Archive
The Ultimate Zero Calorie Desert
This article has nothing to do with food. I apologize to all the sweet-craving and fad-diet mongers out there, but read on anyhow, you might like this. This is about persistence and setting (and achieving) goals. And it’s about picking up heavy things. What about writing? Well it applies there too, just read on to see why.
I used to be a competitive powerlifter. Back in 2009 I suffered a catastrophic injury that made my world come crashing down around me. I ripped my left pectoral muscle off of my left arm during one of my final training sessions for a powerlifting meet. A month later I had surgery and was told I would never bench heavy again. Even worse was that I was moving in another month after surgery, so I wouldn’t be able to go through insurance-based therapy. That meant I had to put my own therapy program together at my new home in Utah. I couldn’t just give up lifting – part of who I am is centered around being a big and strong guy. I had to find another way.
I can’t say whether my version of therapy was better than a licensed physical therapist’s or not, but I do know that I started lifting seriously six months after surgery. I’d been doing all sorts of other exercises up until that point to try and teach my body how to use the reattached muscles and build up supportive strength as well as shore up the reattached tendons and connective tissue. Within eight or nine months of my surgery I was back up to 90% of my previous strength as far as my upper body was concerned. I’d also gotten my lower body strength back up to my previous competition best.
It’s been a couple of years since then now and life complicated things by getting really busy. Recently I’ve redoubled my efforts in the gym and I’m happy to say I’m back up to where I peaked post-incident. As a matter of fact I’m even reaching new personal bests when it comes to my lower body strength. I’ve accepted I’ll never bench press what I once did, but that doesn’t mean I’m still not hoping to trick my body into working its way up there again!
The moral of story is one of persistence and setting realistic goals. Sure, maybe one day I’d like an impossible dream, but that’s not a realistic goal. It doesn’t mean it won’t or can’t happen, it just means I have to break down the path and create smaller goals along the way that are achievable. Like the tortoise and the hare, success for 99% of us is achieved through hard work and determination. Whether it’s benching over 400 pounds of learning to surf with one arm, there are examples all around us of people that have done what somebody said was impossible. And if one person can do it, than so can I and so can you.
What does all that have to do with desert? Simple, after each achievement I’ll look back and have a warm and fuzzy feeling not so different from a great piece of cheesecake (or whatever favorite desert). I’ll know I accomplished what I went after and I never failed something because I didn’t try or work hard enough for it. And when I’ve done all I can do and the end is near I won’t have any regrets for things I didn’t try. I think that’s more fulfilling than any combination of sugar and flavors. And who knows, if the goal is lose a little weight than maybe basking in that triumph helps keep the calories off too.
How would this apply to writing? That’s easy too. Setting goals applies to everything in life. My goal is to be a successful writer. I’m doing okay right now, but nowhere near good enough to hit the numbers I need. I’m trying different things to make that happen, from some marketing and promotion – including a three month promo campaign I just started on Monday (which I’ll share the results of as I get them. Ultimately my path to writing success involves writing though. I just keep on writing more books. Life has slowed me down a bit over the last few weeks but I’m still hard at work on my next book. Since your curious, my current project is the third book in the Wanted trilogy.
And after I finish that one I’ll start in on the next – I don’t believe in wasting time between novels. I’m not sure what the next one will be, unfortunately, but I’ve got several options. Presently I’m leaning towards a sequel to Child of Fate, which is a fantasy novel that should be released late October or early November. My third Wanted book will hopefully make it out shortly after that, mid to late November.
And now back to your regularly scheduled day. Just remember as you go about it to give yourself a goal to accomplish with some challenge to it. Enough to make you feel good about accomplishing it and once you’ve done that, do it again (new goal, not the same one). There’s power in victory, and once you become addicted to it the sky’s the limit!
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
Living My Fantasy
I’ve been quiet lately. Too quiet, perhaps. After a flurry of blogging a few weeks back I dropped off the face of the earth it seemed. All is well, I just got busy. I had to write a host of blog posts for an upcoming promotion I’m doing for my Vitalis book, plus I’m finalizing the sequel to Vitalis (Vitalis: Resurrection) for release in a couple of weeks. I’m also going out of my way to coerce people into writing reviews for Vitalis and other books of mine. Between all that and a labor day weekend long road trip kept me pretty incommunicado.
