R.M. Prioleau's Blog, page 2

Check out my interview on the Rocking Self Publishing Podcast

A few weeks ago, I was featured on the Rocking Self-Publishing podcast and talked with Simon about how I got started with self-publishing, and the value of community for indie authors.

Episode #6 – Getting Your Start and the Value of Community with RM Prioleau

A new Rocking Self-Publishing podcast airs every week on the website. You can also subscribe to the podcast and listen to earlier episodes. I highly recommend it, especially if you are looking to self-publish your first book. There is so much great information to gather from these podcasts!

There are also show notes at the bottom of each podcast page with more information external links to places that were discussed in the podcast. Definitely check those out, too!

FREE Ebook Available!

My latest release, Present Company is available for FREE download on all major e-readers. Check it out!

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Present Company

A master of the Dark Arts searches for his prized experiment. A commoner woman with a torn past seeks a new life. The story of death’s love and life’s fate, “Present Company” chronicles events preceding R.M. Prioleau’s novella, “The Necromancer’s Apprentice.”

GET IT NOW!

Post-Convention Update!

Had an awesome time at the 1st Annual Ocala Comic Con! What an amazing turnout, especially on Saturday! It was great to meet so many people, including old friends. Even better, I was almost completely sold out of books! I completely sold out of all 25 copies of The Necromancer’s Apprentice, and was down to just 1 book of the 25 of Firebrand and 2 books of Enflamed! It was so refreshing to see so many kids so excited to read (and I hope I will get some new fans from it!), as well as adults who enjoyed fantasy books. I’d say that this was probably my most successful con out of all the cons I’ve attended thus far. And it certainly took me by surprise, because I was having second thoughts about getting a booth there. But I’m glad I did. Hopefully next year will be even bigger and better.

Now, back to the grind of editing/rewriting book 3, so I can (hopefully) have it released by this fall. This book is going to be bigger and better than the last! [image error]

A Wise Man Once Said, “Cheaters Never Prosper”

First of all, let me say from a reader’s point-of-view, that readers aren’t stupid. They are very attentive to detail, especially in a book that deeply engrosses them. They can’t be fooled, and if they are, it’s not for long.

In case you haven’t heard the latest internet buzz about one such author named Jordin Williams a.k.a. ghostwriter a.k.a. a hundred-thousand-other-fake-names and their plagiarizing fiasco, you can check it out here on the Dear Author blog: http://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/the-plagiarizing-of-tammara-webbers-easy-by-jordin-williams/.

Plagiarism isn’t anything new, and it happens quite frequently, and not just in the literary world. It’s unfortunate that someone has to steal another’s hard work and brand it as their own in order to take credit/make money. I will not go into all the details of what Jordin did, as it’s explained in the blog link above, which you can read at your own leisure. But I will simply summarize my thoughts and feelings about the whole thing.

The New Adult genre is currently one of the hottest-selling genres on the market. Hundreds of New Adult-themed books go up for sale every day, and many of them are instant-successes. It’s no wonder someone might be desperate enough to jump on the bandwagon and cash in on it too. But to do it so blatantly by copying-pasting scenes from best-selling New Adult books into your own book and calling it a finished product is not the way. There are many scenes that I love from some of my favorite authors. But I respect them enough to not plagiarize their hard work. If a scene inspires me, I write it in my own words. Because we as both authors and readers, envision things differently.

Of course, there’s no such thing as being 100% original these days. We see plenty of rehashes/remakes/etc. of scenes in books that were done and redone hundreds of years ago or more. But each of these rehashes tend to be told a little differently than the last. Every author is different, from their imaginations to their writing style. It is like their thumbprint. No two authors are the same. So to plagiarize another author’s style would not be that difficult to catch from attentive readers.

I definitely want to applaud the readers and bloggers who took this incident viral. The internet can be such a wonderful tool for dealing with things like this. Within hours of the incident being reported, Jordin’s book was taken off sale by Amazon, B&N, and other stores. Readers who purchased the book are being given refunds. Unfortunately, this incident is like another black eye to authors. Especially indie authors, because they have to work extra hard to dispell the many ongoing myths about indie authors equating to ‘amateurs’ and ‘low-quality’. But plagiarism occurs in the traditionally-published world, too. The bottom line is that while there are many people out there who are too lazy to think up their own stuff to write, so they have to steal from others, there are far more genuine, reputable authors out there who respect their readers and would never take advantage of them.

Lying to readers will only cause things like Jordin’s incident to happen. Be truthful to your readers and produce high-quality work from your heart, and they will respect you far more than if you try so hard to emulate Stephanie Meyer or some other author’s style. You can only go so far until you will be caught red-handed. And believe me, you WILL be caught. I’d rather not take the lazy route. I write because I enjoy it and I want to share my stories with the world. While money is always nice to get for my hard work in making these stories, it’s not my main focal point, and I don’t intend to quit my day job over it right now. I want to acquire more readers who find similar interests in my stories. I want to inspire other people to write that story that’s been screaming to come out of their minds. I want to spread the art of creativity and literacy to others.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first, nor will it be the last plagiarism incident we will see, but I do hope many authors read that article and think twice before they decide they want to lift another author’s work. If we can prevent at least one person from doing that as a result of this incident, then that’s a good thing.

