Saturday, February 28, 2015

Ye Ol' Update

Aside from the usual business, like doing edits on each book as I come to it (I'm up to #7), trying to stay warm (we should be seeing temps in 30's and maybe a 40 here or there, but we're in singles and minuses), or doing my crocheting, I've been waiting on different things to happen for the re-release for my books. My publisher and I have decided to re-name the books--going with a single word, and omitting the word "Vampire" in front of the title. Also the cover designer had to be found. Miika has signed a cover designer for the next 8 books. I await for the cover design(s) for first book to be finalized. 

Aside from all this I've been reading a book from one of the other author's with Creativia, Dracula's Demeter, and let me tell you this is an excellent read. But I'm not yet done with it.


"My master is coming!"
"Quiet, Renfield. Why don't you go and play with your spiders!"

Sorry about that, I've got a little problem... Renfield seems to be running loose somewhere in the house. He's' one difficult guy to keep locked up and calm. Spiders have been his interest as of late, and those are far and few, let me tell you. But he has found a few juicy ones this week. Eeek.

Anyway, I'll have a proper review of this book by Doug Lamoreux, when I've finished it (in a proper way too!).

In the meantime, I want to ask/invite you all to be part of my re-release of Book One of Sabrina Strong series...
Ascension

I hope to have a giveaway of one signed copy, but I'm waiting on the cover. I don't know when this will happen and so, I'll keep you posted, but it should be pretty soon. 

My publisher, Miika of Creativia has been keeping me updated on everything. I want to say, this process is not something slapped together in a hurry. That impresses me about Creativia. This morning I got a draft copy of the first book Ascension, to consider and okay (which I did). I didn't get that with the last publisher. The title, and chapter headings are a cool font that I've never seen before. This will make the book look unique on the inside. 

The details of preparing a book to be published is enormous, and the whole thing takes time. And since there will be a physical book, more has to go into it than if it were merely an ebook, as many of you know.

So, if any of you are able to/want to help, or be a part of the re-release, and do a post for it, give me a yell (bellow in comments). I'm hoping for a release some time in March. The giveaway will be determined later.

Thank you--
"My master... he... comes!"
"Shut up, Renfield!"




Saturday, February 14, 2015

Work on the cover design

Edits have been made and sent to publisher.

Now we get into the covers.

My publisher sent me some design ideas this morning, making the point that he could sell these sort of books with covers that have images of people on them much better than the "abstract" styles.

The old covers done by my ex-publisher were more abstract. My first two definitely were more abstract and had little to do with the content.



These were good, but let's face it, the abstract is a bit strange, and for some, it might not really get them curious enough to bite. In fact, it might have been a turn-off for some, and although men have read my books, the series is more aimed toward women.

I do believe the cover gets people's attention. While these were fine, in the beginning, I have to admit, I wanted something better. Something a bit more sexy, but not tending toward "paranormal romance", because that's not what I write. These are urban fantasies.

We want something looking more like, well... 

This:
Cover Ideas for Sabrina Strong Series
Something that makes a potential reader look at the character on the cover--has an image of her in their head as they read, and maybe find clues to the story line. Like these with the character on the front cover.

Of course these are merely ideas to bounce around between me and my new publisher. I didn't get that chance before--have input as to what goes on the cover.

So, we're at the stage where we are talking about what could sell the series, trying to find an image that we could use for the series. 

The above covers, are not the ones chosen, of course. These are ideas to bounce around. I told Miika I liked the whole concept of Sabrina (who is brunette), should be on the cover, the moon and the city somewhere isn't a bad idea either. I threw in a few ideas for future book covers, as well.

So, this is where we're at on getting the book(s) out there.

I've a feeling I'll be doing a cover reveal soon. Stay tuned!

Sunday, February 8, 2015

In The Beginning... Or maybe Somewhere In Between... The Vampire Ascended

He moved closer in a liquid way that seemed to defy gravity, and the use of his feet. I think he merely floated over to me. I felt the power from his eyes—a sort of hypnotic bondage. A weakness, or a deep lassitude overwhelmed me, and I sagged. As though anticipating this, he caught me by the arms, his minion caught me from behind, and they held me upright between them.
One important thing, Ms. Strong. Did the wolf bite you?”









