Blue Gentian is officially out for publication, and I’m running it free for the next 5 days to thank you all for following me through this journey. If you could please consider telling someone what you thought of it (especially consider reviewing it!) I would be the most grateful girl on the web. Thanks in advance.
So what are you waiting for? Go get your free copy!
Well, tomorrow is the end of Camp Nanowrimo, and I did VERY good this year. In fact, shock of shocks, I won. I have an excellent track record at the regular Nanowrimo in November (I’ve won every year but last on account of, you know, going into labor and stuff), but I’m typically pretty terrible at Camp. It lacks the urgency of November, and the cabins don’t really do anything for me. Pep talks are also typically not as inspiring. Still, it’s a good opportunity to have a little accountability. I don’t usually win, but I usually get more done than I would have without participating.
I’ve been holding off on my writing this year (and honestly most of my hobbies, too). The Small Boy takes precedence over everything right now. But he’s becoming more self-sufficient with his entertainment and sleeping pretty consistently most nights. Which means I found it pretty easy to scare up a bit of time for the writing this month.
I didn’t write things every night, though I did do things that furthered my writing career. But I did write most nights, am about 1/3 of the way through the “final” draft of my next novel (before Autocrit, maybe Critique Circle, then 2nd/3rd party edits). And I think, going forward, that I’m going to instate my old goal for the year.
I think it’s totally doable, and I’m posting it here so that you can all keep me accountable to it. I’ll include it when I do my rundown in December on whether I reached my goals for the year or not. It may be a pipe dream, since the Alpha and Beta read process can take a long time, but I’m kinda hoping to get book #2 out to the world by this time next year.
Also, I GOTTA find a way to speed up that process…
That’s it for now. T-minus 1 day until Blue Gentian releases!
If we don’t count today, I’m T-Minus 5 days to publication of my first novel.
I’m trying to play it cool, but I’m shrieking with glee inside a little bit. It’s been a long time coming, first of all. But second of all, it’s going to be so nice to be able to call myself a novelist and have it be a true thing.
I’m going to credit the baby for finally getting my act together. It was so easy previously to dither about whether or not it was good enough, to think about how badly I’d feel if I didn’t sell any copies, to wonder if self-publishing would kill my career before it even started, to agonize over whether to find an agent.
From everything I’ve learned about the publishing industry lately, though, self-publishing seems to be the way to go for a quietly sweet novel that probably won’t ever be Harry Potter scale. I queried my dream agent (because you never know), and then moved on. I don’t need to have a huge readership. I just need the right readership.
Becoming a mother and being on call 24/7 for baby duties as well as taking on a full time load at school has given me no time to think about anything. I just have to do or do not these days. In the three seconds I had between classes, I mocked up some covers. In the single afternoon I was able to scrape together, I formatted the manuscript. I didn’t have time to wonder whether or not this was right, or if I was brave enough, or if I was legit enough. I did. End of story.
Except that for you, it’s the beginning of the story. Blue Gentian will be free next Wednesday, and I’d love it if you’d take a read.
As is written on the bottom of my query letter, Blue Gentian is my first novel. I’m hard at work on my second.
Before I launch into the meat of this post, I have an update on Blue Gentian. Or, I guess I should say that I’m hoping it won’t be an update but it might be. Amazon has lost the 2nd Galley of Blue Gentian in the mail, sent it to the BFE, and now they don’t know when it will be here. “If you haven’t heard by Friday let us know,” they say. Which is 12 days AFTER my original delivery date. For which I already waited several days for them to print the thing.
That’s frustrating, but what’s worse is that I may need to postpone publication of the hard copy. I’m optimistic that my cover will be a good resolution and the insides will look great. But if they don’t, I’ll need to do another Galley round and God knows when Amazon will get its act together with this one.
Alright, vent finished. Now to the actual purpose of this post:
I wanted to just mention some tools I’ve been using that make writing, editing, and selling a better process, in case you’re interested. I’ve been getting a lot of questions now that my book is coming out, and I’m not sure if everyone knows about these. They basically make my writing life possible.
