Darren Endymion's Blog, page 39

The Cover and Back of the Book Blurb

So, what the hell have I been babbling about all this time? What’s the freakin’ book about already? Well, here’s the synopsis/blurb that will go up on sites and will eventually be on the back of the book (if/when it goes to actual, physical print). Hope you like it.

 

The blurb:

Cursed to be a Three Form, blessed to be a True Mate, Austin’s life is a nightmare. He is hated and bullied by his pack, because under his timid exterior lies the strength and savagery of a Hybrid werewolf. Only the thoughts of his True Mate, and his desperate desire to escape his pack, sustain him through the daily abuse.

When Cristiano finds Austin, things go from bad to worse. The True Mates must keep their connection a secret as Cris is inducted into a conspiracy for rebellion. The pack’s trust in Cris grows, even as their loathing for Austin spirals into escalated violence. Soon Cris and Austin are drawn into a battle for control over Austin’s pack. Both sides will gladly exploit Austin — his strength, the venom in his claws and bite, and his inability to leave the pack.

However, though Austin is both gentle and savage, more than anything he is vulnerable. He and Cris have one last chance at getting away and finding a new pack to take them in. Because unless he and Cris can get out, neither of them is likely to survive the coming storm.

The cover:

I got this a while ago and I’m still not over it. The cover artist, Brandon Clay (his cover art here: http://www.bsclay.com/covers/), was very open to what I wanted and incredibly nice and accommodating. I was probably annoying and demanding, but in the end I think the cover is great (I even got to pick out the boys).

 

 

I hope everyone else likes it, too.

Marketing

One of the (many) reasons I wanted to go with a traditional publisher for my first novel is that as a self-published author, you have to do all the marketing yourself, hoping that you can get your name out there enough to make people want to buy your stuff. Once you have a name people recognize, then you have an advantage over a newly published author desperately trying to market himself.

I don’t know dick about marketing.

I have read numerous cautionary articles that indicate how unwise it is to not market yourself, relying on a book being contemporary, or relevant, or even good to light your way through the mires of everyone else. The publishing company I’m with does a lot of that for you, and offers a lot of opportunities for guest blogging, giveaways, etc., to get your name out there. They also send your crap around to be reviewed, I believe. They tell you about a dozen different places and ways you can help yourself, each unfortunately less practical than the last. From taking out ads to banners on web sites to parading an elephant with the title of your book down LA and Manhattan streets.

The opportunities they provide through them and their contacts are great, though the really good ones involve having a book already out there. There are giveaways (awesome—give your book to someone, they read it, they tell others. They are already happy about not having to pay, and the more people who read your stuff, the better), contests, etc. Many of the authors will feature other authors on their blogs.

It’s daunting. So many options and methods are thrown at you that I cannot keep them straight. What’s the most effective? What works? What’s easiest? And what would be a waste of valuable time I could spend working on something new? I am bewildered and lost in a sea of things I simply do not understand.

And, I find that most of the marketing opportunities are for those already published. What do I do right now? I’m going some guest spots, and I am branching out, but it’s all too little, too late.

One author expressed some disdain for all the methods above. He said that the marketing he did had no impact on his sales and that he would prefer to actually be writing instead of spending months promoting what he is done with. I don’t know what outlets he tried, but I understand the sentiment. I’d rather be working on something new or editing, as will be the case this next week when I get my last round of proofs. That’s the ideal situation, really. I’d rather be writing my next project rather than focusing on self-promotion and pimping myself out anywhere I can.

Some authors have Twitter, Facebook, personal websites, Goodreads, blogs, billboards, skywriting, telepathic goats, lights from the sky, trained dancer-fireflies in synchronized tandem, and cyborg flamenco dancers stomping the titles of their books in sexy Morse code. I just can’t keep up with all that.

I will do what I can, I will expand, and I will promote in ways I can. I loathe social media, but I’m fond of my writing and I would like others to be. If I have to suck it up, then I will. I have a feeling that this is all Newbie Terror. I adjust well once the first time is over. The very idea that my first novel will be released in less than a month, that someone believed in me and my writing enough to think they could make money off of it, that it will be out there for anyone in the world to read, scares my bowels loose and moist. (Ewwwwwwwwe! I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from, but it’s so horrifying that I think I will refrain from editing it out.)

I still don’t know dick about marketing.

What’s Wrong With Size?

Elevate your minds from the gutters, brethren; I’m referring to book length.

