Category: My Books

Doing My First Indie Uploads This Week!

I now have in my grabby little hands (or on my grabby little hard drive) the Indie author files for uploading HEAD OVER HEELS to Kindle, Kobo, Apple and Smashwords. As far as I’m aware, Kindle, Kobo and Apple are the only formats I can upload (as a Canadian) without going through an aggregator like Smashwords (which distributes to Nook, Sony and a lot of other places).

I have never done this before, and of course I didn’t open any accounts, etc., before arriving at this point. That would take all the fun out of panicking. I have no clue if there’s a “best practices” order in which to upload. And I do need to find out if Canadians can upload anywhere other than the venues I’ve listed here. So, I have some research to do.

It’s a busy weekend filled with personal commitments. Today I am, unfortunately, attending a celebration of life for a friend who passed away a week ago. Beginning Monday, I will start my foray into Sindie publishing! Will let you know how it goes and when the book is available on which venues. Which means soon I’ll be updating the HEAD OVER HEELS page to reflect the new excerpt and all the buy links.

If you would like notification of a particular format (Kindle, Nook, Kobo), please drop me an email and I’ll let you know as soon as the book is available in that format. I will be sending out a newsletter once the first format is available, but don’t want to pepper newsletter subscribers with too many editions within a short time.

Thanks!

Head Over Heels Sindie Pub Update

Honestly, I really am going to write another Galapagos travel blog post—maybe even this week! Just not now (check the Archives by clicking the Galapagos link if you’re interested in what I’ve written about my travels so far). Today I’m popping in from a busy and hot (finally!) summer to report that I’ve finished going over the proofreader’s file for the Indie edition of HEAD OVER HEELS and have handed the book over to my formatter for conversion into Smashwords, Kindle and ePub (Kobo, Apple and other outlets) files. I’m also hiring out for the interior design of the new trade paperback edition I’ll be doing through CreateSpace. The same talented cover designer, Kim Killion of Hot Damn Designs, who did the ebook cover, will design the paperback cover. By the end of August, my “soft launch” should be complete. I hope!

What is a “soft launch,” you ask? It would be nice if I had a definitive answer, but that would require more research than I have time for at the moment. Instead, I’ll go with a Sindie answer (ie. what I’ve figured out but haven’t verified yet). A “soft launch” is when a self-published author is busy uploading her book to the various venues which she, as a Canadian, can upload to on her own. Example, Kindle and Kobo. Nook must be uploaded (for Canadians) through a service such as the one an aggregator like Smashwords provides. There’s a time lag between when an author uploads a book and when it’s actually made available for sale. So, in effect, there can be several “launches” for the same Indie-published book. There could be a Kindle launch, a Nook launch, a Kobo launch, a CreateSpace (trade paperback) launch. They might occur days or weeks apart. From what I have been able to gather, some Indie authors quietly go about the “soft” launch and then, when the book is available everywhere, they do a “hard launch.” In other words, announce the book as available everywhere. Other authors announce the availability as the various formats go live.

I will most likely follow the latter option. I’m too excited to wait for a hard launch (if I even have the terminology correct. If you are an Indie author and I don’t have the terminology correct, feel free to, well, correct me). The easiest way to keep up with when a particular format is available is to:

– subscribe to the RSS feed to this blog (link at bottom of blog – click where it says Entries and then click the Subscribe link that will appear in the feed).
– Join my Facebook author page and then make sure you comment or like a post every so often so Facebook will continue feeding you my updates
– Join my newsletter on Yahoogroups (see box in upper right hand corner of blog for ease of joining) and, when I am ready, I will send out a newsletter announcing where the book is available. I will likely save the newsletter for a “hard launch,” with perhaps the exception of the trade paperback version, because it might take longer than the ebook launches.

And there you have it. Several ways you can be Cindy-fied. This is not to be confused with being dignified. Dignity is for sissies.

Find Me at Table 802!

As I’m heading off to Anaheim for the RWA National Conference, I realized I might not get a chance to blog during the conference. But a quick heads-up that I’m signing copies of WHERE SHE BELONGS at the Annual Literacy Autographing. The tables aren’t in alphabetical order this year, so just remember (if you’re in the area and want to stop by to say hello) that I can be found at Table 802 along with Jane Porter (the other P in the bunch) as well as a few other authors with last names that don’t start with P. So if you see a long line forming in front of Jane’s station and no one standing in front of mine, pop over and say hello. I don’t bite!

Here’s the WWWW direct from RWA:

2012 “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing

Wednesday, July 25, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Anaheim Convention Center, Ballroom (third floor)

http://www.rwa.org/cs/literacy_autographing

Proceeds from book sales go to ProLiteracy Worldwide, Read Orange County, and Literacy Volunteers—Huntington Valley.

No outside books are allowed in the event.

I Am Here

Absent from the blog, but busy working and living life!

The RWA National Conference in Anaheim, California occurs next week. I am attending and will be signing at the Literacy Autographing Wednesday evening. More information coming on that in a couple of days.

I’m mega-behind in posting my Galapagos travel posts. I’ve been busy updating and revising HEAD OVER HEELS for what will now be an August 2012 re-issue through my imprint, Blue Orchard Books. After rewriting about 80% of the sentences (if not more) in the story, I decided to hire a proofreader to make sure I haven’t left any stray commas or typos behind (and by hire a proofreader I don’t mean a family member, friend, or a critique partner. I wanted someone totally objective who was not at all familiar with the story). Yesterday, I sent off the file for proofreading and expect it will be returned to me at the end of the month.

Then comes the formatting, for which I am also hiring out. I am hiring out every step of the process toward the re-issue of HEAD OVER HEELS that does not involve writing or uploading to the various on-line venues. I just have too much going on to worry about learning how to properly format my work for all the different formats (Smashwords, ePub, Kindle, etc.). Maybe in the future, but not right now. This means, of course, that the re-issue of HEAD OVER HEELS does not come without a price. Proofreaders, formatters, cover artists, etc. are not free. However, I am so totally in love with this story again, and I honestly believe that if I want to try and find new readers with a re-issue then I owe it to those readers to put out the best version of the story that I honestly can at this point in time. For me, for a book that was originally published ten years ago (time flies!) that meant a lot of editing. I know other authors feel differently, but I didn’t feel right putting out a re-issue of a “contemporary” that was set in another decade. It was great fun updating technology and cultural changes, etc. without sacrificing characterization and story.

I am in love with the result! I hope you will be, too.

Continue to watch this space for news of the re-issue as I have it.

Now, I need to panic for the next two days as I realize I am not anywhere near finished packing (er, I have yet to start) for Conference!

Borrowing Alex Rights Reversion

The English-language ebook and print rights to BORROWING ALEX revert to me today from Amber Quill Press. I will be reissuing the story sometime this summer under the imprint, Blue Orchard Books. I’d say it’ll probably appear again in August. Meanwhile, the audiobook of BORROWING ALEX remains for sale from AudioLark, Audible and iTunes.

Right now I’m still heavily editing and updating HEAD OVER HEELS. I won’t commission a new cover for BORROWING ALEX or even think about that book until I have the new edition of HEAD OVER HEELS off to my proofreader. I’m super glad I decided to update the story. It was first published in 2002 and reissued in 2005 with few changes. Essentially, that makes HEAD OVER HEELS a ten-year-old book. It feels right to update it, and I’m having a lot of fun doing so. I’m looking forward to it finding a new audience.

BORROWING ALEX released in 2005. It remains to be seen how much updating that story requires. The heroine “borrows” (kidnaps, with his consent) the hero and spirits him off to a remote lake cabin where it makes sense that cell phone service and the like would be spotty. Whereas, with HEAD OVER HEELS, I’ve had to get a bit creative in how technology changes could mess with my beautiful plot!

I’m not altering the plots of either stories, the basic characterizations, goals, motivations, and conflicts. The stories I reissue will be the stories that were available from Amber Quill Press until today. Just ramped up a bit.

By the way, I’ve learned that the number of “likes” on an author’s Amazon Author Central page can help in the algorithm computer number thingies for that author. Basically, whenever you see a “like” button and want to help out an author, click it. Using moi, for example, whether you’re on my Amazon Author Central page, or one of the pages for my individual books (the pages are still on Amazon, thanks to the Audible audiobook editions and also WHERE SHE BELONGS remains for sale in hardcover, too), clicking “like” makes me look good! So, if you’re so inclined, I would really appreciate it if you went over and clicked “like” (look for the button in the upper right hand corner) my Amazon Author page, and also the individual book pages, if the spirit moves you.

You do have to be logged into Amazon for clicking like to “stick.” Just keep that in mind (if the spirit moves you).

Thanks!

Head Over Heels Cover Reveal, Third Edition

Thanks to Kim Killion and Jennifer Litteken of Hot Damn Designs for working with me so patiently on the new cover for HEAD OVER HEELS. I love it, and I hope you like it, too.

The re-issue through my imprint, Blue Orchard Books, will mark the third edition of HEAD OVER HEELS. I think I still have the original NovelBooks, Inc. cover on my hard drive somewhere. When I have a chance to breathe, I’ll post all three covers (NBI, AQP and BOB), which will give you an idea of how cover design trends change over the years.

For now, the cover reveal for the upcoming reissue of HEAD OVER HEELS! Drum roll….