Drafts and Layers

 I thought it would be an interesting to discuss how authors might work on different parts of their story in different drafts. When I start a first draft, I generally have a sense of where I want to start and end and maybe a few bits in the middle. I still tend to discover most of my scenes and plot points as I write. (I guess no matter how much I try, I'll never be a full-on plotter.) In my first drafts, I tend to focus on story and dialogue. Description may be scant in the first draft. Since I'm a pantser, my second drafts often require a lot of work. I may change the scenes I initially wrote if I come up with something better. Often, details about the characters may change as well. I'm trying to be more mindful about the emotional aspect of my stories, both in developing character emotions and reader responses. Sometimes my work needs additional drafts before I feel it's solid. Then at that point I can focus on improving my sentences and word choices. The final pass is dedicated to removing typos and fiddling with the story until I get tired of it.

I think I write the way I do because it's easier for me to work on certain aspects of the story than others. I tend to be sparse in my descriptions because I feel more uncertain about them (in that I may make a mistake). I feel more confident about my dialogue, however, and it flows more easily for me. Hopefully as I keep writing and improving I can juggle more story elements in the first draft. I'm certainly more aware of them than I was as a beginning writer.

Do you feel that your first drafts focus more on certain story elements and others require more development? What are your story element strengths and weaknesses? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

 

IWSG: Why I Write

We made it to November 2020, everyone. By the time this post goes live, the election will be over, though we may not know yet who the next president will be or what Congress and the Senate will look like. I expect the coming winter to be tough, but hopefully next year we'll have a vaccine for Covid-19 and will be able to start rebuilding. In the meantime, best of luck to everyone participating in National Novel Writing Month! I have one novel to edit and three other projects to write, so I'm not starting anything new this month (I hope). Speaking of writing, let's talk about the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Here are links to their website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. Our hosts this month are Jemi Fraser, Kim Lajevardi, L.G. Keltner, Tyrean Martinson, and Rachna Chhabria. 

Here's our question for this month: Albert Camus once said, “The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.” Flannery O’Conner said, “I write to discover what I know.” Authors across time and distance have had many reasons to write. Why do you write what you write? 

I write for lots of reasons. I write to create the types of stories I want to read. I write to explore ideas and work out their implications. I write to make a mark on the world and hopefully nudge it in a better direction. I write to connect to other people. Yes, I would also like to supplement my income with my writing and gain recognition, but I think I would write even if no one else ever read another word I wrote. I write to give myself a sense of purpose and to escape the problems and monotony of everyday life. Writing has helped me cope with the crises of 2020, and I hope my stories have helped other people take their minds off their problems and find some enjoyment.

If you write solely for fame and fortune, you'll most likely be disappointed. You have to commit to writing for personal reasons. No matter how frustrating writing can be at times, I find it sustaining. 

Anyway, enough blogging about writing and back to actual writing/revising. If you'd like to share your reasons for writing, feel free to do so in the comments.

 

Writing By Hand

 I'm not sure if October is giving me tricks or treats when it comes to electronics. Last week, my laptop's sound suddenly stopped working. When I tried troubleshooting the computer, it died. It was nine years old (I got it the week I published Lyon's Legacy), and I'd already replaced the hard drive on it a few years ago, so it wasn't worth trying to repair it. Fortunately, I'd started saving up for a new computer last year and had enough for a mid-range computer (still a step or two up from my old one). I ended up purchasing my new computer from Costco and even got it on sale. Of course, I had to wait a couple of days for shipping, plus a couple of extra days before I received the notice I could pick up my laptop. 

What does a writer do when her main writing tool breaks? I have a netbook as a backup, but it runs on archaic software and is very unresponsive. Even if I wiped its memory and tried to restore it to factory settings, I don't think it would work with Windows 10, and I might not be able to use whatever version of Windows it originally came with. So I went old-school and satisfied my writing urges with pen and paper. Although I have a printout of the first draft of Murder at Magic Lake, I decided I didn't want to revise it manually, especially when I need to add new scenes. I ended up starting a new story in the Season Avatars world, one set after Summon the Seasons.

 Writing by hand is much slower than typing. My cursive is hard to read, and my printing isn't much better. (I'm left-handed, so that's my excuse.) I used a legal pad, and my goal was to write at least one page every night. The words came fairly easy, considering sometimes I struggle to find words when I'm typing. Each hand-written page was about 200-250 words. When I finally received my computer on Saturday and transcribed my story with a few minor edits, it was about 1,100 words. It doesn't seem like much for several day's work, especially when some writers can manage a thousand words an hour, but it's still better than not writing at all. The experience makes me wonder if I would have been a writer if I lived in a time when computer's weren't available. Of course, many other aspects of my life would be different as well.

