Tag Archives: publishing

Polarizing Perspectives

Let me preface the following post with this: I will never criticize someone for not liking my book. People who have read it are entitled to any opinion they please. It’s totally okay if someone wants to tell me they didn’t like it. Of course, it’s also okay if someone wants to tell me they did like it. But anyway…

I don’t get many reviews for my novel, but this week I just so happened to receive two, and I couldn’t help but be amused at how perfectly they complimented each other. The first reviewer said they disliked the beginning of the book, but enjoyed the ending more. The second review liked the beginning, but disliked the ending.

It helped to remind me that everyone has different opinions, tastes, likes and dislikes. You will never please everyone, and if you try to you will end up pleasing no one.

I think it is important for writers to keep this in mind. A writer is going to face a lot of rejection and criticism throughout their career. You just have to keep it in perspective.

 

 

My kind of clubbing

Today I was invited to attend a book club to talk about HTDC. It was quite strange to sit down with a group of people who had read my book and had their own thoughts about it. I’m still not used to the idea that other people know about Lycia and co, but it was also quite exciting and rather insightful. It’s funny though, everyone wanted to talk about the meaning of it all when really I just want to know silly things like whether or not people hoped Aster and Lycia would hook up.

And now I’m going to look into entering HTDC into the Aurealis Awards while continuing to wait with baited breath for an email that I’m hoping to get which I won’t tell you about yet in case nothing comes from it but trust me when I say it could be quite a big deal if something DOES come of it.

(ooooooh mysterious)

 

Harper Voyager and the Popped Publishing Cherry

Harper Voyager, the sci fi/fantasy imprint of Harper Collins, is opening it’s doors to unsolicited submissions for a limited time during October. It seems to be a growing trend for major publishers to do this sort of thing, usually for digital only releases (as is the case here).

I’ve noticed that these cheeky little submission windows all tend to give similar guidelines, and one thing that they all seem to specify is that they don’t care if you’ve previously self-published the book.

This flies in the face of a lot of stuff you read on the Internet about the preciousness of preserving your novel’s first rights.  People think that the moment you publish something in any form, no one else will ever want to touch it. I’ve even seen someone admonish people for posting their writing on blogs, telling them that doing so will render the work worthless to potential publishers.

Maybe things used to be stricter, but times are changing. There are so many avenues now for writers to share their work that it would be unrealistic to expect everyone to just keep their written princess  locked in a tower until Major Publisher Prince comes riding in to take them away. At the end of the day, all they  really care about is not having to buy the rights off a third party. If a self-published author still holds all the rights, it shouldn’t really matter what they have done with the work in the past.

Slut shaming is wrong, even for books.

if you would like to submit to Harper Voyager, go here. You have until 14 October 2012. Good Luck!

My Self-Publishing Experience (so far)

It has been almost three months since my little novel left the nest. Sales have been slow, but I’m overjoyed by the positive responses I’ve received (you can read reviews at Amazon, Amazon.co.uk, and a particularly cool one by Jeff Clough).

It’s hard to find a balanced opinion about self-publishing. Indie authors will tell you that they are the future of  the literary world and anyone who uses a publisher or an agent is a conservative dinosaur on the brink of extinction. Traditionally published authors will tell you that indie authors are a bunch of entitled amateurs who were too shit to get a publisher or an agent so they were forced to publish their drivel themselves.

Nothing in the world is as black and white as that.

So here is what I have learnt so far from my self-publishing experience. I’m not pushing an agenda for either side. I’m too bitter and cynical to believe that much in anything.

 

Lower your expectations, A LOT

You are not going to get very many sales. However reasonable you think your interpretation of “not many” is, it will still be much less than that. Once all your friends and family buy a copy, your sales will slow to a geriatric snail’s pace, to the point where you can’t even tell if the snail is alive.

The people who find the most success with self-publishing are the people who crap out another book every few months and garner momentum through their sheer prolificness. I think, in many cases,  it’s about quantity rather than quality. It took me eight years to perfect my book. I’m not about to rush the next one.

 

Extroverts, extroverts everywhere

I kind of assumed that all writers were quiet little introverts like me. I assumed we would all shyly shuffle our books forward, lower our eyes and fidget uncomfortably while the world gently took our babies away from us, and we would smile quietly to ourselves and experience a moment of peaceful introspection.

I was wrong, the extroverts write too. And they do it loudly, waving their hands about and insisting on everyone’s attention. They will get book sales, not because their books are necessarily better, but because they force people to notice them. I once had a girl at a concert lean on me  because she thought I was part of the wall, so getting noticed is probably not my strong suit.

