First Time Sale and Huge Giveaway - 7: The Seven Deadly Sins

OMG happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! EEK! I can't even tell you how freaking excited I am for the news I'm about to share with you. Not only do we have a first time EVER sale on 7: The Seven Deadly Sins, but we also have a huge giveaway for you! Get your clicking fingers ready, and let's get going!

Here's a bit of a bonus: IF you buy the Kindle book today at $0.99, you can then get the audio at a discounted rate! Much less than buying the audio outright. The audiobook is SO GOOD. I was blown away!

First up, a little information about the book.

Title: 7: The Seven Deadly Sins
Author(s): Casey L. Bond, Jo Michaels, Tia Silverthorne Bach, Kelly Risser, and N. L. Greene (the Ferocious 5)
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length (print): 404 pages
Buy Links: Kindle  ~ Paperback  ~ Audio
This title is also in Kindle Unlimited!

 
Blurb:
Seven marks upon a wall.
Tom may rise, but he may fall.
Through five lives, no one dares mention,
of the sin for which he seeks redemption.
Fates will meet, and you will see,
what will thus become of he.



Here are some graphics you can share today, if you'd be so kind!

And last, but in no way least, here's the prize pack information and the rafflecopter entry form!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

May the odds be ever in your favor!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

That Ah Ha! Moment When Writing and Utterances Excerpt

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Yes, I missed two days this week, but it was for good reason. I'm not only getting ready to leave for London and the awesome Chapter.Con, but I've also been writing Utterances! Today, I'm going to share the details of the book once again and a little snippet from further on. Grab your coffee (or tea), and let's get going!

PSA: This blog will be mostly silent until August 28th. I have a big surprise for you all on 8/24. Keep your eyes open for that post.

Yesterday, I had an ah ha! moment with my WIP. Here I was, struggling with the next big step in the book, and I hit upon the idea to just let the characters go with the flow of the story. I discovered they're smart and resourceful.

My characters are also pretty funny.  

Favorite quote:  "If crazies come a knockin’, guns come out a cockin’."

I started the day at 37k words, and I ended with 42.5k. Win!

Do you ever have that moment in your novel writing where you're just like I'VE GOT IT! and things flow?

Title: Utterances
Author: Jo Michaels
Genre: New Adult Paranormal
Length: TBD
Release Date: 2017

Blurb:
Simone spent the last two years by her cancer-ridden mother’s bedside. Taking care of her was the number one priority. When Mom suddenly goes into full remission, Simone is left bobbing in an unfamiliar ocean with a young man named Tristan. What happens next is the stuff of fairy tales—and nightmares.

Shocking, heart-wrenching, and insightful, Utterances will make you question everything you thought you knew about self-sacrifice. Award-winning author Jo Michaels pulls reality and the paranormal together in a way never before seen, intensely examining what we call the human condition by diving into the innermost workings of one young lady’s mind.

~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt (unedited) Chapter 14:

