Icon-type silhouette of an airplane. (Mainly to be used in Userboxes) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Yesterday, I had the pleasure to guest post for Michelle Proulx, a talented young writer, author of Imminent Danger. Here is the link to her awesome blog, where you can find my blog post – The Point of No Return.
I hope that you enjoy the blog post and that you visit Michelle’s fun and upbeat blog – you will love it.
All good things must be shared, so I am sharing this bit of information that is great for business owners and authors who work hard at marketing and promoting their business. I have looked at several print services for some promotional items for my novels – rack cards, pens … and decided to use Vistaprint since they had a variety of items. Well, I am glad that I chose them because I got so many great coupons and discount offers from them that I could not believe it at first.
To give you an example, on my last 2 orders for promotional items for my business all I had to pay for was the shipping, and I got 10 items free of charge. I got a lawn sign, 10 sheets of stationery, 25 magnets, 50 rack cards, 140 address labels, 50 rack cards for my business, 50 rack cards for my novel, and another 50 rack cards for my other novel on a separate order. All these items were free of charge, and all I had to pay for was the shipping. For small business owners and entrepreneurs, it does not get better than that. You might be thinking, was I overcharged for shipping? Not at all, shipping was what it usually is, and you can select to receive it sooner, the next day, or in 2 weeks, like I did. Right now, I have more than 5 coupons between mail and emails with great deals, which I will probably use before they expire. I am not promoting Vistaprint; I am just letting you know my experience so far, since I know many of you are authors and writers on a tight budget, and it is always good to know where to get the good deals. I used to print all my promo items by myself – flyers, business cards … but the cost of ink and paper has proven to be more expensive than ordering out, and the printing quality is better. Adding all these amazing coupons and offers, the cost is considerably less than doing it myself. I still keep my designs in case one day I run out and need to print something quick.
So far, the quality of items has been great. I am waiting for these last items to see their quality. I think it will be great; so far I have been happy with the items . This is all I wanted to share for today, and I will update you on this with a post and pics, once I get the stuff.
I hope that this post was of use to you.
Reminder:
I will be giving away three copies of Ramblings of the Spirit, the first book of the trilogy The Dinorah Chronicles. To enter for a chance to win one of the three copies, just like my Facebook page (link at the right of the screen on this blog) and that is all you have to do. I will announce the three winners on May 20, which is the birth date of the person to whom I have dedicated this book – my maternal grandmother.
Here is a short excerpt from one of the middle chapters – A Message – to give you a little taste.
I heard two sets of footsteps coming upstairs, towards my room. I should have been concerned but I truly didn’t care. I didn’t care if it was human or not. I didn’t care if it was divine or evil. I didn’t care because at that moment, I wanted to be dead. I didn’t want to feel my shredded heart aching, my lungs, depleted of air, my head in a stupor, my skin numbed to any human touch. I felt dead already, my previous existence, gone. I had no fear. Pain was the antidote to any fear.
I won’t tell you what happens next.
Available at Amazon, and Smashwords.
I am just kidding; however, I am extremely happy to announce that Moonlit Valley is available through Amazon (US, UK, EU) in paperback or e-book (Kindle or PDF). It will also be available via extended distribution through the Ingram, Baker & Taylor catalog, in about 6-8 weeks, meaning that you will be able to order it at your favorite bookstore. I will be celebrating tonight, of course. Here is the link to Moonlit Valley
You can also find it here – Moonlit Valley, and through Smashwords here for all of you who have ereaders in the ePub format (nook, apple, kobo…), Sony, palm, and other electronic formats.
This is a picture of the cover,
MOONLIT VALLEY
And the back cover,
And a spread picture (because I’m so excited),
Here is a bit about it,
Moonlit Valley
Rose Carrigan never imagined what awaited her when she left her New Jersey hometown to live in an old farmhouse located in a small southern town called Moonlit Valley. After a series of mysterious clues and unfortunate events, once more, her world turns upside down. This time, the man who she loves, Jeremy Sandbeck, her irresistible and seductive husband, is the one responsible. When she discovers his identity, she must decide between love and destiny, defying the surreal world that she has discovered. Jeremy struggles with love, and what he
thinks is his true supernatural and divine duty.
I hope you like it. I will keep you updated.
Let me start by saying that when you decide to embark on the voyage to self-publish, plenty will undermine your confidence. As a self-publisher, you will be acting as the writer, the contractor to find an editor, cover artist, interior designer/cover designer … and much more. If you are doing all this yourself, there is much to learn, little time, and tons of roadblocks, that is, if you want to end up with a product that looks professionally created. Print on demand may be inexpensive, and if you are just doing e-book format, then your initial expense could be $0.00. However, this doesn’t mean that you will end up with an excellent product. If you are a quasi-perfectionist, you may end up becoming your biggest roadblock.
