Saturday, December 15, 2012
Why Self-Publish ? Guest Blog with Miranda Stork
Why
Self-Publish? (Or, Why I’m Too Impatient)
Okay,
so I’m not that bad…no really! I didn’t actually think it would be easier to
self-publish. Because in fact I know it’s very, very hard. A few years ago I
worked for Stag Editors in New York as a proof-reader and editor, and believe
it or not, some of our clients were indie authors. So I not only got to see the
plethora of talent available in indie books, but also saw a lot of the
mistakes.
When
I first wrote Conner, I was only eighteen. It was a great achievement for me,
and there are plenty of young authors who are very good, but mine was….well, just good. Lots of people loved it, said
nice things about it, but…it was immature. I hadn’t wanted to write an YA
novel. I had wanted to write a novel for adults. So when I got comments back
such as ‘my young daughter would love to read this’, I knew I had done
something wrong.
For
some reason, I couldn’t look at it objectively at the time. It took me two
years to write it, and it was my first ‘proper’ novel. I had it self-published
for friends and family, but never sold more than a few copies. So I left it,
and went off to write the sequel, Erin. Then I left that one because I felt as
though I wasn’t sure what to write after Chapter 12. And then I went off to
write some short stories, and to start my next novel.
Then
back in April, I came back to it. I had almost given up on the idea of Conner
ever being something that would be published, or indeed ever seen. Nothing more
than a sad story to tell my grand-children round the fire when I’m old. “Well,
children, I once tried to do something, and got lazy….”
I
didn’t want that though! So I rolled up my sleeves, sat down at my laptop, and
began to write again. I absolutely pulled Conner apart. I considered what would
set it apart from a YA novel-it isn’t as if I don’t read, I do, and have a
collection of around 3000 books scattered around the cottage, much to my
boyfriend’s amusement. Whole chunks of Conner were taken away, others were
changed, and brand spanking new parts were put in. Then I checked it again, and
again, and again.
And
then I still didn’t go for it. Because first I wanted Erin finished, so that
they would match up. So now I had to finish Erin. It had sat on my hard-drive
for nearly two years untouched, and now I wrote over 63,000 words in a week.
Why? Not because I had found my ‘muse’, or because my life suddenly cleared up
and got easier (although there was a much loved family member who died the year
before, so obviously I couldn’t write then). It was because I had Grown Up.
Because I had realised that if I ever wanted anyone to read my book, I was damn
well going to have to think about the advice I had been given, and ACT on it.
This was the most important lesson I’ve learned, that had finally sunk in.
Instead of ignoring criticism, sticking your fingers in your ears and singing
“lalalala!”, you have to pay attention to it.
I
made the cover for Conner, and I didn’t like it, so I spent two days trying out
covers, considering what it would look like, before I finally settled on the delicious
cover that it is now. After all this, I had decided I would self-publish. Well,
you probably guessed that, seeing as I’m waffling on about covers. But why on
earth go for the hard option? And it is
the hard option; a lot of people believe it’s the lazier option. My answer to
that is that I now work about 70+ hours a week.
I
can handle criticism-now at least. I couldn’t for the longest time, but now I
can let it roll over me like air, sifting out the constructive parts. So it
certainly wasn’t that I was worried about rejection. In fact, I reckon all of
the best authors in the world have had rejection. But after the long haul I had
with Conner and Erin, something about them felt different from any other book I
would write. I needed to keep them as they were, because I had stripped them
time and again with my own editing. And having done it for a job, I thought (I
hope! ) I knew what I was doing.
Plus
I loved the creative control, and I’ve always been a little bit of a control
freak-my favourite game when I was younger was ‘The Sims’, and yes, I did try
the thing where you kill them off in the pool. Don’t ask if you’ve never heard
of this, I promise it isn’t as ominous as it sounds…lol!
