Category Archives: Writing advice

Oh, the Anticipation!

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bianca-van-der-weft_anticipationStuck in Between is in the hands of reviewers and my street team, and I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for the verdict. The anticipation is like after going on a great first date and waiting for him/her to call. It’s really not a horrible place to be, more like a mix of titillation and abject fear. LOL!

I’m fighting with myself over giving into the excitement because of the worry over the fall. I’m standing on the edge of the cliff, not knowing if I will fly or crash. There is something rather exhilarating about that. Continue reading →

Paying for Book Reviews

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Dollars in the books, isolated on white background, business traAn online friend and I recently had a somewhat heated debate about paying for reviews. He told me about a website, where he had signed up, that has a requirement to provide gift cards in exchange for potential reviews. I said something like, “I’m unwilling to pay money to get reviews.” For him, since it wasn’t a direct exchange, money for a review, it was completely fine.

We all get to decide, thankfully, where our personal line of ethics lies.

I have been asked by other authors to “post a review” in exchange for a review of my book. I wouldn’t even have to read the novel and they would tell me what to write. Of course I declined. Is it wrong that I want to sink or swim on my own merit?

There are people on FB that offer reviews for a fee. I’m completely against this. My debate partner tried to equate giving my book away for free with paying for a review. I completely and vehemently disagreed. Yes, we can place a value on an eBook (although it costs me nothing to provide one) or even a paperback but I don’t feel like I’m BUYING a review by providing a reviewer with a free copy.

You can find plenty of websites where you can pay a rather steep fee to get to be reviewed on their site. To me a book is either good or not and there are so many different free sites to get your book noticed that I don’t want to pay my hard earned money to support an industry that exploits its writers.

I became rather irritated during the debate and I realized why it happened after the fact. I’m perfectly okay with having a difference of opinion with people and many people who read this post will probably think there is nothing wrong with paying money to get your book promoted any way they can. It’s a business, right? However, when someone argues with me as if their position is the only one that makes sense; I want to slap the imagined smirk off their face. Not truly, since I’m the non-violent creative type, but I think I’ve illustrated my point.

Where do you fall along the divide? Please share your thoughts with us.

Warm hugs to all my readers and a special hug to my debate partner,

Blakely

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Finding a Great Editor

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When venturing into self-publishing, the most important area to spend your hard-earned money on is an editor. No one, in my opinion, should be their own editor or let their friends or family have a go at it for them.

Fortunately, finding an editor has been relatively easy for us. All editors, of any value that is, will offer to do a sample of your novel for you. This way, you can see what they have to offer and compare their sample with others. Continue reading →

Bringing Yourself Along for the Ride

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roller_coasterI never truly realized, until I became an author, how much readers bring of themselves to any story they read; their perceptions, life experiences, pet peeves and much more. It makes sense to me and reminds me of the literature classes I took in college. I always found myself wondering if the so-called “meaning” of the stories we read were really the author’s intentions or just that particular teacher’s interpretation or a school of thought. Continue reading →

What’s it Like to Write with Your Husband?

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DSC_0280resizeI’ve gotten this question often and it’s usually accompanied by, “I could never work with my husband. How do you do it?” The writing and creating process is rather easy when we work together. The writing goes a lot faster because if either of us is stuck on a scene, we can pass it off to the other. However, working with someone else requires an outline and a very different style of writing than when I’m working on my own.

On my own, I don’t plan, outline or figure out the end until I get there. I let my characters lead me through the story. When I write with my husband (Dana), I don’t have that same luxury because the story must have structure so we can both move forward with the storyline. However, we have lots of fun writing together. Continue reading →

The Remarkable Journey from Traditional to Self-Publishing

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doj-ebookcover copyWe are on the precipice of self-publishing our first title called The Demarcation of Jack, coming out November 7th. We are so excited to have the bulk of the formatting work done. Wow, what a learning curve on all of that. I found it crazy, frustrating, and daunting that each vendor had its own formatting requirements. On the bright side, I have learned so much that the next time should be a breeze.

We found a very reasonable editor and cover artist so our financial outlay stayed pretty low. Time wise, self-publishing was a much larger investment. However, the ability to track our sales, get the bulk of royalties and be in charge of our product is priceless.

Since my publisher didn’t offer much in the way of promotion, that outlay of time has stayed the same. Well sort of. LOL! Social media seems to ramp up on its own and these days it’s hard to stay on top of it. Of course, becoming our own publisher requires more time elsewhere so I seem to be forever falling behind on my friendship request, page likes, event invites, etc. (I promise to catch up after the release date!)

We are having an online giveaway party the day of the release and we already have over 45 prizes to give away. You can join the Release Party and Big Giveaway for The Demarcation of Jack and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway.

Again I must remark on all the wonderful relationships I have forge with other authors and readers as well. I have found the community to be so supportive and helpful. I can simply type a question on my Facebook wall or tweet the question and other authors will step up and offer advice. I love that we can be supportive instead of competitive like is found in other industries.