But wait, there’s more! I’ve been hard at work on Child of Fate, my new fantasy novel. This is going to be a long one and it’s a lot of fun. Hopefully I’m past the halfway point by now but I keep coming up with more things to add into it that I can’t resist! That’s great news for readers because I have hundreds of ideas for things to do down the road as well, which will lead to many sequels. What can I say, I lead a very active fantasy life. 
A high level sample of what’s going on right now involves the hero and his friends trapped in a large complex of caves. They’re trapped between several clans of goblins intent on killing them and a small army of trolls and ogres that have been sent to find and butcher them. They’ve managed to escape immediate danger, but only at great sacrifice. And the main character, a farm boy turned warrior before his prime, just opened a door and was greeted by something large, green, and toothy. And Mr. Toothy just invited them into his home…what can go wrong? Did I mention the goblin in the corner named, “Bonky?”
Admit it, you’re a little curious now… hang in there, I promise to finish it as soon as I can! I’m still shooting for an October release on it, although it may be late October at this rate.
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
What the Heck is #IAN1?
I know the answer, don’t worry. #IAN1 is a Twitter hashtag. If you’re reading my blog and you’re not sure what Twitter is or what a hashtag is then I’m surprised. It’s not that I consider it common knowledge, it’s just that a large portion of my blog readers are pulled in from Twitter. For those of you that aren’t, let me see if I can sum it up.
A hashtag is a way to organize related tweets. Think of it as a category or even a genre. If you want to look up horror books you’d sort through a list of horror books, right? If you want to find out about tweets related to the TV show The Voice, you’d want to look up any tweets that use the hashtag #thevoice somewhere in them. Twitter was built with this in mind so people can read streams of tweets with this in mind. It’s called “trending.” Thus ends the Twitter lesson.
So back to #IAN1. That happens to be the hashtag set up for the Independent Author Network. It’s a website I joined a while back for a nominal fee to help host my books. I was searching for as many reliable and cost-effective ways to expose myself. Er, expose myself without any police involvement. Anyhow, the Independent Author Network is a resource for independent writers that are looking for fellow writers to talk shop with or just a place to put up our books and let people see them. It’s a huge benefit to readers as well, they can view (by genre) books and authors without any pressure as to whether they’re going to buy them or where they’re going to buy them at (each book has links to where it’s available at). I’ve got nineteen books on there, which is far and away one of the larger profiles.
To my fellow writers: has it helped me to have a page on the Independent Author Network? I think so. I don’t have any empirical data, you see, but I do know that my page was getting hundreds if not thousands of hits each month for a while (I haven’t seen any stats in a while but I imagine it’s gone up, not down). That doesn’t necessarily convert to a sale, but every opportunity to put my book in front of somebody increases the possibility of them buying it.
It’s not an instant guarantee of success either. As with anything, if people don’t know it exists then there’s little to no chance of them ever visiting it. That means I have to share the knowledge. I have to let people know that I have an IAN page and give them the address to it. It helps if I toss in a “please check it out,” while I’m at it.
IAN also offers up additional promo opportunities for writers from time to time. Some cost nominal fees and others are free. For example I’m involved in a “Spring Fever Promotion” that cost me nothing, it just required that I offer up a few books for display that are under $5. That’s easy for me – all my books are under $5.00! At least all of my ebooks are. Here’s the link to that page, I recommend checking it out and seeing if you can find a great price on a new favorite author (other than me, of course): http://www.independentauthornetwork.com/kindle-under-5.html.
And in case you wondered nobody asked me to write this, nor am I receiving anything for it. Sure, I hope you’ll check the page out and find some use (such as buying one or more of my books), but if that’s not your thing that’s fine too. It’s also a public service message for struggling writers that are trying to find ways to get more exposure. I’m giving the place two thumbs up, I recommend you check it out.
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
A New Look
Voidhawk – The Elder Race, has a fresh face on it. The new cover art (by Willsin Rowe) continues the new look of Voidhawk and really spices things up. The original art, I’m not afraid to say, always bothered me. Quickly thrown together and mismatching, I was miffed but forced to accept it. The new stuff, on the other hand, is sharp, has some great contrast, and really pops off the stage.
