Black & White by Nick Wilford

Today we welcome Nick Wilford to the blog to introduce his new book. And, of course, he's given us a "what if?" to ponder...

Say you existed in a perfect society with everything provided that you could wish for, but you had no knowledge of the outside world. What if you suddenly learn of the existence of another country which is blighted by poverty and disease, and have the chance to help at least one of its inhabitants, even though doing so means you risk being detected by the government and potentially never seeing your family again?

Title: Black & White

Author: Nick Wilford

Genre: YA dystopian Series #: 1 of 3

Release Date: 18th September 2017

Publisher: Superstar Peanut Publishing

Blurb:

What is the price paid for the creation of a perfect society? 

In Whitopolis, a gleamingly white city of the future where illness has been eradicated, shock waves run through the populace when a bedraggled, dirt-stricken boy materialises in the main street. Led by government propaganda, most citizens shun him as a demon, except for Wellesbury Noon – a high school student the same age as the boy. 

Upon befriending the boy, Wellesbury feels a connection that he can’t explain – as well as discovering that his new friend comes from a land that is stricken by disease and only has two weeks to live. Why do he and a girl named Ezmerelda Dontible appear to be the only ones who want to help? 

As they dig deeper, everything they know is turned on its head – and a race to save one boy becomes a struggle to redeem humanity.

Purchase Links:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Smashwords / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / iBooks

Add it on Goodreads 

Meet the author:

Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those early morning times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction, with a little freelance editing and formatting thrown in. When not working he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. He has four short stories published in Writer’s Muse magazine. Nick is also the editor of Overcoming Adversity: An Anthology for Andrew. Visit him at blog or connect with him on Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook, or Amazon

Enter the giveaway for a chance to win a copy of my collection A Change of Mind and Other Stories or a $10 giftcard! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bottled - Cover Reveal

BOTTLED:

At seventeen, Adeelah Naji is transformed into a genie and imprisoned in a bottle. For a thousand years, she fulfills the wishes of greedy masters—building their palaces, lining their pockets with gold, and granting them every earthly pleasure. All that sustains her is the hope of finding Karim, the boy she fell in love with as a human. When at last she finds a note from her beloved, she confirms he has access to the elixir of life and that he still searches for her.

But someone else also hunts her. Faruq—the man who plots to use her powers to murder and seize the life forces of others—is just one step behind her. With the help of a kind master named Nathan, Adeelah continues to search for Karim while trying to evade Faruq. To complicate matters, she begins to experience growing fatigue and pain after conjuring, and finds herself struggling against an undeniable attraction to Nathan.

As Faruq closes in, Adeelah must decide just how much she’ll risk to protect Nathan and be with Karim forever. How much power does she really have to change her future, and what is she willing to sacrifice for an eternity of love? If she makes the wrong choice, the deaths of many will be on her hands.

Advanced Praise for BOTTLED:
“Bottled has everything you could want in a story: humor, suspense, action, and romance. The twists kept me glued to the pages.”
~Elizabeth Langston, author of I Wish and Whisper Falls

Carol Riggs is an author of YA fiction who lives in the beautiful green state of Oregon, USA. Her debut novel, THE BODY INSTITUTE, released Sept 2015 from Entangled Teen, exploring body image and identity. Her fantasy YA, BOTTLED, will release from Clean Reads on July 7, 2016, and her sci-fi YA, SAFE ZONE, will release from Entangled Teen in October 2016. She enjoys reading, drawing and painting, writing conferences, walking with her husband, and enjoying music and dance of all kinds. You will usually find her in her writing cave, surrounded by her dragon collection and the characters in her head.

BOTTLED will release July 7, 2016, from Clean Reads.   

Connect with Carol:

Website  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads

Add this book to your Goodreads reading list: BOTTLED

A huge congrats to Carol and holy cow! Is that not a gorgeous cover? 

Choosing a Reputable Publisher

I've been doing a lot of research regarding small to medium sized publishers. I'm mostly looking for those who accept YA, so if you are an author of adult novels, this list may not benefit you as much. But as always, do your research before submitting to ANY publisher. Each publisher has specific submission requirements and you don't want them to disregard your novel because you didn't take the time to read their guidelines.

