Sunday, May 15, 2016

Moving Over To My Own Domain

Just a quick note tonight, I've finally decided to spend what little money I'm earning selling my books on my own domain name and WordPress. You can now find me here

jehunter.com

Nice, easy, and simple. Now, just to get everything organized the way I like it.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

That Kind of Day

Rainy, rainy, rainy. I suppose it's the first rainy day in Saskatoon this spring, but all it's making me want to do is go back to Vancouver for a hot coffee and donut at 49th Parallel. Mind you, that's a bit too far to go for just an afternoon, so I'll stick with my typing and green tea. Just a quick update today about all the projects I've got going on. I'm still plodding away at Twisted Currents. I'm getting into a new schedule thanks to having to go back to my day job as my paid leave is over. I still have a lot of time for writing but it's a different kind of schedule. I'm also slowing paddling along on Half-Moon Blood, the novel I'm writing exclusively for WattPad. I really wish I could make this move faster, but unless I suddenly no longer require sleep, that just isn't going to happen.


I've been trying to read, but I'm terribly behind on Heir of Fire, as I just haven't had any time lately. I'm also simultaneous reading Queen of the Tearling, which is lovely and a much more advanced read than Heir of Fire. Both are wonderful. Both I would like to finish tonight. I wish I could just step into some kind of time stasis where I could finish a book, and then step out of the circle and not have lost a minute in the real world.

My cat, of course, is making all of this difficult by insisting on sitting on my chest. If it wasn't raining, he could go outside, but the grey drizzle had made everything quiet and tired and slow today. We had soup for lunch and we'll have something equally hot to chase the chill away tonight. Then I'll pile on the blankets for bedtime.



In case you missed it last week, today is the last day that Windbound will be offered for free on Kindle through Amazon. This is a prequel novel to my young adult Black Depths universe. It's got a bit of romance, some adventure, and a lot of action. Windbound is also more or a less a standalone story, so if you just like reading short things, this is for you. But if you like something longer, the first three books of the Black Depths four book series, are waiting for you on the Kindle store.


I hope your day is sunny and bright, whether the sky be blue or grey. We'll talk again tomorrow. 

J. E. Hunter is the author of the Black Depths Series. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, and Black Depths, the first two books of the series can be found on AmazonKoboiBooksBarnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The third book, Dark Shores, was released April 1, 2016. The fourth and last book of the Black Depths series, Twisted Currents, will be released in the fall of 2016.

Tuesday Writing Prompt

Pick one, or, if you're feeling energetic, do them all!

1) She walked along the beach, saw the abandoned bicycle and...
2) He left his bicycle beside a picnic table and...
3) The wind blew her into the water and then...



J. E. Hunter is the author of the Black Depths Series. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, and Black Depths, the first two books of the series can be found on AmazonKoboiBooksBarnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The third book, Dark Shores, was released April 1, 2016. The fourth and last book of the Black Depths series, Twisted Currents, will be released in the fall of 2016.

Friday, May 6, 2016

New Windbound Cover and Free Download

A few weeks back I designed my first ebook cover using ShutterStock. It was a pretty simple process and I came up with this amazing design. To celebrate, I'm releasing Windbound for free on Kindle for 5 days, beginning today. If you haven't started the adventure in the Black Depths world, now's your chance. Begin with Windbound, and continue with Sea-Witch.




J. E. Hunter is the author of the Black Depths Series. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, and Black Depths, the first two books of the series can be found on AmazonKoboiBooksBarnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The third book, Dark Shores, was released April 1, 2016. The fourth and last book of the Black Depths series, Twisted Currents, will be released in the fall of 2016.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Self-Pub Author Fails

So, now that I've posted about the release of Dark Shores, Book Three of my YA Black Depths Series, I'll share with you some of my biggest Self-Publishing Fails. And some of them are epic.