When the doc finally left, he was as white as his coat and moving fast.
Simone sat on the floor and watched as the fabric billowed in the breeze.
“Alexandra, honey?”
“Yes ma’am! Coming!”
Mrs. Shandy smiled. “Oh, good. I thought you’d done gone and left me!”
“No way, no how. We have a story to finish.” Simone dropped back in the chair, opened the book to where she’d left off, and continued.
That afternoon, she left a little early, with three chapters done, and decided to go to Tristan’s house to surprise him. On her way to Shady Pines, she’d texted him, but hadn’t said she had the evening off. After checking her makeup in the mirror—a new addition to her wardrobe thanks to Mom saying how tired and old her daughter looked, she started the engine and shifted into reverse.
It was twenty minutes before she got to his house, and she started to second-guess herself on the way up the driveway. He’d been off school that day, and she hadn’t pestered him to hang out. If he found out she’d been off work…
His truck was in the driveway, so she parked behind it and got out, suddenly nervous.
As she moved toward the door, she kicked herself for being impulsive. He was sure to ask questions she didn’t have answers to. She knocked three times and waited, a cold sweat breaking out on her forehead and palms.
He opened the door, his eyes got wide, and he stepped out, keeping hold of the handle. “Hey. What are you doing here? I thought you had to work.”
“Well, I knew you were out of school and had the day off work today, so I thought I’d drop by and surprise you.” She smiled, but her hackles rose. Something about the situation wasn’t quite right, yet she couldn’t put her finger on what.
Rather than pull her into a hug, he closed the door and grabbed her arm, guiding her off the porch toward her car. “How about I come to your house in a little while?”
“Um, why can’t we hang out here?” It was getting weirder, and he was being pretty obvious about wanting her to leave.
“My, uh, mom isn’t feeling well, and I wasn’t expecting company.”
She jerked her arm out of his grasp, turned, and sprinted toward the house, throwing open the front door and rushing in, looking everywhere.
He was half a step behind her, yelling at her to stop.
A gorgeous, long-legged brunette with barely any clothes on was passed out on the couch, whisky bottle still in her hand. There was only one word to describe her: flawless.
Simone stared, her mouth dropping open. Every fiber of her being went into shock then flew into blind rage. Her world tinted blood red. She rounded on Tristan, spit at him, and bolted.
Words were being shouted at her, but all she could hear was the fury screaming at her to leave and not come back. Ever. Once in the car, she jammed the key into the ignition, turned, shoved the car in reverse, and spun around in a perfect one-eighty. Tears gathering in her eyes made the driveway blurry, but she managed, somehow, to make it to the base of the hill before she had to pull over.
There was another driveway about fifty feet up the road on the opposite side, covered with a lush growth of leafy branches that would hide her car, so she gunned the accelerator and pulled up far enough to avoid being seen. Once sure no one had followed or seen her, she shut off the engine and curled into herself, letting the tears loose. She cried, she screamed, and she beat the steering wheel with her palms until they hurt.

~~~~~~~

Uh oh. Looks like our couple is in a bit of a pickle, huh?

Hope you enjoyed that!

My fingers are crossed I find the time to give you all a post tomorrow about something I discovered while browsing Facebook. It's interesting, and it's infuriating. Ha! Way to be vague, Jo!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Readers, Sensitivity, and Mob Mentality - How Much is Too Much?

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm on yet another discussion. There are several things that have popped up over the last few weeks about right and wrong things to put in a book. Get your coffee or tea in hand, your typing fingers ready to respond, and let's get going!

We all have opinions, right? I plan to open discussion on both sides of the board with this post, and I won't be standing on either side of the fence. You all know me too well if you've been around here a while. I like to hear what you think, I'm going to try my best not to influence you with my own words, and I enjoy the verbal exchange of ideas and viewpoints.

*****That being said, please be nice when you comment. This is my blog, and I won't tolerate hatred, calling-out, or vitriol here. Got it? Okay. Let's move on.

There are a number of books that have been released lately that have spurred some pretty serious reader blowback. To be 100% transparent, I haven't read any of them. My work has revolved around writing my own book, and it's been emotional enough.

But I've seen posts and discussions on Facebook, and I know the titles of the books under fire. No, I'm not going to share those, either. If you want to know, you'll have to do your own research. This post isn't about that.

For centuries, books have been the catalyst to change in many countries. If you don't know the history, do a quick search. There isn't enough space here to discuss them all, and you should be informed. But what I'm seeing now deals directly with what the authors write.

Incest, racism, hate.

Those are the topics under fire.

From my reading experience, either an author is trying to change your way of thinking, trying to bring to light something that's horrible that needs to have light shed on it, or they're trying to tell a story that has nothing to do with their own thoughts or beliefs (a true escape).

It's difficult to tell the difference sometimes, but that doesn't stop me from reading books I don't know what's inside of. This thing where authors have to disclaim horrifying details of their books in the blurb is unsettling.

Why?

Because the things that bother one person, won't bother another. We see this with all the reviews from all the books everywhere. Some people loved the Harry Potter series, and some folks wanted to burn all the books for promoting witchcraft.

See what I'm saying?

I can see labeling it 18 and up, but I'm talking about all the other things. It's worrisome that someone might just grab a book and "read" it only so they can trash it in the review later on and have that little verified purchase ribbon to back their words. But I'm backsliding.

Anyway, the problem here isn't just that labels are being applied, because I know at least one of the novels under fire was labeled, but that it's expected in the first place.

Who are we to know what someone else is going to feel when they read our books? How are we the authorities on how something we've written will be comprehended by the reader? 

Authors may be the worst people to add warnings to their books, but then, so might readers. What some find intense, others will merely scoff at.

Let's discuss by the three topics above then.

Incest.
