Constance Burris's Blog, page 13

My 2014 Writing Expenses... It does not look good

I know I'm broke because I'm counting down the days that I'll ge able to do my tax refund. Usually I wait to file taxes until the last minute because I know I'm not going to do anything with the money but throw t into my savings account.  But this year, I'm anxiously waiting for my W-2s. My get out of debt plan has left me as broke as a joke.  I’m prepping the paper work for my tax lady and I've even already counted up the money I spent on my growing business.  Which leads me to the topic of this post. I'm going to be brutally honest and show you my numbers.

I spent approximately $1,888 on my writing business last year. And according to Amazon and Smash words I made $20.63. That's a net loss of -$1,863. Not so great. Not so good at all. But most business don't make money their first year. I've read it takes between 3 to 5 years to make money, and five books to create a steady income. 
I released two short stories Chaos (Amazon Link) and Medusa (Amazon Link). Total publishing expenses for those two books were less than $200. I didn't expect much money for those stories. My goal was to gain a small following for when COAL is released. So most of the expenses were spent on the actual novel.
2014 was my first serious year of writing and the first time I published anything. I gave myself room to explore and learn. For 2015, I'm going to be more money conscious. The learning period is over. I'm going to spend less per book and make more money.
How does my $1,888 breakdown you ask? See graph. Not shown are books $44.08 , giveaways $10, Writing manuals $55.73)
EquipmentThere were no big equipment purchases.  Half of the $428 price tag was to pay for my accountant to do my taxes. 
EditorI spent $500 on a developmental edit for COAL. I’m not sure if I will pay for a developmental editor again. I don't think she did anything that a good critique group couldn't do. It could have just been my editor also. On top of that I still have to pay for a copy and line editor.
CoversThis is probably my biggest waste of money. I spent too much on covers and illustrations that I didn't like or didn't use. I'm going to go with 99 designs next and stick with something. Good or bad. No more money will be spent on cover art for COAL after I dish out the money for 99 designs.

Book Tour Hosting

I don't know much about hosting book tours, but when the ladies at Twinja's BookReviews started Diverse Book Tours, I had to add myself to the list of  bloghosts. We need more diverse books but we also need to market those books. Plus, I'm a big fun of the dynamic duo and their ability to dish out book reviews like nobody's business.
Real quick, here is my experience with being a tour host:
-I hosted four books: Pig Park by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez, Dia of the Dead by Brit Brinson, The Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda, and The Sanctum Series by Madhuri Blaylock.
The comments may not be show it, but hosting the tour made December 2014 the most viewed month of my blog so far.
-The Sanctum Series by Madhuri Blaylcok has the most pageviews. Two weeks later, Madhuri's followers are still retweeting the her tweet about my blogpost. I can only dream of having readers and cool as hers.
-I tried to post on the weekends, when I normally wouldn't post anything. (Not that I am a heavy poster anyway).
-I got free books! Of course, a  review is required, but there is no timelimit on the review.
-I recommend Dia of the Dead for a quick read, The Savage Fortress for a well-written meaty novel read full of action and beautiful imagery, and The Sanctum Series for Action, Sexiness, and teenage angst. 
-Hosting was easy! Most of the promotion material was provided to me.
In summary, I definitely recommend tour hosing or just plain book hosting. If nothing else, it’s a great way to get out there and meet new people. 

My First Post for the YA-NA Sisterhood

I am contributor to YA-NA Sisterhood!!!!! Woohoo!!! And last week my first post, 3 Tips To Automate Your Life In Order To Save More Time To Write went live.  I know, really long title right? But you should check it out anyway. Automation is the key to taking over the world.

Also, my short CHAOS is available for free on Kindle Unlimited or $2.99; and Medusa is currently 99 cents on Amazon.

The Best Part of THE INTERVIEW: The Sexy Asian Guy

On Christmas night, my family gathered around the television to do our patriotic duty and watch The Interview. I love Seth Rogan, but I hadn't expected much from the movie.  I was pleasantly surprised. The well acted and scripted movie kept me laughing and entertained the entire time. It never felt over the top stupid. 
The bad guy played by Randall Park, the actor who played by Kim Jung-un. Since Asian Man don't get enough love from Hollywood, I thought I'd shine some light on the extremely sexy and super talented Mr. Park. In my opinion, he made the movie and pretty much stole the movie from Seth Rogan and James Franco.  
So who is this guy? According to Wikipedia, Randal Park a native from Los Angeles to South Korean parents.
I knew there some street under all of that blubber. Honestly though, Randall made blubber look good. 

If you haven't watched The Interview, I highly recommend it. And I'm looking forward to seeing Randall Park acting the upcoming ABC show Fresh off the Boat. 

