Kelly R. Michaels's Blog, page 4

Con Kasterborous 2015

Wow! It looks like it has been about a month since my last blog post.  Mostly, I have been whiling away the time at the remainder of my summer semester (which officially ended this afternoon with my Adolescent Psychology final!).  But also, this past weekend, I visited my first convention!

Con Kasterborous is a Doctor Who convention in North Alabama, and I had the fortunate to attend both days.  Day one I "casually cosplayed' Amy Pond.  I also got to meet all sorts of people, buy TOO MUCH merchandise, and overall, I had a blast!  Paul McGann (the 8th Doctor) and Eric Roberts (the Master) were guests as well as Kelly Yates and Ellie Collins.  It was great to see all of their panels, support vendors, and just basically, be involved with other Doctor Who fans!

Prince is still being edited, and Archer's redux paperback is still in production, I'm hoping to have more information on those later, as well as a possible appearance at Sparkman Arts Festival.  See the Events page for more info!  Also, I'm going to get ready to mail out those signed copies for the winners of my giveaway!  (They'll be the last available first edition print for Archer!)

Keep on the lookout for more news! Posing next to an Amy Pond cutout

Audiobook on Sale NOW!

After much work with the lovely and talented Adrienne Cox, the audiobook for Archer of the Lake is now available for purchase!  Right now, you can buy it from Audible for $24.95.  It should show up on Amazon and iTunes within the next four days or so.

ACX is also supposed to give me some promotional codes to freely give to anyone who can download the audiobook for free.  So, I will use these later for promotional events and such.  But in the meantime, listen to the five minute retail sample, which I know you'll LOVE, and maybe buy my audiobook?  And which you're finished, leave a review!

I might appear at an event in September as well! More info on that later!

New Covers for a New Series

So, if anyone missed the update through Twitter & Facebook, I not only have the cover for Prince of the Vale, but I also have a new cover for Archer of the Lake.  Here they are: They feature the same model for Caelfel as well as a new model for the prince!  In addition to that, I've also changed the series name to the "Silver Crown Chronicles" in order to make a name more pronounceable.   Why the change? Well, the answer is because I enlisted an exceptionally far more talented photographer for this photoshoot than the first, i.e. someone that wasn't me.  She had far better equipment, experience, and expertise in photography and editing.  Thus, we have FANTASTIC this go around.  She took many awesome photos, and our split-face for Prince was an experiment we wanted to try that ended with GREAT results.  And, to maintain cohesiveness with the series, we decided to redo the first cover as well. And so, they match!

To find out more on Olivia, the cover editor, visit the Little Owl Publishing page to read about her!
-krm

Archer's Book Trailer

Hey everyone! Take a literal MOMENT to check out Archer of the Lake's book trailer! Short, sweet, to the point! A lot of agonizing behind the scenes when trying to put this together! Prince's trailer is next!

And also, just want to say that the audiobook for Archer is IN PRODUCTION! The lovely Adrienne Cox is our producer-slash-narrator and she's doing a wonderful job with my ridiculous names. Her character voices are a blast too! All in all, it's turning to be a FABULOUS project and I can't wait to share the end result!

Until next time!
-krm

Book Review: Hollowmen (The Hollows #2) by Amanda Hocking

Hollowmen by Amanda Hocking
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book.

Hollowland is my favorite of the two, but I feel as though Hollowmen is an appropriate sequel. Zombies, post-apocalyptia. People are going to die, and you'll probably not end up with that "one true love." (SPOILER: Remy and Lazlo do not get together).

Which is fine, because I get it. The zombie genre isn't supposed to be happily-ever-afters. It's realistic in a prospectively gruesome world. You adapt or your die, and that's sort of the philosophy behind Remy.

I didn't catch up on who the new love interest was at first. I should have, because everyone else in their group was paired off with someone. But I think Boden balances Remy out, similar to how Lazlo did but in a different way.

Some things about Remy annoyed me, but that's not a reflection on the characterization or the writing. That's as a person. Remy is NOT a damsel in distress, and she makes sure you know it.

Also, I like how the zombies aren't just a stagnant antagonist. They're adapting. They're not SMART, but they're learning. As time goes on, you have to be smarter about evading them. And I like this development. It builds with the sequel, and there's the possibility of another sequel (if that happens) with Remy's immunity. Hocking left room for more development.

The only thing that really annoyed me story-wise was the little girl Stella. I find it a bit unrealistic that this child is still alive with the amount of tantrums she throws and her obstinate stubbornness to listen to the adults when fucking zombies are coming. It was annoying and frustrating. That may sound bad, but I didn't see the point in her, other than giving the group something to protect-slash-live for.

