Laurel Cremant's Blog, page 17
September 14, 2012
Negotiating Skills Now on Kobo!
Hello Lovelies,
Negotiating Skills is now available via the Kobo ebookstore! It really did take only 24 hours versus the weeks I've been waiting for Smashwords to post the book. I'm still pretty miffed about that situation (grrrr).
Anyhoo, Negotiating Skills is now there and available for your reading pleasure.
Talk To You Soon,
Laurel
Negotiating Skills is now available via the Kobo ebookstore! It really did take only 24 hours versus the weeks I've been waiting for Smashwords to post the book. I'm still pretty miffed about that situation (grrrr).
Anyhoo, Negotiating Skills is now there and available for your reading pleasure.
Talk To You Soon,
Laurel
September 13, 2012
Arghh! Smashwords!
Hi All,
I've been waiting for several weeks for "Negotiating Skills" to post to the Kobo ebookstore via Smashwords. I was accepted into their premium listing catalogue and made sure to Opt IN to the Kobo channel. According to Smashwords, Kobo books are "shipped" daily. Unfortunately, it's been several weeks and my book still isn't listed so today I finally just took matters into my own hands.
I ran a quick Google search and found that authors can self-publish their books through Kobo directly using Kobo's kobo writing life portal. Can you say hallelujah? I quickly opted OUT of the Kobo market on Smashwords. In a matter of only 10 minutes I was enrolled into the Kobo writing life market, had my book uploaded, pressed the publish button and Voila! I am now 24 hours away from having my book in the Koko market.
This whole situation is making me wonder whether publishing through Smashwords is worth it. I don't want to make a rash decision and pull my book from Smashwords but seriously, I'm more than a little miffed. To make matters worse I also opted into the Sony ebookstore, and you guessed it, my book still hasn't been loaded into that market either. ***SIGH***. I've sent an email to Smashwords hoping to get some clarification on this matter and have yet to receive a response.
So really the whole point of this post is to say ARGHHH SMASHWORDS!!! Hopefully there is some light at the end of this tunnel.
Talk to you soon,
Laurel
I've been waiting for several weeks for "Negotiating Skills" to post to the Kobo ebookstore via Smashwords. I was accepted into their premium listing catalogue and made sure to Opt IN to the Kobo channel. According to Smashwords, Kobo books are "shipped" daily. Unfortunately, it's been several weeks and my book still isn't listed so today I finally just took matters into my own hands.
I ran a quick Google search and found that authors can self-publish their books through Kobo directly using Kobo's kobo writing life portal. Can you say hallelujah? I quickly opted OUT of the Kobo market on Smashwords. In a matter of only 10 minutes I was enrolled into the Kobo writing life market, had my book uploaded, pressed the publish button and Voila! I am now 24 hours away from having my book in the Koko market.
This whole situation is making me wonder whether publishing through Smashwords is worth it. I don't want to make a rash decision and pull my book from Smashwords but seriously, I'm more than a little miffed. To make matters worse I also opted into the Sony ebookstore, and you guessed it, my book still hasn't been loaded into that market either. ***SIGH***. I've sent an email to Smashwords hoping to get some clarification on this matter and have yet to receive a response.
So really the whole point of this post is to say ARGHHH SMASHWORDS!!! Hopefully there is some light at the end of this tunnel.
Talk to you soon,
Laurel
September 12, 2012
Write What You Know, Research What You Don't
Hi All,
I decided to introduce a berserker like character to my "How To" series. It just kind of happened. I thought it, I love it, so now it MUST happen. Unfortunately the lazy writer in me is annoyed that now I have to do some form of research. I'm one of those crazy writers who actually feels it necessary to research things before dropping them all willy-nilly into a story line... *SIGH*...One of the reasons I prefer writing contemporary fiction is because I don't have to worry about researching whether zippers or clocks where invented yet when I write them into a scene. But alas, even I must admit that I don't know everything, I'm no Alex Trebek sadly, so even with contemporary fiction I find myself hitting the books/net for information to keep things believable and accurate (somewhat).