Like I said before, I'm a sucker for a great book cover, so one of my requirements when looking for a publisher is to check out their book covers. The cover of your book is the first impression you leave on your reader. How many times have you been in a bookstore and picked up a book simply because of the cover? To me, the cover is a refection of the book itself. So for those of you looking for a publisher who accepts unagented manuscripts, here is a list of my favorites with a sample cover so you can see their work.

1) Month9: This is a very reputable publishing company that specializes in speculative fiction for teens and tweens.

2) Entangled Teen: All submissions must have a strong romantic element.

3) Evernight Teen: "Evernight is seeking fresh teen fiction that is raw, gritty, and real. We want teen romance, coming of age stories, and cutting edge fiction that today's young adults can relate to. The stories should have real issues, a strong emotional punch, and a plot to keep the reader turning the pages."

4) Clean Teen: They are looking for "well-written YA (young adult) or NA (new adult) novels that are between 50,000 and 110,000 words."

5) Bloomsbury Spark: "Bloomsbury Spark is a one-of-a-kind, global, digital imprint from Bloomsbury dedicated to publishing a wide array of exciting fiction eBooks to YA, new adult, and romance readers. We're looking for fun, genre-driven stories with fresh voices and great hooks. We accept upper YA, NA, and Adult Romance submissions."

6) WiDo Publishing:  "We are currently accepting manuscripts for submission and are especially in the market for science fiction and fantasy, memoirs, and mystery/suspense. In nonfiction, we will consider essay collections and imaginative and outstanding memoirs with a strong platform."

7) Cedar Fort Publishing:  "We want to publish uplifting and edifying books that help people recognize what is important in their lives, books people enjoy reading to relax and feel better about themselves, and books to help improve lives."

8) Harper Impulse: A division of Harper Collins. This is a digital first imprint accepting adult and new adult manuscripts in the romance genre.

9) Shadow Mountain:  "In general, Shadow Mountain is interested in fiction and nonfiction suitable for a national market. We publish a limited number of manuscripts in specialized genres such as children’s picture books, family and parenting, and self-help."

10) Bookfish Books: Publishers of middle grade, young adult, and new adult.

11) Scarlet Voyage: "Scarlet Voyage is a young adult fiction imprint dedicated to providing original stories with a strong voice and an independent spirit. From literary to contemporary romance to crime thriller—across all genres—our books embody our passion for authentic and compelling stories that reflect and explore the lives of young adults. Our mission is to create books that take readers on a voyage and will leave them burning for more."

Obviously, this is not an all inclusive list. Publishers Archive has a complete list of publishers so be sure to check out their website HERE. Hope this helps you find the right publisher for you!

Choosing an Unforgettable Book Cover

I'm a sucker for a great book cover. In fact, I've spent hours researching different designers who provide both premade book covers and custom book covers. And lucky for you, I've decided to share what I've found! So here are some great websites that provide some unforgettable book covers.

1) The Book Cover Designer—They have one of the largest selection of book cover designs online with several different designers displayed on their website. You can choose from premade covers starting at $30 as well as custom book covers for a higher price. Here are a couple of my favorite premade covers from their site.

2) Damonza—Designers of eBook and print covers. They are a little bit pricier but their covers are incredibly professional looking. Here's a sample of some of their covers found in their portfolio.

3) eBook Launch: This website has a Premade Gallery for $99, a Dynamic Gallery for $249, and a Premium Gallery for $379.

4) Paper & Sage Design: This online book designer features book covers, bookmarks, business cards, web badges, and more. They also have premade designs for a reasonable price. Here are a couple of my favorites.

5) Creative Paramita: This designer has both premade and custom covers with premade ones running from $40 to $130. 

6) Najla Qamber Designs: I absolutely LOVE Najla Qamber Designs. I've seen some of the custom covers they've done for a friend of mine and they are gorgeous! I love that they have premade covers but you can also work with Najla to create a cover that will directly reflect your novel. 

Obviously, there are many, many more book cover designers out there, but hopefully this gives you a starting point. If you have a book cover designer you love, please share in the comments—we'd love to add to our list! Happy hunting! And Happy Thanksgiving! :)

4 Easy Tips to take Your Book from Mediocre to Stunning

I read an article this morning on how a mother goes about telling her 15-year-old daughter she couldn’t write. The premise of this article boiled down to, “You don’t!” Instead, you support her and encourage her to keep working on what she obviously loves. With practice, we all get better.

