Well, it’s the beginning of 2012, and it’s the time for reflection on the past year and looking forward to the new. I don’t do yearly resolutions (I find it more useful to do them on a daily basis), but suddenly I find myself looking years into the future. I guess running a business will do that to a girl.

As I did last year, I want to share where I am, a bit about my plans, and how indie publishing has changed everything for me. I hope this provides some information and inspiration for other indie authors out there, and those who are considering taking the plunge.

Last year I wrote this for my New Years post:

But this year I did do something different. I made a plan. And not just a 2011 plan, but a ten-year plan. For the past two years I’ve been watching the publishing industry carefully, listening to those who succeed, and researching as much as I can. In that time I’ve had short stories published and my first novel accepted by Lyrical Press. So it’s been a time of good news, but it’s also been a time of serious disillusionment. Like most writers, in my early days, I had mentors and teachers who told me how things work. And now that I’ve been published, I can tell you, most of what I “learned” was twaddle. The piffle became clearer when I started realising that most published authors have day jobs. I started digging into why. Why can’t an author make a living wage, even ones with agents and three-book deals?

Although disillusionment doesn’t always feel great, I actually feel quite liberated. And thus the plan. I started looking at authors who are making a living, how they’re doing it, and adapting their ideas to my own business plan.

And writing that plan, which I formulated after the usual small business startup template, changed everything for me. It changed the way I approached writing and turned me from a wannabe into a bestselling author. Some things about the plan clearly need to change. Here’s how I’d rewrite the 10 year plan and why:

• Why I’d change this goal: I smashed this goal back in September, 2011, a mere five months after my first book’s debut, and three months after I went indie. (I didn’t start making more than pocket change until I went indie, so I hardly even count those first months.) I picked a goal I thought was reasonable, and reasonable is good when it comes to plans… but in December 2011 I came close to selling 2000 books, which makes this first goal obsolete. Time to rethink what’s possible.
• Secondly, sales goals are pretty meaningless without price. When I did a two week experiment with one of my novels, I discovered it’s easy to hit double or even treble numbers selling books at 99c. Sure I doubled my sales at the cheaper price, but my weekly income went way down because of Amazon’s royalty structure. So selling 1000 books would be a snap at 99c, but that would only earn me $350. If I sell 1000 books at 3.99, the current price on most of my books, I earn roughly $2800. (or $2000 at $2.99) With this in mind, I’m going to shift my goals from number of books sold to earnings. I might maximise my earnings at a higher price or a lower price, and the most effective price may change as the market changes and I have more books on the market. The fantastic thing about being an indie published author is the flexibility! What works today may not work in three weeks, but I can make changes as needed, easy peasy.

• Why I’d change this goal: I’ve learned a lot about social networking in the past year, and one of my most important discoveries was that it’s CRITICAL to be reachable (which is different from spending X hours per week on social media outlets!) I love getting reader email, and most of the letters I get are from people who’ve found my contact information in the back of my books. Folks can google my name and I have a lot of information available on my blog. It’s just as important for me as it may be for them. I love hearing from the readers that want to know more about me and my work and this is a vital part of the plan for me.
• But… spending time on social media doesn’t sell books. Blog hops and blog tours and giving away a book here and there… those things are fun, and I’ll do them for enjoyment, but as part of a business plan… well, it isn’t really an effective use of a major chunk of my time. When Ordinary Angels debuted, I spent an entire month on a big blog event. I exhausted myself. It was fun and maybe even got my name out there a bit, but I now wish I’d spent that month working on the first draft of a new book. =)
• My mailing list is a great way to reach people that I know are interested in my work, but I now realise this list is about quality, not quantity. I also now view it as a way to give back to dedicated fans by sharing the inside tidbits, sneak peeks and giving away books instead of seeing it as a marketing tool to be counted and used.

• Why I’d change this: My first novel, Ordinary Angels, was a paranormal romance. But as I continued writing, I found myself more inspired to write urban fantasy, and I’m considering an epic fantasy for my next series. I also have two erotic novels under a pen name. As my writing has developed, for me, the romance element works best as a minor sub-plot, not as the focus of a book. In Blood Faerie, I think I found my true voice. I like a compelling love story, but the romance genre isn’t what’s calling to me. Fortunately, as an indie author, I have the flexibility to move towards what inspires me and grow as an author. So expect deeper plotlines that are more intricately developed in future series from me!

• Why I’d change this: I’ve investigated many options, and yes, I do plan to have all my mainstream novels available in print, but as far as other digital outlets, maybe not. Until recently, that had always been the goal, but I’ve discovered a boon in the Kindle Select programme. It allows me to do occassional giveaways, which have all proved to give me a substantial boost, but I also have extended my reach by having my books available for readers to borrow as part of the Amazon Prime plan. I don’t know yet how much I will receive per borrow, but I will say for certain it has not hurt my sales in any way, and in fact, I’ve experienced a steady flow of new readers since joining. So, right now I’m keeping my future options open. For the next 60 days, all my books will be exclusive digitally to Amazon, and maybe I’ll sign up again for another 90 day exclusive term.

Right now, you can see that I’m all about flexibility! Will I write a 2012 version of last year’s plan? Probably. I think it’s a great way to document the direction of my business and how I develop as an indie publisher. But things I’m going to keep in mind when doing so:

1. Be as specific as necessary to give concrete goals, but leave myself room to be creative. For example I stated in my 2011 plan that I wanted to write three novels. In fact, I put out five, but of the three titles I listed, I only put out two of them, choosing to go ahead with the sequel to Blood Faerie instead of starting another series.
2. That being said, I’ll still allow myself to make goals, knowing that the industry is changing and I may have to turn on a dime to keep up with it and all the many things I learn.
3. Instead of focusing on sales goals or even income goals, I think it’s critical to keep goals to things I can control. I can’t control how many people buy my books. I’ve had a fantastic year and sales have far exceeded my expectations, but I also know I can’t make people find and buy my books and who knows when the party will end? Setting goals that entail benchmarks you can’t control is asking for frustration. I quickly realised this in those early days when I was with a publisher and sales reports were trickling in slowly and the numbers were discouraging. So in good times and bad, my goals will focus on what I can control: my writing output, my online presence, personal strategies, industry awareness, production process and scheduling.

So, this post is a bit late. I started the year with a cold and cough that had me knocked out of the game for a good ten days. (Yet another thing out of my control!) But I’m excited about 2012! If it’s anywhere near as exciting as 2011, I’m in for quite a year!

Happy New Year!

This month has been crazy-busy with the launch of Azuri Fae, a new cover art commission, outlining the next Caledonia Fae book, an editing project, and a couple of guest appearances on other blogs! I have hardly had time even to lay out my plan for 2012. Maybe that’s for the best though… I find plans often don’t go the way I intend anyway!

But I do have news!

Blood Faerie and Azuri Fae have been enrolled in the Kindle Select programme. This means that if you are an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow them free on your Kindle! I know there’s been a lot of debate from authors about this scheme and the fact that they only accept digital books exclusive to Amazon, but I have found sales increasing since becoming a Kindle Select author, plus I get paid for every borrow, and borrows seem to count towards improving my sales rank as well, so don’t hesitate to borrow my books if you’re eligible for it! For me, there just isn’t a downside!

For a very limited time (like, a few more days), Ordinary Angels is on sale for 99¢ on Amazon. (It’s also at a reduced price in Amazon’s UK, DE, IT, ES, and FR stores, so check out your local Amazon site if you’re in Europe.) If you haven’t read it yet, this is your chance to get it on sale now!

Azuri Fae has been formatted for print now, and is working its way through the channels. I expect it to be available in January (assuming the proof comes out looking fab), for those who still prefer books made from trees. I’ll be sure and make an announcement on Twitter and my Facebook author page when it’s up, so watch the social networks! Also, you can read an excerpt of Azuri Fae now.

And lasty, I have final cover art for Enemy of the Fae, the now-fully-outlined finale to the Caledonia Fae trilogy.

I’m really excited about this one. Each book in this series shows the stakes rising, the decisions getting tougher, and the action more intense. I had always planned for this series to be a trilogy, but I have to confess that I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop after just three. I’ll probably have a better idea after I write the first draft of Enemy of the Fae and see how things are left. I know it sounds crazy, especially considering I have the book planned, but sometimes things just don’t go according to plan. Sometimes they go even better!