Check it out yourself – and if you like it start with book 1, Voidhawk, which is only $.99 on Amazon!
Voidhawk - The Elder Race, on Amazon
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
My Path to Writing Success: Giving
I’ve promised updates on the marketing experiments I’ve been conducting on myself (cue mad scientist laughter), and I’m now able to give an update. After several weeks of trying to figure out how to make it happen, one of my attempts at getting Wanted to go free on the Kindle succeeded. Not only did it go free, but inside of 24 hours it climbed to the #1 spot on Amazon’s best selling list for science fiction / adventure free books. I didn’t think it was possible, but after a stumble at the #2 spot it managed to beat out The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells and it’s still there, 4 days later.
So that’s great, but how does that help the bottom line if all those books being “sold” bring in $0 revenue? The exposure has caused my other books to sell better, especially Voidhawk. Even better though was the sales of the sequel to Wanted, Ice Princess. I blogged a while ago about the power of the sequel. Well in this case that power is really blowing the roof off! Sure, I’m losing out on revenue from Wanted, but considering the increase in Ice Princes sales, I’m more than making up for it. Ice Princess sales have increased over 20x.
So what’s next? Trying to figure out if I can recreate this miracle for my other books that are in a series. Vitalis, Dark Earth, and Voidhawk. I’ll be sure to share what I learn along the way – and in the meantime go ahead and check out Wanted, it’s free on the Kindle in the US!
- Wanted, on Amazon
Wanted on Amazon UK (not free)
Wanted on Barnes and Noble (not free)
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
A Rare Quiet Moment With J.E. Taylor
I cornered Jane recently and forced her to answer the questions. It wasn’t really under duress but then again, history is written by the conquerors… Of particular note I have personally read her book, Vengeance, and it was a very captivating read. I highly recommend it (and her others).
Tell us about your books – share some of your misery with other would-be writers to give them hope.
My publishing journey has been a bumpy rollercoaster ride to say the least. I started writing in 2007 and by this, I mean every waking moment when I wasn’t at my day job or attempting to feed my kids and get them to their activities – I wrote. For eighteen months, I plunged head down into this alternate world of fiction, fantasy, sex, violence and crime.
When I submerged from my writing stint, I had eight novels – eight full-length novels. Of course, those first drafts sucked. But I didn’t know that – I thought they were the next best selling phenomenon – the best thing since sliced bread, you know – I thought they rocked. Wrong! So very wrong!
I also didn’t know the first thing about querying agents. So, by the time I had figured out the right way to approach the query-go-round, I had burned the bridges of my “most wanted agents” list and I just wanted to hide under the dining room table in embarrassment.
After a litany of rejections and some shrewd advice from a wonderful writing group I joined, I took some writing and editing courses and honed my craft, applying what I learned to my manuscripts. Then I started searching for a home.
The first three books I wrote were not mainstream. Nope, they were edgy erotic thrillers. A serious blend of steamy scenes and violence along with a paranormal twist that no one expects. The first book in the series – Survival Games – either people LOVE it or they can’t get through it. There’s no middle ground on this one and I was floored when I got a publishing contract from a small erotic press and Survival Games went on to get great reviews and even a Grade A Select rating from Romance At Heart.
So my next hurdle focused on getting my FBI thriller series out the door. The first in this series had the original title of Mirror Lake and I attempted the agent route again, getting a couple full manuscript requests that really didn’t lead anywhere outside of some decent feedback. I took what those agents said to heart and dove in with new edits. I also rebranded it under the title Dark Reckoning. So with the re-tooling of both the book and the blurb, and re-branding under a more appropriate title that fit more readily with the other two in the series, I started getting more read requests from agents. But by this time, my erotic publisher announced the opening of a sister company that would focus on mainstream fiction. I veered from the agent search and jumped at the opportunity – and Dark Reckoning – the first in the Steve Williams series – found a home.
Why self-publishing?
Well, after going through the publication process for the Games Series as well as Dark Reckoning and Vengeance, and working for my publisher formatting and uploading to distribution sites as well as editing manuscripts for the better part of a year, I decided to step out on my own for Hunting Season. About that same time, my publisher announced she was reverting to a co-op, which meant they’d still collect a cut off the top – but offer no other services. The author’s were on their own for cover art, editing, formatting and uploading as well as requesting reviews. I didn’t see an upside to this and I had enough experience under my belt, so I opted out and pulled my books with me.
