Tell Me About Your WIP!

[valtmy]

@gracie-j

Thanks! Tell Me No Lies sounds very interesting! 😀 I love murder mysteries and I’ve always wanted to try my hand at one, but I don’t think I have a good enough understanding yet. 🙁 I think the genre is one of if not the hardest to write.

@lewilliams

Haha I’m only writing the kind of stories I wish someone else has already written, if you get the drift. I love comedy, romance, reading about history and making fun of politics, so those are major influences.

I got the idea for my WIP three years back when I was introduced to London theatre proper. I’ve started the writing two years ago though it’s been very intermittent.

A Beginner’s Guide to Villainy sounds like something I would really, really like to read 😀

@seekjustice

Funnily enough, I think my rat emperor story is one which I’ve also shown you before (though only the beginning before any crazy stuff happens). Unfortunately, the plot concept I had for that is even more convoluted than QOD’s so it would need a major overhaul before I can bear to touch it again.

Haha yes I know you are looking forward to reading QOD so that gives me motivation even whilst being strangled by plot threads. 😛 This is a story I am writing for my sister as well so it’s not being abandoned.

[Anonymous]

@seekjustice There’s definitely angst, no doubt about that! Rina is definitely a very fun character to write (I won’t go into detail, since there’s a lot that goes into her). The contrast of tough pirate with wife and mother lends her a diverse air. She’s probably one of my favorite characters of mine, since her voice comes so easy to me.

@r-m-archer It’s great that you’re so close to publishing! How do you plan to publish your book?

I definitely suggest a short story. I have a pair of interesting characters that I love, so I started writing a story just for me. And yeah…it turned out to be probably one of my best works yet!

[Jenna Terese]

@seekjustice Thanks; I’ll definitely let you know when I need betas. 😉

I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
www.jennaterese.com

[R.M. Archer]

[quote quote=85316]I’ve read about your Calligraphy Guild novel on your website, it honestly looks so awesome and I’m intrigued by the whole “magic ink rewriting the past” concept. I hope it goes well! And I’m sure there’s heaps you can do to revitalise your old novel, best of luck with that![/quote]

@seekjustice Thanks! 🙂

[quote quote=85318]It’s great that you’re so close to publishing! How do you plan to publish your book?[/quote]

@gracie-j Probably indie, through KDP. I’ve considered doing this one traditional, since that’s something I want to do someday, this is a standalone so I feel like it would work well as an “experiment,” and I would love for it to get the reach that traditional novels get. But I also don’t want to wait to hook an agent and a publishing house, and I’m already imagining different things I could do to market it and how to design the graphics and some folks I’d love to have on the release team and… XD So I don’t know. It might be that I could go trad and still do all that marketing stuff, but I think the time thing is the determining factor in this case and I’d like to be able to work on my own timeline and get it out there as soon as it’s ready rather than waiting for gatekeepers. 🙂

[quote quote=85318]I definitely suggest a short story. I have a pair of interesting characters that I love, so I started writing a story just for me. And yeah…it turned out to be probably one of my best works yet![/quote]

That’s awesome! I want to write a couple of short stories in connection with this book, actually. I want to write one about that character (Chaska) and another calligrapher mom, and I want to write one about the MC’s future wedding and use it to explore the characters and the community and the worldbuilding even further. 🙂

Speculative fiction author. Mythology nerd. Singer. Worldbuilding enthusiast.

[Anonymous]

@r-m-archer Well, I’m published through KDP, so I’m biased–but I do recommend self-pubbing. It’s seems so much easier to me than trad. (Although, there are quite a few publishing houses that accept unsolicited proposals/queries, if you wanted to bypass an agent. I have lists. 😋) I wish I’d been as excited about the marketing aspect–scratch that, I wish I’d even thought about the marketing aspect when I published my first novel. I’m just now giving it thought (going into my third novel and sixth published work), which means that I’m finding I have way less money than I’d originally figured. 😆

I totally feel you about doing it on your own time–that was one of the kickers for me. Since some projects are done in two weeks and other take two years for me, I’m loving having the option to do all the publishing myself and have it out there in a day!