However, as a book reviewer, I don’t have that luxury. As I do not have a book out there for people to read, I don’t know what it’s like to take and hold my baby in my hands and ask a total stranger to read it and give me their opinion. But I DO remember what it was like to show total strangers my writing for the first time. Let’s just say I was terrified.

Now, I’m the total stranger. Authors come to me asking me for my opinion on their work. I promise to tell people my honest opinion on their work and I contact each and every one of them when I’m done. Nothing is more painful for me than to go back to an author and tell them their work needed well… more work. It is my least favorite part of my job. I much prefer to go yelling from the rooftops that the book I just read was terrific and everyone should read it. 

We have now entered November. During this month, probably more books are created than at any other time of the year. If I had been able to keep up with my reading list, I have no doubt I’d have people climbing all over me in December asking me to read their book. Those weird little novellas penned during what is known as NaNoWriMo. I’ll admit I’m glad at this point my doors are currently shut. Now I have an inkling of how publishers feel every time November rolls around. Do I hate NaNoWriMo? Absolutely not. As a matter of fact, I’m participating in it. But I know a few things from being a reviewer and I want to share them with you.

When you think you’re ready to self-publish, consider these 4 simple tips: 

1) Make your cover beautiful. In the world of self-publishing, the marketplace is flooded. We DO judge a book by its cover. There are many talented cover artists out there. Hire someone. If you’re not awesome at graphic design, please don’t try it yourself. It will show.

2) Make sure you EDIT the book when you are done. Nothing is more painful than reading a book that obviously would have benefited from such a service. Does it cost money? Yes. But without it, your book could potentially fail.

3) Get beta readers! These are marvelous friends who love to read and are willing to point out the problems to you. If you have a friend who has issues with punctuation and grammar and goes nuts correcting the errors, for goodness sakes, hang on to them! They’re worth their weight in gold.

4) Get your book proofread! I have returned a lot of books to authors over this minor detail. When I take stars away for every 10 typos in a book, and I end up with a negative number, I have to wonder if you even read your own book. You may very well need to bring in someone who has never seen your book before in order to catch as many as possible. There are professionals out there who do this, but sometimes there’s that good friend who will help.

These are simple steps that easily take a book from mediocre and can polish it to a high shine. A lot of writers are unwilling to go through this process because it takes time. You want to see your book OUT THERE! But trust me. Going through these four little steps pays off in the long run. With everyone doing their part, we can show the world that ‘self-publish’ is not a bad word. And then maybe my “I’m sorry” letters can be purely based on the fact the story line was not my cup of tea. I’d like that.

Cover Art and Interior Design

What to say about covers that hasn't already been said?

Although you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, authors only get one first impression. And that's your cover. You want to make sure it grabs the reader's attention. It should leave an emotional impression on them. That cover should make them want to flip the book over and read the blurb.

A lot of self-publishers don't have the money to hire a professional cover artist. They'll open their art program, paste on a stock photo and add their title and name. The problem with this is most of the time it looks like that's what they did.

Covers require finesse. Let me give you an example.

I purchased the cover for Fade Into Me from SelfPubBookCovers. They had the perfect image. All I had to do was choose the font and color and place my title and name. I used what they suggested. It looked good, but something was slightly off. My wonderful editor is also a cover designer. Even though I wasn't paying her for a cover she made a suggestion about the font color. It was one little change that made everything "feel" right. I never would have figured it out.

Covers don't have to cost a fortune.

Here are a few places you can find great covers. Some will give you more control over the final cover, others are pre-made sites where you only get to add your information.

SelfPubBookCovers
You can find covers as low as $69 here. Once you purchase the cover it's taken off the site so no one else can buy it. It's easy to use too.

Steven Novak (He designed the cover for The Magic Wakes!)

My prices for book covers are pretty straightforward:
$80 ebook
$140 ebook and print
That's it. Those are flat fees. If it takes two days or two weeks to settle on a design you never pay more. No money upfront. I invoice at the jobs completion and Paypal is the preferred method of payment.

Logo work is a slightly different animal and requires a bit more work upfront. Because of that, the cost would be $100.

