Suggested professionals for hire

Search no more! I have professionals to hire here, that I suggest, for your eBooks and paperbacks. It isn’t a huge list but for self-publishing authors, high-quality recommendations go a long way in saving time and money, lowering stress, and increasing satisfaction.

• • •

If you want a cover design, remember I own Berto Designs and can turnaround a design in a week which is much quicker than other designers as I’m still building my client base.

Drop me a line at: rebeccaberto@hotmail.com or visit my website or Facebook page.

• • •

PLEASE NOTE THIS INFO IS GOOD AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION (SEPTEMBER 3, 2013). CHECK ALL DETAILS BY CLICKING THE RESPECTIVE LINKS.

EDITORS

Lauren K McKellar (structural, copy/line, and proofreading)

Website  |

Danielle Poiesz (structural, copy/line, and proofreading, manuscript analysis)

Website  |  Twitter  |

COVER DESIGNERS (some do blog and swag design too)

Berto Designs (that’s me!)
Website  |  Facebook  |

Cover It Designs
Website  |  Facebook  |

Eden Crane Design (estimated pricing — please check)
Facebook  |

Najla Qamber Designs
Website  |  Facebook  |

Once Upon a Time Covers
Website  |  Facebook  |

Wicked by Design
Facebook  |

E.M. Tippetts Book Designs
Website  |

—– ROUGHLY ABOVE $150 —–

KILA Designs
Website  |  Facebook  |

Steph’s Cover Design
Website  |  Facebook  |

—– ABOVE $350 —–

Damonza
Website  |  Facebook  |

Mae I Design and Photography
Website  |  Facebook |

Okay Creations
Website  |  Facebook  |

Phatpuppy Creations
Website  |  Facebook  |

FORMATTERS (eBook and paperback)

E.M. Tippetts Book Designs
Website  |

Fictional Formats
Facebook  |

JT Formatting
Facebook  |

BOOK TOUR AND BLITZ

Xpresso Book Tours (Only for YA and NA books and their genres)
http://xpressobooktours.com/services/

AToMR (Only for books with romance as the category or subcategory)
http://atomrbookblogtours.com/about/

Good Choice Reading (Most genres)
http://gcrpromotions.blogspot.com.au/

Literati Literature Lovers
http://literatiauthorservices.com/contact-us/

Book Addict Mumma
http://bookaddictmumma.wordpress.com/about/

Dark World Book Tours
Website  |  Facebook  |

Lady Amber’s Tours
http://ambersupernaturalandya.blogspot.com.au/p/lady-ambers-tours.html

Luscious Laylah Release Day
http://www.lusciouslaylah.blogspot.com.au/p/blog-page_26.html

♥♥♥

Signature

Rebecca Berto is the author of PreciseDrowning in You and Pulling Me Under (sequel to Precise) If you want book-release updates, please sign up at this form (email only when news, not weekly).

Follow Novel Girl by the buttons in the top left corner of the home page to stay updated.

Book publishing update: “Precise” and “Pulling Me Under”

I haven’t talked about my books in a while (naughty Rebecca!) so I wanted to say hi, introduce myself to my new followers and give you some info on my upcoming books and such.

Meee!

Meee!

About the author

Rebecca Berto writes stories about love and relationships. She gets a thrill when her readers are emotional reading her books, and gets even more of a kick when they tell her so. She’s strangely imaginative, spends too much time on her computer, and is certifiably crazy when she works on her fiction.

Rebecca Berto lives in Melbourne, Australia with her boyfriend and their doggy.

Do you have me across my social media pages? I love to chat, answer your questions and have friends!

Website/blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest |

More goodies!

Please add yourself to my NEW book information list. I don’t email weekly — only when I have news to share. it’s the best way to stay updated.

CLICK HERE

AUGUST 19

Precise: new cover and expanded edition

  • I will reveal the new cover for Precise designed by Berto Designs and unveil the expanded edition.
  • The book is currently permafree (permanently free) on Amazon US & CA, iTunes (internationally) and Smashwords. Barnes & Noble, and Kobo are currently updating and will hopefully follow soon.