My 2015 Writing Goal(s)

My 2015 Writing Goal(s)
It's that time again. You know where you're supposed to look back your goals and then look forward and decide where you want to go.  Last year, I decided to list my dreams instead of my goals. Which wasn't so bad, most of those dreams haven't come to past, but 2014 was eventful anyway.  I married the greatest man in the world, I published two short stories, and changed jobs twice. In addition, I've grown exponentially as a writer. For upcoming year, I want to make real goals, not dream. But goals can quickly lead to depression and pressure if they are too lofty. And because I know life can quickly spiral out of control I've decide to only make one goal. That's it. You want to hear it? Here it goes:
Publish COAL
That’s it. Considering COAL is already written and it's being edited right now, how hard can it be? But let's break my one goal into mini goals.
1.      Finish the current draft as soon as I get it back from the developmental editor. The editor says that should be next week.
2.      Find a cover artist. I've spent so much money on initial drafts. It is ridiculous. I had been going with the typical YA covers, but now I think I'll settle with a typical fantasy cover.
3.      Find a copy editor. And then a line editor. I think this is how it goes, right?
4.      Paperback formatter. According to Katie, it's pretty hard to format paperback editions and have it look decent. I had originally decided to only do a Kindle version, but I've changed my mind.  I might u-change my mind depending on the cost.
That’s it, that's all. Of course, ongoing projects will be completing Book 2 of Coal and finishing Black Beauty. 

Mo' Money

In My Plan for  Financial Independence, I mentioned my husband decided he'd ditch his dead end job and return to school. I agreed, but with a few restrictions.  He would have to pay his own tuition and he would have to earn his own spending money for hanging out with the guys. That meant that I would take care of the mortgage, gas, groceries and all of the grown up stuff. I included those restrictions because one, I have my own plan for world domination and I believe in order for relationships to work me having to set aside the money to pay for tuition would negatively affect my get out of debt plan. And two, I wanted to see how hard it would be to make money without having a boss. We all know most people will never hit it big working for someone else even with a college degree and a well-paying job.  Financial independence is more likely if you work for yourself and own a business. 
This is what he has done so far to earn extra money:
Rental IncomeMy husband lived with me for two years before we were married. For the entire time, his one bedroom renovated 1920's house sat empty. I had been bugging him to rent it out for a while, but he refused. Secretly, I think he wanted the house to stay empty incase it didn’t work out between the two of us.
We're married now and he needed the money, so he finally decided to clear out his bed, clothes, and car parts and rent the house t. 
Monthly income: $473  Duration: 2 hours per monthHourly wage: $236
EbayHe's also car enthusiast who spends hours at a time looking at car porn. He walks around the rows and rows of metal caucuses and broken windshields at junk yards as a stress reliever. So selling salvaged car parts on Ebay was a no brainer. He also buys new parts from sites like Alibaba and sells them to other car obsessives from the neighborhood.
Monthly income: $200/month depending on the price of the salvaged units Duration: 4 hours (salvaged, posting the parts online, and then shipp) Hourly wage: $50/hour
Is it EnoughHis old job paid $13 per hour, which netted $1600 per month. Now he's averaging $112/hr. He hasn't come up with enough income streams to meet his previous monthly wage, but he is making enough money to make tuition.
Since he's on winter break we're playing around with Uber and/or Lyft… I'll be posting our experience on ridesharing programs as soon as I can figure out how to get registered.  So far it's not as easy as we thought it would be.

The Sanctum Series: The Boy and The Girl by Madhuri Blaylock

Before I get to the meat of my post, I wanted to let you know the first book of the Sanctum series by Madhuri Blaylock has 62 reviews on Amazon for an average review of 4.6. Wow!

Because I know you're going to want to buy the books after you read the character interview, the Amazon link is here. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers both books are free. 

Now that the important links are out of there way. Here is the character interview I did with Wyatt, a Class A Sanctum Warrior. Is it just me or does that title sound really sexy?

