Taking It On The Chin

I'm a complete freshman in the publishing world. The past few months have seen a lot of firsts. My first book published, my first sale... my first review (and by gawd, it was a good one!), and eventually... my first negative review (and by gawd, it was an AWFUL one!). It's all a part of being "out there." It's a rollercoaster of emotions. One minute you're stoked beyond measure over a positive review, the next, you're freaking out because there's a lull in sales... the next, you're up again. Repeat ad nauseum.

Self-publishing has been a complete adventure. And one I've had to break ground on alone. I have a lot of writer friends, but none of them have really set out on this sort of journey. To put it mildly, I'm making it up as I go along. Fitting for this chunk writer. :)

You know, before I put my book out there, I was a pretty avid book reviewer. I loved it. Reading a ton of books and then sharing my thoughts about what I did/didn't like. I've been known to be *cough* harsh at times... complete fangirl ridiculous at others. But one thing I always held myself to was the truth. I didn't sugarcoat for the sake of putting on a good face in the "public eye" and I didn't set out to tear anyone down for sport. Now, there were definitely a few casualties along the way (heh), but for the most part, I think I offered up fair critiques according to my VERY subjective taste.

As a writer who has now had her work up for critique for a good six months, I have to say my opinion on the subject holds true.

Y'all, I have been praised... and I have been ripped apart. HARSHLY. And the only reviews that made me cry were the good ones. That's the honest truth. I know it sounds crazy, but while I don't exactly relish negative reviews, I don't let them get to me either. It's all a part of this gig. Bemoaning them or saying someone doesn't have a right to express their honest opinion goes against everything I've always so stubbornly defended. They have the right to their opinions...just as I have a right to disagree. (g)

I never--not for one minute--thought I would be okay with the negatives. But I am. Mainly because one thing this past six months has taught me, is that there are different strokes for different folks. And while my book may make some people want to bang their heads into a wall, there are equal numbers of people out there who will love it. I will never be able to please all of them, so why let it get to me? I don't write to try to please the people who think I produce garbage.. I write for the people who love what I have to offer.

I don't even have to make it a mantra. It simply is.

So for anyone setting out on this journey, remember...this WILL happen to you. It happens to the best of them. :)

Just keep truckin', yo!

The Great Experiment

After some early morning pondering, I've decided to lower the price of BY THE PALE MOONLIGHT to 99 cents. Yep, you read that right.

It's my hope that this will help get my book into the hands of more readers. It may have no affect whatsoever, but we shall see. At this particular point in time, I'm planning on leaving it at this price for 30 days--test the waters, see how it goes.

Some of you may be wondering why I've decided to do this. Well, I always told myself prior to publishing that price point is something I would experiment with--and I haven't. Sales are steady, but slow...and really, doing this now isn't going to have any sort of financial impact. Can't worry about the few dollars that are trickling in when they're...well, trickling. (g) And really, that wasn't why I did this in the first place. What I'm on the hunt for is readers.

So far, BTPM hasn't sold in record breaking numbers, but those who are reading it, are really loving it. It's been a huge success on that level, which was my ultimate goal. i.e. To put out a quality book that people love...that they'll want more of... and basically, to create a readership for the series, etc. It is gaining slow momentum, and perhaps this pricing change will be the boost that it needs. I definitely want to go into book 2 with the added benefit of there being actual readers who are anticipating its release.

So...yeah, that's my reasoning in a nutshell. It may flop, I may go right back to my "high price" of 2.99... We shall see.

Go forth and spread the word. :)

Oh and P.S. I just made the changes this morning, so the new price may not be listed for another day or two.

A Little Help From My Friends

Well, the good news I have to report is that I've officially submitted the paperback edition of BY THE PALE MOONLIGHT for acceptance. At this point, it will take another day or two for the publisher to review it...then, if everything is on the up and up, I'll receive a sample copy to make sure there aren't any snafus in the final hard copy...and then BAM. I give the approval, and it will go on sale.

So YAY. I'm so close to finishing up the "logistics" for book 1. And you know what that means... I can go full blast on book 2. Which I'm SO excited about.

These past few weeks have been so unbelievably crazy. There are so many little things that you have to think about when you self-publish. Covers...book jackets...cover copy...author bios, blah blah blah. It's just so much. I've felt overwhelmed more times than I can count. And that's where my friends have really stepped in to help. I can't begin to explain how thankful I am.

For each and every person who took the time to read my book and offer suggestions--be it big picture issues or simple copy edits.. THANK YOU.

For my friends who have taken on things like book covers, and book trailers, and the latest...my website (YES--I'm going to have a website!)...THANK YOU. You've gone above and beyond and it truly touches me that you believe in me so much that you're willing to put up with my.. Can you move the title down a smidge?...What if we tried it this way?... and all of my other zany demands...THANK YOU.

