Category: Celebrity

Crafty

#books, #design, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Abnormal, Art, Celebrity, Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Learning, Marketing, Novel, Promotion, Sci-fi, Sewing, Stress, Time, Writing

Tucson Comic Con is rapidly approaching (27 days), and I have gained too much weight to wear any of my cosplays. Bummer, right? Well, I found a compromise the other day, and yesterday I made something new.

I only spent about nine dollars on the zipper, thread, and button–much less than if I’d decided to make even one new cosplay! There are a couple of mistakes in the apron, but they’re small mistakes and nothing I can’t live with. Plus, with making it myself, I was able to alter the pattern and make a ton of pockets for markers for signing my book. 🙂

I used a pattern I found on Pinterest, and I’m happy with the results. Crafty Staci I think was the name of the woman who came up with the design. Great tutorial, great design.

So far that’s the only real prep I’ve done for TCC. I need to bust butt getting books ordered and setting up my PayPal reader with my phone and figuring out how much change to bring for cash. Every time I think I have all the plans solidified in my head, new things pop up. I’ll get there, though. And this experience will prepare me for future cons and appearances.

Excelling…or am I?

#books, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Abnormal, Celebrity, Critique, Fandom, Geek, Interview, Marketing, Novel, Promotion, Sci-fi, Social Media, Stress, Time, Work, Writing

So I thought I was doing pretty well with contacting authors, podcasts, and book bloggers about Abnormal. I mean, I’ve been following along with the Marketing 101 assignments that my publisher has been putting out in the Facebook group, I’ve been researching places to contact, I’ve been documenting my contacts…so why is it that, when I input the contacts I’ve done into an Excel sheet, I’ve only contacted about twenty people/businesses??

I guess reality is not the same as perception sometimes. I’ve got a list of five more book bloggers to contact today, but I’m a little discouraged at how dismal my personal efforts have been. I want Abnormal to succeed, so why am I slacking?

Well, part of it is just life. I get busy (or I get too sleepy in the mornings), and I forget. Or I say I’ll do it after work. Or something. Regardless of the reason for the slackiness, I need to step it up. Get cracking.

My efforts look so much more impressive when they’re scrawled in a composition book or date planner. I guess I write much bigger than I realized. Lol

I just have to tell myself that I can do this. I’ve got a form email saved for sending to places, I’ve got a list started of places to contact, and I am looking every so often for more places. I’m less overwhelmed than I was previously when it comes to finding places to send requests for reviews/interviews to, but I still don’t feel like I’m doing enough.

On the plus side, I got my author copies in this past weekend, and they look great. I mean, I’ve seen the paperbacks when I did my signing at the local bookstore, but it’s cool to have a copy to carry around, and the hardcover looks great, too. 

Ain’t they a beaut? 

I guess I should get off the blog and get to the blogs. Er, book review blogs.

Not very con-tagious

#books, #design, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Abnormal, anxiety, Art, Celebrity, Convention, Crafting, embroidery, Fandom, Geek, Mental Health, Novel, SCA, Sci-fi, Sewing, Sleep, Stress, Time, Work, Writing

I went to a gaming convention the last two days–a small one–but I spent most of the time, er, not gaming. 

I had intended on playing games, but I only played one the whole day and a half I was there. It was a fun game, but I got peopled out pretty quickly. Thankfully, my friends were gracious enough to give me a copy of their hotel room key so I’d have a place to escape from the crowds. It was nice. I took a solid two-hour nap today. That was really nice. 

Tucson Comic Con won’t give me that luxury. I’ll be there, and I’ll be stuck. I think it’ll be okay though. I’ll be behind a table surrounded by my books. I’ll have a barrier between me and them.

I got a lot of progress done on the embroidery for my husband’s Viking hood this weekend though, and I’ll get more done tomorrow. I won’t get done, but I’ll maybe get from a quarter of the way done to maybe a third or even halfway done.

Book 3 hasn’t gotten any more written yet. I am still waiting for the alpha readers to finish their feedback on Book 2, so I don’t want to get too far and have to rewrite the whole thing like I had to do with Book 2.

Hopefully soon things won’t be so stagnant. I feel like I’ve been neglecting this blog because I haven’t had anything to say. Work is work…oh! Except I got a new certification… now I’m a certified medical laser safety officer. I’ve done an audit and everything. So yeah. There’s that, and then work is work.

Things will pick up once I get back to work on Book 2 and once Tucson Comic Con gets closer.