My hubby is a software developer and used to work on applications for a property development firm, hence the background set up for "Negotiating Skills". I myself used to work in scientific research and that knowledge helped to set up the background for "How To Kill Your Immortal". Regardless of my already present knowledge on certain topics, I still had to research and verify things for both books. I've had to do a lot of research for the "How To" series in particular. Most people would assume that because it's a paranormal book, I would have to do less research. Those people would be wrong.
The "How To" series consists that consists of vampires, witches, gnomes and fairies (and that's only in the first few chapters). When characters like this exist I like to make sure the "world" I've put them in makes sense, which means that not only do I have to research several things about each type of character and create a character and "species" profile for each character. I also have to keep track of those profiles and remember to stay consistent through out the book.
With this berserker idea floating around in my head right now, I'm already thinking of all of the character possibilities and wondering how my research may help create a "species" profile. Hmmmm, did I say I was annoyed to have to research this? Scratch that and color me all sorts of excited. I'm thinking, big, strong, conflicted oh so yummy berserker...
Talk to you soon, Laurel
I decided to introduce a berserker like character to my "How To" series. It just kind of happened. I thought it, I love it, so now it MUST happen. Unfortunately the lazy writer in me is annoyed that now I have to do some form of research. I'm one of those crazy writers who actually feels it necessary to research things before dropping them all willy-nilly into a story line... *SIGH*...One of the reasons I prefer writing contemporary fiction is because I don't have to worry about researching whether zippers or clocks where invented yet when I write them into a scene. But alas, even I must admit that I don't know everything, I'm no Alex Trebek sadly, so even with contemporary fiction I find myself hitting the books/net for information to keep things believable and accurate (somewhat).
My hubby is a software developer and used to work on applications for a property development firm, hence the background set up for "Negotiating Skills". I myself used to work in scientific research and that knowledge helped to set up the background for "How To Kill Your Immortal". Regardless of my already present knowledge on certain topics, I still had to research and verify things for both books. I've had to do a lot of research for the "How To" series in particular. Most people would assume that because it's a paranormal book, I would have to do less research. Those people would be wrong.
The "How To" series consists that consists of vampires, witches, gnomes and fairies (and that's only in the first few chapters). When characters like this exist I like to make sure the "world" I've put them in makes sense, which means that not only do I have to research several things about each type of character and create a character and "species" profile for each character. I also have to keep track of those profiles and remember to stay consistent through out the book.
With this berserker idea floating around in my head right now, I'm already thinking of all of the character possibilities and wondering how my research may help create a "species" profile. Hmmmm, did I say I was annoyed to have to research this? Scratch that and color me all sorts of excited. I'm thinking, big, strong, conflicted oh so yummy berserker...
Talk to you soon, Laurel
Recharging Your Creative Batteries
Hello Lovelies,
It's been an interesting last few weeks. After I finally finished publishing "Negotiating Skills" last month, I had a crazy surge of creative energy. I was able to sit down and flesh out the outlines for my next few projects. Two of which will be the next two books of my "How To/OWLS Inc" series. I also have two more contemporary novellas coming up one of which features a lumberjack. Before you ask, you can all thank my husband for the lumberjack suggestion. It started off as a joke but by the time I walked away I already had what I think will be a great story lightly outlined in my mind. So all of that being said, my surge of energy came...then went.
I've spent the last week being completely and utterly selfish and lazy. I've spent a ridiculous amount of money downloading books to my Android tablet (yes, I'm a droid not an apple). I've read half a dozen books and sometimes just stared blindly at my television screen. I've even surfed the net endlessly for absolutely no reason. This has wasted A LOT of my time. It produced no new words towards my projects and it has most likely killed a few brain cells (thank you Honey Boo Boo). This amazingly colossal waste of my time was EXACTLY what I needed to recharge my batteries.
Outside of preparing to publishing "Negotiating Skills" there were several other projects (non writing related) that required a lot of my time these last few months. It's been pretty hectic and I think my brain and body just needed a complete veg-out period.
The good news is that I woke up this morning, feeling crazy recharged and incredibly resentful that I had to go to work instead of spending the next few hours writing. Thankfully I make sure to always have either my tablet or journal with me so that I can capture any ideas before they disappear into the ether that is my poor memory. Sadly the thoughts are always jumbled and can refer to any one of my pending projects. Now my biggest problem is to focus on completing one project at a time. I can't wait to get home tonight! That all being, I'll be posting a new excerpt for "How to Kill Your Immortal" soon so stay tuned!