Freebie links with new edition LIVE >>>

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AEXUUQC | Amazon CA:http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00AEXUUQC | Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/258791 | iTunes US:https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/precise/id581664669 | iTunes UK:https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/precise/id581664669 | iTunes Aus:https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/precise/id581664669 |

Freebie links but NOT the updated version yet >>>

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/precise-rebecca-berto/1114042354?ean=2940045113007 | Kobo:http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Precise/book-3oDtS6kEhUKOe86Kq8wbBQ/page1.html |

AUGUST 21

Pulling Me Under

  • The novel in the Precise series, Pulling Me Under has a cover reveal (sign up here: http://eepurl.com/CYhov)
  • The event includes blurb and quote teasers. Cover designed by Berto Designs

LATE OCTOBER

Pulling Me Under published

  • Date isn’t set but during late October the novel, Pulling Me Under will be published.

OTHERS — late 2014 to early 2014

  • Tentative release for a new standalone novel. I am in the early stages of writing a new Mature New Adult/Adult Contemporary Romance novel. I am hoping to release it around late November, but this can change depending on if it’s practical to release that soon.
  • In early 2014 I will be releasing the sequel to Drowning in You, titled Finding Forever in Us. You can add it to Goodreads here.

Signature

♥♥♥

Rebecca Berto is the author of Precise and Drowning in You. If you want book-release updates, please sign up at this form (email only when news, not weekly).

Follow Novel Girl by the buttons in the top left corner of the home page to stay updated.

Survey results: What are your book-buying habits?

A week ago I posted a survey for Novel Girl readers to fill out. The result was fantastic. I’m about to share the results here. Please keep in mind I’m just one tiny author/blogger and I’m not a powerhouse. That said, I got 100+ responses (104 to be exact) and in my opinion, that is a decent amount to use to analyse and learn from these results.

Without further ado, I will post the questions, a graphic of the answer, and my thoughts.

Preferred formats to buy a book

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 9.52.43 AM
My Thoughts: it’s easy to underestimate the importance of other book formats besides an eBook, but remember the collective total of paperbacks, hardbacks and audiobooks made up the larger percentage (51%). eBook only make up ~50% of preferred formats.

Of course, the most bought format is different to preferred, but I’d say have a paperback available. Through createspace it is so cheap to organise if you live in the US and not much more expensive if you live outside the US. Think broadly!

Where do you like to buy books?

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 9.53.04 AM

My Thoughts: I expected a slight higher percentage buying online. Are you surprised? If you have a favourite bookstore near you and have the time and means to get it in there, now might be the time to enquire since ~1/4 of book buyers want to go in-store still.

Favourite store/s to buy books from

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 9.53.19 AM

Other = Locally-owned, independent stores | independent bookstores | Goodwill | Toronto: Type, BMV Dymocks | Thriftbooks | BookCloseouts.ca and Chapters | Local Bookstore | used book stores | Fact N Fiction (New Delhi) | also used books stores & the library | Anderson’s Bookshop | WHSmith | Chapters/Indigo | Ebay, Big W

My Thoughts: This proves Amazon is vitally important, but choosing their Select program rules out 42% of other preferred stores to buy from. Now that’s a big cut! Barnes & Noble and the Book Depository jointly make up 1/4 of the results. This”42%” figure in actual terms is bigger because of all the “other” options people chose, as listed above.

Favourite genre to buy and read

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 10.05.21 AM

My Thoughts: Romance has historically been the biggest seller and to date remains that way. The next biggest genres listed (New Adult and Young Adult) are published in high frequency as a crossover with romance, so in all, you can see romance totally dominates. If you are publishing in lesser desired genres, you could think about incorporating aspects of romance of coming-of-age stories for a broader audience.

Does the publisher matter to you?

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 10.09.07 AM

My Thoughts: This was a fantastic surprise! Seems like readers don’t care (my opinion is so long as the book looks and reads professionally).

Where do you find new books to read?

