole day last Saturday was filled with a church function, so I NEED this Saturday to get things done. If I really work hard, I can get the beta read AND the proofing job almost done. Then I’ll just have the one other one, so I can work on my own stuff. Hubby wants to watch Captain America: Winter Soldier tonight, so that will take up a couple of hours. But I need recreation and I need to spend time with hubby. We shall have popcorn.

And speaking of my own stuff. I’m still working on getting some suggested edits done on Fire Wizard. I HAVE to get these done soon because I’m releasing this book on October 2, and I’m celebrating with a Facebook release party. You are all invited.

Fire Wizard Release Party.

How are the rest of y’all doing?

ROW Check-In 9/14/14 & Decisions, Decisions

Here’s what’s going on:

1) I’m working on a line editing job for a client.

2) I’m beta reading for a friend who also beta reads for me.

3) I’m trying to figure out which suggestions from beta readers to incorporate in Fire Wizard. (Probably most of them, LOL)

4) I’m working on my mystery, although not as much as I would like.

And here’s the decisions part:

I think most of you know by now I’m thinking of writing my mysteries under a different name. I have personal reasons for this, and I hope I don’t have problems building another following. I know mystery readers are often much different from paranormal romance readers.

Here’s the other dilemma. I don’t usually do series. I did a trilogy, based on the fact that readers were often asking me if there was a sequel to a book of mine they read, so I figured I should try one. They just don’t sell as well as my stand-alones. And I prefer to write stand-alones since I get bored even when reading series. BUT…series in mysteries are very common. So I’m wondering if I ought to do at least a trilogy to test the waters.

And here are some of the problems:

1) In mysteries, the main character is drawn into some mystery, usually a murder, in every book. In real life, most people don’t even get involved in ONE murder. So why is it so believable in fiction? Would I be able to make MINE believable?

2) Mysteries are hard because you have to find a way that the main character can figure out the mystery. The mystery itself isn’t nearly as hard as figuring out how it gets solved. (Hopefully, my husband can help with this since he is so good at this kind of thing.)

3) How do I keep the romantic thread (yes, I have to have one!) interesting through a series? I often lose interest in a series when the romance is resolved in the first book. So…either I have to keep dragging it out with reasons they can’t be together (which worked well in the Vampires’ Curse novellas, but doesn’t seem possible in this first mystery because of the circumstances), or I can maybe have them together at the end of book one but find something to pull them apart again in book two.

I’m reading a mystery series, right now, by Patrice Greenwood and also watching LOTS of episodes of Murder, She Wrote…for research. :)

Any thoughts? I would really appreciate feedback.

ROW80 Check-In 9/7/14

Things are moving right along. I’m waiting on one more beta reader to get done with Fire Wizard. The good thing is, two of my betas pretty much read it in one sitting because they said they couldn’t put it down. :) I might be having a FB party for the release. I’m looking at an end of September release.

I’ve written one scene of my cozy mystery (title to be determined later), and have worked a little on a couple more scenes. I have a love/hate relationship with Scrivener, but I think I’ve worked out most of the bugs, so it’s mostly love. I was having problems losing the formatting, but I think I got it worked out. I’m a linear writer, but I like how when I think of something that could go in a scene later, I can just go to that scene (I have outlines, so I can tell where that scene is) and write it before I forget. Then I can go back to the scene I was working on.

I’m still trying to decide whether or not to write this book under this name or another pen name. I have reasons (that some of you know) to write under two pen names. This brings up another question of whether or not to start writing under a publishing company name or not.

Which brings up another problem. I want to get a federal ID number, but I found out from two different author friends that when trying to change from a SS# to a EIN, or from one EIN to another one, Barnes & Noble made them delete their account and republish all their books under the new number. Which means, they lost their reviews and ranking. If Amazon can just let them change the number, why in the world can’t B & N do the same thing? That’s made me rethink the EIN number. I have some decent reviews on B & N, and I would hate to lose those. This makes my eye twitch.

I’m also proofing a new book for a client, so that business is going well.

So, how are the rest of you doing?

ROW80 Check-In and Cover Reveal

Since check-in day corresponded with my cover reveal date, I’m going to combine them together. After all, this is all about writing, goals, and successes, right? So what better way to reveal a cover than during a ROW80 check-in?

Without further ado, here is the ebook cover for my upcoming release, Fire Wizard, with the fabulous cover model James Magnussen! The photo was taken by Anya Kelleye of Anya Kelleye Designs, and she also designed the cover. This was a fun photo shoot, and I’ll just say, James is as sweet as he is handsome. The print cover will be coming soon.

ROW80 Update 8/31/14

Here it is the last day of August, and I’m wondering where this year has gone! I’m sitting here already ready for church. I’ve made and ate breakfast with hubby (biscuits and gravy, a treat every couple of weeks), already walked on the treadmill and ready to go! :)

Fire Wizard is now with beta readers. I’ve already had one person come back and say they couldn’t put it down so they stayed up late reading it. That’s a good thing, right? The cover is practically done, just a little tweaking needed. I can’t wait! I plan on having a Facebook release party, but this time, I’m not going to do it myself. More about that later.