Hello, my pretties. I've just received the edits of my first book to review and okay. I'm sure they're fine, but I will read through this. It's been a while since I've read it. I've shared a portion of it above, where I was on an early page in first chapter.

My publisher, Miika, has suggested title changes to my books. This first one, Vampire Ascending will be renamed :

Book I - Ascension 
The rest of the series will go like this:
Book II - Trill
Book III - Nocturne
Book IV - Caprice

I thought this was a good move/idea, and agreed with this change. A number of authors (with traditional publishers) seem to have gone this route. I'm reading one now that uses this theme on the title, and I do like the idea, as I think it will blend in with other books in the fantasy genre that are out there.

Today's post is short, as I'm busy with reading this edit of the first book. I might not read it word for word, but I'm enjoying reading the first chapter. If there are any more changes, I'll let you know, and also will post with a longer portion of this first chapter, when I have time.

Have a nice Sunday!

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Signed On

At one point I had been with a publisher, and to tell the truth, I did worry about it somewhat. It's hard to put faith in something you know little about. And when he dumped me (or quit, for a better word), it was a blessing, because I could see that he didn't treat the last book he published for me with the same expertise as the first two books.

That was a few years ago. I had to scramble and self-publish. I really wasn't set up for that, but I was able to do it, with help from my friends out there.

Yesterday, I signed on with a publisher called Creativia. Yeah, I had to do the electronic signature with my mouse. Looked terrible, but sort of looks like my signature. Then I spent 3 hours sending them my books and short stories along with synopsis for them. With my slow Internet, that's how long it took, folks!

I must say, when my good friend, Carole Gill, told me about this/her publisher, I thought: Yeah. I think I'll check them out. And was happy to see how friendly & up-front they were. I didn't feel intimidated by their contract. I mean, it was one page. My last publisher sent something that looked like a lawyer wrote (and I'm sure it was), I had to read it over a few times in order to get the gist of it. And it made me nervous. But Cretivia's was about one page long, my contract is for 3 months, not 3 years. If I'm not happy I can go back to doing what I was doing before joining up.

I want to say I have felt nothing but good about doing this. I'm relieved, actually. I also feel that this is not only the right move, but it might be the one that, well, shoots my books up to where they should have been all along. At least I hope so. We'll see.

And, also, this move to go with this publisher has made me relax again, I have gone back to work on the series--doing re-writes for #6 in series--and I feel confident again. Like I can do this. Like I don't have to worry about those little annoying things like book covers, editing (they will edit and do book covers), and placing the book into the market place, and do much of the promotions. Of course as an author, we all have to do some promoting, and looks like I'm with a great team of writers.

That's just it, I'm on the "team", have just been welcomed into the fold this morning on their facebook page by other authors at Creativia. That didn't really happen with the last publisher. I also didn't like having to write up an article and place it on his site. I felt it didn't do much for sales. I'd see that people hit on my article, but the sales weren't happening. Blogging, or hits on your blog doesn't always create sales. You might get one person who checks out your books who actually BUYS.

Oh, and speaking of which, once things begin changing over, I'll have to go and make changes--hopefully the reason we merge our account with Cretivia's account on Amazon, helps the transition and I won't have to do too much in the way of working on changing links and such. At least, I hope so, but I'll wait to see how this works.

I'll bring you up-dates as they come my way. Check Cretivia out, if you want. See what they offer and don't be shy. I find that Miika seems like a genuine person.

Now, let's see, we've just had 6" of snow down over night, and it's still coming down, my husband is out there with the plow trying to clear it all out of the park and our driveway...

I've just crocheted a new pair of leg warmers, and may try them out soon!



AUDIO BOOK NOW AVAILABLE!

Hi, everyone, I have some great news! My first Sabrina Strong book, Ascension, is now in an audio book format.  NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTE...