Because I've been at this writing / publishing thing since 2004, I sometimes forget that there are people out there who are new to it all.
On FB this morning, a woman was looking for help on one of the book pages I follow. She's trying to get her daughter's novel published and had recently been contacted by a firm wanting to represent the book. They were asking like 600-1000 pounds for different publication packages. She'd tried to look them up online, but she could only find their site and links they'd put out about themselves.
Ding ding ding. There are three reasons right there to walk away.
1) Reputable companies do not contact writers out of the blue. Real agents and publishers have too much going on to send letters out to unknown and untested and unpublished authors.
2) Reputable companies to not charge to 'represent' you. You may see charges if you're self-publishing through a vanity press, but they're not representing you. They're doing the work to make your book a book - editing, covers, etc. And even then, you have to watch them like a hawk. Research the hell out of them to make sure you're not getting taken. If this is a literary agent, which I suspect it is, you NEVER pay them. They make money by getting a cut of your royalties after the book is published.
3) Reputable companies have a wide web presence with loads of people saying good things about them. Disreputable companies may have a wide web presence as well, but generally people are saying bad things about them. This one, not having much of a web presence at all? Well, they must be a pop-up that hasn't been caught by the scam hunters yet.
Someone in comments posted a link to Writer Beware. There's a good source for finding out about scammers. And if you don't see the company on their site, I think you can contact them about it.
I commented with a shortened version of the above. I hope she walks away. She was smart enough to do some research and to ask about it online, so there's hope. So many authors don't do the work and get taken for loads of money. It always makes me sad to hear about another new author getting scammed.
I used to get crap like that in my inbox regularly. I still get it, but it's fewer and farther between now. Mark it as spam, go to the spam box, and delete it. Do not engage. Walk away.
Publishing is a long, hard road, fraught with potholes. There is no easier path you can take. No yellow brick road you can skip along to reach the Emerald City of publication. And anyone who tells you they have a shortcut is a conman trying to fleece you.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
The Post-Publication Checklist
There's a lot of stuff to do to publish a book. And there's a lot to do after you publish a book. So, here's my post-publication checklist:
Goodreads listing – add ASIN before the book goes live
Add book to your Amazon author page.
Verify book is on Amazon UK author page.
Update FB header.
Add book to all blog sidebars.
Update internal links inside book to Amazon
Post to the blogs
Post to FB pages
Post to Pinterest
Post to Twitter
Post to MEWE
Add book to appropriate Outside the Box book page
Update links on book page – US, UK, CA, AU
Bookmark Amazon pages – US, UK, CA, AU
Update back matter of all other books
Post to FB groups
Fall apart.
I'm still working on the back matter part. I already fell apart. ;o)
Got anything on your checklist that's not on mine?
Goodreads listing – add ASIN before the book goes live
Add book to your Amazon author page.
Verify book is on Amazon UK author page.
Update FB header.
Add book to all blog sidebars.
Update internal links inside book to Amazon
Post to the blogs
Post to FB pages
Post to Pinterest
Post to Twitter
Post to MEWE
Add book to appropriate Outside the Box book page
Update links on book page – US, UK, CA, AU
Bookmark Amazon pages – US, UK, CA, AU
Update back matter of all other books
Post to FB groups
Fall apart.
I'm still working on the back matter part. I already fell apart. ;o)
Got anything on your checklist that's not on mine?
Monday, May 4, 2020
Release News!
In the midst of all this crap, I published a book. Book number 14, to be exact. Sure, it was delayed about a month because of the crap, but hey, it's out there in the world now. The long awaited sequel to Sleeping Ugly is finally here...
UGLY AND THE BEAST: A Model Curse, Book Two.
It's currently $2.99 (and available in Kindle Unlimited now)*. And I put Sleeping Ugly down to 99c (or whatever comparable price that equates to in your country) and will leave it there until 5/31. At which point, both books will go up to $3.99, so get your copies in the merry month of May.
Hopefully sometime this month, I'll have a better idea of when Cinder Ugly (A Model Curse: Book Three) will be released.
Thanks to everyone who helped, supported, and encouraged me through this process. I couldn't have done it without you. Literally. Because without you guys, I would've continued to wallow in my uncertainty. Thanks for kicking my butt.
*Due to a massive brain fart, it was not in KU when it first went live. That has been rectified. Read on, my friends.