This isn't a new trope used in books. It goes way, wayyyyy back to novels published in the 70s even. Before you go bananas, let me say, I can see both sides of the issue here. 1) It's something that happens in real life, ergo, it can be applied to a book for real-world additions. 2) It's disturbing to read about, and the fear is there that it'll incite someone to do something they hadn't considered before. It's a touchy subject, to be sure. If an author writes about it, does that mean they're encouraging it, bringing light to an ugly, or merely writing a story?

Racism.
This also isn't a new topic. I could list several books that were racist in nature, but they've become literary classics all the same. I can, again, see both sides of the issue. Do you want to see through a racist's eyes? Get their viewpoint on things? How their brains work? Maybe. Maybe not. 1) Racism is something that's real. It's a serious problem, but it can be used as a mechanism to show what might be in a racist's mind, giving others a unique insight. 2) It's bothersome to read, and it may fuel the already present racist heart of another, making them think of doing something they'd only considered before reading it. Again, what was the point of the author writing it?

Hate.
This applies to genders, races, siblings, government, etc... An older than time topic. Dystopian worlds were borne from hate of a ruling class or laws. You could also say hate applies to books with rape in them. Both sides have weight. 1) Hate is a true problem in our society, and shining a spotlight on it can be used as an effective fuel for the proverbial fire in a novel plotline. 2) Reading about a character hating on people from any walk of life is hard, and it may, again, reinforce that the reader's mindset is the correct one. Do we care about the point if the book makes us uncomfortable?

Historically, we're strongly influenced by books (again with the search recommended above), but does that mean if we read about it, we're going to act on it?

Has the fine line between reality and fiction blurred, or are we just more attuned to the crossovers now? Do the disclaimers even matter at that point?

What bothers me most about all of this is the mob mentality that's taken hold of the world. When someone writes something that's not considered PC, they're attacked by backers of the antis. While I believe in having an opinion and stating it, isn't that what reviews are for? Why do we feel the need to attack the person (in public, no less) behind the words without understanding (or caring) what it was they were trying to say? Is that really the case, or is something else going on here?

Is this censorship?

I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the matter. Remember to be nice and don't name authors or books directly. This isn't a bash-fest.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

The Value of Words - How Cheaply are Authors Willing to Work? Boxed Set vs. Individual Novel Sales

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I know it's the middle of the week and all, but today, I'd like you all to get your brains cranking. There are some things I'd like your thoughts and opinions on, and we're gonna crunch some numbers (you all know how I love that)! If you're ready, get your typing fingers ready, your coffee in hand, and let's get going!

I know you've all seen the huge boxed sets floating around the book world. Sixteen books for just under a dollar sounds pretty dang good, right? Well, it is. That's only around six/seven cents per book. Each novel included is usually around 60k words, so that means a word is worth 0.000001 (or one penny per ten thousand words [math: .99 divided by 16 divided by 60,000 multiplied by 10,000]). One hell of a deal for your reader, right?

Now, let's look at the typical full-length novel. They're priced between $0.99 and $5.99. If they're from a big five publisher, you can bet they'll cost a bit more (say $7.99 to $12.99). We'll say those books are the same length as the ones above, and I'll give you the cost per word for a few (gapping so this post of numbers isn't quite so long). At $0.99, a word is worth 0.0000165 (or $0.17 [rounded up] per ten thousand words [math: .99 divided by 60,000 multiplied by 10,000]). At $5.99, a word is worth 0.00009983 (or $0.99 per ten thousand words). And, at $12.99, a word is worth 0.0002165 ($2.17 per word). To readers. This isn't what you make. Stay with me.

I don't know about you, but I write about 2k words per hour. Most of the people I know do 1k or 1.5k per hour, and others do even fewer than that. Let's figure out how much authors are making per hour selling their books, shall we?

At a rate of 2k words per hour, selling a 60k word novel in a boxed set will put the author making less than one penny for every five hours of work put in writing the book (0.00066 per hour). A 60k word novel should take 30 hours to write at that pace. Few of us work 5 days a week, so we'll say two weeks. You would've made a whopping $0.02 for your two weeks (or 30 hours) of labor for each sale (because you don't make the whole $0.99 on a sale, it's more like $0.32 -- divided by 16 people -- divided again by 30 hours). Less than a penny for all that work. But then there's another (at least) four weeks of editing and proofreading that take another (let's say 6) hours. Your pay just got cut. You're now at $0.00055 per sale per hour because you're at 36 hours of work without adding words (goods) to the value of your time.

But wait!

You paid to get into the boxed set, likely paid for a cover and an editor, and you pay for marketing, right?

Before you get into the "it adds up over time" clan, let's really crunch those numbers. Stay with me!

Let's say your buy-in for the boxed set was $200 (just FYI, this is on the low end). Your cover was another $200, and your editing was $2k. Marketing also cost you $200 (being reserved here).

You're up to $2600 at this point just for the extras.

Your end number for each sale is $0.02. You have to sell 130k copies of that boxed set to break even. You haven't even "made" a penny yet because you pre-spent the money to get into the set and market. But then there's dear Uncle Sam...

Now, if you look at the average novel outside of a boxed set, the author has to sell only 8,125 books to break even if their book is priced at $0.99. They'll make $0.09 per hour per sale once they've covered their out of pocket costs (left in the buy-in as it could be used for other things). At the higher payout of 72% and a book priced at $5.99, the author has to sell only 618 copies to break even, and they'll make $0.50 per hour per sale afterward.

Of course, readers want the boxed sets, but how cheaply are we, as authors, willing to work? What would you buy, nearly 1M words at $0.99, or 60k at the same price?

Are we screwing ourselves?

Are these boxed sets undervaluing our time?

Talk about it!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Nominations are Open for the First Annual OIBF Awards!