Talk to you soon,
Laurel
It's been an interesting last few weeks. After I finally finished publishing "Negotiating Skills" last month, I had a crazy surge of creative energy. I was able to sit down and flesh out the outlines for my next few projects. Two of which will be the next two books of my "How To/OWLS Inc" series. I also have two more contemporary novellas coming up one of which features a lumberjack. Before you ask, you can all thank my husband for the lumberjack suggestion. It started off as a joke but by the time I walked away I already had what I think will be a great story lightly outlined in my mind. So all of that being said, my surge of energy came...then went.
I've spent the last week being completely and utterly selfish and lazy. I've spent a ridiculous amount of money downloading books to my Android tablet (yes, I'm a droid not an apple). I've read half a dozen books and sometimes just stared blindly at my television screen. I've even surfed the net endlessly for absolutely no reason. This has wasted A LOT of my time. It produced no new words towards my projects and it has most likely killed a few brain cells (thank you Honey Boo Boo). This amazingly colossal waste of my time was EXACTLY what I needed to recharge my batteries.
Outside of preparing to publishing "Negotiating Skills" there were several other projects (non writing related) that required a lot of my time these last few months. It's been pretty hectic and I think my brain and body just needed a complete veg-out period.
The good news is that I woke up this morning, feeling crazy recharged and incredibly resentful that I had to go to work instead of spending the next few hours writing. Thankfully I make sure to always have either my tablet or journal with me so that I can capture any ideas before they disappear into the ether that is my poor memory. Sadly the thoughts are always jumbled and can refer to any one of my pending projects. Now my biggest problem is to focus on completing one project at a time. I can't wait to get home tonight! That all being, I'll be posting a new excerpt for "How to Kill Your Immortal" soon so stay tuned!
Talk to you soon,
Laurel
September 6, 2012
Negotiating Skills - The Soundtrack!
Good (Early) Morning Lovelies,
Music plays a huge part of my daily life. It calms me, soothes me and revves me up when necessary. It helps set the mood for my days or cheers me up on bad days. When it comes to my writing I tend to create playlists that put me in the right frame of mind and that remind me of my characters. Music helps set the mood for the overall mood of a scene or complete book. I thought you all might enjoy the playlist I had on loop while writing Negotiating Skills.
Each song listed was chosen to help capture a feeling or mood of the characters and overall feel for the book. The most of the songs listed are definitely sexy, but Inertia Creeps is the song that actually helped me get in the right state of mind for writing most of the scenes for Negotiating Skills. I love the pacing and yes tension in the song.
Feelin Love, Paula ColeGlory Box, PortsheadWhen Doves Cry, PrinceSlow Wind, R Kelly ft. Sean Paul and AkonOoops Oh My, TweetYou're Makin' Me High, Toni BraxtonHoller, Spice GirlsIt's All About Me, Mya ft. SisqoMy Love is Like Whoa, Mya ft. Missy ElliotJuicy Fruit, MtumeClose To You, Maxi PriestThat Girl, Shaggy & Maxi PriestTouch My Body, Mariah CareyInertia Creeps, Massive AttackOoh La La, GoldfrappSay Yes, FloetrySexy Daddy, Destiny's ChildPromise, CiaraDip It Low, Christina Milian ft. FabulousGet Mine Get Yours, Christina Aguilera,At Last, Christina AguileraWhat's It Gonna Be, Busta Rhymes ft. Janet JacksonSpeechless, BeyonceBreathe On Me, Britney Spears
Well Enjoy!
Laurel
Music plays a huge part of my daily life. It calms me, soothes me and revves me up when necessary. It helps set the mood for my days or cheers me up on bad days. When it comes to my writing I tend to create playlists that put me in the right frame of mind and that remind me of my characters. Music helps set the mood for the overall mood of a scene or complete book. I thought you all might enjoy the playlist I had on loop while writing Negotiating Skills.
Each song listed was chosen to help capture a feeling or mood of the characters and overall feel for the book. The most of the songs listed are definitely sexy, but Inertia Creeps is the song that actually helped me get in the right state of mind for writing most of the scenes for Negotiating Skills. I love the pacing and yes tension in the song.
