You’re All Going to Think I’m Crazy…

Tags

authors, Being an Author, books, eBooks, indie authors, Indie books, Kindle, novels, On Writing, sequel, vampire books, vampire fiction, vampire novels, vampire trilogy, vampires, writing

Seriously, you are.

And I’m pretty sure you know what I am talking about.

It had been on my mind for a little while, and took a good butt kicking to get the drive going again. But I am glad that engine is roaring once more, and I doubt I am going to look back.

I am once again working on the sequel to The Dark Proposal.

Yeah. I’m certain some of you are rolling your eyes now.

After stopping, restarting and stopping again, I am giving it another go. And this time I am going to go all the way with it.

The last time I stopped was, as I explained, mainly for financial reasons. As much as I wanted to keep working on the sequel, I was concerned about how expensive it is to self-publish. But after doing a little research, I found it is not that unusual for writers to do crowd-source funding for their work. And that is what I plan to do. By the time I am done with the first draft of this book, I will start a campaign to raise money to get my book edited, get the cover made, and a few other promotional things to get the word out about it. But that won’t be until the fall, perhaps.

Some of you might be thinking that I am struggling with the main character, Claire McCormick, because I portrayed her as insecure, naive and kind of foolish, which is not easy to follow-up to in the sequel. While my intention was never to make her a strong, kick-ass female, I am finding ways to develop her strengths as well as have her face her weaknesses. Claire’s story is about personal responsibility, which ties in with the vampires’ story.

Some of you may also be wondering about my other WIP, “The Cats”. That I am setting aside until I complete my vampire trilogy. I may work on it from time to time, but my priority is my vampire stories, so once I complete them, then I’ll continue on with “The Cats”.

Yeah, being an author can be a mindboggling thing. You have to weigh-in writing what you want versus what makes since business-wise. After all, writing books is a business, whether you self-publish or go the traditional route. Money talks, and you have consider how you’re going to spend your money, or obtain the funds, to get your work out to the world. But sometimes passion talks to, and if it’s in your gut to write something, or finish something, than there are times when you have to give in. Besides, going with your gut works all the time.

So, without any further ado – onward with the sequel to The Dark Proposal.

BTW, I’ve already given it a working title: “A Light in the Darkness”.

2016 – New Year, New Updates!

Tags

art of writing, authors, book trailers, books, eBooks, how to write, sequels, vampires, writer, writers, writing, writing a novel

Hello everyone!

I know its 17 days into the new year, but I haven’t been able to wish everyone a happy new year. So I’m taking that opportunity right now. I’ve been crazy busy this month so far with work and getting another job squared away, as well as taking steps to laying the foundations of what I hope – and expect – will be a productive year for me!

With that, I will now give some updates on where my life is now. I currently work as a part-time reporter for a local paper, and in a few weeks I will start teaching as an adjunct professor for English 101 classes at one of the public colleges here in New York. I am very thrilled by the developments in my professional life, and look forward to see them grow even more this year.

Along with those developments, I am eager to see my authorship restart and grow by leaps and bounds this year too. I recently completed book trailers for The Dark Proposal, and I am offering to do book trailers for other authors. I am excited by the prospects of helping other authors – particularly self-published authors – expand and meet their audiences in a variety of ways.

That being said, you’re probably wondering what is up with my long awaited sequel to my first book? Well, the good news is that I am still working on it. The bad news, my work stalled due to the holidays and my other commitments. But I’m finding ways to squeeze in time to write this second book, which is great because I really am excited by what the sequel has to offer. I’ve mentioned this in other posts, but I just want to reiterate that I am excited. I have to admit that I am nervous though, because I’m approaching the story of Claire and the vampires differently, even though the original story stays. I have grown so much as a person and as a writer that my approach is far from what it was a few years ago. It’s amazing how much I’ve developed since releasing The Dark Proposal over three years ago.

Anyway, I just want to say that I am still actively writing. My goal is to complete the first draft of this book by the end of summer. The sooner, the better, of course, and I know I might be compared to George R R Martin, author of the series that inspired the HBO show, Game of Thrones. But life comes first, that is the way it is.

But I will finish this story. I’m a passionate storyteller, and will always be. I can’t not tell a story, so the sequel to The Dark Proposal will be out someday. I haven’t forgotten any of you!

 

The Book Trailers for “The Dark Proposal”

Tags

book trailers, books, eBooks, novels, vampire books, vampires, video, YouTube

At last, I finally made my book trailers for my book!

I know its been three years since I released “The Dark Proposal”, but I have been meaning to do a book trailer for it. So finally, I made not one, but two of them.

