Reena Jacobs's Blog, page 24

Authors Helping Authors: It May Not Work For You

Today I'm going to share my publishing journey, but first I'm going to let you in on a shameful secret. Okay. Maybe it's not too shameful, but perhaps a little on the obsessiveness side. I check my Amazon sales at least once a day. In fact, admitting to once a day isn't close to an estimate. Let's go with several times a day and leave it like that. After all, a gal has to have a little pride right?

Released September 2010

My best selling work, Control Freak: Brandon's Story, averages about 3 sales a day. Though it's listed at $0.99, the price isn't bad for a 3+k piece of work which took me 1-2 weeks to write, polish, and edit. I have to admit, I'm quite pleased with the results, profit-wise. Not stellar, but at least it's something. It's rather nice knowing I'll have $30-50 a month from Brandon's Story to fund various promotions and what not. And anyone who's tried to promote a book, knows that amount doesn't go very far.

Still, if only my other works did so well.

It's interesting to note, I did pretty much no marketing for Brandon's Story. In fact, I offered it for free for the longest time. Honestly, I didn't think it was a piece anyone would want to purchase at $0.99. After all, it's a short story, and a very short story at that. When I set a price for Brandon's Story, and people started buying it, I could hardly believe it!

[image error]

Released January 2011

Why? Because Shadow Cat, which had all favorable reviews was having an extremely difficult time getting off the ground. I've been all over the place with the price, from $0.99 to reel in folks who only buy cheap, to $4.99 to lure in folks who think cheap is crap. No matter what price I slap on Shadow Cat, it averages about 2 sales a week.

Shadow Cat and I even went on tour together. Me and my kitty… tiger.  I put up ads on various blogs, paid for advertising on Goodreads, Facebook, Google Adwords. I'll be honest, I've yet to see a return on investment (ROI).

Allow me to go off on a tangent, as I'm known to do at times. I was driving to pick up my son from preschool today and thinking about my ROI. With no out of pocket expenses by only publishing Brandon's Story in eBook and not spending a dime on advertising (I think), I've already earned a decent salary for at least 1 week. Remember, I mentioned it took me 1-2 weeks to write, polish, and edit Brandon's Story for publication.

ROI for Shadow Cat? I might have covered the marketing expenses for Shadow Cat… maybe. And the time writing, polishing, and editing? haha Let's not even go there.

Released July 2011

Next up, we have I Loved You First. With I Loved You First, I cut back on the advertisements and went straight for the blog tour… full force. 45 days and I don't know how many blogs. The book received lots of great reviews. Last I checked, we were up to 16 reviews at Amazon and averaging about 4 stars. Way to go Alex!

You'd think folks would flock to pick up a copy. Not so, my friends. Of all my works, I Loved You First has the least amount of sales. Lean a little closer, I don't want this getting around the blogosphere. Can you hear me? Well, I Loved You First has only received 3 sales this month. Shhh. Don't tell anyone. Last month was only slightly better at 6 sales. Yikes!

In terms of my ROI? I think I spent about $60 in promotion materials for the blog tour, which doesn't include the costs of books and shipping. I'm certainly not crying over the fact. I spent a lot more trying to get Shadow Cat off the ground and still only have 8 reviews on Amazon. Of course, Shadow Cat has slightly better sales, but not enough to make me feel I've gotten my money's worth with advertising.

Released October 2011

Okay. Last piece, which I released early this month. Control Freak: Regina's Story. I did even less advertising with Regina's Story than I did Brandon's Story. For the most part, I just set it out there and tweeted a couple of times about the availability. Interesting enough, the sales on Regina's Story are comparable to Shadow Cat — averaging about 2 sales a week. Actually, the sales for Regina's Story are slightly (not by much), but still slightly better than Shadow Cat.

Like Brandon's Story, Regina's Story is another shortie — a little over 4k words. I will admit, it took me longer to write. I just wasn't in the mood to write erotica. In fact, I'd considered giving erotica up entirely. However, I felt I owed readers the sequel to Regina's Story. After all, the back of Brandon's Story ended with a promise to have the sequel out shortly. That "shortly" took about a year to get around to writing.

So here I am, a little over a year into the self-publishing game, 4 works up for sale, 2 free flash fiction pieces, and completely clueless over what works and what doesn't.

Just how effective are blog tours, ads, promotions, etc? Perhaps I'm not trying hard enough or better yet, perhaps I'm not giving my attempts at marketing long enough to kick in and take effect. What says you?

What types of marketing have you tried?

Do you have a story to tell? Share with us your successful and less than successful campaigns. In fact, email me (reenajacobs@reenajacobs.com), and I'll open Ramblings of an Amateur Writer to you for your own guest post.

Never miss a post. Get your subscription for Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, today.

Reena Jacobs is just your typical writer who loves to see her words in print. As an avid reader, she's known to hoard books and begs her husband regularly for "just one more purchase." Her home life is filled with days chasing her preschooler and nights harassing her husband. Between it all, she squeezes in time for writing and growling at the dog. You can find Reena on Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Nobles, and Smashwords.

Tuesday Teaser: Giveaway Hops?

Are you expecting an excerpt today? Almost sorry to disappoint. Today I have something almost equally good… well, I guess it depends on the perspective.

Here's the deal. I'm participating in two blog hops next month: one toward the beginning and one at the end. Being the writer that I am, there's no doubt I'll be offering up a few of my pieces. Plus, there will be an Amazon GC or credit towards purchases at the Book Depository with each blog hop. Not sure which it'll be yet or how much.

