Indie Hop - IndieView with Rebecca Hamilton

I am a Reader, not a Writer and Krazy Book Lady are hosting an Indie Hop today where you can find awesome indie author books highlighted all over the net. Other linky's are at the bottom of the post.

Today, I have a quick interview from Rebecca Hamilton (also known on Twitter as Ink Muse. She is the author of the bestselling occcult book, The Forever Girl and repped by Rossano Trentin of TZLA (Italy). 

First a little about her bestelling book, The Forever Girl. It is a "NEW ADULT" book - the genre we keep hearing does not exist :) (yeah right)

At twenty-two, practicing Wiccan Sophia Parsons is scratching out a living waiting tables in her Rocky Mountain hometown, living under religious prejudice, the shadow of her bi-polar mother, and an unsolved murder.

Sophia can imagine lots of ways to improve her life, but she'd settle for just getting rid of the buzzing noise in her head. When the spell she casts goes wrong, the static turns into voices. Her personal demons get company, and the newcomers are dangerous.

One of them is a man named Charles, a centuries-old shape-shifter who Sophia falls for despite her better judgment. He has connections that can help her unveil the mystery surrounding her ancestor's hanging, but she gets more than she bargains for when she finally decides to trust him. Survival in his world, she learns, means not asking questions and staying out of the immortal council's way. It's a line she crossed long ago.

If Sophia wants to survive the council and save the people she loves, she must accept who she is, perform dark magic, and fight to the death for her freedom.

The Forever Girl is a full-length Paranormal Fantasy novel that will appeal to lovers of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, witches, vampires, ghosts, paranormal mystery, and paranormal horror.

Hi Rebecca, tell us about you and your book

Me? I'm married, have two songs and a daughter (all homeschooled at presented), 2 cats, 1 dog. Autism has touched my family's life, so it's something I often advocate for. My first novel, The Forever Girl, is a genre mash up of urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and mystery. It's about a young wiccan woman who is trying to end a family curse, but instead uncovers secrets about her family's history and the supernatural history of her world.

As most of us indies, we all have publishing stories. What has been your publishing journey?

Well, nothing special here. I had some close calls with publishers in the states, but nothing went through. Readers who had already sampled my novel wanted it published, so I published initially for that small audience. While I was at it, I invited more people to read, and, in time, things sort of just fell together. It wasn't long after that that I was contacted by my now-agent, Rossano Trention of TZLA in Italy.

I see you have an agent. How is it working with an agent as a self publishing author?

It's great! It's probably a lot like working with an agent when you haven't self published, only while you wait around for a deal, you are making money. He's handling my book overseas, so I get to keep rights in the states, which I'm happy with for now.

What do you see as the "must-haves" in promoting books?

Getting people to read them!

What is your favorite word and why?

'Yes.'

While I also really like the 'no', and everyone should be able to say it, I know I often feel good in situations where I CAN say yes or where people say yes to me. It feels good to hear 'yes'. 

Can I have a bite of your chocolate cake? Yes. 

Can I have a few hundred dollars to go on a shopping spree? Yes. 

Can you wake up with the kids so I can sleep in? Yes.

Is it always a great word? No. I mean, I certainly wouldn't want someone to say yes, they are going to kick me in the face. But overall, 'yes' has been good to me. 

You can find Rebecca hanging out online at FB, twitter and her blog

Comment today and win an ebook of The Forever Girl!

Here is a list of other links celebrating indies you can check out this week.

IndieView: Tracy Marchini

Today, Tracy Marchini stops by to talk to us about her indie journey....


Tracy, tell us about yourself

I worked for four years at a Manhattan literary agency before leaving to start my own editorial business and focus on my own writing.  

I'm currently agented by Michelle Humphrey of Martha Kaplan Literary, and am working on a picture book starring one of my favorite animals - ducks.  (I would say cats are my other favorite animal, but I've discovered that really, my own cat was my favorite animal and everybody else's cats were usually just alright.)  I've been accepted for publication into Highlights Magazine, published a few of my own works and managed to slip a duck story into Adams Media's anthology, BAD AUSTEN: The Worst Stories Jane Never Wrote.


I feel the same way about my dogs and kids :) Tell us about your writing and your latest book.