All in all, a fast paced read with its appropriate level of action and a small, but refreshing share of romance.

View all my reviews

Thank You

The Goodreads giveaway has ended! And three winners have been selected from the 544 people that entered! (Winners: you should expect to receive your free books by next week!)

Thanks to everyone who entered and to the 300+ people who added my book on Goodreads!
I hope everyone of your enjoys my book.

Be on the lookout for future giveaways!

Free Coupon!

Hey everyone! Archer of the Lake (ebook) is available for free on ‪Smashwords‬ with the coupon code:

ZS47B

Offer ends April 11th!

 Also-Also, if you are interested in receiving an ARC of Prince of the Vale, comment below!

Archer Giveaway!

I'm giving away 3 copies of Archer of the Lake on Goodreads!  Giveaway ends March 15th!

Check it out! .goodreadsGiveawayWidget { color: #555; font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; background: white; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget img { padding: 0 !important; margin: 0 !important; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget a { padding: 0 !important; margin: 0; color: #660; text-decoration: none; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget a:visted { color: #660; text-decoration: none; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget a:hover { color: #660; text-decoration: underline !important; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget p { margin: 0 0 .5em !important; padding: 0; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink { display: block; width: 150px; margin: 10px auto 0 !important; padding: 0px 5px !important; text-align: center; line-height: 1.8em; color: #222; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; border: 1px solid #6A6454; border-radius: 5px; font-family:"Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-image:url(https://www.goodreads.com/images/layo... background-repeat: repeat-x; background-color:#BBB596; outline: 0; white-space: nowrap; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink:hover { background-image:url(https://www.goodreads.com/images/layo... color: black; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; } Goodreads Book Giveaway Archer of the Lake by Kelly R. Michaels

Giveaway ends March 14, 2015.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Real Authorship

I'm going to link an article.  And this is my response to this article, but I want to ask that you not give the writer of this article any credit by giving him page views.  But I understand reading the article to understand the full extent of my argument.

'Self-Publishers Should Not Be Called Authors'

Mind the language, but I feel like this is an elitist piece of bull shit.

I am self-published and I introduce myself as an author. So I suppose, yes, in some format, I am taking this personally. But how can you expect me not to when the intensive amount of work I have put into for my book(s) is suddenly written off because of the medium I used to publish it?

And this is going off a rather subjective definition of "professional." Professional doesn't determine x-amount of dollars you make in that profession. First, just as a "professional lawyer" may have a low number of clientele, a professional artist can make a meager income. And second, MY income and MY sales are none of your damn business.

.When you're looking for a photographer, you don't look for the number of clients they've had. You look at their work, specifically, you look at the QUALITY of their work. A photographer isn't going to have spreadsheets of the number of their customers and most of the time, they don't even have price lists. What do you see instead? Pages upon pages of their work, links to portfolios and the like.

Similarly, when regarding "professional authorship", you first look at the cover, perhaps read the back summary, maybe even thumb through a few pages (or use the "see more" option on websites).

And then? They'll look up reviews.

If you self-publish with a decent cover, a decent short synopsis, and have managed to nab at least a handful or so of good reviews, then you're good. Because (potential) readers will do that, whether your self-published or traditionally published. (Circumventing the stigma that self-published books = bad quality).

Because, honestly, that's my opinion. Real "authorship" is relative to the quality, if you even want to put benchmarks to it at all. Yes, I've self-published, but I've done a lot of work. Writing the actual book was only a fraction of the process.

I spent months editing, designing the cover, formatting both the ebook and paperback until I felt it was complete. 

I did the file conversions.
I did my own photography, bought the costume for my model.
I hired the collaborators.
I formatted the fonts and drop-cases, the margins, front matter and back matter.
I researched the necessary free public use font-faces.
I purchased my own ISBN's.
I bought my own proof copies.
I read the legal exclusivity rights of retailers. All of them. Every piece of fine print.
I catered my sales and uploaded/made my book available to retailers at the appropriate times.
I contacted book reviewers.
I represented myself in conducting email interviews.
I got myself and my book featured in the local newspaper.
I built my own website.
I established my own online presence and platform.
I adjusted the prices of my books to fit my needs.
I conducted my own free ebook promotion.
I have researched various narrators/producers for my audiobook.
I am conducting the process to have my audiobook produced.
And I will be the one to pay/hire my narrator.

And I am writing my second book to start this process all over again.

And I filed my own taxes as a sole proprietor for my business.