I would like to sweeten the pot, or rather have a few sponsors sweeten the pot for the readers. If you'd like to sponsor (donate) a prize, either send me an email at reenajacobs@reenajacobs.com or leave a comment with your email, and I'll get back to you.

If you don't like the hassle of preparing for a blog hop, this would be an excellent opportunity for a bit of publicity. Sponsors will be included in a widget (or two) at the top of my blog, most likely in place of the What's Happening? widget. So get your buttons ready. And of course, there will be a link back to the sponsors website/blog in the giveaway and winning posts. Perhaps more link backs, since there's plenty of time to boast about the upcoming blog hops.

A few details on the giveaways and the prizes allowed in them.

The host of this Giveaway is Kathy at I'm a Reader not a Writer. According to the blog hop rules, "there is no requirement on the minimum or maximum value of your giveaway. It's up to you to decide. You can giveaway anything you would like. It does not have to be a book or gift card but should be something a reader, blogger or author would enjoy." So basically, anything you'd like to sponsor works for me.

The hosts for this hop are Heather from Book Savvy Babe, Jenn from The Bawdy Book Blog, and Lisa from Alive on the Shelves. This trio states, "the prize must be book related (books, book depository, Amazon/B&N gift card, etc)." That's pretty much self-explanatory.

Let me know if you'd like to be a sponsor in one or both of the above giveaways hops. The prize you'd like to offer can be either international or country specific. So, email at reenajacobs@reenajacobs.com or leave a comment with your email, and so we can work out the deets.

And if you're a giveaway junkie, like me, definitely STOP BY and enter to win!

Never miss a post. Get your subscription for Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, today.

Reena Jacobs is just your typical writer who loves to see her words in print. As an avid reader, she's known to hoard books and begs her husband regularly for "just one more purchase." Her home life is filled with days chasing her preschooler and nights harassing her husband. Between it all, she squeezes in time for writing and growling at the dog. You can find Reena on Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Nobles, and Smashwords.

Novel Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

I mentioned awhile back, I picked up Uglies by Scott Westerfeld during the Borders/Walden going out of business sale. I was pretty excited about this piece, because my daughter recommended it to me. Well, I finally read it. I ended up having to bump it up the list to get to it since the publication date was so old.

Before I get to the review, I'm going off on a little tangent… remember Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, remember? Okay. So my Walden Books went out of business. Shortly after, I found a job advertisement from Books-a-Million (BAM) in the same shopping center at Walden Books. I couldn't find anything on BAM's website about a new store opening. Well, last week I found more job advertisements. When I checked their website this time, I also found information on the upcoming store. Now where Walden Books was is a BAM sign overlaid. Is that not cool or what?

We may have lost Walden, but we gained another bookstore. I guess this is a case of the survival of the fittest.

Back to the book review and the blurb from Ms. Westerfeld's website:

Uglies is set in a world in which everyone has an operation when they turn sixteen, making them supermodel beautiful. Big eyes, full lips, no one fat or skinny. You might think this is a good thing, but it's not. Especially if you're one of the Smokies, a bunch of radical teens who've decided they want to keep their own faces. (How anti-social of them.)

Okay. That's the blurb from Mr. Westerfeld's site. This is my personal blurb: Imagine a world full of superficial people. Welcome to Pretty Town.

First off the bat, Tally rubbed me all sorts of wrong. All she could talk about were pretty people and how she couldn't wait to become one. She reminded me of that scene from A Bug's Life… well, check it out yourself…

That was Tally when faced with a Pretty. And when she wasn't being enraptured by the Pretty, she full of condescension. Consider these lines/thoughts by her:

pg 76 Their ugly little faces peered up at the dorm's four-story height, their eyes full of wonder and terror. Oh I hate Tally and her attitude.
pg 81 "Don't be weird, Shay. I'm an ugly, you're an ugly. we will be for two more weeks. It's no big deal or anything." She laughed. "You, for example, have one giant eyebrow and one tiny one." Tally being the biggest jerk as she talks to her friend.
pg 198 "What are these freaks?"

"They aren't freaks," Shay said. "The weird thing is, these are famous people."

"Famous for what? Being hideous?" Tally talking about people in our modern day magazines. Need I say more?

Let's just say, Tally and I didn't hit it off.

How about the plot? The beginning was rather rocky, and I wasn't sure I'd even finish Uglies. Once Tally started focusing on other issues beside just being pretty, the book improved. I couldn't help but be interested in what happens during the Pretty process. I had a hard time believing a child could grow up thinking they're were ugly and worthless all their life, then after a surgery which fixed the outer imperfections they'd have high self-esteem. Then the Smokies were introduced, and I had to know what that was about.

Uglies also had a bit of romance action. At first, the romance seemed so fake considering it came out of the blue. But sometimes, I guess that's how it happens. Just having someone take notice can be attractive. In the case of Tally falling for an Ugly, I'd say that's what happened. After all, she was quite superficial throughout the story.

Over all, this wasn't the best read, and the presentation wasn't all that great. However, the story was unique to me. It also ended on a cliffhanger, which I absolutely hate. I'm just glad the series is over, and I have the complete collection. Now I can read (or not read) them at my leisure. Stay tuned for my review of Pretties this Saturday.

Uglies is available at: The Book Depository and Barnes & Nobles

By the way, what do you think of the blog theme?

Never miss a post. Get your subscription for Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, today.

Reena Jacobs is just your typical writer who loves to see her words in print. As an avid reader, she's known to hoard books and begs her husband regularly for "just one more purchase." Her home life is filled with days chasing her preschooler and nights harassing her husband. Between it all, she squeezes in time for writing and growling at the dog. You can find Reena on Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Nobles, and Smashwords.