Feelin Love, Paula ColeGlory Box, PortsheadWhen Doves Cry, PrinceSlow Wind, R Kelly ft. Sean Paul and AkonOoops Oh My, TweetYou're Makin' Me High, Toni BraxtonHoller, Spice GirlsIt's All About Me, Mya ft. SisqoMy Love is Like Whoa, Mya ft. Missy ElliotJuicy Fruit, MtumeClose To You, Maxi PriestThat Girl, Shaggy & Maxi PriestTouch My Body, Mariah CareyInertia Creeps, Massive AttackOoh La La, GoldfrappSay Yes, FloetrySexy Daddy, Destiny's ChildPromise, CiaraDip It Low, Christina Milian ft. FabulousGet Mine Get Yours, Christina Aguilera,At Last, Christina AguileraWhat's It Gonna Be, Busta Rhymes ft. Janet JacksonSpeechless, BeyonceBreathe On Me, Britney Spears
Well Enjoy!
Laurel
Blog Design Change-Again!
Good Evening Lovelies,You may have noticed that I've made some big changes to the blog today. I've revamped the look and feel of the blog (again) for the following reasons:
1.) I was reading a post at one of my favorite sites that was particularly long, and the bright light background made my eyes water.2.) I'm a Gemini, and very prone to changing things at random.3.) I was just plain old bored with the old design.4.) I have writer's block and needed something to justify my blatant procrastination.
Well there you have it, enjoy the new view.
Talk to you soon, Laurel [image error]
Creating Tension in Romance Novels
Hello Lovelies,
I'm a ridiculously voracious reader. When I'm not writing I read about 2-5 books a week across multiple genres. I know to many that may seem like a lot and to others not enough. Either way I read several books a week and I'm almost always sad to see one book end, and excited to start another. Unfortunately, I just finished reading an erotic romance that left me incredibly disappointed. Which is hella sad because I was looking forward to reading this particular book. Since this is not supposed to be a book review site, I won't mention the name or author. I will however, state that the book came highly recommended, has gotten rave reviews and is currently listed on amazon's best sellers list. Unfortunately I could not seem to find the enthusiasm for this book that so many other readers have.
When I finally turned the last page of this book all I could do was sigh in relief, that it was over. I rarely don't finish books, but I was tempted to toss this one out after the first few chapters. sitting back and analyzing my reaction to this book I realized that it, like all the other books I've struggled unhappily to finish in the past, lacked an element that I find necessary to enjoy a good romance-TENSION. I felt absolutely no situational or sexual tension in the plot or between the characters whatsoever when reading this book. It was so frustrating! The story just kept moving forward with no apparant reasons or catalysts. Even Seinfiled had catalysts, and it was a show about nothing!
For me a bad plot or premise can be saved if the author can relay the proper amount of tension. It keeps me as a reader engaged and invested in the ending of the book. Without it I struggle to finish the book or don't even finish it at all, and will be less likely to purchase other books from that author again (fickle I know). Tension is the foreplay of plot. It's all part of the seduction a writer weaves to get you in bed with them and willing to spend hours turning the pages of their books. Sadly after finishing this recent book I'm left feeling used and unfulfilled. What do you think? What are your fundamental elements to romance? What leaves you wanting?
Talk to you soon,
Laurel
I'm a ridiculously voracious reader. When I'm not writing I read about 2-5 books a week across multiple genres. I know to many that may seem like a lot and to others not enough. Either way I read several books a week and I'm almost always sad to see one book end, and excited to start another. Unfortunately, I just finished reading an erotic romance that left me incredibly disappointed. Which is hella sad because I was looking forward to reading this particular book. Since this is not supposed to be a book review site, I won't mention the name or author. I will however, state that the book came highly recommended, has gotten rave reviews and is currently listed on amazon's best sellers list. Unfortunately I could not seem to find the enthusiasm for this book that so many other readers have.
When I finally turned the last page of this book all I could do was sigh in relief, that it was over. I rarely don't finish books, but I was tempted to toss this one out after the first few chapters. sitting back and analyzing my reaction to this book I realized that it, like all the other books I've struggled unhappily to finish in the past, lacked an element that I find necessary to enjoy a good romance-TENSION. I felt absolutely no situational or sexual tension in the plot or between the characters whatsoever when reading this book. It was so frustrating! The story just kept moving forward with no apparant reasons or catalysts. Even Seinfiled had catalysts, and it was a show about nothing!