How do you feel about writing stories by hand? Does it make a difference in your story flow? Do you find handwriting or typing easier physically on your hands? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Fall/Winter Projects

 As COVID-19 cases start climbing again in my region, I'm anticipating a fall and winter where we stay close to home. Our family hasn't trooped live since March (though I've done a couple of video and Zoom troops), we've cut way back on our normal seasonal activities (some of which were cancelled), and it's unlikely we'll spend the holidays with family. At least I have plenty to keep me busy.

Writing--Currently, I'm focusing on editing my first cozy mystery book, which I'm calling Murder at Magic Lake. The first draft was only 50,000 words, so I'm adding a new subplot to flesh it out. When I'm done, I'll see if I can get feedback from a few beta readers before getting ready to publish--probably either in January or February. I'm about halfway through Book 2 in that series (working title is Restaurants and Revenge), but I need to go back and change something before I continue. I also have one short story making the rounds of pro markets and am considering writing another for an anthology. Meanwhile, my urban fantasy trilogy and my Season Avatars series continue to simmer on the back burner. I usually end up taking a lot of vacation at the end of the year, so I will use some of that time to update my website, update my back matter in my books as necessary, and formatting my manuscripts.

Crochet--I'm planning to crochet blankets for my son, my husband, and myself. Currently, I'm working on my son's blanket, which will have red and black stripes. It's narrower than I expected it would be, but it can be as long as he wants. I'll probably make it between five and six feet. I still have to figure out patterns and colors for the other two blankets. Plus, I still have to finish making a fuzzy coat for a big Baby Yoda. I haven't made any crocheted characters for a while, so I should work on those again. I'd also like to make myself some slippers and maybe a sweater. 

Reading--I finally finished my hundredth book for the year. I changed my original goal of 150 books to 120, but I'll probably end up somewhere in the middle. I'm not sure how many books I currently have on my "For Later" shelf at the library, but it's more than enough to get me through 2021!

Other--These aren't really creative projects, but I'll probably continue to help my husband play through his extensive board game collection. It would be nice if my son was interested in joining us, but he has his own ways of staying busy. I plan to have him help cook our family dinners so he gets more experience in the kitchen. I'll also continue to experiment with nail art, bake scones and other treats, and hopefully learn more about birds over the winter. And if I really get bored, there's plenty of things in the basement to be sorted and gotten rid of.

I'm pretty good at finding things to do at home, even without the TV. In fact, about the only time I watch something is when I'm crocheting. What about you? Feel free to share your hobbies in the comments.

Book Apps

 This weekend, after over three and a half years, I finally upgraded my phone. It had very little storage, and even adding a SD card didn't help much. The screen was so badly cracked I could feel it through the screen protector. I'd also been having issues with the GPS for a while, and the phone was finally starting to have some connectivity issues as well. The main reason I held on to it for so long was the cost of upgrading, but some mid-grade phones just came out that made it more manageable. The customer service representative at the store tole me I could get six or seven years out of the new phone, but if I can manage at least four, I'll be content.

Now that my phone has more storage, I can download more apps. Of course there are a lot of entertainment apps for movies and games. However, I can also download more books for my Kindle app and can now use multiple library apps, such as Hoopla and Cloud Library. I also have an Audible account, but I personally use it for lectures more than audiobooks. Books are available in other apps too. Google Play offers them (I finally managed to list most of my books on their store this summer), as well as Apple Books and Kobo. I'm not sure if Barnes and Noble has an app, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. There are also apps that offer free books, but I'm not sure if all of those are available legally, so I'll avoid those.

Do you read books on a device other than a dedicated ereader? If so, what apps do you use, and would you recommend them? Feel free to share in the comments.

IWSG: I Wanna Be a Working Writer

Welcome to October, everyone! The world's become a much scarier place than usual this month, but if we support each other, we'll get through it. One way to support each other is to be part of The Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. 

Our hosts this month are Jemima Pett, Beth Camp, Beverly Stowe McClure, and Gwen Gardner.

Here's our question for October: When you think of the term "working writer," what does that look like for you? What do you think it is supposed to look like? Do you see yourself as a working writer or aspiring or hobbyist, and if latter two, what does that look like?

I'm going to address the second part of the question first. Until recently, working writers were traditionally published writers. They would write one or two books a year, attend book signings and conventions, and spend a lot of time talking with editors and agents. These days, I picture a working writer as an indie writer. She (the ones I'm most familiar with are all female) publishes multiple books a year in popular genres and knows the tropes that readers like. She doesn't do bookstore signings or conventions but may be active on social media and promotes her work herself. She may hire editors or cover designers, but she's the boss, not them, and she doesn't need an agent. 

At this point in my writing career, I'd have to consider myself an aspiring working writer, though the IRS would probably consider me a hobbyist. I'm a parent with a full-time job, which doesn't leave me with much writing time. (Between making masks for my family and participating in Vote Forward, I've given up a lot of time this year that I could have used for writing.) I only have six full novels out, but advice I hear from other writers indicates you need at least ten books before you start seeing significant income. I'm also a slow writer, both with writing a first draft and editing, and I'm contrarian enough to push back against popular tropes in my work. I may never get to the point where writing is my main source of income, but if I can gain a few fans who appreciate my work, I'll be satisifed.

I can't resist ending this post with the Beatles' song about a Paperback Writer:

https://youtu.be/yYvkICbTZIQ

What's your definition of a working writer? Are you one? Do you want to be one? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

 

 

The Allure of Shiny New Projects

 Last week, I discussed how I was engaged in several different projects as a way of coping with the pandemic. To be honest, I was juggling a lot of projects even before then. Part of the problem is I get interested in new projects before I finish the old ones. For example, this winter, I want to crochet my son, my husband, and me each a blanket in our favorite colors. However, I also want to make myself new slippers, a sweater, and make a variation on a Star Wars character that I have a pattern for. This is on top of my writing projects. Indeed, part of the reason I haven't finished the Dryads and Dragons trilogy I started a couple of years ago is because I keep starting other short stories and novels instead. (Not to mention how the plot keeps sprawling and how the romantic lead has taken over from the heroine.)

Are new projects really more exciting than old ones? I don't think so. I think we just become accustomed to current projects or get frustrated when they don't go smoothly. Our brains are wired to notice novel things. Old projects were exciting too when we first started them.

In order to keep from being overwhelmed by my desire to Do All The Things, I try to prioritize them. For example, time-sensitive projects like Vote Forward (which ends on October 17) or anthologies with limited submission windows get first priority. I also try to work on a couple of different projects every day. For example, after work, I may crochet for a half hour or so before writing a batch of letters for Vote Forward, write for an hour or so, and finish the evening with a little reading. As old projects get finished, then I can adopt new projects. Some projects do get abandoned if they're not working out, and perhaps that's necessary for one's sanity. Sometimes I stick with a project out of sheer stubbornness.

Are you able to focus on your projects outside work, or do you pick up new ones frequently?  How do you make sure your projects get done? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Mental Well-Being and the Middle

 The middle of a story can be the most difficult part to write. Beginnings and endings have their own energy, but middles can get muddled, especially if you're a panster. After six months, we're past the beginning of the pandemic. Many people are dealing with health issues, unemployment, or loss of a loved one. There are plenty of local crises as well. Even if you're not directly dealing with these problems, the changes in routine and the constant stream of bad news add up to overwhelming stress. I'm no well-being expert, but here are a few things I do to help me cope with our new normal:

Enjoy nature--During the summer, I like to go for a walk first thing in the morning. It's good exercise and clears my mind. I don't tolerate cold very well, so I won't be doing that once the weather turns. However, we do have a bird feeder in the back yard, and feeding and watching the birds helps me stay connected with nature.

Try new things--Over the past few months, I've tried new recipes, picked up new sewing projects, tried writing in a new genre, and even experimented with different types of nail art. I'm going to crochet blankets for my son, my husband, and myself this winter--if I can find time

Look for ways to help--I've been writing letters for Vote Forward to encourage people to vote. You can also donate to charities or volunteer your time.

Find a new routine--My husband's board game collection is so extensive it may rival my book collection in the amount of space it takes up. Although there are many that require more than two players, we've found some that work well with two players. It wouldn't be Saturday night without a couple of hours devoted to Mice and Mystics!

 We're all protagonists trying to make it to the end of this story. What's your strategy? Feel free to share in the comments. 

Life in Venus's Atmosphere?