My latest full-length book is, alas, duck-free.  

HOT TICKET is a contemporary middle-grade mystery that stars Juliet Robinson, the only sixth grader in John Jay Jr. High who hasn't received a "hot ticket" from the mysterious ticket dispenser. When one of the dorkiest kids in school - Crammit Gibson - receives a ticket before she does, Juliet decides that the ticketing system has to stop. With the help of her best friend Lucy, a Daria-esque Madeline and her almost-crush Crammit, Juliet is determined to climb a few rungs on the middle school social ladder and catch the ticket dispenser once and for all!

Sounds adorable. Can you tell us more about the publishing journey behind this?

Paul McCartney might describe my publishing journey as a "long and winding road."  (Or he might just say, "Tracy who?"  One of the two.)  

Anyway, I started writing young, and received my first picture book rejection when I was about fourteen.  Luckily, my mother had started her journey about a year before, so I had someone to explain that a first rejection is more like a right of passage, than it is physical proof that you suck.  I started going to writers' conferences, and that's how I eventually ended up with an internship at a literary agency, which led to my full-time job at an agency a little later.  I continued to write while working at the agency, and was lucky enough to get feedback on my work from some wonderfully talented authors while I was there.  

HOT TICKET was actually inspired by one of my colleagues, who had explained that the same way I had used the term "cool points" and "negative points" in high school was the way that kids in Chicago would say "hot ticket" or "shame ticket."  On lunch break I started writing the first chapter of Hot Ticket - where these terms became physical entities - and within six weeks had the first rough draft.

Then it was revised.  And revised.  And revised.  And revised.

I worked on it with a few agents, and received lots of positive feedback from editors.

I went to France for a month on a writer's retreat, and worked on other projects.  A few months later, I published PUB SPEAK: A WRITER'S DICTIONARY OF PUBLISHING TERMS.  And a few months after that, I thought - I could do it with a small, non-fiction book... why not put HOT TICKET out there?

And so I did. 

::Whoosh:: Long and winding, right?


Better than what mine was for a while - Another One Bites the Dust :) What made you make a move from agenting to self publishing?

I enjoyed learning everything I could about contracts, but eventually I realized that I didn't want to be an agent.  

In terms of traditional publishing versus self-publishing, I aim to be a hybrid!  I enjoy the nimbleness of indie publishing, but I would also enjoy the visibility of traditional publishing.  My agent and I are working on several projects, with most right now aimed towards the traditional market.  But for things such as my Effie Stories, which are funny, contemporary YA short stories, I think indie is still the way to go.

Who knows though - Amazon has changed what it means to be indie, and they could do it again.  Or somebody else could.  And then it makes sense to reevaluate which projects are better where.


Sometimes it can be scary or exciting, depending on the day and Amazon's mood. What would you say are your top three pros and cons about self/indie pubbing?

Pro:

- Can quickly change covers, prices, etc. to take advantage of current marketplace

- Can publish a variety of work that may not fit into the traditional marketplace

- More readers are looking for inexpensive reads

- Everything is up to you

Con:

- Visibility is largely out of your control

- Larger companies make decisions based on their long-tail, and your terms are always subject to change

- Assumption of poor quality

- Everything is up to you 


Those are so true! Especially that last one. Where can we stalk you online?

I'm at www.tracymarchini.com, on Twitter as @TracyMarchini and on Facebook.  Also, you can check out my Hot Ticket (Middle Grade Mystery)  page to download printable hot tickets to give to your friends!  My books are also available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and various other retailers.


Thanks for stopping by?


Feel free to leave any comments of questions for Tracy!

IndieView: Susan Bischoff (Talent Chronicles)

Today, Susan Bischoff stops by to talk about her indie experience:


Tell us about yourself

I’m just a girl who wants superhero romance! Is that so much to ask? Why must it always be a tragedy? Why does Angel walk away? Why did Wonder Woman go back home after the end of season 1 and WWII, then come back, work with Steve Trevor’s grandson, and still not hook up? Seriously! And let’s not even talk about Superman Returns, okay? Let’s. Just. Not. 

