For the Love of Mike Edit Your Book!!!

The last several months I have been setting up a book review blog for indie authors. As such my fellow blogger Sue Owen and I have been reading a wide selection of indie books. I have come to wonder if some of these authors even read their books after finishing the first draft. Many of the books are well done, the stories are fantastic and they do a wonderful job of creating worlds and characters that draw you in. All of this fantastic hard work is ruined by horrid sentence structure, gaping plot holes, and totally confusing dialogue.

I am an indie author and I know that there are mistakes in my own books but nothing like what I have been seeing. I would like to see the indie market expand and for more people to explore and find great indie authors. Seeing so many published works that seem like they have never met an editor I cringe at the effect it is going to have on the indie community as a whole.

So speaking to fellow indie authors, your work is fantastic and I will continue to promote it and the community but I urge you, for the love of Mike, EDIT YOUR BOOKS! I know first hand how horrendous this process is but if you are serious about seeing your books succeed hire an editor, its worth every penny.

And to the readers of indie books; I thank you for your support of the community and I hope that you will bear in mind that some of us are going to stumble along the way and hope you will be patient with us. 

Pursuit of Midnight Book Trailer

I finally finished my book trailer. All comments welcome.

Get My Book For Free!!

For the rest of March I will be giving away free copies of my book Pursuit of Midnight. In order to receive your free copy all you have to do is follow me. Follow on one or all of the following: Google Friend Connect, Networked Blogs, Facebook, or Twitter. Once you've done that just contact me through the blog, Facebook or Twitter and I will either give you a Smashwords coupon or send you the book in your preferred eReader format. Any reviews or feedback on the book would be GREATLY appreciated. Also anyone who follows me through Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs will get a 50% off coupon on the next book in the Midnight Series, due out this year. Thanks for visiting. ;)

The Most Terrifying Thing

As a newly published author I think the most terrifying aspect of this whole ordeal is the review. My book has only been out for a few days and I am into the double digits in sales but I have yet to get my first customer review and I am growing more and more anxious. In order for my book to do well I know that I need to get good reviews by customers and book review blogs. I swear I'll try not to cry if the first review is bad and pray that the second one will be better. I also promise not to cry if it is good (well maybe I will). So my fingers are crossed and whoever the first reviewer is I just ask that you be kind, I want honesty but not brutality.

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.