 2020 has been full of strange news so far, but perhaps some of the strangest could be the possibility of life in Venus's atmosphere. On the surface of the planet, it's hot enough to melt lead. However, scientists have detected phosphine in the atmosphere at concentrations high enough to suggest the gas is being made by anaerobic bacteria in the atmosphere. (Venus's atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide.) It's not definite proof, and the phosphine could be produced by some unknown method, but it is a tantalizing notion. Here's one of the articles about this discovery. 

If there is life on Venus, does it use DNA and the same genetic code as life on Earth does? Does it use the same basic biochemistry? Is there the possibility of multicellular life? How would it influence science fiction to know there is life on other planets? These are just a few of the questions that I'd want answered. What are yours? Feel free to share them in the comments.

September: Self-Published Fantasy Month

 

Did you know there's such a thing as Self-Published Fantasy Month? Neither did I before reading about it in Virginia McClain's newsletter. Apparently September is devoted to self-published fantasy, at least, according to this website. I wish I'd learned about this sooner so I could come up with more ways to celebrate. Of course, the best way to do so is to buy, read, and review self-published fantasy. I've decided to drop the prices of my Season Avatars books and Ordinary Wonders collection to $0.99 for September to make those works more accessible. The website I linked to also suggests posting about your favorite self-published fantasy authors.

Here's a list of authors I've read and enjoyed, along with general descriptions of their works:

Christine Pope (fairy tale retellings and a series about witches; I've read more of the former than the latter)

Lindsay Buroker (action-packed stories with humorous characters in a secondary world)

H.L. Burke (she has a couple of different series, including a steampunk one and one involving magicians)

Charlotte E. English (Modern Magick series, about an English society trying to save magic)

Aviva Rothschild (The Beatles as characters in a D&D type world)

I'm sure there are more that I can't remember at the moment, and this doesn't even include cozy mystery authors who include fantastic elements in their stories.

Do you have any favorite self-published fantasy authors? Feel free to tell me about them in the comments.

IWSG: A Beta Partner of Your Dreams

We made it to September and another post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Learn more about them on their website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed.

Our hosts this month are PJ Colando, J Lenni Dorner, Deniz Bevan, Kim Lajevardi, Natalie Aguirre, and Lousie-Fundy Blue.

 Here's our question for today: If you could choose one author, living or dead, to be your beta partner, who would it be and why?

I would have to pick my favorite author, Patricia A. McKillip. McKillip is a master of evoking a sense of wonder and magic. She excels at description (something I always feel I need to improve in my work), and she's so creative she has multiple stand-alone works. I would learn a lot more from her than she would from me.

I had the honor of meeting Patricia McKillip at WisCon several years ago (It must have been 2004, when she was a Guest of Honor), so I'll share my autograph from that event, even though it's not personalized.

Which author would you pick as a beta partner? Feel free to share your answer in the comments.

 

 

End of August Project Update

The last couple of days have been very much "A Hard Day's Night" work-wise, so I'll just quickly summarize where I am with my multitude of writing projects:

1. Cozy Mystery #2--I'm not sure yet if I want to call it Restaurants and Revenge or Food Safety Can Be Fatal. (I think the second one is more fun, but since I work in food safety, I'm not sure how that would look professionally.) My plan is to write about 500 words a day and aim for about 15,000 words/month. I'm around 13,000 at the moment, so I should make my goal. I just need to figure out a few more details about the murder.

2. Untitled Fantasy Short Story--I have a complete first draft around 4,300 words. I rewrote the opening scene, which naturally will affect the other scenes even though they feel more complete to me. Hopefully by September I can start submitting it to markets.

3. Dryads and Dragons--My original plan for August was to write about 200 words on this project per day. I made my goal for several days, but between squeezing in other projects and trying to figure out how I get from the middle to the end, I haven't worked on it for a while. 

4. Cozy Mystery #1--It's been about a month since I finished it, so it's time for the first read-through. How many inconsistencies will I find? Did I portray my heroine's Filipino heritage accurately? What will the beta readers think? Tune in sometime next month (hopefully) for the answers! In the meantime, enjoy the Beatles:

https://youtu.be/Yxq40ZYIibw

ReCONvene 2020

 

 I originally hadn't planned to attend any more virtual conventions this year, but when one of my blogging buddies, Terri Bruce, posted about ReCONvene 2020 (the virtual version of Boskone), I was intrigued by a couple of the panels. (Terri published a short story collection called Souls last month. The cover is pictures, and You can check it out on Amazon at the link.) Since it was only ten bucks to attend the convention, I decided to register. Below is a list of the panels I watched. 