So do not even THINK to tell me that I am not professional or an author, particularly with the amount of work I've invested, over something as insignificant as "publisher name" listed with your book. Because I don't have some fancy building in New York or Chicago.

Because guess what?

Not only am I an AUTHOR, but I'm a PUBLISHER. And I've done a hell of a lot more work than your traditionally published, "professional author."

The difference? I do EVERYTHING that the "professional author" and the "professional publisher" do ON MY OWN. Because I am smart enough. Because I am capable. Because I have the determination to be an AUTHOR.

The Scoop on Self-Publishing

I run a rather small, casual writing community on Facebook called the Drunken Lion.  It's not as active as like, but I try to occasionally post some things to get conversations sparked about writing.

Note:  If you would like to join, feel free to do so!  Check out the Drunken Lion!

Anyway, one particular post attracted the attention of a certain person, who had written a book of poetry.  He mentioned publishing it, and I asked him if he thought about self-publishing.  Basically, the conversation sparked this blog post.  As a self-published author, I wanted to give my take on the world of independent publishing, to help perspective writers.


Why publish?
First, before you even consider the question of traditional publishing versus independent, you want to take a long look at yourself and writing.  People write for vastly personal, vastly different reasons.   Publishing is a common goal for any writers, sometimes it's not and that's fine.

Your reason for publishing doesn't have to be particularly significant or meaningful.  It's understandable that someone wants to publish to pursue a career goal, but at the same time, it is important to understand that, realistically, you shouldn't approach writing or publishing with the assumption you'll automatically big.  (Just did my taxes--ended up spending more money on the business than making it).

My reason: I want to share my own stories with the world.  A reason can be simple as that.  You don't owe it to anyone to share this reason or explain it to anyone.  Publishing, like writing, may be for deeply personal reasons.

Self-Publishing:  The Good
I've only published one book, so my thoughts will be based off that perspective.


Complete creative controlRoyaltiesDefinitive

Complete Creative ControlThis is the most hailed reason to pursue the path of self-publishing.  You decide EVERYTHING.  The content of your book, cover, format, pricing.  You decide which editor and cover artist to utilize.  If you're into micromanaging, then you can have your way with every single detail.  Even down to the font face for chapter headings and the drop case.

RoyaltiesDepending on which retailers you decide to publish through, you will generally receive a higher percentage of royalties.  Some retailers, mostly Amazon, will ask for exclusivity rights, meaning they will offer 70% of royalties (per unit sold) versus a mere 30% and in exchange, you promise not to sell your book (usually ebook) through other retailers.  This is up for you to decide.  Some people may find it more advantageous to sell exclusively through Amazon, as it is one of the largest, most popular book sellers.  Others may prefer to have their book available through other formats (Nook, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, Google Play).  Again, it is all up to you.

DefinitiveOne of the other big appeals to self-publishing for aspiring writers is to definitively have their work published--either in digital format or in a tangible book.  To have it available and out there for potential readers.  This bypasses the anxiety of waiting for query letter responses.

Self-Publishing: The Bad

Out-of-pocketLess securityOne man show

Out-of-pocketSelf-publishing means you don't have the traditional publishing houses to take care of the other collaborators.  That means, if you can't or have no desire to do your own editing, cover design, formatting, narrating the audiobook, then you will have to find someone to do that for you.  And unless you are personally familiar with someone capable of performing those services, you will have to pay someone to do those things for you.  Even the cheaper, lower quality services cost a somewhat hefty some.  And you will have to purchase these service before you even publish your first book.  Publishing is a business, even if done for personal or vanity reasons, and it requires investment.

Less SecurityAs an independent publisher, unless you already have an established platform for yourself, you won't have job security.  Your sales are not guaranteed or consistent.  You may go months without selling a unit.  Even when you extensively promote and market your book, your efforts are not guaranteed to make money.  Even most writers, traditionally published or no, supply their income with part-time jobs.

One Man ShowYou do everything yourself.  This goes hand in hand with compete creative control.  Even when you hire other collaborators (editor, cover artist, audiobook producer), you are still responsible for contacting and hiring these people in lieu of an agent or publisher.  In self-publishing, writing is only half the job.  The other responsibilities of publishing are dependent upon what you're willing to put forth and what you're comfortable with.  This includes marketing and setting up your website, contacting other authors or book reviewers to establish your platform presence and social networking.

In ConclusionThis is just a brief insight on the world of self-publishing from my perspective.  So whether you're considering diving into independent publishing or querying agents/publishers, perhaps this post has provided enough overview in order to make an educated decision!  And I definitely recommend researching the subject more, whether you are certain or not!