Tell us about your Talented series

The Talent Chronicles is about teens with supernatural abilities in a world where those abilities are illegal. These are kids trying to figure out who they are, while at the same time trying to hide it to avoid arrest by a government agency. The series also has strong romantic elements--because that's what I like. So far, the series has been about a seventeen year old girl named Joss, who has been raised by a very protective dad who has discouraged her from making friends in order to keep her ability a secret. When a new girl at school decides to befriend her, and won't take no for an answer, Joss's world is opened up to new experiences, friends, a boyfriend--and a whole lot of trouble.

How did you get started on your self pubbed journey?

I had become frustrated with the negativity surrounding traditional publishing, to an extent that it didn't seem worth pursuing any longer, and I put writing aside entirely to concentrate on other creative pursuits. When I learned about ebook publishing from some writer friends, it seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. I jumped in and went back to work. 

What advice do you have for authors looking at self-pubbing?

Take your time and understand that it's probably going to take time to get where you want to be. Even most traditionally published authors support themselves in another line of work until they have several books published. So don't be upset when you can't buy a new house in the first year. Seems obvious, but somehow a lot of people seem to focus on a few uber-successful outliers and fail to realize there are outliers in any field. And also on the subject of taking time, take time to make sure you're putting out the best work you can. Find someone who will actually tell you what you need to know about your work instead of what they think you want to hear. There's nothing more valuable than a good critique. 

What is next for you?

Right now I'm working on the third Talent Chronicles novel, Heroes Under Siege. Not sure when that's going to be ready.  

What is your favorite word? What is your least favorite word?

My favorite word is enchanting. 

Least favorite is a bit harder and what comes to mind is the word challenge used when it's really a problem.

What are your new years resolutions for 2012?

I call those New Year's Intentions--to take a bit of the pressure off. This year's Intentions include--but are not limited to--keeping my sink clear of dishes, writing more regularly and working on discipline rather than sporadic inspiration, spending more time with real life people, doing more with my daughter, keeping off the weight I've lost, and I have quite the list of decluttering Intentions. 

You can follow Susan on Twitter, Facebook, or her blog

You can also purchase Talent Chronicles (Hush Money) at Amazon or B&N

Indie-view: Michelle Davidson Argyle's Monarch

Michelle Davidson Argyle stops by to discuss her indie publishing journey.

She is the author of several books including Monarch (love the cover) that was just released. She started out as a self-published author and her new book was picked up my Rhemalda Publishing. You can read the first 2 chapters here.

Nick’s life as a CIA spy should be fulfilling, but it has only given him unhappiness—a wife who committed suicide, and two daughters who resent everything he has become. Now, stuck in the Amazon on the last mission of his career, he must track down Matheus Ferreira, a drug lord and terrorist the U.S. has tried to bring down for years. If he succeeds, he’ll have the chance to start his life over again.


Just when Nick is on the brink of catching Ferreira, he’s framed for a murder that turns his world upside down. His only chance of survival lies in West Virginia where Lilian Love, a woman from his past, owns the Monarch Inn. He’s safe, but not for long…

How did you started in self publishing?

I started in self-publishing not because I wanted to necessarily start in that spot, but because the project I was working on at the time was one which I knew was not a good fit for breaking into traditional publishing. When I started Cinders, it wasn't long before I realized it would only be a novella and that it was something I'd like to publish all on my own. Essentially, I wrote the book to self-publish it, and I wasn't intending on it to be anything but a fun little project. I had bigger plans to break into traditional publishing down the road, but things turned out a little differently than I expected! I'm now with a small press that I love, and they've signedCinders as part of a three-novella collection titled Bonded, to be published fall of 2013.

What were your biggest lessons learned throughout your publishing career?


My biggest lesson learned is that my publishing journey does not have to be like anyone else's, nor does it have to move quickly. I really like where I'm at right now, starting small and enjoying myself. I have my whole life to grow my career, so it makes no sense to get impatient for huge things to happen. I think it's the small things we enjoy the most that are where real happiness lies.


Can you tell us more about your new publisher?

Rhemalda Publishing is an independent small press based in Washington state. Rhett Hoffmeister is the president and one of the nicest people you will ever meet. I love Rhemalda Publishing because one of their main goals is to make sure that a book doesn't ever end up unsatisfactory to the author even though it goes through every process that a book with a huge publishing house goes through. I have say over my cover, editing, even the interior layout as all of that happens. They care deeply about each and every book, and it shows. 



What are your five favorite things?

My family, food (cheese, sushi, Greek, and curry), reading, the smell of autumn (fall leaves, chilly air), and creating things like art and books.

You can follow Michelle on Twitter or Facebook or Goodreads.

Guest Post: Elle Strauss (Clockwise)

Okay so the very best part of jumping into indie publishing is all the wonderfully sweet people that have reached out to me and who I have a feeling will be the beginning of a long friendship.


Elle Strauss is one of those. She has dropped by today to give us some advice about indie publishing.


Tell us about you and your book journey

My book is called CLOCKWISE, a YA rom/com about a teen time traveler who accidentally takes her secret crush back in time. Awkward.

I began this book four summers ago, on and off and once I'd had it read by beta readers and did about a thousand revisions I began querying. It took a few months to land an agent and Clockwise went out on submissions. I was so excited. It was finally happening! I had an agent and surely a book deal was right around the corner.

Wrong.

Who can explain these things, but sometimes worthy books don't find a home. It could be a case of missing the "trends" or a recession, or game changing technology. (Or, as in my case, all of the above.) Once I caught on that indie publishing was proving to be a successful option for many authors, I decided to give it a go. 

What do you think is the hardest thing about indie publishing?

Shouldering the pressure to succeed alone. (Or feeling like you're alone.)

What is your biggest advice for indie publishers?

Community! I love that we are a collaboration, not competitors. People will buy my book AND yours. When we help each other, we help ourselves.

What do you like to do outside of writing?

Besides reading and hanging out with friends and family? I like to hike, bike and do yoga. I also like to watch movies and certain TV shows. (Ahem, Castle, anyone?) 

What is the biggest mistake you have made in publishing world?

What was a mistake for me may not be a mistake for another author. I hired a third party to format and upload my book for me instead of doing it myself. Hiring to save time and effort is not a bad idea except with this company I couldn't make changes after it was uploaded, or track sales, which I found to be important information I needed in order to assess my marketing efforts. I didn't realize this when I made the decision. I have since formatted and uploaded the files myself, and it wasn't that big of a deal. For some reason I'd come to believe that formatting was this big, hard, thing, when it's not, really. 

If you could travel in a Time Machine would you go back to the past or into the future?

I think we'd all love a chance at a do-over in some part of our life, wouldn't we? I'd like to do high school over. I'd focus on my grades and my friends, instead of boys. I wouldn't care so much about what people thought of me and I definitely wouldn't get that PERM. 

What's the craziest writing idea you've had?

Well, I had this crazy idea to write a companion book for CLOCKWISE, which I'm totally doing now. I have half of a first draft. I plan to finish it during Nanowrimo, not as an official entrant, since it's half written, but just to ride on the nano energy, and git'er dun.

If someone wrote a book about your life, what would the title be?

Oh, that's easy. LATE BLOOMER. 

You can also see Elle on Twitter and Facebook.

Marketing lessons with Terra Elan McVoy (author of The Summer of Firsts and Lasts)

Terra Elan McVoy is the author of three

outstanding books: Pure, After the Kiss, and her new release, The Summer of Firsts and Lasts.

Not only is her writing so flavorful, but her covers are totally delicious.

Today, she stops by to share some marketing lessons she has learned after publishing three books.

Summer of Firsts and Lasts is about t

hree sisters. One life-changing summer.

Calla loves summer because summer means Duncan. They’ve been best friends for years, but Calla has never worked up the nerve to tell him how she really feels. This summer, the summer before college, is Calla’s last chance.

Violet isn’t much of a rule breaker in real life. But this isn’t real life, this is summer, and Violet is determined to make the most of it. Besides, a little sneaking out never hurt anyone. And sneaking out with James is 100% worth the risk … even though James is completely off-limits.

Daisy has never been the sister that boys notice, but when sparks fly with Joel at the first bonfire of summer, it seems so easy and right. So why is being his girlfriend so complicated?

==========================

In a nutshell, - what is your publishing story? How did you get published?

As you probably know, the journey to publication is different for everybody. Mine was a little long and winding, in that I really have been writing for most of my life, and studied it seriously in high school, college, and even in grad school. I didn’t get interested in YA until I was working as an editorial assistant in New York, however (that’s where the idea for Pure came from). Because I was in publishing and new a lot of editors, I talked to them about my idea (about a girl trying to manage both high school and being a person of faith); their responses encouraged me to keep working on the manuscript. When I moved to Atlanta, I stopped working on it for other things, but a year later, an editor remembered my idea and approached me about it. I slaved over the outline and the pitch, and she took it in to acquisitions, and they signed me up! The short version sounds so easy! But really it was almost two decades in the making.

What do you think are the 3 main things that work well in marketing your books?

I’m actually kind of terrible at marketing. Simple word of mouth has been such a huge boon for me, really. So writing the best book I could possibly write has been one “marketing” tactic that I’ve really aimed for; if it’s not good, after all, people won’t pass it along. Having relationships (genuine, organic ones) with other writer friends has also been a big help; meeting other authors, interviewing them on my blog, going to their events—just building a community of good writers around me has been really fun for me. Beyond that, the basics of blogging and tweeting and F’booking and doing events has also been a part!

What is the biggest mistake you made with your marketing?

Like I said, I didn't do much marketing. So THAT for me is the biggest mistake. I think I could have done more to try to help my publisher out in the beginning, and wish I could continue to do more. Coming up with smart ways to do that—things that will be effective and not too much of a time suck—is always really tough.

What is something creative you have done to market your newest book?

To celebrate the release last week of The Summer of Firsts

and Lasts, my friends at Little Shop of Stories threw a truly awesome Camp Extravaganza party for me since my character as actually at

summer camp. We had ice cream (all three flavors on the book cover, or course), camp crafts & games, plus a fantastic talent show that included some of the members

of the girls book group I lead, the local improv troupe, D.U.C.K Improv, plus my friend, Vincenzo Tortorici and my own husband’s

fabulous magic trick! (I read as part of the talent show too.)

It was terribly fun and fabulous (especially having made Camp Callanwolde t-shirts beforehand). All in all, a terrific weekend! You can see pictures of the event at my web site.

What are the 3 main lessons you learned between marketing book 1 and book 3? What do you do differently for this book that you didn't do before?

The main thing is that you really do have to DO it. You have to get out there and get involved in the conversations, let people know who you are and what you’re doing. It’s tricky, for me, to do that and not seem too pushy, but not doing it at all is a big mistake.

The important thing is to find a way that is really authentic to you. Since I love talking to kids about writing I have really tried to reach out more to schools and do more workshops; but for some other writer that might not be as comfortable.

I love talking to bloggers and other writers, and that’s been useful for me, so I try to do more of that. I wasn’t Tweeting before at all, but now I’ve found a way to do it that fits. That’s what the learning process between Pure and The Summer of Firsts and Lasts has been—finding ways to be “out there” that are still comfortable and genuine.

What do you think are the 3 most important things any writer can do to write the best book they can write?

One big important thing is to not be focused on the outcome. Worrying about “will this sell” and all of that really takes away from the writing, which demands a LOT of concentration and time. Reading everything you can possibly read in the same genre –finding what’s already out there and identifying what you like and don’t—is also a huge help. Taking your time also matters a lot: taking time with characters, with developing the world, with examining all your sentences, with revising and revising . . . writing a masterpiece is not short work!

What is your favorite word and why?

What a great question to end with. I love “crepuscular,” because it is just such a fun word to say, but also because it describes that twilight time of day when the sky is half blues and half peaches: warm and cool at the same time. It’s a lovely word—a transitional word—and I just always feel this delightful peace and calm when I say it. It evokes the thing it means, at least to me!

You can follow or learn more about Terra at her blog, twitter or Facebook.

In other news, check out more Bookanista posts today!

Elana Johnson marvels at Moonglass

Christine Fonseca raves about It’s Raining Cupcakes

LiLa Roecker and Carrie Harris have a passion for Possession

Beth Revis admires the audiobook of Anansi Boys

Carolina Valdez Miller is giddy over Moonglass – with giveaway

Megan Miranda swoons over Strings Attached

Shana Silver delves into Divergent

Sarah Frances Hardy gabs about Gossip from the Girls Room

Matt Blackstone is tantalized by Bad Taste in Boys

Stasia Ward Kehoe glories in a guestanista review of The Rendering

Part 2 - Cheryl Klein (Second Sight Giveaway)

Last week, Cheryl Klein stopped by to talk about her new book, Second Sight, An Editor’s Talks on Writing, Revising, and Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults.