Zak Whittington (He designed the cover for Stellar Cloud)
You can check out his portfolio HERE and on his Deviant Art page.
Really, go check out the variety of his skills. He can probably match almost any look you're going for between his photography, digital designs and illustrations.

His rates are $45/hour plus the cost of artwork if he has to buy stock photos.

And, Amie McCracken does it all.
Price dependent on project type and size.

Since I already purchased the front for Fade Into Me, she only charged $25 to design the whole jacket cover for the print copy. That might have been part of the package deal for editing and typesetting. Which brings us to the next topic for today...

Typesetting or the interior design of your book.

I'll be honest, before The Magic Wakes was published, I had no idea that you did special things to make the inside of the book look like a book. I mean, don't you just paste your document in and voila! Done!

Sadly, that's not the case. Although you can do that, and Amazon has some decent help pages to teach you, it requires a little more than saving your document as a pdf. A little know how and software! I decided it would be cheaper to just pay someone who already has the software to design the interior. Plus, it saved me valuable time learning how to use that software.

Let's look at some examples.

This first two photos are from Stellar Cloud. I spent countless hours going back and forth between word, the pdf file, and the reviewer on Createspace. I read all the help pages and followed them to a T. The result is not bad, but it doesn't "feel" like a traditionally published book. It's not even something I can put my finger on, but it's there. I couldn't figure out how to have individual pages NOT contain certain design elements that were through the entire book. And it was a major headache. Think a week of going back and forth and not knowing why my document didn't translate to Createspace correctly.

 I tried to make cute scene dividers, but every time I loaded them into Createspace they came across as broken images. So I went back to asterisks. Blah!

The next two photos are the inside of Fade Into Me. Also self-published, but this time I paid Amie McCracken to use her software and make it look oh so much better!

 Look, nice fonts for chapter headings. The first page of the chapter is different in design from the other pages as well, setting it apart even more. 

And pretty scene break elements!

These little photos might not do justice to the difference between the books. However, when you hold both of them in your hand and flip pages you notice it. They are slight, because I think I did a pretty good job myself with what I had to work with, but they are there. 

Interior design isn't a deal breaker with whether or not I buy or enjoy a book. Neither is the cover art. But lover's of books, those of us who still enjoy holding a physical paper and ink book, understand that it's all a part of the experience. The visual enjoyment is just as important as that disappearing book smell. (You can't smell a kindle!) *sigh*

I've rambled on and don't even know if I covered what you need to know. So, ask!

What are your thoughts about cover art?

Share your favorite cover artists, editors and typesetters with us!

Join us at noon for the cover reveal of One Good Catch by Heather M. Gardner!

Fade Into Me

In case you missed it, Charity Bradford's Kickstarter project is fully funded! Hooray!

Didn't hear about it? That's okay. When it's released, you can buy the book and support her that way.

What's it about? I'm glad you asked...



Aliens live among us. Their purpose: to protect and nurture their greatest mistake—mankind.

Caedan Frey’s family has fulfilled this duty for thousands of years, but it doesn’t free him from his obligation as prince of the Reparation. Although he doesn't believe humans will evolve to see the magic, much less control it, he has two months to marry one or face the wrath of the High Council. Bitter about a responsibility he thinks prevents him from marrying for love, he figures any human girl will do. He's ready to propose to one when his soul mate stumbles into—and right out—of his arms.

Human, Ryanne Killian might be his one shot at happiness while still fulfilling his duty. Unfortunately, she guards a dark secret within her co-dependent personality, and she thinks the only way to protect Caedan is to push him away.

Caedan must convince her she’s worthy of his love before the men from her nightmares return for a second round. If she can see her own worth, she just might save herself and his people.

Coming February 2015 (unless I can get it out in January)

Link to read the first 2 chapters:
http://charitybradford.wix.com/the-magic-wakes#!fade-into-me/cppd

Congrats, Charity.  

Disciple Half-Omnibus Edition

Another of our fine moderators, L. Blankenship, is here to tell us about the release of the half-omnibus edition of Disciple. Make sure to get on her mailing list so you can snap that up as soon as it comes out. But first, some questions from me...

Where did the initial idea for Disciple come from?

The romance part of the story grew out of an online discussion about Titanic. Someone argued that if Rose had been poor and Jack rich, she would've been a gold-digger and he would've been a jerk slumming for tail. Making a romance out of that would've been ridiculous. So I took up the challenge.

