Monday, August 29, 2011

Proofin' It

Ordered the proof copies for Leonard on Saturday. HOORAY!!! Granted, I'm a little behind on my goal of making that happen by the end of last month but hey, it's done.

What happens next? I'll get the proofs back by Tuesday 9/6 (I'll post a picture when they arrive) and then get copies to friends for a FINAL error check. After the (hopefully) minor fixes are completed and my talented cover designer Mike Wykowski makes some tweaks, I'll upload the FINAL manuscript and cover files to Createspace. They'll check them for proper formatting, etc., and send me an email saying everything's cool. Then, I will push the "approved" button and at some point within a week or two of doing that, the book will be officially published and listed on Amazon. The Kindle and Nook editions will soon follow.

When will all this happen? I'm hoping it will be sooner rather than later but if you insisted on a more specific time frame  I'd tell you "by the end of September...ish." In the meantime, I'll be playing with a new ebook generator created by my author friend Keith Robinson (he's written a fun fantasy /adventure series called Island of Fog which I heartily recommend). I'll also be working on generating things like postcards and bookmarks as the finalized media become available.

By the way, I've mixed the title around a little, changing it to Dragonfriend (Leonard the Great, Book One). I think this is a cleaner and the single word sounds cooler, imho, and will read better in the Amazon thumbnails.What do you think?

UPDATE: Just got an email from Createspace telling me that my order has already shipped!

Monday, August 22, 2011

I'm a Platform-Building Campaigner

I just ran across a fun project by author/blogger Rachel Harrie called the Writers' Platform Building Campaign. The beauty of the idea is in its simplicity -- support other authors who in turn will support you. Not in terms of cash (sadly), but as blog/twitter/fb/website followers and new like-minded online author pals. Rachel writes:

"There are so many of us out there. Aspiring authors, bloggers (whether established or beginning), industry peeps, even published authors, all of whom want to build their online platforms. We write insightful posts and articles, actively blog within the blogosphere, take part in challenges, competitions, and contests galore.

We have the passion and the drive to make it, but…we could all do with a bit of support.

So I started thinking. What if we link all these people together? What if we create a way to meet people in a similar position, people who genuinely want to help build our online platform while at the same time building theirs? People who want to pay it forward in the spirit of writerly writerness and blogging beautificity (and see it come back to them in turn).

And so, my Writers’ Platform-Building Campaign was born."
 Sounds like a nice way to meet new friends so I'm going to give it a shot (the Campaign runs from August 22nd to October 31st). If you're an author/blogger who's looking to build your "online platform," maybe you should, too!

Monday, August 1, 2011

The Vortex of Doubt and Self-Loathing

Are you an author who suffers from TVDSL? I know I am. Check out Claire Legrand's excellent post on the one surefire way to banish it from your thoughts.

In other news, I'm on track for ordering proof copies by the end of this week (and by saying that, have guaranteed it won't happen until next week or later). Got to fix a medium-level story flaw pointed out by my excellent editor, Darren, and have the cover tweaked by my excellent graphic artist, Mike.

In other other news, I got nuthin'.

Eater of the Dead: A Dragon Friend Excerpt

Just in time for Halloween! Check out a featured Dragon Friend excerpt on the BestSelling Reads blog: "The spooky season is upon us! H...