Constance: Tell us a little about The Sanctum and your involvement (if you can).
Wyatt: The rote answer, the one we all learn from age ten: The Sanctum is an organization, created by the gods to maintain the peace amongst Magicals and keep humans in the dark about all things “other.” The real answer, the one I’ve finally come to grips with and accepted, is that we are an organization run amok,  created to be peacekeepers, evolved into sadistic monsters. My “involvement” is not by choice - I’m a descendent of one of the Founding Families of The Sanctum, my parents run The New York Academy, and up until a little while ago, it was assumed I would one day take over for them. I mean, that’s what The Sanctum’s most brilliant Class A Warrior does with himself, no? These days, my agenda and that of The Sanctum’s doesn’t seem to be that great a fit...
Constance: Do you have any life mantras or code that you live by?
Wyatt: I look at my life and see it like so: there was my life before Dev and my lift after Dev. Ryker likes to call it “Wyatt BD” and “Wyatt AD” and even though he’s making fun of me, giving me a hard time like only he can do, it’s true.
I think before Dev, everyone would tell you that my life mantra was “Rule with honor and peace” - The Sanctum’s motto, and one people assumed I blindly followed. But that could not be further from the truth. Just because I don’t wear my motives and agendas on my sleeve, that I don’t air my grievances and disdain for all to hear, does not mean I’m a mindless follower and don’t have my own code of honor.
My life mantra remains the same, before and after meeting Dev: at all costs, protect those I love.  Constance:  Explain this thing you have with your buddy Ryker, seem like there’s some serious bromance action going on.
Wyatt: Ha! I don’t know what it is about our relationship, it’s been the topic of much conversation since Ryker first came to The Academy to train. We were paired together  from day one and in the beginning, I think people felt bad for him, what with my folks running The Academy and all, but that was short-lived. We clicked right away and then began all the talk of how my parents should not have let us become so close, so dependent upon one another. Lots of whispering that Class A Warriors don’t act like us, don’t carry themselves the way we do, so intertwined with one another, suggestive whispering and all kinds of nonsense, but it really made no difference because I don’t think we know any other way to be with each other.
What you see is what you get. And don’t get me wrong - we seethe and bicker and fight. It’s not all perfect and easy. There have been some moments of serious pain, some hard core brawls, but they mean nothing. We always move past them.
Maybe the best way to explain it is that Ryker’s really my better self. I think that’s why I love him so much. He’s who I strive to be, who I wish I had the nerve to be. I don’t know that I could love or respect anyone more than I do him. And I don’t know what my life would be like without him. 
Constance: So Wyatt, what’s your deal with that supernatural ladies? You seem to have a thing for them.
Wyatt: (Laughs and spits out his coffee) I think you’re confusing me with Ryker, who up until recently, had a long line of very beautiful trolls, vampires, fairies, warriors, really anyone with breasts, moving in and out of his life. I am hardly the ladies man.
Now that you mention it, I will admit, the girls I’ve spent time with aren’t my fellow warriors, which is a violation of probably all kinds of Sanctum rules, but it is what it is.
Constance:   What’s the best thing about being Class A Sanctum Warrior?
Wyatt: I’m not sure I can answer that anymore - it’s hard to say there’s anything so great about it. It’s a premier status within an organization that has lost its way - it’s become quite difficult to wear it with pride. Once upon a time, we were the greatest of warriors, sent out on the most difficult, dangerous, and important assignments. Now, we’re tools of our leaders, furthering their various agendas. It’s been a rather eye-opening and demoralizing experience - all of this revelation.   
Constance:   You have some nasty decisions to make, any chance of giving us a glimpse of what to expect from you in The Boy?

Wyatt: I made certain decisions that have unforeseen repercussions, for myself and those involved. Those decisions place me on a path of rebirth and self-discovery that’s savage, lonely, and at times just plain cruel, but also very necessary. I find myself questioning much of what I believed to be true, learning a lot about myself, and ultimately coming to terms with my place in the world. Kind of...
Wyatt sounds dreamy.... I know I'm too old for him, but whatever.  Here is the complete book blurb...

The Girl (The Sanctum Trilogy, Book I)Madhuri Blaylock                                                           
ISBN:9780991203406Publisher: Amazon Digital ServicesPages: 408Format: eBook (also available in paperback)Genre: ParanormalRelease Date:November 2013
Plot Summary:
The Sanctum, an all-powerful governing body founded by ten families, entrusted to maintain the peace amongst Magicals and ensure the ignorance of humans, has been corrupted by greed and savagery for generations, but is all Wyatt Clayworth has ever known.
A descendant of one of the Founding Families and Class A Warrior, Wyatt has always believed in the ways of The Sanctum, having grown up in the system and thrived under their leadership. A golden boy, renowned for his prowess and skill in battle, Wyatt has never questioned a mission or kill order until the night he crosses paths with a brutally injured and mysterious girl.
Scouring Central Park with his best friend and fellow Class A Warrior, Ryker Morrison, for the hybrid demon prophesied to bring an end to The Sanctum and destroy the world for Magicals and humans alike, Wyatt instead finds Dev and his whole life turns upside down. Told he was hunting a killing machine, hellbent on wreaking havoc and destruction upon all it encounters, Wyatt instead sees nothing more than a broken girl with haunted eyes and a bit of a death wish.