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I have the most exciting news for you all today. No intro. Get your typing fingers ready, and let's get going!

As you may know, the first annual Ozarks Indie Book Fest is happening October 19-22 in Springfield, MO. If you'd like to pick up tickets or an author table, here's the links you need: OIBF Website  ~  OIBF Tickets

Reader tickets are just TEN DOLLARS per day, and you can choose Friday or Saturday. If you purchase a thirty-five dollar ticket (which includes the awards and such), you'll be automatically entered to win dinner with several best-selling authors and the OIBF 2017 keynote speakers.

That being said, it's time to nominate your favorite authors' books for awards! There's only one caveat to winning: They must be present at the book fest to win.

If you want to nominate, you must be logged in with your email address, and you only get one shot at the form. Once you hit submit, that's all she wrote. You're done. Here are the categories (you get one nomination per category, and it cannot be yourself):

Best Indie Publisher

Best Editor

Best Formatter

Best PA

"Author of the Year (Aug 2016-Aug 2017)"

"Best Debut Author (Aug 2016-Aug 2017)"

Best Anthology

Best Book Cover

Best YA Book

Best NA Book

Best Hero/Shero

Best Villian 

"Best Overall Book Series (Has to be a complete series)" 

Best Fantasy/Paranormal Book 

Best Inspirational Book 

Best Contemporary Book 

Best Romance Book 

Best Mystery/Thriller Book 

Best Horror Book 

Best Dystopian Book 

Best Sci-Fi Book 

Best Children's Book 

Best Historical Book

Here's the link!

NOMINATE!

How awesome is that? Anyone can nominate anyone except themselves. If you have a large or enthusiastic fan base, get on it!

Did you fill it out? Will I see you at the conference?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

5 Things to Make You a Happier, More Productive Human and Writer

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic, relaxing weekend and are looking forward to the week ahead. I have so very much left to do in order to be ready for Chapter.con, but I have it worked into my schedule for next week. Yay! But that's not what this post is about. Today, I'd like to give you a quick list of ten things you can do that will help you become a happier, more productive individual. Ready? Grab your coffee, and let's get going!

1. Take Care of Yourself
This might be the single most important thing you can do. If you're not functioning at 100%, you're doing yourself a disservice. Need a mental health day? Take it. Trying to find a way to not go crazy every day? Find an outlet. Do something for you each and every day.

2. Stop Stressing About What Other People Think
If there's someone you don't want to interact with, stop. No one should own you or your mental space. Don't let those people eat your time. You have more important things to do.

3. Schedule Yourself
New to the blog? You can find my tips on scheduling here. An old hat? Y'all know exactly what I'm talking about.

4. Let Things Go
Don't let others' actions nag at you, and don't beat yourself up over mistakes you've made. Apologize and move on. If that means moving past that person, go back and read number two. Let it go. Sometimes, "it" is a person.

5. Write (or be Creative) at the Same Time Every Day
This way, your muse knows when to show up. If you're asking her to pop her head in on odd days, chances are, you'll end up staring at a blank screen (or canvas) pretty often, not knowing where to go next. And if it's not working, go do something else for a minute then come back, but don't give up.

Got anything to add?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Paperback Giveaway on the IBGW Blog

Happy Friday, everyone! Nothing says lovin' like a paperback, am I right? Let's get into the deets of the book, and then I'll provide you with a linky to the OP and the giveaway. Get those clicking fingers ready, and let's get going!

Title: Snow
Author: Mikayla Elliot
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Length (print): 224 pages
Buy Link (paperback): Amazon - $8.99 (as of this post)

Blurb:
Taken from all she has ever known and loved, Neva finds herself swept into a world of vampires where she learns she will determine their future. Yet she quickly discovers she is the target of a vampire, Zachariah, seeking to stop her from altering the vampire lineage. She must decide which path she will take while trying to protect the family she left behind, and discovering a past she cannot escape.

This book was edited by Karen Robinson, proofread by Jennifer Oberth, and formatted for print and digital by Gaynor Smith (all of INDIE Books Gone Wild).

Here's the link to the post and the entry form on the IBGW blog today:

ENTER HERE

What do you think? Sounds like a pretty groovy book, eh?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Chapter.con London - 2 FREE Tickets to Saturday Signing Available

Happy Thursday! As you all may know, I'm headed to London to not only celebrate my fortieth birthday, but also to attend the first annual Chapter.con! Each of the authors have been granted the ability to give away three tickets. Here's your chance to snag one of the other two! Get your clicking fingers ready, and let's get going!

There are three things you must do to be eligible:

1. Join the group, Heading to Chapter.con on Facebook
2. Give my Facebook page a like or a follow
3. Enter the Rafflecopter below where it will ask you to do those things listed above hehe

There's a bonus entry option!

Ready? GOGOGO!! Here's the entry form:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope to see you there, even if you don't score a ticket with me!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo 

Beware the Distribution Arms if You're in KU

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I know I'm late, but I'm HERE, and that's what matters. My schedule fell on its head today. haha! But still managing to make time to get in here and blog. Today, I'm going to talk about something that happened to a friend of mine. We can all learn from it, so get your coffee and let's get going!

So, for a long while, my friend had her books wide (being distributed to all vendors everywhere). She decided to pull her books from wide and go all in with Amazon KDP Select. This enrolled her stories in Kindle Unlimited automatically, and she started getting paid by the Global Fund pot for pages read.

Everything was going fine for a good, long time, until one day, she discovered her titles had been pulled from Select. There was no email telling her why. Nothing.

She freaked out (wouldn't you?).

You see, this friend of mine is always on the up and up. She's done everything by the book and to the letter of the rules. So, when this happened, she was completely taken aback.

After a LOT of digging around, she discovered those titles that had been pulled to go into Select were available via one of the distribution arms of a popular distributor.

