You can get your very own Property of Reaver Tee right here. Now only 15 more of these bad boys need to sell before I will hold a vote for which of my guys should get a shirt next, so if you like Reaver but reeeeally love Trig, you might want to keep checking to see where we're at. I bought mine!
Friday, April 24, 2015
Holy crap! This is a thing!
You're damned skippy! Now you too can be property of everyone's favorite psycho! You have around 18 more days to preach it loud and proud and show just how much you love Reaver!
Sunday, April 19, 2015
LUKAS by Carian Cole - Cover Reveal!!!
Title: Lukas (Ashes & Embers Series Book 3)
Author: Carian Cole
Credits:
Front Photography and Model: Joel Hicks
Back Photography: MHPhotography
Model: Marissa Hagood
Cover Design: Kari Ayasha of Cover to Cover Designs
Storm’s younger cousin.
Vandal’s little brother.
You’ve met him in the background.
The sweet one.
The nice one.
The one they can all rely on.
The good one.
He’s a tattoo artist. He plays metal and classical music - on the violin.
He’s got a body built for sin.
He’s 24.
In comes Ivy. She’s a 36 year old single mom who hasn’t dated in 18 years.
All she wanted was a tattoo.
She got a helluva lot more
Being good has never been so bad.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
A little note about Cons...
I'm not talking connivers either... although, to be honest, there is a little of that too. No, what I am talking about is conventions! Over the last couple of days (as I write this) I have had two separate conventions brought to my attention and I looked into both. Mostly it was just an inquiry about interest and I filled out the form.
Apparently, for one, there was enough interest because I was sent another link asking me to commit to one of them on a first come first served basis but wait, hold the phone, what's this?
"I agree to pay the invoice. My table will be confirmed once [redacted] receives payment. I understand that Author cancellations are not refundable. I understand the rooms, meals, and travel are not included."
*scrolling... scrolling... scrolling...*
Huh. Nope. I see a lot of packages for convention goers, you know, lunch with an author or VIP this or that, the regular convention services offered for this sort of thing, but what I don't see is cost for a table... Oh. Wait. That's not good. Apparently they want me to pay to have dinner with my fans but they also want to charge my fans to have dinner with me... That can't be right! Can it?
Anyways, these got me to thinking about conventions and the potential for me traveling pretty much across the country to attend one. Now, I'm from Seattle, it rains here all the freaking time! So what do you do when it rains all the freaking time? Yeah, indoor pursuits! What is the top indoor pursuit around here for the tech nerd capital of the known world? You guessed it! Conventions! We have Norwescon, Sakura Con, Emerald City Comic Con, Zombie Con, and those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
Seriously, you want a treat in my city? Park a lawn chair at any of the street corners near the Washington State Convention Center on Easter weekend. The anime cosplay that wanders by is nothing short of eyepoppingly amazing.
So knowing how conventions work, I see something across the country either in the East, South or Midwest or whatever I'm like... Ah! I reeeeeeally wanna go, buuuuut yeah... I live in the most inconvenient corner of the states for travel to these things because I am looking at quite a few things.
1. Airfare and not just for me, for my fiancé too. I don't think he would let me get on a plane and travel that far without him. He'd be a total worried mess. I wouldn't do that to him. It was an argument and a half to get him to leave me at a local book signing when I'm ball and chained to a table for more than a couple of hours because watching him sit in a corner and play basketball games on his iPhone for 9+ hours made my heart hurt for him. Poor guy was so bored! Still, I know better than to think I would get away with a cross country flight without him by my side.
We travelled to Virginia earlier this year and the airfare for me, my fiancé and my 12 year old stepson was around $1500 bucks. And we got a pretty good deal! So let's just pretend that for me and my fiancé to get to a convention on the opposite coast or in the south somewhere we're looking at around that amount, we'll go with $1200 bucks. Keep that number, we'll come back to it later.
2. Extra baggage fees. Because clothes fit into a carryon, but bringing enough books to have on hand to sell and sign, well, they not only weigh a lot they take up a lot of space. So I am looking at not only checked bag fees but also overweight bag fees on top of that to get them there with me. And on top of that we're talking both directions! Because if I sold out of books I fucked up and didn't bring enough and if I didn't well I have to bring what I didn't sell back with me. We'll say, round trip, $250 bucks for checked bags and over weight fees.
3. Accommodations as in a hotel room for the entire weekend is probably the cheapest part of a potential trip, not going to lie. Still looking at around $300 or more when you factor in I would have to be there early to get oriented and set up for this.
4. Food for the entire trip. I can't bring my kitchen and eating out can be expensive. My fiancé and I eat. We're looking at $20 a meal for each of us and we'll say lunch & dinner and just pretend that the hotel provides breakfast so that's $80/day for the both of us times 3 days... We'll set the food budget at $250. Why not?
5. The books. I don't get them for free and while I will be reselling them, please keep in mind I only get about $3.25/copy for one of my paperbacks even though they sell for $15.00. The rest is the cost of printing and to keep the tax man happy. Now I would have 7 books for sale by the time either of these events rolled around, just in the SHMC series alone. That would cost me something like $700.00 to be stocked with 20 copies of each book. We'll pretend that will be enough for this exercise even though if I really wanted to be stocked and stocked well it would be way more than that for the first book and maybe a few more for each subsequent book but for now, we'll say $700.00 for stock.
6. Registration / Table fee is standard operating procedure for selling at a convention. Typically, around $50.00 for a con that is local and just starting out with local talent. For this we'll say it's $100.00 for table and registration for two people. Me and my assistant, which in this case is my fiancé. (Sorry honey.)
7. There are probably more expenses involved here. Like how are we getting to the con from the airport? Well then you have to add car rental in. Fun. So we're just going to slap down $500.00 extra for car rental and any other miscellaneous expenses that may be required. Maybe there is someone selling a bit of pretty I just have to have or, "Oh my god is that Carian Cole!? Squeeee! I have to go buy and have every book she has on offer signed." (Yes, I would fangirl that hard over Carian.)
I'm going to stop here because I think you're getting the picture. Have you been keeping track of what we've spent so far? No? That's okay! Because I have.
$1200.00 for a flight.
250.00 for the bags and transporting the books.
300.00 for accommodations.
250.00 to feed my fat ass.
700.00 for stock
100.00 for registration
500.00 just in case
Let's add that up right quick.
So far I am into this trip and this convention... wait for it... $3,300.00.
Let's go back to the books I brought with me to sell, I said 20 copies of 7 books that's 140 books, times the $3.25 cents I make per book... So I've recouped $455.00 if I sold out of everything I brought for this.
$3,300.00 - 455.00 = I'm still in the hole $2,845.00...
I would LOVE to come to your convention but I can't be throwing money like confetti to sit behind a table for 10+ hours / day for three days.
I'm not trying to be a bitch here, I'm trying to inject a little reality into the situation. I love writing. I love telling my stories and I love that people love my work, but key word there: work. It takes a lot of time, effort, blood, tears, time lost with your family and loved ones to create these books and there are days I feel like screaming goddamn it! I deserve to be compensated for this! I work my ass off and money doesn't do this:
Apparently, for one, there was enough interest because I was sent another link asking me to commit to one of them on a first come first served basis but wait, hold the phone, what's this?
"I agree to pay the invoice. My table will be confirmed once [redacted] receives payment. I understand that Author cancellations are not refundable. I understand the rooms, meals, and travel are not included."
*scrolling... scrolling... scrolling...*
Huh. Nope. I see a lot of packages for convention goers, you know, lunch with an author or VIP this or that, the regular convention services offered for this sort of thing, but what I don't see is cost for a table... Oh. Wait. That's not good. Apparently they want me to pay to have dinner with my fans but they also want to charge my fans to have dinner with me... That can't be right! Can it?
Anyways, these got me to thinking about conventions and the potential for me traveling pretty much across the country to attend one. Now, I'm from Seattle, it rains here all the freaking time! So what do you do when it rains all the freaking time? Yeah, indoor pursuits! What is the top indoor pursuit around here for the tech nerd capital of the known world? You guessed it! Conventions! We have Norwescon, Sakura Con, Emerald City Comic Con, Zombie Con, and those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
Seriously, you want a treat in my city? Park a lawn chair at any of the street corners near the Washington State Convention Center on Easter weekend. The anime cosplay that wanders by is nothing short of eyepoppingly amazing.
So knowing how conventions work, I see something across the country either in the East, South or Midwest or whatever I'm like... Ah! I reeeeeeally wanna go, buuuuut yeah... I live in the most inconvenient corner of the states for travel to these things because I am looking at quite a few things.
1. Airfare and not just for me, for my fiancé too. I don't think he would let me get on a plane and travel that far without him. He'd be a total worried mess. I wouldn't do that to him. It was an argument and a half to get him to leave me at a local book signing when I'm ball and chained to a table for more than a couple of hours because watching him sit in a corner and play basketball games on his iPhone for 9+ hours made my heart hurt for him. Poor guy was so bored! Still, I know better than to think I would get away with a cross country flight without him by my side.
We travelled to Virginia earlier this year and the airfare for me, my fiancé and my 12 year old stepson was around $1500 bucks. And we got a pretty good deal! So let's just pretend that for me and my fiancé to get to a convention on the opposite coast or in the south somewhere we're looking at around that amount, we'll go with $1200 bucks. Keep that number, we'll come back to it later.
2. Extra baggage fees. Because clothes fit into a carryon, but bringing enough books to have on hand to sell and sign, well, they not only weigh a lot they take up a lot of space. So I am looking at not only checked bag fees but also overweight bag fees on top of that to get them there with me. And on top of that we're talking both directions! Because if I sold out of books I fucked up and didn't bring enough and if I didn't well I have to bring what I didn't sell back with me. We'll say, round trip, $250 bucks for checked bags and over weight fees.
3. Accommodations as in a hotel room for the entire weekend is probably the cheapest part of a potential trip, not going to lie. Still looking at around $300 or more when you factor in I would have to be there early to get oriented and set up for this.
4. Food for the entire trip. I can't bring my kitchen and eating out can be expensive. My fiancé and I eat. We're looking at $20 a meal for each of us and we'll say lunch & dinner and just pretend that the hotel provides breakfast so that's $80/day for the both of us times 3 days... We'll set the food budget at $250. Why not?
5. The books. I don't get them for free and while I will be reselling them, please keep in mind I only get about $3.25/copy for one of my paperbacks even though they sell for $15.00. The rest is the cost of printing and to keep the tax man happy. Now I would have 7 books for sale by the time either of these events rolled around, just in the SHMC series alone. That would cost me something like $700.00 to be stocked with 20 copies of each book. We'll pretend that will be enough for this exercise even though if I really wanted to be stocked and stocked well it would be way more than that for the first book and maybe a few more for each subsequent book but for now, we'll say $700.00 for stock.
6. Registration / Table fee is standard operating procedure for selling at a convention. Typically, around $50.00 for a con that is local and just starting out with local talent. For this we'll say it's $100.00 for table and registration for two people. Me and my assistant, which in this case is my fiancé. (Sorry honey.)
7. There are probably more expenses involved here. Like how are we getting to the con from the airport? Well then you have to add car rental in. Fun. So we're just going to slap down $500.00 extra for car rental and any other miscellaneous expenses that may be required. Maybe there is someone selling a bit of pretty I just have to have or, "Oh my god is that Carian Cole!? Squeeee! I have to go buy and have every book she has on offer signed." (Yes, I would fangirl that hard over Carian.)
I'm going to stop here because I think you're getting the picture. Have you been keeping track of what we've spent so far? No? That's okay! Because I have.
$1200.00 for a flight.
250.00 for the bags and transporting the books.
300.00 for accommodations.
250.00 to feed my fat ass.
700.00 for stock
100.00 for registration
500.00 just in case
Let's add that up right quick.
So far I am into this trip and this convention... wait for it... $3,300.00.
Let's go back to the books I brought with me to sell, I said 20 copies of 7 books that's 140 books, times the $3.25 cents I make per book... So I've recouped $455.00 if I sold out of everything I brought for this.
$3,300.00 - 455.00 = I'm still in the hole $2,845.00...
I would LOVE to come to your convention but I can't be throwing money like confetti to sit behind a table for 10+ hours / day for three days.
I'm not trying to be a bitch here, I'm trying to inject a little reality into the situation. I love writing. I love telling my stories and I love that people love my work, but key word there: work. It takes a lot of time, effort, blood, tears, time lost with your family and loved ones to create these books and there are days I feel like screaming goddamn it! I deserve to be compensated for this! I work my ass off and money doesn't do this:
So I'd really love to go to these conventions, I'd really love to pick up and go and feel like a rock star for a weekend once or twice a year but I can't. I won't always be able to, because it just isn't cost effective when I am out here driving a 22 year old car about to fall apart. When I work a full time job in addition to writing full time and I work a part time job on the weekends on top of that just to pull in a fraction of what my fiancé makes working his one day job. So yes, I will express interest in these conventions, yes I will do the math and scrimp and save and one day I might actually get to do one, but what I won't do?
Feel guilty when I have to say no because it's just not feasible for me to do it, or not feel absolutely outraged when someone has the audacity to try and charge both me and my fans to connect us. If I want to meet a fan for a nice dinner I can and will find a local one and buy us a nice couple of plates and some fine wine for less than half of what you're asking.
So conventions, I would love to but to the connivers out there? Well, it wouldn't be one of my classy ranty ragey blogs if I didn't say it once! Fuck you.
XoXo,
A.J.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Charity update!
Okay so Fractured & Formidable has been available for preorder for exactly one week! I took a peek and as of today, 228 copies have been preordered for a grand total of approximately $312.68 raised so far for the Lake Washington Chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse!
That's fantastic people, and really super exciting. If you haven't gotten your copy yet and want to make sure to support this fabulous cause, you can go ahead and get your copy of Fractured & Formidable right here: Fractured & Formidable The Sacred Hearts MC Book V
Thanks so much for your participation and for reading! I am so looking forward to the final numbers for this and to present a check to these guys to support their work in victims advocacy and support for abused children. I will try and keep you guys updated on the preorder totals from now until release day but won't be able to give you the final grand total for this venture until around the 15th of August when the reports for July come out from amazon.
If you're new to the SHMC series, you have plenty of time between now and July 31st to catch up and buy your copy of Fractured & Formidable in support of B.A.C.A. and their mission.
Until next Tuesday!
A.J.
Monday, April 13, 2015
I Deserve A Cookie & Exciting News!!!
Seriously. I deserve a cookie, and not just any cookie but one of those warm, gooey, fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookies the size of a small pizza - with ice cream!
Why do I deserve said cookie?
Because. I've been working like a motherfucking dog over here! I am heading into week three of not having a day off. Usually, I go home on Friday night and no one hears from me until Monday. I cease all work-related activity, which includes writing and editing! Because, let's face it, as much as I love to write and even to edit my writing into something more fit for public consumption, my poor brain needs a break from it.
Most of you know I work a regular eight to five-thirty shift, Monday through Friday in addition to this whole author thing, and if you didn't? Well you know now. Yep, for nine and a half hours a day I work a regular day job, go home and work several hours more until my brain is the consistency of pudding and I just can't brain anymore. Then I drag myself off to bed, only to wake up anywhere between 04:00 and 05:00 to do it all over again.
My day usually consists of wake up, check in with my Street Team, phone my Street Team Lead on the way in to work, go to work, brain, brain, brain, write, write, write, handle any editing, braining and writing that I can, get up, clock out, call my Street Team Lead on the drive home, go in, get changed and write, write, write, edit, edit, edit, brain, brain, brain until I just can't brain anymore! Rinse and repeat.
My fiancé misses me.
It makes him sad in the pants.
For reals.
So, what in the hell am I doing that I'm running full steam ahead without slowing down?
Writing two books with two different co-authors at the same time on top of staying on the MC series, with edits and marketing.
Wow, that doesn't sound like much when I put it that way, but I promise! It really is. So far, I kid you not, I am slated to release one of the SHMC books in July, a PNR romantic erotica in August and with any luck, an Urban Fantasy somewhere in the range of June/July/August.
Talk about overload! I got this epically retarded ass notion that I needed a break from the MC world and like a Raven with a serious case of A.D.O.S. (Attention Deficit - Ooo! Shiny!) I went bounding off after the literary squirrel of a different genre right before embarking on the planned Urban Fantasy novel.
TL;DR
The short version of that is I'm a literary masochist in a writer sense, rather than a reader's sense.
Eventually I will get caught up, like hopefully really soon, because I still have my MC world burning a hole in my brain and I really want to get back to the safe and loving arms of my badass bikers. Mostly so they stop sitting in the corner of my brain reserved for them, drinking beer and laughing at me.
So yeah. I'm busy, I'm gonna stay busy and maybe if I am lucky I will get outside before they Day Star goes into hibernation for the winter again. I'm starting to feel like a mole person.
I will be cooped up this Saturday for the best cause ever though! I'll be selling my completed books drinking booze named after my MC's!!! You gotta like that! Let me introduce you to these drinks while I'm here:
First we have The Sacred Heart:
This lovely little dropshot consists of Bacardi 151, Grenadine, Amaretto, and Fireball dropped into Sprite. It was mighty tasty and I am looking forward to trying it again.
As the name implies, you're pretty much going to want to commit suicide the next morning after a couple of these. The Suicide King consists of Yeager, 100 Proof SoCo, Cherry Coke, Vanilla Vodka, and Buttershot.
Guaranteed worse hangover ever with as much sugar is in this bitch, but considering it's named after a bunch of drug addicted yahoos, what do you really expect?
Last, and I always save the best for last, we have my favorite drink, The Kraken:
This beauty consists of Kraken Rum, (duh), Triple Sec, Lime Juice, Orange Ginger house made Simple Syrup and for that extra orangey Florida goodness, Fanta Orange soda.
It is soooooooo good!
All these drinks and several food menu items, (The Reaver!!! He got his own food menu item!) Will be available this Saturday at the AFK Elixirs & Eatery at 3750 East Valley Rd in Renton, WA (98057). I will be there from 14:00 to 21:00 in celebration for the release of Tattered & Torn as well as my co-author, Jeffrey Cook's novels Dawn of Steam: Rising Suns and the release of his anthology, Sound & Fury: Shakespeare Goes Punk.
AMG! So excited!
Hopefully I will see some of you locals there! Much love!
Why do I deserve said cookie?
Because. I've been working like a motherfucking dog over here! I am heading into week three of not having a day off. Usually, I go home on Friday night and no one hears from me until Monday. I cease all work-related activity, which includes writing and editing! Because, let's face it, as much as I love to write and even to edit my writing into something more fit for public consumption, my poor brain needs a break from it.
Most of you know I work a regular eight to five-thirty shift, Monday through Friday in addition to this whole author thing, and if you didn't? Well you know now. Yep, for nine and a half hours a day I work a regular day job, go home and work several hours more until my brain is the consistency of pudding and I just can't brain anymore. Then I drag myself off to bed, only to wake up anywhere between 04:00 and 05:00 to do it all over again.
My day usually consists of wake up, check in with my Street Team, phone my Street Team Lead on the way in to work, go to work, brain, brain, brain, write, write, write, handle any editing, braining and writing that I can, get up, clock out, call my Street Team Lead on the drive home, go in, get changed and write, write, write, edit, edit, edit, brain, brain, brain until I just can't brain anymore! Rinse and repeat.
My fiancé misses me.
It makes him sad in the pants.
For reals.
So, what in the hell am I doing that I'm running full steam ahead without slowing down?
Writing two books with two different co-authors at the same time on top of staying on the MC series, with edits and marketing.
Wow, that doesn't sound like much when I put it that way, but I promise! It really is. So far, I kid you not, I am slated to release one of the SHMC books in July, a PNR romantic erotica in August and with any luck, an Urban Fantasy somewhere in the range of June/July/August.
Talk about overload! I got this epically retarded ass notion that I needed a break from the MC world and like a Raven with a serious case of A.D.O.S. (Attention Deficit - Ooo! Shiny!) I went bounding off after the literary squirrel of a different genre right before embarking on the planned Urban Fantasy novel.
TL;DR
The short version of that is I'm a literary masochist in a writer sense, rather than a reader's sense.
Eventually I will get caught up, like hopefully really soon, because I still have my MC world burning a hole in my brain and I really want to get back to the safe and loving arms of my badass bikers. Mostly so they stop sitting in the corner of my brain reserved for them, drinking beer and laughing at me.
So yeah. I'm busy, I'm gonna stay busy and maybe if I am lucky I will get outside before they Day Star goes into hibernation for the winter again. I'm starting to feel like a mole person.
I will be cooped up this Saturday for the best cause ever though! I'll be selling my completed books drinking booze named after my MC's!!! You gotta like that! Let me introduce you to these drinks while I'm here:
First we have The Sacred Heart:
This lovely little dropshot consists of Bacardi 151, Grenadine, Amaretto, and Fireball dropped into Sprite. It was mighty tasty and I am looking forward to trying it again.
Then we have The Suicide King:
As the name implies, you're pretty much going to want to commit suicide the next morning after a couple of these. The Suicide King consists of Yeager, 100 Proof SoCo, Cherry Coke, Vanilla Vodka, and Buttershot.
Guaranteed worse hangover ever with as much sugar is in this bitch, but considering it's named after a bunch of drug addicted yahoos, what do you really expect?
Last, and I always save the best for last, we have my favorite drink, The Kraken:
This beauty consists of Kraken Rum, (duh), Triple Sec, Lime Juice, Orange Ginger house made Simple Syrup and for that extra orangey Florida goodness, Fanta Orange soda.
It is soooooooo good!
All these drinks and several food menu items, (The Reaver!!! He got his own food menu item!) Will be available this Saturday at the AFK Elixirs & Eatery at 3750 East Valley Rd in Renton, WA (98057). I will be there from 14:00 to 21:00 in celebration for the release of Tattered & Torn as well as my co-author, Jeffrey Cook's novels Dawn of Steam: Rising Suns and the release of his anthology, Sound & Fury: Shakespeare Goes Punk.
AMG! So excited!
Hopefully I will see some of you locals there! Much love!
Thursday, April 9, 2015
The Stupid Is Still Burning...
So yesterday I addressed the whole 'series' part of this monumental pile of fail:
(Let's face it, if I had tried to address everything wrong with this post in one go, I would die of a brain aneurism or something.)
Today I would like to point out that stealing is wrong!