[image error]

Sunday Showcase #20

Cinderella's Prince Charming is divorced and at a dead-end in his career, so he opens a bookstore and travels the land ordering books and discovering new authors. Still handsome and still charming, he has given up on women, royalty, and anything that smacks of a future.

Mellie is sick and tired of being called the Evil Stepmother. She did her best by her stepdaughter Snow White, but the girl resented her to no end and made all kinds of false accusations.

Neither of them believes in happily ever after anymore, but both of them believe in happily for the moment…

Why I Picked It Up: Mark Fassett and I were talking books for some reason or another… oh that's right! because we're authors and that's what authors do way too much. Besides the nifty looking cover, the time travel situation really sounds awesome!

Available at: Barnes & Nobles and The Book Depository

[image error]Before he knew about the Roses, 16-year-old Jack lived an unremarkable life in the small Ohio town of Trinity. Only the medicine he has to take daily and the thick scar above his heart set him apart from the other high-schoolers. Then one day Jack skips his medicine. Suddenly, he is stronger, fiercer, and more confident than ever before. And it feels great until he loses control of his own strength and nearly kills another player during soccer team tryouts. Soon, Jack learns the startling truth about himself: He is Weirlind; part of an underground society of magical people who live among us. At the head of this magical society sit the feuding houses of the Red Rose and the White Rose, whose power is determined by playing The Game. A magical tournament in which each house sponsors a warrior to fight to the death, The winning house ruling the Weir. As if his bizarre magical heritage isn't enough, Jack finds out that he s not just another member of Weirlind, he's one of the last of the warriors at a time when both houses are scouting for a player. Jack's performance on the soccer field has alerted the entire magical community to the fact that he's in Trinity. And until one of the houses is declared Jack's official sponsor, they'll stop at nothing to get Jack to fight for them.

Why I Picked It Up: I guess the author is coming out with a new book for this series. To celebrate, she offered the first at NetGalley. The plot sounded so cool, I totally had to take her up on her offer.

Available at: Barnes & Nobles and The Book Depository

Every other day, Kali D'Angelo is a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She goes to public high school. She attends pep rallies. She's human.

And then every day in between . . .She's something else entirely.

Though she still looks like herself, every twenty-four hours predatory instincts take over and Kali becomes a feared demon-hunter with the undeniable urge to hunt, trap, and kill zombies, hellhounds, and other supernatural creatures. Kali has no idea why she is the way she is, but she gives in to instinct anyway. Even though the government considers it environmental terrorism.

When Kali notices a mark on the lower back of a popular girl at school, she knows instantly that the girl is marked for death by one of these creatures. Kali has twenty-four hours to save her and, unfortunately, she'll have to do it as a human. With the help of a few new friends, Kali takes a risk that her human body might not survive. . .and learns the secrets of her mysterious condition in the process.

Why I Picked It Up: Originally, I wasn't going to bother with this book. It just seemed so iffy to my tastes. Then I saw a mini-trailer on Goodreads and said, why not? So here we have it. This NetGalley takeaway will go to the top of my list come the end of November.

Available at: Barnes & Nobles and The Book Depository

[image error] Emma has put everyone else first in her life. Now at nearly 25, has she missed her chance at marriage?

Emma was Adam's first love but circumstances made them both choose different paths in life. Emma's heart breaks all over again when Adam returns to the Amish community of Middlefield, Ohio, years later.

For the past ten years, Emma has been raising her siblings after their parents' untimely death. She's put their needs above her own and now, with them grown, she can focus on herself and her dream of opening a yarn store in the vacant cider house on her land.

With Adam's return come feelings Emma's long buried. They're older and life hasn't turned out the way they thought it would. Adam's feelings for Emma are stronger than ever, but will he be able to convince her to put others aside and give their love a chance?

Why I Picked It Up: So you know, I've been on an Amish romance kick. What can I say? I'm hooked. Interesting tidbit, the publishing company has put a limit on the  number of NetGalley reads I can checkout at a time. Slow down, Reena. First read what you have, then you can ask for another. I just knocked out two of their books, so I might try for another even though I'm just starting Treasuring Emma tonight.

Available at: Barnes & Nobles and The Book Depository

An inspired re-imagining of the tale of Esther, a young Jewish woman thrust from a life of obscurity into a life of power, wealth, intrigue . . . and tender love.

See the story of Esther in an entirely new way-with all the political intrigue and tension you remember, but told as a passionate and tender love story between a young man and woman. Misunderstood by many, King Xerxes was a powerful but lonely man. Esther's beauty caught the eye of the young king, but it was her spirit that captured his heart.

Imagine anew the story of Esther, one of our faith's great heroines, destined to play a key role in the history of Christianity.

Why I Picked It Up: Esther in the bible has one of my favorite biblical stories. I just couldn't resist checking this one out. This is also another offering by the publisher above. I just finished reading it today and will be posting my review for October 31, 2011. Let's see if the publisher will allow me to checkout another work from NetGalley now that this one is ready for review.

Available at: Barnes & Nobles and The Book Depository

What goodies did you get in this week?

Never miss a post. Get your subscription for Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, today.

Reena Jacobs is just your typical writer who loves to see her words in print. As an avid reader, she's known to hoard books and begs her husband regularly for "just one more purchase." Her home life is filled with days chasing her preschooler and nights harassing her husband. Between it all, she squeezes in time for writing and growling at the dog. You can find Reena on Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Nobles, and Smashwords.

[image error]

Novel Review: An Amish Love

Originally, I'd plan to space out reading and reviewing the stories in An Amish love by Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller, Kelly Long. Once I started, I just kept going, and here we are today — ready for the review. But first, the blurb from Goodreads:

Two of today's most popular genres–Romance and Amish fiction–together in one volume.

"Healing Hearts" by Beth Wiseman: Levina Lapp and her husband Naaman are alone for the first time in 30 years. When Naaman left to visit cousins in Ohio, Levina wasn't expecting him to be gone a year. Now that he's back, will they be able to move beyond this estrangement and fall in love again?

"What the Heart Sees" by Kathleen Fuller: A tragic accident rocks a peaceful Amish community, leaving Ellie Chupp blinded and Christopher Bender's future shattered. But they find love and forgiveness in a place they least expect.

"A Marriage of the Heart" by Kelly Long: Rachel Yoder is tired of her Amish lifestyle and her domineering father's ways. When handsome Joseph Lambert comes back from the Englisch, she lies to force a marriage of convenience, providing the perfect means to escape her father's rule. But Rachel never imagined she'd fall in love with Joseph so quickly or irrevocably.

I particularly liked the first story, A Marriage of the Heart. An Amish man (Joseph Lambert) returns to the community after a bann and is forced into marriage in order to protect the honor of a deceitful young Amish woman (Abigail Kauffman). The first thoughts which came to mind was this couple was unequally yoked. Early, I worried Abigail would lead Joseph astray. It was beautiful the way love and patience transformed the couple so they both ended up pulling in the same direction. 4.5 – 5 out of 5 stars. Definitely my fave of the three.

What the Heart Sees was quite enjoyable, though the ending was a bit rushed. Still, it held my interest throughout though. In this story, we have an Amish man (Christopher Bender) wanting to reenter the community after a bann but his inability to forgive another member interferes with his desires. Helping him through his journey is blind Amish woman (Ellie Chupp) who believes her blindness makes her undesirable for marriage. I think this work would have been much stronger if so much information weren't withheld from the reader. The information was doled out in a way that left me (as a reader) in the dark but offered no suspense. But like I said, the over all story kept me interested. 3.5 – 4 out of 5 stars.

The final work, Healing Hearts started out wonderful. I absolutely loved the idea of an older couple falling in love again. Though I'm far from their age, I could truly relate to their situation. My biggest issue is the story dragged out too long, and the characters got a little silly stupid toward the end. Partway through the story, a side character (Larry) was introduced with minimum information. Though he played a significant role to keep the story moving beyond the happily ever after, I knew so little about him, I lacked interest in his story line. 3 out of 5 stars.

One thing interesting about this collection, all the stories were in the same setting. Not just an Amish environment, but in the exact same town so that characters from on story mingled with characters in the other stories. Now isn't that cool?

An Amish Love is available at: The Book Depository and Barnes & Nobles

Never miss a post. Get your subscription for Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, today.

Reena Jacobs is just your typical writer who loves to see her words in print. As an avid reader, she's known to hoard books and begs her husband regularly for "just one more purchase." Her home life is filled with days chasing her preschooler and nights harassing her husband. Between it all, she squeezes in time for writing and growling at the dog. You can find Reena on Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Nobles, and Smashwords.

[image error]

Working Wednesday #25

I totally forgot to do my Working Wednesday last week, which was actually quite exciting. This week? Not so much. Still I'll share what's happened these past two weeks.

Writing

Edit Chasing Shadows ~ I didn't touch this work. I'm not even sure I pretend to open the project week.



Finish/edit one scene a day. Currently at 8/50
Get it to an editor (If I earn enough through sales to pay for one, otherwise this might be one of those works which doesn't get published for awhile. No more dipping into family funds for my publishing ventures. After 3 releases, this business should be self-sustaining, and if not, well… it's not going to become a money pit.)
Release by January 1 (hopefully – pending the funding I mentioned above)

Finish writing/editing Regina's Story ~ TASK COMPLETED



Write the darn scene by the end of the month Completed Working Wednesday #21
Take a couple of days in early October to polish it Completed
Release Regina's Story by November Released October 10, 2011. WOOT!!!
Find links for Regina's Story here

Finish writing/editing Injustice is Served ~ I wrote half of the last story. Still have a few kinks to work out plus the ending.



6.5/7 complete – Finish 1 story a month so the first drafts will be ready by November
Polish them in November/December
Release before Christmas

NEW GOAL: NaNoWriMo

Decide which story I'm going to write. Decided to join the NaNo Rebels. I'm not starting a new story. Instead I plan on finishing two stories I've already started.

Book 1 of Trinity's Destiny (the gal from ILYF)
The Sun Still Rises (single title, but features Gretel's from ILYF and Nora Tech from Shadow Cat. If I'm not mistaken, there's even a scene with Bryan Hayes in it.)
Work on some short stories if there's time (Control Freak and/or a May/December erotica)

Come November 1, write 2000 words on the week days (M-F)
Write 1500 words on the weekends (S & S)

Reading Challenge

I'm currently 2 books ahead.
My current reads is Pretties by Scott Westerfeld. I'm enjoying this one a lot more than I'd expected. It started off really silly. I'm probably about a 2/3 done and not sure where things will  lead.




Reena has read 18 books toward her goal of 60 books.

hide

18 of 60 (30%)
view books

 

Who's with me as a NaNo Rebel?

Never miss a post. Get your subscription for Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, today.