For me a bad plot or premise can be saved if the author can relay the proper amount of tension. It keeps me as a reader engaged and invested in the ending of the book. Without it I struggle to finish the book or don't even finish it at all, and will be less likely to purchase other books from that author again (fickle I know). Tension is the foreplay of plot. It's all part of the seduction a writer weaves to get you in bed with them and willing to spend hours turning the pages of their books. Sadly after finishing this recent book I'm left feeling used and unfulfilled. What do you think? What are your fundamental elements to romance? What leaves you wanting?
Talk to you soon,
Laurel
August 28, 2012
Why Should They Fall In Love?
Hello Lovelies,
So I may or may not have mentioned this, but I've already got the basics of the next two "How to" books roughly outlined. The books will be part of a series I plan on calling OWLS Inc. How To Kill Your Immortal will be book one in this series. I'm currently working on beefing up the story line of Jasmine and Dante. I've been cleaning up some clunky paragraphs and trying to make the dialogue as un-wasteful as possible. While doing this I've found myself adding some more dialogue here or there as well as some additional narrative. This is mainly because despite the fact that this story is meant to have elements of suspense and mystery it is still fundamentally a romance and I want that to be reflected properly.
In the end I want my readers to see two people in love and it make sense. I don't want readers to be told Jasmine and Dante are in love, I want them to know they're in love. I want them to feel the attraction between these two people and get why each one has fallen for the other. This is not easy. I find myself going back to certain scenes and asking myself, "Why did she kiss him?", "Why does he want her?," "Why should they be together?", "Why is he on top?". I guess it's a writer's version of "what's my motivation". When I come across scenes or moments in the book where I don't feel my own questions are properly answered, then I know it's time for some work on narrative and dialogue and more often than not, the delete key.
I've read books in the past where it felt like the author was following a formula regarding her main characters. Two (or three, or four, yay erotica!) people meet, there is some sort of conflict, sparks fly, they have sex, declare their love and we as the readers are supposed to believe that because they bumped uglies or said the requisite I love yous, they're in love. I need more than that. Have you ever read a book where the love just wasn't believable? Does it burn you as much as it burns me? Like I want to soak this book in kerosene and make a bonfire burn?
I read an erotic romance recently, which out of sheer embarrassment for the author, I will not reveal the title, but I swear I was told the hero was in love with the heroine and vice versa and given absolutely NO reason or evidence as to why. I feel like providing this info to the reader is like the proverbial reach around. Seriously help a sister out!
Now after all of the griping I'm doing here wouldn't it be just HILARIOUS if someone tells me the love between Jasmine and Dante isn't believable to them? To that I can only respond at least I tried! Argh!
Talk to you soon,
Laurel
So I may or may not have mentioned this, but I've already got the basics of the next two "How to" books roughly outlined. The books will be part of a series I plan on calling OWLS Inc. How To Kill Your Immortal will be book one in this series. I'm currently working on beefing up the story line of Jasmine and Dante. I've been cleaning up some clunky paragraphs and trying to make the dialogue as un-wasteful as possible. While doing this I've found myself adding some more dialogue here or there as well as some additional narrative. This is mainly because despite the fact that this story is meant to have elements of suspense and mystery it is still fundamentally a romance and I want that to be reflected properly.
In the end I want my readers to see two people in love and it make sense. I don't want readers to be told Jasmine and Dante are in love, I want them to know they're in love. I want them to feel the attraction between these two people and get why each one has fallen for the other. This is not easy. I find myself going back to certain scenes and asking myself, "Why did she kiss him?", "Why does he want her?," "Why should they be together?", "Why is he on top?". I guess it's a writer's version of "what's my motivation". When I come across scenes or moments in the book where I don't feel my own questions are properly answered, then I know it's time for some work on narrative and dialogue and more often than not, the delete key.