Now obviously this special little cuntcake has found a fairly successful way to game the system and she has generously *rolls eyes* shared that method here. I would advise against utilizing this method, not just because it is morally reprehensible but also because my day job happens to be at one of amazon's corporate sites and I know where the fraud department is. And you can bet your sweet ass that I went out of my way to bring this to their attention. They'll figure something out for it eventually and even though it may not be today, tomorrow or next week, it'll be someday and when 'someday' arrives, they'll make it hurt in a legal sense. Amazonians are smart. A lot smarter than her... It's just a matter of time.
I digress...
What I intended to do with this post was look at some numbers and inject a little common sense into the equation. (I hate doing maths or anything number related really, and now I have had to do it two days in a row. If this bitch were on fire I wouldn't piss on her to put her out at this point.)
It's no big secret how KDP (That's Kindle Direct Publishing) operates. You finish your literary masterpiece, you go through KDP's step by step and then you hit the pricing and royalties page where you have a couple of options in front of you.
You can either select the 35% or 70% royalty option. (Meaning either 35 or 70% of the book's sale goes to the author, just being clear.)
In order to select the 70% royalty option you have to price your book at $2.99 or higher. My MC books are $3.99 which nets me about $2.74 per copy. So we'll go with that.
For an indie author just starting out, if you're lucky you'll make something like $20.00 your first month. Maybe more if you hit the right genre with a bunch of rabid readers, but considering you've easily poured a few hundred bucks into getting your novel up off the ground in the first place? Yeah. You're still under water. At least that was how it was for me until Shattered & Scarred.
My best month up until I wrote my first MC romance was around $100.00 and I was excited because when I put Shattered & Scarred out? I had finally caught up to and broken even with the expense of putting it out, along with the few PNR's and one contemporary novella that had come before. By then I had been self-published for five months.
This is what it's like for most indies, so to read that someone is knowingly stealing from independent authors and advising other people to do the same?
I has no words.
This crazy person is openly admitting that she is purchasing books, getting all of the enjoyment out of them and then returning them, cheating the author, who slaved, pouring their hearts into their work, out of the miniscule reward that quite frankly isn't really enough compensation anyways - and for what?
You don't go to the movies, sit through the entire film and get your money back after the credits do you? Why should you when it comes to a book?
This isn't the first time I have said it and it won't be my last: When it comes to being an author, it feels like it is the only profession out there where it is almost required that you be some kind of masochist. I mean look at us. We pour our heart and soul onto a page, wear our hearts on our sleeves and for what? We get bashed in negative reviews, we get crazy people who don't like our books and so they go on a mission to "ruin" us by attacking any good reviews of our books and who will follow us from social media platform to social media platform screaming at us and anyone who will listen about how awful our books are but yet we aren't allowed to comment. Nope. We are expected to not only endure some heinous abuse, we're expected to write more. To pour more of ourselves onto the page for people to do it all over again and when any of us cracks, has a moment where we sigh and admit out loud "God that hurts..." we're attacked again and told we either need to grow a thicker skin or get out of the business and now this.
But nope, according to twatwaffle up there, authors are abusing their readers! We are awful and deserve to be punished! ...and you wonder why some really good writers quit writing.
She suggests that readers use their buying power to show authors that readers are fed up and deserve better. What are you going to do when the writers use their powers? You know, the one that says 'fuck it, I'm not finishing this series' or they finish, but just choose not to publish it?
Who's loss is it then?
Certainly not the author's. Just saying.
Might want to think about that.
Now me personally, I love my readers. And as long as I have at least one person message me and tell me, that my book did something for them, made them feel, got them through a tough day by providing an escape... that's enough for me. When I first started this I never in a million years thought I would make any actual money at it. At best I was hoping that I would make enough to cover the cost of my first book and then enough to launch a second. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would need this much help, or require a Street Team or that I would end up doing collaborative projects or that people would actually pay attention to my ravings on this blog.
I still maintain, you hate my book that damned much - return it... but this? Mm-mm. No. Just no. This just makes me angry and sad. Now I've ranted about it, I feel better and I have something like 13 books on deck to write so I gotta go. I wash my hands of this mess. My opinion is known. Time to move on and create something positive.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
The Stupid... It Burns!
There is a lot of stupid out there on the internet. Still, very rarely does stupid come along that makes me so angry I take the time to blog about it calmly and rationally rather than with one of my fly by the seat of my pants epic humor filled rants.
Today I bring you the stupid that broke the internet in the form of a rather ignorant post made on Amazon in one of the discussion threads. Someone screenshotted this little gem and it's taken the indie author corner of Facebook by storm.
"Is there going to be another one?" and you think... you know? I do have an idea... and the whole process starts all over again, only this time, you take the money you earned off your first book and you recycle it into your next one. You manage to hire that editor, you manage to get a better cover and maybe even recover the first book. You've figured out by now who the reputable bloggers and marketing people are and you hire one of those too. You've burned through all the profits you made on that first book making your second book a reality and things start moving. Pretty soon you are brave enough to chance a third book...
Today I bring you the stupid that broke the internet in the form of a rather ignorant post made on Amazon in one of the discussion threads. Someone screenshotted this little gem and it's taken the indie author corner of Facebook by storm.
I told you it was going to be painful, I mean where do I even begin? There is just so much fail in this post it isn't even funny. I mean, I sincerely wish this were a troll post. I really do, but I don't think it is. So there is a lot in here to cover. I'm going to start with the assertion that I am somehow doing my readers a grave injustice by releasing my series as a series rather than completing the entire thing and releasing it at one go for them to feast upon.
Like any author who has released a series and who has folks reading it and eagerly awaiting more, I suffer from releasing my novels out into the world only to have someone comment mere hours later, "When is the next one coming out?"