I don’t know what it is about us authors—we often get more excited about cover art than we do the words. Possibly it’s because once we have a book ready to publish, we have read those sixty-to-a-hundred-thousand words sixty to a hundred times. I like browsing book stores and judging books by their covers, I like squeeing over friends’ cover art, and I have discovered that I also enjoy creating cover art.

You’ve all heard me talk about Talli Roland on this blog. Although we don’t write the same types of books, we have found each other to be great writing resources. That’s such a wonderful thing, when you have a working relationship with someone that is balanced. We both give as much as we take, and our talents compliment one another’s. So, when Talli asked me to be an early reader on her Build A Man manuscript, I said, “Of course!” When she said she was thinking of publishing it independantly, we started talking about all the elements she’d need to do herself, so naturally the talk turned to cover art. Having read the book (and having loved it-honestly it’s the best of her books so far), I was suddenly struck with an inspiration, and we started to chat about it.

So I (digitally) sketched up my idea, and after some back and forth, we arrived at this:

By the way…someone wrote and asked me where I got the clip art for that image. All the illustrated covers I create are 100% original vector art images. I drew it with my own hands…well, my computer. No clip art here! There are some decent stock images out there, but nothing quite compares to having your character designed exactly the way you envision her, with exactly the look and feel you want. (I think every published author out there can relate to receiving “professional” cover art from their publisher that just flat-out misses the mark. – Thing #45 I love about being an indie author…being in control of what my book looks like!)

I have gotten a few enquiries about doing cover art, since I posted Rae Davies’ cover last week. Yes, I will consider taking commissions on cover art. I really love doing it. No, this doesn’t mean I’m going to stop writing. (Like that would be possible!) This won’t ever overtake my writing career, but it is a fun sideline. If you have a book you’d like custom artwork for, just drop me a line and I’ll send you my “process sheet,” which includes information on pricing and scheduling.

And if you’re interested in indie publishing, Talli wrote an article yesterday detailing why she decided to leave her small press publisher, with whom she’s had great success, and go indie.

Exciting times… and look! Shiny cover art! Squeeeee!

Contrary to popular belief, I have not fallen off the edge of the planet, although apparently it seems like that to some! (Thanks for asking though! It’s nice to know folks care.) No, I’ve had my head down, and have been writing my heart out on Azuri Fae. I’ve now finished 16 out of a planned 20 chapters, so I’m in the home stretch. I know there are some things I have to tweak about the story before I can send it out to my trusty beta readers, but I’m really pleased with how it’s going. So, this is why my blog and other social networking have been so neglected.

But, I did have to stick my head up for a minute to announce that Ordinary Angels is available again! I couldn’t be more excited. It went live yesterday, and I was stunned to see it’s already selling. It made me feel warm and happy inside to know there were people waiting for another title from me, and I appreciate how patient you guys have been while the book was in limbo.

And, a note to everyone who read the original version. The tweaks I’ve made to the manuscript are small, as I said in my announcement post last week. I changed the spelling of ‘Zoe’ to the proper Zoë and changed other words that require accents and the like, such as señora, décor, naïve, café, and blasé. For some reason I still do not understand, my old publisher made me remove all of those ‘special characters.’ I’ve tweaked a word or two, and corrected two typos that somehow survived the bazilliondy rounds of editing we did. So, if you’ve bought the old version, but are curious about the new one, I don’t want you forking out your hard-earned dosh just to get the new cover or to see if maybe I added some new twist to the ending (I didn’t…but I could have. Heh.)

So, for the entire month of September, I’m extending this offer. If you bought the original version of Ordinary Angels, I will send you either an .epub or a .mobi (Kindle) copy of the new edition at no charge. Simply email me with a screenshot of your receipt. Blank out anything private like your credit card details, of course, then pop it in an email to author-AT-indiadrummond.com. (replace -AT- with @). It’s just a small thank you for being one of my very first readers.

If you haven’t read it yet, it’s available on Amazon USA for $2.99 and Amazon UK for £2.10 and next week it will be available in print on Amazon US. (Unfortunately, it takes about six weeks for the print version to become available worldwide, but never fear, I’ll keep you posted.) I LOVE how the new cover looks on the print edition.