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 10.10.18 AM

My Thoughts: Again, I stress the importance of word-of-mouth. Reviews and posting about publication of a new book is cool, but readers buy based on trust of another avid reader. So get your book into hands of readers and bloggers who’ll promote you if they love your book!

Do you read reviews? Which ones are influential in buying/not buying a book?

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 10.10.27 AM

My Thoughts: It’s important to find targeted reviewers if you send out ARCs or review copies. 55% of book buyers take notice to all reviews, and 82% will at least scan reviews for particular ones they are after. Bottom line is you want to put review copies in the hands of people likely to enjoy your genre and style, since you can impact this part of published reviews.

Are “star” ratings important to you?

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 10.15.18 AM

My Thoughts: This is great to hear. Some of the biggest sellers in history have average to low star ratings for a variety of reasons. it isn’t a biggie if your book doesn’t have a 4.5- to 5-star average.

Do you read free books? would you then continue on to buy more books by that author?

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 10.15.24 AM

[click the image to view larger version in new window]

My Thoughts: Another happy surprise! Free books are widely read in some circles, and 61% of  people who love a free book will go on to purchase other books by that author. A further 16% read all freebies. These are amazing results. Don’t underestimate the power of giving away one of your books for free.

For more info on this, read a guest post on Novel Girl going into this further here.

eBook pricing

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 10.15.33 AM

My Thoughts: Think about your career goals. Readers will spend their money on a book they love, so you don’t have to feel pressured to price at $0.99.

How important is a good book cover? (rate 5 very important; 1 doesn’t matter)

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 10.15.39 AMMy Thoughts: I stress notice here! Book with great covers sell well, whether you agree or disagree. Almost 3/4 of book buyers are heavily swayed by a well designed cover. If you’re in need of a new cover or even an updated cover, you can hire me (Berto Designs) or look at this list of other book designers I recommend.

What aspect of book covers draw you in?

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 10.28.42 AM

My Thoughts: Romance and beauty are the most attractive (hehe pun intended) covers for book buyers. These factors (abs, kisses, beautiful woman) make up 37% of this poll. Care with font choice can grab a buyer, too, it seems.

Note these results are probably true for YA — Adult fiction (opposed to MG and Kids Fiction).

How important is quality editing and proofreading?

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 10.28.48 AM

My Thoughts: Only 7% didn’t mind if you haven’t had editing and proofreading done for your book. This actually surprises me. The base line is you must hire a qualified professional. Need one? I use and recommend Lauren McKellar (senior editor at Entranced and editor for PETS magazine).

Preferred gender of narrator

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 10.28.58 AM

My Thoughts: I love this! Females may make up 3/4 of readers but 75% of book buyers want a mixture of narrator genders.

Do you wait until a book is on sale if you think the author will later discount?

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 10.29.04 AM

My Thoughts: The current book environment sees double, triple and maybe quadruple more frequent book sales than a few years ago. This is a mixed bag of results, with reader preferences varied.

Do you subscribe to any of the following and buy from them?

Screen Shot 2013-08-09 at 10.29.11 AM

My Thoughts: If you haven’t considered advertising with book sale subscription companies, I suggest you do. BookBub and Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals affect chart toppers. I know this from my own experience and watching charts. The “Other” answer option may include “NOs” and also other actual companies. Not many book buyers don’t subscribe to anything.

• • • • •

Thank you for reading! I hope this helps. Have any other comments? Just leave a reply.

Signature

♥♥♥

Rebecca Berto is the author of Precise and Drowning in You. If you want book-release updates, please sign up at this form (email only when news, not weekly).

Follow Novel Girl by the buttons in the top left corner of the home page to stay updated.

What are your book-buying habits? A survey

>>> RESULTS ARE HERE <<<

In a world where all authors — regardless of publisher — have a chance of hitting #1 on the New York Times and Amazon best seller lists, I have put together a survey for my lovely Novel Girl readers to discover certain trends. Whether author or reader, we’re all interested in the shift that’s occurring between physical book stores vs online stores, traditional publishers vs self-publishers, and more.