It is such an odd mixture of emotion when it happens too. First there is glee over the fact that they liked it enough to want more, but then comes the tsunami of anxiety about producing the next one and keeping things good for the readers. Then there is even a little anger. That voice in the back of your head that screams Really!? I mean REALLY!? And let me tell you, that voice is totally justified, especially where this special little snowflake is concerned.
Clearly this individual has no concept about what kind of work it takes to take a story from a vaguely amorphous notion or idea through to an 85-100,000 word novel that a person can hold in their hands, read and enjoy.
*Clears throat.*
So allow me to clear some things up.
First, as an author you have to think about what you want to write about. When you have the idea, you need to spend hours, sometimes days, weeks, months or even years thinking about the characters, the world they live in and why everything is the way it is beyond what you are ever going to put down on paper. You need to have details for each of your characters that may never see the light of day. Why? Because when you put ink to page, what's there will shine that much brighter with purpose and assurance because you have taken the time to figure all of this out.
Now comes the hard part. You need to sit your happy ass down and write it. That doesn't sound like much, I know, but consider this... A well rounded, full length novel is considered to be around 60,000 words plus. Which is bullshit. If you really, really want a well rounded, full length novel then you are looking at something in the neighborhood of 85-100k words plus. Most of my SHMC novels, for example, are around 90k words in length.
Stop.
As of the word 'Stop' right up there you have read 561 words. I want you to think about that. Now I want you think about this. Including distractions going on around me, I've been writing for over an hour. Lets do the math, shall we?
100,000 words divided by 561 words equals 178ish. That is 178 hours and that doesn't include the time you hit writers block and can't think of where to go or the point where you just hit that wall and are sick to death of the act of typing or reading or creating to the point where you look at the screen and just want to vomit. No you have to factor in that time as well.
You also have to factor in the time that you look at your fiancé and say, "Sorry honey, I can't go to the movies/hang out with you and your boss/have sex with you right now, I have a book to finish. It doesn't factor in the time you take away from your kids. It doesn't factor in the sleepless nights or the times you have poured so much of your brain power, heart and soul into a manuscript you shuffle away from the keyboard like a zombie and you just don't have anything left brain that day.
And that's just the beginning. You've finished your book, it's sitting in front of you, and now the actual work begins. Now you have to find someone to edit it, because let's face it. 90% of us storytellers are just that, creative story telling types that doesn't know our ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to comma placement.
So you start looking for an editor... and you realize that editors are really fucking expensive and you get really damned discouraged because here is your dream of becoming a published author sitting in front of you, so close to complete you can almost taste it and you can't find anyone affordable to make it look shiny. Because honestly, in today's world, who has a spare $700.00+ laying around to pay a professional editor their .002 cents per word for your 100,000 word manuscript?
Not to be deterred, you suck it up, you valiantly call on your friends, your family, your high school English Teacher, anybody you know with grammar skills that are better than yours to go over your baby. You tinker, you fix, you rewrite and you spend weeks if not months with 'Line Editing' or 'Copy Editing for Dummies' open at your elbow or on your Kindle slaving away at trying to get it right.
Finally, you've scraped up some confidence and are ready to go forward and you look at all the books out there and realize... shit. I need a cover. Not only do I need a cover, I need one that is going to stand out, draw people in, a cover that screams out to anyone passing by 'Read me!' and so you go looking for a cover artist. Well guess what, they aren't as expensive as an editor, but they're still expensive. So you find someone, you hire them, you save like a mofo and you've got your cover and you breathe a big sigh of relief and you go through the crazy formatting guidelines and you finally close your eyes, go for broke and hit 'publish'.
Nothing happens.
Or if you're lucky you explode all over the internet, but for the majority of us.
Nothing.
Happens.
Then you realize... oh... no one knows my book exists. How do I reach my audience? So you start doing homework on marketing your book and you fall in with a bunch of bloggers and marketing people that tell you "Oh yeah yeah! I'll do this, and I'll do that and we'll get your book seen and all it's going to cost you is..."
Yep.
More money that you didn't have in the first place. And you think that it sounds like a really good deal, so you save save save and pay this person or that and they take your money and post a buy link once on their site and you realize you've been had and it's soul crushing.
You want to give up, but you believe in your book and so you join forums and chat rooms and promote it yourself every spare waking moment and people start reading it and the next thing you know, you're selling copies and then someone asks.
"Is there going to be another one?" and you think... you know? I do have an idea... and the whole process starts all over again, only this time, you take the money you earned off your first book and you recycle it into your next one. You manage to hire that editor, you manage to get a better cover and maybe even recover the first book. You've figured out by now who the reputable bloggers and marketing people are and you hire one of those too. You've burned through all the profits you made on that first book making your second book a reality and things start moving. Pretty soon you are brave enough to chance a third book...
That is how this works. It is HARD work.
And then you get things like what sparked this entire blog in the first place and as my buddy and fellow author put it, you want to 'throat punch this bitch in the throat with a steak knife'. Because I am telling you... "I'm in this for the money," SAID NO INDEPENDENT AUTHOR EVER when first starting out.
I leave you with this:
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Fractured & Formidable Cover Reveal!
Live 7/1/15!!
She’s Fractured…
Mandy Price is best friends with Everett, the Ol’ Lady to
the Sacred Heart’s VP, and roommates with them both… No one would guess that
the preacher’s daughter could have such a dark secret, but Mandy had a big one.
The product of a broken childhood, Mandy lives a fractured existence. She
maintains the outward appearance of normalcy, that everything is just fine,
when nothing could be further from the truth. Ever the dutiful daughter, she
returns to her father’s church and his table every Sunday. Trouble is, things
are growing worse not better as Mandy grows into her own. It’s becoming harder
and harder to maintain appearances on a daily basis and Mandy is definitely
feeling the strain.
