Lauralynn Elliott's Blog, page 69

ROW80 Check In Feb. 13

My goal is to write an average of 500 words per day. Right now, I'm about 1300 words behind. I've had some different things going on that's hindered me, but I wrote 1193 words last night. So if I keep writing more than my average I'll eventually catch up. If I stop taking days off….

ROW80 Check Feb. 9

I'm still about 2000 words behind, but I got in a little more than my 500 last night. I figure if I write a little more than my 500 goal words each day, I'll eventually catch up. LOL That is if I DON'T skip any more days!

On the bright side, I finally used my birthday and Christmas money and got a Wii and a Wii Fit board. I had a lot of fun playing with it last night before I wrote. I've found if I do some exercise before I write, my mind is much more alert. Btw…what does it say about me that I seem to be best at boxing and sword fighting???

Massive Fail

I'm now 1667 behind on my word count. Isn't it kind of ironic that it's the exact number of words you're supposed to write per day in NaNoWriMo? Weird, huh?

I only wrote about every other day this past week. But I'm not the kind of person that freaks out over this sort of thing. As long as something is repairable, I'm good. And I know I can make up the word count with no problem. I mean, it kind of makes me mad at myself for letting it happen, but…not that mad. LOL

Jenny Pox by J. L. Bryan

I usually don't talk about a book at all until I'm finished with it. I'm only about 20% done with Jenny Pox, but it's so good I have to tell everyone. I heard about J. L. Bryan's Haunted Ebook Tour from another author, I think maybe Stacey Wallace Benefiel. I started following the tour and read The Haunted Ebook. I loved it! It's a great horror story. So I downloaded all of his books without reading samples. I knew if one book was that good, and the writing was that solid, I would like them all. Jenny Pox is awesome! So if you haven't read anything by J. L. Bryan, go check it out.

I'm ashamed to say that this book made me late for work this morning. *hangs head*

ROW80 Check In Feb. 2

As of right now, I'm about a day behind in word count. But at one point I was almost three days behind, so not too bad. I can make up that extra 500-600 words in no time.

My problem right now is that I feel like my story is dragging a little. I don't want to get into the action too quickly, but I'm afraid I've put in too much stuff that's unnecessary. But at the same time, I've had complaints, especially in the novellas, that I didn't put in enough about the characters or the places. There are some people who want more detail and some who want less. You can't please everyone. So what do you do? I just don't want the story to drag on and on until the scary part starts. One thing I need to go back and do is give a little back story on the male MC. I don't think we know enough about him.

So, here's some questions. Do you like to know a lot or just a little about the characters in a book? Do you care about the minor characters? How much do you want to know about them? And do you want to delve deeply into the psyche of the MC's, or do you just want to get to the action?

January Sales Stats

January was the best month I've ever had in book sales. EVER. I sold more books in January than I have all other months put together. And the reason for this huge jump in sales is one particular book. Guardian Vampire. I have six titles out right now. In fact, Haunted Lake is actually the latest one. But I feel like the biggest factor in the success of GV is one thing. The word "vampire" is in the title. I've probably mentioned that before, but that has really gotten me to thinking…people still want vampire stories. They aren't tired of them yet. So it would probably be profitable to me to write another vampire story. Or maybe a three novella series. And make sure the word "vampire" appears somewhere on the titles. Am I shamelessly looking at the monetary side of things at the expensive of my "art". Is it bad for me to look on the commercial side of things and write vampire stories for that reason when my true love is ghosts? Well, when your husband is out of work and your salary doesn't pay all the bills, let alone groceries, you have to do what's best for you. So, after this garden gnome novel I'm currently writing, I'll probably be writing more vampire stories. LOL

So for the stats. And this is assuming B & N has the correct figures now.

Across all channels, including the UK for one channel:

Total books sold in January: 7,373

Total sales in January: $2,774.05

Highest rank at B & N: 135

Highest rank at Amazon: 227

Everybody loves vampires….

I wish I knew every reader out there that bought a copy. I'm so grateful, but it's impossible to tell everyone that had a part in it. But I do know that some of you that read this blog have also bought my books. So to you that I CAN thank…I really, really appreciate your support.

ROW80 Check In Jan. 30

As most of you know, I was out of town for three days and was out late every night. So I didn't do any writing those three days. And I chose not to write on Friday because I was in the mood to play a computer game and knew I would be restless if I wrote instead of played. However, I'm only 388 words behind my culmulative goal, so I'm not worrying about it. I can make that up in a couple of days and I'll be back on track. Have I mentioned that this is WAY better than doing NaNoWriMo? Sure I have. LOL

Free Ebooks!

Okay, I'm feeling generous today. Why? Because Guardian Vampire is now at #323 at Amazon. Squeeeeee! It topped at #135 at Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago and usually stays in the top 200 there. I have made as much money in January though all channels as I did at my regular full time job in the month of January. So I just want to celebrate. So I'm giving away Guardian Vampire, Haunted Lake, or BOTH through midnight EST Sunday, Jan. 30. All you have to do is ask for it in the comments on this post. You can ask for either book or both. (Hint-I would ask for both.) On Monday, I will send out coupon codes for Smashwords to everyone that asked for books. The codes will be good for two weeks, so redeem them fast.

ROW80 Check in Jan. 27

I'm a day late checking in. I was in meetings, then on airplanes. And I didn't write a single word on my trip to New Orleans. I did okay when I was in North Carolina last week, but on this trip, they kept me out too late every night and I couldn't hold my eyes open long enough to write. I had a little word cushion going, but now I'm behind on word count. But I know I can build that back up soon, so I'm not stressing about it at all.

I didn't encounter any of the rumored ghosts while staying at Hotel Monteleone, but it was cool learning about the history. And I still think it's funny that someone at our convention cancelled their reservation because he said he wouldn't be able to sleep knowing that ghosts may be there.

And one last thing. I had the best seafood meal in, I believe, my entire life while I was there. If any of you ever get to New Orleans, try Deanie's Seafood Restaurant. Totally awesome!

I'm Staying in a Haunted Hotel!

I'm in New Orleans right now on a business trip for the company I work for. I was talking to one of the guys in our association while we were at our welcome reception. He told all of us at the table that he was going to stay here originally (the convention is here), but when he found out the hotel is supposed to be haunted, he changed his reservation. The rest of us at the table thought it was so cool that it was haunted! Now, I don't really believe in ghosts, but I love to read and write about them. So maybe this place will inspire me to write something spooky. But I guess I'll have to go up to the 14th floor….

Can you guess the name of the hotel? Do you know which one it is? It's the Hotel Monteleone! *shivers*