Maegan Provan's Blog, page 7

Two Goals Down!

 

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen; I have actually reached two of the three goals I set out for myself. I completed Becoming Jeremy and compiled the entire collection for you! The print edition of The Collection will be out soon, but it’s just taking a bit of time for me to finish editing the cover. I cannot wait for you guys to get your hands on this short story collection. There is a bonus short story as well. No spoilers, of course. You’ll just have to pick up your copy today!

New Becoming Night Touched Covers Out Now!!

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen!! Becoming Night Touched had a bit of a makeover. This will be followed by a full TNTC makeover later, but for now, I hope you love them as much as I do. These new covers are available now. (Becoming Harper and Becoming Celine will be getting their freebie status fixed soon.)

 

     

Alternate Voices Anthology: A Book for a Cause

Originally posted on Authors to Watch:

This week is a celebration of the release of Alternate Voices, a DI Lyle Anthology. Seven authors (including Juliet B Madison, author of the DI Lyle Series) have come together to present a collection of short stories. The proceeds from the anthology will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support. Each day this week, I am featuring a different author. I’m proud to say I am a part of this wonderful collection of stories. Since I can’t interview myself, I would like to talk about my contribution to the anthology.

My short story is called A Change of Heart and is about DI Frank Lyle’s ex-wife Sarah who is trying work through her feelings about the dissolution of her marriage and falling-out with her son. When Sarah meets a young homeless man in the park, she is forced to confront the truth about the mistakes she’s made in her family life…

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Critical Role of Beta Readers

Maegan Provan:

Found this thanks to The Story Reading Ape! I love this post!!!

Originally posted on Carrot Ranch Communications:

Little did I know that when I slung the “ranch open” sign on a literary project called Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction Challenge that I would find some of the best writers in the world. As a Rough Writer, Geoff Le Pard has been one of the most prolific flash fiction contributors, writing an entire saga week by week, 99-words at a time. His dedication and enthusiasm for craft is inspiring! He’s the author of two novels, and joins us today to discuss the importance of beta readers to his second novel, “My Father and Other Liars.”

Welcome guest blogger, Geoff Le Pard, to Carrot Ranch.

***

My beta readers have been critical to me: how did I find them and chose them and what does having informed and knowledgeable beta readers mean to me?

I learnt early that no book can be created in isolation. It needs to be read…

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On a serious note

 

As I am sure many of you are aware, September is Suicide Awareness Month. It is a time to remind everyone that depression and suicidal thoughts are not just something you see in the movies and dramatic TV shows. People feel real pain and no self-worth, but it doesn’t make them any less human. Regardless of how many people they can have around them, they can still feel alone and like nothing matters.

I have been battling depression since the age of 13. I have been on medications, off medications, in therapy centers, abused drugs, and made countless other attempts to “fix” myself. I used to self-harm a lot as a teen. I still struggle with it today. I no longer do it, but there are times when the thought just creeps into my head, and I have to pause. I know that it would not do me, or anyone around me any good, and I feel like I have better control that I did 13 years ago. I have self-image issues, and serious doubts about my self-worth, but I do my best every day to get out of bed, get to work, and I am fortunate to have some clients that I care for a great deal. My husband, my dogs, my family, my friends, my readers, and my clients keep me going. Some people don’t have that.

I don’t know how long many of you have been following this blog, but a few years ago, my friend introduced me to a Youtuber called Markiplier. He had about 600,000 subscribers and was known for playing horror games. The first Let’s Play of his that I watched was for The Last of Us, and that inspired my continuing WIP “The End.” Markiplier’s channel has grown and amassed close to 10 million subscribers at the time of this blog post. Markiplier, who has spoken out about his own battles with depression, is well known for not only his Five Nights at Freddy’s series, but also for doing hilarious collaborations with the comedic trio known as Cyndago. On September 16th, Markiplier and two of the three members from Cyndago made some cryptic posts regarding some sort of tragedy that had befallen them. Speculation swirled, but mostly, the fans that had come to call all of them ‘friends’ were just concerned for their well being. Today, September 19th, Cyndago made the tragic announcement that one of the founding members, Daniel Kyre, had taken his own life. (Full statement on Cyndago’s Facebook. )

Suicide is a permanent solution for a temporary problem, as they say. Nothing is so bad that you need to end your own life. If you are feeling depressed, or like you deserve to die, please talk to someone. You are worth more than you know. If you succeed, the people you leave behind will never be able to pick up the pieces. It does get better. Talk to people you trust, join a support group, check into a therapy center; do something! It does not have to end here, and it does not have to end now. It will get better. Please check out the graphic for contact information to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. If you think you don’t have anyone close to you that you can talk to, talk to them. Please.

