S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 126

Writing Update – August 26, 2015

It’s been a long time since I’ve done just a writing update on the blog, so I thought I’d pop in and give one now. I don’t have any other content for the blog right now. Summer is winding-down and I’m trying to enjoy every last possible moment. I’m reading but haven’t finished anything lately. In fact, I just started a beta read which means it’s slowing down my other reading. Lol. So let’s talk about writing.

I HAVE BEEN WRITING! Not a lot. Like I said, I’m trying to enjoy summer, so I’m only writing about 800-1000 words per day. Some days more. Some days less. But I’ve been working on another Kami No Sekai short story and it’s almost done! I have one last scene plotted out that I hope to write today, and then I plan on setting it aside for a while.

I like this story a lot. This time the gods in a network of inanimate objects have intervened in a man’s life to help him before he kills himself with all his poor eating choices. Lol. It’s funny and a little sad at the same time, with a good HEA ending. I think it may be missing something though. I won’t know for sure until I get a little distance from it. It’s possible I’m just kind of sick of how slow I’m writing it, and when I pick it back up again, I’ll love it and think it’s awesome.

My plan is to set this story aside for the month of September. I’ll let it sit and then hopefully read it again, make some adjustments, send it out to readers, and get it ready for publishing in late October.

What will I be working on in September? I’m glad you asked! I’ll be working on REVEALED. Remember that? It’s the novella I released in the form of some short stories last year. I’m ready to jump back into the Nogiku world and finish up this novella for everyone. I really enjoy being in that world, enough that I’m thinking about another series in that world with Sanaa’s children and a Mark Sakai prequel. Going back there will be fun! I’d like to finish up REVEALED and get it out to you all in November, before Thanksgiving.

And that will probably be all the publishing from me this year. It feels crazy to have the rest of my year planned out! It’s only August! During October, November, and December, I plan to write a totally new novel but I’m wavering on which novel I want to start. Right now, I’m leaning towards a novel in a brand-new genre. I have a lot of ideas for this novel already and I think I’d like to give it a go, especially since I have no obligations to any other series right now. It’s exciting!

Late next week, my kids start school again, and my days from 8:30 to 2:30 will be free again. I plan to write and exercise a whole lot. My goal is to work as much during the day as possible and save any house cleaning or non-writing-related work for the afternoons when the kids are home. I can’t wait!

Sunday Update – August 23, 2015

It was a busy week around here! If you missed WASHING STATUE WANDERLUST for free, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter and you’ll get the news first before anyone else! Unless you decide to ignore the email until the promotion is over, which I saw someone did in my link report. I always feel bad when people miss an opportunity to get my books for free so when you get my emails, look at them right away. If you wait till two days after the offer expires, you’ll miss out.

I also announced this past week that all my books are going into Kindle Unlimited for the foreseeable future, which means they won’t be available on other vendors. Yes, this includes all my Nogiku books but REMOVED which will remain free everywhere. If you missed this announcement, you can read more about it here on the blog. I agonized over this decision because it goes against a lot of advice I have gotten on self-publishing, but since none of that advice has ever worked for me, I decided I needed to do something drastic. Sigh. This whole indie author thing is really hard.

I started a new short story this week and I’m not far from completing it! It’s been fun to work on something new for a bit, and when I’m done with this, I go back to the REVEALED novella. Gotta get that ready for publication in early November, and then I take the holidays off from publishing, just like last year. Funny that I’m already thinking that far ahead!

We only have one more week of summer here and I plan to spend the majority of it at the pool with the kids. They started art camp this week and are having a great time creating cool things every day. I’m so pleased with this August! Last year, it was barely in the 80s here and not hot enough to spend the day at the pool. We’ve had lots of hot, hot days and lots of swimming and spending time outdoors and away from too much technology. Every day I can take my kids to the pool is a good day. I have been writing at the pool, though. I got some nasty looks from people who didn’t like my laptop at the pool. Too bad. When the ideas flow, I need to put them down somewhere. The kids are having fun, playing and swimming, so there’s no need for me to just sit unoccupied. I hope to get more words down at the pool today! I’m closing in on the end of my short story!

What else happened this week…

Got a really cool melon from my CSA. It’s a Christmas melon and KP has been eating it. He says it’s yummy, but I’m avoiding it since I’m now allergic to cantaloupe.