For those of you who have simply said to me, "Jen, what can I do to help?" Thank you.

It's a scary/exciting process to put myself out there. Just knowing I have support--that I'm not alone--means the world.

There are some exciting things coming up soon--I'll keep y'all in the loop. When I know, you will too. :)

Self vs. Traditional Publishing -- It's All A The Roll Of The Dice

My peep, Kristen Callihan tweeted a link to this article by Chuck Wendig today. View the full article, HERE. In it, he discusses the idea that rather than focusing on the sales/money that can and is being made in self-publication, we, as storytellers need to focus more on telling good stories. That's why we're all in this business to begin with, right?

I know the whole traditional vs. self-publishing thing is a hot button right now. There are people on both sides who are completely convinced that choosing one path over the other may equate to writer-cide. (Erm, read: death of your writing career by way of foolhardy decision making.) When one does well in traditional, THAT is the path you should take... when a bestseller comes from the independent side, THAT is the path you should choose.

What Wendig said is correct--it's a crap shoot either way. Some stories will rise to the top, others won't. Ever read a reeeeeeeally crap bestseller? Yeah, me too. Lots of them. There are certainly lesser known books that were much better in my opinion. There is no rhyme or reason to how these things work.

I'll admit, I've hemmed and hawed over what to do with BTPM. I wrote this book...gah. Nearly four years ago... or longer? Yeah, it's probably coming up on five years, actually. (eeeeikes) And it's sat in my drawer most of that time while I worked on other *cough* projects that shall not be named--erm, right now. (grin) I've never queried it--though I did submit one partial to an agent I pitched at a conference. I always assumed I would go traditional with it. It's just what you do, you know? It's only since this past winter that I started thinking of self-publishing.

Yeah, watching other self-published authors do well played into it. Amanda Hocking, anyone? But in the end, it wasn't the possibility of money that cinched the deal. I know it sounds sanctimonious and like complete bullshit when I say the money doesn't factor into things--it DOES, of course... but honestly, for some reason I can't compute self-publishing with making money.

When I look down the road--two weeks from now when my book goes on sale--what I hope is that people will read my book. Lots of people. I'm hoping, hoping, hoping that it will catch on--that I'll rise in the ranks and word of mouth will spread about this little known YA author and her debut novel. I hope it does well--I believe it CAN do well. However, no matter how hard I try, I can't look down that road and see a fat paycheck in my future. Nope. It just isn't there for me. Perhaps that will change in time...maybe I will eventually focus on the sales/non-sales and the duckets they're earning me. For now, I'm just totally friggin' jazzed about the idea of people reading MY book. For me to gain an audience that just might want to read another.

Why? Because I LOVE to tell stories. It's who I am. If my book sells well, great. If only ten people read it--and some of those people LOVE it--BETTER.

A friend recently asked me what I would do if BTPM doesn't sell. Would I continue on with the series--write the next book?

My answer was a flat-out HELL YES. My reason is simple. I have to know what happens to my characters and story. Whether or not BTPM sells, it's only part I of a larger arc. I have to continue writing because _I_ don't know how it ends.

Yes, I'm self-publishing because I hope to do well. I hope BTPM sells--I hope it sells A LOT. But in the end, I'm more concerned about putting out a good story. I'm not in this to turn a quick buck. The chances of doing that are pretty low, even in the best of circumstances, so it CAN'T be about that in my mind. The only thing I can control is the quality of the story I put before readers. If it takes me three months--or three years--to finish the second book, I WILL NOT publish before I think it's the best story I can possibly produce. It has to be that way. It's MY name on that cover--those are MY characters and story. I want to do them justice. I won't put them out there when they're not ready--even if it means I may miss out on money-making opportunities.

Do I think it's important to talk about sales/money? Well, yeah. I think it's important to let authors know that self-publication IS a viable choice in today's market. Do I think that's the ONLY thing we should focus on? NO.

We're storytellers. Story must come first. Just because you can put your first draft manuscript up for sale tomorrow doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Just my two cents. :)

Cover Talk!

Here it is! (Okay, if you've watched the trailer, you've already seen it. But still. HERE IT IS!!) Front and center like. (g)

As I go through the next few weeks, I thought I would discuss different aspects of the process. First up, covers!

There’s actually a remarkable amount of work that goes into a cover. I didn’t want to slap something together quickly and regret things when my book failed to garner any kind of attention. Like it or not, the first thing readers notice about a book is its cover. It seems fairly simplistic–you want your book to sell, you make sure it has a kickass cover. (Of course, there are a lot of other factors that need to be considered, but on a simplistic level, you need a damn good cover.) That being said, I can’t tell you the number of self-published (or traditionally published, for that matter) books that have really crap cover art.

I had a few objectives when I set out to design one.

1. I wanted it to be as inexpensive as possible. The idea of paying someone hundreds of dollars I really didn’t have did not appeal to me in the slightest. That said, I wanted it to look good so I knew I would have to spend some money to make it happen. But the cheaper, the better.

2. I wanted it to be pretty and create a mood. I think the most important thing you have to consider is your audience. You need to do your research to see what kind of covers are being used in your particular genre–what’s selling–what’s gaining attention. Then you need to try to emulate it as best you can. (Within reason. If I see a YA cover with a girl holding an orange or a banana, I might just die laughing.) I wanted a pretty cover because my target audience is young adults. Let’s face it, pretty snares attention with that group. It did for me at any rate. Heck, it still does. I like pretty. My book is about werewolves, so in addition to being pretty, I wanted it to have a certain creep factor going on. Hard balance to strike, that.

3. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I needed outside help. I’m not visual. I like to pretend I am at times, but I’m just not. I would never be able to put together a decent cover because I’m completely incapable of thinking outside of the box when it comes to repositioning the title, author name, etc. to their best advantage. I needed someone creative who could do my thinking for me. And, when necessary, tell me I’m making a very bad mistake by thinking I can put my title in Wingdings because wouldn’t it be oh so much fun if my readers had to solve a visual puzzle in order to know my title? (I still think it could work with the right title. Just sayin’.)

First thing on the agenda: I recruited one of my work peeps to help with the cover. I’ve seen other things he’s done, and I knew he could work with the various Photoshop, etc. programs. Best of all? He was willing to help with my cover if I would be willing to help with his wedding announcement. Hey, nothing says cheap like an even trade. (Though I do believe he got the tough end of the bargain.)

Next, I needed to find cover art. Again, being as I am not visual, I didn’t even attempt to photograph something myself. Instead, I started scouring the internet looking for something interesting. I didn’t want to go for the way overt (and way overdone, if you ask me) picture of a moon. Yeah, I get it…werewolves. There should probably be a moon involved. But no, I didn’t want to go with the standard. I wanted subtle and the all-important PRETTY.

I looked at a ton of pictures at various sites, finally settling on one from www.rtf123.com. Yes, you do have to pay for the photos. Downloading the photos is actually rather cheap, but I went for the extended comprehensive license, which gives me rights to both digital and print publications. There are free pictures out there, though. For me, however, this was the best option. In the end, the photo cost me one hundred duckets. Not exactly a small chunk o’ change, but not likely to break the bank either. I was willing to spend the money for this picture.

If, however, cash is an issue, you could try taking some pictures on your own… or you might try www.morguefile.com, a site photographers post various photos they aren't using. You can download them for free, use them for free, etc. It’s a great alternative if you’re a little tight on money.

Next came fonts. Oh, the hell that is deciding on a font. I can’t tell you the number of sites I went through. There are A LOT of fonts out there, and it’s hard to know what will work with your picture. Something that looks great in a word doc may get washed out when you apply it to your cover art. BIG IMPORTANT TIP FROM JEN: DO NOT, and I mean DO NOT, purchase a font without testing it against your cover art first. I would hate to see someone pay fifty dollars for a really awesome font only to find out that it gets sucked up by his/her cover art. My designer bud was able to clip fonts from their testing pages and overlay them onto my picture before we made a final decision. Trust me, you WANT to do this. I was completely set on one particular font only to find out it wouldn’t work. I ended up using a font from www.searchfreefonts.com. Yes, FREE. Free is a glorious thing. ANOTHER IMPORTANT TIP FROM JEN: Do not be afraid to mix fonts. I ended up using the capital letters from one font, and the lowercase letters from another. I never would’ve thought of it myself (hence the need for a designer).

So… once I had a picture, a font, and (thank the heavens) a designer, I was ready to roll.

The actual design of the cover went a lot smoother than I anticipated. Turns out my eye isn’t quite as whacked out as I thought. My picture turned out to look fantastic, and after a few misfires on the font, we actually settled on one of the very first ones I found (a freebie that was already in my Word library of fonts). Combined with the one I found on the internet, we were ready to roll.

My designer did a great job. We sat down for about three hours and knocked it out. I’ve had some small tweaks after the fact, and thankfully my friend has shown a lot of patience with me. He even managed to do a name swap (I originally planned to use a pen name) at the 11th hour. He's a wonder. :)

What else?

Oh, remember when I said ‘know your audience?’ Well, before I even moved forward with the cover, I did a rough (believe me, it was VERY rough) mock up of the cover and showed it around to people in my target age range. I knew I was on to something when one young friend actually squealed and said, “That is bad ass! I would totally buy that!” This without knowing what the book was about. (grin) Hey, I’ll take it.

And that, folks, is how you go about designing a cover. All in all, I spent a hundred dollars..and a few hours of my time (along with Designer Extraordinaire).

How'd I do?

More on the trailer later... boy was that an adventure. (g)

I'm Legits, Yo!

So, self-publishing. Be honest. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear someone is self-published? I'll tell you what I thought just a year ago. I thought:

1. The person couldn't make it the traditional way. They obviously tried and failed to gain a publishing contract and now they're doing the only thing they can do. They're putting out their book themselves. It may be okay, but if NYC rejected it, how good could it really be?

2. The person thinks they're above the "establishment" of traditional publishing. You know the type--I think we all do. (g) The one who has a book that they don't think NYC will "get." So rather than waste their time trying to edumacate the populace at large about how really ahead of their time they are, they're going to bypass NYC altogether and do it themselves.

3. With the number of epublished books on the market today, obviously people aren't taking the time to really perfect their books. They're putting out mediocre work as fast as they can in order to turn a buck.

And the big one:

4. If you self-publish, you're not LEGITS.

This is the point I want to focus on in this post. I know that I've felt this way--still do, to some degree--because there is a reigning opinion out there that you have to get the proverbial nod from NYC in order to MAKE IT. You may never sell well--you may wallow at the bottom of your house's list for the rest of your life--but you got 'the nod'... validation that you're talented because an agent plucked you out of the riff-raff and by God, your book has actually sat on a shelf in a brick and mortar. You made it...you're the cream that's floated to the top of the publishing world.

True story. I once heard a well-known young adult author refer to a self-published author as "another wannabe" who was giving young adult a bad name. (Something about the storyline, which sounded spot-on for a little known book named LOLITA.) Therefore, reducing this author to a second rate hack who obviously couldn't contain one iota of talent in his/her body. I don't believe this author had actually READ this person's work, mind, but because he/she was self-published, obviously this had to be true. Sort of makes you want to grind your teeth, doesn't it? This author was confronted and later apologized. I might have had something to do with it.... (vbg)

My point being--there's a stigma when you self-publish.

Is it changing? Yes. But I think it will always be there to some degree. Mostly because we've all dreamed of the big publishing contract--I know I have. And if the house of my dreams extended a huge offer tomorrow, it would be DANG hard to pass it up. I want, I want... but that does not mean I NEED. So yeah, my own attitude is part of the problem. OUR attitude is part of the problem.

A friend put it so well the other day. We've stopped caring about the work--we only think about how that work is being delivered to the world.

NYC Contract = GOOD.

Self-published = NOT QUITE AS GOOD...likely mediocre, at best... probably terrible.

Excuse me, but I call BULLSHIT.

In both worlds, you're going to find a hodge podge of work. Some good, some bad...some total crap. That doesn't mean that we can judge either group as better than the other. So, let's not, okay? Judge a book after you've actually read it. Whether it's on a shelf at B&N or if you downloaded it for a buck from Amazon.

Me? I'm still trying to work through my own bias. People have urged me to do a round of queries..just to see. But ultimately, I decided not to go down that road. I realized--after MUCH heming and hawing--that I don't have to have a nod from NYC. I don't.

I don't think I'm better than them... I think I'm just as good.

Some people may not agree, but ultimately I'm putting it into readers' hands. The proof will or will not be in the pudding. I just hope that people will look beyond what channels my book went through to get into their hands, and judge the book by what's actually between the covers.

Simple enough, right? Riiiight. :)

But Yo, I'm LEGITS! I am! (g)

The Countdown Begins!

Hey All --

Well, it's been a busy few weeks. I finally managed to finish my final revisions of BY THE PALE MOONLIGHT, and if you follow me over at ATWOP, you know I've decided to self-publish it. It's a big decision, I know...but I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be taking this step.

So, the plan: digital publication by October 15th. At all major retailers where ebooks are sold. If you don't have an eReader, never fear. You can now download reader apps for your PC or smart phone -- if you want to read it, there IS a way.

After I get the digital versions up and running, I fully plan on putting out a paperback version. If you're a stickler and must have an actual paper copy, a version will be available--though you'll have to wait a little while longer. Trust me, I want one, too. Bad. :) Can't wait to hold that puppy in my hands. lol

It's my goal to blog on a much more regular basis. I plan on discussing the process of self-publication--and I hope you come along for this wild ride. I can't wait for October 15th to get here!!

For now, here's a little teaser of the book... my first official book trailer, put together by my good friend, Jenna Nichols. (Thanks, Jenna!)