I think that going ahead and self-publishing several things and getting your name out there would probably help you with traditional in the long run. You’d already be a established, have a readership, and be at least somewhat credible as a devoted author, if not a good/popular one. That’s kind of my idea, to establish myself first before I traditionally publish some things–but not all. I like my freedom!

In my research…*shoves nerdy glasses up the bridge of her nose, unwilling to admit that she hasn’t actually done any “research”*…having short stories/novellas that tie in with your series is a make-the-readers-happy thing. You know, having a short, cheap little something wonderful to chew on before the next book comes out, getting to see those behind-the-scenes moments that you might not otherwise–definitely something to consider!

 

@valtmy I’ll be honest, I don’t know how in the great googly moogly I’m gonna write a murder mystery, but Lord knows I’ma try! 😆 Since it’s a combo of genres, the mystery aspect is more of a suspense/intrigue–toned down kind of mystery–so it’s (hopefully) not too complicated. I call it a mystery since no one but myself knows whodunit. So. (That does count, right?) The way I see it, get yourself a hundred notebooks, a trench-coat, and a fedora, and you can write a mystery. All I’m missing is the hat and coat. 😋

[R.M. Archer]

@gracie-j

[quote quote=85322]Well, I’m published through KDP, so I’m biased–but I do recommend self-pubbing. It’s seems so much easier to me than trad.[/quote]

Agreed. I’ve published two short story collections and a standalone short that way, and I plan for the majority of my books to be done that way. 🙂

[quote quote=85322](Although, there are quite a few publishing houses that accept unsolicited proposals/queries, if you wanted to bypass an agent. I have lists. 😋)[/quote]

Ooh, a list would be cool. (Even if I don’t use it for this book, it could be handy for the future.)

[quote quote=85322]I wish I’d been as excited about the marketing aspect–scratch that, I wish I’d even thought about the marketing aspect when I published my first novel. I’m just now giving it thought (going into my third novel and sixth published work), which means that I’m finding I have way less money than I’d originally figured. 😆[/quote]

Yeah. XD I often stink at marketing, and I haven’t gotten very excited about it with my previous works because… I wasn’t as excited about the projects themselves (although I still like them and I’m still glad I published them). But there’s so much excitement wrapped up in this one that’s it’s overflowing even to areas I don’t always like as much, lol. And I tend to have fairly decent marketing knowledge, I just stink at implementing it, lol. It’s fairly likely to still be a struggle once I actually get there, but for now I’m basking in the rose-colored daydreams. XD

[quote quote=85322]I totally feel you about doing it on your own time–that was one of the kickers for me. Since some projects are done in two weeks and other take two years for me, I’m loving having the option to do all the publishing myself and have it out there in a day![/quote]

Absolutely! And especially if you have the skills to do most of the necessary pieces yourself (graphics, cover design, editing, etc.), it can be really quick and also lets you be creative in non-writing areas at the same time. What I do or don’t need help with differs from project to project, but I’ve really enjoyed using and building my graphic design and editing skills through self-publishing.

[quote quote=85322]In my research…*shoves nerdy glasses up the bridge of her nose, unwilling to admit that she hasn’t actually done any “research”*…having short stories/novellas that tie in with your series is a make-the-readers-happy thing. You know, having a short, cheap little something wonderful to chew on before the next book comes out, getting to see those behind-the-scenes moments that you might not otherwise–definitely something to consider![/quote]

Definitely! The potential marketing use of such short stories has been swirling around in the background for me, too. Although at the moment I’m mostly ignoring it and figuring I’ll come back to it later, once I’ve actually written them, lol. But I do think they’ll be an awesome bonus for readers down the road! (Especially if reader response continues to look like it has thus far, with my alpha readers and the additional couple of folks who have read my first chapter. ^-^)

• This reply was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by R.M. Archer.

Speculative fiction author. Mythology nerd. Singer. Worldbuilding enthusiast.

[SeekJustice]

@lewilliams I love your blurb, especially the structure of it. Very nice. I also feel sorry for all of them, especially Arvi, poor boy!