Writing at the pool either on my iPad with mini keyboard or on my MacBook Air, depends on what I have with me!

I made Japanese curry and ate it for three days straight. I WAS SO HAPPY!

I always check the eggs in the cartons before I buy them so I don’t buy broken eggs and I saw this! An egg in an egg! Supposedly it’s a really rare thing, and I’m glad I caught it on camera.

This next week will be fairly sparse, though I may be inspired to write on the blog. I’m going to finish up writing this short story, and then I’m going to start a beta read for an author friend of mine, while working on REVEALED. Plus more pool and exercising. Lots to do!

Book Chat #19

It’s been a few weeks since I posted a Book Chat, so let’s talk about what I’ve been reading. When last we spoke, I had set aside a book at 55% because I was bored. Because I wanted a sure thing, I decided to re-read my favorite book, THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE, and I’ve been engrossed in it ever since. It’s a long book (just over 600 pages in paperback) so I’m still reading it, and I’m still enjoying it. I’m glad to know that my favorite book has held up over time and will remain at the top of my list for some time to come.

On my Kindle, I’ve been reading some non-fiction. I read TAKE OFF YOUR PANTS!:… by Libbie Hawker (weird story but I actually know this author’s sister but didn’t make the connection until after I looked up her fiction) which is all about story structure and outlining, and it struck many chords with me. I used some of her tips and came up with a stronger outline for my next short story, and then used those tips again for an entirely new outline. I think it’ll remain one of the writing books I recommend to others!

I also read a non-fiction book, WRITING THE COZY MYSTERY by Nancy J. Cohen. Yes, I’m thinking about writing mysteries so I thought I could use some studying up. This one was short and thorough. Exactly what I needed to get me started.

I did finish AGENT TO THE STARS by John Scalzi in audiobook format, and I loved it. Once again, Scalzi is becoming a favorite author! This story kept me engaged the entire time and Wil Wheaton was a fantastic narrator. Another “highly recommend.”

Now I’m listening to ARMADA by Ernest Cline. Though this novel speaks to all my geeky scifi ways, it’s losing a lot of luster close to the end. I’ve predicted all the twists and I have a feeling I know the ending too. I was expecting something a little more original from Cline after the amazing READY PLAYER ONE but it’s a bit boring. Thank goodness Wil Wheaton is reading it to me! I’m sure he is making it worthwhile. We’ll see if I feel the same way at the end.

I’m going to finish Mr. Wind-up Bird and then I’m going to try and get back to something new! We’ll see what catches my eye next time I open my Kindle.

WASHING STATUE WANDERLUST is FREE Aug 19-21!

Quick post today to let you know that I’ve made WASHING STATUE WANDERLUST free for today, tomorrow, and Friday! If you’ve been thinking about trying out this quirky, fun, and slightly surreal series, pick this short story up for free and spend an hour or two with Yuki and Arai Kannon.

The reviews for WASHING STATUE WANDERLUST are all pretty positive.

“Another fun book in this series and I am already eager for the next book. These books are so fun, they are a quick read, but still long enough to tell a story. I liked the characters in this book and could relate to them. There’s even some character development going on which was nice to see. There is some information about the world building added, but in a really low key way that fits the story.”

“This was another delightful story in the Kami no Sekai series. Wanderlust is a relatable thing, because who hasn’t wanted to travel all over the world? Having Yuki have to contend with her health gave the story a real-life feel, even though she was interacting with a statue. I highly recommend this story, and this series if you haven’t checked it out. It’s fun, it’s quirky, and even thought-provoking.”

Download for FREE Aug 19, 20, and 21, 2015.

On Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.

I hope you enjoy it!

Why I’m Moving My Books to Amazon Exclusively

There’s been a lot of soul searching around Pajonas No Uchi lately when it comes to my writing career. I’ve thought a lot about what I want to write, where I want to take my career, and how I want to reach my goals. Today, I’m announcing my biggest, most drastic move yet.

You see, I have spent the last 2 to 3 years listening to the vanguards of self-publishing and all their varied advice, and I have been trying to apply that advice to my own career. People said, “Do cover reveals and release day blasts! Do a blog tour! Have a street team! Release your book at 99¢! Sell your book everywhere, don’t put your eggs in one basket!” And I listened to all of this advice because I saw it working for those people with my own eyes. But guess what? None of those things actually worked for me, excepting maybe the blog tour but that was a long time ago and I don’t see them working as much now. I’ve gone through everything on every list of THINGS TO DO IF YOU SELF-PUBLISH, and I have had very little luck.

