It’s Raining Books!

Posted under A Writer's Life, KDrama on May 10th, 2017 by

Well, not quite…but swiftly following the publication of BLACKFOOT and the paperback thereof– Kindle Press has made a preorder page for LADY OF DREAMS, my Korean-based fantasy.

In case you didn’t already catch it on my FB and Twitter feeds, LADY OF DREAMS will be released on June 6th, and can be preordered HERE!

Eeek! Such excite!

Confined to her couch, Clovis Sohn spends her days and nights dreaming, drifting further away from the outside world with each passing day. But Clovis’s dreams are also real, giving her a glimpse into the lives of those around her…

When Clovis begins to dream of publishing assistant Ae-jung’s complicated life, it brings a momentary interest to her pale existane between dream and waking. Mistress of many secrets, Ae-jung is dedicated, hard-working, and beset by three very different suitors: famous writer Hyun-jun, well-known composer Yong-hwa, and Clovis’ half-brother Jessamy.

When a moment of unthinking sympathy twines Clovis’s dreams with the bored, playful Yong-hwa, she must decide whether to keep dreaming in the comfort of her chaise lounge, or to awaken into a reality that is by no means so sure or familiar as her dreams.

Wait, I’m One of the Adults?

Posted under A Writer's Life, writing scams on May 8th, 2017 by

Last week was a particularly busy one. I was working on the business side of writing, which meant arranging promotions, updating files and payments methods, etc, and fiddling with Createspace (I count that with the business stuff because I hate formatting and business stuff almost equally).

I was also busy following a particularly nasty story that had just emerged. I’d seen it coming since last year, when I’d noticed this particular business owner behaving in a very unprofessional way on Facebook and around the internet in general. At the time, I distanced myself by leaving the FB group she’d added me to and generally avoided her services, since although I found her to be a person I didn’t want to have anything to do with, I didn’t know her business practises were also suspect. I just knew that I didn’t like drama, bullying, and people being sent to one-star the books of perceived enemies. I also didn’t care for the upvoting of bad reviews and the downvoting of good ones.

Fastforward to this week when I saw the story explode on KBoards, (monster thread, but worth reading if you want to know the particulars of bad business and what to avoid when it comes to boxed sets) Passive Voice, and Inside Indie (a little more gleeful than I care for, but the screenshots are there).

So many people were popping up anonymously (and some bravely under their own names) to speak up about abuses and business practises that were against Amazon and Paypal TOS (most particularly, being told to pay with the Friends & Family option for a business transaction to dodge fees). There were also a truly startling amount who began to speak up about the bullying, threats, and general nastiness that had been directed at them, sometimes for something so simple as just asking a question. Indies who have been in the business for years were being PM’d by people too scared to speak out.

In one of the groups that had nothing to do with this promoter, some of her followers had come in to post glowing adverts for her services that were then jumped on by other followers who cheered for her and raved about her services. All without mentioning any of the controversy. All to a group where debut authors and inexperienced writers were looking for advice and help along the way. I made my feelings known, explained that I didn’t want to be a part of a group where such services were advertised to susceptible authors, and left.

And then I found that I had a message in my own inbox.

My first instinct was to run. I mean, I’ve only been doing this three years. I’M NOT ONE OF THE ADULTS. It was the way I first felt when someone came up and asked my advice about something. Let me get you an adult…I mean…wait…I’M an adult. Oh dear.

But when it comes to Indie Publishing, by three years you’re starting to get a grip on things. You’re starting to notice trends, and changes, and the way the world repeats itself in the same way, but a little bit differently. People are starting to come to you for advice. You’re one of the adults.

So in that spirit, I’ve decided to be one of the adults. I’m talking to all you newbies out there: the scared, the inexperienced, the debut authors. The ones who ask questions because they don’t know how to do the Stuff themselves.

Keep asking questions. Ask them in public spaces like KBoards so that you can get a wide variety of experiences and reviews, and make up your own mind. Keep your eye on Writer Beware. Follow people like Victoria Strauss, Patty Jansen, and Lindsay Buroker. They’ve got a good eye on the publishing world in general, and you’ll not be led astray following their advice.

And avoid promoters like GenreCrave, Hungry Author, and Books Butterfly. They could go great for you, or they could go very poorly. And when they go very poorly, it’s not just your money that’s at risk, because the way they do their business is a way that could get you into a lot of trouble with Amazon.

This blog post isn’t here to discuss the merits or lack thereof when it comes to the case against Genre Crave, Rebecca Hamilton, and Hungry Author. First and foremost, I want to warn newbie authors and other impressionable Indies that there are certain things you should look out for when you are hiring a service to promote or advertise your book. That goes for courses that will cost you $1-$2k, and boxed set buy-ins that are $500-$2k.

Warning signs being: the Promoter won’t tell you how they achieve their results (aka, secret sauce results); the promoter says no refunds (refunds are a part of doing business); the Promoter telling you to pay via Friends & Family on Paypal (against Paypal TOS and makes it so that you can’t get a refund through Paypal); the Promoter asks for payment up front, even before a contract is signed; there are numerous controversies already when you google the Promoter’s name; the Promoter is listed on Writer Beware, or has a negative thread on KBoards.

For those looking to join boxed sets, despite all the kerfuffle in the threads linked to above, I would like to point out, very clearly, that not all box sets are a scam, nor are they all trying to slip beneath Amazon’s TOS. Not even most of them are. I’m going to be joining one at the end of the year, in fact. What you need to watch out for are the boxed sets that break TOS, are making lists by huge amounts of gifted books, and are doing other dodgy things like offering incentives to preorder the set for the purposes of making a list dishonestly. It’s not worth being caught up in that, because when Amazon swings its hammer, it obliterates all the tiny players like us, and leaves the scammers/shady business owners/slippery salesmen free to skip away and start over again. It’s really hard to come back from a nuked account at Amazon, even if they finally acknowledge that you weren’t at fault.

Be aware. Be safe. Try to do things like boxed sets via recommendations from trusted sources. Even some of the most experienced authors in the Indie world have been scammed. Even the most experienced Indies have found themselves running afoul of Amazon’s TOS due to a slippery promoter. So do your homework. Ask questions. Look at a Promoter from several different sources before you say yes to using them.

(Also, if you have an opinion and comment, that’s okay, but this blog isn’t for a rehash of what’s happening at KBoards, and bad language won’t be approved in comments. So be nice).

Rainy Monday

Posted under A Writer's Life, Two Monarchies Sequence on March 27th, 2017 by

As you may have guessed from the title of my blog post, today is Monday. Also, it’s rainy.

You’re always gonna get the truth from me, you blokes.

On this particular rainy Monday, I’m feeling very cosy and relaxed. Part of that is because of the rain: there’s nothing better than curling up beneath my mum-made patchwork blanket and watching the rain make a watercolour painting through my window-frame. Well, it’s always better if there’s a book, and tea, and you know what? I’ve got both.

Another facet to my contentment is the fact that Blackfoot is–more or less–done, and I now have a week off.

Last week, when I was writing the last few bits and patches to join other bits and patches together, I was feeling insanely fed up with the whole book. Being the second book in the series, it was flamin’ hard to write, and by the end, I felt as though it was complete and utter rubbish. I was disheartened, and depressed, and could only think about all those preorders going out to a general reception of “Oh my word, what is this rubbish? I’ve been waiting for this for 6 months now and it’s garbage!”

I honestly couldn’t believe the amount of work it was going to take to bring Blackfoot into publishable condition–in only two weeks! It didn’t feel possible, and mostly I just wanted to sit in the shower and cry.

I didn’t do that because a.) there’s a mushroom growing in there and I seriously don’t want to get near it, cos I read a horror story about that years ago, and b.) we would run out of hot water before I ran out of depression, and if you think being depressed in a hot shower is bad, try being depressed in a cold shower.

It’s adorable and hilarious and cringe-worthy, all at the same time…

Instead, I took a day off between writing those last words and doing my quick, pre-printed-MS run-over to catch glaring inconsistencies. I watched the latest episodes of 힘쎈 여자 도봉순 (Strong Woman Do Bong Soon)–hilarious, by the way–started to read The Eyre Affair–also excellent, though in a completely different way–and watched an insane amount of Gag Concert and Would I Lie to You?

After the last two weeks of writing 2k-5k words per day, I felt as light as a butterfly.

And I’m SO GLAD I did it, because when I went to do the pre-print run-over today, I found that Blackfoot wasn’t actually the huge train-wreck I was convinced it was. In fact, it wasn’t too bad. Maybe even good. The pacing was consistent, there were no glaring plot holes, and everything seemed to flow well, unlike the patchwork thing I’d imagined it to be.

Thus, my contentment is complete.

Also, I have tea and sticky buns and biscuits…

We’ll see how contented I am when I start final edits for Blackfoot next week, and how contented I am when I start the edits for Lady of Dreams a week or two after that…

Hybrid: Isn’t that some sort of car…?

Posted under A Writer's Life, Publishing on March 17th, 2017 by

I’m not actually going to talk about cars. I mean, this is a writing blog, not a car blog, and what do I know about cars anyway?

So when I say hybrid, I am, of course, referring to hybrid authors: those who both self-publish, and traditonally-publish.

Or, more specifically, myself.

That’s right. As of today, I am a hybrid author.

Which is a very roundabout way of telling you guys that I got The Email today, informing me that Lady of Dreams had been chosen for a publication contract with Kindle Press.

Eeek! Such excite!

Stop the presses!

No, wait, don’t.

I’m a bit confused. Also, I’m still in the death throes of Blackfoot, so I’m not making much sense either way. Next week, when I’ve finished Blackfoot, collected my thoughts, and started making sure LoD is as pretty as it can possibly be, I’ll write a proper blog post.

But in the meantime, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR NOMINATING LADY OF DREAMS!

A Weekend of Firsts

Posted under A Writer's Life on March 6th, 2017 by

It was a busy weekend for me.

Actually, it was a busy week for me, last week. It all just sorta coalesced toward the end of the week and became more busy.

I attended AICon in Hobart for the 2nd time (though this was the first time I properly dressed up for it). I was attending in the function of a handmaiden for a friend of mine who was gorgeously and intricately dressed as Lady Loki–thus the need for a handmaiden. I was there to re-lace her boots, fix her horned head-dress, and re-affix wandering pauldrons. No to mention supplying food and drink as required.

Of course, I wasn’t doing that the whole time. I also managed to wander around quite a lot, visit some interesting panels, some hilarious ones, and eat vegetarian sushi for the first time (it was delicious, by the way). When I got too peopled-out (guys, there were SO MANY people there), I would just sneak into one of the darkened panel rooms and write for an hour or so.

I managed to get 2.5k words done over the course of the 10am-6pm day.

AND she had a ‘communicator’ that basically squawked chicken noises at the MC when the MC questioned her 😀

Highlights of the day included seeing Jacket the chicken very nearly win crowd favourite for her awesome costume (seriously, this girl had my favourite costume of the entire day. And she took a selfie with me!) catching sight of a Ladybug cosplay right next to a Marinette one, and having an artist sign the two prints I bought from him.

Another first for me: it was the first time I’d word a corset. Because it was made with plastic boning instead of steel, and because I bend a lot, my poor corset was shaped to me rather than me shaped to it by the end of the day, but I was still very pleased with the result. Unfortunately there was only one half-decent photo of me, but that’s hardly surprising, since I do not photograph well.

JACKET AND ME SELFIE!

A gift-baggie at the entrance brought in another first for me: all of the bags included a sampler of manga. I found one out of the ten samples to be compelling, leading me to purchase and read my first manga ever–Shuriken to Pleats.

Who knows, maybe I’ll check out more of the artist’s work?

That was it, my weekend of firsts!  What about you guys? How did your weekend go?

Oh! And, final reminder: LADY OF DREAMS is on the last day of nominations in its Kindle Scout Campaign. If you haven’t already done so, pop on over to the Campaign page and check out the sample. If you love it, press that Nominate Button!

(Don’t forget that everyone who nominated LADY OF DREAMS will get a free Advance Copy if it’s chosen for publication).

Korean-Based Fantasy and Glossaries

Posted under A Writer's Life on February 20th, 2017 by

You guys know me by now.

You know that I love to chuck you in the deep end, and–like one of those particularly terrifying parents–leave you either to sink or swim. I don’t do too many explanations in my novels: I let things reveal themselves as time goes by, and I prefer not to say something outright if I can leave the reader to infer it.

Nominate me! I could be published through Kindle Scout, and you could get a free ARC!

However, when it comes to Korean-based fantasy that uses some of the words I’ve been learning in my Korean language lessons, I’m at something of a standstill. In keeping with the cultural forms of address and respect pertaining thereto, I’ve used quite a few romanised Korean words (don’t worry, I don’t expect you to read them in 한글) in Lady of Dreams. This means that there’s a lot more for people to have to learn as they read.

On the one hand, I still love the idea of leaving you guys to sink or swim (cos I’m diabolical like that). On the other hand, there’s the usual amount to learn without telling: slightly steampunkish stuff, Dreaming stuff, several romantic entanglements, etc. I mean, I don’t want to break you guys.

It’s also a question I’ve been asked by more than one or two readers, and when more than one or two of my beta readers mention something, it’s usually time to sit up and listen.

So. Lady of Dreams: a glossary of romanised Korean words? Yea or nay?