Part 1 aired last Thursday.

This week, in Part 2, Cheryl talks more about the editing side of her career.

Let's get started.

Cheryl, in addition what are the top 3 reasons you reject a book?

Not necessarily in order:

1. I don’t find the characters or their conflicts all that interesting.

2. The narrative voice annoys me, and therefore I don’t want to spend two years listening to it. (Most likely because of broadcasting, as above.)

3. It isn’t something that I think I can publish effectively, either because I don’t think it’s very good, or because there are a lot of books like it already in the market, or because it’s not really an Arthur A. Levine Books type of book (meaning it will do better published as something other than a literary hardcover book).

Can you give us an idea of day in the life of Cheryl Klein?

I get up between 7 and 8, do all the typical morning stuff, take the B train from my neighborhood in Brooklyn to the Broadway-Lafayette stop in Manhattan, and arrive at the office by 9:30, where I have a cup of tea and check my e-mail. I deal with any fires there, then try to turn to the first thing on my to-do list—whether it’s negotiating a contract (which can involve a lot of talking to other departments) or writing flap copy or preparing for a presentation or line-editing a manuscript or examining proofs.

The day then alternates among those tasks, attending meetings, and continuing to deal with what comes in from our production department or over the phone or e-mail—though when I’m in the middle of a novel line-edit, that tends to subsume everything else for me, because I find the work so interesting and absorbing, and because line-edits take a while.

The last thing I do every night at work is write my to-do list for the next day, so that I have my priorities set and ready to go the next morning.

There are so many books on writing out there. What is your favorite book on plot? How about voice? (besides your own of course :)

My favorite book on voice, by far (and character, too), is Orson Scott Card’s Characters and Viewpoint.

The book on plot from which I’ve learned the most is Aristotle’s Poetics, which I read for the first time in college, but I was really lucky to have a great professor teaching me the significance of all the jargony theoretical statements in the book (the edition we read, anyway).

I also like The Fiction Editor by Thomas McCormack, which is also jargony, but says some really useful things about the larger points toward which plots should work.

What is the one piece of advice you would give a writer who keeps getting so close but doesn't make it?

Figure out what (1) your two greatest writerly strengths, (2) your favorite subject to read about, and (3) your two biggest weaknesses as a writer are.

Develop (do not yet start actually writing) a book that uses (1) to portray (2) and minimize (3). For instance, if you know your strengths are awesome characters and dialogue, and your favorite subject is romance, but you’re terrible at plotting and creating tension, come up with your awesome characters, but put them in a simple story that doesn’t involve a lot of tension—a love story with a straightforward central conflict that lets the characters do their thing.

Then get help with (3) to improve it as much as you can before you dive in; then write the book and revise it.

And have fun. When writers have fun, readers do too.

In the spirit of Actor's Studio, here a few questions for you. We'll call it Editors's Studio. First, what is your favorite word?

My boyfriend will tell you the word I say the most is “Meh” or “Feh.” The word whose sound I like the most . . . I’ve always been fond of “spackle.”

Wait, is that a word? :) Okay, how about the word you hate the most?

Hmm. Soundwise, I think I must have blocked this offending word from my mind, because I can’t think of one! Meaningwise, “failure.”

What is your favorite thing to do in your personal time (you cant say reading! :)

I love cooking and baking—the absorption of putting all these ingredients together in just the right quantities, the ability to listen to music or NPR while I work, the deliciousness that results, the pleasure of serving it to others (sometimes!) and eating it.

And lastly, what profession other than yours would you like to attempt?

In the realm of reality, I think I really would enjoy being a professional baker. In fantasy, I’d love to sing and dance in a Broadway musical. Both of those professions are about being part of a community and making other people happy through your work, and those are two of my greatest satisfactions in being an editor, too.

Thanks Cheryl!

Comment and your name will be entered into a drawing for a copy of Second Sight by Cheryl Klein.