 

Tits or GTFO

Before I self-published, I thought that romance novels were nothing more than faded Mills & Boon in the bargain bin at the second hand bookshop. I had no idea that romance novels were such a huge industry. That shit is EVERYWHERE. It’s not just restricted to the romance genre, it’s invaded everything else as well. Just try to find a contemporary fantasy novel that doesn’t double as a romance novel  Everything has to have romance now.

This leads me to the conclusion that we need more women in control of producing good quality feminist porn.  That way, women could still get the satisfaction they need, while leaving some room in the bestseller list for the rest of us.

 

Circle-jerking

There is a lot of “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” amongst indie authors. You can write reviews for their books in exchange for a review of yours. You can tag their books and they’ll tags yours. Every time I get close to buying into that mentality, I end up feeling dirty. I mean, thanks random stranger for retweeting my tweets, but it sounds like your book is some kind of conservative right wing racist fantasy, and I can’t in good conscience return the retweeting favour.

On the flipside, I’ve heard of indie authors leaving one star reviews for authors they perceive to be their competition. Between that and the trend for authors to give themselves a bunch of fake five star reviews, Amazon reviews have been  rendered pretty much useless to discerning customers. Which sucks, because I’ve received some genuinely good reviews.

 

It sounds like I’m being overly negative, so I’ll sum up with this: Despite the crap that comes with it, self-publishing is still worth it. My book was never an easy sell to publishers – it’s too weird and doesn’t have obvious  mass-market appeal. By self-publishing, I can allow my book to find its audience in its own time. Now I am in control. It’s a slow journey, but every little sale and every little review feels incredibly huge.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by everyone telling you what you should be doing with your book, how to do it, when to do it etc. But you have to filter all of that out and do what feels right for you and your book. Just because we are all indie authors doesn’t mean we all have to follow the same path. It was following different paths that made self-publishing possible to begin with.

Sweet Success

It’s now been a full week since I published my novel. Sales are trickling in at a slow and steady pace, and people continue to be extremely supportive, presumably because they haven’t reached the really fucked up parts in the book so they aren’t scared of me yet.

I had a little book launch party with family and friends, which was kind of a weird experience for me because I haven’t had a party since the days of pass the parcel and musical chairs. I really enjoyed it though, especially this spectacular cake!

That’s my book cover rendered in chocolate! Completely edible, completely delicious.

I hope the coming weeks continue to be successful for my little book. There is still a lot of work to be done in terms of promotion,  but for now I’m content to take a well-earned break from words. I’ll worry about becoming a best-seller later.

After the sugar high has passed…

The First Week, So Far

 

It’s only been a few days since I uploaded my novel to Amazon (you can buy it HERE) but already I’m very happy with how it’s going.

I thought it would be scary, putting my little heart and soul out there for anyone to download, but I actually feel incredibly at ease. It’s only in hindsight that I see how miserable the editing process had made me. Now that the book is out there, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. The misery was worth it though; I’m confident I have put out my best possible product.

Everyone has been very supportive.  Friends have been ferociously reblogging,  retweeting and facebooking. Entire workplaces have been inundated with emails. I’m pretty sure half the Queensland Government has been notified through their various departments now. Thanks everyone!

I’m going to focus on getting reviews for now. But I only want REAL reviews. I’ve been hearing some awful accounts of indie authors creating multiple fake accounts in order to give themselves a heap of five star reviews. I’ve also seen authors vilify reviewers who have given them a negative review. I don’t want to take part in any of this bullshit. You are allowed to dislike my book. You can even hate it if that’s how you truly feel. I’m prepared to take the good with the bad and I’m not going to embarrass myself by getting in a huff about it.

It’s going to be a long and rather slow road, and I won’t be quitting my day job any time soon. But I knew it would be like this. I’ve never really expected to be a best seller. What I would like, though, is a little bit of cult status. I would love this book to really mean something to people, even if it’s not many people. I want people to connect with it, to see themselves in it, and take comfort in the knowledge that they are not alone.

And then I want them to cosplay as my characters at conventions and write dirty fan fiction!

 

 

HTDC is available now!

How To Disappear Completely is now available to purchase from Amazon.

Click here to buy!

 

Thank you so much to everyone who has followed the blog, tweeted and facebooked with me over the past few months. Your support has been wonderful. As an indie author, I don’t have the benefit of a publicist or marketing team, so every like, retweet and reblog from you guys is a great help and I really appreciate it.