Reena Jacobs is just your typical writer who loves to see her words in print. As an avid reader, she's known to hoard books and begs her husband regularly for "just one more purchase." Her home life is filled with days chasing her preschooler and nights harassing her husband. Between it all, she squeezes in time for writing and growling at the dog. You can find Reena on Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Nobles, and Smashwords.

Novel Review: Dark Eden by Patrick Carman

Dark Eden by Patrick Carman was a goodie I received from Net Galley. Most of the books I read are written by women, so I was pretty excited to land a work with a male protagonist which was also written by a man. Even so, I'd put off reading it for awhile in order to make sure I timed the review just right. Well, the time finally arrived. Before the review, the blurb from Mr. Carman's website:

Fifteen-year-old Will Besting is sent by his doctor to Fort Eden, an institution meant to help patients suffering from crippling phobias. Once there, Will and six other teenagers take turns in mysterious fear chambers and confront their worst nightmares—with the help of the group facilitator, Rainsford, an enigmatic guide. When the patients emerge from the chamber, they feel emboldened by the previous night's experiences. But each person soon discovers strange, unexplained aches and pains. . . . What is really happening to the seven teens trapped in this dark Eden?

Patrick Carman's Dark Eden is a provocative exploration of fear, betrayal, memory, and— ultimately—immortality.

Dark Eden started off quite slow. I wasn't sure what to make of it. After reading the blurb, I thought the book would be a YA paranormal, but the further I progressed, the more it just seemed like a book about a boy with a phobia. In fact, I wasn't even sure what his phobia was at first, only that he was elusive… and a bit of a stalker.

I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed the book was so far off from what I'd expected. I'm not saying a book about kids with mental disorders couldn't be interesting. After all, I quite enjoyed Ultraviolet (see review here). It was more on the lines, I had no idea what the ultimate purpose of the story was until well into the book. What were the stakes? Simply spying on kids with phobias wasn't enough for me.

Eventually, I did discover what was at stake: be cured of the phobias using some weird, undisclosed method or continue to live with the fear. Even with the stakes laid out, they weren't big enough to make this work stellar. Interestingly enough, the bread crumbs left as I followed the story kept me entertained and eager for the big reveal. Unfortunately, it never came.

I hit the end of the book, well what seemed like the end, and was sorely disappointed in the conclusion. The ending was followed by several short sections which explained what was really going on in Dark Eden, and this is where I hit the paranormal aspect of the book. The oh by the way, this is what happened and why wrapped up everything in a nice package, but the presentation was flat and lacking in appeal.

I hate to be overly critical, but Dark Eden by Patrick Carman was mediocre, which is a shame, because it had the potential to be so much more.

Dark Eden by Patrick Carman is Available at: The Book Depository and Barnes & Nobles

Never miss a post. Get your subscription for Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, today.

Reena Jacobs is just your typical writer who loves to see her words in print. As an avid reader, she's known to hoard books and begs her husband regularly for "just one more purchase." Her home life is filled with days chasing her preschooler and nights harassing her husband. Between it all, she squeezes in time for writing and growling at the dog. You can find Reena on Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Nobles, and Smashwords.

Happy Release Day: Glassman by Jocelyn Adams

A little birdie told me, I'm late on the ball. My writer buddy Jocelyn Adams released her debut this month, The Glass Man, a little early. Woot. If you haven't checked it out, now's the time to do so.  A little about The Glass Man.

[image error] Lila Gray is just a human—at least that's her mantra when she accidentally topples a building or bends a paranoid local's gun into modern art.  That she can sense and control the minds around her doesn't prove anything, either.  Unwilling to put others at risk, she hides in the wilderness from the beautiful creature who hunts her, one who sees her as his ultimate prize.

Alone, the egocentric Glass Man can kill with a thought.  Mated with Lila, he's a supernatural weapon prepared to annihilate the humans he loathes. 

Caught in the Glass Man's latest scheme, Lila is plunged into a hidden fae realm, faced with a secret birthright and a forbidden romance.  With the Glass Man threatening everyone she loves, can Lila accept who she is in time to end his bloody reign?  Or will she succumb to his dark power and become the vehicle of destruction for the human race?

Find The Glass Man by Jocelyn Adams at: Barnes & Nobles and The Book Depository

So check out The Glass Man, hop over to Ms. Adams' blog, and give her a hearty congrats!

Never miss a post. Get your subscription for Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, today.

Reena Jacobs is just your typical writer who loves to see her words in print. As an avid reader, she's known to hoard books and begs her husband regularly for "just one more purchase." Her home life is filled with days chasing her preschooler and nights harassing her husband. Between it all, she squeezes in time for writing and growling at the dog. You can find Reena on Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Nobles, and Smashwords.

Software Review Update: StoryBox

[image error]A week or so ago, Mark Fassett (Author and Software Developer) asked if I wanted to beta test is newest update for StoryBox (see review here and here). Sure, I said. After all, I do all my writing in StoryBox. Why? because it ROCKS! Great timing also. As you might recall, I was just gearing up to polish Control Freak: Regina's Story. Well, Regina's Story is published, and I'm going to share with you how easy it was to do by using StoryBox (SB).

For a more detailed pictures, click on the images. By the way, the emerald green is a new theme for SB. Very pretty.

Image 1

Starting at the top, you'll notice I have two items circled in Image 1. So, let's familiarize ourselves with a few of the features of SB.

File Drawer ~ The right circle features the File Drawer. This is where you'll find all your documents (Story, Chapter, Acts, Images, etc). They're all here. If your file drawer isn't open, you can find it by clicking on the view menu and choosing file drawer.