About that same time, another author under the same publishing umbrella approached me about a venture – starting our own publishing house. Novel Concept Publishing, LLC was born and you guessed it – my partner in crime is none other than Jason Halstead (Editors note: Jason Halstead is a great guy).
And my latest release through our publishing house is the fourth book in the Steve Williams series: Georgia Reign.
What advice can you give to other writers trying to be published?
Here’s a check list that may help you before you begin the submission process:
- Do you have too much back-story in the beginning?
- Back-story dumps can slow the pace and bore the reader, so make sure your back-story is limited to what the reader NEEDS to know. You as the author should know far more about your character – but limit the information to a need to know basis. If it does nothing to move the story forward, kill it.
- Do you have a consistent point of view?
- If you head hop – it will dilute the impact of the story and create an emotional abyss between your characters and your reader. They won’t connect and will likely put the book down. Think of Point of View this way – what can you see, hear, feel and think? – you’re not seeing things behind you – unless you’re an alien with eyes on both sides of your head – so your characters shouldn’t be able to see someone rolling their eyes or approaching them from behind. Sounds of someone approaching – yes, but sight – no. Unless your character is a mind reader – he can’t know for certain what anyone else is thinking – but he can deduce it from the other character’s body language, which means showing the reader the body language too.
- Do you show your readers your character’s physical reactions to stimulus?
- Visceral reactions – someone jumps from behind a tree and yells boo – do you tell the reader that your character is startled? Or do you show them the sudden jar to the heart, the gulp of breath – or yelp that escapes, the step back – or in some cases, stumbling fall back and then the startled expression or the shift in emotional state when they realize it’s someone they know just trying to scare them. If you don’t show the reactions – go back and fix this – especially in the scenes that are pivotal in your story where emotional hits make or break the scene.
- Have you gone through every sentence, paragraph and scene and validated that it moves the story forward or gives the character more depth?
- If it does not add to the story, take the sentence, paragraph or scene out. Objectivity is one of the hardest things to come by with your own work – but it is a necessary evil. Do the right thing and trim the fat.
- Do you have a great hook/blurb/pitch?
- This is necessary to get an agent or publisher to look at your work – this is your foot in the door and without boiling your book down to a marketable slogan, you’ll continue to have a hard time selling your manuscript. This takes practice and some feedback, so find a writers group like the Backspace forum or a Yahoo group in your genre that offers feedback and put the blurb you have up for comment.
I think that’s enough of a start for those writers trying to publish.
Ebooks vs. print books, your preference for writing AND reading?
E-books lately, especially when I’m at the beach.
Kindle, Nook, or something else altogether?
Kindle – and loving it.
How do you find your readers and how do you interact / relate with them?
The main places where I’ve connected with readers are my networking sites: facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Kindle Boards to name a few. I also have a website and people are free to contact me on any of these platforms to let me know what they thought of my books or to say hi in general.
I know you’re a busy girl, what’s your near to mid future road map look like?
Publish. Publish. Publish. J Not just my novels, but those of authors that we’ve taken under the Novel Concept Publishing wing.
Finally – share a little dirt. I know you figured out a way to balance family, day job, editing, and writing, so what’s your kryptonite?
5 Hour energy drink. Not kidding.
Actually, I haven’t figured out a practical way to juggle all my obligations. Something always has to give. In the past, it has been the family. Sure I’m sitting in the family room with the lap desk – in the middle of the action, but I’m not really here – and this year, the kids have given me a little grief about it. Balance is key – and I’m still searching for the perfect balance of business and family life.
Where can anxious readers find you on the web?
Website: www.JETaylor75.com
Blog: http://jetaylor75.blogspot.com
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/JETaylor/190872939774
Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/#!/JETaylor75
Goodreads Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3153969.J_E_Taylor
Kindleboards Page: http://www.kindleboards.com/book/?asin=B004WOY07E&sample=N
Amazon Author Central Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003FER8M6
Smashwords Page: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JETaylor75
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
Have Passport, Will Travel
I don’t know when, nor do I know how, but I do know that I have got to get over to visit the UK. I haven’t done much of anything to target readers of fantasy and science fiction in the UK but I’ve had several books hit bestselling lists over there on Amazon. Voidhawk, Wanted, Ice Princess, and the Lost Girls all had a few moments of glory. It’s been shocking and amazing for me, and it instills in me a serious fondness for my readers in the UK.