It's currently $2.99 (and available in Kindle Unlimited now)*. And I put Sleeping Ugly down to 99c (or whatever comparable price that equates to in your country) and will leave it there until 5/31. At which point, both books will go up to $3.99, so get your copies in the merry month of May.
Hopefully sometime this month, I'll have a better idea of when Cinder Ugly (A Model Curse: Book Three) will be released.
Thanks to everyone who helped, supported, and encouraged me through this process. I couldn't have done it without you. Literally. Because without you guys, I would've continued to wallow in my uncertainty. Thanks for kicking my butt.
*Due to a massive brain fart, it was not in KU when it first went live. That has been rectified. Read on, my friends.
Friday, May 1, 2020
Yep, Slight Delay
Okay, so the possible delay has turned into a definite delay. Sorry about that, folks. My grasp exceeded my reach this time. Don't despair, though. It'll be done by Monday at the latest.
It's a good thing I'm doing this. Man, am I finding a lot of typos that I unintentionally inserted as I was fixing other things. Blerg. On the bright side, they're getting gone, bit by bit. As of last night, I had done through pg 146 of 231 pages. And I'm fixing the errors in batches along the way, so I won't have to do them all when I finish reading, which will save time.
I'd be further along if I didn't blow Wednesday all to hell by going grocery shopping. I was wiped out for the rest of the day there. One thing I did get done Wednesday was the blurb - pre-shopping, of course.
And another thing I did was add a series title to the book covers. I'm going with... drumroll... A Model Curse. It was the only one I wrote down during brainstorming that didn't suck mightily and was short enough to fit on the covers without being super small.
Succinct and cute. At least, I think so. It's pretty much set in stone now, so if you think it's lame, keep it to yourself, k? (Set in stone because I'm tired of thinking about it and I don't want to have to redo the covers again.)
Right now, it's sitting at about 65K words. That'll expand some as I put in front and back matter during formatting, but that's the meat of the story without the sauce.
Again, sorry about the delay. I'd blame the chaos, but this last delay is on me. I'll let y'all know when it goes live. Until then, have a great day and an awesome weekend. =o)
It's a good thing I'm doing this. Man, am I finding a lot of typos that I unintentionally inserted as I was fixing other things. Blerg. On the bright side, they're getting gone, bit by bit. As of last night, I had done through pg 146 of 231 pages. And I'm fixing the errors in batches along the way, so I won't have to do them all when I finish reading, which will save time.
I'd be further along if I didn't blow Wednesday all to hell by going grocery shopping. I was wiped out for the rest of the day there. One thing I did get done Wednesday was the blurb - pre-shopping, of course.
Jeni Braxxon’s life as a up-and-coming supermodel hit the skids
when she found herself cursed. The
asshole who did this to her is rotting in jail, but the curse remains, leaving
her as ugly as the north end of a southbound warthog. Every damn night.
As if this case of the gruesomes and her impending
unemployment wasn’t enough for a gal with serious esteem issues, someone
snatches her nephew. The fight is on to
find the boy before something seriously heinous happens. With the help of her friends and a bit of
beastly assistance, Jeni will face down anything this plane or the next throws
at her. If she’s lucky, she might just
make it out alive.
And another thing I did was add a series title to the book covers. I'm going with... drumroll... A Model Curse. It was the only one I wrote down during brainstorming that didn't suck mightily and was short enough to fit on the covers without being super small.
Right now, it's sitting at about 65K words. That'll expand some as I put in front and back matter during formatting, but that's the meat of the story without the sauce.
Again, sorry about the delay. I'd blame the chaos, but this last delay is on me. I'll let y'all know when it goes live. Until then, have a great day and an awesome weekend. =o)
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Possible Slight Delay
I'm working as fast as I can, but with only two days left, I'm probably going to miss my deadline. Right now, I'm in the middle of scouring the book for flaws. Yesterday, I got a whole page worth of notes and fixed them and that was only the first 33 pages. Little things, like a missed comma here and a weird word there and a 'why did she call him that?'. Nothing major, but it all needs to be fixed before I send it out into the world.
I also realized that I still have formatting to do once all these things are fixed.
And I remembered that before I can sell the book I need a blurb. Frankly, I have no clue what to write there. Jeni did some stuff again?
AND I have to think of a series title and put it on the covers of both books.
If I work like a madwoman, I might be able to get it all done in two days, but I am not inclined to work like a madwoman. I still have household management, a sneezing geriatric cat, and an unplanned shopping trip to squeeze in there.