All Dev wants is for Wyatt to either kill her or leave her alone. When he refuses to do either, she finds herself being pulled into his life while being hunted by warriors everywhere she turns. Drawn to one another for reasons they cannot begin to explain to themselves, much less anyone else, Wyatt is determined to protect Dev and help her realize her mission to avenge the deaths of her family at the hands of The Sanctum. His abdication of his duties and his outright rejection of his responsibilities to The Sanctum create a maelstrom of events beyond anyone’s imagination.

Book Review: The Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda

When I chose to fully throw myself into writing for young'ins, Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan was the first book I read for research. I instantly loved the fast pace of the books.

I jumped at the chance to promote and review The Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda, which is described as a Percy Jackson with Eastern Mythology instead of Greek Mythology.

When I finally got my grubby hands on the book, I was not disappointed. In fact, no offense to Rick Riordan, but The Savage Fortress is better. Where Riordan stays within the perceived grade level, Chadda has much more faith in his readers and their attention spans and creates a much more vivid, textured world. I was also extremely impressed with how he incorporated today's technology and teenage angst.

I enjoyed this book so much, I handed the physical copy I received from Diverse Book Tours in return for an honest review to my ten-year-old, and ordered my own Kindle copy.

Twinja book reviews has an interview with the author Sawat Chadda here. In fact, I'm going to cheat and steal my favorite part of the interview (see below). Also, Twinja is giving away a Kindle Fire, so you should definitely head over there.

Let me just tell you, I loved your "Ash Mistry" series. It was one of the first times I'd read a book that celebrated taking mythology out of the West. I'd read somewhere, Ash had been sitting with you for several years before you decided he deserved his own story. What were the turning points for you that made "The Savage Fortress" happen?

The travelling. I read somewhere writing is a great second career and heartily agree. Go out and explore. See things and wonder at them. Try this and that. Gather up experiences beyond the written word. Live a life and go out and meet people. Ash Mistry has been on my mind since 1994. I knew I wanted to do something based on Indian mythology and set in the East. At first I had a go and creating a graphic novel. I’ve a few pages of it lying around somewhere. It was great fun but didn’t really get anywhere. I’ve always been interested in Eastern culture. I lived in Hong Kong and travelled the length and breath of China, Mongolia, Tibet and of course India. It’s so radically different from here, a bewildering experience. Maybe I needed distance of time to make sense of the story and that’s how Ash Mistry came into being. It’s about a boy grown up in the gap between East and West. About how he takes both and creates a new hybrid, the best of both.
It’s the story I wanted to tell. We hear so much about the differences between people. Between this culture and that and this religion and that one, and are led to believe there is no common ground.
Rubbish. We are all human. We all want the same thing. Respect. Love. A better life for ourselves and our loved ones. Some of us live extraordinarly hard lives, and have to make extraordinarily hard choices. But going out your door and meeting these people you find that they’re not that different, not really.

White Girl Flow

For fans of MEDUSA, I'm playing around with Tablo and writing Part Two, White Girl Flow, here. 

And if you haven't read MEDUSA yet, it's on sale at Amazon for 99 cent.

The Seven-Year Itch

The Seven Year Itch  or Things I Wish I Would Have Known Seven Years Ago

A friend told me her doctor told her that every seven years our taste buds change. This statement piqued my interested, because it touched on something I've been wondering about. I wonder in general if everything in our life should, or must, be changed every seven years. Our desire, our jobs, our lives, and even our relationships are prone to change.
Thinking out loud, here is something I think we should be flexible with, keeping mind we may want to change out something every seven years. So here is some advice I would have given myself seven to ten years ago.
Rent instead of Own It didn't occur to me to rent after I graduated college. I had been taught renting was for suckers and people with low credit scores. So once I graduated from college, with the help of student loans, I got myself a beautiful three bedroom home with a 30 year note.
If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't buy a house unless I could pay it off in seven years or have the mortgage low enough where if it was rented out, the rental income would be enough to cover the mortgage.
Follow the MoneyI jumped on my first job offer right out of college and stayed there for a number of years, if I had to do it over again, I would have moved as soon as I was offered a job making more money with lots of potential growth. Then I would aggressively change jobs while aggressively saving and paying off debt.  That way when, or if, the seven year itch hit, I could change career fields altogether without too much trouble.
Wait For LoveWait until later to get married (this rule I did follow). Tastes change every seven years and the chances for couples to grow apart can be great. Marrying someone when you've been through a lot will make divorce less likely. I'm 37 and I was married six months ago.  Let's see if this hold true in seven years.