Dealing with the negative while remaining professional

Not only is my SPE post two days late, it is also coming to you from my iPad since we are in the middle of a thunder and lightening storm. Some days it's harder than others to get things to work out the way you want them, but what makes a crap day even worse is the realization that not everyone is going to be happy for your successes in life.

What is even harder than dealing with haters is having to stay professional at all times. Many times I've wanted to let loose with a Facebook rant about this, that or the other thing, but I for the most part hold my tongue and especially on my "Author Page", I do not rant or bitch about things big or small. I censor myself on my author page to keep the drama at bay. I want to look professional, I want my author page to look professional. There are many times I say "I want to post this" but then I think about how it will look and it gets deleted and a lot of the time +Alexandra Webb also reminds me to vent to her instead of in public. It's hard when we want to defend ourselves, but it's worth not looking like a fool who just wants drama. This harkens back to my post about branding, I am my brand. So yes, my personal Facebook page might contain a rant about my husband, or posts about my crapass mailman, but you won't find me bashing reviewers or bitching about how I can tell by my sales who of my friends hasn't purchased my books (yes, that is a real rant I've seen on Facebook) on either my author page or my personal page, it's just not done. You keep it professional.

Some things do hurt too deep. Some people know exactly how to rip our hearts out and show them to us. What do you do when need to vent, need to scream and cry and be angry because someone close to you bashed your latest work? Or when a reviewer gives you a 1 star drive by review with no comments? Or when someone calls your work unoriginal? You find a friend you can vent to and you vent in private, not in public. You pick yourself up, rub some dirt on it, and move the fuck on. O.o oh yes, I'm pulling out the curse words now.

Did you hear how self-published authors are lazy hacks? Have you heard that they shouldn't even be in the publishing business if they can't get a contract? How about the fact that its not fair that others paid their dues slinging words for a newspaper or working as an editor for 40 years before they started writing? Or what about the fact that self-publishing is cop-out? Self-published authors don't care about putting out quality work? Etc, etc... The list of bullshit comments that can get you down goes on and on. Haters, man. They are everywhere.

1) vent, rant and rage. In private, that is what email, inboxes, Skype, text messages, and voxer is for.

2) Pick yourself up

3) Rub some dirt on it

4) CARRY ON

Lather, rinse and repeat as needed. 

Look, the honest truth is this: like i said earlier, not everyone is going to be happy for your successes. Whether it's a friend who doesn't support you, an entire family that doesn't understand you, or an entire community that is against how you choose to do things. Everyone is going to have an opinion and not all of them will be good. It hurts when we aren't supported, it hurts when we feel alone. We are creatures who need support and praise. It makes us feel good, reminds us to keep going. Everyone loves a compliment.

In this digital world of anonymity it's easy for others to hide behind a computer scene and hurt you but this is your dream, they can't take it from you unless you let them. You just have to focus, lean on the friends who support you and distance yourself from those who bring you down. Reach out to others. Ask for help, sing the praises of fellow authors, make new friends, work to be the good in this industry because honestly there is way too much elitist bullshit around here and things need to change. Just because something was done a certain way for "x" amount of years doesn't mean that change is bad, change is very, very good. It keeps things from growing stagnant. It's refreshing.

So be professional, be kind, be supportive... But remember that being those things doesn't  mean you have to put up with people or groups or family who put you down or don't support you. They can only affect you if you let them, and yes, it's hard to not let it get you down. That is what wine, chocolate, a nice warm bath, and good books are for; to lift your spirits when the douchebags get you down. Then after a nice glass of wine, or some silky smooth chocolate, or a nice long soak in the tub, or after a couple of chapters of a good book you can get back to your goal. Writing. Because in the end for writers, artists, and creators,  the only thing that fill us up, makes us feel whole (besides our loved ones) is working on our craft, honing our skills, and sharing our work with whomever wishes to see it.

The Writing World

Too many irons in the fire is a phrase that I'm hearing more and more often by my surrounding authors and aspiring authors. One of the blogs I write for was put on hiatus because everyone ended up being too busy to keep up with regular posts. I'm a person who likes to be busy, so when something new and exciting was dropped on my plate, I thought, no problem! Tonight will be my fourth night in a row staying up until midnight to meet minimum expectations for my projects under Alexandra and my projects under my actual name. As I sip my coffee, I can't help but think, 'this is the life of an author.'

Mia has a project that has a deadline of September 13th. That's not a deadline she set, but I can't tell you what the project is. The advantage of self published projects is that you set your own deadlines. You can keep your readers waiting, which I don't recommend, or you can pick a release date, when you're comfortable, to get everyone excited about it. There are authors I know who have been promising a release (without a specific date) for a few months. You can check on their Facebook page, and two months ago they give the same excuses and explanation this month. If you go down this path you have to claim your title. You are an author now. There is stress. There is times you don't want to work, when you need to.