And oh my goodness, A Beginner’s Guide to Villainy sounds exactly like my cup of tea. Also 100% realistic. I know a lot of tertiary students who would become villains just to get their scores up a little. And breaking up love triangles with fire extinguishers? Absolute genius.

As for my novel, it’s a fantasy. I have a series of companion novels that are all retellings based on the lives of interesting women and this one is based on Jeanne Baret, a French woman who disguised herself as a man in order to become a botanist on a ship called The Dolphin. Despite being fantasy though, it’s pretty grounded and there’s only sprinklings of magic and fantastical elements. There’s actually definitely no steampunk stuff, but I’ve always wanted to write a steampunk and definitely will some time soon.

INFP Queen of the Kingdom commander of an army of origami cranes and a sabre from Babylon.

[Anonymous]

@r-m-archer I can never get links to work in these stupid things, so bear with me. There’s Harlequin (for real), Regal House, Albert Whitman and Co, Watershed Books (imprint of Pelican Book Group, a Christian publishing company), Sky Pony Press, Tor Teen (imprint of Macmillan), Polis Books, Clean Teen Publishing, and more. (Just type “publishers accepting unsolicited proposals” into your search, and you’ll get a whole bunch of hits.)  Then there’s WhiteFire Publishing (every genre, including YA, middle-grade, and nonfiction) and Ashberry Lane (if you’re into historical romance, that is). Both are Christian companies with some pretty prominent authors who publish through them. (WhiteFire was accepting unsolicited queries last year; they may not be now.)

Ah, those daydreams. I’m finding that reality is too quickly encroaching upon mine own fantasies. I keep getting ahead of myself with giveaways and promotions and stuff, so I’m using a novella of mine as a guinea pig before I do ten thousand different things for my third novel. (I’m so bloomin’ excited about doing a cover reveal, though, that I’m about ready to just go ahead and commission the cover…even though I’d wanted to wait until I’d begun editing.) Granted, I wasn’t able to do a lot of marketing in the beginning, being a thirteen-year-old with no social media at all. Not that I’m complaining, but the addition of a blog, website, and Goodreads is really beneficial. My mom was actually a marketing manager, so she’s my unofficial marketing agent. 😆

My editing skills have definitely increased, that’s for sure. Editing is actually really enjoyable–depending on the project, I guess. I’m, for once, really looking forward to editing my current novel, but that’s probably because it stinks so far! My graphic designs skills…well, let’s just say that I hope yours are at least 100% better than mine! I had to splurge and purchase the cover for my last novel, and I plan on doing that again. I am starting to consider making bookmarks, t-shirts, and even notebooks with quotes and graphics on them. (Don’t ask me how. I only know the why at this point! 😋)

I’ll say this, no one could ever honestly say that (1) writing’s easy, (2) all you do is write, or (3) you don’t learn anything or gain any skills from writing. It’s hard, and as a self-pubbed author, you do it all. Everything. All the little teensy, tiny things that trad authors don’t even have to think about. We deserve a holiday, I think. The National Self-Published Authors’ Day. Yep. Happy Self-Pubbed Authors’ Day, everyone! Mark your calendars for October 1st, next year, because I’m planning a par-tay!

Ahem. What I’m doing with some of my shorter things is (1) giving a copy for free in my newsletter and (2) hosting a giveaway around Christmas for a Christmas novella of mine. I’m hoping that they’ll be what shows me how big my readership is and how such things will work in the future.

Girl, you’ve already got a ton of people who love your books (yes…I stalked you on Goodreads…I’m weird like that…it’s genetic…), so I wouldn’t sweat it. No doubt about it that you’ll have hoards of people interested in short stories. Plus, I mean, who doesn’t like a well-written short story? Or reader bonuses? Like, I have a problem with excerpts and previews and trivia and fun stuff like that. It’s a chronic disorder. (Not really…but I did end up buying and reading every single book by this one author I’d all but vowed I’d never read, simply because I liked her excerpts. Those excerpts were addictive. Oddly, I’m very tight-fisted with my excerpts, since I never want to spoil anything. Me, spoil anything? Ha! *laughs uneasily* I’m a spoiler, y’all.)