If you enjoy the book (or even if you didn’t but have something interesting to say about it anyway), please consider leaving a review, either on Amazon, Goodreads, or on your  own personal blog. Word of mouth is worth it’s weight in gold, and the more people are talking about HTDC, the more likely it is to succeed.

Thanks again. I hope you enjoy your trip down the trapdoor to the darkest corners of your mind.

How To Download How To Disappear Completely, Completely…

 

With the grand launch of HTDC only five days away, I thought I would do a little bit of a guide so everyone can easily buy a copy on May 20.

Presenting: How To Download How To Disappear Completely, Completely (HTDHTDCC).

At this stage, HTDC will be available as an Kindle ebook exclusively from Amazon. You’ll be able to buy it from any Amazon website (Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, and Amazon.it).

It will cost you only $2.99 U.S, and if you’re an Amazon Prime member you will be able to rent it for free!

If you don’t have a Kindle ereader, don’t worry! There are free Kindle apps for iPads, iPhones and Android phones.  If you don’t have any of these, you can download Kindle for PC for free, so you can read HTDC directly on your computer.

So, there you have it. One  place to buy it, lots of ways to read it!

 

Leaving The Nest

After eight years, countless edits, one failed publisher and numerous mental breakdowns, How To Disappear Completely is finally complete. In two weeks time, it will be available on Amazon for the whole world to read, and it will only cost you $2.99.

 

I am both elated and absolutely terrified.

 

From the moment this book is uploaded, it will cease to be mine. It will belong  to the reader. My intended meaning will become irrelevant. Instead, it will take on new meanings for each person who reads it. I hope it will mean something very special to them. But I cannot control that. Some people will dislike it, maybe even hate it. I cannot control that either.

 

As I wait for May 20 to roll around, I’ll begin sending out press releases and review copies.  If you would like a free copy to review on your blog, Goodreads or Amazon, send me an email at htdcnovel@gmail.com.

 

For now, I’m going to sit back and enjoy not editing anything for the first time in about six months. I might even leave the house…

 

Infrequently Asked Questions

I wanted to do an FAQ, but no one has actually asked me any questions.  So I decided to a pre-emptive FAQ containing questions that people might ask me once the book is actually released, WHICH IS ONLY TWO WEEKS AWAY BY THE WAY OH MY GOD MY BRAIN IS CRYING!

 

So here you are: questions you have never asked me, so you will never have to.

 

Is this a young adult book?

Well, yes and no. The characters are all young adults, dealing with young adult issues. But there are some extremely dark and mature themes in the book, so it is probably not suitable for people below 15 years of age. If you think you can handle it though, go ahead!

 

Is this a paranormal book?

If you define paranormal as being beyond the scope of normal, then yes. But there are no sparkly vampires or shirtless werewolves, if that’s what you’re asking.

 

 Why are you self-publishing?

I never intended to go down the self-publishing road. When I finished writing HTDC, I shipped it off to every possible publisher. I got a few nibbles, and eventually was picked up by a small independent publisher in the U.S. I was absolutely thrilled. But things didn’t work out. After a year of slow progress, I was told by the publisher that they would not be able to publish me after all. A few months later, the publisher went bankrupt.

The thought of starting the query and submission progress all over again was unbearable, so I decided to just go ahead and do it myself.

 

Why is your book going to be in ebook format only?

Printing copies is not particularly financially viable, and I’d like to keep my first print rights intact just in case a publisher takes a shine to the story somewhere down the track. You don’t need to have an ereader to read HTDC though. If you have a smart phone or an iPad, you can download the Kindle app for free.

 

Is the title a Radiohead reference?

Yes. I was really into Radiohead as a teenager, when I began writing this book. But Radiohead actually got the title from a book by Doug Richmond, which was a step-by-step guide on how to change your identity and disappear without a trace. Titles aren’t protected by copyright.

 

So, which character are you?

This is not an autobiography. None of the characters are supposed to be me. There are bits and pieces of me and other people throughout the whole story, but nothing close to a whole representation. Even when I’ve used names of people I actually know, the characters aren’t supposed to be those people. I just liked the names.

 

I don’t “get” the story. What does it all mean?

It means whatever you think it means. The story belongs to you now. There are no wrong interpretations.

 

No, really, what the hell does it mean?

You’re one of those people who wrote to Christopher Nolan to ask whether Cobb’s spinning top fell over at the end of Inception, aren’t you.