Document Properties  (Properties) ~ On the left side is the Properties box. This is where you'll give a type to your documents. For instance, you'll notice I have this particular document set as Story. Likewise, you can find document properties in the view menu.

One thing I'll mention, SB is fully customizable. You can move the File Drawer, Document Properties or other features simply by dragging. So you're not stuck with my view, and your SB view likely won't look like mine unless you do some dragging.

Now to the highlighted area in the left circle ~ Control Freak: Regina's Story. It's important you label your Story properly. Once your file is created in the export, this is the name assigned to the actual download. For example, when I pull up the mobi created by SB in my Kindle, it'll show Control Freak: Regina's Story. I mention this because the default name for the Story document is "Story." If you don't change this, then the name on your Kindle will show "Story" and not the actual name of the story. Got it? Good.

Within a Story you have Chapters. The chapter I'm working with here is "Regina's Story." I use Chapters as dividers. Typically, I leave them blank or use one of the macros listed in the Help menu under Export. I'll talk about the actual story later, which I chose Scenes as the type rather than something like Chapter, Story, Image, etc. For now, let's hit the front matter.

[image error]

Image 2

Front matter ~ For my stories, I like to divide my front matter into sections (everything circled on the left). I created separate documents and use the Scene type in the Document Properties. For my front matter, I included documents for my works and copyright information. Though I didn't, you might even include an acknowledgement or forewords here. If you notice, the portion within my funky square on the left (Image 2), you'll see front matter for the major indie distributors (Kindle, Goodreads, Smashwords, Pubit). That's because each distributor requires their own copyright notice. You could include more, but that's all I needed for the time being. The example provided is one for Smashwords. Instead of typing each copyright notice separately, I generally just copy and paste then change a bit of the wording (Smashwords edition substituted with Kindle edition, purchase from Amazon.com instead of Smashwords.com, etc.)

Over to the left, you'll notice a few more items circled. Notice this particular document is NOT included in the manuscript. However, if I were creating a Smashwords file, I would check the box.

Because I want a page break between my list of works and the copyright notice, I chose to put a page break before this document.

According to the help file, it's recommended to not preserve formatting so all looks right in the ePub files. I'm a bit of a rebel sometimes and chose to include it. Do so at your own risk.

So now we've reached the actual story! Woot.

Image 3

Notice the [doctitle]  at the top of the document in Image 3. This is optional. As I mentioned, the Help file has an entire list of macros. Because Regina's Story is a short story, I chose to use this label instead of chapter numbers earlier. You're free to be as creative as you want. Each work is different, so I'm not going into details here.

You might notice the [br] macros throughout the document, both here and in the front matter. Use these to force carriage returns. When SB converts your story into an ePub the spaces between paragraphs (carriage returns) disappear if you don't use a forced [br]. Just a little FYI.

On the right side, I've checked all the boxes. Yours might look differently. For example, if you have multiple scenes, you might not want to include a page break between each scene, only chapters. Remember, each document is different. Fiddle around a bit to get the look you want.

Back Matter ~ I like to include a bit of encouragement to readers to review my work in the back, along with my author profile. Others might also include an afterwords, excerpts, or other features. It's really up to you.

Last but not least… drum roll! The Cover Art!

Image 4

To include your Cover Art, go to the Document menu and choose New Picture. It'll pull up a box which will allow you to choose the picture you want. Next, go to the Story Properties and select the appropriate picture in the Cover Image pull down menu (circled in Image 4). If Story Properties is not one of your boxes, you can select it from the View menu, like you did for the Document Properties and File Drawer. When you export your file, SB will automatically include the picture for you.

So that's the basics… now for the fun part: Exporting your file.

Image 5

Right click your Story and choose Export. Everything which is checked "Include in Manuscript" (see the circled area on the right in image 2) will be part of your export file. An alternative, which I did with Regina's Story is to only export sections of your manuscript. I collect Control Freak Stories in one file in order to keep everything together. So instead of right clicking the Story (Control Freak: Regina's Story), I right clicked the chapter "Regina's Story." Doing so only exports the documents under Regina's Story.

A few interesting items here. At the top, you have a choice to export to a .txt, .rtf, or .ePub file (see image 5). Each serves a wonderful purpose. The Smashwords Formatting Guide mentions a nuclear option. That would be your .txt file. It'll take all the formatting in your document and strip it. The .rtf file is also great for Smashwords (SW). Though SW only accepts .doc files, you can use the .rtf as a base. Simply follow the guide and when you're done, save as a .doc file. Voila! All is well.

Then we have the ePub file. Oh how I love you, ePub file. Pubit accepts a variety of formats, including ePub. Goodreads says it'll accept files other than ePub, but does a crappy job converting. One thing nice about using SB to export into an ePub, you don't have to worry about inadequate meat grinders. So if you're looking to put something on Goodreads, this is definitely the way to go. Likewise, I had no problems with submitting my ePub to Pubit.

You'll notice at the bottom of Image 5, I've circled "Prepare for Kindle Conversion." Amazon has a free program called KindleGen, which allows you to convert HTML, XHTML, XML (OPF/IDPF format), or ePub into Mobi files. If you have KindleGen installed, SB will do the conversion for you. First, you have to make sure SB is properly configured to use KindleGen.

Image 6

In the View menu, select Preferences, then browse for your KindleGen path. If you followed the instructions for KindleGen, your path will be the same as the one in Image 6.

Once you choose whether you want to export as an .txt, .rtf, .epub, or .epub with Kindle Conversion, click Export and SB will do the rest.