As you may have noticed, I have transferred my blog to my new website. I hope you all like it. I will still be hosting author interviews on Fridays so if you’re interested, contact me and let me know.

Warm hugs,

Blakely

Please feel free to friend me on Facebook.
And like the My Body Trilogy Facebook page.
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The Importance of a Great Book Cover

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Why_I_Married_a_Murderer-FINAL_E-book_cover-640x1024Several times I’ve encountered people discussing book covers on Facebook groups or on someone’s timeline. Each time I’m shocked to find people downplaying the importance of a great cover.

We readers are visual people and make assessments based on what we see.

To the left is a cover that totally caught my attention the first time I saw it. She’s a new friend and reader of my novels. The cover is still a work in progress (she plans to make her name larger) but I thought it was an excellent example of the importance of really capturing the readers attention. Click the cover to check out Teresa’s website and information on her upcoming book release.

Another friend, who recently came to visit, made an excellent analogy. She is a foodie and wine connoisseur and she explained how she goes about selecting a new wine. She scans the labels until one peaks her interest and then she picks it up and reads about its contents. Sound familiar?

The cover really matters!

Another great example is websites. If I’m considering using a new vendor and they have an unappealing home page, I pass on them and move on.  That’s their cover.

A few months ago I attended a conference about self-publishing. Several VERY successful (millionaire) indie authors (some traditionally published as well) and authors of The Naked Truth About Self-Publishing, stressed three things that are most important for success in our publishing endeavors:

  1. Write a great story and get it professionally edited.
  2. Write series because that keeps your fans coming back for more.  AND
  3. Pay for a professional cover.  They stressed this point!

My husband and I are currently reading through their book and we highly recommend it.

This topic is on my mind today because we’ve finalized the cover for a novel that my husband and I wrote together. I can’t speak for other authors, but for me, my covers are my most successful marketing tool. My covers elicit the reader’s interest, compelling them to read the blurb and potentially buy the book.

Please don’t let people convince you that the cover is not important and that you can just slap something together in word or Photoshop, because unless you are a visual artist, it will look like something you, the author, whipped up.

Here’s to elevating our craft to the highest level possible.

I would love to read your thoughts on my blog post.

Warm hugs,

Blakely

Please feel free to friend me on Facebook.
And like the My Body Trilogy Facebook page.
Find me Twitter & Pinterest.

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The Best Advice I Never Took … Until Now

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image.axdIf you’re like me, you’ve probably read books on writing and listened to the advice from long time authors. If so, then you also know that the prevailing wisdom is to let your baby go and write another book. Even after finishing the last book in the My Body Trilogy, My Body-Mine, I couldn’t let my three book baby go.

To really release your baby, you must start another project and I recently have. It has worked wonders for my psyche. Since starting my latest story, I no longer worry about the reviews for the trilogy or stress over the sales (all which have been going remarkable well). As soon as I adopted my new baby called Stuck In-Between, the first novel in the Bound by Your Love Series, I have a new love … a new obsession. Damn is it freeing!

Juggling the promoting of the trilogy blog tour, writing for my blog, editing, hosting author interviews (please email me if you’re interested) and keeping up with the demands of social media, I became a marketeer and lost touch with the joyful parts of being an author. For me that’s getting lost in a new story that literally flows through me to the computer page.

I had an epiphany that if I’m not creating, or balancing all that needs to be done with the parts of being a writer that I love, then I could be back in corporate American because the stress was feeling eerily familiar.

So now I bow to the wisdom of the sages in our industry and make sure to be working my art at least as much as promoting.

There is still so much knowledge to be absorbed, like the most effective way to use twitter and other social media outlets. I want the time spent to really count, but that means making time to read and investigate. Fortunately, my husband has been reading through the Naked Truth (about self-publishing) and reading lots of it out loud to me, which is expanding my thinking about how to approach being in business for myself.

Other advice I have read is that an author must also be an avid reader. You hone your craft by being inspired by other great writers. I’ve been making more time to read as well as write. I’m still old school and love to hold the book in my hands. Maybe someday I will graduate to the eBook world of reading but so far, let me hear the rustling of the pages.

It’s not quite ten months since I’ve been able to call myself a published author. It’s been a whirlwind when I look back on it. My Body-His came out November 15, 2012, My Body-His (Marcello) came out March 15, 2013 and My Body-Mine, July 15, 2013. Every day the dream comes more into focus and I’m learning so much in the process.

I was chatting with a new friend on Facebook and I shared my own sage advice. You are never too old to chase your dream. I’m sure glad I never gave up on mine.

Have you moved on? Are you working your new project right now? Share your realizations with us. That’s the support and the wisdom all writers cherish.

Warm hugs,

Blakely

Please feel free to friend me on Facebook.
And like the My Body Trilogy Facebook page.
Find me Twitter & Pinterest.

Email Me