I doubt that Markiplier, Matt, or Ryan will see this, but in any case: Thank you guys for all the laughter that you have given your fans. Daniel was an amazing spirit, and he will be missed. Your fans are here for you.

If you are contemplating suicide: Please call the number above, or the website. You are worth more than you think. Even you don’t think it, there are people in your life that love you. I love you. I appreciate you. You are wonderful.

Will we ever learn?

The sad fact remains that every month, another self-publishing author is doing another stupid thing to make the rest of us look bad. I have said several times that I do not think that we, as authors, should be trying to crowd source any kind of funding. There are plenty of low cost, well put together businesses that are much closer to the “average” self-publishing author’s budget. I hear time and again about authors that spend hundreds, if not thousands, on editing services, formatting services, and book covers. They, more often than not, come out of the situation with a half-assed editing job and formatting that isn’t done properly. You should not be spending this kind of money! Especially if you have to support yourself, your family, and if you have to work in a “General Population” job. (General Population job is basically any job that takes you away from the comfort and solitude of your computer screen and your writing.) I know the argument could be made that you get what you pay for. That’s true. However, if you do your research, you will find affordable and reliable businesses out there that will do the job right and not cost you your first born child. There is nothing wrong with asking for help, but if you’re spending so much money that you need other people to pay for your stuff for you, or to essentially make certain that your bills are paid each month, then you need to reevaluate your situation. Do you not realize that if you tweaked your budget just a bit, you would save tons and money and not need to ask for help?

The reason for the long introductory paragraph is because I wanted you to know my feelings about that kind of thing at the beginning. If you disagree with my stance and see nothing wrong with authors crowd funding, that’s cool. That’s your opinion. This is mine.

I read a blog post yesterday by Jenny Trout [linked here]. The post was an interesting exposé of sorts about author Payne Hawthorne and her crowd funding campaign that was set up recently. There are a lot more authors that disagree with crowd funding than actually think it’s okay, and they voice their opinions. Enough authors spoke out against Hawthorne that it caused her to lose her shit. Literally. Hawthorne proceeded to go off on a tangent about how everyone speaking out against her is wrong and they’re all “cock juggling thunder cunts.” My favorite part of her rant is where she actually used her “looks” as an excuse to do what she’s doing. The woman actually typed out:

“Oh don’t hate me because I’m prettier than you.”

You want to be taken seriously and you stoop to a middle school level comeback? The thing that people are taking umbrage with is whether you should be crowd funding or not and your response is “I’m prettier than you so I can do what I want?” I’m stuck on this because… Well, honestly I’m blown away by the fact that that was an actual argument used by an adult.

The goal of the campaign is for Hawthorne to raise enough money to write full time and not have to worry about work a General Population job. (Because she is the only author in the world that wants that.) She has resorted to crowd funding because she does not feel that she is getting money as quickly as she feels that she deserves it. She said that she spends several thousands of dollars on her books, but only makes $100-$200 a month in sales. First rule of budgeting is that you do not outspend your income. If you’re only making $200 a month in your book sales, you should probably not spend more than $150 on your next book. Yes, that leaves you with an income of $50 a month, but here are two things to note about that: a) you’re still making a hell of a lot more than most authors make, and b) you are just going to have to work a General Population job. Because that is so terrible.