Which part of the publishing process was the most surprising?

I was surprised to learn that ebooks are really just a particular type of web page that’s been packaged up for viewing in a specific way. Ebooks are created using HTML/CSS and there’s nothing cryptic or terribly difficult about that.

Despite that, I still managed to hit half a dozen technical snags the first time around. There’s a bit of a learning curve.

If you could give yourself any piece of advice before you started writing, what would it be?

Don’t let what that professor said sophomore year stop you. Well, to be less specific, I’d tell myself that the best way to figure out what makes people tick is to get out there and meet them -- but like a lot of writers, I’m shy and that has never come easy. I've been trying to make up for lost time lately, when it comes to meeting people.

Plotter or panster?

Plotter. I outline everything, from the overall story to the individual scenes. I write reams of notes about world-building and character motivation. But inside of all that I try to leave room for spontaneous developments. When my characters disagree with me or make suggestions, I listen because they are usually right.

Quiet room or noisy room when you're writing? How quiet do you need it? What sort of noise?

I need music when I'm writing, and minimal distractions. My iTunes library is carefully organized into various lists to suit various moods and I mix those lists to fit the day’s writing. Then I have to shut down as much of the internet as possible so that it doesn't distract me but I can still check details as needed. That can be a little tricky.

Your writing area/desk: a place for everything and everything in its place or if anyone ever straightened it, you'd never find a thing?

Everything in its place. I've recently discovered that I’m a more tidy person than I thought I was. My desk is fairly clean and organized. It needs to have enough space for the cats to sprawl without getting in the computer’s way, you see...

What is your current pop culture obsession (book, TV show, movie, webcomic…)? What are the rest of us missing?

It’s more like what am I missing that you all know about, lol. I am so far behind on reading and watching things that it’s ridiculous. Writing and self-publishing chews up a lot of time! I've been watching Breaking Bad and Continuum lately, and reading some of the steampunk wave that happened a few years back.

The DISCIPLE HALF-OMNIBUS 

collects the first three parts of DISCIPLE 

a gritty fantasy romance series

Back cover
War is coming. Kate Carpenter is only a peasant girl, but she’s determined to help defend the kingdom and its bound saints against the invading empire. Her healing magic earned her a coveted apprenticeship with the master healer; now she must prove herself ready to stand in the front lines and save lives.

She’s not ready for the attentions of a ne’er-do-well knight and the kingdom’s only prince, though. This is no time to be distracted by romance — the empire’s monstrous army will tear through anyone standing between them and the kingdom’s magical founts. All disciples must put aside their tangled feelings and stand in the homeland’s defense.

Available at all major retailers

Samples at my book blog: Part I • Part II • Part III

DISCIPLE, PART IV arrives on March 10th!

Get a reminder by joining L's mailing list

Or try out PART I for free!

FREE at Smashwords • AllRomance

and sometimes at Amazon -- working on that…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

West of Paradise Cover Reveal

Our very own Marcy Hatch has her first book coming out March 25th...

Katherine Kennedy has it all; she’s beautiful, she’s wealthy, and she’s engaged to the perfect man: Antonio D'Salvatore. There’s just one problem. She can’t marry him. Worse yet, she has no idea why. All she knows is there is suddenly nothing she wants, not Antonio, or any of the other hundred thousand things money can buy.

Jack McCabe comes home from the war with a pretty medal and a lot of ugly pictures in his head. He has little in the way of possessions, less in the way of wealth, nowhere to go and no one to go anywhere with. All he has is a vague sense of discontent, a restlessness that will not abate.

Separately, they are drawn to Paradise Tours on the privately owned Cristobel Island. There they meet Louis Cade, a man who offers them the unimaginable, something neither can quite believe until they actually find themselves over 125 years in the past, 1881 to be exact.

For Jack McCabe it’s the adventure he always dreamed of – until he meets a beautiful but deadly train robber. Katherine can't believe an ignorant bounty hunter has mistaken her for a criminal – until she sees the picture, which looks exactly like her.

Set in the old west, this is a tale of mistaken identity, romance, and murder.

You can preorder it now over on Amazon...

Tagestraum

T.L. Bodine joins us today. You may remember her query from our Query Con (here it is to refresh your memory). Now her book is out. She was game enough to answer a few of my random questions:

Where did the initial idea for Tagestraum come from?