Glimpsing Climate Recovery

The Distant Future in Science Fiction

The AI Amongst Us

Modernizing Fairy Tales and Myths

Exploring the Literary Sandbox of Speculative Fiction

Worldblending in Speculative Fiction

Unfortunately, the con chose not to record the panels, and I didn't take notes. (One good thing about virtual panels is that it's easier to do things like clean, cook, and crochet while you're listening.) I was particularly interested in the Modernizing Fairy Tales and Myths panel, but it didn't go into the details of adapting old tales to new settings as much as I hoped it would. It occurred to me after the panel was over that I could have asked for writing tips in the Q&A, but by then it was too late. 

The panelists (at least, the ones I'd heard of) were mostly traditionally published authors, and all of the panels were well moderated. A couple of the panelists missed panels for technical or other reasons, but on the whole the panels were well run. Obviously a virtual convention lacks many of the charms of an in-person convention, but since this I've never been able to go to Boskone, a virtual convention is better than no convention at all.

Businesses in Cozy Mystery

 Although I've been reading cozy mystery for a few years, this year is the first time I've tried writing in the genre. I finished the first draft of the first book of a series at the end of July. Now I'm working on the sequel. It's a lot of fun, and I seem to be making better progress on it than I have been with the urban fantasy trilogy I started a couple of years ago. (My goal is to write at least 500 words/day on the cozy mystery and 200 words/day on the urban fantasy. I started tracking at the beginning of August, and I've met my goal more often than not.)

One thing I've noticed about cozy mysteries is that when they involve business owners, they omit certain types certain types of business activities from the story. For example, I'm currently reading a series about a witch who runs a bakery in a small town. I already read the first three books and just started the fourth. There's lots of talk about baking, cleaning the store, making deliveries, and selling to customers, but no mention of preparing payroll for the employees or pest control. (I originally had more items in this list, but to my surprise, the third book included disasters like running out of supplies or surprise health inspection.) Maybe authors don't feel comfortable including those tasks or think they don't contribute to the story or cozy atmosphere. 

As a reader, I'd like to see some of these activities too, as they would make the story feel more realistic. As an author, I hope other readers are open to learning about them. For example, in my current WIP, my main character is going to attend a multi-day class about food safety in restaurants. I've also had to attend food safety training for my job, but there's never been a murder involved. Hopefully homicide is more entertaining than hairnets. Later on in the series, my main character will go to a nearby berry farm for ingredients and end up having to solve another murder. Just another day on the job, I guess.

Are there tropes in the cozy mystery genre (or any other genre) that you think ought to be subverted? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

August IWSG: Pieces and Forms

We made it to August, everyone! Welcome to another Insecure Writers Support Group post. You can learn more about them on their website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

Our hosts this month are Susan Baury Rouchard, Nancy Gideon, Jennifer Lane, Jennifer Hawes (no link available), Chemist Ken, and Chrys Fey.

Our question for this month starts with an unattributed quote: "Although I have written a short story collection, the form found me and not the other way around. Don't write short stories, novels, or poems. Just write your truth and your stories will mold into the shapes they need to be." Have you ever written a piece that became a form, or even a genre, you hadn't planned on writing in? Or do you choose a form/genre in advance?

Although I am still more of a pantser than a plotter, I generally do know length of story and genre when I start writing. However, I've written stories that were meant to be standalones but became part of a series. Lyon's Legacy is probably the best example of a story that sparked more stories.

I'm afraid I don't have much to say on this topic, and I should be working on my multiple writing projects. So if you'd like to comment on this post or link to your blog on the same topic, please do so.

Budgeting Writing Time

Remember that cozy mystery I mentioned last week? The rough draft is done. It's a very short novel, right around 50,000 words, but that gives me space to add more scenes later. The other short story I mentioned is coming along too. Currently it's around 2,600 words. I expect it to be between 3,000 and 4,000 words when it's complete. I'm already plotting out more stories in my cozy mystery series; in addition to a sequel, I also want to write a prequel short story about one of the characters for a newsletter giveaway. All of this isn't taking into account my other series or all the revisions, editing, and formatting I have to do before I can publish these works.

It seems like I'm giving myself more and more projects to manage in less time. In order to make it all work, I'm going to have to figure out how to budget my time better. Either I could block it out by project or by process (e.g., block out hours or days just for writing or editing.)