You know something, I am working full time, going to school full time, and trying to write in the mean time. Would I love to be able to quit my job, or not worry about college? Hell yeah, but that is just not the case. Hawthorne’s goal, as she stated, is to raise enough to support her idea of a year’s income at $12,000. Not a terrible amount considering the annual income for a family of two to be considered at poverty level is roughly $16k. She mentioned that she is getting assistance from her family but it “isn’t enough.” She is spending so much money on her books (and audio books, mind you, that she said cost her $3,500 a pop) that she has to get her readers to give her extra money. Assuming that she is spending $4,000 average per book (including the cover, editing, formatting, and audio book) (assuming that she only spends $500 on the editing, cover, and formatting), she will blow through that $12,000 in 3 months! So if her assistance from her family is not enough, she is not earning enough from her books, and she plans on quitting her job once she reaches her goal, then she is going to be living in the cardboard box she is so afraid of in no time at all!

In my eyes, she has completely insulted her loyal readers by essentially saying that they are not doing enough to help her realize her dream. She is still making more money in a month than most self-published authors make in a year. That’s pretty awesome to me. I still have people picking up my books and that makes me happy. I don’t care if they pick up a freebie or buy a full novel. The fact is that I didn’t get into writing to get rich, which Ms. Hawthorne apparently did. When you get into self-publishing to be the next Amanda Hocking, you’re taking a huge gamble. Amanda Hocking’s rise to fame is not typical. When you don’t immediately make the hundreds of thousands, or millions that Amanda does, you’re going to be disappointed. That does not give licenses to tell your readers that do buy from you “give me more money because you haven’t done enough already.”

Of course, the authors speaking out against her campaign are acting just as childishly. Bashing her campaign by trash talking her there, down rating her books, and lashing out on her Facebook does not do them or their ’cause’ any favors. Our community has a bad habit of trolling, attacking, and spiting anyone who goes out of what we feel to be the “norm.” As I said, I do not agree with the campaign or Ms. Hawthorne’s actions, but I also do not agree with people attacking her. She is entitled to her freedoms, just as we all are. Down rating her books into oblivion, while mostly effective, is ridiculous and unfair. If someone did that to you, you would be completely destroyed. Let her be. When she doesn’t reach her goal and snaps at her fan base again, she’ll be the cause of her own demise. Be the better people, guys. Just sit back and let her do what she feels she needs to do. Ultimately, how does her campaign hurt you?

I want to end this by saying thank you to every single one of you that follow this blog, follow me on Twitter, like my Facebook page, and of course, read my books. I put everything I have into making sure that you guys always know how important you are to me. Without you, I’d just be a crazy chick talking to the voices in her head. I sincerely love and appreciate you all. In case you haven’t heard it yet today, you are important, you are beautiful, you are talented, and you rock.

When the Lights Go Out – the Official Anthology Cover Reveal

Maegan Provan:

I cannot wait for this! The next Ink Slingers Anthology!!

Originally posted on Amaranthine by Joleene Naylor:

Come one, come all, and bask in the official cover of the Ink Slinger’s Halloween Anthology:

Featuring 25 tales of Halloween inspired goodness and an intro by horror author Rami Ungar, look for the anthology October first at your favorite ebook retailers! (Links will come when I have them). Featuring vampires, monsters, human transformation, murder, ghosts, and more, there’s something for everyone in the Ink Slingers’ Anthology – but you might want to read it with the lights on.

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Asking for Help – Please Share and Help Me Find My Sister

Originally posted on A Good Blog is Hard to Find:

[This post has been edited from the original]

I have tried before to locate my sister. I have failed. Part of me wants to never try again. A lot of me hates that part of me. I will try again because there is always a chance she might see this. One can hope.

My name is Jason Chandler Cushman and I was born in Pusan, South Korea in 1981. I have a sister who is a few years older me. I believe she is probably 37 now and her name was Ahn Jung Hee, my birth mother’s name is Kim Ie Soo. Our mother left us on a street when we were young. I was 2 years old and my sister was 5 I believe. We were taken to an orphanage and my mother later returned for only my sister. That was the last time I saw her. I found this…

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Beware the Experts

Originally posted on Tricia Drammeh:

Experts. They’re everywhere. Self-publishing experts, social media experts, writing experts… the list goes on and on.

