Friday, December 19, 2014

Living Your Characters

Today I thought I'd talk about something I'm sure ever writer does: living your characters.  At least, I really hope all (or at least most) writer's do this and I'm not - well - a little bit crazy.

I bought these boots a few months ago:


I wanted them for three years.  They are beautiful white Mukluks by Manitobah and they are so warm and cozy.  But part of the reason I wanted them was because of a certain character.  Her name's Elloxa and she wears white fur and she lives in an epic fantasy world that I created.

It took me three years to be able to afford her boots, but I found gorgeous white mittens a number of years ago, which make me feel like this character every time I put them on.  Wearing white winter fashions isn't the only thing I do to live my characters.  In Elloxa's case, I think about her journey, and perhaps even pretend I'm on whenever I'm forced to go out in the freezing cold.  When I curl up in bed at night, sometimes I pretend I'm her, going to sleep in a cave, ice cat by my side.

In the case of Nessa, the main Character in my book, Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, I've been known to hang out in the mall like I was 16 again, talk to the ocean in my head, and try to heat water with the power of my will (it has not worked yet).

I think it all just shows how much these characters are me, are a part of me, and live within me - at least until I get them on the page.

Which characters do you love to live, whether they're yours, or someone else's?


Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Language Pet Peeves

This is kind of a rant, so if you're not in the mood, click "Next Blog" at the top of this page...


On the radio the other day, as I was driving my son to daycare, there was a song.  Not surprising since it was the radio.  It was early, I wasn't really listening, but then, like nails on a blackboard, some lyrics struck out at me. 

Cheap perfume.

Is it just me? Am I an idiot?  Because I don't feel there is one smell for cheap perfume.  I have no idea what this would smell like.  Also, I'm pretty sure I've smelt cheap perfumes that smell pretty darn good.  And make me sneeze less than the expensive ones.  So is this a good thing or a bad thing?

This is - for sure - the exact kind of writing all my books and courses and mentors have taught me to avoid.  So it just bugs me.

At least I didn't read it in a book, because that think would have been dropped off at the book exchange bin immediately!  (And only because I would never burn a book!)

End Rant.

Monday, December 8, 2014

GoodKindles Post and Sales Summary

Well, the weekend has come and gone.  On Friday, the posting for my self-published novel Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch went up on GoodKindles.  At the top of the posting I included that I would be doing a Free Book promotion on Decemeber 6th and 7th, expecting this to generate more give aways than usual.  But as you can see from the chart below, this was not the case.  The first green spike shows the amount of give-aways from earlier in the month, when I did the promotion unassociated with any postings.  The second green spikes are the days advertised on GoodKindles.


In conclusion, it appears that GoodKindles didn't do much to increase the success of a Kindle Free Book promotion and/or the effectiveness of Free Book promotions decrease the more often you do them. 

What I'm taking from this is that it's no longer worth it for me to sell only on Kindle Select.  I've been exclusive now since the end of April 2014.  I think it's time to branch out in the self-publishing world and try SmashWords.  First, though, I'll have to wait for my Kindle Select time to expire.


Friday, December 5, 2014

The Posting on GoodKindles

Here's a link to the post on GoodKindles for Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch:

http://www.goodkindles.net/2014/12/tales-of-redheaded-sea-witch-young.html

In connection with the posting, I'm doing a free ebook promotion with Kindle December 6th and 7th! Get your copy free while you can.

Happy Weekend All!


Thursday, December 4, 2014

GoodKindles Posting and Self-Publishing Marketing Update

So I figured out what I did wrong with GoodKindles:  Unlike kBoards,  GoodKindles requires you to send your own right up of your book, and they request that it be different than the blurb already on Amazon.  Since I didn't send that in with my payment, they were waiting on me.  Guess I should finishing reading the instructions....

This reminds me of an exercise we did in my grade four class.  The teacher handed out a surprise test.  Kids moaned, complained, tried to get out of it.  I took the paper, looked at the top, did a question, and then my eyes drifted back to the top.  It read:  Instructions:  1.  Read all instructions first.  2.  Use only pencil.  3.  Print all your answers.  4.  You do not have to do this test.

Yep.

Remember: instructions are important.  Especially in Self-Publishing marketing, apparently.

But, the good news is, the blurb for Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch should be up on GoodKindles tomorrow.  This is an except from the confirmation email I finally received:

     Hello,

     thank you very much. We have received your book submission. 
     It will be approved and will appear on Goodkindles in about 
     6-24 hours...