One down, three to go

#books, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Abnormal, Celebrity, Convention, Cosplay, costuming, embroidery, Fandom, Geek, Novel, Sci-fi, Time, Writing

The embroidery is done!

For now, that is. I still have one small project and two large projects ahead of me, though, so my reprieve is short lived. 

The book signing went well. I can’t remember if I mentioned that, but the bookstore sold over half of the twenty four copies I brought for them. Not too shabby for an hour and a half at a tiny store in a tiny town.

It was pretty cool signing my book for people. I signed a few copies of Whispers of Death when friends brought me theirs, but this was my first time making an appearance at a bookstore to sign a book. I enjoyed it, and I need to get busy planning how many books I need to order for bringing to Tucson Comic Con.

Sadly, I probably won’t be able to cosplay for TCC. I’ve gained too much weight. I don’t think I’ll fit any of my costumes, and there’s no way I can lose enough by then.

Oh well. I’ll still have a great time. 

Sign of the times

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Today’s the day! My first official book signing. 🙂 So far I’ve known everyone who came in, but I’m still happy that my friends and family are supporting me and Abnormal.

Aaaand I just spent ten minutes typing stuff on my phone and deleted the block of text. Clearly not enough caffeine today. Lol

This is a fun time. I can’t wait for Tucson Comic Con! I’d better learn to write shorter notes in the front of the cover if I’m going to be signing books at the con.

A case of excitement

#books, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Abnormal, Celebrity, Convention, Cosplay, costuming, Exercise, Fandom, Fitness, Friendship, Geek, Health, Novel, Sci-fi, Stress, Time, Weight loss, Writing

Tomorrow’s a big day for me in my publishing journey, and I can’t wait!

I have my first book signing scheduled at a local bookstore, complete with a case of books to take with me. I’ve got my markers and pens all bagged up, and I’ve got a ride to the store (my husband will have the car this weekend for an SCA event). All set–just have to make it through a busy Friday at work.

I gotta admit, I was kind of practicing my autograph a little bit when I went through my colored gel pens to find out which ones worked best. I mean, I can’t have a pen die on me mid-signature, right? And, even though my signature is atrocious and in no way legible, I want to be sure everyone gets a good one. And yeah, I’m fully aware that probably the majority of people showing up tomorrow will be friends who could easily get an autograph whenever they want–it’s the thought that counts.

Today at work is going to drag. Yeah, I’ll be busy as all get-out, but at the back of my brain my mind’s going to be at the bookstore. 

I’m also reminded today that there are only 49 days until Tucson Comic Con, where I will have a table to sell and sign books. I need to start saving up to bring some books with me; a case of books is not cheap, even for the author discount. Lol I was hoping to be able to cosplay, but I fear that life has gotten in the way of exercising the past six months or so, and my, er, size might not be the same as it was last year when I last cosplayed. In fact, I’m pretty darn sure I won’t fit any but one of my cosplays–certainly not enough to get me through the whole weekend. Oh, well. My own fault, I guess, for not making the effort to keep up with my workouts when I couldn’t make it to work out with my friends.

That’s okay; I’ll just be glad to be at my table, meeting new people and selling Abnormal to potential fans of the series. 🙂

Working off the clock

#books, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Abnormal, AMA, Celebrity, Critique, Fandom, Geek, Interview, Learning, Marketing, Novel, Promotion, Q&A, Reading, Sci-fi, Social Media, Stress, Work, Writing

As I am rapidly discovering, publishing a book is a lot of hard work–even after the book is published.

You don’t just release the book like a dove at a wedding and expect it to fly. You’ve got to keep promoting, keep looking for influential people to read and (hopefully) review it, keep seeking opportunities to speak publicly about the book, keep going, going, going.

I’m am eternally grateful for the time and attention that RhetAskew Publishing gives to its authors. I’d be floundering without a clue if they weren’t willing to listen to my frustrations and explain things to me, and even on occasion provide a bit of help. Don’t get me wrong: they don’t do all the work for me. I’ve got to take responsibility in getting this ship off the ground.

So far I’ve contacted probably ten or twelve different authors, bloggers, podcasts, and others to offer them copies of the book to read or offer an interview about the book or what have you. Not many bites, but that’s okay. I’m a no-name author at the moment; my fifteen minutes hasn’t come up yet. That’s okay, though. As the meme says,

Yep, that’s my master plan. Sell the books, become famous, and live a life of luxury.

Ha! Just kidding. I just want my story read. The fame and (ideally) fortune are just pleasant side effects of that story being read.