If you have a minute, I have some questions in this poll that I’d love you to share your thoughts on. I’ll put them together afterwards and you can come back and have a reference post. Please share this via email or social media to invite your friends! The bigger and varied the results, the more reliable they’ll be. :)

[or direct link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1PvvrMBgTYN-hgah-G6yUSt53q-eI8Tbe9Hfst1WeJj8/viewform]

Thank you for your time!

Signature

♥♥♥

Rebecca Berto is the author of Precise and Drowning in You. If you want book-release updates, please sign up at this form (email only when news, not weekly).

Follow Novel Girl by the buttons in the top left corner of the home page to stay updated.

Update: next book release from Rebecca Berto and publishing schedule

I love bad boys, but I’m really getting a kick out of writing this new novel. It will tell the story of a bad girl who’s fearless say-it-all, but trapped by her past and fear of being alone in a room with a guy. (full blurb to come)

I present my next release. Details below:

Being Kalli - cover to come placeholderTitle: Being Kalli

Age group: New Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release date: late August / early September

Cover designer: Okay Creations

♥♥♥

Click to add to Goodreads

Click to add to Goodreads

Publishing Schedule

Aug/Sep 2013: Being Kalli (new)

Late 2013/early 2014: Pulling Me Under (Precise #2)

Mid 2014: Finding Forever in Us (Drowning in You #2)

♥♥♥

This bad girl is going to rock your jocks. Watch out for Being Kalli, late August/early September. Goodreads add link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17861915-being-kalli

♥♥♥

Buy on Amazon!

DrowningInYou AMAZON<<< Buy Precise from Amazon for Kindle.

Buy Drowning in You for Kindle, too. >>>

Or, follow my blog by the buttons in the top left corner of the home page.

Author interview: P.C Zick on writing and selling books

Author: PC Zick

Author: PC Zick

Today, I have author, PC Zick to chat on Novel Girl on writing, her books, and her tips for writers and self-publishers.

PC Zick is the author of three books, and a range of genres: literary fiction, women’s fiction and stories about environmental issues.

♥♥♥

What is your favorite time to write?

I love to write first thing in the morning with my first cup of coffee at my side. Now that I’m spending so much time promoting and writing a blog, it often is put off until later in the day. When that happens, I clear my desk, eat lunch, and then begin writing.

One of these days, when I’m through the learning curve of learning about cyberspace marketing, I’ll get back to making writing the priority, and the rest comes when I’ve done my pages for the day.

Where is your favorite place to write?

It depends on what I’m doing. If I’m starting a blog or story (or chapter) from scratch, I often grab a legal pad and my box of sharpened pencils and leave my office. I might go to the living room; I might crawl in bed; I might go to a coffee shop or library, if home distractions are too great.

Once I’m ready to write the entire blog or chapter, I go to my very favorite place to write, which is my office. I finally have the office of my dreams with a desk that wraps around me on three sides with bookshelves across from me and all my favorite tidbits that inspire me. My newest addition is a stone turtle my husband gave me for my birthday to celebrate the publication of Trails in the Sand.

At the risk of sounding pompous, what do you love most about your fiction?

I try to put my characters in situations we’ve all faced at one time or another. They are exaggerated situations to make the story more exciting, but people can relate to the emotions and reactions. I try to show what happens when we fail to communicate. I also show that we all have flaws, but there’s always a chance for redemption.

In Trails in the Sand, I attempted to show that we can’t judge another person unless we’ve walked the very same path in the very same shoes.

PC Zick's "Trails in the Sand"

PC Zick’s “Trails in the Sand”

What other books would you say have similar qualities to Trails in the Sand that would interest readers to try your novel?

One of my reviewers compared me to Anne Rivers Siddons, which floored me because she’s one of my favorite authors. I hadn’t thought about comparing myself to her. I did reread Beach Music by Pat Conroy — another favorite author — before I started the second draft. His depiction of crazy southern families always intrigued me although he goes so far, it also scares me. In addition, in Beach Music, the rescuing of sea turtles plays a role in the plot as it does in Trails in the Sand.