He’s Formidable…
Revelator has had his eye on the innocent redhead from the
moment he first saw her. Too much has been getting in the way of him pursuing
the angel, prospecting for the club taking up just too damned much of his time.
He was fully patched now, still, just when he was getting ready to make a move,
that’s when his shop came down around his ears. Faced with rebuilding from the
ground up, he’s decided that if he has to start from the beginning, he might as
well go all in. If starting over is what has to happen then the life he plans
on building from here on out definitely has his Red by his side and no one
else’s.
It doesn’t take Rev long to find out what his girl is
hiding, and when he does, someone is going to find out just how formidable he
can be, not just in body, but in mind and with his brother’s backing…
★•**•.★ Special Announcement Concerning the Release of Fractured & Formidable★•**•.★
Hi guys,
A.J. Downey here, with a very special announcement
concerning Fractured & Formidable, the fifth installment of my Sacred
Hearts MC series.
In my travels and research as an MC romance author I’ve come
across some interesting stories and even more interesting groups and
organizations. One such group, B.A.C.A or Bikers Against Child Abuse partially
inspired the story for Fractured & Formidable with their good works. That
being said, I will be donating half of all pre-order and first month’s sales of
Fractured & Formidable to my local B.A.C.A. Lake Washington Chapter which
serves the greater Seattle Area.
I am not raising the price of Fractured & Formidable in
any way, if you are buying my series for the love of my series, all you have to
do to support this wonderful cause is one click the title as soon as it goes on
preorder or in the first month of its release. That’s it.
Thank each and every one of you for reading, and thank you
even more for your support in this wonderful cause.
Much Love,
XOXO
~ A.J.
Monday, April 6, 2015
Writing and edits and werewolves, oh my!
It's been a long week, and it's going to be an even longer one this week. A lot has been going on behind the scenes back here. I've been partnered up with another author, Ryan Kells, on a Paranormal Romantic Erotica entitled 'I Am The Alpha' and at this point we are a little half way through writing the story.
Let me tell you, Ryan is an amazing writer, and writing this with them has been an absolute blast. I can't wait to put the finishing polish on this first draft and get it through rewrites and phase one editing. We're pushing hard to have this first draft finished this week, and let me tell you, at the rate we've been going, it's totally doable.
A lot of you read and love my characters in the SHMC series, but let me tell you, I am completely, madly and deeply in love with William and Chloe from I Am The Alpha. I dream about these two when I sleep. That kind of in love. Ryan has created some amazing characters and an amazing world in which they live. The world of William's pack is rich with it's own lore and history and customs and way of doing things and I am both honored and really excited that Ryan has allowed me to enter that world and write in it and expand it. It's been such a great experience we have been laying down the framework for a book two and will likely get started on it as soon as I Am The Alpha is in edits.
Seriously, if you have a taste for PNR and like my style, I really hope you give this project a chance. It is going to be a full length book, topping out at probably 90-100k words, just like my SHMC books and there will be a lot more information coming out about it in the very near future. We don't want to wait. As soon as it goes into edits we will probably set a date for it to go live, and along with that, start giving you guys glimpses into William and Chloe's world leading up to that release date.
Speaking of glimpses into worlds, tomorrow is a big day for you Sacred Hearts fans! Fractured & Formidable not only goes up for preorder, but also, it's cover is revealed and along with that a great big, super special announcement about this book, book five in the SHMC series. I'm so excited for that I can hardly contain myself! But I have to, and it's really, really hard. Fractured & Formidable just went into it's final stages of edits on Saturday so it will be ready by release, which is still a bit of a ways off. So definitely go poking around blogs (this one here will have it!) and Facebook tomorrow to find out what's up!
In the meantime, while I wait for Ryan to finish the next chapter of IATA, I figured I would try to catch up on some things. One of them being letting you guys know why I've been so quiet. Now you know. Between releasing Tattered & Torn, getting the cover reveal and announcement ready for Fractured & Formidable, editing Fractured & Formidable, writing I Am The Alpha and getting things pulled in and lined up for editing, cover art, media packages, teasers, trailers and everything that goes along with releasing a new book... Yeah. I've been buried. Not to mention while coordinating and arranging all of that with my Street Team, I was also trying to edit the book that comes after Fractured & Formidable and was trying to go back and give Shattered & Scarred a good scrubbing (because lets face it, it has errors and is in need of some love,) I about had a brain melt down.
I needed to reprioritize in a big way and so I did. Fractured & Formidable, I Am The Alpha took top spot interchangeably. Now it's all about I Am The Alpha until it's finished and the AG Project which will be on deck and starting sometime next week along with author Jeffrey Cook.
Slow down?
AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!
No.
Love you guys lots, hang in there with me I am about to take you on some seriously wild rides!
XOXO,
A.J.
Let me tell you, Ryan is an amazing writer, and writing this with them has been an absolute blast. I can't wait to put the finishing polish on this first draft and get it through rewrites and phase one editing. We're pushing hard to have this first draft finished this week, and let me tell you, at the rate we've been going, it's totally doable.
A lot of you read and love my characters in the SHMC series, but let me tell you, I am completely, madly and deeply in love with William and Chloe from I Am The Alpha. I dream about these two when I sleep. That kind of in love. Ryan has created some amazing characters and an amazing world in which they live. The world of William's pack is rich with it's own lore and history and customs and way of doing things and I am both honored and really excited that Ryan has allowed me to enter that world and write in it and expand it. It's been such a great experience we have been laying down the framework for a book two and will likely get started on it as soon as I Am The Alpha is in edits.
Seriously, if you have a taste for PNR and like my style, I really hope you give this project a chance. It is going to be a full length book, topping out at probably 90-100k words, just like my SHMC books and there will be a lot more information coming out about it in the very near future. We don't want to wait. As soon as it goes into edits we will probably set a date for it to go live, and along with that, start giving you guys glimpses into William and Chloe's world leading up to that release date.
