I was hit up on twitter for a break down of those first four weeks by week. I’m thinking about making this a weekly thing. Let me know if you’d be interested in seeing what a short story does weekly. So, here it is: Week 1: 10… Of course, this was only 1.5 days LOL Week 2: 9 Week 3: 15 Week 4: 15 Week 5: 17 As you can see, 5 weeks are listed, but it’s really 4 weeks {Read More}
30 Day Check-In
July 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment
When I started this blog, it was with the intention of letting people see what starting from scratch looked like for someone self-publishing. The first thirty days ended this weekend and I’m feeling a little anxious about sharing. It’s drilled into us from birth not to discuss politics, money or religion. Oh well. Day one was June 22nd. The story went live and I sent 8 copies out to friends as a thank you. Then I took off for RWA {Read More}
Sample Sunday – It’s in His Kiss
July 24, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Hi *waves* Welcome to my first Sample Sunday. Here’s the opening of my short It’s in His Kiss. Hope you enjoy 🙂 ~Caitie~ The thick smoker-voice on the other end of the phone made demands I wanted to ignore. “It’s time for Chloe’s first kiss.” “What? It can’t be,” I replied, pushing back the panic. “She’s far too young to be involved with boys.” “Honey, she’s sixteen. Almost seventeen if I remember correctly.” “But, kissing? Boys?” I shook {Read More}
Why is Your Book Not Selling?
July 21, 2011 by 4 Comments
So, you have an indie book out there already and it’s just not doing what you’d hoped it would? Sales aren’t taking off or even staying consistent. Your mom and your best friend can’t tell you why because it’s so great. Things aren’t flying off the virtual shelf and you want to know why? Well, check out Why Is My Book Not Selling. Victorine E. Lieske started this site this summer and I have to say, I’m extremely impressed. The {Read More}
How to Lose Readers Before Your Book Comes Out
July 19, 2011 by Leave a Comment
It’s been an interesting two weeks. Because of this self-publishing journey, I’ve found myself walking around in both the traditional publishing world and the indie-publishing world. And yet, some things remain the same in both worlds. One of those things is that you can lose a reader…even before you’re published. Are you doing any of the following? Tell the reader she’s not your reader. This has happened in several places over the last few weeks. I’ve seen an author (often {Read More}
What’s Next?
July 15, 2011 by 2 Comments
I’ve started getting reader reviews/tweets/mail about Ben. Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben. Poor Jenna gets her own book and all anyone cares about is the hot guy. A lot of those questions are around what I’m going to write next (and Ben) and if there will be more Jenna shorts (and Ben) and will I write other genres (if so, will Ben be there?) So, first off…no to that last question: Yes, I write other genres, but no, Ben will not {Read More}
How To Be A Joiner
July 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment
I am not a joiner. I’m the girl who always feels like if I try to join people are going to be like, Shut up stupid girl and go sit over there in the dirt. Ok, so no one has ACTUALLY said something like that. I was once told a a writer event that everyone in the group standing there was invited to dinner but me… yeah, that stung. Of course, 1/2 the group was like, Sorry, we have plans with {Read More}
Covers… Or, what were they thinking?
July 8, 2011 by 4 Comments
Let’s be honest, the phrase “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is tossed around for a reason. And who doesn’t? We all do. You pick a book up because of is cover. Sometimes you put it down because of the cover. Even a great blurb often can’t get a reader past a really bad cover. Now, as an indie writer, I think that holds true even more. How often has a NY published friend cried over her cover to {Read More}
Goodreads, The Thrill Is Gone
July 7, 2011 by 3 Comments
So, I thought (as you saw from my earlier posts) that I’d do a Goodreads giveaway. This seemed like a great idea for a bunch of reasons: build interest, connect with people who read what I write, get to give stuff away…. So, off I went. Only, Goodreads won’t let you giveaway your book if it’s only in electronic format. I can’t tell you how surprised I was by this. Honestly, I thought that we’d alllll moved beyond the “real book” {Read More}
First Report
July 3, 2011 by 2 Comments
If you’re just joining us, you may not have realized one of the reasons I started this blog was to share from the inside the journey of an author self-publishing her first project. So, it’s been a week (well, just over) and for 99% of that time I was at RWA. It was so hard being there and not sharing my new secret identity as Caitie Quinn, Funny Girl… funny looking girl? Well, something. People talked all week about self-publishing (and {Read More}