Stress is a killer, but you must find away to work with it instead of against it. If you need to step back, take a nap, take a bath, take a walk, but then get back to work. Don't forget that writing is only part of the job. As my other-self, I have events coming up that I have to prepare for. A book signing at a local store and a convention. Despite the fact that I'm going to be exhausted, I have to be able to participate in the book signing, talk to the people there and appear professional. (They better have coffee!) The convention is a four day commitment that I know I won't get much work done while I'm there, so I have to prepare for it. That means planning deadlines and goals around that. More stress since my newest deadline is November 13th, that means during NaNoWriMo (which is a whole other beast) and a few weeks after the convention. I have to time things just right. Stress, but excitement all the same.

I sit back and look at my WIP list and sigh, I'm scared some of it's not going to get done. I'm scared some of it is going to bomb, and I'm scared I might burn myself out. I have three projects under Alexandra right now, not including the upcoming NaNo: In Black and White Edits, a post apocalyptic story, and Redemption, which I can give more details on later. I won't even get into the WIPs as the other me. I'm not complaining. I asked for this life. I have worked for this dream to become a reality. I'll take everything as it comes. What is important is that you don't let the stress and the fear control you. You are bigger than it, you can over come it. Remember that you have great support and people who are taking this journey with you. You'll find them in some of the most unsuspected places. Chin up and dream big.

Review: Mistress Lexie

Mistress Lexie (My Reason to Cheat) by Lacey Silks



Synopsis:
Lexie has attended six conferences in the past month, watching James present. When she’s called up to the stage to help out, it occurs to her James has noticed her as well. Unable to hide her feelings for the stud, Lexie gives in to each hidden touch he’s able to make while presenting. And when the curtains go down and lights go off, both take advantage of the little privacy they have.

Review:
First off, this book is listed on the Amazon Marketplace as Mistress Lexie (My Reasonn To Cheat). The misspelling is the first thing that caught my eye about this book. Hopefully at some point Ms. Silks will be able to fix this typo since we all know that something like misspelled titles can turn off readers from purchasing a book.

Mistress Lexie is one of five short, interconnected stories in the "My Reason to Cheat" series.

This is a super short story, it took me less than ten minutes to read. It focuses on Lexie who is cheating, or at least at the beginning of the story, fantasizing about cheating on her husband with a man she has been (for lack of a better word) stalking for an undetermined number of months. I say undetermined because continutity is very vague here. In the synopsis it says one month, at the beginning of the story it says two months and towards the end it states six month.

I'm not the kind of reader who cares about book length, but the shortness of this read really does hinder it. With the story consisting of the affair we are given no reason to care about Lexie. She comes off as cold from the lack of  explanation on her "reason to cheat", in fact we aren't ever really given her "reason to cheat". We are left to form our own assumptions, the only reason given is that her sex life with her husband is bland. Being a married person it would seem to me that just opening your mouth and saying, "Let's spice things up tonight, honey." would be easier and safer than stalking a man, cheating on your husband and having unprotected sex. Bottom line is this: Cheating is a delicate subject matter and it helps if the readers care enough about the characters to condone their unfaithfulness. In this story I didn't care enough because there wasn't enough to care about.



Morality aside, because I am not a stickler for morals, the sex scene was graphic and interesting. The setting for the scene is definitely unique and the descriptions were vivid. This is an extremely adult read and I wouldn't recommend it for readers who 1) are under 18, in fact it specifically says: Contains mature content intended for ADULT AUDIENCE ONLY. 2) cannot get past the idea of adultery as the main plot point and 3) if you are at all squeamish or offended by the use of the "C" word in erotica, because it is used in this story.

If you are still on board and want a quick read that is steamy, then dive right into Mistress Lexie.

3 out of 5 Stars

Heat Rating: Hot

(mild, medium, hot, spicy, scorching) 

Purchase Mistress Lexie on Amazon

Milestones

SPE has now been up for a year. One year of this journey and I don't feel like we're all the way into the adventure yet. Each step is a small milestone to the big picture. We all dream of six figure (or bigger!) book deals, that would be able to buy us a mansion and solve all of our money woes. (Cause let's face it, we all have them.) But normally, you don't get there over night, you have to reach little stones first. One step at a time.