So, I will do my damnedest to get this done on time, but don't hold your breath. If not Friday, I will have it done by Monday at the latest - barring acts of man, nature, and Armageddon.
Thanks for your patience. And here's a taste of what I'll be sending out into the world soon...
I also realized that I still have formatting to do once all these things are fixed.
And I remembered that before I can sell the book I need a blurb. Frankly, I have no clue what to write there. Jeni did some stuff again?
AND I have to think of a series title and put it on the covers of both books.
If I work like a madwoman, I might be able to get it all done in two days, but I am not inclined to work like a madwoman. I still have household management, a sneezing geriatric cat, and an unplanned shopping trip to squeeze in there.
So, I will do my damnedest to get this done on time, but don't hold your breath. If not Friday, I will have it done by Monday at the latest - barring acts of man, nature, and Armageddon.
Thanks for your patience. And here's a taste of what I'll be sending out into the world soon...
Ugly
and the Beast
“Oh, my gawd, Jeni! What happened to your face? Ewww!”
Apparently, only Sleeping Beauty gets to
awaken to princely smooches and happy woodland creatures. As Sleeping Ugly, I got a short, shrieking
supermodel instead.
I hadn’t planned on Mara Lightfoot, my
best frenemy finding out anything about the curse I was under. All I wanted was a little normal after the
utter strangeness my life had become. A
movie marathon with my best friend sounded like an amazing idea. After which, I’d quickly usher her out the
door before midnight struck.
But we’d gotten to drinking. Time passed.
Then I got kind of snoozy. And
WHAM! I switched from the pretty phase of the curse to the morning fuglies. She’d
squeaked like a midget mouse and then began laughing. And pointing.
And then laughing some more.
“What the hell happened to you?” she asked
once she caught her breath.
My shoulders slumped. “It’s a curse.”
“Well, duh. It’s sure as hell not a gift.” She poured herself another shot of cinnamon
whiskey and downed it in one gulp. Once
the fire subsided, she said, “No wonder you missed all those photo shoots. I tried to cover for you because you told me
you were sick. And let me tell you, hon, this is certainly
sick. So, tell me, who cursed you? Jealous wife?
Jilted guy? Oh, I know, psycho
stalker!”
I’d already ruled out all three of her
options. And I didn’t want to tell her
the truth right then. First, I needed to
figure out why she was taking this so well and wasn’t on the phone with the
police or a mental hospital.
“Curses don’t exist, you know.”
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Weeding Crutch Words
I'm hitting the crutch words right now. For the uninitiated, crutch words are those words an author relies on too much - like, that, just, etc. I have a list. It goes on and on. Sometimes I add to it because my editor or proofers tell me they noticed other words I used too much.
Before I hit the manuscript to start weeding out the crutch words - either deleting them or replacing them with something better - I print the list and count each word to see what I'm up against. (MS Word is awesome for this. In the Find function, type the word you're looking for, go to Reading Highlight, Highlight All, and it gives you a count.) Here's a sample of the counts I got before I started the weeding process:
that - 439
like - 346
just - 74
said - 317
think - 153
thought - 130
know - 109
when - 202
well - 96
still - 68
even - 118
which - 92
Weeding out that and like took me a day each, off and on. I've gotten the that occurrences down to 219 and the likes down to 146. It's the best I can do. I also hit actually because one of my proofers said I used it too much in this book. Took it from 31 to 10. One of my characters was using his brows too much, too, so I snipped away at that, too.
One thing I should've done was weed the manuscript before I sent it to the proofers, but I forgot. Well... actually... I repressed the need to do it because I hate this part so much.
Over time, I've gotten better about not using certain words in my first draft. My justs have dropped way down. That one used to be three digits on a regular basis. And the thats and likes were always higher. I'm working on it. And what I don't catch on the drafts, I try to catch in edits. It's all good.
Anyway, I'm slogging through and trying not to just say 'fuck it all' and skip this step. The urge is strong, but I'm fighting it because I want my books to be the best they can for my readers.
I was thinking about this last night. As a reader, I don't really notice authors overusing certain words. I get dragged into the story and that stuff doesn't seem to throw me off. Unless I'm editing my own stuff. Then I see every single one of my crutch words in other people's work. Ugh.
How about you? As an author, what are some of your crutch words? As a reader, do you notice when a writer overuses a word?
