C.D. Loken's Blog, page 41

Was it a mistake putting Amanda Hocking in my bio??

I was just recently accepted to have my first book featured on two author blogs.  I'm so excited!  One of them I will be able to do an interview and though everyone who knows me, knows I don't have much difficulty finding a subject to talk about- when it comes to talking about me I shut down!  Ouch!  Thankfully it's all internet based and I'm not standing in front of a camera.  That would be hilarious!  DUH..uh...uh..um..ya it wouldn't be pretty.  That brings me to the subject of my previous post on Amazon KDP Select.  I had a lot of response on that.  Some good...some not so.  I understand not all authors will agree-but I'll say it once again-this blog is only based on My opinion and nothing more.  Take what I say with a grain of salt- I'm no expert.  I spend hours researching, studying and planning before I make any decision.  I did no different when I made the choice to put my ebook exclusively on Amazon.  I wouldn't change a thing.  It was a good opportunity, but it just wasn't successful for me.  Again maybe because my book falls into a genre with literally thousands of competing authors, mine falls to the bottom and is ignored.  Or maybe because I was stupid and put a blurb on my bio about another one time "indie" author named Amanda Hocking- I put the spotlight on my book saying..."DON'T BUY..because I'm not a best selling author.  No I'm not...YET- but I'm determined to be one someday.  I've put a lot of time and devotion into my books and all I want is for them to be successful.  Until then I think I will remove that little paragraph about Ms. Hocking.  Not that I still don't respect and admire her, but the fact is it might be best not to advertise I'm just starting out as author.  Nora Roberts started once, as did Danielle Steele and even the new Best Seller E L James- but I doubt they were unknown for long.  My day will come..with or without a traditional publisher.

AMAZON's KDP SELECT PROGRAM

I'm not going to be a blogger that states statistics and mumbo jumbo that no one really cares about-when it comes to KDP Select I have only a few comments to make.  They are from my experience only, so take it with a grain of salt.  First I have no fault with the purpose of the program.  To offer authors the opportunity to promote their books.  For an "Indie" author like myself it enables me to get my book out to the public and it costs me nothing for marketing.  I have the ability to offer my book "free" for 5 days, which sounds "nonprofitable" but in reality it can be most profitable especially if an author has a series.  When I first entered the KDP program I chose to offer my book free for 5 straight days. Now that isn't always the case.  You can choose your days, but I decided to do it all in one shot.  I had a successful promo from what I learned later from other authors, but again I made no profit.  My hope was only to get my book and name out to the public and most importantly to have reviews from those who had the chance to read my book for free.  I will never know what it did -because I had no reviews from this whole process.  Prior to entering my book into Amazon's program I had uploaded it to Smashwords in which it was available to all different sites, including but not limited to Barnes and Noble.  At that time I did receive feedback, including how many people downloaded the preview.  This helped me determine if maybe there was an issue with the first part of the book-because as an author ANY feedback is good, and so I researched, joined blogs, forums, and did whatever I could to find out exactly what might be wrong that people were viewing the book but not buying.  Amazon didn't offer me this.  Instead I had people download it and offer me no response, no review, nothing!  I think Amazon should really re-think their programs.  In actuality this program was made to help indie authors, but instead it is killing our sales and destroying our chance at being respected.  How many of the best selling authors out there offer their book for free?  I would say few.  I know my mentor JD Konrath has done it-and was successful.  You might want to ask him how or why.  Maybe he is a better writer than I am, maybe his name was out there more than mine was, maybe...maybe maybe..I'm tired of guessing.  I just know KDP Select is not for me.  I'm going to take it off June 7th and put it out on all sites available for ebooks.  I have too much riding on my series.  My second book is almost ready to publish and I know my author voice really came out in this one.  I'm not going to risk losing a potential audience that will pay to buy my work-for one that will download it for free believing I'm just another "sucky" indie author that otherwise  wouldn't waste their time or money to read my work.  I've read all of the forums written by such readers who despise indie work and treat it like the plague.  They seem to be able to smell one before they even open the "Look Inside".  That's frightening to me.  I hope my readers go just a bit further to see what I can offer them.  It's a journey, one I wish everyone who loves to read will take.

Exerpt from the second book of the series The Gift of the Brass Bell "For Richer or For Poorer"

Standing alone on the cliff his heart pounded like the roar of the oceans’ waves as it beat against the shore.  His eyes gazed into the darkest depths of the water, and though he was safe from its powerful current, his lungs burned as if they were drowning within it.  He felt his arm, so heavy it would barely move, reach out.  A deafening, thunderous sound rang in his head and he winced, preparing himself for what he knew must be his final breath.  He was dying, and he was all alone.  No one could help him now, nor would they ever know the horrible pain he suffered in the end.