I have been reading a bit on this subject and most sources seem to think that anything over 200 pages is bloated and beyond anything any reasonable person could ever be expected to read. (Yes, that’s a slight exaggeration. Work with me.) Maybe it’s this first genre I’ve chosen to write in, but this seems to be all the worse with gay novels. Meanwhile, many of the books out there can be considered fluff to pass an afternoon with (and I am a very slow reader).

For instance, there is a book I found on Amazon which weighs in at a paltry 135 pages. It is touted as a novel, which after 50 pages, I suppose it is. However, this retails for $6+ in eBook format and $10+ in print. For a rather dramatic contrast, Stephen King’s IT weighs in at 1,104 pages and retails for $9, both eBook and paperback formats.

135 pages is a pamphlet. I could wash that out of my hair in a couple weeks. I downloaded a sample and was not impressed, nor was I appalled. It was okay. However, for that price and with what I read, I declined to buy the whole thing.

Granted, I have been repeatedly told that my forthcoming novel, Winter’s Trial, is long. Longer than average. Much longer than it “should be” for this genre. I thought about it, looked at it, and asked my beta readers and editor what could be cut. I cut wordiness (a crime I am guilty of), I eliminated crap, I cut out the pointless stuff, and I elaborated if needed for clarity. At least three people have been over it a total of eight times in seven months. And there are two or three more to come (final proofreader and then me, and probably my editor after that).

My astronomical total? 364 pages. 146,000 words with Times New Roman 12 font. A full space between paragraphs. Long? Meh. The vast majority of books I own are between 300 and 500 pages. Even the gay books I pulled off my shelves are about 250-300+.

I recently read online that an author was worried that his/her current project was going to go over 100,000 words and was asking for advice from other authors on if this was acceptable or not. I stayed silent. I am far too biased and too green to comment to someone who might even potentially care what I have to say on the matter. I am opinionated and new and so I shut up. Until I got here.

But I like to read books. Not pamphlets. I like robust characters I can love or hate or understand (and sometimes still hate). I want a story I will remember. Not watered down, brief snippets. I want to feel something. I tried to make my novel closer to this; I tried to write a novel, not a pamphlet. Even if I failed at all these other things, I learned a great deal through this process and I can only get better. And this is only the beginning. Pamphlet or novel, you can fit good characters and plot in almost any space. It’s about the story. We shouldn’t shun the pamphlet, the novel, or the tome based solely on length.

As the vernacular goes, it’s not the length but how you use it.

Mercury Retrograde Aftermath

For those who don’t know: Mercury Retrograde is a period of three weeks where the planet Mercury appears to be in backwards motion. This happens about three times a year. Astrologically speaking, it’s a great deal more. And it’s horrible.

If Mercury showed up like this, everyone might not be so pissed off.

During this time, we experience much hideousness.  Technology seems to go to hell, communications are difficult, misunderstandings are common, tempers flare, bitches from the past spring into the present, things begun tend to fail spectacularly, travels are difficult, and odd coincidences abound.

No, these things do not only happen at this time, but Mercury retrograde seems to have way more than its fair share. Cars break down, windshields get shattered, exes come around, people you haven’t seen in ages appear out of nowhere, computers crap out, that already annoying coworker seems to be on his/her raging period for three weeks, someone you start dating during this period becomes a bitch-face and the dating ends, you can’t seem to form a sentence, etc. You should never start anything during this period, sign any contracts, go anywhere, or have any communication at all with anyone in the world.

Sure, it’s a lot of superstition, or astrology, or Wicca, or crazy talk, or ancient fuckery, but it’s the one tenant I can’t get rid of, the one superstition I can’t shake off, the one I seem to get confirmation of every damned time, and the time I hate more than all others.

This last one, ranging from June 26th to July 20th seemed to produce all these things. From the aforementioned coworker, to huge misunderstandings with the editor, to short tempers, to a random, unknowing friendship which struck up between me and my ex-roommate’s current roommate (without either of us originally knowing the connection we had). An old friend of mine looked me  up, appeared, decided to get back with his ex-girlfriend, and thereafter decided he had to stop talking to any males he might be attracted  to (*raising my hand and waving goodbye with one finger.*), a friend’s car collapsed, my work computer crapped out on me, I ran into another old friend I hadn’t talked to in about a year, etc., etc.

Since time seems to be going backward, it’s supposedly a good period to reconcile with the past, to pick up old projects, to do all that nonsense. It’s generally good advice, and if you think the heavens are aiding you, all the better.

Think back. Have the last few weeks been a pain in the ass? Coincidence? Very likely. But what if? Yeah, this all could happen at any time…but all this and more…in three weeks? Piss off.

Though it’s far in the future, Mercury goes retrograde again from October 21st to November 10th. You’ve been warned.

Amen.