Before I hit the manuscript to start weeding out the crutch words - either deleting them or replacing them with something better - I print the list and count each word to see what I'm up against. (MS Word is awesome for this. In the Find function, type the word you're looking for, go to Reading Highlight, Highlight All, and it gives you a count.) Here's a sample of the counts I got before I started the weeding process:
that - 439
like - 346
just - 74
said - 317
think - 153
thought - 130
know - 109
when - 202
well - 96
still - 68
even - 118
which - 92
Weeding out that and like took me a day each, off and on. I've gotten the that occurrences down to 219 and the likes down to 146. It's the best I can do. I also hit actually because one of my proofers said I used it too much in this book. Took it from 31 to 10. One of my characters was using his brows too much, too, so I snipped away at that, too.
One thing I should've done was weed the manuscript before I sent it to the proofers, but I forgot. Well... actually... I repressed the need to do it because I hate this part so much.
Over time, I've gotten better about not using certain words in my first draft. My justs have dropped way down. That one used to be three digits on a regular basis. And the thats and likes were always higher. I'm working on it. And what I don't catch on the drafts, I try to catch in edits. It's all good.
Anyway, I'm slogging through and trying not to just say 'fuck it all' and skip this step. The urge is strong, but I'm fighting it because I want my books to be the best they can for my readers.
I was thinking about this last night. As a reader, I don't really notice authors overusing certain words. I get dragged into the story and that stuff doesn't seem to throw me off. Unless I'm editing my own stuff. Then I see every single one of my crutch words in other people's work. Ugh.
How about you? As an author, what are some of your crutch words? As a reader, do you notice when a writer overuses a word?
Monday, April 20, 2020
Updates and Junk
Well, hello there! It's been almost a month since I posted here, because, well, it's been longer than that since I actually did anything writerly or had anything writerly to talk about. If you want to see what I was up to, go to The Writing Spectacle. When I'm not here, I'm generally over there.
Things have been bad here with regard to writing or anything writing related. The last time I worked was March 15th - you know, before it all went to hell. The last time I sold anything was March 20th.
Since it had all gone to hell in March, I didn't even bother updating my spreadsheets to show the month of April. And it's already getting near time to do May. Yep, yep.
All of that changed over the weekend. I made it change. As I said on yesterday's Sunday Update post, this chaos crap has already taken up too much of my time and mental real estate, and it's time to get back to business.
To that end, I made myself sit down and work on getting Ugly and the Beast ready for publication. I had hoped to have it to you by the end of last month. Well, hope in one hand... right? The new hope is to have it to you by the end of this month. Good lord willin' and the crick don't rise. All I have to do is finish these edits my wonderful proofer friends sent along to me last month, weed out some crutch words, check it all over again, and then format the sucker. (Your work was not wasted, proofer friends, just delayed a bit.)
Meanwhile, I have the next scenes for Cinder Ugly waiting for me to write. I'm not promising anything with regard to dates for that yet. Until I have the first draft completed, I can't even hint at a date. All I can promise is that I seem to be back on track again.
Not sure what this'll mean in the long run. Will sales climb out of the dumper? Time will tell. All I know is that I've had enough of this and I'm ready for a return to normal again. I have no control over what happens out there in the world, but I can control what happens in here. Time to take control again.
Things have been bad here with regard to writing or anything writing related. The last time I worked was March 15th - you know, before it all went to hell. The last time I sold anything was March 20th.
Since it had all gone to hell in March, I didn't even bother updating my spreadsheets to show the month of April. And it's already getting near time to do May. Yep, yep.
All of that changed over the weekend. I made it change. As I said on yesterday's Sunday Update post, this chaos crap has already taken up too much of my time and mental real estate, and it's time to get back to business.
To that end, I made myself sit down and work on getting Ugly and the Beast ready for publication. I had hoped to have it to you by the end of last month. Well, hope in one hand... right? The new hope is to have it to you by the end of this month. Good lord willin' and the crick don't rise. All I have to do is finish these edits my wonderful proofer friends sent along to me last month, weed out some crutch words, check it all over again, and then format the sucker. (Your work was not wasted, proofer friends, just delayed a bit.)
Meanwhile, I have the next scenes for Cinder Ugly waiting for me to write. I'm not promising anything with regard to dates for that yet. Until I have the first draft completed, I can't even hint at a date. All I can promise is that I seem to be back on track again.
Not sure what this'll mean in the long run. Will sales climb out of the dumper? Time will tell. All I know is that I've had enough of this and I'm ready for a return to normal again. I have no control over what happens out there in the world, but I can control what happens in here. Time to take control again.
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