But I think despite all the negativeness of this incident, I think the two people who benefitted from all this were the two authors whom Jordin plagiarized from. This incident has gone viral, and thus, the books have gotten a lot of promotional spotlight. The readers have been amazing with their powerful voices. I can only imagine the huge spike in sales that these books have seen, and/or will continue to see as a result. And those authors definitely deserve every penny and more that is owed to them for this mess. Apparently, imitation really is the highest form of flattery. [image error]

Spring Updates!

Wow, where does the time go? I’ve been staying busy with writing-related projects these past few months. First off, the UCF Book Festival was a HUGE success! I sold out of Firebrand! Thank you, everyone for your support, and it was awesome to meet so many people there! I had a fun time, and I definitely plan on attending next year (4/15/2014)!

Camp NaNoWriMo was rough, but also a success. Lesson learned: don’t do NaNoWriMo when you have other WIPs and deadlines on your plate. It gets VERY tedious. Regardless, I have another draft done, and something I can put away and edit later when I finish my other projects.

My biggest project I’ve been working on now has been Flameseeker, which is book 3 of the trilogy. It’s undergoing major rewrites, and I’m about 45% of the way done with it before it needs to be sent off to the editor. I was hoping to have the book out by this summer some time, but I don’t think I will make that deadline. It will probably be out this fall. The book will be MUCH longer than the first two — most likely my longest book I’ve ever written. It will be a huge accomplishment for me to finally see it finished.

Other projects that are nearing completion and will be out soon (sometime this summer) are: Bane of the Goddess (the second and final short story of the Goddess mini-series), and Present Company, a flash fiction which I will be making a FREE download. Present Company is a short prequel to The Necromancer’s Apprentice.

And speaking of The Necromancer’s Apprentice, a new (and final) edition has been uploaded to all major ebook retailers. If you previously purchased the book, you can re-download it at no charge. The paperback versions have also been redone. For the past year or so, I’ve been formatting books as a hobby, and I think I’ve gotten a little better with the paperback formatting, so I thought it was time to update my own books.

Read an Ebook Week 3/3 – 3/9!!

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The 5th Annual Read an eBook Week kicks off from March 3 – 9! During this week, you can purchase any of my books for 25% off at Smashwords! This offer is only good at Smashwords, so head on over there now!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It’s been a long while, but there has been lots of awesome things going on in just the past month. First, I successfully finished NaNoWriMo with 50,154 words! I’ve already set that novel aside so that I can work on book 3′s edits and rewrites. This is probably my most dreaded part about writing because it’s so time-consuming.

Some other great news that came about is that “Enflamed” and “Tears of the Goddess” have received 4 and 5-star reviews thus far! You can read their reviews here on Goodreads! I’m very excited, and this Christmas holiday season, I’ve been working on three new projects, one of which will be released very soon, so stay tuned.

My books have been featured on Bunny Cates’s recent book haul! Check it out!

Thank you, everyone, who joined in the AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit! I had a great time meeting people and answering everyone’s questions. It was my very first AMA, and I hope I can do it again very soon.

I am going to be attending the UCF Book Festival on April 13, 2013. This is a growing event that showcases authors from all around. I’m so excited that I was chosen! You can check out more information at their main website: http://education.ucf.edu/bookfest/

…and last, but certainly not least, I had the greatest honor to be featured in a Christmas collage featuring various Kindleboards authors. This AMAZING piece was done by the talented Keith Draws!

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Fall Updates!

November has opened up with plenty of great things happening. First off, one of the most fun times of the year, NaNoWriMo!

Two new surprises have been released! First, is the long-anticipated book 2 of the Pyromancer Trilogy, Enflamed! Pick up your copy today from Amazon! If you’ve already gotten your copy, please leave a review! The paperback edition of Enflamed will be available soon on CreateSpace and Amazon, so keep checking back for updates!

The second release is the surprise short story, Tears of the Goddess. This is part 1 of a 2-part fantasy romance series. Tears of the Goddess will be an e-book only release. It is currently available on Amazon, and has already received its first review (5 hearts!!!) from Romance Book Scene!

I’ve also updated the Events section with an upcoming book signing, as well as a Reddit AMA session in December. There will be more updates to come, so stay tuned!

Enflamed – NOW AVAILABLE!!!

Enflamed, Book 2 of The Pyromancer Trilogy is NOW AVAILABLE for the Kindle! Get your copy today!!!!

New Surprises

I know it’s been a while since I updated. That’s because I’ve been working on a small surprise that I hope to have released sometime this month or next. It’s a romance short story, and a prequel to most of the subsequent stories I’ve been releasing and will release in the future that take place in the same world setting. I’m really excited about it.

I have started to become a frequent guest on the Indie Authors show on Hangout Networks hosted by Jason Matthews. If you have been tuning in to the show, you might’ve caught a glimpse of the book cover, which was done by an awesome artist named Fiona Jade (who has also been a guest on the show a few times)

Enflamed, book 2 of the Pyromancer Trilogy is inching closer to release. I planned for a fall release, and so far, it’s looking like it will stay on track. It should be out by the end of this month or sometime in November.

Speaking of November, NaNoWriMo is coming! And that means more crazy fun for me. I’m really looking forward to it. This will be my third year as a municipal liaison for my town. It’s been a really fun and motivating endeavor for me.

Looking forward to great and successful writing this fall! [image error]