Question: will you be looking for betas in the future?

(Good grief, this is longer than I’d anticipated.)

[SeekJustice]

@gracie-j @r-m-archer

I’m loving all this publishing chatter. Can I ask what KDP is? I’ve been tossing up whether to pursue the self-publishing or trad publishing route and I really haven’t decided yet, so I’m keen to hear about more options.

Also, I would say, I (and a bunch of other trad published authors) wouldn’t recommend going with a publishing house without getting an agent. An author I went to see recently spoke about how publishing houses can take advantage of you, especially in the form of contracts. This author didn’t have an agent when she first started out (she does now) and she was a lawyer, but she mentioned how confusing some of the contract stuff was and how she just signed it, without really thinking about it.

Anyway, just something I learnt which I’d never thought about before.

INFP Queen of the Kingdom commander of an army of origami cranes and a sabre from Babylon.

[R.M. Archer]

@gracie-j

[quote quote=85344]Tor Teen (imprint of Macmillan)[/quote]

Ooh, Tor does unsolicited queries? That’s cool.

[quote quote=85344]I keep getting ahead of myself with giveaways and promotions and stuff, so I’m using a novella of mine as a guinea pig before I do ten thousand different things for my third novel.[/quote]

That sounds like a good plan. ;D

[quote quote=85344](I’m so bloomin’ excited about doing a cover reveal, though, that I’m about ready to just go ahead and commission the cover…even though I’d wanted to wait until I’d begun editing.)[/quote]

I’d suggest waiting until you’ve finished editing, because your page count (and thus spine width) might change as you edit. You won’t have a finalized page count until you do all the formatting. But I understand the antsiness. XP

[quote quote=85344]Granted, I wasn’t able to do a lot of marketing in the beginning, being a thirteen-year-old with no social media at all. Not that I’m complaining, but the addition of a blog, website, and Goodreads is really beneficial. My mom was actually a marketing manager, so she’s my unofficial marketing agent. 😆[/quote]

Yeah. XD That’s cool that your mom does marketing! Mine has never been anything so official, but I’ve learned a lot of what I know about marketing from her knowledge for her own website and online courses. Isn’t it cool getting to work with our parents on stuff like this? ^-^

[quote quote=85344]My editing skills have definitely increased, that’s for sure. Editing is actually really enjoyable–depending on the project, I guess. I’m, for once, really looking forward to editing my current novel, but that’s probably because it stinks so far![/quote]

I agree! There are certain projects where I dread editing (I have one I shelved early… last year? This year? that I don’t even want to look at because it needs so much restructuring, lol), but then there are a bunch that I really love editing (like Calligraphy Guild). And I love editing for other people.

[quote quote=85344]My graphic designs skills…well, let’s just say that I hope yours are at least 100% better than mine! I had to splurge and purchase the cover for my last novel, and I plan on doing that again. I am starting to consider making bookmarks, t-shirts, and even notebooks with quotes and graphics on them. (Don’t ask me how. I only know the why at this point! 😋)[/quote]

XD I find some designs easier than others. I’ve done all of my own covers up to this point, and all of my social media graphics and whatnot. I think they look pretty good most of the time, but it’s definitely been a process. XD And I definitely want professional cover art for most, if not all, of my novels; I just haven’t wanted to shell out as much money for my short stories and I’ve been able to put something together that works (with my mom’s help, originally).

Merch is super fun! I haven’t invested a lot in merch yet, but I did recently get a bunch of bookmarks printed that I’m super happy with, and I’ll probably do more down the road (probably mostly bookmarks and mugs, for me, lol). I don’t know if you’re looking for any of the “how” yet, but I’ve seen authors use Redbubble for things like notebooks and Teespring for things like mugs and t-shirts and hoodies and whatnot.

