Brynna Gabrielson's Blog, page 6

How to read Starkissed.

So they day has finally arrived! I'm releasing the eBook of Starkissed today! Well kind of. The files have been uploaded and are just awaiting review from the distributors. I will post when they can officially be purchased. Until then I thought I'd give a run down of how exactly you will be able to read Starkissed.
 On Your ComputerYou can download the PDF from Smashwords.com and read using Adobe Acrobat or any other PDF reader you possessYou can download the ePUB from Smashwords or Kobo and read on Adobe's Digital Editions which is free and can be downloaded here: http://www.adobe.com/products/digital... You can purchase the KINDLE version from Amazon or Smashwords and read on a desktop KINDLE app which can be downloaded here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/custo... You can purchase the KOBO ePUB and read it via the KOBO computer app. You can download it here: http://www.kobobooks.com/apps

On Your eBook ReaderKindle
o   You can purchase the KINDLE ebook from Smashwordso   You can purchase the KINDLE ebook from AmazonOn your Kobo/Sony/ or other eReader that supports ePUBs
o   You can purchase the ePUB from KOBO o   You can purchase the ePUB from Smashwordso   *Starkissed is currently under review by Smashwords for their premium catalogue. Once approve the ePUB will be available through multiple other outlets. I will keep you updated! On your Nook
o   Due to restrictions set by Barnes and Noble, non US residents aren't able to upload their ebooks via B&N's Pubit! Program. Therefore I will be available at B&N via the Smashwords premium catalogue, when I am approved. I will let you know when this happens!
On Your iPad/iPhone/iPodYou can purchase the KINDLE ebook from Amazon and read via the Kindle App which can be downloaded here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/custo... You can purchase the ePub from Kobo and read via the KOBO app which can be downloaded here: http://www.kobobooks.com/apps You can purchase the ePUB from Smashwords or Kobo and upload to iBooks by importing the file to your iTunes and using the iBooks section.Once approved by the Smashwords premium catalogue, Starkissed will hopefully be available via Apple's iBook store! I will keep you posted.
On Your SmartphoneBlackberry
o   You can purchase the KOBO ePub and read via the KOBO app which can be downloaded here: http://www.kobobooks.com/appsAndroid (Tablets as well)
o   You can purchase the KINDLE version and read via the Amazon app which can be found here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/custo...   You can purchase the ePub via KOBO and read on the KOBO app which can be found here: http://www.kobobooks.com/appsWindows Phone
o   You can purchase the KINDLE version and read on the Kindle App which can be found here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/custo...

There are other programs you can use to read ePubs and PDFs etc, but I'm not too familiar with them. As I learn more though, I'll let you know. Until then, I hope the ways I've told you are more than enough to get your eyes on Starkissed.
Only a few more hours!
Brynna

It's Coming, it's coming!

This is all happening so very fast, but I've decided to release Starkissed as of tomorrow, August 14th (which might be today by the time some of you are reading this). I probably should have given myself way more time on the marketing front before release, but time is ticking by oh so quickly and I really need to publish ASAP so I can apply everything that happens to my Major Project. However, don't anyone worry. The book itself is more than ready to be out there! It's been two years in the making, and I've spent the past two months doing everything I can to make sure that it's edited and proofread and formatted within an inch of its life. I know there will be typos (and if anyone buys it and spots some, please let me know so I can fix them!), but I swear I combed out every single one I could find. I could have hired a proofreader of course, but like with the covers, I just didn't have the excess money, and also wanted the experience of doing it myself!

So as of tomorrow, barring any issues with uploading Starkissed will be available via Kobo, Amazon, and Smashwords. And in coming weeks, once Smashwords (hopefully) approves it for their premium catalogue, it will also be available via Barnes and Noble, iBooks, and the Sony eBook Store, among others!

I can't wait to see what happens when I click publish tomorrow. This has been a long and - well I could put many adjectives here: exciting, nerve wrecking, terrifying, frustrating, fun, satisfying, crazy - journey.

See you tomorrow!

Brynna

Uncovered

Cover design is probably one of the scariest bits of self-publishing, at least for me. Lots of self-publishers out there pay designers to do their covers, which I completely get. But because I'm doing this in part for my Major Project, and also because I simply don't have the extra money, I endeavored to design the STARKISSED cover on my own.
It was not easy. I purchased the Adobe CS programs earlier this year so I have Photoshop, I just had no idea how to use it. And no matter how much I learn, I never will fully grasp the abilities of that program. But after hours, and I mean HOURS, of reading up on it, and practicing, and doing more reading, and more practicing, I finally started to figure things out. So thus began the creation of my cover. It wasn't an easy cover to make, and after about 30 hours and 25 different drafts of it (some hugely different, some just with different font sizes), I finally made something I actually really liked. It's not perfect, but I'm not a graphic designer so I never thought it would be. But I think it's fun and pretty, on target with my market, and captures a bit of the essence of Starkissed! You've probably seen it hover in the background of this blog, or maybe as my about me thumbnail image. But nonetheless, I officially give you the cover of Starkissed! 

For those a bit more interested in the nitty gritty of how I made the cover, well I'll give you a very basic and quick run down.
The two images - the photographers and the couple - were purchased from the stock photo website Fotolia. The picture with the paparazzi initially was of them taking photo's of a woman, who I edited out of the image using a lasso tool as well as a brush tool to colour in the left over bits that weren't black. I then loaded both images into my cover document - the dimensions of which is 2500 X 1900 pixels. I chose to do it this large as Amazon now advises self-publishers to have at least a height of 2500 pixels. Once the photos were in the document, I layered them and then used the gradient tool to blend them together as one. As for fonts, I spent a great deal of time going through every font that came with Photoshop, and then through a ton online before I found one I liked. The font I selected for the title is Simply Glamorous, designed by Brittney Murphy (http://brittneymurphydesign.com/).
Anyways, written all down like that it doesn't sound nearly as complicated. But it was not an easy task. But in the end it was worth it. Not only did I learn how to do something new, but I can look at my cover and say - 'hey, I did that!' Which is pretty cool. Any self-publishers out there thinking about designing your own cover, I can say that it is fun, but definitely time consuming (unless you're already a whiz at Photoshop!).  

The Start of Something New

Hello world! Welcome to my site (well at this point it's just a blog, but at some point I hope it will evolve into something a bit more exciting!). My name is Brynna Gabrielson and I am a writer. A published one? No, not quite yet. Not unless you count a couple of short stories in my University's literary magazine, but as for the big stuff, the novels - I still haven't set them free into the universe. Although that's about to change!
You see I'm setting forth on a new, exciting, and horrifyingly scary adventure. I have decided to enter into the Self-Publishing fray and publish my Young Adult novel, Starkissed.
Why am I doing this? Well for a number of reasons. You see I'm currently a student, completing my Master of Arts Degree in Publishing at Oxford Brookes University. As part of my degree I have to complete a major project and I decided that I wanted to explore the ever growing and exciting area of self-publishing, and what better way to do it, then to try it out myself!
I have more reasons of course. I've put a lot of thought into this.  Starkissed, after all, is a novel I put a great deal of hard work into and part of me is in those words. Publishing it is not something I take lightly. Being a writer is my dream, and I've always wanted to be taken on by one of those big houses all writer's dream of - Penguin, Random House, Harper Collins...etc. But getting published is HARD. I've tried my hand at submitting to Literary Agents and while I did get requests, (3 Full, 4 Partial), and had some good feedback, I never did find representation. There are thousands more agents out there I could try, but querying is time consuming and sometimes, disheartening. And getting an agent doesn't always mean a publishing deal. As someone who has seen the industry from both the writing side, and the publishing side, I know how few books make it past all those gatekeepers and onto bookstore shelves. That doesn't mean it will never happen. Authors still get contracts every day! And maybe it will happen for me one day, but until then, I've really looked at self-publishing and I like what I've seen.
So I thought, why not try it? Starkissed has been sitting on my computer for two years and I want people to read it. I want them to laugh at my silly jokes, become friends with Sydney (my protagonist), and fall in love with Grant and Colin (my gorgeous love interests).  What's the point of creating stories if no one gets to read them?
So here I go. This is the start. In just weeks STARKISSED will be online and on sale. And as it all happens, I'll be here, keeping ya'll up to date and letting you know how it goes. I'll let you know where I publish, how many copies I sell, and  how much hair I pull out of my head. It'll all be here! I hope you enjoy reading about it.
Brynna