BookingIt

I did it. I self-published (or, to use a more palatable term, independent published) one of my Christian contemporary romances. There is a ton of advice out there and lots of ways to do it, from formatting the manuscript yourself to hiring out that job. So far, without much marketing, some copies have already sold on Amazon (squee!) It's definitely been exciting and scary. Some authors who have already traveled this road are Virginia Carmichael and Julie Lessman and Heather Sunseri . I am looking for reviewers and interview/guest post spots. If you're interested, e-mail me at Jessica_nelson7590 at yahoo dot com Here is the blurb for the story: Ten years ago, timid Katrina Ross left her hometown’s temperamental bad boy at the altar. After years away, Alec Munroe has returned, a successful businessman who is snooping around her bookstore with an avaricious gleam in his eye. She’d like to tell him to leave, despite still being in love with him, but the secret she'...

Yes, that is a baby voice hiding in the parentheses. Curled up in a fetal position, sucking her thumb. That's because this independent publishing business is exciting but scary! It's also (gasp) hard. Today I am going to be uploading my manuscript to some different bookseller sites. I am so nervous because I have heard horror stories about badly formatted books, editing mistakes, etc. I've done research, tried to follow other's advice, but technology isn't my strong suit. And so I'm a quivering mass of nerves. There's also the fact that there's no publisher at my back saying, "Read this! We liked it and bought it." Instead, I am the publisher, pushing my manuscript out into the world as a book. There's a certain self-confidence (and I hope not arrogance)in publishing your own work. Needless to say, I am extremely intrigued to see how this will work out. I will be a hybrid author, with one foot in traditional publishing, and the othe...

As if the question ‘Wanna pitch to an agent or editor’ isn’t enough. Hello! A huge thanks to all my wonderful hosts as I run all over cyberspace talking about Agent/Editor Shop at the Musetracks blog. In this crazy world of easy access to information, it’s also easy to miss huge opportunities, or forget! Because I get so many comments that writers either forgot, or didn’t know Musetracks did pitch sessions, I asked a bunch of fellow writers, bloggers and readers to help me spread the word. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Candi Wall, one of the authors who co-contribute to the Musetracks blog. Jennifer Bray-Weber, Marie-Claude Bourque, and Stacey Purcell are my super smart co-contributors and goodness knows where I’d be without them! I’ve been hosting acquiring Agents at Musetracks for almost two years, and only recently, we decided to add editors as our guest. We’ve been lucky to have agents like Melissa Jeglinski , Jessica Alvarez , Mollie Glick , Becky Vinter , Kevan L...

I've lost the will to blog. I am not saying good-bye forever. I'm only saying good-bye to regularly scheduled posts. With FB, twitter and all the other social networking sites so active, I feel like if I put up a post it doesn't necessarily need to be on a schedule. In the meantime, there are lots of other things crowding the plate and so it's time for this wonderful blog to slow down in its old age. Later this month I'll be putting up a post about a good writing opportunity. I'm curious. What is your favorite online social venue?

Cheryl Linn Martin's newest book just released! Menehunes Missing is another action-packed mystery for the younger reader featuring the kids of the Hawaiian Island Detective club, Leilani, Maile and Sam. And sometimes Leilani's pesky little brother, Kimo. If you have middle schoolers who love to read, I highly recommend this series! Cheryl also has a very cool website , kid-friendly with great Hawaiian factoids and games. Do you buy your children books? As a kid, what was your favorite genre for reading? Any guess as to what a Menehune is?

After some internal conflicts of my own, I came to a great realization. "Should" and "Want" can be two different things...and boy, can they fight!! Is your story lacking conflict? Does it feel lukewarm? Do your characters seem a little too happy to be interesting? Take a look at what your protagonist wants (goal). Now, take a look at what the protagonist SHOULD want. Are they different? If you can make what the protagonist SHOULD DO come into conflict with what the protagonist WANTS TO DO, then you'll have immediate tension in your story. Have you ever experienced this in your life? Did you choose to go with principle or emotion? What about your main character?

Beware of fire...it can burn. I feel like that song by Alicia Keys except I'm not sure I'm as competent as the heroine in the song. If I'm not careful, I might go up in flames! LOL Here's what's going on: 1. Love Inspired Historical bought a second book from me!!! I'm SO excited but I also have some revisions to do for the story. 2. I have two articles to write. Articles make me feel like I might suffocate. I don't know why but I just work through it, even if I turn blue. 3. I'm working hard on my WIP. Loving it but am sweating trying to get in 1k a day. 4. Before the end of 2013 I'll be indie/self-publishing a contemporary romance. Trying to get the cover, editing, etc. done has added some poundage to my plate. So, all in all, this 2013 is going beautifully. I feel like I'm on a roll but I don't want to get too much friction going because that could lead to a spark which might lead to me running away from the computer, hair on fire....