This, though, is not a woe-is-me post because, if you know me, you know I don’t give up that easily. Lol. I consider each of these failures an experiment, a piece of data. I add that data to my spreadsheet and look heavily at what I have tried and what I haven’t, deciding on what to try next or tweak to get better results. This is only the beginning of my journey as an author, but that doesn’t mean I should sit back and not try to improve my situation.

The last thing on the list, “Sell your book everywhere, don’t put your eggs in one basket!” is the one I have held out the longest with. I really believed that if I just gave it time, if I made sure to promote my work on other vendors than Amazon, I would see success. I made sure I have a permafree book, the first in a series, on all platforms with a substantial series to follow it up. I have made product funnels. I have even made targeted ads for those vendors. And nothing.

I’m coming up on my two year anniversary as a published author and I just don’t have an audience anywhere else but Amazon. The last book I published, SUMMER HAIKUS, only sold ONE book outside of Amazon. At best, I make $12/month between ALL of my non-Amazon books (that’s approximately $3 per vendor). Looking back at my spreadsheet for 2014 and 2015, there are many months I didn’t sell anything at all outside of Amazon.

It’s time to make a change.

As of the time you read this, FACE TIME and SUMMER HAIKUS, along with all the Kami No Sekai short stories, are on Amazon only for Kindle and in Kindle Unlimited. For those uninitiated, if an author wants to take part in the Kindle Unlimited program, they have to enroll their books in KDP Select, and that means the books need to be exclusive to Amazon and nowhere else. By the time I write my anniversary post on September 15th, all my books but REMOVED (which will be free everywhere for the foreseeable future) will be on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. If you’re a Kindle Unlimited user, please download and enjoy them. I do get paid when you read them!

I’m giving Kindle Unlimited 6 to 9 months to show me what it’s made of before I decide what to do. I’d like to just stay there indefinitely since, currently, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and iBooks give me no reason to come back. Barnes & Noble just killed off its international business a few weeks ago and makes it harder and harder for Nook users to read content they bought. Kobo’s search is useless and discoverability there is next to nothing. And iBooks is Mac and application only (they have no web store plus they use DRM). I love Macs but come on! I also don’t like Google Play and their strange discounting and the fact that new authors haven’t been able to open new accounts there for the last few months. They shut it down because of pirates. That certainly instills a low level of confidence.

Now if you were the 2% of my readers that did find me on a vendor other than Amazon, I have ways for you to still read my books if you want to.

• You can purchase a paperback through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, or Book Depository.

• You can buy my books on Amazon and read them in the Kindle app on your phone, tablet, or computer.

• Or you can purchase the Kindle version, send me your receipt, and I will give you a DRM-free ePub in exchange.

Send your Amazon receipt to ePub-exchange < at > spajonas < dot > com with the subject EPUB EXCHANGE, and I will send you a DRM-free ePub as soon as possible! Here’s the ePub Exchange page for future reference.

If you have an ethical reason for not shopping at Amazon, I’m sorry I can’t help you. Publishing is a business and I’m doing my best to run my business without going into debt. If you’re mega disappointed in this announcement, you can feel free to tell me in the comments, email, or use the contact form. I will take your comments to heart when it comes time to re-evaluate in 6 to 9 months. But I’m confident that this is a good decision for me and my business, and I thank you for your understanding. Sign up for my newsletter to get more news of this move now and into the future!

Sunday Update – August 16, 2015

Our vacation is over and we’re now safely back home! What a fantastic week away from the daily grind of life. I think this was one of our best vacations yet, and I’m sure it has everything to do with our kids getting older. Both were more flexible this vacation, in terms of willing to do or try new things, and they were easier to keep fed as well. We only had one hiccup when C had a fever for two days but she took Advil for it (a miracle in itself) and rested and was fine by mid-week. We played in the pool, went to the beach and amusement park, ate lots of great food, and slept in everyday.

I also had the chance to think long and hard about my career and what I want out of it. I even wrote my anniversary post which will go up on the blog in about a month (Sept 15th ish). I learned about new genres I want to write in and new outlining techniques I want to try. It was a great week for opening my mind.