I spent hours yesterday reading a tutorial on Scrivener. I’m still not sure if I’m going to get it (I have the trial version), but I’m leaning toward it since somebody told me I could convert the file for my print book (with page numbers) as well as ebook formats. It’s only $40, which is a bargain considering all the bells and whistles it comes with. It would be a great tool for those who are serious plotters. But it’s good for pantsers who need to plot just a little.

What’s up with y’all?

ROW80 Update 8/27/14

Is September almost here? Wow, where did the summer go? But I’m really looking forward to fall. The cool breezes, the colorful leaves, Halloween.

I’ve been hard at work, reading through Fire Wizard before I send it out to beta readers. Here’s the problem. I’m finding little typos and places where I want to reword stuff. But I’m not finding any major changes that need to be made yet. I know when the love scenes (NOT sex scenes) come up, I’ll need to expand a bit on those. But the actual story up to this point seems pretty tight. I always worry about this because everyone always talks about revisions and rewrites, etc., so I think I’m supposed to do those, too. But I rarely have to do any major overhauls. Which makes me wonder if I just don’t see those things. And, yet, my two MAIN beta readers are VERY good authors, and they don’t usually suggest anything TOO major, either. And I respect their opinions a LOT. Have I just been doing this so long that my first draft is already pretty tight? Is it because I’m an “edit as I go” writer? We are told not to do that, but here’s what I usually do. I don’t edit the chapter I’m working on. But before I start a new chapter, I always go back to the chapter before and make changes that need to be made, while that part of the story is still fresh on my mind. Maybe that’s why the first draft is close to ready. Because I’m already tweaking it while I’m writing it. I just don’t know. Maybe experience plus continual tweaking is the reason. I hope that’s it instead of me just being too clueless to see I need to fix stuff. Again, I trust my beta readers, and they would tell me. And who knows, maybe they WILL find something that needs major overhauling in this one. (I hope not, LOL.) We’ll see. I can’t wait to see what they think.

What about you? Do you just spit out words as fast as you can and THEN do revisions, or do you constantly tweak as you go like I do? (That doesn’t mean I don’t sprint sometimes, but I would go back and fix everything the next day, LOL.) I would love to know if there’s anyone out there like me or if I’m just weird. Really, really weird. LOL

Reading Reviews…Again

I try not to read reviews anymore. It doesn’t help the sanity of most authors to do that. I fully intended to work on my website during lunch, but since I had to go to my book pages on Amazon, etc. for links, I caught myself reading the reviews.

Here’s what I found. Many people don’t like my novellas. Club Blood (which is probably my least favorite anyway) has less than a 3 star average. See Me and Guardian Vampire have 3 star averages. (Guardian Vampire has 11 five star and 10 one star, and very little in between, so that must be an either love it or hate it book.) These were some of my earliest books. A Rocky Path, which was my very first novel, has a 4 star average, but there aren’t that many reviews. It’s not a good seller, and Anya and I are talking about revamping the cover. Most of my full length (although fairly short) novels have 4 star averages.

Okay, here’s the most important thing. My favorite of all my books is Haunted Lake. It’s always carried a 4 star or more average and it has quite a few reviews. Then, back in April, I got a 1 star review that said, “I only read a couple of chapters. Too much filthy talk which I do not like at all. Not recommended for my Christian readers.” Now most of you that know me, know I don’t do “filthy talk” in my personal life OR my books. There’s a little heat in some of my books, but it’s very mild (except maybe for Starfane, which has more heat). And this person only read a couple of chapters, and even if there had been “filthy talk”, it wouldn’t have happened in the first couple of chapters. A couple of people commented on the review and asked if she even reviewed the right book, because obviously either she didn’t or she was lying. This whole thing still upset me because it brought my average stars down. But…when I looked today, I noticed I had gotten 3 reviews this summer, 2 five stars and 1 four star. That made me very happy. :) And it brought my average back up to a solid 4. Out of 44 reviews, I have 20 five stars and 10 four stars. So maybe reading reviews isn’t all that bad.

One thing I want to say to those of you who review. Be kind. I don’t mean you shouldn’t give low stars if that’s how you really feel. But please don’t be nasty about it. That makes the reviewer look vindictive. Be helpful. Don’t say “This book sucks!”. Say, “I really disliked this book because ____”. I had one review that said “The main character was written in third person.” What? And it was a 1 star review that brought the average down for no reason other than the reviewer was either ignorant or just mean. MOST books are written in third person. They said something about the vocabulary, too, but that didn’t make sense either. Anyway, please understand that authors have feelings and when a review is written in a sarcastic, mean, ugly way, it hurts the author and doesn’t help anyone. Please write a well thought out review that explains your feelings about the book. Most reviewers who write ugly things seem to actually enjoy it. Honestly, I probably shouldn’t even have to ask any of you to be kind. All my blog followers are great people, and I can’t imagine ANY of you writing ugly reviews.

So that’s how I feel about reviews. :)