Brynna Gabrielson's Blog, page 5

Tales from Two Weeks!

Exactly two weeks ago today I released Starkissed into the world with the hope that I might sell maybe 75 copies within the first month. As of today I've sold (that I know of as I have no idea how it's doing on iBooks) 174 copies. Not only did I pass my goal, but I've more than doubled it and if things continue as they are, I might just triple, or quadruple or whatever comes after that it by September 14th! I can't believe how well it's going and I'm so thankful. I also hit a new high on the Kindle rankings today, I got all the way to 4,029 this afternoon! Thank you to everyone who has purchased a copy, or told a friend to, or left a rating on Goodreads, or a review anywhere. It all helps! I'm still hoping for some ratings/reviews on Amazon and iBooks so if anyone wants to pop over there and share your thoughts, I'd be very grateful. Honest opinions only of course.
Big news in the eBook world, well kind of big. The Nook is coming to the UK. For those who don't know, the Nook is Barnes and Noble's eReading device. Right now you can only get it in the USA and it only reads books sold by the Barnes and Noble eBook store. I don't know much about the Nook, but I think it coming here means good things. Starkissed isn't available via B&N yet, although apparently it has been sent to them so it should hopefully show up within the next few days. So you American readers out there who want to should be able to buy Starkissed at BarnesandNoble.com very soon. And to those in the UK, I have no idea what getting the Nook here means, but I hope somehow Starkissed will be available for the UK Nook as well, whenever it shows up!
Anyways, must get off the computer and make some supper. It's getting late and I'm exhausted.
Night!
Brynna 

Another Manic Monday

First things first, an update on Starkissed! It's been doing amazingly well and I'm so excited. As of this afternoon I've sold 135 copies! Can't believe it really. I set out to sell 75 copies in a month and I've almost doubled that in two weeks! It's also still hovering below 10,000 in the Kindle store. Earlier today it was in the 6,000's, but is back up in the 8,000's right now. I'm just floored. And my rating on Goodreads keeps climbing which is lovely! Not to mention the reviews that have been added. I can't describe how amazing it feels. I will wax on about this in every blog post, but I'll try to keep it to a minimum. Just know that I'm so grateful to those of you out there buying Starkissed and spreading the word about it!

Other than that it was one heck of a weekend. That's why I couldn't post for a few days. Just been go-go-going. Officially moved to the new house on Saturday! Even though we'd moved most of our stuff last week, Rachul and I still had a ton to take over and we ended up doing four car loads. Then of course unpacking commenced, which was not a simple task. I've only been in England for a year (not even yet), but I've some how accumulated all the stuff in the world. I showed up here with two large suitcases, my computer bag and a carry on. Moving, I had those two large suitcases, a small suitcase, an absolutely brimming laundry hamper, five FULL boxes, and then a bunch of little boxes and some bags. I tell you, if I have to go back to Canada, I'm screwed.

Aside from the whole moving thing, also had a couple of outings. Friday we went out for my friend Penny's birthday, and then yesterday did a small lunch for my birthday, which is actually a week today! It was a nice, but busy weekend.

Anyways, my room is finally clean and I've mostly unpacked everything, so I'm feeling a bit less stressed. This week is all about the goodbyes - some of my good friends are heading home as we all leave school - and trying to finish my draft of my report for my Major Project! I will try my hardest to keep posting all the Starkissed bits though.

Until then!

Brynna

Fantastic Friday.

It seems I wake up most mornings these days excited by what's happening with Starkissed. I go to bed and then when I get up, at least a few more copies have sold. Or in the case of last night, 10! Actually I think it might be more like 11. I'm now ranked 11,000 and something in the Amazon Kindle store, which is the highest I've climbed ever. I usually hover around 22,000, though last week I was up in the 30,000's.

This is a big deal though. When I set my initial sales goal for my Major Project, I'd hoped to sell at least 75 copies! I've now surpassed that! And that's just within the sales that I can see. I have no idea how many copies I've sold via iBooks, though I know of at least a handful. So I can estimate I've sold at least maybe 85?

Another review on Goodreads yesterday too. I happen to know the person who wrote it, but I also know that they would never give less than their honest opinion. If she hated it, she would have said. And thus it means a lot that she wrote such a lovely review. You can check it out at this link. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/398566218

Not a great deal else is going on. Just trucking along on my major project. I officially move out of Clive Booth (university housing where I've been living since last September) tomorrow, which is strange. It's kind of like I'm stepping into the next phase of my life tomorrow, and it's scary. Leaving Clive Booth makes real life a little realer. All the things I don't want to think about are suddenly...there.