So my plan, far fetched as it may be, is to visit the UK at some point in the future. I sincerely hope I can hook up with at least a few readers when this happens to share firsthand my appreciation with them. No, there’s nothing on the books yet, and for that matter I’m not sure when I could afford to do visit with my entire family, but that’s how goals start out.
As a case in point, let me share a link and a snippet from a review I stumbled across today on the web. It’s from Ishbel Stronach, a wonderful woman across the pond. She picked up Vitalis: New Beginnings not so long ago and used it to step into the world of science fiction for the very first time. She loved it and came back for more, starting with Wanted. To quote a line from her review she said: “New Beginnings was a fantastic book by Jason Halstead. my first science fiction book ever and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
If you’d like to read more of her blog, here’s the link: http://ishbelstronach.blogspot.com.
If you’d like to check out Vitalis – New Beginnings, here’s your chance:
Vitalis - New Beginnings, on Amazon UK
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
The Power of the Sequel
In the world of Hollywood sequels are often viewed with trepidation, at best. One of the finest examples that immediately leaps to my mind is Starship Troopers. Great book by Robert Heinlein and an entertaining movie – though without nearly the same thought-provoking impact of the book. But then they went and made a sequel. And after that they made ANOTHER sequel, both straight to DVD release. They sucked.
Other movie franchises have similar stories, but occasionally a few will shine. With books it is a different story (pun intended). People want more out of most novels. They want to know more about the characters and see how they might act / react in different situations. An author never has to worry about compensating an actor, the character belongs to him or her already. The world and character are already familiar for the author, it’s just a matter of coming up with a new situation or expanding on an old one. Easy enough, right?
Sequels can be tricky, and that’s if you’re lucky. They can also be downright difficult to write. There’s continuity to worry about with the prior book, and then there’s trying to advance the story arc and characters without ruining them. It can be downright daunting sometimes! I’ve had my share of times where I wanted a character to say or do something that made sense, but didn’t fit with who they were. Sure that can happen in a stand-alone or in a series, but if the book stands by itself and doesn’t have to maintain a persistent thread, it can be worked into the character. Heck, it can even increase complexity and make for an interesting character trait! Establishing a character and then having him or her behave contrary to their nature in a sequel, on the other hand, will get you slapped by an editor and shunned by a reader.
So why bother with it if it’s such a hassle? Well the truth is the hassle isn’t that great. Or at least it’s not that bad compared to the positive reasons to go after it. Sure fact checking for consistency can be a pain, but it’s not that much of a pain. You get to spend more time with characters and settings you love (otherwise why’d you write the first one?). And let’s not forget the icing on the cake – sales!
Yes sales. I’m really starting to see some major impact from having more than one series of books available. Voidhawk, my first published book, has two sequels to it, but their success has paled in comparison to the first one. Or at least that was the case. In October sales for Voidhawk – The Elder Race, increased considerably over prior months. Likewise the third book in the series, Voidhawk – Redemption, saw a proportional growth in sales. I didn’t do a single thing to advertise them, other than letting people know on the Voidhawk sites that it had a sequel available. In October I continued to bring new people in to read Voidhawk but for those who had read it and wanted more, they had an opportunity to do so! I expect November to be very similar.
Another book of mine is Wanted. It seems to be the crowd favorite amongst all my novels. Well I recently published the sequel to it, Ice Princess. For the past two months I’ve seen sales of Ice Princess come in at a very solid and steady 2nd place amongst my offerings (with Wanted firmly holding the top spot). Great cover and a decent blurb, sure, but by letting people know that it’s book 2 in the series, readers who finish the first one are turning around and snatching it up to read it as soon as they’re done.
That, my friends, is the power of a sequel. Persistent sales and presence. It’s a win-win-win scenario. I get to write more about characters and environments I love, my readers get to experience characters and environments they enjoy, and I stray relevant and fresh in people’s minds for when they’re looking for a new book to read. For example, they’re wondering what they should read next and they remember that I wrote book A, then book B, maybe they should check and see if there’s a book C available.
