Okay I finished the update on Through the Sunshine. The paperback link is right on Amazon… Barnes and Nobles however I am not sure of. It should be right but the price is listed wrong, and it just doesn’t look right to me. So it might be still from the wrong place. If you order it there you are at this point taking a mild chance of getting a bad copy. I will post another time when I am positive it is right on Barnes and Nobles as well.
Again the b2r link is here. The only change is the paperbacks as d2d is not a good place for print.
I have been doing the publishing stuff since 2010. For my own personal stuff, then I started with Fae Corps in 2019.
I struggle with depression, PTSD, Migraines, and a whole bunch of other health issues. Which is why I don’t do more than I do. Fae Corps does limited books because I don’t have the ability to do anything more.
I use several platforms to publish the books, with a few routines to make the work easier for me to accomplish. And I always leave plenty of time on the deadline so I don’t ever get pressured for time. Hence why we are starting to take the children’s book submissions for the kids week books now.
One of the places that I have used for publishing is draft2digital.com and I will continue to for the ebooks. Their print option however is awful. I stopped using them when we were getting reports of the cover for the books being delivered cockeyed.
Now I do the same place as they did separately. Better quality. The trick for their ebook set up is to prevent them from messing with the layout. So the only way to do that is to provide an epub file… which means I have learned how to make that.
That was in 2020 that I stopped using them for print. I really don’t know what I have been thinking. Someone pointed out that the print was wrong for Through the Sunshine… so I checked. I care about the quality of our books. So I will always check. Yes it is something that I can fix. Something that I should have already done.
Now, I am asking myself. Is the 17 books that I still have to port over a sign of laziness? Or that I have been doing too much? And should I even get upset with myself over the whole thing?
Honestly I think that I am just going to get it done and write it off as a learning experience. If I beat myself up over it, well it will just be longer for me to get it done.
The 17 books are a mix of the early Anthologies for Fae Corps Publishing and some of my poetry volumes. In order to get it fixed I will have to take it off sale on the one place and put it back up on the other two. So I am going to be doing this one book at a time. It should only have each book down for around a week in print only.
I will get each of them updated on their books2read.com links. I plan on posting on fae corps publishing as I have each book updated. This is a ridiculous amount of work and I am probably still going to be dealing with this well into the next year.
I decided to offer links to a few calls for submissions today. This has been such a busy week with release day coming up for both Through the Sunshine & Poetic Reminders that I am afraid I have gotten very little else done.
then there is this list of 48 Writing Contests in June 2020
I know that this is a small post for me…but it is highly packed with possibility….If you enter let me know. I am curious as to whether anyone will see this.
Hello my lovely readers. I don’t know if you missed me yesterday… I was terribly ill. My daughter had it (a stomach bug)… And apparently decided to share. So I spent yesterday in illness. Today I am doing much better, though I am still being careful with food.
This week has been a slow one for news. The preorder for Through The Sunshine and Poetic Reminders are still going. Fae Corps still has 2 anthologies that they are taking submissions for.
Now… Here’s something that I rarely do. I have many writers as friends on Facebook. I don’t promote Facebook off of there much… It just feels pushy most of the time. However… This is a story worth sharing. This is part of why I have gone almost completely to draft2digital. I only use my kdp account for when Amazon gets too picky and refuses something that I know should be publishable.
Hopefully this finds you all well. Tell me what is new in your world?
Hello, lovely readers! Today, my need for caffeine was strong, so I am enjoying coffee. Triple chocolate coffee with cinnamon creme creamer. That and the toothpicks propping my eyelids open might allow functionality.
So much news today. Two preorders… One for Poetic Reminders and one for Through the Sunshine. Upcoming events. What is being worked on now. And commentary about life at large.
So let’s start with talking about the preorders. Fae Corps is doing a party all through May. There is going to be a chance to get to know the authors in the anthology. Giveaways and just general fun. Go check it out and join us for the fun! I am not doing anything so big for Poetic Reminders…. However if I get comments on this blog post I will do a random drawing for a free ebook copy… So tell me something that makes you smile.