So
I self-published this time because there was almost something sacred to me
about Conner and Erin. Something that had gone ten rounds with a critic and
leapt up again screaming, ‘Edit me, will ya’?” So I kept it as it is, so that
it will be remembered as it is. And because I love marketing my book now; I thrive
on it, in fact.
December 1 Interview
Books, Books the Magical Fruit
December 2 Guest blog
Fang-tastic Books
December 3 Interview
Provocative Pages
December 4 promo
Reginamayross's Blog
December 5 promo
Krystal's Enchanting Reads ...
December 6 Interview
Immortality and Beyond –
December 7 Interview
Keeping Up With The Rheinlander's
December 8 Interview
Roxanne’s Realm
December 10 Guest blog
Rabid Reads –
December 9 Interview and review
happy tails and tales
December 10 Promo
Blooding Book Reviews
December 11Guest blog
Butterfly-o-Meter Books
December 13 Promo
I know that Book
December 15 guest blog
Creatively Green Write at Home Mom
December 17 Guest blog
December 19 Guest blog
Romance Book Junkies
December 20 Interview
December 20 Promo
Books & Beauty
December 21 Guest blog
Words of Wisdom from The Scarf Princess
December 26 Guest blog
Fangs, Wands & Fairydust
December 27 Guest blog
December 28 Promo
A Bibliophiles Thoughts on Books
December 28 Spotlight
Monique Morgan
December 30 Promo
SMARTMOUTHTTEXAN
December 30 Guest blog
Monique Morgan
Vigilante of Shadows
Scarlet Rain Series, Book One
Miranda Stork
Miranda Stork
Genre: Paranormal Thriller/Romance
Publisher: Moon Rose Publishing
Number of pages: 267
Word Count: 88,487
Cover Artist: Miranda Stork
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/vYI-jh8Fa48
Book Description:
Aodhan clutched uselessly at his head, groaning. He knew it was useless, because the voice was not inside his head. It followed him, skimming across buildings and land. It had followed him since he was sixteen, and it still followed him today, like a memory too horrific to be forgotten…
Aodhan is a shadow-demon, hardened and cold after years of being alone, after his love, his Entwined, was cruelly taken away from him. He has closed his heart to the world, and now spends his life ridding the world of men like those who took his beloved away, an immortal hit-man…
Arianwen Harris is a young DCI, working for York City Police. When a known criminal is found viciously killed, she finds herself trailing a hit-man who has seemed to escape clutches again and again…but she begins to find herself drawn to his dark charms and roguish good looks…
As their two worlds collide, Aodhan and Arianwen find themselves coming together to escape a far greater enemy, one that threatens to create a world far worse than the one they live in. As they battle to hold back the oncoming forces, fate has another plan; one to draw them together and heal their broken pasts together…
About the Author:
I was born in Guisborough, North Yorkshire in 1987 and have lived in various places around Britain, including Newcastle and Glasgow.
My writing is inspired by various writers, including the vivid characters of Charles Dickens, the imagination of Stephen King, and the gothic imagery of Anne Rice.
My love of horror began at an early age, when I was only three or four. I could read proficiently at the age of three, and devoured fairy-stories, but I always had a bent towards the darker stories, such as the Brother's Grimm's tales...Red Riding Hood was always a firm favourite, although I always felt sorry for the wolf, despite him having tried to eat everyone!
Amazon Author Page:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mirandastork
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/authormirandastork
Friday, December 14, 2012
Guest Blog with Sarah Dicello
Today is a good day. It's my birthday and the first day of
my blog tour so thank you so very much, Wenona, for allowing me to write a
guest blog for your site.
I saw that you published "The Everything Green Wedding
Book." In a past life of mine (literally a few years ago, not another life
of mine like my main character, Danielle Grayson) I was a wedding planner for a
hotel chain so I commend you on writing that book for the "green" bride.
It wasn't easy being a wedding planner. And it usually
wasn't the brides who gave me problems, it was ALWAYS the mother of the brides.