Anyways, let's push that aside and think about happy things! Like it's my birthday a week Monday.

And while I was writing this blog, another copy of Starkissed sold! So yay!

Later lovelies,

Brynna

Lions and tigers and iBooks! Oh my!

So last night I was astonished to find that Starkissed has already been posted on iBooks! According to Smashwords, books don't tend to appear on iBooks until at least two weeks after Smashwords sends them, and it apparently hadn't been sent until August 17th, so I was shocked to find it posted already! So to those who have been waiting to buy Starkissed via iBooks - go do it now!
Unfortunately I don't think the eBook has shipped to any of the other Smashwords outlets I'm waiting for (Sony, Barnes and Noble) yet, but hopefully it should do so by the end of the week and appear in those stores sometime next week!
This morning when I woke up I discovered I had sold another 9 copies of Starkissed since yesterday's update, so I have a total of 59 sold! I can't tell how many books I've sold via iBooks yet as Smashwords doesn't update that sales data very frequently, but I should hopefully get some figures next month! So the amount I've sold now may be a bit bigger, or way bigger. Who knows! Either way, I'm beyond on track to meet my sales goal for the first month of release and I'm so thrilled and excited. I hope the momentum keeps going!
To those who have asked, Starkissed cannot be purchased in print format at this time, but I'm hoping to look into getting it set up using Print on Demand sites this fall. Right now I have to focus on getting my Major Project finished! But hopefully once that's submitted I can get to work on a paperback that can be ordered for anyone who hates to read on a screen!
I hit another exciting milestone for my project yesterday actually! I reached 250 followers on Twitter, which was my goal for September 14th! So I'm way ahead on that front. Can't wait to see how many followers I get by the time I submit my project!
Massive thanks to those out there spreading the word about Starkissed too! This morning when I woke up I found my Aunt Teresa had posted about it on Facebook, which was just wonderful. Thanks Aunt T. Everyone please keep spreading the word and telling everyone you know! This is my dream, and because of all of you, it's coming true.
I should get working on my project again now,
Brynna

One Week Later

One week ago today I officially released Starkissed! While it's not been the easiest week certainly, it has definitely been exciting and I'm really happy with how well things have gone. When I woke up this morning I discovered that my total sales for Starkissed had hit 50! I did't expect to sell that many in the first month, let alone the first week, and I'm so happy that people are out there reading it! I hope the number continues to grow! Another blogger posted a review of Starkissed yesterday as well which is really exciting. You can find it here.

Self-publishing was a huge step for me, a big leap of faith, and I don't regret it at all. In fact, once I'm done with my major project, I hope to begin working on my next novel and will hopefully publish it sometime early next year! 
Before I go I have one big favour I'd like to ask. I'm trying to make Starkissed more visible on Amazon.com, and there are two ways that YOU can help. It'll just take a minute of your time. I need people to go to http://www.amazon.com/Starkissed-ebook/dp/B008XGUI4G. You'll have to sign in to your Amazon account do to these things. 
1) It would be wonderful if you could like Starkissed. The button to do this is at the top of the product page, near the title and price. 
2) Could you scroll to the bottom of the page where it says Tags Customers Associate with This Product 
From there, select 'Agree with these tags' and then you'll be able to click on each tag and select yes or no. Select yes! 
If you're having issues finding where this box is on the product page, I've pasted an image below. Thank you all for your help! It means a lot. And to those of you who have bought Starkissed, thank you! 
Until next time, 
Brynna 