No, I'm not going to say which one. That's not what this post is about. I'm just issuing a warning here and showing you how you might want to delve more deeply if you're pulling from wide distro to go into Select.

Let's move on.

These books weren't pirated. Amazon doesn't yank your books for that. They were legitimate arms of distributors that simply neglected to remove a title that was no longer available.

Needless to say, she's still fighting it. No one at Amazon will get back in touch with her, and last I heard, she was planning to reach out to the distributor to see if they could help.

But the damage is, sadly, done. Her royalties for pages read have come to a screeching halt, and she doesn't know when or if she'll be able to get back into Select. When Amazon bans you, it's usually for at least a year.

So, there's one situation to be hyper aware of. If you pull your books from wide, be sure you check everywhere before clicking the "Enroll this book in KDP Select" button. She thought she did, and it's really messing up her money right now.

Have you heard of something like this? Anything strange happen to you?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Being Put in Impossible Situations

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Well, the kidlings here in Ga are back in school, and that means Mommy can finally concentrate on things she needs to do without interruptions. While my child is good about not coming into my office when she knows I'm working, she's still a kid. Sometimes, she just can't help herself. But yay to being back on track. This post isn't about all that, however. Today, I'm going to talk about something I hate: being put in an impossible situation. Ready? Let's get going.

My definition of an impossible situation, for purposes of this post, is one where if I do one thing, I look like an ass, and if I do the other, I compromise my core values, allow myself to be deeply hurt or disappointed, or let people take advantage of me. Either way, as you can see, it's lose/lose. As you read, keep that in mind.

I've had sessions with counselors in which I'm told I have a very good sense of self-awareness, but that I need to be firmer with people. I should tell them when they hurt or disappoint me. For example: I know what it was that hurt me and why, but I can't bring myself to address it with someone else because I'm afraid of hurting them even though they've hurt me already. Oftentimes, I find myself commiserating with characters I see in movies that do stupid stuff, those folks that no one but me seems to understand, and I end up feeling badly for them.

Why is this?

Well, while talking out a situation one time, it was pointed out that I'm a giver with a very high core value of integrity, and while I never believed I expected anything in return, that wasn't quite the case.

I believed that if I gave and was honest, I would get loyalty in return. Now, loyalty isn't friendship. A true friend is there because they genuinely like the person you are and respect you. Loyalty, however, can be earned and independent of friendship. Someone who is loyal doesn't necessarily have to like you.

I hold people to a very high standard of behavior that includes respect of me and my time along with a few other things I have a hard time compromising on.

Let me clarify: I don't do things so people do things in return for me. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying I give, and what I want in return is respect, thoughtfulness, and to not be put in impossible situations.

Here's one:
My son tells a friend they can stay over before asking me. I just took the kid all over town for school shopping, and I have three other kids in the house besides him. I'm just not in the mood to deal with someone else's child. I say no. He stands there and begs me, says he already invited the kid, and begs me some more. For every no, he has a reason it will work out, and he refuses to call the kid and tell them they can't come.

Okay, now I'm in an impossible situation. 1. ) I can either call the kid's parents and tell them the kid can't come, or 2. ) I can give in and be miserable all night. Several things eat at me about both of those options (please know I realize we'll all react differently to these things--these are my opinions and feelings--they may not make sense to you): 1. ) This option makes me look like a terrible parent (an ass) who can't keep their kids under control and it disappoints another child who might have been looking forward to something. It also has the likelihood of ruining the other set of parents plans they may have made with the expectation their child would be gone for the night. 2. ) If I give in to my kid, I reinforce that he can beg and get his way. Worse, I allow him to have control over me. I would be tired and grumpy, and I'd have yet another mouth to feed, another kid to clean up after, and another someone in my house (this alone causes me stress).

There are so many of these examples that I could throw down here, but I'm not going into all that. Today, I'm trying to get you to think about yourself and maybe even your characters' situations. It can be cathartic to write about people who behave in a different manner than you, but be careful to dig deeply and show why the character is the way they are to your reader. If you'd just read the beginning, without understanding why I reacted the way I did, you probably would've said that you'd stick to your no and be done with it. Hell, maybe you'd still say that. But this is showing you what it might be like via the inner turmoil of another.

I hate disappointing people or making them feel badly about something they've done. I also can't stand being selfish. It eats at me. So, when it comes to me standing up for myself, oftentimes, folks have no idea they've hurt me--even when it's deeply--because I move forward and pretend like everything is okay (this is especially true if they can't see me--if they can, they'll see the tears, but I'll insist everything is fine unless pushed, and then I tend to explode because I'm trying really hard to keep it under control--lose/lose) or I end up just ignoring them because I know I'll hurt their feelings if I say something.

My issue is that I expect other people to be as careful with my feelings as I am with theirs. This is what I refer to as loyalty.

I'm working on it.

What are yours? What do you think of the above? Do you have this issue? Do any of your characters? How did you show it?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

A Book that Went Askew

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. It's back to the grind today, but no worries! This post is lighthearted and fun. I'm gonna talk about some characters that pushed me around and took my story in a different direction than I'd planned. Ready? Grab your coffee or tea, and let's get going!

I spent the weekend revising the first half of Utterances (you can read an excerpt here). I'm at 30k words now, and I have about 30k more to write. I like to take a pause at this point in a novel and re-read to make sure everything is flowing as it should, details aren't regurgitated, and my timeline works. Also, I check to make sure my loose outline is moving forward as it should.