The first is what I call the teaser/cover reveal. It provides a simple summary of what the book is about:

The second is the fuller length, since it goes into more depth:

I got the photos through Creative Commons, mainly through Flickr. The haunting music, which I really love, come from Freesound. I used the programs Final Cut Pro 7, Motion, and my iPhone to do the voiceover.

I chose to do the voiceover rather than captions, because I believe hearing a voice grabs the audience more than simple words going across the screen. And yes, that is my voice 🙂

I had a lot of fun making these trailers, and I definitely look forward to making the ones for my sequel. If all goes well, I’ll be preparing to release it this time next year.

The Road to Redemption

Tags

authors, books, eBooks, life, life is a journey, mistakes, novels, redeem, redemption, sequel, sequels, that's life, truth, vampire books, vampires, writers, writing, writing a novel

Redemption. What does the word conjure up when you think about it?

For me, as a spiritual person, it means to recover from past mistakes by undoing them through better deeds, better actions, better attitude, and everything better all around from what you did wrong – with what you did wrong fully in mind.

We all fall short, and we all make mistakes. And we all have to pay or fix those mistakes. But when it comes to redemption, to me at least, we redeem ourselves from major, life changing mistakes that take our life’s path in a totally different direction. A direction that we did not intend, yet were too blind by something to not realize that we were going to veer off course.

Image by Maria Morri via Flickr

I’ve been down that road, and there’s nothing quite like looking back and wondering why I took the road that took my life in a direction it should not have gone on.

The good news is, I’ve been getting back on track and fixing my life, and becoming someone who I was meant to be, rather than running away from my potential and talents. What I’ve learned is that there comes a point in life where you simply cannot doubt yourself anymore or else you’ll have more problems than you need. Plus, you never really grow. Since I value personal growth, I had to learn the hard way that insecurities are really limiting, and I had a choice to get over them or give them up if I wanted a better life.

So I made the choice to give them up, and now I’m setting on a more better path for myself. Too bad there are lots of consequences that I have to deal with, such as starting over again professionally, financial sacrifices and consequences. But I am more at peace with myself, and where my life is headed.

I hope for the same for my main character, Claire McCormick. Some of you may recall in the first book of my trilogy, she made a lot of mistakes that led her onto a path she couldn’t really get off of. Now she is stuck in a life she never wanted, but ended up on because of her flaws and naivete. Granted, she’s a young girl, just 22 years old and just out of college. Like many at that age, she thinks she can survive easily yet is wrought with insecurities. And she paid a heavy price for her actions.

The second book of my trilogy will focus on Claire’s redemption. She is not the same person she used to be. Aside from being a vampire, she’s been through a lot and is now more unsure of who she is and where to go in this life that she didn’t ask for. That uncertainty is ripe for either self-destruction or self-redemption. However Claire chooses her path determines not only her future, but the future of the vampires, which is growing increasingly insecure with modern technology.

Redemption can be fun. It can also be scary. It can be painful. It also can be relieving. Either way, I believe when one is committed to redemption, it is a journey filled with new beginning and painful endings, great reminders, and agonizing truths. But its a path no one can ever avoid, no matter how hard we try.

 

Print Survives While eBooks Wane

Tags

books, digital books, eBooks, Kindle, Kobo, printed books, self publishing, self-published books, technology

A recent New York Times story talked about how print books are on the rebound, while digital books are on a sudden decline. eBook sales sharply decreased this year, while print books remain steady. Even more so, bookstores are seeing profits and sales of digital readers, like Kindle, are declining.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

It appears the terror over the end of print books – with their aroma, words on paper you can touch, and the stacked bookshelves that display them – maybe waning. Some people are relaxing or are relieved to know that eBooks did not take over old fashioned media, much like MP3s replaced CDs and cassettes, or Netflix is replacing TV and cable.

But based on the comments section for that NY Times article, and other comments on writers forums and blogs, many would say the article is misleading. Some argue that eBooks will not disappear anytime soon. After all, they are good for traveling and there are certain genres that are good for eBooks, such as erotica and romance. After all, one reason why eBooks were doing so well was because of the popularity of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.

Another reason why eBooks may be declining is because of how some books are priced at the same amount as print books. Another would be because some eBooks are not archived long enough on the reading devices.

I also cannot help but wonder if the decline of the eBooks has a lot to do with the backlash over self-published books. Many of them are filled with editorial mistakes such as misspelled words, grammatical errors and formatting issues. My book has this problem when I first released it, so I am just as guilty here for hurting the self-publishing/digital book movement that is now struggling. I am still seeing many blog posts and articles complaining about the editorial troubles, with some people swearing off self-published books for good.