Do you have any tips to improve writing?

  1. Read, read, and read some more. Read the best writers and sometimes read not-so-good writers. We can learn from both. Apply what you learn from your reading to your own work.
  2. Listen to your critics. Work with beta readers and editors because everyone needs honest feedback and editing.
  3. Read dialogue aloud and cut out the formality in dialogue. Avoid dialect — use words to imply someone’s background (“fetch” instead of “get” for a North Carolina dialect).
  4. Study point of view and make sure you know the difference in the types and apply it in your writing.
  5. Whether you are self-publishing or going the traditional route always put forth your very best effort. We’re in a revolution in the writing and publishing world with many more opportunities for writers, but if we put out crap as Indie Writers, we all lose.

Do you have any selling tips?

I’m such a newbie in the new world of self-publishing that I’m not sure. I would advise anyone getting involved in any type of writing or publishing to be flexible, study, and listen. I try many different methods and some have worked and others not so much. Interestingly enough, the times I’ve paid for promotion, I’ve failed miserably. There are so many free opportunities out there now that I would advise writers to save money for a cover artist and an editor. Persevere even when you feel like quitting, and believe me, I have days where I’m discouraged. But I get up, read the blogs I follow and leave a couple of comments on ones that touched me in some way. I tweet for others, not just myself. I write my blog. I solidify my platform by posting things on the topics found in my books. I make sure that I do more than just bombard folks with messages about buying my books.

Each day I gain more followers on my blogs; reviews slowly trickle in, and I hope that one day all this translates into steady sales figures for my books.

Thank you for the opportunity to be reviewed today, Rebecca. I enjoyed answering these interesting questions.

♥♥♥

Book links:

Amazon  |  Smashwords  |  Barnes and Noble  |  Goodreads (reviews only)  |

Author links:

Website  |  Blogs: Living Lightly and Writing Whims  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |

♥♥♥

Buy on Amazon!

DrowningInYou AMAZON<<< Buy Precise from Amazon for kindle or from Smashwords for all types of eReading devices. Or, follow my blog by the buttons in the top left corner of the home page.

>>> Enter to WIN and add my New Adult Contemporary Romance novel, Drowning in You to Goodreads. (Coming April 12, 2013)

How PRECISE gained fans who said this …

Just shy of a month of Precise being published, I’ve received some amazing reviews and comments from readers. Really, you guys are the freaking bomb! Check out some tweets from happy readers:

Then we have one that always makes me squeee:

and yet another happy reader:

and we have a proud “acknowledged” person:

But your reviews are the ones that truly blow me away. Check out this from Kim Koning, author in an anthology with Neil Gaiman, and Twitter #storycraft host:

Click to "like" the review

Click to “like” the review

Do you follow the Limebird Writers blog? They have around 700 followers I think and are a fantastic writing blog to follow. Well, the Founder and host, Beth Horwood, wrote this:

Click to "like" review

Click to “like” the review

Now for the big one. Cristina from Cristina’s Book Reviews wrote a few lines that made me smile so big, I grinned literally from ear to ear. Read this:

Muahaha ;)

Muahaha ;)

And not to honk my own horn but I’ve heard this comment from quite a few readers and reviewers. And I am thrilled to hear it, also from Cristina:

Screen Shot 2012-12-24 at 11.24.54 AM♥♥♥

All these reviews have made me into a book buying frenzy addict. All these $0.99 books made me realise I can support so many indie authors and barely spend a thing. It also happens that Precise is $0.99 too!

A few reasons why I buy so many $0.99 books:

  • I’d have to buy 1/3 of a coffee to get that same value;
  • I can buy two soft serve cones from McDonald’s for that price;
  • I am supporting another author’s career;
  • I am supporting the industry I love;
  • I am giving back to the author for selling their hard work for such a little price;

among other reasons.