Thank you to everyone who writes and reads, who comment about my books, my wacky posts, my guest bloggers, or just to ask if everything is okay since I haven’t been on twitter as much as usual. It’s great to feel loved, and you guys are the petrol in my writing engine. <3

So, after teasing a bit lately, telling you I’d soon have some news about Ordinary Angels, I am finally ready to spill the beans!

Bear with me as I give you some behind-the-scenes backstory (and never-before revealed details). Ordinary Angels was released last April through a small press publisher. If I close my eyes, I can still feel the heart-thumping thrill of reading that ‘we want to sign you’ email. The day I signed that contract was thrilling. My editor and I worked for a year. There were ups and downs, and it was a tough job. Not just because of the work involved, but also the realisation that I was going to have to concede some things I didn’t want to, make changes I didn’t necessarily agree with, and rely on people (there were many involved in the process) who didn’t always have the same goals and values I did. I was never truly happy with the cover art either. Oh sure, I put a brave face on it. The photo they chose had a stunning model that many oohed and ahhed over, but it didn’t reflect the genre or storyline of my book, and it worried me from a marketing perspective. The woman didn’t look anything like my vision of Zoë, but I had zero say on it and was told “we use stock photos, so you aren’t going to get what you want.”  Despite all of that, when publication day rolled around, I had a book I was proud of, and all the struggle to get there seemed well worth it. Sure, I’d compromised, but they were the professionals, I told myself, and I was lucky to get published. I have never forgotten what it feels like (angsty) to be an aspiring author, and so I wasn’t about to complain about any of it.

During this time, I learned more about the industry, and news of wildly successful indie authors started popping up. I remember how disheartening it was when I realised how few published authors actually make a living at it (and by learning how to analyse amazon rankings, I had an idea of how few books some of the other authors at my publisher were selling), so this was a ray of hope. All I needed to give it a try was the drive to run my own business (check), the willingness to obsess over the details (check), a head-full of stories (check), and to put the time in (will always be work in progress, but I’m chugging right along, so check!)

Since the editing process with my publisher was so slow (a round of edits would take sometimes more than a month to get back to me), I started planning a new series. I did the cover art myself, hired an editor, bought my own ISBNs, learned how to format for digital release, and by the time Ordinary Angels came out, it was nearly ready to go. (It’s easy to work fast when you’re in control, plus, as my own publisher, I only had to focus on putting out one title, instead of the dozens my publisher had going at any one time.)

I snuck my indie title, Blood Faerie, onto Amazon on May 15th (to give me time to deal with any issues), with an ‘official’ launch date of June 1st. Within a month, I’d sold 100 copies, and half of that time, no one even knew it was for sale! Compare that to the sales of Ordinary Angels, and it was no contest. Ordinary Angels, while selling well in comparison to some other titles at that same publisher, wasn’t going to pay for my Kindle habit, much less my mortgage. (Which is what I had hoped my book sales would eventually do!) This was discouraging, considering the vast work I’d done on promotion and getting reviews, all of which were very positive! So, people liked the book, but not as many as I’d hoped were buying it.

I talked to my publisher about lowering the price. It was selling for $5.50, which is high for an ebook. I felt that was depressing the sales figures, but I got nowhere with the argument. Other plans and promises evaporated, leaving me with an overpriced book that wasn’t making headway, no matter how hard I worked. Considering I had another book that was, in my mind, doing quite well (likely due to hitting the right note with cover, blurb and price), not to mention great response to Ordinary Angels from book bloggers, I knew it wasn’t the book itself that was causing low sales figures and therefore miniscule royalties.

However, I had a contract, and I was grateful for the opportunity the publisher had given me. As much as I don’t like to admit it, I don’t know if I would have had the confidence to strike out on my own without the validation of a publisher saying ‘we think your stuff is good.’ It never even occured to me to try to get my digital rights back…not until my publisher wrote to me, saying that because sales had been less than stellar, they weren’t going to release the book in print. Attached was a document giving me permission to find a new home for the print version of Ordinary Angels. I’d heard of other authors getting their digital rights back, and so I thought, what the hell? It was worth a shot. So I just dropped in the conversation that I had considered asking for my digital rights back, and even offered to pay a kill-fee. My editor had worked hard, and I know her payment was tied to the book’s sales, so I didn’t want to wrangle her out of future earnings. (This offer was declined by my publisher, something I still feel a little bad about. My editor deserved more for her hard work. On the other hand, I would never do editing work in exchange for royalties, so I’m surprised when anyone else will.) I won’t go into the messy detail, but in the end, I had not only my print rights, but a letter releasing my digital rights. All I had to do was wait until September to release it. (The publisher immediately removed Ordinary Angels from all outlets, which is why some readers have been disappointed not to find it. So I had a gap of availability, but in the long run, this is better for everyone involved.)