I believe eBooks will stick around, but will not erase printed books forever. I think eBooks will be one of the many ways to enjoy a book. For now on, there will be four formats: hardcover, softcover, audio and digital. Audiobooks certainly didn’t ruin printed books, and they are still being used for various reasons. The same will go for digital books.

But in the meantime, eBooks need to look good. The eBook craze coincided with the self-publishing craze and now both are receiving a kind of backlash. In order to keep eBooks around as one of the many preferences to read a book, those who choose to release their books via the digital route need to be more professional and have a business mindset, rather than simply a creative one.

 

 

 

If “The Dark Proposal” Had a Theme Song…

Tags

anguish, books, dark themes, eBooks, Evanescence, evil vampires, indie, indie authors, Indie books, korn, music, NA, New Adult, paranormal books, self-published books, songs, soundtrack, theme song, thoughtless, thriller books, vampires

Yesterday marked the three year anniversary of when I published “The Dark Proposal” on Amazon Kindle. Since then, it has sold or been downloaded for free just under 800 times on either Amazon or Smashwords. Even I still can’t believe it.

As I work on its sequel, I am being inspired by some songs that I feel capture the essence of the follow-up, which are motivating my writing. While I won’t reveal which songs these are just yet 😉  I will reveal one song I feel really captures “The Dark Proposal”.

So basically, if my first book were to ever have a single theme song, I feel it would be Evanescence’s cover of the Korn song, “Thoughtless”. Not only do the lyrics and metal sound do TDP justice, but I feel Amy Lee’s anguished voice echoes Claire McCormick’s pain and terror.

Behold:

 

The Dark Proposal – 50% Off on Smashwords!

Tags

abusive relationships, authors, book characters, book promotion, books, eBooks, explicit content, fiction, graphic content, NA, New Adult, New adult books, promotion, reading, Smashwords, urban fantasy, vampire books, vampires

Click here to purchase on Smashwords

I’m a little late in Smashwords’ summer promotion sales, but hey, better late than never!

My book, “The Dark Proposal” is 50% off the eBook site. This promotional sale will run until July 31st, before it goes back to its original price of $2.99.

If you’d like to purchase it on Smashwords, here is the promo code: SSW50

As you may know, “The Dark Proposal” is about a college graduate who thought she met perfect boyfriend, until he reveals to be a malicious vampire with a sinister proposal.

The book begins at the end of the summer, so this may be good timing!

Happy reading!

Well….Hey There!

Tags

authors, books, eBooks, how to write a novel, Indie books, novelists, novels, paranormal, self-published authors, the writing process, urban fantasy, vampires, writers, writing

Hi everyone!

Gosh, its been such a long time. Maybe too long 🙂

It’s been a long while since I took a look at this blog, and its also been some time since I’ve been checking out my author platform elsewhere online.

Yikes, it feels so strange to see all of this now.

It used to feel like I was looking at a blog, or Twitter account or Facebook page that belonged to someone else. And to see my book on Goodreads was like seeing something from a past life.

But lately, seeing all this is like seeing an old friend. And maybe even like rediscovering an old part of myself that I’m excited to be in touch with again.

It’s been over a year since I announced that I was going to take a break from writing fiction. I had been having doubts about whether I wanted to continue with creative fiction, and I was feeling lost writing the sequel to “The Dark Proposal”. So I took a break, but I still flirted with the idea of writing fiction.

Starting last summer, the idea of writing “The Dark Proposal’s” sequel arose now and then. I was inspired by a couple of things, such as a song by Evanescence and a few personal experiences. In January this year, I realized what the sequel could really be about, and what kind of person Claire would be in her second story. At that point, the character of Claire McCormick began to finally slowly take shape, as well as the other characters.

I felt as if I could finally see Claire and get to know her as a person. I began taking notes on her upbringing and her family life to better explain the person she was during “The Dark Proposal”. I had felt I could’ve done better in her character development, but I feel those notes greatly helped me form and shape her.

The same goes for Hilde, The Black Roses, Casames and even Daniel to some degree. I became to know them more through my note taking, and they appeared to be flesh-out human beings (despite being vampires 😉 ) who were as complex and flawed like anyone else. It was a joy to see them as this.

Finally, this past March, I checked out my book’s page on Goodreads, and saw – to my surprise – there was a new review! It had been a long dry spell of any ebook purchases, let alone reviews. So I was thrilled to see my book was still being read, 18 months after I had published.

Seeing that review, which was positive and displayed excitement for the sequel, gave me the final boost to get started on the second book of my long dormant trilogy.

