Barbara G. Tarn's Blog, page 131

Random Friday

And it’s Art Friday, since Cristina spent three days with me, inspiring me! First have a look at her WiP of Amazon Summer cover… looking forward to the final digital painting! :) I must say she’s done amazing progress in digital painting since those covers for the BoI (BTW, here’s the “flat” version of the box set – she kindly helped to “clean” the women to make the new cover that I pasted together with the elements symbols done my myself))…

I mentioned drawing before starting to write, so here goes the Assassins Guild: Saif, Karuna/Kilig and Mirabella (Hakeem’s mother).

You can see the final drawings here: Karuna and Saif&Mirabella. I also did some dragon studies (yes, there’s a dragon in one of the stories – actually, a half-Fajrulo for those familiar with Silvery Earth), finally using the book I bought myself in London last November.

And then I did a new cover for Jessamine – while I tried something for my experiment, but I’m not very happy with the results yet. I mean I still have a lot of work to do. But I like the new cover, so I might finish the project this summer.

And here’s the final version… Oh, and yesterday I did my very first animated GIF! Like I said on DeviantART, since I have a very old Photoshop, I had to look for instructions for doing it with Photoshop Elements…

Should I change my Avatar everywhere?! :D Why did I do this? Because of this DeviantART contest which also included a tutorial (for Photoshop CS5 or CS6)… No, I’m not submitting it, but I’ve always wondered how to do animated GIFs… and now I know! ;)

Ending on a silly note – while browsing Pinterest (no, I haven’t opened an account there), I found this… and now I want one (scroll down to the last image), LOL! If it’s Barbie-sized, it’s perfect, since my Barbie is the model’s age! :D Yep, showing my age again… ;)

Have a great weekend!

Writer Wednesday

The box set is now live on Amazon, B&N and Kobo – Apple will follow. The B&N and Apple box set have a flat cover since D2D kindly informed me of the following issue:

Apple

The types of material at issue include:

3D Cover: The content contains a 3D Cover.

Sales channels not listed above continue to receive this material at this time.

And then you wonder why I own i-Nothings. Since I go to B&N via D2D, I had to change the cover there, hence the flat cover for Apple and B&N and the 3D cover for Amazon and Kobo. Limited time offer, only until the end of summer! :)

It was brought to my attention that I can go direct to B&N now, and since I see some discrepancy between royalties (I’ve sold one copy of a book last month and one this month and the amount credited is not the same – 2.75$ vs 2.97$ same title, same retailer, B&N), I might slowly move everything to Nook press.

Although Mark Coker tells us that only through Smashwords can we do pre-orders on B&N. Except I haven’t found any benefit in pre-orders, so… I don’t know. Another account and another upload? Sigh. Maybe when I sell a little more? Decisions…

I was tagged by Rory in a blog tour I had already seen on Viv’s blog months ago – and had considered doing as per her invitation, but back then I was busy translating, not writing new stuff, so I didn’t. But this time the tag came at an excellent time, so I’m going to answer to those questions!

Barb’s four questions four answers – blog tour

Question 1: What am I working on?

The Assassins Guild of Godwalkar. I’ve decided its history, and am writing prequels to Saif’s Legacy before writing the sequel(s). I’m writing the conception of Hakeem, how Karuna became Kilig and something about Abhaya the Fearless, not to mention a couple more characters that are not in the novella, but will be in the sequels. And then I’ll start thinking about what happens to Kilig & Hakeem, since I’ve been asked for a sequel! :) In June I plan on going back to translation – Male Lovers of Silvery Earth, which includes Saif’s Legacy, so I’ll probably continue writing the new stories along with the translation.

Question 2: How does my work differ to others of its genre?

It’s adult unconventional fantasy, character and plot-oriented with lots of “different” characters who struggle (or not) against society. No quests, no hero’s journey, just people from different cultures trying to fit in (again, or not – sometimes they’re just happy to be “different”). No epic battles of good vs evil, but adventures up and down the world – meeting people, doing things, finding themselves and their true dreams.

Question 3: Why do I write/create what I do?