So far, I have embraced the path to self-publishing and I have worked hard towards publishing my first book. Since I decided to start the process, the rule of plenty has made its presence in my life. I have had plenty to learn, plenty to do, plenty to cry about, plenty to ignore, plenty to work against, plenty to resist, plenty to embrace, plenty to doubt, plenty to stumble upon, plenty to create, plenty to hate, plenty to whine about, plenty to change, plenty to redo, plenty to cry about again, plenty to disagree with, plenty to fear, plenty to deal with – computer viruses, computer hackers, computer issues, software malfunction, hacked accounts … And it may have seem that all of this has happened at once. However, I’ve also had plenty to like, plenty to enjoy, and plenty to love. Even that my confidence might have been undermined by the Rule of Plenty, I wouldn’t do it any other way.
I have chosen this path, and it is not an easy one. I have found that the only way to beat the Rule of Plenty is to embrace Randomness when it shows up, and keep going. Yes, embracing the random is the only medicine to cure a bad dose of the Rule of Plenty. So, if you have been getting an incredible dose of the Rule of Plenty lately, don’t despair, embrace the randomness of it all, and push forward. Sooner than later, there will be plenty to celebrate.
Yesterday, I set on a mission – to create an author logo/nameplate for my book covers. This may be a bit unconventional, but I wanted to create a cohesive way to identify my author name with future book covers. I’ve noticed that most authors, except a few, use a free style when it comes to have their names printed on a book cover. I never understood this, and while I agree that a book’s title is more important and the first thing you notice, besides the art cover, I like the idea of matching an author’s name to a style/logo that you can recognize. I’ve noticed that Nicholas Sparks has a cohesive flow to his name on the covers of the books, and just by catching a glimpse at one of his covers, I already recognize the image and associate it with his work. He is one of the few that I’ve noticed doing this, although not in all his books. If you check out a few book covers from different authors you will see what I mean.
I came up with a nameplate that I will include in future book covers. I had fun designing it and think that it fits my personality as well as the essence of my stories – that author’s persona that leaks throughout the story. I will not include it in Moonlit Valley, since the cover is already set to go – a scene from the book. However, since I am planning to write for the long run, it will become part of my brand. To me, branding is important, as it becomes as essence, with time.
For authors, branding includes many things besides a pen name, but I think that details are important, even when you are a first time author trying to build your brand slowly, which is what I am trying to do now. I have thought about many examples of branding from well-known authors and will use two examples to illustrate my point. When you think of branding, you can visualize Stephen King, (who is the king) and see how he has built his brand around his name. Or, you can think of J.K. Rowling and see how she built her brand around the Harry Potter series. For her, publishing another book outside the series, got her harsh criticism because her brand grew and developed around this character. On the other hand, Mr. King may publish anything he wants, and his name becomes stronger. I am not sure if you follow my point, but what I mean is that branding for authors goes beyond the product. This got me thinking about creating a way in which I can start building an author’s brand as I continue in my writing journey – a lifetime journey.
Here is the design I came up with, and so far, I think that I am happy with it. I like it because it is different and simple enough that it will not compete with other details going on the cover – it can cohabit, but at the same time, starts building visual recognition – over time, that is. I believe that it is never too early to start building your brand.
Design by Maria Antonia Diaz
Have you thought of branding your pen name/author’s name? What do you think, as far as creating name recognition in future publications?
This is just a quick post to let you know that I have rearranged the site a bit and added a section at the top tabs – NOVELS. Here, you will find announcements and updates about these projects, as well as release date – as soon as it is available, and other information … Also, I will keep you posted via regular posts.
I added a FB link to the right of this blog, where you can link to my FB author page, if you would like to friend me. If you Tweet, you can friend me there as well.
In addition, you may notice that under Inkspeare, I added my author name. I opted out of a pen name for a single reason, and this is thanks to a comment that was made by Indi author Cliff Burns on one of my older posts –Writer’s Wisdom 17, Pen Names – he commented,
“I have a real aversion to pen names/pseudonyms. I’m aware that some very fine writers have employed them but I want my real name on everything I write (including postings on the internet, I never hide behind safe anonymity).
Any book or writing project I would resist putting my name on probably isn’t worth publishing. I take responsibility for what I release and when it’s bad, I’ll to take my fair share of blame…”
Until I read that comment, I had considered the possibility of writing under a pen name that might sound a bit more “sophisticated.” I have to say that Mr. Burns’ comment opened my eyes on this topic, and I thank him for this. Therefore, I am using my real name as my author name – Maria Antonia Diaz.
Writers hand with pen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The decision to self-publish did not come easy to me, neither did it come after tons of rejections, since I stopped myself from sending queries, after sending one. I realized that more than anything else, I had to define what I wanted out of my love for writing, before going forward. I knew that I was not doing it for money (for most writers, there’s none in it), or to become a famous author one day … One thing that I knew for sure was that I loved to write, and it seemed that I could do that forever, if the opportunity to turn that passion into a career path presented itself. Why choose to self publish without even making a real attempt at publishing a novel by going through the usual channels and motion? It all came down to Creative Control.