How can you tell if someone is an expert in their field? Anyone can claim to be an expert. Not everyone who claims to be an expert is an expert. They lack credentials, experience, and sometimes integrity. They sell services to unsuspecting authors and pad their own pockets by destroying a writer’s dreams.

I know an author who paid a “professional” to edit and format her book. When she tried to upload the book, it looked a mess on Kindle. It wouldn’t pass Createspace’s review. Her “formatted” file was useless. When she asked for help in a writer’s group we both belong to, I offered to look at her file. Wow. Not only was the formatting horrible, the editing was a mess too. When I skimmed the document in an attempt to clean up…

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Rock, meet hard place.

So, in my last post I told you all about me going to school to become an attorney. While this is great for my job, I’m questioning whether it is great for my life. Ultimately I want to be an author full time; that is my end game. I like the idea of being an attorney, don’t get me wrong. I just don’t like the idea of how much debt I will be in for years to come. This whole trek was started on a promise, and I’m starting to wonder about it.

A big reason I have started questioning my decision is certain things going on in my work place. I wasn’t sure that I was ever going to share this, because I like to keep somethings to myself, but I am Wiccan. I’m not “out” to my family or my coworkers, but there it is. One of my coworkers is Jewish and is (somewhat) serious about her faith. She often speaks about not being okay with her son’s family celebrating holidays like Easter, or Halloween because those are Pagan holidays and “Pagans are bad.” Her faith tells her not to trust Pagans because they’re evil. Her faith also tells her not to eat pork, but in the year and 3 months I’ve worked her, I’ve witnessed her eat bites of pork on several occasions. One thing that really gets to me are religious hypocrites. So that’s been a big issue. ((I’m not anti-God or whatever, and I respect everyone who is Christian, Jewish, or whatever. Please don’t try to convert me, because I’m not trying to convert you. Please respect my religion. If you don’t, you’re more than welcome to unfollow me and not read my books. That’s totally fine.))

There are also a lot of political disagreements that end up with me being brushed off as young and told that I’ll “come to my senses when I get older.” I know that I will never be a bigoted jerk who thinks that someone like Donald Trump deserves to be in office. I’m good. But that comes up a lot. When I express disdain with this city’s lack of ability to clean up run over animals on the road, I get told that my “pet peeves are adorable.” I didn’t know that not wanting to see dozens of corpses on the road every day is simply a pet peeve and adorable. I also wasn’t aware that cars were part of the natural circle of life for animals. They’re born, grow up, have babies and run out in front of cars to end their life cycle. I think my science teachers missed that in their lessons.

The domino that started the tumble was knocked over yesterday. We had a couple come in for our notary services. I arrived a bit late to work and hard not had time to do my makeup. I was forced to bring my (large) case with me and so I sat it on the ground next to me. When they went to sit at our conference table they could see the case on the ground and Person A proceeded to ask if the large box was for my lunch. I laughed it off and said no because it was for my make up. Person A asked if I needed that much make up. Whatever, no big. Any normal person might have taken that as a compliment, but Person A’s tone made me feel other wise. After the signing, Person B asked about our services. I joined the couple and our notary at the table to discuss a few things with them. I got my nails done a couple of weeks ago, so I have fake nails right now. Person A noticed them and made the comment that I was getting paid too much if I had that much make up and was able to get my nails done. The notary laughed and agreed with him, pointing out that her nails were not done. I made the comment that I had started school and occasionally, when I make a big change in my life, I do something nice for myself. Get my hair done, nails done, whatever. Person A cocked their eyebrow at me and asked me if I were drunk. Seriously. And the notary, instead of saying that was inappropriate (or saying anything at all) laughed and thought it was the funniest thing. The couple left and I said something about Person A’s comments. Both women in the office laughed it off as Person A was joking around and said I was being too sensitive. Do you guys think I was?

I know that this is something that I probably shouldn’t broadcast, but I don’t know what to do. The idea has come up multiple times lately to leave school, leave this job, and move back to where we’re from. I’m just concerned about giving up. Am I giving up, or am I getting out of a bad situation? I’m sorry to unload on you guys like this because I want to keep my personal life separate from my blog life. I don’t want to be that person that unloads everything all the time. I just feel stuck. Thanks for reading.