Oh the Formatting

First of all, a little sales update! As of this morning I have sold 42 copies of STARKISSED! That's a pretty awesome debut week for a self-published author, or so I am told! 
So today, for those who are interested in the processes of self-publishing, I thought I'd talk a little bit about how I formatted Starkissed for publication online.
First of all, as you know, Starkissed is available at three outlets currently - Amazon, Kobo, and Smashwords. In order to obtain the best view of file creation I created a separate file type for each outlet.
Smashwords requires that all documents uploaded to their site be Microsoft Word .doc files. They then take these files and put them through their conversion system, nicely named Meatgrinder, which then spits out your book in multiple eBook formats such as - ePub, .Mobi for Kindle, PDF, Rich Text, HTML etc.
Smashwords provides a guide on their site for exactly how one must format their .doc document in order for it to be accepted on Smashwords. They indicate that the formatting should only take a couple of hours. I began formatting my document for Smashwords an evening a few weeks ago and it took me about 2.5 hours to get through their guide and apply it to STARKISSED. This involved removing all Tabs, Fixing Chapter Headings, removing Page Breaks, creating a Table of Contents using Bookmarks and Hyperlinks etc.
I left the Smashwords document as I wasn't ready to upload it yet, and then moved on to creating the other documents. Technically in both Kobo and Amazon you can upload just a word document and they will convert your book to the necessary file format for you. However, because I'm doing this as a project for school, and because I actually wanted to learn how to create the necessary files myself, I did so using Adobe's InDesign software.
First I created a new document for each chapter of the book. In order to make sure none of the intrusive formatting from Word came with the text, I copy and pasted each and every chapter into the new documents. The problem with doing this is that ALL formatting likes to disappear, including italics. So any words I'd italicized in word suddenly just became normal text. As I required the italics, I actually had to go through the word file of STARKISSED and place underscores around every word that needed to be italicized - like this  _italics!_. Then once I'd pasted the chapter into InDesign, I went through and removed all the underscores and put the words back into italics. I also had to create paragraph styles for each style of text and apply those. I had to re-centre all of the *** that separated passages in the book, and I had to create new Chapter Headings. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it was very time consuming.
Once I'd done this with all 27 chapters, plus the Epilogue, Acknowledgements, and About Brynna section, I imported all the files into a single BOOK document that essentially made it one file. It's a handy tool.
I had to do other things of course - create Master Pages, merge all paragraph styles, create a Table of Contents style etc. But eventually I had what appeared to be a functioning book. So I started to export it as an ePub to make sure it actually worked. Each time I did this I had to run it through the online validator to make sure it passed. Sometimes it did, sometimes it didn't. Sometimes when it passed, the cover still didn't show properly in Adobes Digital Editions or something else was wrong. In the end I believe I created about 17 ePub files for STARKISSED until it was finally perfect - or as perfect as I was going to get it.
Then once I had the ePub functioning, I attempted to export the file as a .Mobi for Kindle using the Kindle plug-in for InDesign. Unfortunately this didn't work too well and using the Kindle previewer app I found a handful of things were messed up - primarily the Table of Contents which was about 30 pages long as it would only put a single entry on a page, and then for some reason big gaps were showing up in the text.
The gaps, I figured out eventually, were to do with the fact that I had inset the border for the text frame to make it more visually appealing for the PDF. When I'd exported to ePub it wasn't a problem at all, but for the .mobi it was. I'd inset the text frame in the Master Pages of the documents so it would be applied to every page. However when I went back and removed it from Master Pages, the text didn't fix itself no matter how many times I tried to make it. In the end I had to go through each page and remove the inset frame.
As for the Table of Contents, it turned out it had been applying a Chapter Heading style to the Table, so every entry considered itself a chapter heading and thus gave itself a new page.
I then began exporting the .mobi again to see if it functioned. In the end I think I did this about 11 times until I finally had a working document that functioned as desired in the Kindle Preview App.
I then had all of my document formats ready. Or so I thought, so I started to upload online. I started with Smashwords, only to find that Microsoft Word had been doing nasty tricks behind my back. For some reason when I uploaded the book, the Table of Contents wouldn't work correctly. I'd open the Smashwords produced ePub in Adobes Digital Editions and either some of the Table of Contents entries would be missing, or when I clicked on something like Chapter 26 it would take me to the acknowledgments page.
I went back to work and fixed the ToC, uploaded it again, but still entries were missing, links weren't working. I did it again. Then again. Then again. Then again. Nothing would work. I then completely removed all of the ToC I'd created and made a new one, which was an irritatingly lengthy process. I uploaded again and still it didn't want to work! Finally, somehow, on my 8th attempt, the file I uploaded worked!
Uploading to Kobo (ePub) and Amazon (mobi) was far less horrifying, though I did find I had to fix one or two things on the Amazon file.
In the end, getting all my files formatted correctly and uploaded took about 25 - 30 hours over three days.
I know there are people out there who can format quicker, make their files quicker, etc. But considering I was teaching myself how to do this, and it was all for the first time, I think I did alright! At the end of the day(s) I had created and formatted a number of different documents:
1) The Smashwords File (.doc)2) The InDesign prep file (.doc)3) The ePub book file (consisting of 30+ chapter files) (InDesign)4) The Mobi book file (consisting of 30+ chapter files (InDesign)5) The final ePub6) The final Mobi7) The final PDF
Not the most exciting tale to tell, but for anyone looking to create their own eBooks for self-publishing, I hope this helps on your journey! 

Feeling oh so Friday.

Not a great deal to report in the world of Starkissed today! I sold a couple more copies on Amazon which is great and I've had a couple more really nice reviews. The first one was by a blogger, Lacey Williams, who wrote a really nice review which can be found here.  The second one also was pretty great and can be found at Goodreads, here.