If you’d like to support my book, Precise, you can:

  • BUY PRECISE FOR JUST $0.99! Amazon US, Amazon UK, Smashwords (all formats), Kobo (direct ePub download for most devices), iBooks
  • Add it to your To Read shelf on Goodreads
  • Click “like” on the Amazon page (demonstrated below)
  • Screen Shot 2012-12-24 at 11.32.24 AM
  • Share a message on Facebook (@ = Rebecca Alyce Berto) or Twitter (@RebeccaBerto)! Feel free to share the cover on Pinterest too. Goodreads link to use.

Thank you all for following me. I can’t believe as I type this I have 76,500 blog views and 650+ Novel Girl followers. I’d be forever grateful if you bought or shared my book and enjoy returning the favour for your platform!

Click to buy

Click to buy

♥♥♥

Buy Precise from Amazon for Kindle or from Smashwords for all types of eReading devices. Or, follow my blog by the buttons in the top left corner of the home page.

PRECISE is available to buy at Amazon and Smashwords!

PRECISE IS LIVE!

PRECISE went live today! It’s now available at two stores and all formats for the launch price of just $0.99!

Note: there are details below about how you can get your hands on free gift cards!

If you’re a Kindle user (Kindle eReader; or Kindle app for PC, Mac, iPhone or iPad) you can buy from your corresponding store:

If you use any other file type — ePub, PDF, RTF, etc — you can buy your preferred file type from:

Smashwords is easy to sign up to, and it’s fantastic because once you click buy, you can download the mobi file for your kindle app, the ePub file for your eReader, and the PDF copy to print off. All for the one price, you get access to all file types.

No need to miss out.

Remember samples from Amazon and Smashwords are available and free to try!

What about other sites like Barnes & Noble?

Precise is still pending publication at Barnes & Noble, Kobo and iBookstore. Not to worry, if you want to go directly to your preferred store, I’ll create another post once those book links are live.

Party time!

Don’t forget about my online launch parties. There will be discussions, book giveaways, and lots of virtual martinis for y’all. Join the:

* The Twitter Hashtag Precise Tweet-a-thon will occur at these world times:

  • New York EST: Thursday, 29 November 2012 at 7:00 PM
  • Melbourne EDT: Friday, 30 November 2012 at 11:00 AM

Please use the hashtag #PreciseLaunch when sending tweets so we’ll all be linked to the same conversation.

WAIT! There are free gift cards available!

So. This is me. And my book.

You didn’t think I was going to let you get away with no rewards — wait, did you? I’m shocked! I’d never …

Anyway, the point is I want to say thank you for buying my book. Precise costs only $0.99 but I’d like to personally give two Amazon gift cards worth $4.99 to the bestest reviews left on Amazon and Goodreads.

Entry conditions:

  1. Leave an honest book review of Precise on Amazon and Goodreads.
  2. Email me the link to your book review posts (specific URL. If not, list details to find your review).
  3. Send your email to rebeccaberto [at] hotmail [dot] com
  4. Wait while Rebecca chooses the bestest reviews (at her discretion).
  5. This competition closes in five weeks on 3 January 2013 (Australian date).

♥♥♥

Okay, off you go, my lovely Novel Girl readers. Show me your love and go grab that book (if you wish. Only if you wish :D ).

♥♥♥

Sign up to my new newsletter for super exclusive news that’s mostly not about me, or follow this blog by clicking “Follow” or entering your email address from the left sidebar on the home page!

The answer you’ve been waiting for: PRECISE will be published on …

Well, I’m not that silly. You’ll have to scroll down to see, but in the mean time, I want to share some fun news for the launch of my novella, Precise.

I’ll be hosting some stuff to launch Precise. In a couple of weeks I’ll begin setting up a couple of exciting things:

Look! It’s me :D

  1. Facebook launch party!
    I’ll add giveaways, recent developments as they occur, character pictures, funny pictures, and conversations about topics discussed in my book. This is a chance to discuss self-publishing too, and your feelings towards this new “E” revolution that has allowed me to get my book out there into your hands.
  2. Twitter hashtag chats
    I’ll be hosting chats where you can find out more about the book and discuss how you had to deal with a difficult and/or abusive relationship in your life. Plus, we’ll chat about other topics like who was your high school sweetheart, and other things that would ruin it if I spilled all the guts now.
  3. Goodreads topic chat
    What book lover/worm/aholic doesn’t love Goodreads!? As listed above, this Goodreads discussion will be an opportunity to learn more about the sensitive topics discussed in my book such as death, abuse and guilt and how you feel about reading these in books including your likes, pet peeves, and any questions you have regarding my writing process.