I look back on this year that SPE has been around and I think about things that we could do better and things that we have done well with. The same thing goes for my writing. I wish I could have worked faster, but I'm happy with the current results of In Black and White. I'm proud of Mia for coming as far as she has. I've read over her manuscript twice now and I've loved it both times. We have come so far, yet we have so far to go. It's time we celebrate the little victories, and support us and fellow writers in them. When we release our first SPEs (yes, there will be more) they will probably not be a six figure seller, but it is a victory nonetheless.

A milestone, a goal, whatever you want to call it, as soon as we hit that publish button we have reached a point. We will take time and celebrate and then we'll move on to the real work of market. As you go about your writing journey, keep the big picture in mind, but ask yourself, what are you milestones and your goals to get to that big picture?

Promotion & Marketing

A lot of being successful in publishing is promotion and marketing, when you self-publish all of that falls on your shoulders. So what can you do and how much does it cost? You can do a lot, and as it turns out a lot can be done for free.

Since I am still new to all of this and I'm on the verge of self-publishing my first book I am overwhelmed by both promotion and marketing.... But I have a plan.

I am going to utilize the free social media sites I am already on:

Facebook

Twitter

and Google+

But I am still going to strive for the 80/20 rule. 80 % of what I post isn't direct marketing and the other 20% of the time I will be selling myself hardcore.

Another avenue I really suppose I should dive into is Tumblr. But I am still floundering in my ignorance of that site.

Next up are the book sites:

Goodreads

Smashwords

Shelfari

Booktagger

And I might check into some other sites like: Authors Den, and Internet Book Database.

I might even travel down the crazy road of Press Releases, there are a number of sites that have free press release distribution.

Cross promotion can be helpful too, I have seen it work well for several self-published authors. When my book, Waking Up In Bedlam, comes out I will be running some cross promotions with a fellow self-published author A.L. Kessler and with Alexandra. Cross promotion can run the gambit in terms of what you want to do, it can be anything from hosting giveaways on eachothers blogs, facebook pages, or even something as easy as hosting an interview, a cover reveal. All of our cross promotions will be revealed later.

Next up on my promotion and marketing list will be a blog hop, I am already signed up for it and it will run very near to the time with Waking Up In Bedlam will be released so it will be perfect. I've never done a blog hop and I am definitely nervous about it but I'm looking forward to getting my name out there a bit more.

Last but not least on my list is Book Reviews. This one makes my tummy flutter with ten thousand butterflies. It really did seem like an easy task, simply find sites to review your book, give them a copy in exchange for an honest review... But the more I looked into sites that I knew did book reviews I found most of them no longer reviewed Indie/Self-Published authors. I found myself back at square one, luckily I've found a few sites that review self-published authors and they review the genre of Paranormal Romance, which is what I write. One thing I've learned about book review sites is when you send them a request to review your book make sure to make the email personal, they don't like to get a blanket email that was obviously sent out to several sites all at once. So when I send out my requests it will personal emails only and then I will sit back and cross my fingers and hope for the best.

I'm sure after a couple of releases all of this will like second nature to me but this is without a doubt very stressful. I think I've gained some gray hairs from thinking and over-thinking all of this stuff. But if it helps me to reach readers that I might have not been able to reach than every gray hair will be worth it. I love my story and I want it to reach as many people who will hopefully love it just as much as I do. That is the goal, share my story.

Dark War Chronicles Blog Tour- Character Interview with Lucius

As part of the Dark War Chronicles Blog Tour we are honored to be interview Lucius, one of the characters from Book One: In The Light Of The Moon (Release 6/11/13).

Synopsis:

Stripped of all control, panther shifter Kassity has no choice but to be a killer for Lucius. Obeying the vampire was simply her way of life, until Jax comes to town and brings trouble with him. When she recognizes Jax as her fated mate, Kassity must deal with betrayal, secrets and Lucius in order to be with him. 

With a war raging between all supernatural creatures Jaxon must decide who he is fighting for-and against. What started as a simple job turns into a complicated game of hearts when he meets Kassity, the woman he thought he was rescuing. But not everything is as it seems in Lucius' territory.

Welcome Lucius! To start off can you give us your full name and without giving too much away can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Lucius, that’s all you need to know about my full name. I come from Europe originally before I came to the Untied States under the instruction of a vampire named Zaaren. I’m a very old vampire, just one generation down from the Originals. I have an ever-loyal human by the name of Tegan and she has been with me since I was a young vampire. I worked hard for my territory here and intend to keep it at all costs.

Do you feel you were accurately portrayed in this book?

A.L. Kessler does a decent job at portraying me. I feel she softens some parts up, but she knows things about me that the readers do not yet. I can be much more terrifying than she leads everyone to believe.

If your story was made into a movie who would you like them to cast as you, Kassity, and Jax?