Speaking of glimpses into worlds, tomorrow is a big day for you Sacred Hearts fans! Fractured & Formidable not only goes up for preorder, but also, it's cover is revealed and along with that a great big, super special announcement about this book, book five in the SHMC series. I'm so excited for that I can hardly contain myself! But I have to, and it's really, really hard. Fractured & Formidable just went into it's final stages of edits on Saturday so it will be ready by release, which is still a bit of a ways off. So definitely go poking around blogs (this one here will have it!) and Facebook tomorrow to find out what's up!
In the meantime, while I wait for Ryan to finish the next chapter of IATA, I figured I would try to catch up on some things. One of them being letting you guys know why I've been so quiet. Now you know. Between releasing Tattered & Torn, getting the cover reveal and announcement ready for Fractured & Formidable, editing Fractured & Formidable, writing I Am The Alpha and getting things pulled in and lined up for editing, cover art, media packages, teasers, trailers and everything that goes along with releasing a new book... Yeah. I've been buried. Not to mention while coordinating and arranging all of that with my Street Team, I was also trying to edit the book that comes after Fractured & Formidable and was trying to go back and give Shattered & Scarred a good scrubbing (because lets face it, it has errors and is in need of some love,) I about had a brain melt down.
I needed to reprioritize in a big way and so I did. Fractured & Formidable, I Am The Alpha took top spot interchangeably. Now it's all about I Am The Alpha until it's finished and the AG Project which will be on deck and starting sometime next week along with author Jeffrey Cook.
Slow down?
AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!
No.
Love you guys lots, hang in there with me I am about to take you on some seriously wild rides!
XOXO,
A.J.
Friday, April 3, 2015
Release Blitz: The Shield Maiden's Revenge by Bibi Rizer
I'm super excited to share the details of the new historical romance The Shield Maiden's Revenge. It's a sexy New Adult Viking revenge tale, with a kick-ass heroine and a brooding hero. What's not to love?
Blurb:
Katla Grímsdóttir has lived with her Viking father’s anger and abuse for all of her eighteen years. And she has watched him mistreat the two people she loves most in the world – her twin sister Gull and their slave “milk brother” Freyvior – until her heart is nothing but fire and steel. When Gull is sold in marriage to one of their father’s brutish warlords, Katla turns that fire and steel into the strength of fury.
She can no longer deny that her love for her beautiful slave Freyvior has changed, nor can she resist her desire to be owned by him, body and soul. But while together they awaken a fierce storm of passion between them, they must also face a violent destiny as they set out to rescue Gull. And first, those who have betrayed and abused them will be made to face the young shield maiden’s long repressed wrath.
Excerpt:
Without undressing, he slipped between them, lying on his back and crossing his hands over his chest like a corpse. Gull rolled onto her side, her back to him, and was soon breathing the heavy breaths of the exhausted sleeper.“I’ll slip out the loose board if your father comes,” Frey said.
Katla rolled onto her side, facing him. She could only see his silhouette against the dying candle on the bench. “That would be advised.”
They both snuffled with laughter.
Frey turned and faced her, reaching up to finger one of her braids. “There’s a fortune in gold and saffron woven in here. Did you know that?”
“What is a fortune to you is pennies to my Father.”
Frey nodded. “You could buy my freedom with three strands.” He gathered two more braids and twirled them around his fingers.
“I would with all my heart, dear Frey, if Father would permit it.”
Frey dropped her braids, laying his hand instead on her cool cheek. “You would? Then what would you have me do? Leave the village? Sail south and search for my gypsy father? Do you want me to be a free man? Free of you?”
Katla reached up and touched the thin iron collar that marked his enslavement. She might cling to it with all her strength to keep him from leaving her. Or perhaps she could let him go. Or perhaps not. Her mind bounced back and forth, unable to formulate a decision.
“A little slow to answer, mistress.” Frey said, with a sad smile.
Perhaps Katla was able to voice feelings with her eyes that her lips had never managed. Perhaps Frey could somehow hear the words her mind was screaming.
That she would be his slave, happily.
Something changed in Frey’s face as he looked at her. He inhaled sharply and sighed, his lips slightly parted. Without taking his eyes from hers he let his hand slide off her cheek, over her neck, her exposed collarbone. He kept going lower, unlacing her night gown as he did.
“Gull,” Katla whispered. “She’s right there.”
“Asleep.” Frey spoke in a deep authoritative voice. “And you are going to be very quiet.”
***
Where to Buy:
Amazon.com
Amazon.UK
Amazon.CA
Goodreads
About the Author:
Bibi Rizer is a mom, blogger, teacher and writer living in the Pacific Northwest. While she's been writing professionally for many years, romance and erotica are relatively new pursuits.Bibi likes writing about strong kinky women and brave willing men living in realistic and imperfect worlds. In her spare time Bibi sings Karaoke and hangs around on film sets with child actors. Having the the firm belief that no one can be too weird or too funny, she happily admits that most of her favorite people and characters are both.
Stalk her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads or her blog at www.BibiRizer.com.
For sneak peeks, swag, freebies and other fun, consider joining Bibi's Street Team, The Early Rizers.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
FREE SEXY ROMANCE
If you've been tempted to try Bibi Rizer's books, now is the time. Her first Fireworks Novella is free on all platforms - Kindle, Smashwords, Kobo, Nook and elsewhere. NO risk and it's a great read:
"amazingly written and oh-my-God hot! Gloria and Charlie were two puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together and I really want another story some years down the line after this one to check in with them and see how they're doing. As a person who lives in Seattle the author has her geographical details spot on! Which just made this even more of a fun read." AJ Downey
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