***One note. If you choose to export using the Kindle Conversion feature, the ePub file will not include the cover art. If you want cover art with your ePub file, do not choose the Kindle Conversion. Basically, your Kindle Conversion and ePub file should be done with two different exports.

So for Regina's Story, I ran the export 4 times — one for each distribution channel (Pubit, Amazon, Smashwords, and Goodreads).

That's it. You're ready to upload your files to the distribution channels. Now tell me, StoryBox is da bomb! Right?

Try it for yourself, then come back and tell me how it worked for you… or if I missed any important steps.

Never miss a post. Get your subscription for Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, today.

Reena Jacobs is just your typical writer who loves to see her words in print. As an avid reader, she's known to hoard books and begs her husband regularly for "just one more purchase." Her home life is filled with days chasing her preschooler and nights harassing her husband. Between it all, she squeezes in time for writing and growling at the dog. You can find Reena on Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Nobles, and Smashwords.

Who Art Thou Thursday: Rhiannon Paille

Rhiannon Paille has joined us again. If you recall, she teased us a bit on Tuesday with her latest release. Today, she's going to let us pick her brain.

Tell us about your most recent publication.

[image error]FLAME of SURRENDER is my YA DEBUT.

It's about the boy who follows death falling in love with a girl who could cause the apocalypse.

They have a whirlwind romance which distracts him from who he is and gives him a form of temporary happiness.

And like most things, their romance is doomed. The ferryman dies, the boy has to become the next and when he denies his destiny, the ones searching for the girl find her.

Being a weapon she's rather important to the villainous types and so they come for her, they need her to complete their evil plans.

And she's not really strong enough to fight them, neither is the boy, but she has to be the one to choose whether or not she faces them, hides, or awakens the flame inside of her and potentially destroys herself.

How do you come up with your cover art?

That was all Sam, I explained this on my blog in a longer answer, but basically in 2010 I asked Sam to cosplay Kaliel and she did. We shot a short from the book called "Journey to the Great Oak" which is kind of a pivotal scene in the book. We also took some stills during the shoot and one of those stills because the book cover. I had Rachel over at Parajunkee make it look pretty and all, but otherwise it was all Sam.

 Which of your characters do you relate to most?

I relate to both Kaliel and Krishani equally. I'm not a good person to ask this because I'm a psychic so really, when someone else is in my head, I relate to them. I understand people on a deeper level so I can't say that I don't understand something when I can feel how they feel and see the things they see and hear their thoughts. I have my own personality of course which remains separate, but I am very good at relating to people in general. When it comes to my characters though from all the WIPs I have on the go, Kaliel and Krishani have always been my favorites. They're the ones I want to share with the world, I mean they've been stuck in my head so long it'll be nice for them to infect other people with their personalities and their hardships for a change.

What about Ferrymen do you find so sexy?

I should clarify that I find Krishani sexy. I mean he's not really your garden variety death walker, he's a lot more intricate than that. The biggest thing I find sexy is that Ferrymen aren't actually the enemy. They're the hero, they save souls, preventing them from being devoured by soul eaters that would destroy them. Yes we have a macabre image of them being the harbingers of death but that's not the entire truth. They can pass souls by using the boat, or they do it on the white horse, or they can do it the way the Valkyries do it and fly. There's plenty of avenues to death, the Ferryman is just a messenger. I also find their story is one that is mostly untold, like they're never the main focal point of a story, neither are the flames for that matter, and I thought it was high time to give them the spotlight, in particular, Krishani and Kaliel, the Ferryman and the Flame that were in love, and all the tragedy and mayhem that happened because of it.

Also, Orlando Bloom. In POTC his character Will Turner took over for Davy Jones. And you can't tell me that he wasn't sexy.

No objections here. I could certainly think up a few erotic scenes for him.

What are you working on now?

FLAME of the BEGINNING, it's a novella that tells the story of the first age, the first time The Ferryman and The Flame met. I have an outline I just need to find the time to get it out there.

Give us a brief description of a story you have hidden in your skeleton closet? And will it ever see the light of day?

The first story I ever wrote was called The New Doll. It was about a doll that was possessed by a spirit that would never go away. It traveled between a set of twins, and eventually switched bodies and somehow the twins managed to find a happy ending.

I've begun rewriting it and my inspiration for it is Ellen Paige. I think about movies like Whip It and Juno and Scott Pilgrim. It's all Indie Rock, and Osborne Village and small town living and stuff. The twins have some interesting quirks. Wish Waters is allergic to everything, afraid of everything and beyond shy. She's very prone to panic attacks. Her twin sister Blush Waters is the exact opposite, she's been dissecting squirrels since she was eight, she's a genius, total scientific mind, and likes to rebuild cars, make model rockets for fun and otherwise be a pain in the ass for her teachers.

And the doll is still in there somewhere I promise . . . but it's become something more.

I might put it out there just for the people that might like it, but I mean, I have lots of other things up my sleeve.

When did you first decide you wanted to be a writer?

When I had a story to tell. I otherwise wouldn't have resumed my love of writing.

What about your Psychic Ability? Does it influence your writing and/or direction of your writing career?

Yes it does obviously! There are a few ways it influences me. For one, I read minds, and I find when I "create" a character, I'm not so much creating them as I am pulling them from the universe. My best characters are always real people, I just use my fictional skills to bring out the best in their personalities. I "listen" a lot to my characters and that helps me find their voice. Most of them are obviously "spirit guides" or "on the other side" now, or they're going through a reincarnation cycle or they're timeless like most of the Elders. Actually, most of the elders in the book are spirit guides who have guided me on my path in metaphysics.