For me: James Callis, for Jaxon: *growls* Alex Pettyfer  Kassity: Susan Coffey

Do you have a personal motto or favorite quote?

“I don’t believe in happily ever after, I believe in compromise.” Is the one A.L. Kessler has stuck to me. It is very true. As for a motto, “I protect what is mine.” I don’t care if that means lover, servant, killer, or someone who happens to get attached to one of my people. If I consider you mine in anyway I will protect you.

What is your strongest trait?

My determination to keep my territory and the power I’ve worked so hard for. It is what allows me to do what I must to keep people safe.

What is your weakest trait?

I am always suspicious. It makes me hard to negotioiate with and hard to get along with. I see the worst in people and the damage that they can do to me and mine.

Do  you have any hobbies that we might find surprising?

What kind of hobbies do you expect a vampire to have? Kassity points out that I have a thing for collecting rare items, take that as you like. Archery is something that I find calming, but it’s not something I often get to take part in.

Do you see yourself as the villain or the good guy?

I see myself as a little bit of both. Things are not black and white in our world. There are certain situations where I have no choice but to be the bad guy and there are people who will not see past those choices. As the good guy, I truly do care for my people and there are those who see that. Tegan is truly the only person who sees me only as the good guy and that is because of our past together.

Do you think the fans will root for you?

I think some will, but I think there are those who will hate to love me and love to hate me.

In your opinion, what is one minor character in this book that we should keep an eye out for?

Without giving too much away there are two in this book that you should keep eye out for later, Coran and Sarah. Coran holds a special place in my people and Sarah well, she is part of Kass’ Clan.

Do you believe in happy endings?

That depends on what you classify as a happy ending. Do I believe people get some things that they want, yes, do I believe they get everything, no. That is why I believe in compromise, you give some you get some.

Will we be seeing you again in any future books?

Without a doubt, yes, even the books that don’t deal as much on the vampire side of things you will see me here and there. The series does take place in my territory after all, wouldn’t be complete without me.

Amazon and Smashwords

So while Mia and I are both working hard on our edits, I thought I would cover distribution a little bit. When I first looked into this, I was completely overwhelmed. There's Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Kobo, Ibook and so many others out there. What was I going to do? I want my book out to as many readers in as may formats as I can. At one of the conventions I went to I sat through a panel that kept mentioning Smashwords, and I had to wonder what on earth was this magical website where authors only had to formate one document and were able to distribute to all kinds of different places? Naturally, I went home and I googled it. Now, I plan (and have used under my non-penname) to use Smashwords and Amazon to publish the digital copy of In Black and White.

Amazon is fantastic for Kindle and it's rare that Smashwords will distribute straight to Amazon (I'm not sure what the trick is behind it.). Kindle is easy to format for and simple to upload. Amazon has their KDP Direct program, where you have certain benefits for only having your book on Kindle for a specified about of time. I've never used this program, nor have I talked to others who have, so I can't tell you if it's worth it or not. Personally, I won't participate in this because I feel like I'm isolating my readers who don't have a kindle.

My Pros for Amazon:
-Widely known and trusted site
-Easy for readers to purchase and leave reviews
-Easy to up load and sell

My Cons for Amazon:
-Kind of a pain in the butt to run sales
-Other authors cannot leave reviews
-Kindle only
-Cannot offer free book without hassle

Smashwords to me is magical. I know a lot of people who have problems with Smashwords because they are DRM free (Digital Rights Management, read Smashwords' comments on it here in the FAQs). I read through their thoughts, did some research and decided it wasn't a deal breaker for me. Smashwords has guidelines you must follow in order to make it into their premium catalog so you can be distributed to the different companies they work for. It's a super simple guideline and easy to follow. They also have many different formats on their website (including Kindle, even though it's rare they distribute a book to Amazon.). I love the idea of uploading one document and them converting it for me. It saves me a ton of time. The biggest downfall to this is some times it takes a while for the book to show up at Barnes and Noble and Ibook, because of the days that Smashwords 'ships' books out. (But I feel they make up for that by offering all the different formats from their website.)

Pros for Smashwords:
-Different formats and distributions options
-Easy to format
-Easy to change price and run sales (Also offers coupons, great for giving free copies to review blogs.)
-Easy for readers to review
-Easy to put up a free story

Cons for Smashwords:
-Not widely known to readers who are new to the indie game
-DRM free (though again, not a deal breaker for me)
-Lots of smut and crap (There seems to be more on Smashwords than Amazon...)

So there you go, some basics on the two of them, a small comparison. My advice to you, read into it, do some research and see if they are both right for you.