Firstly, Amazon has a plug-in for Word that’s free to download that makes it AMAZINGLY easy to format your novel for Kindle publication. I had heard horror stories about getting this to work and was prepared to spend months formatting, but instead it all went like buttah. I highly recommend, especially because it’s free.
For the writing of the actual novel, I also recommend Scrivener. It’s a great program that allows you to draft and drag your novel in pieces so you can manage the flow better as you’re writing. Even better? It exports into Manuscript Format, so you don’t have to worry about that jazz yourself. Totally worth the $45 to to have the program forever. And if you’re a Nanowrimo winner, it’s just half that. How can you not buy Scrivener at that price?
Editing? You can’t go wrong with Auto Crit. Their software is a little pricey – I shell out for the one that’s just under $30 for the month. But it’s been INVALUABLE in editing the novel. It recognizes chapters, analyzes your writing based on its genre, and is altogether wonderful for tightening prose, finding repetition and cliche, and making your work a million times better while keeping it your work still.
Lastly, if you are looking for art I recommend Canva to almost everyone I meet. They have thousands of free templates for you to use, let you upload your own images, and even offer the paid stuff at only $1 each. I end up looking beautifully designed for nothing. They even have Kindle covers ready to go.
I’m sure there are a million other programs that help a lot with this whole Self-Published Author thing but these are the ones I find I’m using constantly. Good luck on your own journey.
Another publishing update.
I decided on a whim to order a galley copy of Blue Gentian. Kindle was telling me that my cover photo was too small for the book, and I wanted to see (and maybe better control) what readers would have when they purchased my title. At the bargain price of whatever it costs Amazon to print the book ($4 in this case), how could you go wrong?
You can’t, basically.
I’m THRILLED I decided to go that route and shell out the bucks for the galley. It wasn’t the photo on the front that was the problem so much as the lettering that looked a little pixely. I fixed that and we’ve moved on.
But honestly, that’s not the real reason I’m so relieved that I decided to order a copy. The real reason was twofold.
One: there were a TON of typos that I just didn’t catch in the e-copy proof of the book. There’s something about holding the item in your hand and reading through it that makes you catch those stupid periods that are duplicated, or the five times you’ve used “the world” in a single paragraph. There were so many issues that I think it would have been pretty obvious to someone that the book was self-done. By getting the hard copy, I was able to remedy that. There may be typos I still didn’t get, but they’re not GLARING now.
Second: the book didn’t FEEL like a real book. I was using the same document for the Kindle version and the print version, and so I had done all the stuff you’re supposed to do for the Kindle version – no extra pages up front, many links to my sites, etc. By putting everything in the back of the book, I made the print version seem like a fake book, I think. I now have formatted the print version to feel correct.
So, in case you were publishing a book and wondering if it was worth shelling out the bucks for the hard galley copy, I would 100% recommend it. We’re looking at approximately 3 weeks until this thing is officially released. I can’t wait.
And in case you’re wondering, I AM ordering a new galley of the updated book. You know, just in case.
It’s been a while since I’ve done a post about life in general. Largely, it’s been good. Although I will say that it’s a bit strange to be a stay-at-home mom sometimes. I find that most of my day isn’t terribly interesting; always repetitive, even while it’s extremely rewarding. All I need is a baby grin and I’m a happy mother. Bonus points for one of those shrieking giggles he gives sometimes about unpredictable things.
Being a mother is also surreal, though. Asher doesn’t look exactly like me at his age, but he’s close enough that things get strange in my head. Especially when I’m sleep deprived. I often get the sense that I am outside of time, scrubbing my own elbows in the whale-shaped bath, cajoling myself to eat peas, pulling my tiny self close at 3 am when I’m having a hard time sleeping, singing show tunes to calm my younger nerves. I know logically that he’s not me, but the lines still blur.
It feels sometimes like I traded everything that made me interesting for a suitcase full of baby snuggles, but it never feels like it wasn’t worth it. Baby snuggles are pretty great. Besides, I know it’s a temporary condition. My mother and grandmother, both stay-at-home moms, are/were VERY interesting women. And I sneak in interesting whenever I can, between the cracks of bottles, naps, and routine. Brian, wonderful Brian, helps.