Let me know!

(Also, if you haven’t already done so, head on over to Lady of Dreams‘ Kindle Scout Nomination Page, and if you like the sample, please nominate me to receive a Kindle Scout contract. If I’m published with Kindle Scout, anyone who nominated Lady of Dreams will get a free copy!)

‘Sup!?

Posted under A Writer's Life on February 15th, 2017 by

There are some weeks when I know exactly what I want to blog about. Those are the good weeks: I usually end up with two blog post written for the week and one or two drafts stored up to explore later.

Some weeks are less certain, and I have to scrape and search for things to talk about. I usually still blog once or twice, it’s just…harder. Not necessarily a bad thing, since I tend to laziness: having to work at what I do is actually good for me.

Then there are the weeks where I can’t pin down a single thought or plan, where stuff just happens with no rhyme or reason, and my brain is too scattered to be able to think of anything of importance to post.

So I’m writing a blog post with all the little bits and pieces that don’t want to sit still in my head. You guys can make sense of it. Think of it as a jigsaw puzzle.

Important Links:

Headtalker for Lady of Dreams’ Kindle Scout Campaign

Go here to nominate Lady of Dreams for a Kindle Scout contract (and get a free ARC if I do get a contract)

Buy this book. It’s only 99c and it’s still one of my all time favourite books (plus, Indie author power!)

General Stuff:

*Did anyone else forget Valentine’s Day? I did. I remembered after I’d been at work for about an hour, and multiple men had already gone through with flowers and chocolates. Then I was very confused, since I’d got the idea that Valentine’s day was the 17th.

It turns out that the 17th is the expiration date for my milk.

Undoubtedly an important date, but no cigar.

*So, my spam folder has become remarkably communicative lately. There are the ones that kindly answer questions: posed by previous spam 

…aaaaaand then there are just these guys, who are arguing about Who Is The Best:

CALM DOWN GUYS. WE CAN ALL BE THE BEST WE CAN BE.

*My brain is scattered. Yes. But this is partially in a good cause: BLACKFOOT is really starting to come together at last–not just in drips and drabs, but in whole chunks of plot and characterisation–and I’m at the point where I should be able to start writing very, very quickly indeed. I really like this part of book writing. It’s satisfying and freeing. It also means that I’ll be able to come back very soon and fix all the things I messed up in first draft.

*Kindle Scout Campaign. A new experience, so that’s fun. I’m just not entirely sure what I’ll do if Lady of Dreams isn’t chosen for publication. Will I publish ASAP, and bunch two releases very close together, or wait until BLACKFOOT emerges from its chrysalis? I mean, I don’t want to wait, but Indie pub wisdom says space things out where you can.

There you go. You just got a glimpse into the mind of a writer. YOU’RE WELCOME. Hopefully I’ll be less scattered in a day or two, and sit down to write a proper blog post. I have some KDrama I want to review (surprising, I know), so I’ll have some more reccs for my fellow KDrama lovers in the next day or two.

Happy Reading, guys!

Lady of Dreams: Kindle Scout Campaign!

Posted under A Writer's Life on February 5th, 2017 by

As promised, I’ve got an update for the previously-titled Bright as the Eyes of You. You might have already seen this on Twitter or FB, but for those of you who haven’t, BatEoY is now titled Lady of Dreams. It took a lot of time and a dreadful amount of angst, but the deed is done and the cover is now changed.

More importantly, Lady of Dreams is now enrolled in a Kindle Scout Campaign.

What is a Kindle Scout Campaign? I’m glad you asked. There’s a whole page of info HERE, but the short (slightly inaccurate) version is that Kindle Scout is a type of American/Australian Idol for manuscripts. The author (that’s me!) uploads their manuscript onto the Kindle Scout website, where it will spend a month. During this time, it can be nominated by any fan or random reader who happens to nominate it: it will also be seen by the Kindle Scout Selectors, who apparently consider all of the manuscripts.

At the end of the month, based upon a great many factors (some known, others unknown), Amazon in its wisdom will decide whether or not to offer the author a publishing contract. From all I’ve heard, nominations are important, but by no means the only consideration, so if anyone is uncomfortable making an account just to nominate Lady of Dreams, I won’t hold it against them.

It is worth noting, however, that should a contract be offered on Lady of Dreams, anyone who nominated it will be given a free advance copy. So there’s that!

I’m very excited to see how this month turns out for me–and for Lady of Dreams. Please feel free to share the nomination page HERE with friends, family, tweeps, the dog…anyone!

 

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