Coffee house writers anthology is moving right along. My submissions have been assigned to its first editor. They are going to assign three separate editors to catch all errors. That way you, the reader, get the best piece possible. With Fae Corps we have the authors read the manuscript after the final edits have been put together to make sure that there are no errors. That is often 10+ sets of eyes on the whole thing. That helps to insure quality. Quality is the best way to ensure the stories are showcased properly.
So, Serena is working currently on a short horror story for the Nightmare whispers anthology. I think that it is off to a good start. She is still working on The Kingdoms of Sin, but the short has a deadline. She is determined to get both done soon. I hear that she is hoping to release her book some time this year.
As for me… I have started a new poetry volume. The cover is above… I really love how it turned out. I still am working on heart drops, but as I don’t often write love poetry… I wanted a volume that could catch the other poems… The darker poems. I think that this volume suits that idea. I have the next Dylan book written, and am waiting for the illustrator. If I have time I want to finish Attack of Shoe Mountain. I have so much going on though that it may be a while.
Life has been chaotic for me for a bit now. Back in November we started expansion of my daughter’s room. Due to the lack of people to assist or timing being bad or just bad luck… It is still unfinished. That is changing this weekend. So next week will be me cleaning up the mess left by construction. The next project is my master bath, hopefully it will be done faster.
So I mentioned a giveaway above. I asked for things that make you smile, but I am also curious about how life has been for you. How has the current situation in the world affected your day to day life?
So I usually do Poetry on Monday…but due to what I am doing otherwise this felt appropriate. I am trying to clean up files and do layout for a couple of books, including Fae Corps Through the Sunshine anthology. Now…I have to figure many editors are more organized than I am…but it is still courtesy when you do a submission to any anthology or call for submission to do a certain amount of information, unless the submission rules say otherwise.
Each submission should be in one of two fonts…either Times New Roman or Arial in a 12 pt size. It should have your name, any pen name, the title, and some means of contact (email or Phone). It should be labeled as to what you are submitting it to. In the email you should include a third person Bio and picture to save the editor from requesting this.
Most people honestly don’t realize how useful this is to have. Even if it is not going to be added to the piece in whatever publication, it gives the editor an idea of who you are. Some submission requests ask that this information not be included because it is done in a blind read…but you should see that before submitting your work.
It seems like many people ignore the information in the call for submissions though. You should always be aware of the place you are submitting to. If it is a magazine or literary blog, read through what they have published before. It really helps you to know whether you will be a good fit. Also it will help you to get an idea of whether they are newbie friendly or do they require someone who has experience?
This is important! If they work often with newbies, then they are likely able to help you figure out what you are doing. If they only work with those writers who are experienced…well then they are not likely to expect to have to explain the process. This makes it harder to figure out what you are ignorant of.
I am not trying to discourage…Merely to help others figure out what they are doing without the fumbling that I have done in the past.
Ok… You have a manuscript written and ready for publishing… Now what? Here comes what I think is the hardest part of it… You have to build up interest. If you are a introverted shut in like me, you don’t do well with face to face. Personal sales are always going to be better. People always find it harder to say no in person.
Still, it is not hopeless. Eye catching promotions with a good blurb, a good cover with a intriguing title…. These are essential for a online sales campaign. Setting up a preorder helps too. (I found that out the hard way. Impatience is a flaw… Lol)
So you start with the title and cover. You have a blurb (it is the description you wrote for the back cover). This is enough to start doing some promo images.
I have recommended Canva before, it is free to use. Premium only opens fonts and images that are locked. Having recently dealt with new authors learning about this, I think that the advice most need is to experiment. You want easy to read and pleasing to the eye.
The images above are examples of promo images. These were all done for Fae Corps Through the Sunshine anthology. Note that the text is eye-catching but readable. All include the story blurb, the cover, and the author picture and name. Each is a little bit unique with a common theme. You can do multiple images, that is ok. You should share to each of your social media outlets and try to get your friends to do the same.
Some of the marketing is understanding your ideal reader. Not everyone is your reader. If you try to please everyone you will fail. Like Serena… Her ideal reader for her books is generally one who enjoys a good dark side. Horror and dark fantasy that is blunt in how it deals with the story. One that doesn’t shy away from a little gore. The story in Through the Sunshine is a little lighter for her usual. My reader is usually children or those who love poetry.
You also want to consider the world stage. This affects the reader greatly. Right now people are clamoring for escaping from the mess of the real world.
So you have the reader in mind…make an image to appeal to that person. For example… For Serena’s The Death of Neverland I searched for bloody journal… Added the book cover, some text to invite curiosity, and the link to buy the book.
Note that the link is in red to make it more visible. Be careful with colors. You need for people who are color blind or visibly impaired to be able to read it without trouble. Brighter colors in fonts often hamper such. Also bright yellow and white background colors can be painful.
Hope that this helps. Do you have any questions on marketing? (Another thing to look for is blogs that are willing to post book promotions. I do on occasion. So does Functionally Fiction who also does book reviews.) Reviews are your biggest promotion. Many readers will base their choice on reviews.
Ok. April is likely to be a very busy time. National poetry month usually sees me posting poetry posts on here daily as I do the P. A. D. Challenge. I also plan on doing a daily prompt for the Fae corps Blog. It is also going to be when we are starting a call for submissions on two different anthologies. Fae Dreams… Poetry, art, and short stories with a theme of goals, plans, and dreams. (We recieved one too many submissions for Through the Sunshine and offered a guaranteed spot in this to the author). And Nightmare Whispers, a group of horror stories. This one is a tribute to where we started.
I am working on editing the stories submitted for Through the Sunshine, and compilation of Birchwood Grove Gazette. We are doing the basic edits… Then we give the author time to do their own edits. After we recieve the polished story we finalize the formatting of the final anthology. We have to get it all ready by the middle of May for release in June.
My partner and I discussed delaying Fae Dreams. We may still. I have to see how things go. I don’t know yet how ambitious we are going to be. We have ideas for a thriller themed anthology as well, though the title and cover have not been forthcoming from our muses so far.
I am proud to claim that the above covers are my creations. I think that I am really getting better at this. Keep an eye on the Fae Corps Blog, as that is where any official announcement will be. This is mostly me doing mental meandering.
Hello my lovely readers! Welcome! Today, I am drinking orange juice to boost my immune system. I am normally sick during the winter but it’s been worse this year then it normally is. So, a little self care never hurt.
Well, now that we are working on edits and such for Through the Sunshine, I feel free to leak a new project. We will announce it offically on the Fae Corps Blog in April. We are going to be doing an anthology about Dreams, goals, plans, etc. The title is going to be Fae Dreams. I did the cover and I am so proud of it… It will be revealed when we announce the project. We will be doing a call for submissions then as well.
This sick has been killing my writing. I was doing multiple poems daily and then some writing as Serena… Then I got sick. In the last month the only writing that has been done was either on this blog, or put on coffee house writers. I am getting better but it has been a struggle. One that I hope is over soon. I dislike not having stuff to share with you. It makes me feel like I am failing.
Dylan and the Motel is due to the illustrator in March. She is incredible, but she is busy. It will be published in 2020 but I am not positive as to when.
2020 is shaping up to be a busy year. I have a lot possible to do this year…I just am not sure what all will be. Between Fae Corps, Serena, and my own endeavors. I hope to be able to tell you about many new projects that are coming together.
I am hoping to get a new laptop to assist with both my writing and my art. I am eyeballing the Acer Aspire 3 with a tb harddrive. It is affordable but it is likely to take me a couple of months to get. (If you want to donate to the cause, I appreciate it. PayPal me! ) The computer will allow for me to do more with my writing and allow for a wider variety of art. Currently, I use a Samsung Android phone to do everything. I have a older model Dell pc that I use for layout… It is so painfully slow that I would not be able to write on it or use the art programs.
Due to the lack of writing… I think that at least through March, to give me some time to get some work built up… I will be doing the poet segment on Monday. I still have many poets that I love. It would give me time to recover.
Pattimouse 