[quote quote=85344]I’ll say this, no one could ever honestly say that (1) writing’s easy, (2) all you do is write, or (3) you don’t learn anything or gain any skills from writing. It’s hard, and as a self-pubbed author, you do it all. Everything. All the little teensy, tiny things that trad authors don’t even have to think about. We deserve a holiday, I think. The National Self-Published Authors’ Day. Yep. Happy Self-Pubbed Authors’ Day, everyone! Mark your calendars for October 1st, next year, because I’m planning a par-tay![/quote]

Yes! Especially as an indie author, you really have to be a jack-of-all-trades. It’s super fun, but also super hard. XD

I could totally get on board with National Self-Published Authors Day. I’ll mark my calendar and tell all my indie author friends and we’ll flood the internet with celebration of and appreciation for indie authors. ;D

[quote quote=85344]Ahem. What I’m doing with some of my shorter things is (1) giving a copy for free in my newsletter and (2) hosting a giveaway around Christmas for a Christmas novella of mine. I’m hoping that they’ll be what shows me how big my readership is and how such things will work in the future.[/quote]

That sounds cool! Seasonal stories must be handy marketing tools (and also just fun XD).

[quote quote=85344]Girl, you’ve already got a ton of people who love your books (yes…I stalked you on Goodreads…I’m weird like that…it’s genetic…), so I wouldn’t sweat it. No doubt about it that you’ll have hoards of people interested in short stories. Plus, I mean, who doesn’t like a well-written short story? Or reader bonuses? Like, I have a problem with excerpts and previews and trivia and fun stuff like that. It’s a chronic disorder. (Not really…but I did end up buying and reading every single book by this one author I’d all but vowed I’d never read, simply because I liked her excerpts. Those excerpts were addictive. Oddly, I’m very tight-fisted with my excerpts, since I never want to spoil anything. Me, spoil anything? Ha! *laughs uneasily* I’m a spoiler, y’all.)[/quote]

*laughs* I wouldn’t say “a ton.” Almost nobody outside of my immediate writer circle/street team has read my stuff yet, lol. But thanks. 😉 (I stalk folks’ social media all the time. It’s cool. XD)

[quote quote=85344]Question: will you be looking for betas in the future?[/quote]

Yep! The initial plan was to get betas for CG in January or February of next year, but I’ve tweaked my plans some (read: I forgot about NaNo and also I wasn’t consistent enough with editing for the whole middle of this year XD) so it’ll probably be a little later. I can point you to my street team newsletter signup so you’ll be one of the first to know, if you’re interested? ^-^

@seekjustice

[quote quote=85346]I’m loving all this publishing chatter. Can I ask what KDP is? I’ve been tossing up whether to pursue the self-publishing or trad publishing route and I really haven’t decided yet, so I’m keen to hear about more options.[/quote]

KDP stands for Kindle Direct Publishing. It’s Amazon’s self-publishing platform. 🙂

[quote quote=85346]Also, I would say, I (and a bunch of other trad published authors) wouldn’t recommend going with a publishing house without getting an agent. An author I went to see recently spoke about how publishing houses can take advantage of you, especially in the form of contracts. This author didn’t have an agent when she first started out (she does now) and she was a lawyer, but she mentioned how confusing some of the contract stuff was and how she just signed it, without really thinking about it.

Anyway, just something I learnt which I’d never thought about before.[/quote]

Hm… That’s definitely a good thing to be aware of. As someone who’s primarily an indie author and who very much values my creative freedom and whatnot I’d intend to read contracts verrrry carefully, but it’s still definitely important to keep in mind, so thanks for bringing it up. 🙂

Speculative fiction author. Mythology nerd. Singer. Worldbuilding enthusiast.

[R.M. Archer]

(It’s bugging me that these quotes aren’t displaying right. ;P)

Speculative fiction author. Mythology nerd. Singer. Worldbuilding enthusiast.

[Anonymous]

@seekjustice 😁 This is quite enjoyable for me as well!