I debated about telling this story. My blog is for readers more than other writers, but in the end, I realised that if I rolled back the clock two years, I would have loved to have read this post before I signed with a publisher. Times are changing, and in my opinion, ePublishers are quickly becoming unecessary, especially when they aren’t doing anything for me that I can’t do faster, cheaper, and sometimes better myself.

Blood Faerie sales are gaining momentum. Recently, in one day, I made more money on Blood Faerie than I did on Ordinary Angels the entire ten weeks it was available from my publisher. I have every confidence in the world that with the new, more appropriate cover, a lower price point of $2.99 (which will still earn me more per book), and a stack of great reviews behind it, it has the potential to be as successful as Blood Faerie, and who knows, maybe even more so.

We’ve been taught, as authors, that unless you’re selling millions of copies, it’s tacky to reveal the numbers. I hope you don’t find it so, but if you do, please know that I debated quite a bit over this. I’m aware that some might look at my numbers and laugh, thinking, “You’re excited over a few hundred Blood Faerie sales over three months when Amanda Hocking is selling more than that many per day?” Well, yeah, I am.

And this isn’t going to become Joe Konrath’s blog, where I talk about sales numbers all the time. This is really just a chance to do two things…one, to let aspiring authors know that they don’t have to aspire any longer. Read my second paragraph again. If you can do those things, you can be a successful indie author. Also, you don’t have to settle for the 40% of net that ePubs are offering. In fact, I would encourage you not to.

The second purpose is to share my new Ordinary Angels cover. You know what a cover tart I am, and I’m really happy with this one! It reflects the story, the genre, the tone… so here it is:

So! Ordinary Angels! Coming in September in a slightly altered version! (Unlike my publisher, I know how to handle special marks in digital formatting, and therefore I can publish a book that includes a name like Zoë and use the proper spelling of words like résumé, café and décor, and I’m also not afraid to have characters use name brand products, like Coke, Mini Cooper, and Starbucks, not to mention a silly argument–that I lost, by the way–over whether having a character have a fantasy about her transformed dragon-like angel boyfriend constitutes beastiality, but I digress…)

It will be available in roughly two weeks! In digital and in print! Watch this space for the actual release announcements, or sign up for my author newsletter where I’ll tell you the moment it’s up again.

I’m excited, people! Times are changing…and for once, the change is in our favour.

Hello! I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted and I’ve been letting my guests do the heavy lifting on the blog, but I’ve been crazy-mad busy. I’m neck-deep in writing Azuri Fae, to the point that I’m exhausting myself with it. Someday, I should learn how to show a bit of self-restraint, but when I am in the zone, it’s a miracle I remember to eat. Oh wait, I don’t always. That’s what husbands are for. A Certain Highlander will stick his head into the room and say, “Have you eaten today?” Me: “What? No, I’m not hungry yet. After I finish this paragraph maybe.” Him: “It’s 3 p.m.” Me: “Oh, um, yeah. Really? How did that happen anyway?” When I’m writing, time freezes in my brain, and I’m always a little surprised to find it hasn’t stopped for everyone else too.

Azuri Fae is coming along well. I’m enjoying the story, and a plot-point that was worrying me has fixed itself (don’t ask me how–this one honestly wasn’t my doing. It just sorta happened.) I have had to go back and rework some things, because I moved it from one week after the end of Blood Faerie to six months later. I’m still tidying the aftermath of that decision, but it’s made a huge difference and settled some of the problems I had with the early chapters. It reminds me that one of the great things about gaining some experience as a writer (and I suppose this is true for any skill one is trying to learn) is that it gives us more tools. I now regret having spent 10 years worrying one book to death, when I could have gained so much more experience by starting something new. But then again, that’s another lesson learned that has turned out to be valuable! I just wish I wasn’t so determined to learn everything the hard way!