Yes, I am going to work on the sequel to “The Dark Proposal”. And I am as happy as many are 🙂

However, it won’t be an overnight thing. I can estimate it will take me 2 or 3 years to get the sequel published for the world to read. That is because I already have a busy life (you may recall that I wrote my first book while unemployed with plenty of time to write), and also, there may be a chance that I’ll self-publish this book. I don’t know. I have to wait and see. Maybe I can get a small publishing house to do so.

But even more so, I am going to take my time writing this book. Before, I was kind of rushing to write, while probably triggered my writers’ block. But I want to do this slowly so I can produce a novel that I will be pleased with.

I also will writing this book much differently as compared to its predecessor. I see this book as being darker in tone and in emotion. I also see it getting more into Claire’s mind and heart, and also capturing the essence of the vampire world and what is at stake.

I’m starting to read short stories that have a goth tone to them. I’ve read “The Raven” a few times to absorb its goth prose, and now I’m scouring for other goth literary pieces to get an idea on the tone I will be needing for this sequel.

I may even tweak a few things or mention somethings that should’ve been mentioned in the first book.

Basically, a lot in the sequel will reflect “The Dark Proposal”, but there will also be quite a few changes because of my new approach as a writer, writing this trilogy.

So, slowly but surely, I will be writing the sequel to “The Dark Proposal”. When I complete and what I’ll do with the final product is so far off that I am not really thinking about it. Just learning and growing as I write this. I have great ideas for this story, and some things to say about the human experience. I won’t say what they are now – that will come later.

So, good to see you all again! I will probably blog twice a month, just to keep everyone updated and to talk about my developments as a writer.

But until then, it is good to be back, and I look forward to taking you all on this journey with me, and I can’t wait to speak to everyone all over again!

Cheers! ~ Megan Cashman

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m Excited About Oyster and Scribd

Tags

books, eBooks, indie authors, Indie books, Netflix, Oyster, Oyster.com, Scribd, self-publishers, self-publishing, Smashwords

Some of you may be aware that there’s a Netflix for eBooks in town. Or, on the Internet, actually 🙂

Last fall, Smashwords notified its authors that it was teaming up with Oyster and Scribd as a way to distribute its ebooks to readers. These two websites operate kind of like Netflix. Meaning, a subscriber pays a certain amount each month to have “borrowed” books sent to their eReader. There is also a “recommended for you” part on these sites, which Netflix has too. This will allow word of mouth to come into play for many authors, which is the best way to sell anything for anyone.

And yes, there is a financial pay-off, but that all depends how much of a book a reader actually reads. There is a compensation (not a lot, but its still money) when a book is actually read from cover-to-cover. There are other payments, albeit smaller, when half or two-thirds of the book is read. So all in all, Oyster and Scribd offer indie authors both a chance to find new readers and get some compensation for their investment.

But I have heard about some writers being uneasy with this. Some of them aren’t too optimistic because both Oyster and Scribd are new ventures, and there is a concern that they might fail. Others claimed to have used one of these sites before they teamed up with Smashwords, and they had to go to great lengths to get their royalties. And there are some who say Oyster and Scribd are going to cheapen the book industry because it is so cheap to get books, particularly eBooks.

Regarding the first concern, many business ventures start off slowly before taking off. Look at Twitter. Many laughed at that idea, and now the CEO is laughing his way to the bank. I am optimistic that Oyster and Scribd will succeed, because it was inevitable that an eBook loaning site will start with the advent of eBooks.

Now as for the shady side of those two sites, well, I don’t think Smashwords’ Mark Coker would want to do business with something that will hurt the authors who come to his site. Since authors like me are half the reason why Smashwords is a success (the other half is from the readers who buy their books there), why would he want to anger us? We’re like his bread and butter.

As for cheapening the book business, yes I admit it sounds a bit scary. The publishing industry keeps changing, thanks to the Internet and the ever-evolving digital technology. But the music industry was turned upside down by file sharing and iTunes, and it is still standing. Netflix’s only casualty were video store chains, like Blockbuster. But movies are still being made and still generating money. As technology changes, so must we.

But I don’t think these two sites, or any other route for authors to sell or spread the word about their books, will destroy the book business. Things are little shook up now, but I’m sure everything will work out in the end.

I’m excited for these ventures, and I don’t see why they would fail. Here in the U.S., Netflix and Redbox are a success, so why can’t those two book loaning sites be successful with readers? Plus, the idea of more people coming across my book sounds great to me! And if they only read half of it, well, anything towards what I invested in is fine by me.

By the way, if you are an author on Smashwords, the way to have your books included on Oyster and Scribd is to have them in the premium catalog.

Lessons One Year Later: Marketing & Promotions

Tags

authors, books, eBooks, marketing, New Adult, novels, paranormal, promotions, self-published authors, self-published books, self-publishing, urban fantasy, vampires

As summer came to a close earlier this week and the first fall chills came over the area where I live, I realized something: this month will be one year since I self-published my first book.

Wow! A whole year has gone by since I officially became an author! It was my life-long dream to publish a book and I finally did it last year. I was thrilled and excited when I got the email on the morning of September 14th from Amazon Kindle, telling me “The Dark Proposal” was live. A new era in my life had begun.

But I had much to learn about being an author, publishing books and getting the attention of readers worldwide. And I think I still do. Although I researched like crazy on how to promote my book, I was not sure if I was doing it right. There seemed to be a million different ways to do promotions and marketing, and some I wasn’t so sure would work but tried anyway.

Here’s what I’ve learned about marketing and promotions, one year later:

Blurbs are so important: Duh, right? Blurbs give readers a summary of what the book is about, while using the correct words to lure the readers into at least reading the preview. I thought I had a good idea on what was a good blurb, but boy was I wrong! I actually rewrote my blurb a few times after my book’s release once I realized that a few words made “The Dark Proposal” sound like a paranormal romance, something is definitely is not (one reader has called it the “anti-Twilight’). I was embarrassed that I probably misled my audience and I totally regret not having my blurb checked with my editor. Lesson learned, painfully learned.

Choose the right sample to display: When I did my blog tour upon my book’s release, I chose the first chapter to be used as a sample. I wanted to show potential readers what kind of person Claire was, what motivated her to first speak to Daniel, and what kind of person he was when he first appears. I figured this way people would have a good understanding on what was going on, and understand Claire before all hell broke loose, plus not give away any spoilers. But I think I should’ve gone with a different scene then. I realize now that any sample I use needs to give the reader a good idea of what the whole book entails, not a more innocent time. The sample I use now is enough to show who Claire is, as well as what goes on in the story.

Social media is not the only way to promote: So many self-published authors say promoting your book on social media is the best way to spread the word about it. That maybe true for some, but I didn’t sell numerous copies on Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads. I got some buzz on my blog tour, which was only for five days. But nothing stellar happened. So when some author swears social media is the best way to sell books, be skeptical. Especially when they say to flood Twitter with the same tweets every 15 minutes saying “buy my book! buy my book!” I never did that, thankfully, because I saw a few authors do that before I released my book and saw how tasteless it was. Oh yeah, no DMs on Twitter when you get new followers.

Be careful who you ask to help promote your book: Because I so dearly wanted word to spread about my book, I searched for various avenues to do that. I found some indie book promo company – if that’s the right word – that promised to tweet indie books for a whole month and feature it on its website for a fair price of $20. So I signed up and paid, but nothing came of it. Even worse, the tweets they did were embarrassing. The tweets included the line, “not your grandmother’s vampire story!” Oh boy. I asked for them to change it, since after all I was paying them. They were a little reluctant but they finally did. So that was $20 wasted. Learn from me: research like crazy to make sure anyone who can help promote your book will actually do a good job and be worth every penny.

Be flexible when it comes to giveaways and free days: Even though I signed up for the Amazon KDP Select, which allows five free days, I was reluctant to give my book away for free. I had worked hard on it and I wanted some compensation for all the money I spent editing, getting a book cover, copyrighting, etc. But when I read about how free days and giveaways can help spread the word about your book, I gave in. For the sake of Halloween, I made “The Dark Proposal” free on Amazon on October 30th and 31st. Whoa, did I get a response! This is when I got the vast majority of my downloads. I was amazed and excited to see my book do so well. I saw a boost in sales this past June when I re-released “The Dark Proposal” – sans typos – and had it on sale for 99 cents. These days my book is back at $2.99 on both Amazon and Smashwords, and I’ll put it on sale again soon. Hey, this is the sacrifice self-published authors have to make. We all want to see our work and investments pay off, but that’s a tough road. You have to gain an audience, and sometimes in order to do that, you need to be flexible on how readers can get your book. If selling it for 99 cents or for free does the trick, then so be it. If all goes well, you wouldn’t need to do that for long.

So that is what I’ve learned from marketing and promoting “The Dark Proposal” one year later. I had read a lot of author blogs on how to do this, mainly from author Catherine Ryan Howard on her superb blog, Catherine Caffeinated (please check it out, she’s great!). But a lot of it I had to learn on my own. Granted, I’m the type of person who dives into a new task without reading the directions properly, which is a bit of a personal flaw of mine. But I’ve learned a lot. Some of the things I did right I’ll apply again the next time. As for the others, hell no!