Thought I’d add my opinion… KDP is all online, DIY, no human/robot/recording interaction, no contracts, no confusing stuff at all. You sign into Amazon like you do to order something, go to the KDP page, upload a PDF book, create or upload a cover, type in some info, and you’re pretty much done after that. In fact, if you go to the Amazon home page and scroll all the way down, you’ll find the button that says “Kindle Direct Publishing.” Click on that, and it’ll take you to a video you can watch that explains it all.

With KDP, your book is released in a day or two, sold on Amazon worldwide, can be distributed to bookstores (if you want and if they request it), is available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited (if you want), and you get 40% can 60% royalties. (It depends on how you set up your distribution and stuff–40% worldwide, 60% in America–due to translation and currency, I’m sure.) You can make a paperback and eBook simultaneously now (as in, you couldn’t two days ago), through Kindle Create, which you can download onto your PC. It’s pretty easy to use, but you can also use an already formatted PDF or Docx–eBook only–instead. Then, of course, Kindle has Cover Creator, but the stock photos are pretty crappy. I suggest uploading your own cover–also super easy. There are also marketing options, but they cost. Goodreads is owned by Amazon, so that’s entwined as well.

And…yeah, I’m TMIing you, aren’t I? If you have any more questions, please ask! I personally think that KDP is one of the best routes you can take, even up against traditional publishing. It’s the Random House of the future, if you know what I mean.

Good point about not having an agent, though–didn’t think about that. The contract issue is why I didn’t want to go with trad in the first place (although I tried, to no avail). Plus, I mean, who would’ve signed a contract with a 13-year-old? A 15-year-old with several books under their belt, maybe, but in the beginning? Nerp.

(And, yes, everyone, nerp is a word. I made it up, a year or so ago, maybe.)

Also, I’m sorry, but I am just so in love already with the sound of your series. Does it have a name? Will you want betas? What’s the name of your MC? (I want to know; I’m obsessed with names. Is it a play on Jeanne?) Will there be any romance? (Had to ask. Obsession. And I really need another word for that…) Will you do one on Grainne O’Malley? Who else are you for sure doing? (Don’t mind me, I like to ask questions. Obs–never mind. 😆)

 

@r-m-archer According to my resources, Tor does accept queries, but I don’t know how long that will last.

I do hope it’s a good plan. I mean, if all of my nonexistent research is correct, it should bring about desired results. I’m just not very tech/media savvy. (I’m a time-traveler from the Stone Age, but that’s all rather hush-hush.)

Oh, I won’t be jumping into anything so soon, that’s for sure, but covers are my most favorite part (yes, I’m one of those “judgmental” people, but I prefer the term overly observant 😆) about books in general, so… To sate my cravings, if only for a moment, I think I’m going to update the very crappy covers of my short stories, so, that should help.

Well, I wouldn’t say she does marketing (she’s actually the coolest stay-at-home mom ever), but the degree does make her seem more professional. There’s only so much you can do without spending a million bucks, though, so most of it’s my own brainstorming–as in, no billboards, no radio/TV ads, nothing in the New York Times, unfortunately.

To be honest, I’m finding now (I wasn’t always like this), that editing is probably one of my strong suits. I mean, I mentally edit other people’s books as I read for enjoyment, and I don’t mean typos. I mean line edits, word by word, sentence phrasing, totally revamping plot and characters. It’s bad. I’ve had to chain myself to the wall to keep from editing my debut novel (for the third time). Which is why I’m going to take it slow and edit BAD about ten times before I publish it.

Your covers look great, by the way! For pro design, I’d suggest Roseanna White Designs. She did the cover for Prisoner at Heart (my second novel), and, by George, I think it’s one of the prettiest covers I’ve seen–at least out of the ones made from stock photos and Photoshop. (And, no, I’m not biased!) I’ve done my shorter works–and I technically did my debut novel–but I do not have the skill whatsoever to even attempt my novels–not if I want people to actually look at them, let alone buy them.

Well, merch hadn’t even been a thought in my head until I learned that Redbubble existed (why I didn’t know about it beforehand, I blame on the Stone Age), so that will most likely be my preferred outlet. I’m just gonna have to work on my design skills first. It’s definitely something I want to invest in, especially (more hopefully, I guess) for a little extra income since I make, like, only $0.90 a month.