Anyway, so that’s it for the excuses as to why I haven’t taken the time to write much on the blog. (I only have so much brain power, and if I have a story going, I do like to put my energy into a book rather than on social networking–is the short answer.) BUT, I have a bit of news…

Blood Faerie is now available in print!

I’m surprised at how quickly it’s all come together, but I couldn’t be happier about it. It’s now available on Amazon USA, but the listing is so new, that this is the only place I’ve found that it’s showing up, and it’s not even fully linked to the Kindle version yet. (Amazon says it’ll take another few days. No clue why.) I’ve also heard it may take a week or two more for it to filter to all the other online outlets that it’s going to, but I can tell you it will be available a LOT of places worldwide. Since this is my first print book, I don’t know how some things work, but I will post about other outlets as soon as I have the information. I have gotten emails from a lot of folks who wanted the book in print, so, I just wanted to let you know I’m listening and I’ll get you the info as soon as I have it.

Also, I have news about Ordinary Angels, but I’m going to have to hold off on that for about a week. (I’m such a tease, I know.) But exciting things are happening and time just keeps whirring by without so much as a by-your-leave. So, thank you for your patience with my lack of blogginess, your support for my writing, and for hanging in with me when I seem to drop of the map for a week or two. I’m writing as fast as I can!

One last note… you all know what a social-networking addict I am, and I’ve recently created a couple new profiles.

You can now find me on:

Kindle

and

Google Plus

(If you aren’t on G+ yet, but you would like to be, let me know in the comments. I’ll send a G+ invite ASAP.)

As you can probably tell from the number of exclamation points I’ve used already today on Twitter and Facebook (!!!) I’m very excited about the launch of Blood Faerie today.

And you’re probably wondering who won the five free copies I gave away as part of my launch day celebrations. By the way, I was absolutely floored that nearly 75 people signed up to win a copy! I am so thrilled at the positive response. Warmed my heart. And I also want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who blogged, tweeted, and shared the contest.

The (randomly selected) winners are:

Jack S.
Lauralynn E.
Andrea T.
Pippa J.
Vampyr M.

Congratulations to the five of you! Check your inbox for your prizes now! Woohoo! (Lots of exclamations today!)

And if you aren’t one of the lucky winners above, you can still have your very own Kindle copy of Blood Faerie for only $2.99. Heck, it costs ten bucks to go to the movies, and that only lasts two hours! (If that.) And that doesn’t even count M&Ms. Oh wait. My book doesn’t come with M&Ms either. I wish it did. How awesome would that be if books came with snacks?  (I’m gaining weight just thinking about it.)

So, to get your copy of Blood Faerie today, go to:

Amazon USA, Amazon UK, and Amazon DE (Germany)

And you can read and post reviews on:

Goodreads, Shelfari, and Library Thing

And for those who usually follow this blog, you may have noticed that I haven’t posted as much in the past couple of weeks. I’ve been writing feverishly on new projects, and when the spirit takes me, well, I tend to hide away and just go with it. I’ve had some marvellous writing days, and this means I’m well on track with my publishing schedule! (I do love it when a schedule works out.)

I have been saving a ton of funny little things I’ve seen on the web recently, so I’ll try to keep the blog chugging along better. It’s just so easy to get swept away when scenes are flowing well.

Thanks so much, everyone, for the support and the interest in my books. Although I can’t imagine anything that would stop me writing, it does make it so fulfilling when I get emails, comments, replies, tweets, and reviews. I do love hearing from you, and I’m so pleased that so many of you have been enjoying my books.

Happy June, everyone!

Hello friends!

I’m so excited about the launch of Blood Faerie next month. In many ways, I’m even more excited (and nervous) than I was for the release of Ordinary Angels. I can’t explain why, but I hope this feeling doesn’t continue to grow for every book I write. If it does, I think my head will explode around mid-2012.

To celebrate the launch, I’m going to give away FREE KINDLE COPIES of the book on the launch date to FIVE of my newsletter subscribers!