It’s summer, so Brian and I have been taking Asher on an adventure once or twice a week – hiking, to the Redlands Bowl, swimming… It messes up the baby’s schedule but I think it’s worth it for the way it breaks my monotony. After all, if Mom isn’t happy no one is happy, right? That’s what I’ve been told and I don’t intend to test the theory. That and books are my saving grace.
I don’t know why motherhood is this oxymoronic bundle of easy, boring, and the hardest thing ever, but it is. I’m continually looking forward to whatever this baby is going to do next, though. That’s all I really wanted to say this week.
Also, just for kicks, I’m going to write down our daily schedule for posterity:
I’ve done a little digging on how to get people reading Blue Gentian, and it looks like I can’t offer a free promotion until the book is officially published on August 1st. Amazon also limits free books to 5 days, although I can do a “Kindle Countdown” deal for a low price for 7 days more.
So, the plan is to come right out the gate with a free title from August 1-5. I’ll remind you that it’s happening so you can pick up the book for free and see what you think. If you don’t manage to get the book within the 5 day window, don’t despair. I’ll be running it for 99 cents from the August 6-13. Only after the first two weeks will the price go up to the regular one of $6.99. If you’re interested in adding the book to your wish list or just checking out the fancy pre-order listing, it’s here.
Why free or cheap? First, I want to thank you all for following me and a free book seems like a good way to do that. Second, I’m hoping you’ll think about giving me a little review in return. The magic number to hit for Amazon to start promoting your book on it’s own is 50 reviews. I think that’s a little optimistic for my first week (or several months, even), but any dent in that number helps. And any quality of review helps (kinda). If you tell people you hated it, it still gets me closer to 50. Just saying…
I also had a great talk with a friend who helps his mom with her self-published stuff. He was amazed by Amazon ads, swears they’re the way to go, and gave me a couple of books to read on how to do it. I’ll undoubtedly be running some ads, too, once I figure out what I’m doing. I’ll report back and let you know how that went. All this is new and exciting, and hopefully the stuff I’m learning will come in handy to someone else.
Lastly, There was some confusion about Blatantly False in the first few days, so I want to clarify… if you’re keen on reading this thing but don’t have a Kindle, you still can without shelling out hundreds of dollars for the actual Kindle equipment. Kindle has an app that will go on any computing device you have (from laptop to tablet to smartphone) that you can download for free. I read most of my books with it on my phone and like it lots. Not thrilled with gunking up your devices with another app? There will also be a print version available at $9.99. Unfortunately, I can’t run this one under any of the Kindle sales, though, because of the cost to print.
Nano is still going well! I’ll be in touch…
Well, thanks to Camp Nanowrimo, I finally have my act together on something. It’s only been four days, but so far it’s given me the bit of a push I need to prioritize at least some of the writing. Some days I don’t get much done, but it all adds up, right? And at least I’m DOING something now… We’ll see if that continues.
After much ado, I have some amazing news:
Blue Gentian is all formatted and ready to go. I tweaked the cover a little bit font-wise, as you can see above, and the book will be available for pre-order on Amazon in a couple of days with a release date of August 1st. I’m going to try and do a thing where at least one of those weeks is a week you can get the book for free (please consider leaving me an honest review if you do download for free). I decided a long time ago that I’m making writing career decisions based on getting lots of people to read my stuff and not based on monetary concerns. After all, I have a day job.
To say I’m EXCITED would be an understatement. I’ve been working on an iteration of this book since high school, and it’s finally here and as perfect as I can make it. Those who have read it for me have been excited about it too. I hope you’ll consider picking up the book when it goes live.
And thank you for following me here and paying attention to my writing. It’s you as much as anyone that gave me the courage to get this book into the world.
I’m going to preface this entry by saying that I’m a closet rampant Christian. Or, not closet exactly… I just believe that there’s many ways to reach God and that Christianity is a good one, but I know it doesn’t work for everyone as amazingly well as it works for me. So, I tend to keep quieter than some. I mean, it’s not like you’re NOT gonna hear the message of Jesus in America today…
I’m putting in this preface because I’m going to get a little religious on you at the end.