Also on the awesome list, one of my marketing objectives for Starkissed is to increase my Twitter following to at least 250 by September 15th. Today I've made it to 195, so I'm getting super close to my goal. I may even surpass it - by lots! We'll see. Considering I started with 100 followers less than a week ago, I'm pretty happy.

That's all that's really happened in the self-publishing sector of my life.

In other news, today's been a pretty lazy day for me. After go go going all week, I decided to sit back and catch up on some much needed doing nothing. Tomorrow begins stage one of the big move. This will involve lugging heavy boxes down three endless flights of stairs, over and over. Can't stay I'm much looking forward to it! Then next week I begin the intensive writing of my Major Project! In some ways I'm looking forward to it, because now that I've published Starkissed I have lots to work with and, to be honest, I can kind of ramble on about self-publishing all day long if. The problem is that I'm the worst at writing in an academic style - hence the BA in CREATIVE writing,  so I will likely be banging my head on the table trying to figure out how to sound all proper and removed. Which is difficult considering this is technically a very personal project. I guess we'll see when it gets going.

Anyways, I shan't bore you all any longer. Perhaps I should take this opportunity to tidy my desk...or not.

Brynna

A smile on my face

So I was kind of dreading getting out of bed today, because today is the day I start shoving my life into boxes so I can get ready to move my stuff to the new place. For those who don't know, I'm currently in University housing, but my contract is up at the end of the month, so am thus moving to a new house with my friend Rachul.
Anyways, that's besides the point. I was waking up dreading the whole packing thing, and let's face it, I still am. But I'm feeling much better as three awesome things have happened since I opened my eyes! (Or they happened while I was asleep, but I found out after I woke up)
1) I sold 6 more copies of Starkissed! 2) I found out Starkissed has been approved for Smashwords Premium Catalogue which means in days (or in some cases a couple weeks) it will be available at Barnes and Noble, iBooks, the Sony Reader Store and several other great places. 3) Someone left a really awesome review of Starkissed on Amazon.com that just made me feel really good about things. You can read it here. 
So here's to a great morning, hopefully the trend will continue and this afternoon will be just as rewarding! 

Quick update!

So Starkissed has been out for just over 24 hours and it's done pretty well so far! I've sold 20 copies across the three stores, which is pretty great for a debut self-published author! Thanks so much to everyone who has bought the book, and a gentle reminder to all those who haven't that it is out there waiting for you!
To those who are reading it, I'd love to get some reviews and star ratings posted online. I'm not asking for passages dripping with accolades and love. Just your honest opinions. The best places to post and rate are Amazon and Goodreads! Though I would love a rating on Kobo as well!
In other news of my life, I completed my work experience placement for the summer today. I was doing two days a week at The Rights People. It was a great learning experience and a lovely office. Rights is definitely an interesting area of publishing to work in.
Now I just have to crack on with my Major Project. Getting Starkissed out there of course was the biggest part of it, now it's all about writing about how I did it and how it's working out. I've been doing marketing like a mad woman for days. I hope it's paying off! I'm on Goodreads with an author page and book page, I have a fan page for Starkissed on Facebook, I'm racking up followers on my Twitter account, I have author pages on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, and I'm running a pay-per-click campaign via Goodreads. Then of course there is this site/blog! It's exhausting, I must admit. But worth it!
Anyways I shall keep this short as I was up very early this morning and my ability to type is waning.
Thanks for reading! More tomorrow!
Brynna

Buy Starkissed Now!

They told me I'd have to wait hours, but it seems that isn't the case as STARKISSED is officially on sale now! Can't believe it! Two years and now my baby is out there for the world to read, and hopefully love.

Right now it's available in three stores.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008XGUI4G

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Starki...

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

What's it all about, well here's the blurb:

Kissing movie star Grant West may be every teenage girl’s dream, but when it happens to Sydney Kane, it’s nothing but a nightmare. Sure he’s cute, but having her face plastered all over celebrity gossip blogs is not something she’s interested in. Now cheerleaders are trying to befriend her, reporters won’t stop calling, and her mother keeps chasing her with a curling iron so she won’t be caught by the paparazzi with flat hair ever again.


Forgetting Grant is all Sydney wants and Colin, the guy she’s had a crush on since seventh grade, seems like a pretty good way to do it. Then Grant shows up at Sydney’s door begging for a second chance and the more she gets to know him, the more she isn’t sure she wants him to go away. But with Grant in the picture, Colin is backing off and she definitely doesn’t want that. Everything is a mess and Sydney doesn’t know what to do, who to choose, or how to make those pesky cheerleaders leave her alone. She only knows one thing for sure, being STARKISSED isn’t a dream come true at all.