There was one Monster-of-the-Bride who blamed me for rain
washing out her daughter's ceremony. I warned her when she booked our gazebo
area outside that it might rain and that all of our other ballrooms were booked
so there wasn't a contingency plan if bad weather was in the forcast. Well,
guess what, it poured like it was the first of the 40 days and 40 nights. Our
courtyard looked like a swamp. We had to jam all 150 guests into a small
meeting room that wasn't going to be occupied until an hour after the ceremony
was over. We rushed to get a flower-covered arch placed at the front of the
dance floor and quickly brought in white chairs in a messy arrangement of rows
as guests were literally dripping in.
The Monster-of-the-Bride asked me why I didn't have a backup
plan and I lost it. It takes a lot to fire me up enough to say anything to
anyone but this woman was relentless. "Don't you have anywhere else for us
to go?"; "Why are all the other ballrooms booked?"; "Why
didn't you tell us it was going to rain?" I flipped out on her in front of
everyone and I didn't feel bad about it either. Well, not at the moment because
I was so mad but later I felt really bad. I think I went into the bathroom and
balled my eyes out.
I vowed from that moment on to find a new job, which I
quickly did.
And now, ten years later, I'm the author of two novels and
have fulfilled my dream. Sometimes it takes the wrong path to steer you in the
right direction.
Sarah DiCello is the
author of the debut YA historical romance novel, "As I Close My
Eyes," and tomorrow, the sequel, "As I Wake," will launch on
Amazon. You can find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sarahdicelloauthor or
at her blog - www.sarahdicello.blogspot.com. You can also reach her via Twitter
- @sdicello and check her out on Goodreads at www.goodreads.com/sarahdicello.
December 14 Guest blog
The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom
December 15 Guest blog
Vanessa Morgan,
December 16 Guest blog
Fang-tastic Books
December 18 Promo
My Guilty Obsession
December 20 Interview
Books in the Hall
December 23 review
The Books You'll Read
December 26 Guest blog and review
Lissette E. Manning
December 28 Interview
JeanzBookReadNReview
December 28 Promo and review
Cover2CoverBlog
December 29 Promo
December 30 Promo
A Bibliophiles Thoughts on Books
December 31 Interview and review
Michelle @ Mom With A Kindle
December 31 Review
YA Between the Lines
As I Wake
Breaking Fate Collection Book 2
Breaking Fate Collection Book 2
Sarah DiCello
Genre: YA Historical Romance with a time travel twist
Publisher: Taylor Street Books
Number of pages: 200
Word Count: 60,000
Cover Artist: Heather Moreland
Book Description:
Readers entranced by As I Close My Eyes will once again be thrust into the enchanting life of Danielle Grayson in As I Wake, the second book in the Breaking Fate collection.
A secret of Dani’s past is revealed and she must find the answers before it’s too late. Can she change the fate of her one true love or will he suffer the same destiny for all of time?
As Dani rekindles her relationship with Ben she finds herself torn between her present day life in Sugar Hill, Georgia and a new past she has yet to discover. But something in her past makes her question the journey she has chosen. Time is running out and she is the only one who can understand the path that must be taken. But will it be enough? Has the story of Dani and Ben been written in stone never to be undone?
Book One
genre: historical YA with a time travel twist
Publisher: Taylor Street Books
Book Description:
You know you are alive, but what if you are dead?
Danielle Grayson is a beautiful, intelligent young woman in present-day Georgia, but when she closes her eyes, she becomes someone else in a different time, one hundred years earlier in fact.
Danielle's other life is as entrancing and romantic as her current one, and the contrast between the lifestyles is intriguing and enlightening (they didn't have iPods in 19th century USA, apparently), but what starts out as being dreamlike soon becomes real and strangely familiar.
Available in paperback from Amazon.com - here
Danielle Grayson is a beautiful, intelligent young woman in present-day Georgia, but when she closes her eyes, she becomes someone else in a different time, one hundred years earlier in fact.
