Books and books and books...

Book 1 is out! The first Summer McCloud paranormal mystery, Murder in Plain Sight,  is now up on
Amazon to download as a .99 ebook or buy the paperback. But with this one I did not do kindle select, instead I went to draft2digital and had my Word doc. converted and put onto Apple, Kobo, Page Foundry, Scribd, Oyster, Barnes and Noble, and Tolino--and it did not cost me a cent even though I had them generate a title page! Maybe a lot of you authors know about this. I just recently learned of this service from a very good friend who has generously given of her time to walk me through several marketing strategies. My question is: why is it so hard to format for kindle? I'm desperate to do my own formatting but so far have not figured it out.

I had my first fantasy books up on Smashwords, which did nothing for me, but maybe this time with some targeted marketing I'll have some success!

From what I've heard from my friend and others trying to sell books, a series is the way to go. And once you have several books going you make the first one permafree.  This is said to boost sales of subsequent books in the series. So on that note I'm hard at work on Book 2, Saffron and Seaweed. I absolutely love this cover, also done by Valerie Howard. I'm having a lot of fun with this new more light-hearted genre despite the murder aspect.

On that note I have taken The Moonstone and Gypsy's Quest, the first books in each of my fantasy trilogies, off KDP select. By the middle of september I should be able to put them both permafree. And then I will see what happens. It is all new territory that I kind of wish I'd known about several years ago. I find it very hard to discover these marketing tips on my own despite being in  several Indie author groups. I am most appreciative of Helen Page's ongoing help. She is an author with books in several genres as well as  being an editor.

And so the struggle to find my peeps continues. But everything is a learning experience and I can't complain, especially since I'm having so much fun!

Thanks for reading!

Snafu!

I published Gypsy's Return on July 8th after having my editor edit for content and then do a thorough proof. Excited, I ordered twenty copies and then proceeded to advertise it on Goodreads, and set it up on Smashwords. Alas. Today, thanks to KDP, I discovered that the book has 21 spelling errors. Twenty-one!!!! Every other book I've published has had a few, Gypsy's Quest coming in with zero mistakes.

I looked through them, not surprised to see letters switched and letters left out of words. I've become fairly dyslexic of late and my eyes are not what they once were. But the real misspellings were a surprise. And there were more than I care to admit. I was a master speller in school and won spelling bees all the time.  (insert violin music here)

Word spellcheck is a joke. When the MS reaches a certain point in length it announces that it's shutting itself off--too many mistakes to keep up with. But when I turn it on it comes up with things that are fine the way they are--that versus who, for instance. I was taught that 'who' is used when referring to people, 'that'  when it's an inanimate object. Spellcheck also refuses to acknowledge names. The grammar feature is even worse. Who programmed this thing?

My mistake was assuming that my editor caught everything and not taking the time to go through it one last time before handing it off to my formatter. Luckily Rik Hall is willing to make the changes in the docs he formatted. (I sent him the list and what pages they were on)

And so the book has been pulled. My apologies to anyone who has already ordered it. I did notice that I had one sale on the first day. It won't be too long before it's up again.

Reemergence of the muse

Finally a moment to write a blog! I probably shouldn't be taking the time to do this, since I'm in the middle of editing Book III, The Wolf Moon, but...I have some things to share...

First of all I've backed off of FB a bit, using my extra time to write and edit. I check it from time to time but feel somewhat lost now that I have so many 'friends'. At the beginning I could keep track of things, recognizing the same names who were posting in the various groups, but now when I check I have no idea who all the people are or what is going on! I have joined over ten different groups and I think that adds to my confusion. In any case I consider my time more valuable than I did a few months ago when I hadn't begun this final edit.

About the edit--I wrote the entire book several years ago and haven't even looked at Book III for at least a year. That, combined with all the changes I made to Book I and II makes for quite a lot of work! The fun part is all the new detail I'm adding--the skeleton was there but there was no flesh on the bones! My earlier estimate of having it out in February has been moved to March and I plan to have a professional go through before I send it to Createspace.

I had a Goodreads giveaway for Saille during the month of December that seemed quite encouraging. Had over 600 people enter for the five copies that I gave away. More than I had on Amazon the last time I did the Kindle select thing...I encourage everyone to try it!

Speaking of Kindle Select, it continues to be a thorn in my side. The Moonstone is signed up until February at which time I will NOT renew. I now have Saille, the Willow on Smashwords via Rik Hall who formatted for me. Most likely I mentioned this in my last  blog but I can't say enough good things about working with him. The Moonstone is formatted and ready to go, waiting until Amazon allows me to put it elsewhere!

Another thing I wanted to share was that I have managed to get my books into three places here in Tucson. One is a yoga studio and the other two are what I would call metaphysical stores. I have a list for other places here and in other parts of Arizona and will take it one step at a time. I really enjoy the face to face aspect of this. Although maybe not as lucrative as the e-book thing, it's nice to have a personal relationship with those who are stocking my books.

One last aside--I've been despairing of ever finishing this last book of the series. The editing was not going well. I attributed this angst to two things--1. The idea that I had to get it finished and out by February--2. That the book was the END of the series.
So yesterday I had a talk with myself. First of all there is no deadline although I'd like to have it out sooner rather than later. Second, I've begun a sequel so this is not the end of the series! I asked the spirits to help me, those muses who have been by my side during all the writing. I lit a candle and burned incense and had a quiet moment before I began. And it helped get me over a rather large hurdle.

How do you deal with these issues in your own writing?

Veering off

I'm changing my tactics when it comes to marketing. Blog tour is out unless I do a very simple one with a few bloggers who are on the same page as I am. Why, you ask? Because when I realized the time and effort involved, I decided I would lose my sanity. And what about my writing? I know marketing is important but I can't let it  take over my life. I'm still doing the online thing but I also have a long list of places in Arizona where I will attempt to consign my books.

My husband is helping me in this regard, and has compiled a list, not of bookstores, but of 'spiritual' stores and Celtic shops that might be a fit.

Since Mercury has been in retrograde, I've put this endeavor off, but as of monday, November 26th, Mercury begins heading forward again--the perfect time for new beginnings. I will start here in Tucson with one Celtic shop and two others: Metaphysics' World and Spirits' Child. After that we'll head to the small hippyish town of Bisbee and and then over to Sedona, where there are at least six possibilities. Now I know I'm making this sound like a breeze--believe me with my introverted personality, it won't be. But one on one I seem to do okay--it's the room full of people that has me quaking in my boots--the mere idea of giving a talk or a reading makes me light-headed!

Since the second book in my series has been released, I considered doing KDP select again--having one book free, one for .99 --but I didn't want to be stuck again for three months, trapped in a contract with Amazon. My sales did not show improvement from the last two...And so my time has been spent going through The Moonstone, AGAIN, in preparation for re-formatting. (It is now the new and improved version--2nd edition?) Smashwords, KOBO and NOOK are on my list. If anyone is thinking about this, check out Rik Hall http://www.facebook.com/RikHall, who is inexpensive and comes highly recommended.

I'm also signed up for a two hour session here in Tucson with real live people exchanging ideas who  have had experience with marketing. I've considered the book festival coming up next year but I think the price is prohibitive..doesn't seem worth it for the possible sale of a few books, although the exposure would be nice.

And so I continue my search, hoping to discover a few things that work and letting go of the ones that don't. I know marketing represents at least 60% of the pie but I need to finish book three, not to mention the sequel, Valley of the Moon. The more books one has out there the better, or so I've heard...

Here is a link to Johann Penn, a marketer who has done a lot of research on this subject: .http://www.thecreativepenn.com/ 

Thanks for reading! and any and all comments are most appreciated.