The second nifty thing I can do is retro project. Unlike astral projection I project myself into the past, and that helps me get more of a feel for the history of a place. I don't use it for technical details as I like to bend the rules a bit, but for tone, attitude, and feel, I do try to go back to when I'm writing about and write from then.

Third, I learned how to do meditation, trance and immramma when I was studying Druidism at the Grove of Dana College, and immramma allows me to travel to the otherworlds. I've astral traveled to many places, including to the other world I created Avristar after.

Really, this book wouldn't exist without my abilities as they really helped me form the way the traditions, the magic, the metaphysics, the characters and the world works. There isn't anything about this book that my abilities didn't affect.

I love your education and credentials. For a muggle like me, I find them fascinating.Will you share with us a little about when you realized you could use your abilities toward a career path?

A lot of bad stuff happened to me when I was growing up and learning about my abilities. I actually tell people that my life is an urban fantasy complete with the psychics, the witches, the vampires, the shapeshifters and all the other scary stuff out there.

I didn't turn it into a career until I was 20 and I was by the seat of my pants getting out there and reading professionally while also studying. I had practiced my craft for 2 years before doing it professionally, and I used to write my techniques down so that I knew what I was doing and when. From there I developed a lot of political views about metaphysics and how it's so separate from religion and it's so useful as a form of therapy. In terms of what I do, I'm a therapist that really uses my gift to help people in whatever way they need. It's an interesting job, but it's nice to be able to know things about people without them telling me and to be able to tell them things they don't know but need to be aware of.

What's the hardest part of the writing process?

Vocabulary. I don't know what happened, but in elementary school I was expanding my vocabulary and then teachers said I was an awesome writer and I just stopped growing. I never learned all the small four and five letter words that I should have, like gait, taut, carom, and others. I suppose as a writer I'm attached to my thesaurus like glue, always looking for a new interesting word.

And yep, I'm the type to read a book and remember the cool words the authors used.

And the easiest?

Imagining. I don't have a problem with watching the stories in my head and I usually watch the story over and over again before I write it out. I like to let it live and grow in my subconscious for awhile before putting it on paper. Some of the best scene

With hindsight being 20/20, is there anything you would have changed with your publishing journey?

Not a thing. I'm a lucky girl in a lot of ways because for me it wasn't just finding a publisher that was special. It was finding a group of cosplayers / film students / photographers / musicians / cgi special effects designers that made it special. I found people who took my vision for the story, stood by me and turned it into reality long before I ever had interest from an editor. I've never had interest from literary agents, which is fine with me, but I did get to work with Jennifer Laughran who critiqued this manuscript and I still think she's great even if she doesn't represent me.

In the end, I can't say that my journey has been like anyone else's, it's been VERY unique, and it's only just beginning.

This is one instance in which I don't know the future

Who would you say is your biggest fan in your writing career?

I don't even know . . . there's Sammie Spencer who was the first Beta Reader to love the book, but there's also Samantha Wiebe who cosplayed Kaliel first and got the character down after reading five pages of the book. Then there's also Jello (yep, that's her nickname) and she's just interested in the world, and the characters and loves being involved in my film projects that have to do with the book.

Who is your favorite author and why?

I have two of them who run neck and neck with me. Cassandra Clare and Maggie Stiefvater. I love Stiefvater for her prose and I love Clare for her writing style and her dirty sexy scenes. I love them both for the characters they create.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Write a crappy story first. Honestly, take your worst idea and do it first. Save all the golden nuggets of ideas for when you've found your voice as a writer, worked out all the kinks in your prose, your POV preferences, your adverbs and your sentence structure.

Once you've mastered all of that, there's only two things you need to do, OUTLINE, and WRITE LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER.

 How about some quickies!

Pencil or Pen: Pen

Print or Cursive: Print

Pantser or Plotter: Plotter

Favorite Candy: Swedish Berries

Worst habit: Nail biting

***************************

About the Rhiannon Paille

Once upon a time there was a pretty little girl. She was psychic but she didn't know it yet. She met a boy who died of leukemia and she knew. The rest is history.

When she was growing up she read a lot of books and wrote a lot of stories. She used to read in the fading light of dusk, squinting to see the words until they blurred into inky nothingness. And then she would dream about the boy that died. She imagined an entire life with him, but she never thought she'd see him again.

And then one day her life turned into an urban fantasy. She could hear people's thoughts and see the future, and feel people's emotions. She saw ghosts, spirit guides, and demons. She didn't know what any of it meant.

And then she met that special someone that changed her life, a man whose name she had written down once in her diary. He taught her about being psychic, and helped her accept what she was.

Nowadays she reads a lot, and writes a lot. By day she reads minds, heals people, and fights demons, personal and metaphysical. By night she writes about ferrymen and flames and psychics and awkward people. She's not omnipotent but some people think she is, she's an over qualified over achiever with a PhD, and if she were a food she'd be a Chinese buffet, exotic but ordinary.

She thinks ferrymen are sexy.

She hopes you think they're sexy too.

Connect with Rhiannon Paille on her Website

[image error]Find Flame of Surrender

by

Rhiannon Paile at:

Amazon and Smashwords

Never miss a post. Get your subscription for Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, today.

Reena Jacobs is just your typical writer who loves to see her words in print. As an avid reader, she's known to hoard books and begs her husband regularly for "just one more purchase." Her home life is filled with days chasing her preschooler and nights harassing her husband. Between it all, she squeezes in time for writing and growling at the dog. You can find Reena on Ramblings of an Amateur Writer, Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Nobles, and Smashwords.