Where will Precise be available?

Click to view on Goodreads and add to your lists

I’ll be uploading to the Amazon Kindle store, Kobo and Smashwords who will distribute to Apple, Barnes & Noble, Sony and more.

What format will Precise be available in?

Given the size (about a quarter of an average novel), Precise will launch as an eBook only … at first.

Since you are reading this blog and being such great supporters, I’ll let you in on a secret. If I get tonnes of requests for paperbacks and/or sales skyrocket (yeah, aiming high, I know) I’ll be publishing Precise as a paperback. It will sit at around 80–85 pages; small, but it won’t seem invisible the moment you turn it to look at the spine. It has a bit of meat to it!

How can I help spread the word?

I have uploaded a media kit to the page called “Books” on the home menu tab. In there you’ll find information about:

  • Book details
  • Blurb
  • Author (including contact details)
  • The cover designer
  • The editor

But since I’m trying to make this reaaally easy on you, here’s the direct link (below) to the media kit you can use if you want to post a blog entry about Precise, to use for author interviews, book reviews (you’re going to actually review my book? Yay!) and more.

Media kit for ‘Precise’

*** RELEASE DATE ***

If you’re still here, great (and if you scrolled, go back–come on now–because there was cool information you missed out on).

And, without further ado, I present to you the publication date of Precise is …

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Thank you to you–who read, share and encourage this blog and my book. I hope you enjoy Precise!

♥♥♥

Click to add my book, PRECISE to Goodreads

Sign up to my new newsletter for super exclusive news that’s mostly not about me, or follow this blog by clicking “Follow” or entering your email address from the sidebar on the home page!

Confessions of a Middle Grade Indie author and other tips to maintain your sanity

Today I’m welcoming Julie Grasso, Middle Grade author to share some seriously amazing tips all the way from writing to publishing and much more!

Image credit: julieannegrassobooks.com

She now has the floor …

♥♥♥

I had a dream to write children’s books.

As a registered pediatric nurse I spent the better part of 13 years literally wrapping children in cotton wool. Every day I witnessed great courage and resilience which lead me to write a story about a little girl elf just like them, but that is the end of the story, let’s start from the beginning.

Confession 1: I didn’t know how to write a children’s book, so I bought a few books

  • Ebook, Become A Children’s Book Writer by Jill McDougal
  • Writing Best Selling Children’s Books by Alexander Gordon Smith
  • Writing Children’s Books For Dummies by Lisa Rojany Bucceri and Peter Economy

These books were absolutely brilliant, but they did alert me to the harsh facts about children’s book writing.

  • It is a very close-knit industry and many publishers will not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
  • Very few agents in Australia take on new clients.
  • It will probably take you several years to hone your book before it is even remotely palatable.
  • They suggested that I read lots of children’s books to get an idea of what other authors are writing about.

So I read a lot of kid’s books. Some I loved, some I couldn’t finish, but they gave me a great insight into the market and what kids are reading.

Confession 2: I do not speak literary

I thought that a Widget was a worm that got into your ear, a Meme was a typo, MC (main character) meant Master of Ceremonies, MS (manuscript) meant Multiple Sclerosis, WIP (work in progress) meant something you use to handle cattle, I can keep going if you like but you get the picture.

Here’s Julie’s Twitter profile (click)

  • When I joined Twitter only about six months ago, I didn’t know what all those words meant, but after following lots of authors and reading their tidbits and profiles and blogs and websites, I began to pick up the language.  I am proud to say, I think I now speak Literary and Twitter and I have found so many useful resources and made many new friends along the way, like Rebecca Berto’s fabulous blog Novel Girl. [Rebecca here: thanks!]