Spread the word, girl! Oh, and do you have any suggestions for the cake? I’m thinking either a stack or books or a typewriter. (The typewriter’s a classic). I’m more of a chocolate/fruity fan, but what do you say?

*wipes sweat from brow* Okay, I’m not the only one–good. Admittedly, there’s not much on me to stalk. Anyway, you’ve got more than one text review on each of your books, so that automatically means you have at least a 500-person readership, in my mind. (This is coming from the girl with only family members’ reviews on Amazon and zilch on Goodreads.)

Sign me up, yes! I would be super happy to have a chance to read it! (I would’ve liked to have done betas for Bound and Determined, but it just so happens to be the third in a series, so… And then Tell Me No Lies won’t be coming out until, probably, sometime at the end of next year or beginning of 2022, so… I am making a list for TMNL, though.)

 

[SeekJustice]

@r-m-archer @gracie-j

Of course! I know all about Kindle Direct Publishing, I just can be very thick and didn’t realise that’s what KDP stood for 😛

I know, the quotes are really bugging me too.

@gracie-j

Haha, no worries! I like talking about my books. My main characters are called Mere and Roe and they are based on Jeanne Baret and William Dampier respectively. I did try to come up with a play on Jeanne, but it didn’t turn out, so I just went with Mere because I liked the sound of it. The name Roe comes from the name of Dampier’s most famous ship though, the Roebuck.

Yes, there is romance 😉

I haven’t heard of Grainne O’Malley so I can’t comment, but I promise I will look her up and decide. Also, so far the only other book in this series that has got a first draft is called Wattle Fires, and it’s a retelling of Marie Antoinette. It’s got a whole tag on my blog (An Ordinary Pen) so if you want to read a bit about it, you can do so 🙂

I’ve got a few women I’d like to do, but nothing set in stone, including Joan of Arc, Boudicca , Clara Schumann and a bunch of other women I’ve got written down somewhere but have forgotten at present.

 

INFP Queen of the Kingdom commander of an army of origami cranes and a sabre from Babylon.

[Anonymous]

@seekjustice I do so like the sound of Mere myself, actually. Romance–yay!!! 😋

Grainne (or Grania, or Grace) O’Malley was the pirate queen and dubbed by some the “queen of Ireland.” She was politician during the time of Queen Elizabeth and a pirate captain. (She’s awesome…just not my namesake.) I’m currently trying to raise awareness for Grace O’Malley, since most people think of Bonny and Read when they think of female pirates–but they weren’t captains and they weren’t cool. Sorry, but that’s me for ya.

Cool! I’d toyed (but only barely) with the idea of a story based on Joan of Arc, but it never got anywhere. And Boudicca–definitely a keeper! I will definitely keep up with your series!

[R.M. Archer]

[quote quote=85351]Oh, I won’t be jumping into anything so soon, that’s for sure, but covers are my most favorite part (yes, I’m one of those “judgmental” people, but I prefer the term overly observant 😆) about books in general, so… To sate my cravings, if only for a moment, I think I’m going to update the very crappy covers of my short stories, so, that should help.[/quote]

I might have to adopt “overly observant” for myself, too. XD Whoever said “Don’t judge a book by its cover” either had never seen a truly awful book cover or was just extremely optimistic. XD XD Updating covers is fun! 🙂

[quote quote=85351]Well, I wouldn’t say she does marketing (she’s actually the coolest stay-at-home mom ever), but the degree does make her seem more professional. There’s only so much you can do without spending a million bucks, though, so most of it’s my own brainstorming–as in, no billboards, no radio/TV ads, nothing in the New York Times, unfortunately.[/quote]

Yeahhh, same here. ;P

[quote quote=85351]To be honest, I’m finding now (I wasn’t always like this), that editing is probably one of my strong suits. I mean, I mentally edit other people’s books as I read for enjoyment, and I don’t mean typos. I mean line edits, word by word, sentence phrasing, totally revamping plot and characters. It’s bad. I’ve had to chain myself to the wall to keep from editing my debut novel (for the third time). Which is why I’m going to take it slow and edit BAD about ten times before I publish it.[/quote]