It started as a Nanowrimo project in 2009 with the single thought, "What if a child were kidnapped by his imaginary friend, who thought he was doing the right thing?" The original concept was much different from what ended up on the page. I'd initially thought that it was much more of a Peter Pan story about unwanted children.  When I started writing, though, my main character took over the helm. As I got to know Adrian, I realized that this story was deeply personal for him, and the plot took a pretty dramatic turn.

Which part of the publishing process was the most surprising?

After carefully considering my options and pursuing both paths for a while, I ultimately decided to go indie. Being an author-publisher, basically everything has been a learning experience. The surprising thing: It's a tremendous amount of fun. Having total control is daunting, but it's also exhilarating, and it forces you to become a problem solver. If something isn't working out the way you want, it's up to you to figure out why and fix it. That's strangely empowering. Also, hands-down the most fun aspect of publishing has been collaborating with artists for cover designs. I've done it three times now, and seeing the cover come to life is always magical.

If you could give yourself any piece of advice before you started writing, what would it be?

"Finish your drafts." When I was first getting started, I had a tendency to start a project, lose steam, and abandon it. Or I'd spend years picking at a book one piece at a time, never really getting anywhere. The day I learned to sit down and finish a draft before trying to edit or tweak it was huge for me. You can't edit a story that isn't finished, and you learn more about storytelling from actually finishing a narrative than you do from starting a half dozen others.

Plotter or panster?

A little bit of both. I used to be a hardcore panster, but I'd often get lost in the middle. But outlines are a little too stifling because I need time to experience the story as the characters do. So instead I write a "zero draft," which is an incredibly loose narrative -- somewhere between an uber-rough draft and a very detailed outline. I usually write this by hand, and what will become an entire chapter might take up just a few paragraphs of text as I describe what needs to happen next.; I flesh it out as I type it and by the time it's transcribed I have a decent working first draft.

Quiet room or noisy room when you're writing? How quiet do you need it? What sort of noise?

It's never quiet in my house, so I have to learn to work with distractions or nothing gets done. I really enjoy writing with music, though. As part of the preparation phase of a new project, I'll always put together a playlist to act as a soundtrack and try to listen to it whenever I sit down to write. It triggers my memory about how certain things are supposed to look, feel, sound etc. and helps get me in the mood. You can actually listen to the Tagestraum soundtrack if you're interested.

Your writing area/desk: a place for everything and everything in its place or if anyone ever straightened it, you'd never find a thing?

I'm probably the least organized person on this earth. On my desk right now I have a stack of unsorted mail, a bottle of nail polish, several video game cases, some receipts from god-knows-what, and a cat.

What is your current pop culture obsession (book, TV show, movie, webcomic…)? What are the rest of us missing?

I'm a late adopter of pretty much everything.; I mean, I only started watching Doctor Who last month. I'm always like, "Oh my god, you totally need to check out this new thing!" and then realize it's been out for years.

Your "zero draft" sounds a lot like my "short draft". Funny how we all do things so differently and yet the same.

Anyone have any other questions?

Some relevant links:
My site
Amazon
Facebook



Working as a child welfare agent, Adrian has seen a lot of disturbing things. Nathaniel Weaver isn't the first kid in the city who’s ever gone missing, but his disappearance haunts Adrian in a way he cannot entirely explain. Maybe it’s because the child looks so eerily similar to himself. Maybe it’s the drawing that Nathaniel gave to him the last time they met: a cloaked nightmarish figure that Adrian recognizes from his own dreams.

When Adrian returns once more to the scene of the disappearance, he finds a doorway leading to another world: Tagestraum, a bizarre and often treacherous faerie realm powered by human dreams. The world itself threatens the safety and sanity of any human that crosses into it, and several of its denizens are eager to harvest errant humans for a little raw energy.

Adrian knows that he’s the only person who can find Nathaniel – but to do it, he must battle both dangerous inhabitants and his own worst nightmares, and each night that passes brings Adrian closer to losing himself completely.


Author Bio:

T.L. Bodine spent most of her childhood traveling with her blue collar family and living in the sort of small towns where horror movies are set. She received a bachelor's degree in English from New Mexico State University in 2007 and briefly pursued an MFA in creative writing before realizing that she was better suited to writing than talking about it.