Danielle's other life is as entrancing and romantic as her current one, and the contrast between the lifestyles is intriguing and enlightening (they didn't have iPods in 19th century USA, apparently), but what starts out as being dreamlike soon becomes real and strangely familiar.
Available in paperback from Amazon.com - here
Available from Amazon for the Kindle - here
Sarah DiCello is new to Taylor Street.
She writes fantasy / romance and;lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two daughters, and two dogs. She graduated from Shippensburg University with a degree in Communications/Journalism.
Release Day Blitz
Dec 14 Blitz
A BibliophilesThoughts on Books
Book Liaison –
DEB SANDERS
Mila Ramos
Impressions of a Princess
Inkk Reviews
Oh, Chrys!
Fang-tastic Books
Creatively Green
Roxanne’s Realm
.jpg)
Dec 15-29 tour
December 15 Interview and review
Marked By Books
December 16 Interview
Oh, Chrys!
December 18th Book Spotlight
Monique Morgan
December 19 Guest blog
My Reading Addiction
December 20th Guest Post
Monique Morgan
http://www.moniquemorgan.com
December 21 Interview and review
Impressions of a Princess
December 22 Promo
Inkk Reviews
December 23 Interview
Books & Other Spells.
December 24 Guest blog
December 26 Promo
TBQ'S Book Palace
December 27 Guest blog and review
The Bookshelf –
http://bookshelf.shotgunopera.net
December 27 Promo
SMARTMOUTHTEXAN
December 28 Feature
Victoria Danann,
December 29 Promo
Paranormal Opinion
January 2 Interview
Michelle @ Mom With A Kindle
January 3 Interview
Delirious About Books
January 6 Guest blog
Viviana, Enchantress of Books
January 7 Promo and review
Storm Goddess book Reviews
January 7 Promo
Frankie Blooding
Blooding Book Reviews
January 8 Guest blog and review
Books, Books, and More Books
January 10 Promo
Krystal's Enchanting Reads ...
The
Stone Guardian
Theresa
McClinton
Tagline:
When myth becomes reality, reality
becomes a nightmare.
Description:
Like
any other teenager in America, Ashley just wants a normal life. But growing up
in an orphanage for the insane is anything but normal. After endless therapy
and increasing medication, her nightmares have only gotten worse.
Probably
because they’re not nightmares.
When
Ashley’s mysteriously abducted, she finds a reality even less normal than the
orphanage. And she discovers something else—she’s no ordinary orphan. Faced
with enemies thought to only exist in fairy tales, Ashley discovers she
possesses a powerful Maya bloodline. She’s the daughter of an ancient Maya
Guardian, whose duty is to protect the Stone of Muuk’ich, an enchanted relic
blessed by the gods. But first she must get it back from Sarian, a power-hungry
demigod who slaughtered the last guardian—Ashley’s mother. Without the stone,
all will be lost.
When
she meets Arwan, a hot Belizean time bender, his delicious olive skin and dark
eyes make her feel a little less alone. But his gentle whispers and reassuring
touch might not be all they seem. How can she balance love and duty when it’s
up to her to prevent the rising of the underworld? Especially when the guy she
loves might be its crown prince…
Book
Trailer http://youtu.be/fN1JvOOntWw
Excerpt:
“Where are we going?” Ashley asked, walking a few
steps behind. Arwan slowed his pace for her much shorter stride. She wasn’t
used to hiking in the jungle, but she didn’t want to show it. He found that a
cute addition to the many things he admired about her.
Without offering an explanation, he grabbed a stick
from the ground. If he told her where he was taking her, it would ruin the
surprise. He just hoped the creatures hadn’t taken shelter somewhere else
because of the heavy rains.
Soon they arrived at a clearing where hundreds of
tall, thin bushes with elegant purple blooms covered the ground. Mature trees
formed a canopy overhead, while gaps in the branches allowed the sun to speckle
the jungle floor with light.