I’ve been feeling like a big fuddy-duddy this year about the 4th of July, and if I’m feeling it you better believe it’s bad. I’m usually all about breaking out the tricorn hat and ’76 flag while humming Stars and Stripes Forever and carrying a sparkler. But America IS NOT living up to what it should be in ways so profound that I’m not even sure we qualify as a democracy at this point. A fascist oligarchy? Maybe. Democracy? I don’t know. I’m hoping we can get back to a semblance of democracy soon.
I’ve always been a proponent of the fact that the 4th of July is a day to revel in the promise of America, the US that never actually can be because it’s an ideal. It’s a day to party it up, think of freedom and founding fathers, listen to a little fife music, and gain stamina for the fight to make the actual US match the fantasy US. If we bathe in the America that could be for a day, we can better work towards that actuality in the coming year. A little bit closer, the years bending toward justice.
I just didn’t want to do that this year. I see the country standing for so much hatred to the point where we’re not even acknowledging the humanity of children. Where do we even go from here? Is there a bottom lower than this one? I don’t want there to be. I didn’t want to ponder or celebrate America at all right now.
Still, in church this morning we had a little America celebration. We sang My Country ‘Tis Of Thee and America The Beautiful among other things. The sermon was on making apologies for deep wrongs. I sat in that sanctuary, sang all the verses, and found that maybe I did feel okay about celebrating the 4th after all. Because the Founding Fathers knew that this was a fraught experiment with potential for abuse, but they also knew their scrappy citizens who cling to liberty with both hands.
I want to point you to two verses in each of the songs from this morning:
O beautiful for heroes proved, in liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee.
Till selfish gain no longer stain, the banner of the free!Our fathers’ God to Thee, Author of liberty, To Thee we sing. Long may our land be bright, With freedom’s holy light, Protect us by Thy might, Great God our King.
I think that this 4th is going to be more of a religious holiday for me this year. I’ll be praying for everyone to be crowned with brotherhood, for selfish gain to no longer stain the banner of the free, for God to protect us with freedom’s holy light. I’m hoping that the fireworks will shine like a benediction on these prayers on Wednesday night as they light up the firmament.
And then on the 5th, I’m going to fight like hell again to secure the blessings of liberty for myself and my posterity.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the cover poll. The results are in!
Forest: 20
Caped Heroine: 9
Sparkly Face: 4
So, it looks like I’m going with the forest one. I’ll play around with the fonts a little more and see if I can’t get something better, though, since there were a lot of comments on that.
I’m a little nervous about it. Everyone I know who does design liked the Caped Heroine best, and honestly that sort of thing is what I’m seeing from most self-employed published authors. Still, Forest has my heart, and evidently the heart of everyone who has read the book (thanks to everyone who beta’d, too!).
That’s the great thing about self-publishing, though. If Forest isn’t selling the way I’d like, we can replace with Caped Heroine and see if it does any better. Yay for total control!
Aside from a few minutes faffing around with stuff that’s already mostly done, I haven’t done any real writing in a VERY long time. In a bid of desperation, I’ve decided to sign up for Camp Nanowrimo this month. Yes, I’m crazy.
I’m trying to take it easy on myself, though. I’m calling this project “be a writer” and I’m giving myself 1000 words for every day I do something writerly. Updating the blog, editing, creating Blue Gentian’s cover, formatting, outlining, actually writing fiction, plotting, random notes and penguins and iguanas lists; anything counts.
It will be hard, especially since I’m so out of the habit and in summer school. But I have faith in me.
I want to get ready to put my next book out, now that Blue Gentian is all but finished. It’s about 1/2 way through draft 2 right now, and I have at least two more drafts before I can put it though Auto Crit and then show it to Brian. Major rewrites usually follow any Brian input, and then there’s beta reading… Basically I’m saying it’s a WHILE off, even if I do manage to get my act together. It’s called Easterbay, it’s set in Maine during the 1940s, and it features creepy fairies.
I’ll keep you updated on how it’s going. Stay tuned for more. Also, I’m Caseykins over at the Nanowrimo site if anyone wants a writing buddy.
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Casey E. Hamilton 