One five-star review on Amazon so far, with another one pending (Amazon takes a couple days to approve reviews, but this person sought me out to tell me they posted a review). Not too terribly shabby.

Yeah, the bad reviews will inevitably come as well. It happens. But I will just hold my head high, chalk it up to differences in taste, and keep on truckin’.

And keep on searching for influencers, and keep on contacting them, and keep on offering copies, and keep on suggesting interviews, and….

Well, back to work!

The books come marching, one by one

#books, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Abnormal, Celebrity, Critique, Fandom, Geek, Novel, Reading, Sci-fi, Writing

It’s begun! People have started posting pictures of their copies of Abnormal online!

Okay. One person has. Still… That means shipping is in effect, books are arriving at mailboxes and doorsteps, and people are going to start reading.

There’s one person in particular who I admit I am more anxious to hear their opinion than others (though everyone’s opinion on the book matters)…

A NYT bestselling author told me that she bought my book.

That’s right. Darynda-fucking-Jones. Yeah, she might not get to it for a wile, but she bought my book. Didn’t ask for a free copy, she bought it. I was fangirling for half a day over this.

It’s pretty cool to know that people are buying my book, that they’re starting to get it in their homes, that they’re starting to read it.

This has been one amazing journey, and it’s only going to get better. 🙂

And then there were three…

#books, #design, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Abnormal, Art, Celebrity, Drawing, Fandom, Geek, Marketing, Novel, Promotion, Reading, SCA, Sci-fi, Social Media, Time, Work, Writing

Yep, Book 2 is in sleeper mode while I wait for alpha readers to be ready (the one I’ve found so far wants to read Abnormal first, and I don’t blame him), so it’s on to preliminary notes for Book 3. I have at least four to five books total from Clare’s point of view brewing (counting Abnormal and Book 2), with more to come from….well, spoilers. 😉

With Book 2 drafted, edited, revised, and resting, I can now focus on what I want to happen in Book 3. Of course, with the nature of writing, sometimes the characters end up making things happen that you didn’t originally want. That’s why I’m a quasi-pantser; I kindamaybesorta outline a bit, but basically I’m winging it. Let the characters do what they do, and just try to keep up with them.

Once the sun comes up (which will be quite some time away yet), I’ll have SCA illumination assignments to work on. I’ve procrastinated enough with all this book work, and I can’t just wait until the last minute. A couple of scrolls to trace and paint, then I can get back to whatever I was doing. Living in the past, writing in the future. It’s how I roll.

The book release parties went pretty well. Despite few interactions on the “virtual” party, the numbers for my Facebook author page skyrocketed. I need to work on a plan of action to keep those numbers up and to keep my followers engaged–and to have more people following.

Twitter has taken off as well, with more followers, more likes, and more comments. Several people have expressed interest in reading Abnormal, which has me beyond excited because the majority of my Twitter followers are people I don’t personally know. Don’t get me wrong; I appreciate it when friends and family are willing to buy or support the book, but when strangers do it it’s kind of invigorating. Gets the ol’ writer’s blood pumping.

My first review is up, and so far I’m at five out of five stars. The reviewer friended me on Facebook earlier to tell me how much he enjoyed Abnormal, so I knew I’d be getting a good review, but still it’s nice to see those five yellow stars all lined up in a pretty row.

Off to work on Book 3 now, because an author’s work is rarely truly done. 😉

Four

#books, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Abnormal, Celebrity, cover art, Crafting, embroidery, Fandom, Geek, LGBTQ, Marketing, Novel, Promotion, Sci-fi, Sewing, Social Media, Stress, Time, Work, Writing

Four. More. Days. This post originally said five, but somebody may have gotten slightly distracted by her work on Book 2 yesterday and neglected to post that day’s countdown. Or for some reason, it didn’t actually post to the site until this morning. Regardless (barring another snag in posting), it’s four days until Abnormal’s release.

Hey, look, I made it bigger than Sunday! Yay for small victories in figuring out how to post on this new site. Lol

I’d say I’m super excited, but right now it doesn’t feel “real.” I feel like, I don’t know, like four days is forever away. I mean, I’ve got a mostly-full work week, I’ve got Book 2 revisions in full swing, and I’ve got a few pressing embroidery projects that have to get done. It’s so surreal.

This is happening. This is really happening. I’ve written a book, it’s being published, and people who don’t know me want to read it. They want to read it, and they want to read the book I’m working on now.

Mind. Blown.