In case you’re new here (hello and welcome!) or you’ve missed my earlier posts about it, Blood Faerie is the first in a new urban fantasy series called Caledonia Fae.

Unjustly sentenced to death, Eilidh ran—away from faerie lands, to the streets of Perth, Scotland. Just when she has grown accustomed to exile, local police discover a mutilated body outside the abandoned church where she lives. Recognising the murder as the work of one of her own kind, Eilidh must choose: flee, or learn to tap into the forbidden magic that cost her everything.

To enter to win a Kindle copy, all you have to do is sign up for my email newsletter. Five winners’ names will be announced on the newsletter on June 1st, along with instructions for how winners can claim their free Kindle books. Only subscribers are eligible to win. The email list is only used to announce book releases and important events, and emails are sent out infrequently. (It’s free, and it’s easy to unsubscribe after the contest date if you find it’s not for you.) Sign up here: http://eepurl.com/bTDfP (If you want to see the one and only email newsletter post I’ve sent out before, view it here. – LOL I told you it was infrequent!)

No Kindle? No problem! Anyone with a PC, Mac, or smart-device (iPhone, Blackberry, Android phone, etc) can read a Kindle book. Download free Kindle reading software here.

Want to quadruple your chances of winning? Simply tweet about the contest with a link to any participating blog post and include @IndiaDrummond in your tweet. Or, share the link on Facebook. (But be sure to add @India Drummond to tag me on the link so I will see it! – You can add me to your friend list here (if I’m not already there, of course!): http://www.facebook.com/india.drummond) And finally, add another entry to the list by posting about the contest on your blog. (If you don’t alert me on Twitter, just drop me an email to let me know about your post so I can count that as an extra entry, but don’t forget, you must sign up for my newsletter to win.) — Tweet and share the link as much as you like, but only one additional entry per method, per person.

If you want any more information, please do write to me!

Thank you so much to everyone who has been so supportive of my publishing efforts and helped me get the word out about my books! I really do owe you all a huge smoochy THANK YOU for everything you do.

Today the lovely Eden Baylee is our guest, and she’s talking about beta readers. I used quite a wide circle of betas for Blood Faerie, larger than I’d ever used in the past (six people instead of the usual two or three), and it worked out very well. Beta readers can be a little different from what you might call critique partners, because they aren’t always writers. Sometimes, it really helps to get the perspective of a reader. I also find it’s very useful to have readers from a wide background of genre interests–they can often point out genre cliches and test the general appeal of characters and storyline.

Beta-reading is More Than Babysitting

by Eden Baylee

I write erotica, but it’s not the only thing I write, and it’s certainly not the only thing I read, so following that train of thought, I decided to write about a new experience I had recently—I volunteered to be a beta reader for an author friend of mine.

Now, most writers know what a beta reader is, but for the benefit of those who don’t, here’s a short explanation.

A beta reader is someone who reads a written piece of work with a “critical eye” to help the author improve grammar, characterization, holes in plot, and general style prior to its release to the public.

The piece of work I read was an urban fantasy novel called The Prodigal’s Foole by R.B. Wood. Though I don’t read nor write in the genre, I wanted to show support to the author by tackling his manuscript—to provide feedback that could help him improve his book.

Being a beta reader can be intimidating, even more so, when I consider the author a friend. When R.B. entrusted me with his manuscript and said he would like to get it back in three weeks, I knew he was handing over something very precious to him.

In essence, I was going to babysit his child (let’s call him a temperamental two-year-old named Spencer).

When the time came for R.B. to reclaim his little boy, he didn’t just come over and take him home right away. He wanted to hear all about my experience with him. Here are some of the questions I thought the proud dad would want to know the answers to.

Overall impression

• Did I like his child?
• Was he a pleasure to spend time with?
• Would I be proud to call him my own?

Characterization

• Was Spencer brought up well with a good sense of who he was?
• Did I know enough about his friends to form any opinions about them?
• Should Spencer kick some of his friends to the curb because they weren’t going to help him in the long run?

Plot

• Did Spencer have any open wounds that appeared out of nowhere?
• Was there an explanation for his injuries?

Conflict

• When faced with a problem, was Spencer able to resolve it?
• Did he learn and grow in the process?

Dialogue

• Did Spencer speak in proper sentences?
• Was he able to communicate clearly, or did he just cry continuously until he got his way?