I've read books in the past where it felt like the author was following a formula regarding her main characters. Two (or three, or four, yay erotica!) people meet, there is some sort of conflict, sparks fly, they have sex, declare their love and we as the readers are supposed to believe that because they bumped uglies or said the requisite I love yous, they're in love. I need more than that. Have you ever read a book where the love just wasn't believable? Does it burn you as much as it burns me? Like I want to soak this book in kerosene and make a bonfire burn?
I read an erotic romance recently, which out of sheer embarrassment for the author, I will not reveal the title, but I swear I was told the hero was in love with the heroine and vice versa and given absolutely NO reason or evidence as to why. I feel like providing this info to the reader is like the proverbial reach around. Seriously help a sister out!
Now after all of the griping I'm doing here wouldn't it be just HILARIOUS if someone tells me the love between Jasmine and Dante isn't believable to them? To that I can only respond at least I tried! Argh!
Talk to you soon,
Laurel
August 27, 2012
Romance Novel Book Covers Mystery Solved!
Good Evening Lovelies,
Let me preface this post by stating self-publishing your own book is HARD. I have major respect for all writers who have taken this route. When you're a first time author whose chosen this path you take on more than the role of writer, you become your agent, your publicist, your editor and your cover designer all rolled into one frazzled, scared and determined package. When I first made the decision to self publish I spent hours reading blogs, articles and books about how best to go about it. There were three main rules that seemed to be consistant through out all of my sources:
1.) Write a story that you think is awesome (kind of obvious, I know).2.) Publish your book to as many sources possible. 3.) Make your book physically stand out.
Today I want to focus on rule number three. In a perfect world you would hope that your work stands by itself. That the story you worked so hard to get out to the masses is so good that the moment you publish people flock to the net and download copies of it in multiple formats and languages just so that they can tell their grandchildren they got a copy the first day your amazing story was released.... Hmm anyway, the most amazing story in the world will never get read if no one sees it to buy! We unfortunately, are human (most of us anyway), and as humans we are drawn to shining objects and other attractive sites. That is where book cover art comes in. Cover art is the beer bikini models of the book industry. They provide the enticement for readers to stop their scrolling and pause to take a second look, and after writing that amazing world impacting book you don't want a wallflower in a one piece you want a Victoria Secret model striking a "come get me" pose!
This is actually the main reason why I chose to go with a professional cover artist for my first book (the ever lovely Ravven). I wanted my cover to represent not only my book but stand out among the crowd of other books in its genre as well. Admittedly I could have perused the millions of stock photos available on the web and worked up a basic cover myself for free (or close to free), but why spend all that time when you can pay someone who is a professional and actually knows what their doing? Not to mention you're getting a customized cover that is wholly unique. This leads me to an interesting phenomenon I've noticed amongst e-book covers. For a while I've wondered why so many self-published and professionally published e-books have very similar book covers and by similar I mean EXACTLY the same. Seriously, it's particularly noticeable within multicultural and interracial titles. The same cover models are being used in the same poses across multiple books by different authors. At first I honestly thought that it was one designer peddling the same image off on multiple unsuspecting authors. However, after a while I noticed that the same covers were showing up at popular websites who shall remain nameless (trust me you'll know them when you see them), and thought maybe it's just these sites. Maybe their design departments are so swamped with work from so many awesome authors that they're recycling covers to increase productivity and bring more reading material to the hungry masses (yeah every now and then my Pollyanna comes out to play). However, today I learned the truth behind these doppelganger covers! It was my DUH! moment of the week. The culprit is www.RomanceNovelCovers.com!
I found the website randomly through a Google link maze while searching for something else entirely (you know how it is). Anyway, when I entered the site, there was almost every cover I've seen ciculating the romance lists lately. Now let me be perfectly blunt, I don't see anything wrong with using stock photos. As a self-published writer you need to utilize all of the resources at your disposal. However, I do think that if you're going to use stock images, go the extra mile and actually layer elements on the images to make them unique. There are a two really great applications (GIMP and Paint.Net) that can be used for this and they are completely free.
I know some people will read this post and accuse me of being a snooty newbie, but seriously e-book self-publishers have to compete against all of the agented authors and their established publishing companies that can provide them with dedicated design and promotion teams. Self-publishers have to work doubly hard to compete against that type of professional competition. I'm still very new to this industry so I may change my mind about this later, but I seriously doubt it. What are your thoughts?
Talk to you soon,
Laurel
Let me preface this post by stating self-publishing your own book is HARD. I have major respect for all writers who have taken this route. When you're a first time author whose chosen this path you take on more than the role of writer, you become your agent, your publicist, your editor and your cover designer all rolled into one frazzled, scared and determined package. When I first made the decision to self publish I spent hours reading blogs, articles and books about how best to go about it. There were three main rules that seemed to be consistant through out all of my sources:
1.) Write a story that you think is awesome (kind of obvious, I know).2.) Publish your book to as many sources possible. 3.) Make your book physically stand out.
Today I want to focus on rule number three. In a perfect world you would hope that your work stands by itself. That the story you worked so hard to get out to the masses is so good that the moment you publish people flock to the net and download copies of it in multiple formats and languages just so that they can tell their grandchildren they got a copy the first day your amazing story was released.... Hmm anyway, the most amazing story in the world will never get read if no one sees it to buy! We unfortunately, are human (most of us anyway), and as humans we are drawn to shining objects and other attractive sites. That is where book cover art comes in. Cover art is the beer bikini models of the book industry. They provide the enticement for readers to stop their scrolling and pause to take a second look, and after writing that amazing world impacting book you don't want a wallflower in a one piece you want a Victoria Secret model striking a "come get me" pose!
This is actually the main reason why I chose to go with a professional cover artist for my first book (the ever lovely Ravven). I wanted my cover to represent not only my book but stand out among the crowd of other books in its genre as well. Admittedly I could have perused the millions of stock photos available on the web and worked up a basic cover myself for free (or close to free), but why spend all that time when you can pay someone who is a professional and actually knows what their doing? Not to mention you're getting a customized cover that is wholly unique. This leads me to an interesting phenomenon I've noticed amongst e-book covers. For a while I've wondered why so many self-published and professionally published e-books have very similar book covers and by similar I mean EXACTLY the same. Seriously, it's particularly noticeable within multicultural and interracial titles. The same cover models are being used in the same poses across multiple books by different authors. At first I honestly thought that it was one designer peddling the same image off on multiple unsuspecting authors. However, after a while I noticed that the same covers were showing up at popular websites who shall remain nameless (trust me you'll know them when you see them), and thought maybe it's just these sites. Maybe their design departments are so swamped with work from so many awesome authors that they're recycling covers to increase productivity and bring more reading material to the hungry masses (yeah every now and then my Pollyanna comes out to play). However, today I learned the truth behind these doppelganger covers! It was my DUH! moment of the week. The culprit is www.RomanceNovelCovers.com!
I found the website randomly through a Google link maze while searching for something else entirely (you know how it is). Anyway, when I entered the site, there was almost every cover I've seen ciculating the romance lists lately. Now let me be perfectly blunt, I don't see anything wrong with using stock photos. As a self-published writer you need to utilize all of the resources at your disposal. However, I do think that if you're going to use stock images, go the extra mile and actually layer elements on the images to make them unique. There are a two really great applications (GIMP and Paint.Net) that can be used for this and they are completely free.
I know some people will read this post and accuse me of being a snooty newbie, but seriously e-book self-publishers have to compete against all of the agented authors and their established publishing companies that can provide them with dedicated design and promotion teams. Self-publishers have to work doubly hard to compete against that type of professional competition. I'm still very new to this industry so I may change my mind about this later, but I seriously doubt it. What are your thoughts?
Talk to you soon,
Laurel
August 24, 2012
My Next Project!
Hi All,
I've already started on my next project, which thankfully is finally getting How to Kill Your Immortal fully edited and available for purchase. HTKYI will be the first in a series of full length novels called OWLS Inc. I already have the next two books in the series outlined and ready to go. I'm super excited to move forward.
The books in this series will all be available in print book format as well as most e-book formats. Ravven provided me with such a kick ass cover for the first book that it would be a shame not to have it in print as well. I'll be posting more information here through out the process so please stay tuned!
Over the last few months I've gotten a lot of feedback regarding the teaser chapters I released in February and I really appreciate all of the interest and support. In recognition of your support I'll be giving away free advanced copies of the book to the next 10 people who follow me via email. I'll also be doing a few other sneak peeks and giveaways before the official release so stay tuned!
Talk to you Soon,
Laurel