What else happened this week…

Sat on the beach without the kids while they made crafts in the hotel. Having alone time was awesome.

A major storm came in and was absolutely breathtaking.

Husband and I watched Star Wars every night and I got a lot of knitting done.

I ate an obscene amount of food! All you can eat buffets are the norm there. I was so stuffed.

Most importantly, I read a lot on vacation! And not just fiction but plenty of non-fiction too.

Coming up this week: Book Chat and my announcement that I’m moving all my books to Amazon exclusively. See you soon!

Sunday Update – August 9, 2015

It’s almost vacation time here! And it’s well-deserved after the crazy last week I just had. Nothing is more stressful and time-consuming than launching a new book. I had blog posts to write, ads to set up, social media posts to set up and schedule. Publishing SUMMER HAIKUS took up every available ounce of energy I had last week. I’m not going to share actual numbers, but unfortunately I did not meet any of my goals with this book. But that’s okay because I have completely changed my mindset about my career in the last week.

I have a long post planned for my second anniversary as a published author next month where I will talk about expectations and the changing market I’m now caught up in. I always appear to be on the cutting edge of things! I was building websites during the dot com upheaval of early 2000s as well, and that market was just as volatile as this one. I’m hoping that I can look back at how I handled that career and apply my knowledge to this one as well.

Next week I’ll be on vacation! The family and I are heading south for some well-earned beach time, and I’m really looking forward to it! I have some non-fiction writing craft books to read, knitting to do, and a kitchen renovation to think about. Yep, we’re getting our kitchen renovated in the next nine months. We just met with an architect on Friday, and now I need to start building Pinterest boards and what not to help the designers plan our kitchen. Can’t wait!

What else happened this week…

Lil’D wasn’t feeling well last Sunday, so we stayed home and rested.

I made Japanese curry for the first time and IT WAS THE BEST THING I’VE EVER EATEN. Oh my god. New favorite.

SUMMER HAIKUS books showed up! I was super excited to see them because Createspace sent them UPS SurePost which is the WORST way to send a package. But since UPS had other things to deliver to me the same day, they rerouted the package so that it showed up that day! I was pleasantly surprised.

Anxiety over release day led me to a very strong cocktail on Wednesday night.

Release day! I celebrated with red velvet pancakes which I regretted about an hour later when all the sugar entered my system and my pancreas could not keep up. I think that’s the last time I eat anything that sugary again. PS) I also need to get my blood sugar levels checked this fall.

Spent the afternoon on Friday at the pool and started using my portable chair umbrella. Best thing ever. Was able to forgo sunscreen and knit in the shade.

Don’t expect much from me this week! Though I do have more SUMMER HAIKUS posts planned for the end of August, I’m taking the week off! I may post a Book Chat at mid-week and another post to warn of the end of the SUMMER HAIKUS sale, but otherwise you’ll find me on FB and Instagram. See ya later!

SUMMER HAIKUS & A Trip To Kamakura

Did you miss yesterday’s post? SUMMER HAIKUS is now available! Thanks again to all of you that purchased SUMMER HAIKUS when it was on pre-order. I am forever grateful for your support.

For those that would like to purchase it, here are the links!

When I was writing this book and researching Tokyo and the surrounding areas, I remembered when my husband and I went to visit Kamakura on our trip to Japan in 2005. Kamakura is such a beautiful town, nestled into hillside and mountain right next to a bay on the ocean. I can still close my eyes and remember the streets of this town, the train station, the udon place we ate at, the many cemeteries and temples we happened upon. I think this is a town I would like to live in. It has a small town charm, yet still cosmopolitan. Quiet and located near the beach. I think it has pretty much everything.

So when I needed a place for Masa’s grandparents to live, someplace not in Tokyo but close enough to get on the train and travel there, I chose Kamakura. It’s only about an hour on the train to get there and a new place for Isa and Masa to spend time away from the ryokan, even if it’s only for an afternoon.

They don’t get a chance to sightsee, but let me tell you a little bit about the town and why it’s a great place to visit.

It is the town of many temples! And if you enjoy visiting temples, ogling over the architecture and the peacefulness, even praying or centering yourself for a short time, this is the place to go. I especially loved the Giant Buddha.