Confession 3: Honey, I shrunk my dream

  • When I started I had high hopes of dazzling the agents and publisher’s alike. I even managed to get the attention of an Aussie publisher, but sadly, there are only so many books they take on per year and they rarely take on unsolicited clients, but they did give me some encouragement. They liked my story; it just didn’t fit for them.
  • I got sucked in by the Agent Pitch Contests: Don’t bet me wrong, they are fabulous, they give you great feedback on your query; I even used some of my query as the back cover for my book so it was not all lost. However, I found myself getting so disappointed that I didn’t get the agents attention; despite having what I thought was a really great story that rivalled the other entrants.
  • I also queried a bunch of children book agents and didn’t get offers, but I feel a path I had to pursue before I was really ready to change my dream of publishing to seriously focus on Self Publishing.

Confession: 4 Honey, I maxed out the credit card

Well, not exactly but my self-publishing dream was not free and there were some costs that I decided I would absorb with the chance that I may never ever recoup. Here is what I spent money on.

  • Early in my drafts, I had a manuscript assessment. This was a paid service through The Writers Workshop in the UK. Val Tyler is a children’s book author. She gave me an honest critique which I used like my bible. I even resubmitted to her my redraft for a further fee, but it was still not ready.
  • I would have to say it was probably another five edits later that I felt my story was ready for professional editing, which I also did. Not for the feint of purse but certainly worth the money.
  • I had an awesome cover created by an animator friend. It was exactly what I wanted but I had a really clear vision of my cover from very early on in my writing. I managed to impart that to my illustrator, David Blackwell of www.drawshootmove.com

Confession 5: I did the formatting myself for print on demand and eBook

  • I posed a question early on my blog because I was not sure if an eBook was going to reach my middle grade audience. I realised I had to do Print On Demand as well as eBook if I was going to even remotely get my book into kids hands. My research showed that the eReader technology is not yet that accessible and affordable for a lot of families.
  • I also researched a few self-publishing companies but I realised that they kind of lock you into their distribution channels making it difficult to get Amazon reviews. I realised that I simply didn’t need them.
  • I used Createspace, which took a bit of learning but their do it yourself stuff is really great. I had my husband help me edit it as he is a computer whizz, but at some point I had to say no more edits, it’s time to go to the mattresses. (Godfather quote FYI).
  • Once my book was ready on Createspace, It was actually very easy to go to Kindle Direct Publishing.  I thought I would not be able to figure this out and would have to pay, but my hubby helped me research it and it wasn’t that hard.
  • I bought my own ISBN in a block of 10. If I had used one of the Createspace generated ISBNs I would not be able to republish using that ISBN in the future if my secret dream of getting a publishing deal ever comes to fruition.
  • I found a great blog site that had a run down on how to get an EIN so that I wouldn’t have to pay 30% tax to the US government as a foreigner. Have a look at http://catherineryanhoward.com/2012/02/24/non-us-self-publisher-tax-issues-dont-need-to-be-taxing/.
  • I read an awesome post by fellow twitterer Christine Nolfi @christinenolfi, about how to get rave reviews www.molly-greene.com/how-to-get-your-book-reviewed. I have been collecting book bloggers sites in a spread sheet for nearly six months and I have narrowed my list down to about 40. I started submitting my review letter to them about three weeks ago after I launched on Amazon. To date I have 16 confirmed bloggers happy to accept my title for review and six author interviews and giveaways. Not bad for a little indie.

Confession 6: Self Publishing is hard work

As my sister once told me she would have given it in a long time ago. However, I want my daughter to one day know that her mum had a dream and she pursued it and this is the result.

***

Click image to purchase at Amazon

Check out my cover to the left and you can find me at:

Website: www.julieannegrassobooks.com

Twitter: @jujuberry37

Book at Goodreads:

Escape From The Forbidden Planet

Facebook page:

Julie Anne Grasso books

Buy Julie’s book in paperback:

Amazon

♥♥♥

Click to add my book, PRECISE to Goodreads

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