Needless to say, I found a few holes.

Once I'd gotten them filled in, I took a minute to build a timeline I'll be able to send to my editor so she can double check me. Everything was flowing smoothly, and then I whipped out my suggested chapter outline that I wrote at the beginning of May.

It was off by nearly six chapters! Several of the things I'd planned never happened, and many more have yet to happen. My characters dictated where the story was going, and they took it over, making it their own.

Why?

Because there are things I can't outline--like how a character will show who they are and what their core values (those things they refuse to bend on) are. Sometimes, a character needs a moment to overreact to something, and I hadn't planned it in advance. That's when my books take on a life of their own.

So, I threw my original plan out and jotted down a new one. Still the same ending, I'm just taking a different path to get there.

Right now, I'm figuring I'll introduce you to my MC and her supporting cast. SURPRISE! Check it out! Images are how I picture them in my head.

Name: Simone Alice Bookhart
Age: 18
Height: 5' 7"
Career: Cashier at grocery store
Great quote: “I know, and I love you for trying. But I had to be my own grownup around here, and I’ve changed in ways I can’t explain.”

Name: Tristan Joseph Cardre

Age: 22

Height: 5' 11"

Career: Runs one of the family restaurants & college student studying business management

Great quote: “I didn’t do anything! I just asked her if she wanted to order, and she went all cavewoman on me.”

These two have a lot of hurdles to leap over, but I think y'all are gonna like Tristan. He's as much of a hot mess as Simone is. Together, I think they're incredible.

What do you think? Looking forward to getting to know them?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Friday Funday Part Four

Happy Friday, everyone! So, I used to do this awesome thing called Friday Funday. It's all about authorly word games or writing games you can play alone or with friends and family. If you'd like to check out past posts, click these links: Friday Funday, Friday Funday Part Two, Friday Funday Part Three. Keeping with the theme, I'm gonna do one today! These are all about observation to revise your work in progress. Get your brain ready, and let's get going!

Game #1 - Acting Crazy for Revisions (3+ players)
Use your phone or computer camera. Set it up so it can capture the area and hit record. Pick a scene from your work in progress, and read it aloud while the other people in the room act it out. You now have a live visual to draw description from. Pay attention to facial expressions and movements when you're revising the scene. You can also just do it for fun with a book you've read to see if other people picture it the same way you do. Costumes are optional, but fun.

Game #2 - What Happens Next? (3+ players)
Pick a scene from a book and read the first part. Players in the room act out what they think happens next. Whichever one is correct wins candy (or some other little prize). Who knows? If you're the author, you may revise the scene to make it fit what they acted out rather than what you've written. *grin*

Game #3 - Where am I? (2+ players)
Again, choose a scene (or two) and leave out any location details. Read the scene aloud, and let the other person/people guess where you might be. Have them tell you what they think the location looks like. This one can get pretty fun if you have imaginative friends.

Game #4 - Internet Meme Search (1+ players)
I find this one fun because you can do it yourself. Take a 2-4 word phrase from a book, add the words "meme" and your first name to the end, and type it in the search bar of your favorite engine. Choose image, and have fun laughing. In a group, whoever comes up with the funniest one wins a small prize.

I hope these provide you with a ton of laughs this weekend.

If you try any, come leave me a note to let me know how it goes!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

What's in Your Media Kit?

Happy Thursday, everyone! Look at me go with the blog. *grin* I told you, scheduling is everything. If you stick to it, right? Plus, this gives me an excellent warmup to writing. I've been like a tsunami of getting stuff done. It feels awesome. As of next week, the kiddo goes back to school, too, so I have a feeling Utterances will be done sooner than I expected. But that's not why we're here today, is it? No. You're wondering what you should put in your author (or book) media kit, right? Awesome. Let's get going.

When I was launching Emancipation, I had a company create me a media kit for the book. It looks like this (first page only):

You can see from the image what all it includes. I won't post the excerpt page here because of language, and because this blog is PG-13, but I'll put up the rest so you can see.

If I'd had editorial reviews of the book at the time, they would've included a page for those, too.

Now, an author media kit includes much of the same, but you'd want a page in there with all your social media links, any bestseller lists you've hit, and any awards you've won. It's a brag packet, and you should showcase everything that's awesome about yourself.

Why is it so hard for people to grasp that authors are a little bit vain? We have to champion ourselves at every turn, don't we? Moving on...

If you make your media kit look professional, you'll be taken much more seriously. Add it to your website for folks to download, too. Sometimes, people want to know more, and this is a great way to give them what they're after. Final document should be in PDF format.

I'll be creating one of these for myself (author media kit) and for a couple of other projects I'm working on. Why not? They're handy! I hope this post helped in some way!

Do you have a media kit for yourself or your book(s)? Planning on making one?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Happy UNBirthday to You! With a Giveaway!

Happy Wednesday, everyone! EEK! OMG I'm totally forty-years-old today. :O Funny, but I don't feel like I'm forty; at least, I don't feel the way I thought someone who's forty should feel. Anywayyyyy, today, because I love to do this, I'm giving YOU ALL a chance at a gift.

Ready? Get your entry clicking fingers ready, and let's get going!

About the prizes up for grabs today:

PAPERBACK of War and Pieces ~ Frayed Fairy Tales - Season 8

Here's the full wrap cover:

AMAZON GIFT CARD - $20

ONE lucky person will win BOTH prizes!

Here's the rafflecopter:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

May the odds be ever in your favor!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Dark Bishop Sale Blitz

Title: Dark Bishop

Author: C.L. Bond & Rachael Brownell

Genre: Dark Romance

Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR

Blurb:

A dangerous game has begun.