“You’re not alone Mattie.  I’m here.” 
He watched in awe as a woman’s silhouette formed within the soft glowing light that pulsed like a heartbeat before him.  Her hair was a fiery mass of curls, her eyes the color of emeralds.  “Lays, is that really you?” 
She nodded as her hand reached out to him.  “Don’t look down Mattie…just step away from the edge…slowly…that’s right.”  She smiled as he moved closer.
His dark eyes glistened with tears as he struggled to grab her outstretched hand.  “I can’t…I can’t Lays…”  Terror slashed through his body as he felt his body being pulled away from her.  “I’m scared Lays!  I don’t know what to do!  Help me, please!”  He saw the dark form as it appeared in the swirling water below and felt the waves, their powerful fingers tug upon his tired limbs. He gulped in air, feeling the strange pressure of it as it filled his lungs once more.  “What is there to fight for Lays?  It’s over…everything is ruined…my life...is…a joke!  A lie…a horribly, rotten lie!” 
Alaysia felt the strength of her nemesis grow stronger and her own weaken.  The light of her bell grew dimmer, as did the force of her power, but still she would not give up.  They would not take him like this!  It was not his time to go.  The threat to her own soul was very real as she took one final step closer to the man she loved more than all, and lifted his limp body into her arms.
The ground beneath her suddenly began to crumble and the darkness engulfed her.  So tortured was her brother's soul that she should have given in to it's power and yet she knew she must remain determined.  Her brother’s suffering would end, but not by the hands of evil.  Her eyes quickly sought the shadows, daring the sulking form she knew lay there, to come forth.  When he did, she felt the last of her resolve begin to fade.  It couldn’t be him…it wasn’t possible!

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted l...

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted last.  I have been busy with second book-almost completed-editing next-not much to post other than I've been trying to catch up on gardening and preparing for my step son's graduation from high school.  Will keep everyone posted on the actual sell date of For Richer or for Poorer-I'm hoping no later than end of june!

Change is good!

So I made all the changes in the first book. Now I guess all I can do is wait, and of course continue with the final touches on the second.  I'm so excited about this one.  There is so much more emotion, and the plot keeps getting thicker.  I really can't wait until I get to the third one. It's been a long time since I reviewed it, buit if my memory serves me correctly, it only gets more and more mysterious!  But back to the second book.  I've had some good responses to the excerpt, and synopsis as well as the cover, but there have been some downers on the cover.  I know it appears to look "TOO RELIGIOUS" if that is even possible, but that wasn't the point.  True the picture shows a bible and a cross, and they symbolize religion, but the book is not based on that.  Like Arthur said in the first book- "there's far more too it!"  I hope readers dig deeper!

I surpassed 1,000 hits on my blog today! WOO HOO!- ...

I surpassed 1,000 hits on my blog today!  WOO HOO!- Let it said that though I'm not the most intelligent person the great Lord put on this earth, I may at least be a bit "interesting"????

Almost done- favorite phrase

I've been working on the corrections to the first book, sadly second is still laying next to me with a very big "sad" face.  Frustrating- also the second book cover has gotten some negative comments- I'm split- I don't want to publish the book if the cover isn't perfect- but in my heart it's exactly what I want.  This is a time where you just have to go with your gut instinct I guess..:(  so I'm almost done with the first book- should be complete tomorrow and ready to upload once again.  Than it's the waiting game to see if everyone likes the newer- more grammatically correct version is better!- cross fingers...

EDIT, EDIT, and EDIT SOME MORE!

Anyone can write a book- it's not difficult-right?  Well you might think so when you scroll though some of the titles now available and see the poor quality of work that is out there-But the answer to my question is a resounding NO!-and I found this out the hard way!  I have been working on a four book series for over five years.  When I started -I wrote when I had time, which wasn't often, and I didn't worry about spelling errors, or grammar errors, I just wrote, filling the pages up, one after the other, until finally- I filed it away in the "someday" folder.  When my husband and I made the decision to have me stay at home and devote all my time to putting the final touches on the book-I went in head first.  I researched everything-I googled and googled until my head pounded, trying to ensure I knew exactly what to do.  I went through my first book with a fine tuned comb and I believed after months of revising and correcting that I had a QUALITY book.  I found a friend who was a graphic artist and I hired her to do my cover.  I made the difficult decision to go the self publishing route this time, although way back when I had a publisher interested in the story.  Self publishing just looked to be not only more profitable, but allowed me to maintain control.  I like control...I LIKE it a LOT!  So I started by uploading my prized possession to Smashwords-not an easy endeavor I might add-but one I felt was well worth the trouble-and Amazon-which was WAY easier.  Sales started coming in immediately and I was stunned-and reviews-AWESOME- 5 stars-granted they were from friends and relatives-but they all contacted me and told me how much they loved the book!-and 2 reviews were from people I didn't know-so I was well on my way to a successful venture....right?  Again....the answer is WRONG!-I am grateful for the wonderful words of praise from all those who bought my book-even if they didn't post a review-but the fact is there were ERRORS!-It didn't matter that I'd read it over and over, or that I had three other people read it over and over-what mattered is that my book was exactly what I didn't want-POOR QUALITY!-I found this out after sales began to slow-even when I had a successful free promo-there were no reviews, and sales dropped to 1 or 2 a day-if that.  I began to panic!  What the hell was wrong?  So per a previous post I wrote-I submitted a request through a writer's blog I belong to and low and behold the truth came out-QUICK and simple-your not a bad writer, and your story line is quite good- but there is quite a few issues- like you moron- do you know the difference between THEN/THAN-or how about not using a 'cliche' sentence as your very first one!-(That one stumped me a bit- since I guess I'm a tad on the dumb side-didn't know there was such a thing as a cliche sentence- but by gosh leave it to me to make it stand out!!!-Simple fixes-right- WRONG again!- I sat down believing that all I had to do was go through the first chapter and revise it a tad- take this out- add this- and correct all the then/than issues- which was quite easy because I updated my office program and it did it for me-but of course I was warned not to trust the program 100% so I went through each and every line of my over 300 page book until I was satisfied-but as I did that- I realized- oops- since I made the changes in the first chapter- this doesn't sound right-and this is repeating something I already said earlier- and this is way off now because I made that change- and finally as I pulled a complete chunk of my hair out I was forced to once again read my book from start to finish-is that difficult- no...not unless you've read the same material at least a thousand times- than no matter how good the story line is your SICK OF IT!-Never mind that my second book sat next to me-begging to be finished-there wasn't much to do- just a few revisions-until I suddenly realized that I AM a moron- because now I have to go through that book- and the third and the fourth because of even though I blew threw English- and it was my favorite subject- obviously one of the many boys I had crushes on- kept me from learning the correct use of some words!  So I'll give anyone who is thinking about submitting their life's work a bit of advice-something I should have listened to on the many nights I sat reading massive quantities of information on how to be a successful "indie" author-EDIT you fool!  EDIT, EDIT and EDIT some more-and when you think your good to go...take a deep breath and EDIT AGAIN!  Don't count on your readers to spill the beans- don't count on your beginning sales or any reviews-UNLESS they clearly state- YOUR EDITING SUCKS!-BINGO- Had I had just one review that had said that-I probably would have cried- but in the end I would have saved a whole lot sleepless nights- wondering why my book hadn't hit the best selling list yet-IT is an awesome story-but I wouldn't buy it either if the idiot that wrote it didn't have the decency to produce QUALITY work.  Free or not-it ain't worth the time or effort- HAHAHA- ain't-...love it- that was done on purpose folks- I'm not that BIG OF AN IDIOT![image error]

A stiff upper lip is needed when joining a writer's forum!

I have to admit I sometimes let things bother me more than I should. Maybe it's how I was raised.  Living in a small community in the Midwest, where everyone waives to you regardless if they know you, somehow creates a inner belief that the world is a pleasant place.  But the truth is, it isn't, at least not always. Recently I took a huge leap and joined Amazon's author forum.  I started out by just familiarizing myself with the subjects and reading the content of other people's posts.  I was amazed at all the wonderful information that was provided by people who appeared to be just like me.  It was a mixture of newbies and experienced authors who seemed to have found a venue in which they could share ideas and feedback.  After hours of reading I finally to the leap and submitted a post.  I desperately wanted advice on my blog and since I have little experience, I was hopeful someone could provide me with fresh ideas on how to make it more up to date and professional.  Than I waited...and waited...until finally I had one response.  It seems I went through the trouble of requesting help-but failed to put the link to my blog on the post! UGH for embarrassing!  So I sheepishly hit the editing button and entered my link- profusely apologizing for being so dumb-and than...NOTHING!  Not one response!--So..I started a new post-explaining my stupidity-and once again my dilemma-and low and behold- responses started to come in.  I was like a sponge, absorbing all the feedback, until to my dismay I saw I had responses in the inbox of my email.  Strange, I thought, but still I was excited to have additional responses.  But than I had the unfortunate duty of reading them.  I was shocked by the bitterness in which the three I received sounded. These people were accusing me of things that had never occurred to me.  My first instinct was to be defensive, but than I got angry.  How dare these people turn an innocent plea for help into something so jaded! So I went back on the forum and posted a not so very nice response-stupid yes, but that's just me. I hate being put into a mold created by others.  I am who I am. I carry my emotions on my sleeve, a fault I know, but one I carry with great pride.  Yes, I'm a complicated person, but there is a simple side to me as well.  I believe in being honest, and forthright, and most of all a good person.  I take offense when I am accused of being anything but.-Thankfully my rage was calmed quickly, by those that are more experienced than I in this world of words.  So as I always do, I took a deep breath...and let it go.  Time to move on to bigger and better things...like waiving to that elderly woman whose just now crossing the street. I'm sure I know from somewhere...if not...I will now!