Do you prefer to work by project or process? Which one works better for you? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

General Update 7/22/20

1. Remember how I was talking a couple weeks ago about the difficulties of uploading my stories to the Apple Store? I figured out how to convert them to the right format. Although I don't have Apple devices, I do have an Apple ID. I was able to use that to log onto iCloud and access the Pages app. That allowed me to convert my files to EPUBs the Apple Store could accept. I was able to upload my books to the Apple Store.

2. Another part of getting my publishing ducks in a row was updating my universal book links. I took care of that last Friday, which was a vacation day for me. Some of it was automatic, but I had to copy/paste links too. At least I don't have to update the links in my books just yet.

3. My cozy mystery novel is close to 48,000 words. I hope to finish the first draft by the end of the month, though I expect it to be less than 60,000 words. Some sites say cozy mysteries should be around this range, while others say between 70,000-80,000.)

4. I also started an unrelated short story. I don't want to go into detail, but it's a new twist on an old fairy tale. Hopefully I haven't jinxed this project for myself by discussing it.

5. Hopefully once the cozy mystery and the short story are done, I can return to the last book of my urban fantasy trilogy. I left my hero under perilous circumstances.

6. Other projects I've been working on include sewing masks, baking, and making ice cream. Maybe I can host an afternoon tea when there's a vaccine.

7. While we haven't gone out much this summer, we were able to return to the Field Museum on Sunday. It was strange seeing the main hall (pictured above) so empty on a Sunday afternoon.

So, what's new with you? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Sale at Barnes and Noble

I mentioned last week that one advantage of going direct to ebook stores is the ability to do special promotions. In fact, a promotion that I set up at Barnes and Noble just went live. If you buy one book in my Season Avatars series, you can get the second one half off. Since the first book is free, you can get the five-book series for about fifteen bucks. Here are the direct links:

Seasons' Beginnings
Scattered Seasons
Chaos Season
Fifth Season 
Summon the Seasons 

This sale goes through the end of September, so pick up some seasonal reading today.

On Going Direct

Although I've tried using Kindle Unlimited a couple of times for my books, I prefer to go wide with them to serve as many readers as possible. In the past, I've used distributors such as Smashwords and Draft2Digital (I highly recommend the latter over the former). Distributors make it easy to reach multiple sites with one process. However, publishing directly to sites such as Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and Apple also has advantages. You can have greater control over pricing, gain access to special site-only promotions, and receive higher royalties. So last month, I stopped using Draft2Digitial for the distributors listed above and started going direct.

So far, it's been a tedious process republishing my work at different vendors. Kobo and Barnes and Noble were the easiest, since they accepted the files I'd used elsewhere. Google and Apple are more complicated. I have to submit my manuscripts to Google as PDFs and to Apple as epubs. While Word does a straightforward job of creating PDFs from Word documents, I have to use a conversion program like Calibre to create EPUB files. This worked for some of my books, but others got rejected for embedded font errors, and I haven't figured out why. So Apple currently has only one book out of my five-book fantasy series and Lyon's Legacy but not the sequel, Twinned Universes. I'll have to do some more research to figure out what the problem is.


Once I get everything republished properly, then I have to convince Amazon to set the first books of my series back to permafree. Then I can promote them to encourage readers to get the rest of the series.

If you plan to publish your books on multiple sites, I recommend gathering all the information and files you need before you start. It's not just manuscripts and covers; it's blurbs, ISBNs, and other information such as original publication dates. I wound up collecting some of this information in a single document I can use as reference later.

If you're an indie author, do you publish just on Amazon or other sites too? What's your favorite store for ebooks? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

IWSG: Industry Changes

We're halfway through this crazy year, and I'm sure things are nowhere near settled yet. At least we have the Insecure Writer's Support Group to share our concerns. If you're not already familiar with the IWSG, you can learn more about them on their website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

Our hosts this month are Jenni Enzor, Beth Camp, Liesbet, Tyrean Martinson, and Sandra Cox.

Our question this month is There have been many industry changes in the last decade, so what are some changes you would like to see happen in the next decade?

As a hybrid author, I'm not closely involved with the publishing industry. I have a few short stories in anthologies, but I self-publish my novels and related stories to keep control of my rights. Publishing contacts demand authors sign away all their rights for a fraction of their worth. I'd like to see contracts become more fair. I'd also like to see more opportunities for indie authors to prepare paper copies of their work (I found CreateSpace was much easier to work with than some of the other sites) and to get those works into libraries and bookstores. I hope to see more acceptance of indie authors at the conventions I attend.

What would you like to change about the publishing industry? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.