Category: Indie publishing business

Creativity, Indie publishing business, Romance, Writing

Emerging from the Salt Mines

. You know you’ve done your job right when you raise a son who’s comfortable dressing as a pink unicorn while he enjoys the last day of the season at Heavenly with his cousin. He’s had a hard time the last few years, and it’s great to see him enjoying himself. His 4 year old daughter will be so proud of her daddy, the Unicorn.

But I digress. I’ve been working my tail off, trying to get Heartless ready for take off. I’m thinking that May 15th will be publication date, but man, there’s so much to do for indie publishing. I’m not a control freak, so it isn’t a total thrill, but it’s interesting enough for me to enjoy. I’ve got a fabulous cover, slaved over the cover copy, I’m still dealing with challenging edits, then proof reading, formatting, and … ta da!

I’m still trying to figure out how to balance a second full-time job in my life (publishing as well as writing) but the freedom is enormous, and since I’m very much “the glass is half full” kind of gal I expect, as Crusie says, nothing but good times ahead.

And I’ll get back to my new stories! Ooops and Not Quite a Miracle and Forever Autumn and Mary-Stewart-in-Spain and eventual Ice – the Next Generation and …

Interesting. None of those are historicals. Well, I’ve just spent two years immersed in HEARTLESS (what with the shoulder replacement and family traumas it’s taken me longer to write than usual, plus it’s probably my longest book, and you should have seen how much I’ve cut!)

But for today I finish the revisions, run through every kind of checker I can get to pick up typos, and then pass it to my proof reader while I wait to hear from Mollie, my marketing and web guru. Fortunately I’m in love with the book, with Emma and Brandon, and they’re going to be so happy to see the light of day after maundering for three years.

Oh, and if anyone out there loves a book of mine (I tentatively assume there are) go post a review somewhere, like Amazon or Good Reads. I went searching for reviews last week, always a bad idea but I needed to check feedback on a certain plot point in a certain book, and I was surprised at how few there were. Only if there’s a book you love that you feel hasn’t got enough attention.

Or hell, if there’s one you hate, go ahead and trash it. I’m a firm believer in honesty.

I’ll have more deets on HEARTLESS, including the cover. In the mean time, be excellent to each other and party on, dude.

Hiddleston and all the rest, Indie publishing business

The Ides of March

Well, it’s a wee bit past the Idea of March, but it’s never too late to celebrate women with knives.  . I’ve been recovering from the flu, which is a bitch and a half, even though I got Tamiflu before I was even symptomatic and had the flu vaccine. This sucker just holds on.

I’ve been throwing myself into the business side of writing. They had to drag me, kicking and screaming, but the I’ve finally dropped my resistance and am enjoying the whole thing. The main problem is that it keeps me from writing but I hope to find out the opposite. If I have a business thingy to do (like arrange for an editor or write cover copy, my task du jour) it reminds me of the stories I want to be writing, and it puts my ass in my writing chair. So I’m hoping that will make a difference. I’ve been too freaking sick to write for a couple of weeks and I feel it. But today I am determined to be better (I was determined to be better on the weekend but the flesh was weak). So, business and writing and then maybe some sewing for my new hero figure.

I’ve got him an Emma Watson girlfriend, though I find I keep pinning women with long red hair on my heroine board on Pinterest. Wonder what that’s all about? I like Emma’s sweetness and strength. I could have had Angelina Jolie, Elizabeth Olsen, Scarlett Johannsen and a number others, but Emma just felt like the right heroine. Now I get to make clothes and get them kitted up to look like my characters. Fun!

In the meantime I’m going to get back to something new I’m working on while I keep doing all the stuff for Heartless – Emma and Brandon’s story. I’m hoping for a release date of April 15th. Here’s what I have to do:
Arrange for a cover, which I have, and it’s gorgeous
Arrange for an edit (in process but it’s a long book)
Write cover copy
Get it formatted
Look into pre-orders
God, there must be other stuff I’m supposed to do. After I do some fresh writing (well, all my writing is pretty fresh) I’ll do some more reading up on indie publishing. I’ve got books from Audible so I can learn while I keep working on the Blob.

One problem is what to call the war Brandon was wounded in (in which Brandon was wounded, I know, I know). I called it The Afghan Wars, which is how history refers to it, but it was the first, and how would Brandon etc. know there’d be more than one? It was also called The First Anglo-Afghan War, the Disaster at … something, I forget. But they wouldn’t know there was going to be a second and the disaster was a battle, not a war (though that is how he got wounded). So Eliza and I have decided upon The Afghan War, despite what I may have called it in SHAMELESS. Tant pis.

And now, back to work!