*nods* It’s hard to turn off, isn’t it? XD I do the same thing. Not so much with plot and characters, usually (I judge those more than I mentally fix them, lol), but with anything on the sentence-level I’m constantly shuffling things around and fixing errors and thinking about how would have been the most effective way to communicate X and… XD

[quote quote=85351]Your covers look great, by the way! For pro design, I’d suggest Roseanna White Designs. She did the cover for Prisoner at Heart (my second novel), and, by George, I think it’s one of the prettiest covers I’ve seen–at least out of the ones made from stock photos and Photoshop. (And, no, I’m not biased!) I’ve done my shorter works–and I technically did my debut novel–but I do not have the skill whatsoever to even attempt my novels–not if I want people to actually look at them, let alone buy them.[/quote]

Thanks! I’m pretty happy with them, myself. ;D Well… except the short story collection that has a super boring cover. But that’s as much an issue of story organization as of design, lol. (There’s really no unifying theme among the stories in that collection, aside from that I wrote them all. XD)

I’ll have to check out her work! I’m thinking to get watercolor art for the backgrounds of several of my book covers, but there are others that would be better-suited to more… “modern” covers? I don’t know how to describe it, lol.

That’s kind of where I’m at, too, lol. Short stories are somewhat easier, I find, because there’s less story to convey? So it’s relatively easy to choose an element to focus on and then create a cover based on it. Novels, on the other hand… Specificity can often be a big thing, and harder to achieve with amateur graphic design skill. 😛

[quote quote=85351]Well, merch hadn’t even been a thought in my head until I learned that Redbubble existed (why I didn’t know about it beforehand, I blame on the Stone Age), so that will most likely be my preferred outlet. I’m just gonna have to work on my design skills first. It’s definitely something I want to invest in, especially (more hopefully, I guess) for a little extra income since I make, like, only $0.90 a month.[/quote]

*nods* It could definitely be a great investment.

(Now you have me thinking more about the merch potential of my currently-released books and I might have to go do some brainstorming. XD)

[quote quote=85351]Spread the word, girl! Oh, and do you have any suggestions for the cake? I’m thinking either a stack or books or a typewriter. (The typewriter’s a classic). I’m more of a chocolate/fruity fan, but what do you say?[/quote]

Ooh, typewriter. And chocolate is always a winner. A full-on classic cake. ;D

[quote quote=85351]*wipes sweat from brow* Okay, I’m not the only one–good. Admittedly, there’s not much on me to stalk. Anyway, you’ve got more than one text review on each of your books, so that automatically means you have at least a 500-person readership, in my mind. (This is coming from the girl with only family members’ reviews on Amazon and zilch on Goodreads.)[/quote]

*cracks up* Yeahhhh, not quite to 500 yet. ;D Hopefully one day! Soonish! I’m really hoping for Calligraphy Guild to do well. I want to spread my excitement. XD

How do you get people to review on Amazon? It seems like all of my readers review on Goodreads and only a tiny fraction of them also review on Amazon. Which, as a reader, I also tend to do, but as an author I kind of wish more people would review on Amazon and bump me up in the algorithm. 😛 (I try to remember to review other people’s books on Amazon, too. Although I don’t always succeed.)

[quote quote=85351]Sign me up, yes! I would be super happy to have a chance to read it![/quote]

Cool! ^-^ Here’s the landing page.

[quote quote=85351](I would’ve liked to have done betas for Bound and Determined, but it just so happens to be the third in a series, so… And then Tell Me No Lies won’t be coming out until, probably, sometime at the end of next year or beginning of 2022, so… I am making a list for TMNL, though.)[/quote]

*nods* I haven’t gotten the chance to work with betas much yet. I haven’t gotten a whole lot of books to that stage, despite years of trying. ;P But it’s awesome when you do get the chance! ^-^

Speculative fiction author. Mythology nerd. Singer. Worldbuilding enthusiast.

[Author]

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