1. Not Posting/Blogging/Tweeting about your book on release day!

Big fail here. Why didn't I do it? Why did I hide my head in the sand instead of telling everyone I knew that I put another book out into the Universe? Well, this time, for book three, it was because I forgot. To be honest, it was completely the wrong week to release a book. If I could choose again, I would pick mid-April. But unfortunately, no one has come up with a plausible time machine yet, so I'm stuck. But not only did I not put out a release about my third book, I didn't do it with the first one either. My reasons for announcing book #1 was completely different, however, because that first time,  I was sure that Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch would magically sell a thousand copies on day one all by itself. I wouldn't have to lift a finger. Finger was not lifted. Book did not sell. If you want to sell books, you have to tell people that your book exists, that your book is awesome, and that they will seriously be missing something if they don't read your book—especially on release day. Don't just lift you little finger, lift your whole body weight x a million.

2. Not having amazing cover art from the start.

Recently, I finally hired a cover artist to redo the covers for all of the Black Depths series. This isn't just to increase my books discoverability, but because I want amazing cover art. I want a book that I will pet and stroke and hug as I fall asleep because it's just so darn beautiful. Also, the discoverability think would be nice too. Here's a comparison of the old and new covers for Broken Tide. I think the images speak for themselves.



3. Not Posting/Blogging/Tweeting about your book for a year after releasing it because you think it will sell on its own.

I pretty much hid my head for a good year after I initially self-published Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch. I'll call that the soft release. Last year, I finally decided to own up to it, and now I tell people that not only did I write it, but it's amazing. Seriously. Very chic.

4. Picking a release date and not making it.

I felt absolutely horrible last Monday. That was the day I'd told people I'd put the book out. But when the time came, it still was not ready. I was still fixing typos. People seemed to understand, but I could pretty much feel them plotting my death. Book Two ended in a cliff hanger. They were waiting for more. I let them down. I let my fans fall to the bottom of that cliff. Thankfully, I managed to finish by Friday, so I'm hoping not to many of them ended up a bloody mess at the bottom. Hopefully I got the inflatable mattress there just in time.

Still, to all my fans, I'm sorry!

5. Blushing and hiding your face whenever someone mentions that you've published a book.

Yeah. That's me. I didn't write that. Wait. You like it? Okay. I wrote it. No really. I did.

6. Having Typos on your back cover blurb.

I'm the kind of person who doesn't read cover blurbs. Most of the time I feel like they ruin the story. Apparently I don't read the back cover blurbs of my own books either. If you're like me, remember that there are people out there who do read the blurbs. And they will notice your typos.

7. Not providing Author contact information.

I know, sometimes it seems like a good idea to be able to hide from those who hate your book. But really, it's not. Even if someone doesn't like your writing, they may give you the kind of feedback that will make you better. You can always delete unwanted emails and messages. Or, you can send a courteous thank you email anyway.

Anyway, that's just a short list of some of the mistakes I've made. I'm sure there's more, so this post may end up with a part 2. But meanwhile, here's to the learning process.



J. E. Hunter is the author of the Black Depths Series. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, and Black Depths, the first two books of the series can be found on AmazonKoboiBooksBarnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The third book, Dark Shores, was released April 1, 2016. The fourth and last book of the Black Depths series, Twisted Currents, will be released in the fall of 2016.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

What's Up Wednesday

It's been a while since I've done a Wednesday Self-Publishing update. Well, this Wednesday is a big Wednesday. It's the Wednesday I go back to my day job.

Boooooooooooo!

It's not Monday's I dislike, it's Wednesdays. But my year of leave is up, and I'm not making enough money to pay the bills by writing, so I'll keep the great job that I have that can pay. The good thing is, I'm only working half hours, so hopefully I'll still have plenty of time for writing. So we'll see how that goes in the future. Meanwhile, if you've read my books and liked them, or haven't read them but read by blog, consider buying my books or recommending them to someone, or even writing a quick online review. All of this would go a long way toward helping me reach my goal of being a full time writer. I just need to make enough to pay the bills, folks.

In other news, I got the new cover for Broken Tide. Here it is:



Marvellous! Don't you agree? We've already started working on Cover #3 for Dark Shores.

What's new with you?

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Tuesday Writing Prompt

Pick a container. Where is it going? What's inside? Who put it there? Who will open it? How does it smell, feel, taste, sound?

Write for five minutes at least.