You can light incense and waft the smoke over yourself, purifying your soul.

If you have time, head up the mountain and visit Hase-dera, a temple devoted to Jizō where all the Jizō statues line up and await a small gift or some stones to carry into the afterlife. This is a popular destination with people who have lost a child as praying here to these statues helps lift the burden of children in the afterlife.

And then on your way back to the station, pop into all the little cemeteries you find along the way. You’ll see a little slice of life and death you’ve never seen in a Western cemetery.

Kamakura is one of my favorite places! I’m glad I had the chance to write it into SUMMER HAIKUS. Thanks and have a great weekend everyone!

SUMMER HAIKUS & The Ryokan

Yay! SUMMER HAIKUS is now available! I want to take this moment to thank all of you that purchased SUMMER HAIKUS when it was on pre-order. Your support means the world to me, and I’m excited to bring another book into the world today for others to read and love. I really hope you enjoy your time with Isa and Masa at the Kurogashi ryokan.

For those that would like to purchase it, here are the links!

Speaking of ryokans, thinking back on the development of SUMMER HAIKUS I knew right from the beginning that I wanted to feature a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, in the storyline. Hopefully this book convinces everyone I write passable fiction because, SURPRISE! I’ve never been to a ryokan before. Funny how that happens, right?

But never having been to a ryokan doesn’t mean I can’t write about them. Heck, I wrote about Seattle and Seoul in FACE TIME and had never been to either. I also love a good challenge, so accurately depicting daily life at a ryokan required a significant amount of research.

First up, I spent a good long time Googling and reading blog posts from people who have stayed at ryokans. What they loved about their trip or what they didn’t. What the ryokans looked like and how they operated — I basically gleaned everything I could from first-hand accounts.

Then came the Flickr and Pinterest searching. Did you miss my post on the SUMMER HAIKUS Pinterest board? There are lots of great ryokan articles and photos in there. But I loved looking at the photos on Flickr. All of these are Creative Commons licensed and gave me a good idea of what a ryokan would look like in and out.

There’s even a part of SUMMER HAIKUS where Isa must host a banquet and it looks a lot like this…

Seriously, just go to Flickr and type “ryokan” into the search and you will be lost there for hours. I certainly was.

The Kurogashi, Isa’s family’s fictional ryokan, was modeled after several photos and videos I saw online. Melding them into something both traditional and modern (because it had been updated in the last ten years) was fun for my imagination. I got the chance to build something fresh and new for readers.

But, honestly, I know very little about hotel management and what’s involved, so I had to spend a lot of time researching that as well. Knowing what each person does and how their jobs and presence would impact Isa’s life was another task I threw myself into.

One way to learn about hotel management, especially ryokan management, was to search YouTube for help. God, I love YouTube. The most helpful video I watched was this one on Japanese Hotels from NHK World’s Japanology Plus.

The parts of this video that are worth watching are around the 10min mark where they describe a banquet and then the 22min mark and onwards where we see a ryokan proprietress handle her very successful ryokan. Let’s just say that this video hit the jackpot for me. I learned so much from this last ten minutes, it livened up the SUMMER HAIKUS story. All the little details she attends to — lining up the slippers, greeting each guest, making sure guests celebrating an anniversary were taken care of — were all things I added to SUMMER HAIKUS to make it feel more authentic (with a fictional twist, of course).

And of course, I should tell you that if you ever visit Japan, you MUST stay at a ryokan! I definitely plan to next time I’m there. I’m definitely looking forward to it. If you need help finding or choosing a ryokan, I suggest you search http://www.tsunagujapan.com for ryokan and look at their Best Of lists. You’re sure to find something there to fit your needs.

SUMMER HAIKUS Inspiration on Pinterest

One of my favorite things about writing a new book is gaining inspiration from photos, illustrations, and videos on the internet and then saving them to my project’s Pinterest board. For SUMMER HAIKUS, I fell down the rabbit hole of photos of Japan. I spent hours looking at images of Kichijōji, where Isa’s family ryokan is and where her grandparents live. For the trip to Asakusa, there were photos and videos of people sightseeing just like Isa and Masa do. There were even photos of Michigan State University I could add to my board!

So I hope you take a moment to cruise over to Pinterest and see what inspired the story of SUMMER HAIKUS.

https://www.pinterest.com/spajonas/summer-haikus/