Sydney. Her skin felt as soft as it looked. I shouldn’t have touched her, but I couldn’t help myself. I’ve been to New Orleans dozens upon dozens of times. It’s a unique city, filled with tourists and superstition. And until tonight, I’d never been superstitious.

An old fortuneteller freak stopped me on the way to the diner and said I would make a decision that would change my path. She didn’t know that I’d walked the path to this very restaurant before. It had been a few years.

Who knew that the decision to return would be blessed with a beauty—five foot six with curves in all the right mouth-watering places. Clothed in cheap polyester, stained with God only knew what, Sydney was a vision. Blonde hair to her waist. Big brown doe eyes. I could almost taste her.

In his game, everyone’s a pawn…

I didn’t miss the rumble of her stomach when I asked her to dine with us. She was hungry. Something that flashed in those eyes told me it wasn’t because she just skipped lunch today. Maybe I could meet some of her needs. Forget that. I could definitely meet her needs, but it was up to her to let me. So, I left her my business card, my number.

Girls like Sydney, they’re afraid. They never make the first move. Most never even make the second. I doubt she’d call. I’d tipped her well, not because she was the best waitress I’d ever had, not even because she was within my sites. I tipped her so that when I came back to the diner, she would remember me. She would want to serve me.

And, oh, would she ever serve me. I just have to play my cards right.

…and he’s never lost a game.

Dark Bishop is unsuitable for those under the age of eighteen due to adult language and situations.

Award-winning author Casey L. Bond resides in Milton, West Virginia with her husband and their two beautiful daughters. When she’s not busy being a domestic goddess and chasing her baby girls, she loves to write young adult and new adult fiction. You can find more information about Bond’s books via the following links: 

Website: www.authorcaseybond.com 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorcaseybond 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorcaseybond 
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7212486.Casey_L_Bond 
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/caseyb007 
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1PmE0pg

Rachael Brownell is the author of both YA and NA Romance. Her titles are available on all platforms. If you would like to know more about Rachael or her work, she is active on most social media sites or you can always drop her an email. She loves to hear from readers.

Author Links:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2uQMdmO

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRachaelBrownell

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HoldingOn2013

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7362131.Rachael_Brownell

Website: http://authorrachaelbrownell.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/authorrachaelbrownell/

Buy Link:  

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2tUjvge

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00X1IWVBE

Award-Winning Novel Going on Sale - First Time Ever

Happy Monday, everyone! :D EEK! I can't even tell you how amazing the upcoming month will be. If you've been a member of the blog for a while, you'll recall how I co-wrote a novel titled 7: The Seven Deadly Sins with the other members of the Ferocious 5. Well, strap in because we're putting it on sale for the first time EVER on August 25, 2017.

Here's what reviewers are saying:

5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly Recommend this book!
By SBurdorf on June 4, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
"When I sat down to read "The Seven Deadly Sins" I did so from a preconceived idea that I knew exactly what this book was about. WRONG. I had to discard my light treatment of this book the more I delved into the complexity of the characters and the stories. Each of the collaborators are authors I have read before and their touch, had I not known their names, would still have been recognizable to me, and that is a good thing. Like a well-rehearsed quintet they take the reader on a journey that is unequaled in anything I have previously read."

5.0 out of 5 stars
Best read of 2016!!!
By Flower on January 11, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
"Author Casey Bond is the only contributor that I know. I haven't read writings from any of the other authors. But this book and the stories, freaking genius!!!"

5.0 out of 5 stars
"I loved 7: The Seven Deadly Sins. Loved. It. This book is one of the best books that I have had the pleasure of reading in a very long time, and coming from a person who reads voraciously, that is saying a great deal!" ~ Chris Fischer for Readers' Favorite

Full review here: readersfavorite.com/book-review/7/1 

Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars on Amazon and 4.48 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, 7: The Seven Deadly Sins is a book you don't want to miss!

We'd LOVE support for our thunderclap that's scheduled to go out day of, if you have a moment. If not, it's all good! I'll be making a post here on the blog as well, so keep your eyes open for that!

Here's a bit more about the book and a link if you'd like to check it out:

Title: 7: The Seven Deadly Sins
Authors: Casey L. Bond, Jo Michaels, Tia Silverthorne Bach, Kelly Risser, and N. L. Greene (The Ferocious 5)
Genre: Adult - Historical Fantasy
Length: ~ 100k words
Buy links: Amazon Kindle  ~  Audio  ~  Paperback  ~  (ALSO IN KU!)

Blurb:
Seven marks upon a wall.
Tom may rise, but he may fall.
Through five lives, no one dares mention,
of the sin for which he seeks redemption.
Fates will meet, and you will see,
what will thus become of he.

What do you think? Will you be picking it up?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

A Free App to Help With Your Writing and Marketing Goals

Happy Friday, everyone! Ah, it's the end of the week, and you have a whole weekend of R&R to look forward to. Doesn't it feel good? To start your weekend off right, I'm going to introduce you to a tool that's A) 100% FREE and B) Amazingly helpful to get you organized (and keep you that way). Ready? Get your clicking fingers ready, and let's get going!

Allow me to introduce you to Asana. Clicking the name will take you to the website. You can sign in with your Google account. They have an iPhone app, too, so you can manage on the go!!

Here's a screenshot of my personal tasks:

This is a place where I can put all my book writing and launching information. As you can see, there's nothing on it at the moment. I'll be spending the weekend plotting timelines for my next two book launches. It will include dates to hit word counts and dates to schedule release day promotions. I'll add a project and tasks here in a few to show you how that works.

But! I also have a page for collaborative works:

