Readers Needed

I know not everyone is a reader.  And for a non-reader to read a book is a big deal.  But I also know there are plenty of readers out there.  My dilemma?  How do I find them and convince them to read my books?

The posts announcing my books were imminent got lots of response with people saying they couldn't wait to read them.  I hope they are just waiting for vacation, and I see those purchases soon.

It is not that I ever expected to make money from my books, but I do want people to read them, and I would love feedback.

Maybe today will be the day.

Self-Promotion

I know if I want people to read my books, I have to promote them.  It is very uncomfortable for me.  I asked people on Facebook to like my author page on Facebook this morning.  One person did.

I also sent links to my books in Kindle edition, letting people know they could read a free sample.

I posted that Kindle has a free downloadable app for Microsoft and Apple.

I'm not seeing a whole bunch of traffic, but hey people are at work.

If any of you have any good ideas for how to promote my books, I'm all ears.

Exciting morning

I got a couple of reviews between tonight and this morning.  This is by far the best:

I’m kind of upset with you!!! I finished the novella and then started the novel last night. I stayed up WAYYYY too late reading, and am not moving very fast this morning. The characters seem real, the way they’re all intertwined is believable in small town Louisiana, and the local touches (like Rouses rotisserie chicken) just add the right amount of seasoning to the pot! I just found out about Sandra’s Mom and am really interested to see how that introduction goes and the relationship builds. Storyteller is a perfect description.

Reviews

I really hope some of the people that read my books provide reviews on Amazon.  I am worried that I will get negative feedback, but all feedback is good because it helps you to be better.

I worked a little on my next book yesterday.  I am starting to feel an internal pressure to finish it and get started on the third modern day novel.

I feel like Gil and Belinda's story needs to be put on paper, and I'm ready to see the new developments in the lives of my characters.

I take real solace in time spent in my fictional world of Bayou Beni.  I can't fix this world, but I can imagine one I like better.

Editing

Editing someone else's work is way harder than writing your own stuff, or editing your own stuff.  Editors totally earn every cent they make.

Princesses and Dragons

A dear friend told me that every good story needs a princess and a dragon.  Not literally, of course, but a force for good, and a force for evil. 

As I was thinking about my books and my stories this morning, I realized the most common dragon in my books is fear.

I truly believe that fear is what prevents so many people from living their best lives.

Fear of the unknown.  Fear of being vulnerable.  Fear of losing control.  Fear of the other.

I believe that life can only be fully lived when we use fear as it was intended by evolution, to keep us alive.

What do you think?  Do you think the dragon Fear has limited your life or the lives of those you know?

Have you seen fear used to prevent happiness?

Five!

I submitted the novella regular print edition to Amazon.  Hopefully, it will be available today.  That will give me five entries on my author page.  I am now anxious to have people read and give me feedback.  My sister is the only one besides me that has read both books. 

My page is up on Amazon

My author page on Amazon is live and linked to this blog.  I think I may have made a rookie mistake, and my novella paperback is only available in large print.  I'm going to try to figure out how to fix that today.

Me on Amazon!

My Books!

I haven't figured out how to link my blog to my author page.  But here is a link to my author page:  Anne Marie St. Clair's Amazon Author Page

Got my first print proof

I knew that there would be problems with my first print proof, so I wasn't too freaked out.

The flags represent errors. Extra spaces, periods instead of commas, mostly small stuff.

And the font was too small.  And I had spaces between the paragraphs, and indents that are too large.

But, not bad for the first proof.  Second proof is supposed to ship tomorrow.  Hopefully, there is more right than wrong this time.

Starting to write again

I've edited and reviewed and edited and reviewed and I need a break.  Working on my historical novel again.

The original plan was to publish the series of historical novels first.  But when I had a stroke in May 2015, my short term memory made it hard to work on the historical.  I'd look up historical facts, and forget them just as quickly.

I got the idea for the modern novels featuring descendants of the characters in the historical novels, and that is the path I followed.  Now it is time to go back to the first book.

I need to hop to it, because once I finish it, there will be all the editing and copyright application stuff to go through.

I'd like to publish it within a year of the original novella and novel.  Time to get my creative fires burning.

So much to learn

It looks like I will need to use both Kindle Direct Publishing tools to get the results I want for my books.  The Microsoft Word add-in for Kindle is great for creating the paperback manuscripts, but the Kindle Create stand alone software looks like it is the better tool for eBooks.

I just got a ship notice for my novella print proof.  It is scheduled to arrive on July 8!!!!!!

I'm living in hyper excited state!

Editing

Got the print proof ordered for my novella, and have the digital proof being reviewed on multiple devices.

Now, I'm working on the final editing of my novel.  This is hard!  I hope to be able to afford to hire a real editor at some point.

Tedium

I'm working in the Kindle development tools to create both the eBook and paperback version of my novella.

I think I am probably in my 20th iteration of the files.  There is always one small thing wrong.   Add to that the differences in how I want my eBook to appear vs. the paperback, and this is an exercise in tedium I have never quite experienced before.

Swear to God, it just occurred to me that I can have two files, one for each.  It is amazing what seeing a thought in print does to it.

Almost Published

I received my copyright documentation, and I am doing the final preparation of my novella and novel set in Bayou Beni, Louisiana.

Hopefully, there will be books before the end of July.