Making a Boxed Set

The delightful artists at Deranged Doctor Design have created a beautiful boxed set cover for my first three books (and they made this lovely banner, too!) I got it as part of a promotional package, which is interesting because I had no intention of turning my collection of six ebooks into boxed sets.

Now ….. I’m busy reading instructions on how to concatenate the first three novels together into one document so it will work well for my readers. Lucky for me, there are lots of helpful people out there and it doesn’t sound too hard. This boxed set should be available soon!

I’m sending particular shout-outs of thanks to Kim Lambert at the Alliance of Independent Authors for her extremely helpful and detailed article “Why, When and How to Self-publish a Box Set of Ebooks.”

I’m also sending a big thanks to Joanna Penn at The Creative Penn for her excellent post “How To Create An Ebook Boxset Or Bundle And Why You Should” and to Tom Ashford for his article  “How to Create an Ebook Box Set” on the Mark Dawson’s self-publishing formula blog.

The degree to which self-publishing authors continue to share information and help each other never ceases to amaze and impress me! It is a community I am proud to be part of (even though I dangle my participles in my enthusiasm.)

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What makes it a romance novel?

So. Let’s be blunt. I think sex is wonderful. I agree love is the greatest thing in the universe. I like it when people live happily ever after, or at least I’m allowed to think they will. However, romantic love (in all its trials and tribulations) doesn’t carry a plot for me.

I like action, intrigue, and surprises. I enjoy puzzles, and profound thoughts. So why do I end up reading so many romance novels and then complaining about it in the reviews?

Read more about my frustration with romance writers at What makes it a romance novel?

Learning to Juggle

Honestly, this is all too much to hold in my head at once. I keep checking my spreadsheet thinking I’m forgetting some essential component somewhere. There’s got to be something I’m forgetting.

Read more about being in various stages of revising five different books at once at Learning to Juggle.

90001 words and ready

Last week I published the new Shape of Secrets in paperback and for kindle. Below is a post I wrote right beforehand.

Now, I’m ready to do it again. Shape of Secrets is as done, double checked, and triple checked as it is going to get. I’m into formatting and prepping mode, with the hope of submitting all formats on Sunday the 17th, getting approval Monday the 18th. Read more at 90001 words and ready

It worked!

I’ve been holding my breath for months now (metaphorically) as I worked to release my first novel with a new title. I could hardly be blamed. The first title had an exponent in it. (Yes, as in the letter x raised to the power of zero.) If you’re not mathematically inclined, trust me it was clever, but no one could fault me for wanting a title that was easier to pronounce, market and search for.

Read the full story of how it went when I republished the old x0 under the new name One of One at It worked!

 

Bitchy Editor is Back

One of One is now ready for its January 17 release, and I’ve moved on to the same process with Shape of Secrets. Its gentle read happened last fall, and a few days ago Bitchy Editor took over. She’s got all sorts of problems with this book. Why doesn’t anyone here ever use a contraction when they speak? Nobody uses big words like that? What does that even mean?

She’s having a good time, I think. To be honest, it’s hard to tell. Shape of Secrets is taking shape, however, in new and better ways.

Read more at Bitchy Editor is Back

Bitchy Editor says this is it!

You know, get rid of some of those lingering adverbs. Reduce the he saids, and make the he pondereds, he chuckleds and he exclaimeds go almost completely away.

She has been doing that, and found more than I expected, but that wasn’t enough. She’s decided to look at every sentence and demand to know what it is doing in my book. Does this matter? Who cares about this? Why is this in here?

Read more at Bitchy Editor says this is it!