We'll get to why that matters in a moment and why there are little pictures of other folks in the top, left corner. Stay with me!

Not only can you plot out your timelines, Asana will nag you via email of your incomplete tasks per your designated release date. If you want, it'll also email you when you have something coming up. It all depends on how you set up your tasks.

Let's go through one now.

As you can see, when I hover over the Add Task button, an Add Section button appears. Since I'll be scheduling two different books, I want two different sections. Click Add Section.

Fill in the relevant information.

Now, click the ellipsis in the top, right corner and select Convert to Project.

Click Convert. Pay attention to what happened on the left.

Now you can add tasks within that project with different sections like writing and marketing.
Let's do that now. First, click on the project name on the left side. Then click add section. Type in Writing, assign the task to yourself, pick a due date (completion of actually writing the book) and then click the second button that looks like a branched t with dots.

This will allow you to put in your word count goals. Be sure you set due dates and assign the tasks to yourself to get email reminders.

Fill out as many or as few as you like. I did just four so you could see what it's like.

Now, close the window and go back to the main project board. Add another section. Call it Editing and assign the task to yourself. Add all the dates you want to have edits done by (these aren't real because I haven't gotten into due dates with anyone yet... Just for show).

Keep going until you have marketing dates setup, too. You CAN overlap them with editing or writing. Don't worry. It looks like it's all truncated now, but here's where the magic happens!
Now, all your tasks are in there, and you're ready to look at the whole. Go to the top and click on My Tasks.

Boom. There's a list of everything you have coming up. If you'd like a different view, click on Calendar.

As you scroll, you'll find items you've added to your tasks in the order they're supposed to be completed. How cool is that?

Now, if you're working with other writers or people on a project of any kind, this app reallllly comes in handy. We've used it a ton with the F5 projects we've done. It helped us set due dates for everything from book trailers to marketing to writing and beyond. Each week, it also sends out a project status email that tells everyone in the group what's been done and what's left to do.

But the best part about the whole thing? IT'S FREE for up to like 10 collaborators. You can add them via email, and their photos pop up on the top left. Plus, you can sync it to your phone's calendar or export the whole thing as a CSV or print to PDF for sharing with someone else, add files to the tasks, and soooo much more. You just click the dropdown next to the project name. See?

I love it for my own stuff, and it saves trees. I hope you find it useful!

What do you think? Plan on trying it out? Let me know how it goes!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Midlife Crisis or Just a Good Idea?

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! Today I'm going to talk about something I've been pondering (I've been doing a lot of that, eh?). If you'd like to join in and discuss, feel free. If not, just sit back and enjoy the inner-turmoil of a nearly forty-(what?)year-old. Grab that coffee or tea, and let's get going!

As you all may know, I'm a freak about schedules. They give me order among the chaos that's life. Since about June of last year, my schedule has been all shot to hell. I blogged about a lot of it here because I needed a way to get it out/off my shoulders. Well, now, things are starting to calm down and come back to the way they should be.

So, I made a weekly schedule to accomplish some things I've been needing to do (write, business stuff with IBGW, grow a couple of my platforms, etc...) and hit it hard.

But I did something I hadn't planned for: I changed the way I eat and added an hour a day for exercise.

Yesterday, I started to think about why I did that, and I realized I'm only a week away from my fortieth birthday. Yep, that's right, I said forty. When it hit me, I had a moment of panic. There are still so many things I want to accomplish in my life. I have books out the wazoo that I want to read, write, and publish, too.

Because I have MS, this also dragged the question of how many years do I have left to do all those things? I know I don't feel like I thought a forty-year-old woman should feel. I still have the energy of a twenty-year-old cheerleader some days.

Could this be the beginning of the end, and how long will the end really take to greet me?

Thinking about that has me contemplating where I'm going with my life. Am I going to be content working on things for others forever, or do I want to dive into my work and keep breaking down conventional walls?

Was changing my eating habits just in time, or too late to make a real difference? Am I having a midlife crisis, or was all this just the sensible thing to do?

I'm a little frustrated. Like I said, there are still so many things I want to accomplish, and I feel like every tick of the clock is robbing me of another moment.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

There goes another minute of my life.

Of course, all this may be stemming from writing Utterances. I can't say a whole lot about the book right now, but I think you'll all love it when I'm done. I'm such a sucker for anything to do with the human condition and learning/surmising what makes people do the things they do and how life occurrences change the way we think.

I'm happy to say my schedule is working out fabulously though. Just look at the blog! What you can't see is that I have a clearer head, and I feel like a million bucks. Maybe it was just a good idea.

That brings me to my question of the day:
Do you ever examine your own humanity? What are your biggest goals and/or life questions? Is there anything BIG you want to accomplish before you shuffle off this mortal coil? Do you find it difficult to get a grasp on a schedule?

Talk about it!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

So Many Giveaways!

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today, we'll talk about some giveaways. If you're ready, get your clicking fingers warmed up, and let's get going!

If you didn't know, over on the IBGW blog, we do giveaways of the books we work on. Why? Good question! Well, we figured that you want quality reads, our work helps authors produce amazing books, and we have a chance to bring those to your door. So, the real question is: WHY NOT?

Am I right?

This week, you can win one of two ebooks:

OR a paperback:

If you'd like to join the mailing list (we only send out emails when we have a giveaway running), and you haven't already, click here.

To enter this week's giveaways, click here.

May the odds be ever in your favor!

Did you enter? Didja?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo