I've Finally Done It

So I have finally put my book up for sale. My first book Pursuit of Midnight is available on BN.com, and Smashwords with other publishers to follow soon. I will post links as they are available. I can't believe that I am finally done with editing and have FINALLY chosen a cover and it will be out there. Now I just pray that people wont hate it :) Below is the final cover that I decided on after much revision and tons of input from family and friends. Thanks especially to my mom and my sister, love you guys :)

A Forum Opinion

So following the advice of fellow writers I have been taking an active role in the forum community. I have found several that I like and follow regularly so I would like to share that new found wisdom with others out there in radio land.

My first and favorite forum is absolute write. The forum topics are varied and people are always quick to jump in and give their two cents. Writers can post query letters of pieces of writing and others will give editing help or critique. They are always kind to newcomers and super helpful. The "board" games are a fun way to dip your toe in the water and get to know people.

As a romance writer I also enjoy the All About Romance forum. If you ever have a Question about romance, that is the place to ask it. Boy do they know their stuff! The only down side to that forum is there is no new post link that just shows you the new postings so to keep up with all of the forums you have to go into each category. This forum isn't as active as Absolute but defiantly worth the time.

The third and final board I have been chatting on is Kindle Boards. I have limited myself to 3 for the time being until I get the hang of the process :) These forums are great for Kindle owners there is tons of helpful stuff there. Also it is great place for talking about books, any kind of books. People are well read and love reading.

I have just strted on Writing Forums and Writers Beat but haven't had enough time to form a full opinion so I'll keep everyone posted. Also if there are other writers or readers out there that have forum that they enjoy I would love to hear about them.

Cover Conundrum

So I think I have finally narrowed it down to two choices for my cover. I am asking everyone I come across for their opinion because I simply can't decide. For lack of better names I call them the blue cover, and the purple cover. I am posting them here and would like as much feedback as possible.

One of them is to be the cover for the first book in my Midnight Series, Pursuit of Midnight. It is of course a historic romance but there is plenty of adventure so it makes it hard for me to choose.

On another note the first book in the Darkness Series is coming along fairly well. I am about 1/3 rd of the way through and am starting to move from "this is the best book ever" faze, into the "I don't know why I ever thought I could write anything, I'm deleting this drivel right now!" faze.

Luckily my family is very supportive and this isn't my first book so I know better than to actually do that. (most days) I'm going to keep plugging along and hopefully Ill be able to get it done and out there soon.

Is There an End to the Madness???

For the last several days I have been reading countless blogs and websites by indie authors and publishers with advice about publishing you e book yourself. When I first decided to publish myself I thought, ok its gonna be a lot of work but I can totally do it. But now- don't get me wrong, I still think I can do it I am just questioning the sanity of my decision.

Not only that but I am wondering who's advice I should follow and what really is the path to success. Every site and blog has something different to offer. Some suggest steps that are guaranteed to work or have lead them to some measure of success. While I believe that all of these things can be helpful there aren't enough hours in the day for me to accomplish them all.

So how do I know which things to do and which can be bypassed? I suppose it is just a game of trial and error, so I am plunging into the pond head first and praying that there are no boulders hidden in the murky depths.

On a plus note I am only days away from publishing my first book, Pursuit of Midnight and I am totally excited. I realize that I will probably not have a single sale for a long time but just the fact that I am taking that step and getting it out there and available is beyond amazing. Now I am just praying that people don't hate it :)

I have been working on the cover art for a few weeks and I think that worries me more than anything else. Everything I have read emphasizes how important the cover of your book is in the E Reader market. That tiny little thumbnail image has to capture readers with a single glance. How the heck am I supposed to do that??

As a result of my panic I have created about 20 covers and I now am torn between thinking they all suck one day, then deciding they are all so magnificent I couldn't possibly choose one the next day. What is an author to do??

Let the People Choose

Becoming a writer has seemed like an unattainable dream for a very long time. With several finished books and a whole stack of rejection letters and e mails I have begun to think that I will never see my book for sale and that no one outside of my family and writing groups will ever read my work.

I believe I go through the same self doubt about my quality of work that other writers go through but I have persisted. I have gotten great reviews from friends, family and other writers but I still wonder if they are just being polite. When I came across several websites about indie authors I discovered this whole world of writers that weren't waiting around for publishers and agents to pick their book out of a stack of books and decide that it was the one. They were putting their books out there and letting the public decide if it was good or not.

So after much consideration I have decided that I am no longer going to wait around for an agent or publisher to pick me. I am going to put my books out there and let the people decide. I will post excerpts and synopses here on my blog as well as links to where my book will be available.
So fingers crossed, here goes nothing. And please if you like my book or even if you hate it, come back and give me a review, feedback is always welcome.