“I thought you would like it here.” He watched for
her reaction.
She inspected the space. “It’s neat.”
Of course, she didn’t know why they were really
there. He watched her shift her weight. Did she lie when she said he didn’t
make her uncomfortable? It seemed like he did. Every time he smiled at her, her
cheeks flushed or her muscles tensed.
Arwan gently took her hand. She allowed him to,
without hesitation. It was the first time.
Carefully, he guided her through the maze of shrubs.
When they reached the center, he stood in front of her and put his lips close
to her ear. “Can I hold you?” She took a small step back. He waited for her to
decide and, at the slightest nod, took her hand. “I just want to show you
something.”
He slid his hand gently around her waist and drew
her close. Her chest jumped when they pressed together. He savored the feeling
of her drumming heartbeat. In fact, he could almost hear it.
She rested her hands against his chest, and he
wondered if she felt his heart drumming too. “You’re blushing.”
She pressed the backs of her hands on her face. “I
am?”
He caressed the silky curve of her cheek. “You’re
lovely when you blush.” The stick secure in his hand, he extended it to the
side. “Watch.” With a powerful strike, he whacked a nearby bush on its base.
Dozens of butterflies launched into the air.
The flight of few caused a chain reaction, and soon
they blanketed the sky. Several landed in her hair and on her arms while more
flew overhead.
Arwan tilted his head back to the sky. Ashley gasped
and stared at the countless array of colors gliding overhead. A butterfly
rested on his shoulder, pumping its cobalt blue wings. She gently blew on it,
her warm breath caressing his neck.
His chest swelled with longing. He clenched his jaw.
Watching her lips form into a soft circle, she continued to blow on its
colorful wings. He had never wanted someone so fiercely. She brought something
out of him he couldn’t control. Something instinctual, animalistic. He watched
her lips, longing to kiss her. To feel her mouth pressed against his. The need
surged in his chest and spread throughout his limbs. He tensed and pulled her
closer.
He knew he had to be gentle. As much as he tried to
conceal the need, it threatened to destroy him if he didn’t at least try.
Slowly, he leaned in to kiss her. His lips hovered above hers. Her hot breath
broke over his mouth.
Ashley gasped and stepped back. Her teary eyes
forced him to look away. He silently cursed himself. He’d pushed her too far.
“I…” The hurt in her voice surprised him. “I can’t.
I’m sorry.”
Before he could respond, Ashley ran back toward the
house, leaving him alone in the clearing.
He watched her stumble through the trees until she
was gone. The jungle was quiet, except for the sound of chirping birds and the
rustling of lemurs in the trees.
He turned, balling his fists. What the hell was he
thinking? He’d known that if he tried to kiss her, it would push her away. He
should have shown more restraint.
Each of his steps pounded against the jungle floor.
The birds’ chirps ceased, and the lemurs took quiet refuge in the branches.
When he escaped the maze of bushes, he charged his fist into the trunk of a
mature tree, spitting layers of bark and redwood in every direction.
About the Author:
A long time enthusiast of things that go bump in the night, Theresa started her writing career as a journalism intern—possibly the least creative writing field out there. After her first semester at a local newspaper, she washed her hands of press releases and features articles to delve into the whimsical world of young adult paranormal romance.
Since then, Theresa has gotten married, had three terrific kids, moved to central Ohio, and was repeatedly guilt tripped into adopting a menagerie of animals that are now members of the family. But don’t be fooled by her domesticated appearance. Her greatest love is travel. Having stepped foot on the soil of over a dozen countries, traveled to sixteen U.S. states—including an extended seven-year stay in Kodiak, Alaska—she is anything but settled down. But wherever life brings her, she will continue to weave tales of adventure and love with the hope her stories will bring joy and inspiration to her readers.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
To plan or not to plan? Guest Blog with B.A. Morton
This summary is not available. Please
click here to view the post.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)