I believe so strongly in writing a series of books that I’m working on additional ones. The first book in my Vitalis series, New Beginnings, has been available for a little while now. The second book will be out this year. The Lost Girls takes place in my Dark Earth setting, and will also have a direct sequel available this year as well called Traitor. For both of these new ones I have additional books planned (or already written and waiting for their time). And to help people discover them on top of advertising and promotion there’s one final trick to use – pricing.
Wanted and Voidhawk, the first books in each series, are priced at $1.99 to encourage people to check them out. Once they’ve read them they can’t help but want to come back for more, and that’s why the following books are at full / normal price. For the record my normal / full price isn’t anything outlandish or even comparable to a traditionally published print book. It’s still cheaper than a cup of premium coffee and guaranteed to satisfy you considerably longer.
I’d be a fool if I didn’t encourage you to go and check these books out to see if I know what I’m talking about.
Wanted, on Amazon
Voidhawk, on Amazon
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
Overcoming Random Writing Pitfalls
It occurred to me that I’ve been blogging for a while now and the value of my blogs to my fellow writers might not have been as helpful as it has been in the past. Oh sure, I’m trying to share what I learn as I fight my way into the industry, but I’m contacted fairly regularly by people who are at the beginning phases and are desperate for help in trying to achieve their dreams.
First a disclaimer: I’m still reaching for my dreams, I’m not there yet. What are my dreams? Making writing my day job. I know some people who have reached that point though, and without exception they are stand up people that I’d be happy to spend time with. I’m working on it though and to that point I’ve made my way up to over 150 books sold a month, including some wonderful people in Europe. So take my advice as my opinions only. These tricks and tips work for me, but maybe the won’t for you. Even if they don’t I encourage you to read them with an open mind and see if maybe they might spawn some out of the box idea that will help you when you’re in a bind. With that said, on to the questions:
I want to write a book about such-and-such, but I don’t know how to start it!
This is an easy one for me. Make yourself the main character. Sure, it can be a little awkward if the main character is significantly different from yourself, but I’m not suggesting you dress like the character or anything. Just put yourself in that character’s shoes. Once you’ve accomplished that, figure out what the character is going to be doing at any given point and then start writing about it. Ideally your story should start with an explosion. Not necessarily a literal one, but some event or scene with instant excitement that has the reader hooked as quickly as possible. As an example, a book I’m editing right now (Traitor, the sequel to The Lost Girls) starts with my main character out shopping with a friend when she spots a suspicious couple. She trails them, convinced that the girl is under duress and the guy is going to do something particularly nasty to her. This is confirmed when she discovers they’ve slipped into a restricted section of the mall behind a locked door. Out comes the badge and the gun – my main character’s in her prime now, this is what she lives for.
I’ve been working on a story but I’m stuck!
This happens to me too. I deal with it in different ways. Some times I need to shelve the book for a little bit and work on something else. My subconscious keeps working on it though and at some point it forces its way back into the foreground and says, “Since you can’t figure this out, I did it for you – now write this!”
Other times I need to reread it and revise it. My original plans for Wanted involved a lot more happening in that first book. There was supposed to be one character running away from the others who then got “rescued” by a scary group of people. Convinced he needed to win their trust he’d try to become one of them and betray his former companions, all the while that former group would be searching for him. I got stuck though – it didn’t make sense and I couldn’t figure out a way around it. Rather than load it full of BS that I wouldn’t buy I took a step back and then realized I had the perfect solution. It required me blowing away over 8,000 words of the story, then rewriting it so that it ended a lot sooner than I’d first planned. It was a much better story at that point though. Readers agree – Wanted outsells every other book I have by at least a ratio of 4:1 and I regularly get feedback praising the book. In fact, I got so much positive feedback I was compelled to write a sequel called Ice Princess.
So my advice for this is to make sure you’re not forcing something that doesn’t work. Rather than trying to pound that square peg in a round hole see if maybe you should change things so that it fits better. It might not be what you wanted, but if you keep an open mind you’ll probably be a lot happier with the finished product.
I wrote a book, but it’s unpublished and I don’t know what to do with it!