Having control over the entire process, and not having to depend on others to decide how or when the story came out matched my working style, work ethics, and personality. In addition, I never understood why someone who never gave birth to the story would understand it in a deeper level, enough to change parts of it (I’m not talking here about fixing gaps, and other valuable efforts/work of editors and the traditional industry in general). I wanted the opportunity to craft the entire project, learn from it, and grow from it and with it. The decision to self-publish was clear only after I understood that all I wanted was to have creative control if writing was going to be something that I would want to do for the long run, and possibly for the rest of my life.
I was aware that it would be a long, slow and tedious process, tons of work, and an exhausting venture, that is, if I was going to do it the right way, and not in a hurry to publish in digital or in print. The need for getting published fast was not even an issue, when I considered the facts and information. However, the need to control the process, the schedule, the dates, the story, the deadlines, the art, the release … and all the other issues that go along with it was what I seem to long for the more I thought about the issue.
I have read about self-published authors who after selling many of their books successfully, have signed up with a well-known publisher. I totally understand the need of having people taking care of the small details, sites, emails, and putting together a book … all that is a ton of work, and very difficult to do for one person, especially if that author has become a best-selling author; besides, it robs from the main purpose, which is writing the story, and many more stories to come. So while creative control is a wonderful concept, it doesn’t come easy, and in an ideal scenario, the best of both worlds would be the “perfect balance,” if there is such a thing. For now, I am very happy to have found my “balance” for the moment, and that is to have been able to understand and finally, make the decision of releasing my piled up novels in 2013. In doing so, I go with the confidence and peace of mind that it is the right path for me and the decision has not been rushed by any external factors.
Are you unsure of which path to take with your writing endeavor? Are you torn between traditional venues and the rapidly evolving self-publishing industry? Is this the only thing stopping you? For me, it was, but once I understood what I wanted from my writing, the path became clear. Ask yourself this question, “What do I want from my writing?”
Line art representation of a Quill (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As a follow-up to the previous post, I thought that I would mention the benefits or rewards of building your brand. The rewards go beyond the monetary gratification, as brand building touches the entrepreneur’s “soul” (for lack of a better word). When you set out to build your brand, you are strenghtening the process of reaffirming your commitment to your business or craft. To outsiders, it serves as mere recognition of a brand, to the entrepreneur/artist/writer it plays an important part in building not only the business, but the perception in which the endeavor is seen from the entrepreneur’s side, deepening the commitment, inspiration, and serving as a refreshing fountain of energy (fuel) to keep it going.
Branding builds in professionalism, setting you apart from many other similar endeavors, for example, the author that just produces the book, lists it for sale, but never worries about building a brand around it – an author’s website, page, networking, and plenty of marketing, among other things. It doesn’t matter if you self-publish or go the traditional way, brand building is important if you are planning to become a lifetime writer.
The financial rewards will eventually increase with brand recognition, if done right, but it should never be the main goal of building your brand. It goes deeper than that, and if you are serious about your product (whatever that may be), you will understand that while everyone needs to make a living (preferably doing something that you love), it is when you give something back to the reader/customer/client that your brand will become stronger and your endeavor/business will grow. This principle is old and you may have heard of it in the scriptures, popular wisdom … “What goes around comes around,” “You get what you give,” “Give and you shall receive,” and many other variations of it.
If you become serious about building your brand, do it with love, passion, and generosity and the rewards will eventually show up.
This is a short update on my writing progress – it has been a while since my last post about my novels. Currently, I am working on final revisions for two novels. I have decided to work on the third novel which is semi-organized in paper and thoughts, and will postpone publishing for now. There are a few reasons for this, and I rather wait until I straighten some issues. In addition, my uncertainty about looking for an agent and going indie has cleared up. I find that the wait helped me understand indie publishing a bit better, and although not my intention at the beginning (I was thinking about going the traditional route), now I feel that the right path for me is indie publishing. This path seems to agree much more with my personality, work ethics, and working style.
One thing worries me; there seems to be a self-publishing frenzy going on now, and tons of poor quality work out in print. In addition, there is the conflict with pricing issues between Amazon and publishing houses, authors and publishing houses, and everyone and their neighbors … It is obvious that this frenzy will subside eventually, and hopefully, the writers looking for a quick buck will dwindle as well, and just as with an ice age, that the writing environment clears up. These things concern me now and weigh heavy on my decision to self-publish. Added to issues of a pending move out-of-state, financial, and lifestyle changes, the best path is to wait and keep writing the third novel.
A friend told me that I was risking missing the boat by waiting but I disagree. I don’t think anybody’s boat goes missing just because one decides to wait until the time that it feels right (and that is a personal issue and different for everyone). However, I happen to agree with chasing opportunity when it knocks and if you feel ready for the chase. Many times, “just jump now” works; other times, you may find that the abyss could have been avoided if you just waited until your foot was touching ground.
How do you feel about the self-publishing frenzy going on now or about self-publishing in general? Feel free to share your experience in the comment section.
Inkspeare 