She currently lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico with her boyfriend David and a small zoo of rescued animals including a toothless chihuahua, two cats, and several geriatric rats.





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Life After Book Deal: What Changes (and What Doesn't) Once Your Book is Sold

A guest post from Jen McConnel

Hey everyone! I'm thrilled to be here talking with you today, and I thought for this guest post I'd share my thoughts on what happens after you get the phone call or email that sends you over the moon; what is life like after your book deal?

If you're anything like me, you might have expected that everything would be different once you sell your first book, and in some ways, it is, but in other ways, it’s not. I don’t say that to be a downer; things do change after you've sold your first book, but they may not be the things you'd think. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

• Writing

What changes: I go through a lull in my writing whenever I sell a book. I don't know; maybe I get complacent, or maybe my brain is just busy readjusting to my new reality, but I've found that the weeks after a book sale pull me out of my writing routine, and when I get back to it, it isn't the same as it was before. It takes some time to adjust to the new normal, especially if the book you sell is part of a series (now you’re more self-conscious about your story, whereas before, you may have just been happily flinging words onto the page.)

What doesn’t change: Sitting down to write is still the highlight of my day. I love every part of the process (revisions included), and I hope that never goes away.

• Editing

What changes: You're no longer faced with this giant task alone! Once you sell your book, you’ll have support from your editor as you start polishing the book to make it the best it will be. You might not always like the changes that your editor wants, but now there’s someone to have a dialogue with as you try to make the book better. It can be challenging and liberating at the same time to move from whatever your solitary revision process is into the tandem efforts of working with an editor, but the bottom line is, you're not alone in your editing cave anymore.

What doesn't change: It’s still editing, folks. It still takes time and effort, and some days the process might make you want to tear your hair out, but it’s still there. It’s vital!

• Social Media

What changes: After I sold my first book, I started expanding and deepening my social media circles. I'd always worked to make connections with other writers, but now I started seeking out authors who are releasing in the same year, publish the same genre, or are my publishing house siblings. The World Wide Web suddenly got both a lot bigger and a lot more intimate.

What doesn’t change: I still waste spend way too much time playing on Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook. Nope. I'm no better at managing my time now than I was two years ago.

• Fear

What changes: The boost you get from landing your first (or second, or third) book deal is immense. Suddenly, the world is your oyster, and for a day or maybe a week, pride and excitement push all your fears to one side. You, my friend, have arrived: you're on the road to success! Unfortunately, once the sparkle wears off, your fear comes rushing back, only now it’s bigger and scarier. Added to your earlier fears is the knowledge that PEOPLE WILL ACTUALLY READ YOUR BOOK SOON, and that can be exhilarating and terrifying. I try to focus on the exhilarating part, but some days, fear wins.

What doesn’t change: Your fears won't melt away forever, and the things that make you insecure about your writing and your path will continue to poke at you. The good news? If you can acknowledge your fears, they can be managed. Eventually, they are familiar little niggles that can (mostly) be ignored.

What I've learned:

Through the ups and downs of writing, selling a book, and seeing it come into the world, the biggest thing I've learned is that things will change. Some days, I’ll be afraid, and others, I'll be on top of the world. The way I write is changing, and that’s a good thing. Change is growth.

But one thing I hope never changes for you (or for me) is our deep love of storytelling. After all, that’s why we're on this crazy roller coaster, right?

Daughter of Chaos by Jen McConnel

Nothing is more terrifying than the witch who wields red magic.

There comes a time in every witch's life when she must choose her path. Darlena's friends have already chosen, so why is it so hard for her to make up her mind? Now, Darlena is out of time. Under pressure from Hecate, the Queen of all witches, Darlena makes a rash decision to choose Red magic, a path no witch in her right mind would dare take. As a Red witch, she will be responsible for chaos and mayhem, drawing her deep into darkness. Will the power of Red magic prove too much for Darlena, or will she learn to control it before it's too late?



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About Jen McConnel

Jen McConnel first began writing poetry as a child. A Michigander by birth, she now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. A graduate of Western Michigan University, she also holds a MS in Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. When she isn't crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches college writing composition and yoga. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time. Visit http://www.jenmcconnel.com to learn more.

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