It used to be that was the case of a lot of people with good stories to tell. These days publishing is changing. A lot. I’ve been trying to get people to read my stuff via the Internet since the early 90s – unfortunately I didn’t know how to write back then so it was a crap shoot at best for me. These days I’m a much better writer and there are all sorts of opportunities for people who are willing to publish both digitally and via print. A few print on demand companies exist that are affordable, if you feel you must see your book in print (Createspace, Lightning Source, Lulu, and others). I use Createspace myself, though I often get angry when doing so for a variety of reasons I won’t go into. To be honest, those reasons are likely to be my own quirks as much as they are problems with the company. Worth mentioning is that I only get the print version of the books for either giveaways or for gifts to those who aren’t interested in an e-reader.
Ebooks, on the other hand, are the way of the future. Print books will never go away, but they have been showing steady declines in sales compared to their digital counterparts. Likewise using a POD service will most likely not get you through the doors and into major bookstore retailers. With an ebook that is not the case! Amazon and Barnes and Nobles both have massive online presence catering to their ereaders. I prefer the Kindle myself, but that’s only because I haven’t played with the Nook. I have friends who prefer the Nook from Barnes and Noble. In either case, as a writer you can self-publish your work via Amazon’s KDP site or the Barnes and Noble PubIt website. Alternatively there’s Smashwords, another great epublishing site that will also reach out to both Amazon and Barnes and Nobles, as well as many other distribution channels. Only problem with Smashwords is the delay in getting royalties from the downstream e-tailers.
That’s all there is to it – just self-publish and watch the success come rolling in!
Or wait, maybe it’s not so simple. What about cover art for the book? Editing? Marketing and promotion? Yeah, it’s a lot more complicated than I’d ever realized. That’s one of the backbones of my blog, my exploration into the trials of publishing. It can be done on your own and it can be done at very low cost. Or if you want some help you can try to find one of the many publishing companies that have sprung up recently. I’ve got one too that I co-own with a friend and fellow writer. She’s also a wickedly good editor, with added emphasis on the “wicked”. She wields that red pen like a scythe some days. Anyhow, if you think you’ve got a good enough book and want to send it our way, stop by our website at http://www.novelconceptpublishing.com and click on submissions. We focus on filling in the holes we experienced with other publishers – bad communication, poor business intelligence info, infrequent royalty payments, and a lack of marketing / promotion to say the least. Oh, and the author keeps 70% – 75% of the royalties. We’re here to help each other out, not to get rich off of someone else’s hard work.
Those are the three big questions I see the most – at least among questions not centered around me or my own work. And since this isn’t about me, there’s no reason to bother anyone with that Q & A. I’m happy to field more questions though! If you’ve got them post them as a comment or send me an email (jason@booksbyjason.com). I love helping other writers out – it helps me out just as much.
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
Promotional Experimentation
I can think of many kinds of experimentation a person may undergo. There’s the kind that better humanity that are conducted in laboratories; there’s the kind that can lead to some wicked fun in college; and then there’s the kind that take place because you just don’t know what’s going to happen. This one falls under category three.
The Lost Girls has not had the kind of success I expected it to regarding sales. I’m very biased, but everybody who’s read it (and reported back to me) has claimed it’s a great story who’s only fault is that it leaves you aching to read more about the character(s). The cover art is exceptional, if I do say so myself, and even the blurb seems to be pretty exciting. Hmm, maybe I’ll revisit it and try to make it even more appealing. Anyhow, I digress. The fact is the sales are lacking on it, and that just doesn’t make sense. So the next stage is more promotion…
Free book alert! Yes, I’ve set up The Lost Girls via Createspace for a POD (print on demand) service and while you can technically order a print copy from Createspace or Amazon, I recommend the ebook version (mainly because it’s cheaper). However, the Free Book part comes from a Goodreads giveaway I’m conducting. I’ve secured five copies of The Lost Girls in print and plan on signing and mailing them out to the five winners. You can go to Goodreads and enter to win it there, but hurry because the giveaway ends on November 25th.
I’m thinking I may do an ebook giveaway for it as well here on my blog, but I need to figure out exactly how I plan on doing that, so stay tuned!
Here are the official links to cut down on confusion: Goodreads giveaway for The Lost Girls
The Lost Girls, a Dark Earth novel by Jason Haltead
In case you can’t wait for the giveaway to end, it’s only $2.99 at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, and Smashwords
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to learn about him, his books, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.