Because it’s in my blood? I’ve been asked to run a workshop and teach how to write fantasy. I can’t. I can’t teach you how I do what I do. It just comes natural to me. I hear people talk in my head – see them like in a movie. Am I crazy? Probably. But since I’m having fun… I’m very happy I married Mr Writing! :)

Question 4: How does your writing/creating process work?

Sometimes I tell the story to myself beforehand. Sometimes I jot down notes and then improvise. Sometimes I do the cover or an illustration – like I did for the Assassins Guild. You’ll see the drawings I’ve done last week before starting the actual writing soon (okay, if you really want a sneak preview, go to DeviantART…)! :)

And now, to pass it on… Joleene Naylor and Michelle D.Argyle, please keep it going, thank you! :) No writerly links – unless you want to hear about the Amazon/Hachette controversy, but you can easily go to the blogs on my sidebar to hear what they have to say (Smashwords, David Gaughran and Joe Konrath, mostly)… I have no opinion on the matter, I’ll just wait and see! :D Off to writing! Have a great week! :)

Happiness is…

Sunday Surprise

Some general writerly wisdom to close the month… and my two-weeks break! Tomorrow I’m back to DayJob… but I’ll keep writing! :)

I love having more ideas than I can write. I love the fact that all of the series that died due to the loss of my editor, the loss of a book line, the consolidation of publishers, the failure of a sales force, or just being the wrong series at the wrong time can now be resurrected. I have hundreds of stories left to tell, and I plan to  tell as many of them as I can in whatever time I have left.

- Kris Rusch

As an author and a critic, it has long been my practice to only give reviews to books that I genuinely like. I don’t have to think that it’s the greatest book ever written (we can’t all be Shakespeare), but it does have to excite me and persuade me that others will like it, too.

I don’t give negative reviews to books. If I don’t like one, I toss it aside. I don’t have time to read books that I don’t like. I figure that in most cases, lesser books will sink into anonymity. (Though one megahit last year mystified me.)

- David Farland

To sum up: The key to making it as a writer is to write a lot, write great stories, publish them yourself, spend more time writing, study the industry, act like a pro, network, be nice, invest in yourself and your craft, and be patient. If you can do all of these things, you’ll earn some money. Maybe enough to pay a bill every month. Maybe enough to get out of debt. Maybe enough to quit your job. Thousands of writers are doing this, and we are welcoming all comers with open arms.

- Hugh C Howey

I spent a lot of years trying to turn myself into a brand because they told us self-branding is a way to success. And I kind of believed the hype. It’s just not true. To this day, I see writers publishing their first book or their second book and I can just see them going overboard with the marketing and getting all hyped up about it. You just have to write. If something good happens for you, post it on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest or wherever you make your social-media home, but don’t overdo it. Enough with the marketing! Enough with the goddamn marketing already! I’m sick of it.

- Neal Pollack

Embrace the old as we embrace the new because we’re on the frontier, and there are no rules on the frontier. We can actually break rules that nobody’s thought to make yet. We can enter through doors that still say, ‘Exit only.’ We can climb in through windows.

The model for tomorrow, and this is the model that I’ve been using with enormous enthusiasm since I started blogging back in 2001 – probably since I started using CompuServe end of 1988, the model is try everything. Make mistakes. Surprise ourselves. Try anything else. Fail. Fail better. Succeed in ways we would never have imagined a year ago or a week ago. I think it’s time for us to be dandelions willing to launch a thousand seeds and lose 900 of them if a hundred or even a dozen survive and grow and make a new world. And I think that’s a lot wiser than waiting for 1993 to come back around again.

- Neil Gaiman

Random Friday

Okay, I’ve been tinkering with book bundles covers… so what do you think looks better? A new cover that comprises all the covers (left) or a box set (a photo of the POD version – right), considering that this bundle will only be sold as e-book?

I have found an article on how to do book bundles – and their covers, but I’m still much experimenting. Since it’s a single author bundle, I’m probably going to put the books in chronological order (at least for Silvery Earth – B.G. Hope can be in any order I want her to)… Lots of work to do still. And yes, this is probably a writing post more than a random rant, but well… that’s what’s been bothering me this week! ;)

I’m also working on that experiment with Jessamine, so I unpublished the graphic novel version from Smashwords. Even if it had 1106 downloads, I don’t think it boosted my sales of the other titles, so I feel free to unpublish it and use it for my experiment with the prose version. Both were free titles (and in fact I had to take the graphic novel out of B&N since the similar title meant they showed only one, so those reviews you see on B&N mostly refer to the graphic novel. Eventually I’ll unpublish even the prose version for a complete revision – it was my first published title, after all!).

