This gallery contains 7 photos.
Don Massenzio Today we sit down with prolific author Deby Fredericks. She has published fiction under her own name and has produced work for children under the name Lucy D. Ford. Please enjoy her responses to these 10 questions and … Continue reading
Yahoo Image Search
Aragorn
Yahoo Image Search
Some Disney Snowman Thing
Yahoo Image Search
Yahoo Image Search (Found when searching for fantasy author stuff)
Damn right, Chuck.
Geez, where to even start? Things are flying everywhere today and I’m not sure where to start. Just look at how late this post is coming and how I’m not even scheduling it. I wanted to finish a beta-reading project and send that off first. Things got shaky this morning with getting some stuff set up for Ritual of the Lost Lamb. I’ll mention that one:
Ritual of the Lost Lamb will go LIVE on Thursday, May 11th!
I’ve got everything, but I’m finishing up an editing run to be safe. Not to mention Sunday and Monday have events that made publishing this weekend impossible. At least with next Thursday, I get take a little more time to fine tune a few spots and prep some interviews that can go out that morning. Promoting is going to be a slight headache this time around only because many of the big sites appear to be booked solid for the next for months. So, this book might be getting less exposure than the previous ones. Fingers crossed as usual.
Speaking of promotions, I’m still trying to decide on what I’ll do with The Life & Times of Ichabod Brooks. How much money do I put to it? With there not being much time between it and the Windemere book, I don’t know if I can toss a lot at this one. Yet, I feel like I have to do something for it. Then again, I might be able to do a lot with only $200 put towards it. It’s going to be rough since it will be starting up soon after the Windemere push finishes. Poor Ichabod. He’s practically sandwiched between Ritual of the Lost Lamb and Path of the Traitors. Guy can’t catch a break, but I got good feedback for the stories. Enough that I’m strongly considering doing another collection when things settle in the project department. I mean, I had 10-12 stories that didn’t make the cut this time too.
In other news, Protecting Bedlam was completed Wednesday afternoon. Getting a little nervous about this one because of the high emotions I keep seeing in politics. Even with a bunch of the changes, I’m afraid people might just start flipping out. This is going to be a long project too. Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday from June to September, but maybe it will help the published books sell. Don’t really have much else to lose on this one. I don’t have any pictures for this too, which is an issue. No point in getting a cover for a book that’s blog only and won’t bring in money. Might just forget that and depend on have the other covers on the bottom of each section with sales links. Another aside, this is a full book as well, so the sections won’t be small. I did as much chopping as I could, but some scenes required 5-7 pages with no smooth slash part.
Well, I’ve touched on all the projects. Life in general has been crazy-ish. My son has a school project that we’re finishing up today. All he has left is the part that mommy is in charge of, so I can get to those interviews/guest posts. A Friday storm prevented me from getting my pizza reward. Can’t remember the last time I got to it and next week might be out because I need every minute I can get. That and I’m making pizza muffins at some point. Repetition feels wrong to me when it comes to this reward.
One thing I wanted to talk about for a paragraph is lurking. This is coming out of left field, but it’s becoming a pet peeve. There are people who have asked me to speak more about my life on the blog and others who complain that I sometimes write vague allusions to what’s going on. Well, lurkers are the problem. This paragraph alone will bring some headaches, but here we go. You see, there are people who look at my blog and Facebook page without commenting in public. Instead, they email, message, or physically talk to me about these things, which gets awkward. It also makes me paranoid. Anybody else deal with this at times? I know these things are public, but getting into a real-life chat over a post can be a headache because it never happens when you’re ready for it.
Anyway, weekly goals:
So, Jason mentioned that the new cover is connected to the first one. I’m going to post a side-by-side for everyone to see. Feel free to say what you think:
You have already published your first book. As part of that process, you set up your author pages on Amazon and other distribution sites such as Smashwords. You also established your own website, Facebook author page, Goodreads Author page, Twitter account and accounts on other social media platforms.
Now the time has come to publish your next book. You upload it and, hey presto, a short time later your precious creation goes live. Here is a list of thirteen housekeeping jobs to attend to before beginning the hard work of post-publication marketing.
1. Assemble your Buyer Links
Assemble a list of the new buyer links for adding to your website, signatures and posts.
2. Your Amazon Author Pages
Update your author pages on Amazon USA, UK, France, Germany and Japan: claim the new book and modify your biography.
3. The Author Page on other distribution sites, such as Smashwords
Modify…
View original post 379 more words
Yahoo Image Search
It starts with an ember
That one does not snuff out
A glimmer in a dream
A whimsy when bored
A thought beyond the tedium
Signs that something
A spark is stirring once again
Nurturing the spark
Raising it into a flame
Both familiar and foreign
And more fragile than a bubble
You fear its demise
Knowing it happened once before
Murdered by your hand
Many come to kill the flame
No place for such things
Only children indulge
Let the dreams stay in the shadows
Yet you know it must survive
Your final chance
To feel human once again
The flames grow
An inferno driving you ahead
Scaring many
Who have long since lost their dreams
What will you do
Now that a second chance is here
Will it birth a Phoenix?
And here we go:
Cover art by Jason Pedersen
The title and author name still have to go on, but I’ve found that the picture alone tends to get a better reaction. The release plan is to hit publish on Wednesday night and announce the release on Thursday. I’ll be sending the HTML file to all of the volunteers (STILL TIME TO SIGN UP!) once mine goes live. This way I can promote more over the weekend and Thursday is the time I have the least amount of scrambling to do.
Promoting is becoming tougher. I took a look around and a lot of the sites I use are busy. One is nearly entirely booked for promos for at least the next 3 months. At least in terms of new releases, so I’ll have to see what I can do. I have a list of potential interview sites that I’ll contact on Thursday once everything is locked in. So, hopefully this book gets the same amount of love as the previous ones. It’s getting scary lately because it’s been so long and promo avenues are getting scarcer.
Hope everyone enjoyed the cover.
Coming at you with one, point twenty-one jigawatts of power, all across the known galaxy and into the spiritual realms, this is Lisa Burton Radio, the only show out there that interviews the characters from the books you love. I’m your host, Lisa the robot girl, and with me today is Finn McLachlan. He and his friend Cain have been observing some pretty unusual situations lately. “Welcome to the show, Finn.”
“Thanks, Lisa.When they said robot girl, I pictured a female C3PO or R2D2, which you’re so much not.Totally a good thing.”
“Thanks, Finn. My bio says you’re in high school and you have a girlfriend named Lindsey. What can you tell us about her?”
“Somebody crossed their wires, sweetheart.Lindsey is one massively cool girl, but she’s into Cain, my best friend, who’s currently trapped in the web of the reigning mean girl, Erin.I know, high…
View original post 1,263 more words
You’ve been toiling for hours upon hours. Edited to a glossy shine, your manuscript is finally complete.
Unfortunately, a complete manuscript is not the same thing as a book interior. The difference is formatting.
If a complete manuscript is your masterpiece, consider formatting the frame in which your masterpiece is viewed. Proper framing enhances the work, while improper framing detracts. Even worse, nothing screams amateur quite as loudly as improper framing.
So how does one ensure proper framing?
For one, start sweating the details.
This example shows basic text written left justified on 8×11 paper. It is readable, but there is nothing to pull the eye to the page, let alone, a reader into a story.
Adjust your page size
When setting your book up for publishing you will be asked to specify a trim size, which is a fancy way of saying set your page length and width. You…
View original post 585 more words
Yahoo Image Search
Its death is silent
Gone before we can say good-bye
Replaced without a thought
For magic has no place
In the hearts of men
The time for play is done
Work until the pills arrive
Pop until the work is done
Go through the motions
Instead of exhaling dreams
The drones demand
All must grow up
Meaning all must grow old
Younger ages are targeted
To make sure magic dies
And stays dead