Conclusion

• Did I have a great experience with Spencer?
• Would I want to babysit him again?

My comparison of an author’s manuscript to his child is tongue-in-cheek, and by no means an all-inclusive list of what to look for, but it did help me to appreciate the importance of providing good feedback.

Here are my tips to be a good beta reader:

1. Advise the author that any changes you’ve made are only your opinion.
2. Be aware not to change the author’s voice.
3. Offer constructive criticism along with suggestions for how a problem can be resolved.
4. Be specific about changes by citing examples from the book wherever possible.
5. Be generous with praise as long as it’s sincere.
6. Provide reference materials if you have any that would be helpful.
7. Offer to answer any questions the author might have about your critique

I’d recommend becoming a beta reader if you can fit it into your schedule. It helped me to learn more about my own writing and areas I could improve upon.

My only advice is that you take the task seriously. After all, the author has entrusted you with something very near and dear to his heart.

Thanks India, for inviting me to guest blog on your fabulous site. I really enjoyed it!

Ms. Baylee left a long career in banking to become a full-time writer and honed some important skills that have helped her make the transition, the most important one—perseverance.

Her first book, Fall into Winter, a collection of four erotic novellas, is currently available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other sites located on her website.

Connect with her via her Website, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

Yes, yes it is! C is for celebrate! And chirping celestial chimes of care-free cheer! Today is the day I’ve been dreaming of for as long as I knew it was a thing. Sure, I knew from early childhood that people wrote books, in a far-away back-of-my-mind kind of way. But the very moment it occured to me that I could write and publish a book, I knew that’s what I wanted to do.

Today is the digital release date for Ordinary Angels. I promise I won’t spend the entire month blathering on about this book, but darnit, I just can’t contain myself today!

Here’s what it’s all about:

Ordinary Angels is an urban fantasy / paranormal romance novel in which Zoe Pendergraft falls in love with an angel, frees a soul from necromancers, releases a ghost trapped in the Void, and saves his living grandson from demons.

Most of Zoe’s friends are dead, but she doesn’t mind because they died long before she met them. Then one Tuesday night an angel takes her salsa dancing and turns her world upside down. Grim reality closes in when she discovers a body in her company’s boiler room and Higher Angels accuse her best ghost friend of murder. Knowing she’s the only one who can stand against them, Zoe resorts to lying, stealing and summoning. In the end, getting blood on her hands forces Zoe to question herself.

Content warning! This book contains strong language and supernatural sizzle.

Want to read the first chapter free? Go here!

And just in case you missed the fabulous book trailer made for me by freelance video dude Mike Fraser, here it is on YouTube!

And while I’m talking about the book, I must say a huge THANK YOU to all the people who’ve been already talking the book up. My friends, social networkers, bloggers, reviewers… I’ve been amazed and humbled at all of the positive and enthusaistic response. So much so, that I’ve made a page just for them!

Here’s just a small sampling of some of the reviews I’ve gotten so far:

• “…it was nigh on impossible to put down and provided a good distraction from the stresses and strains of city life. The language is fun, easy to follow and so descriptive that it wouldn’t take much to turn it into a screen play. The movie would probably have an age restriction, though!” — For Books’ Sake
• “I just finished reading Ordinary Angels by India Drummond and I loved it.” — The Bookish Snob
• “Although ghosts and angels have been done before, Drummond finds a way to keep things fresh and bring something new to the table.” — That Bookish Girl
• Read more reviews at the Ordinary Angels GoodReads page.

So as I take on those Amazon charts today, I have to say every step up that daunting ladder is thanks to the wonderful (and outspoken) reviewers, authors, and friends who are sharing the love today!

Oh, you actually want to read the book?

[EDIT 19 JUNE 2011] Ordinary Angels has been temporarily removed from Amazon while it changes publishing houses. It will be back up on Sept 1st. To be notified of its return and to be eligible to win free books, please join my newsletter. [/EDIT]

No eReader? No problem! Click this link for full details on how you can read any Kindle book on your PC, your iPhone/iPad, Android phone, Blackberry, Windows phone or Mac!

So, somebody break out the cupcakes! (Another fab C word!) I’m in the mood to celebrate!