Busier than when I’m working, I didn’t have time to do another pencil portrait or two of Da Muses… and didn’t watch any new movies either, since I “wasted” time with re-watchs. And I didn’t read anything new, because I was busy checking my own manuscripts. And I’m supposed to be on vacation, LOL! Anyhow, next week back to routine… maybe… DayJob is rickety lately, makes me wish they make me redundant! Oh, well… “Never give up, never surrender!” (maybe this weekend I’ll watch Galaxy Quest again, to have a good laugh before going back to dreaded DayJob!) ;)

Writer Wednesday

I managed to catch a cold simply sitting at home – outside was warmer… – which kind of slowed my writing and everything else, but well… I think I’m still on schedule. I have completed the body-switch and the tales of the Southern Kingdoms, and sent them out to betas. I’m now working on a couple of shorts about the Assassins’ Guild seen in Saif’s Legacy.

I’m also working on those bundles and other experiments. I’ve seen the bundles covers look like printed box sets, even if they’re just bundles of e-books, so I’ll have to think about that when I prepare the covers! :) The DriveThru  bundles are coverless, which is probably what makes them a little unattractive… Anyhow, I have another half week to finish the experiments.

Writerly links! Nobody has to read your stuff by Michelle D. Argyle. I guess this is valid not only for readers, but also for beta-readers. I wasn’t offended that a friend who came over last weekend told me “I don’t read that kind of books” (very honest of her), but sometimes I get cranky when beta-readers turn me down or are busy. I’ll end up publishing stuff without a second set of eyes except the editor going over the story – which takes me back to my beginning over 30 years ago, except I didn’t hit that “publish” button back then. Meh.

Dean Wesley Smith on translation rights. Okay, you should have realized by now that agents are going the way of the dodo and you should just keep them away with a very long stick. As for translations – I’m bilingual and do my own translations of certain works. So far only the Star Minds series is available in both Italian and English and the sales of the Italian version surpass the English version – I think because it’s SFF, so a genre that doesn’t have many competitors in Italy. The other Italian titles don’t sell (except the variations of MM stories – another very specific niche appealing also to yaoi lovers). But English is understood all over the world (and that’s why I decided to publish in English first, except for the stories that were too Italian to be translated), so don’t worry your pretty head with translations rights and just follow Dean’s advice! :)

Joe Konrath suggests it’s time to reform copyright – and talks about piracy too. And then goes on a Konrant about the new world of publishing that pairs nicely with Hugh Howey’s post on how self-publishing will save literary fiction. I’ve also learned to write on a manual and then electric typewriter – but you young author of the digital age have a headstart on me with the technology. If I can do it, so can you.

I’ve added  to the useful links for writers The 50 Best Sites for Indie and Self-Published Authors to help you with your career! And check this Hugh Howey interview to inspire you… Happy writing! :)

 

Happiness is…

Sunday Surprise

Last guest for this month, another Smashwords author I met on Goodreads. She will be author of the month after the summer, so this is really a preview and insight into her.  Although she has her own thread already and will participate to Wyrd Worlds II… Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Victoria Zigler!

Where do you live and write from?

“I live in a town near the sea in the South-East of England, UK, and write from the comfort of the little apartment I share with my hubby and our pets. I was born and raised in the shadow of the Black Mountains in South Wales, UK, spent some time living in Alberta, Canada, and now live in the South-East of England, UK. Since I’ve been writing all my life, I’ve ended up writing while living in all three places.”

When did you start writing?

“I’ve been writing since I was really young; I fell in love with the written word from the moment I learned to read and write, and have been writing ever since. As a child about half my writing was done in Welsh, but by the time I was in my teens I was only really writing in Welsh for school while doing my leisure writing in English, and these days I only ever write in English.”

What genre(s) do you write?

“I write a variety of children’s fiction, and some poetry. I’ve tried writing for older audiences, but I prefer writing for children, and people who have read my writing over the years have enjoyed my children’s fiction more than the things I’ve written aimed at older readers. Most of my poetry isn’t aimed at children though.”

Where do you find your inspiration? Do you put yourself in your stories?

“I find my inspiration from everywhere: from wondering about alternative ways other stories could have happened, or from asking ‘what if’ questions about things that happen around me or things I hear on the news, or from over-heard snippets of conversation, and so on. As for putting myself in to the story… Well, most authors end up doing that a little, whether they mean to or not, but in my case I intentionally did with my ‘Toby’s Tales’ series, which is a semi-fictionalized five book series telling of the struggles faced by a little boy named Toby after losing his sight, and is loosely based on my own experiences with sight loss.”

Do you have a specific writing routine?

“I don’t do well with routines. I have an irregular sleep schedule, and like to do things when I’m good and ready if I can, so a routine just doesn’t end up working out for me for more than a couple of days. Mostly I sleep when I’m tired, eat when I’m hungry, and write when I’m feeling creative. I usually end up doing at least a little writing each day though, even if it’s just a few words.”

Outliner or improviser? Fast or slow writer?

“I think outlines restrict the story too much, and – though I’ll sometimes have an idea where the story will end up by the end – prefer to just sit down and write; letting the story take me where it will. As for my writing speed… It varies. Sometimes I can get the first draft of a story done in a day and will go back to it so much that within a week or two it’s gone from an idea floating about in my head to a story that’s ready to be published, but other times I’ll need a week or two to even finish the very first draft, let alone all the other drafts and the editing. Mostly I’m a fast writer and can finish a story in a couple of weeks though.”

Tell us about your latest book

“My latest book is called ‘Thistle The Fairy Trickster’ and is loosely based on the well-known story of ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’. It tells the story of a little fairy named Thistle, who decides to have some fun by tricking the other fairies in to coming to help non-existent children she claims are in need of help from the fairies, and does it so many times that the other fairies get fed up of her tricks and won’t believe her when there really is a child who needs help. It was published on May 16th 2014, and you can buy it from Smashwords in all formats they offer by going to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/418096 as well as from some other ebook retailers. It will also be available in print some time in the near future.”

Indie publishing or traditional publishing – and why?

“Indie publishing. I like to be able to work to my own schedule, and I want full control over my finished books, so I prefer to self-publish. It means I’m on my own with marketing, but I think the benefits of having complete control over everything from the idea to the completed book is worth the extra work involved in marketing.”

Any other projects in the pipeline?

“I’ve always got at least one project in the pipeline. Right now I’m working on finishing up a book called ‘Jinx And The Faerie Dragons’ and have another in early draft called ‘Cubby And The Beanstalk’. ‘Jinx And The Faerie Dragons’ is about a pixie and some faerie dragons who end up in danger when their thirst for fun and adventure gets them caught by goblins, and ‘Cubby And The Beanstalk’ is a re-telling of ‘Jack And The Beanstalk’ with my own twists to the tale, and a whole lot of bears; Cubby himself is a little polar bear.”

What is your goal as a writer and what are you doing to achieve it?

“My goal is to become popular enough that I know there are at least several dozen people waiting to grab my next book; hundreds of people waiting for my next book would be even better, but if I can at least get a few dozen fans I’ll have achieved my goal. After that I can work on getting the number up in to the hundreds. To try and achieve this I’m taking every opportunity I can to get some publicity; grabbing every interview opportunity I can, for example. Word of mouth is the best marketing tool out there, so I’m hoping if I spread my name about enough then enough people will learn I exist that I’ll get a couple of dozen people to buy my books, then they’ll tell their friends, and the next thing you know I’ll have loads of people eager to read my books. That’s the plan anyway. If you want to help me achieve my goal, then tell your friends with children about my books… Please? *Gives you a pleading and hopeful look*”

Where to find Tori online

Her website

Goodreads

Smashwords

Twitter: VictoriaZigler

Facebook: Facebook profile

Random Friday

Other things I did in Turin: checking those startups, I found Bliubliu and asked them about Hindi. Since I need a basic knowledge, I bought myself the Assimil course (with French base that they never brought to Rome, but since they’re from near Turin, they had it at the book fair) so when I have those basics I can improve with Bliubliu.

The guy of Bliubliu told me they plan on adding some sort of interaction so that if, for example, Shafali wanted to learn Italian while I study Hindi, we could follow each other’s progress and help each other. I’ve started reading the Assimil pocket guide, and apart from the funny French spelling of Hindi words, it’s already much clearer than that useless offline course. But I haven’t seriously started on it yet, so don’t test me! :)

On the train I had the time to read Out of Tune by Michelle D.Argyle – another must read. I’m amazed at her range, every time I think “Maybe this is not for me” but end up engrossed. Well done, Michelle.

The Templars exhibition was inside a Hospitallier commanderie, which was kind of fun. But they had no catalog available, and my mom was very disappointed. I did a lot of people-watching at the Genova harbor before finding the exhibition of Lupo Alberto.

And then our greatest disadventure: the return train had no room for us! We had reserved seats, but they had changed the kind of coach, so our seat numbers didn’t exist… We had to wait for the tickets guy to be able to relax – it was an InterCity that did a lot of stops, so we were on edge until La Spezia…

A friend shared this before&after by Karri – which reminded me of my own compositions, although I don’t master Photoshop like her! ;) See what I mean?

Oh, and let’s not forget the 18 things highly creative people do differently – especially Daydreaming and Taking time for solitude and… well, really all of them! :D

I was hoping to add a film review, but I’m too busy editing, formatting and writing… maybe next week… have a great weekend! :)

Writer Wednesday

After a few years of just Torino Comics, I finally managed to go back to the Turin Book Fair, albeit only for one day. Unfortunately I missed the European Manager for Kobo Writing Life (she was on a panel while I was on the train and Kobo didn’t have a specific boot, although Kobo e-readers were available in a couple of places), so I couldn’t ask her my questions. I guess I’ll have to write to KWL support and see if I can get an answer.

Anyhow, I managed to pay half price entrance ticket as a writer and now they have me on the list if I want to go back next year. I found the startups at Books of the Future quite interesting, but I missed the panel on sending ebooks to bookshops because it was already full. Maybe next year I’ll check the program in advance and stay for the whole 5 days or something! :) I also saw old friends (one I hadn’t seen in years and he commented on it – yeah, I had vanished from his radar, but with good reason! ;p) and was even asked to do a workshop on how to write fantasy. Uh, no thanks, I can’t teach, so I won’t have your money for something I can’t do.

Now I’ve prepared a schedule for the next two weeks, since I’m off DayJob and need to work on a few things, such as bundles and other experiments. And yes, writing, of course. I made a priority list also for the short stories I need to write this month. And I need to publish a novel in Italian, so today I’m re-reading that old file, then I will format it and publish it during the weekend. Busy indie life! :)

Some links: Scott’s surefire formula for achieving artistic commercial success! Yes! Truly! You wouldn’t believe how simple it is! And in case you don’t think it’s true, check Dean’s post on killing the sacred cows of indie publishing. And then Joe Konrath’s tend your garden. Read that? Five to ten years. It’s not a get rich quick scheme. So now get off the internet and go back to writing.

Unless you feel you need to improve your craft. So check either Dean Wesley Smith’s online workshops or David Farland’s Story Doctor. I might take one of these soon too – although I prefer in-person teaching and intereacting with other writers. I’m already a hermit in my writing cave, online workshops don’t help my sociability! ;)

David Gaughran on piracy (I have a Kindle, but I don’t buy from Amazon unless it’s one of those wretched KDP Select authors) and Mark Coker on Scribd’s improved copyright protection systems. And if you’re still worried about pirates, at the book fair I heard of these people who check the web for you – dunno if it’s a paying service or not but they put this up for indies, or so they say. They gave an example of monitoring one day of Stephen King’s Dr Sleep (Italian version): 26K+ illegal files and 700K+ total downloads from torrent and peer to peer sites… But that’s Stephen King! :)

Now really stop worrying about sales and piracy and get back to writing. Even if you don’t have the time or inclination to follow any course, keep writing AND reading, and your craft will magically improve! Just don’t give up and you’ll be fine. Have a great week!