I am married with two children. Family always comes first, but writing is my passion. Thankfully, my husband and kids are my biggest supporters so I never have to choose between them! In my spare time I love to read, travel, walk our two ENORMOUS dogs, and pamper the diva cat who allows us to share ‘her’ home!
I have often said one of my main goals when writing a book is to create characters that the reader will fall in love with. I hope the worlds I create speak to you, and that you enjoy my stories!
Love the blog! I have always loved to write, and now that I’ve got the house to myself, I’ve indulged. I just signed my first book contract and I’m scared to death! Any words of wisdom?
If you’ve just signed your first contract, I’d say you’re definitely doing something right!
One of the first things I did was join a local writers group. There are more than one in my town, but I wound up choosing to join the one that is the local chapter of RWA. There is a diverse group of writers there, some published and some still pursuing that first contract. In our chapter, there are a couple who are New York Times best-sellers, and several are with smaller epublishers like Siren-BookStrand or Breathless Press. Everyone is at a different place in their writing career, as well. I’ve been actively writing for only a few years now, but some have been doing it for well over a decade. So it’s nice to hear their opinions about the industry, common pitfalls, etc.
The more you write, the more you’ll find inspiration in different places. I have gotten ideas for books from dreams, song lyrics, something I observed in the mall, and any number of places. And any time I have an idea, I will go to my computer and start a new file with a working title and quickly type out the synopsis. That way, I’ll have the memory saved for later. I’ve been known to pull out something that was only about 3 pages, and had been written three years previously, and then I hammered out the rest of the story and had a completed manuscript in a matter of weeks. But if I had never created a temporary working file with the idea, I’m sure I would have long since forgotten the potential plotline. So never discount these little flashes of brilliance that come to you out of the blue…it just might become your next novel!
Now that you have your first book coming out, the name of the game seems to be promotion. But I admit I’m not the best at that. I work full-time and have a young child still at home, so I’m doing good to just notch out a few hours each week to write most of the time!
Self-promotion tends to get put on the back burner. BUt a Twitter account and Facebook page are very common. I have both but unfortunately don’t post updates nearly as often as I should. The social media is HUGE now, and that seems to be what most of my chapter-mates really stress as important these days, when it comes to keeping your name out there with the masses.
ALso, there are a lot of online services available that exist solely to help you promote (for a small fee of course!). One I have worked with before is Goddess FIsh (goddessfish.com), but there are many others. You might want to consider using one of these groups to do a publicity blitz for your book.
I know that Siren-Bookstrand has exclusive rights at first, but after 3-4 weeks they’ll have your book title out there on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, etc. Amazon has a nice feature where you can sign up on authorcentral.com, and create an author profile and link all your books to it. This will let you track sales on the Amazon site. Also, be sure to go into Amazon and pull up your book title. You can add “tags” to it, so when people search for keywords, if any are on your book’s profile it will help direct potential buyers to your book title. As far as I’ve been able to see, B&N doesn’t have this same feature. But I try to make sure I add tag words with each new title I have out on Amazon.
I am clearly not an expert, but I’ve learned a tremendous about over the last couple of years. The best thing I can tell you is to have fun and enjoy it. When you run dry, take a little time off and read other people’s books and watch some of your favorite old movies. After a couple of weeks of that you’ll probably be swimming in ideas again!
Best of luck to you! Joan
Hi, Joan. Kate told me that you’re reading SAND DOLLAR. Thanks! Let me know what you think. I loved Kate’s review. Hopefully, you’ll like it as much. Thanks again.
Sebastian
I have just started it! I know I will enjoy it. The cover is really beautiful too. I’ll give you some feedback when I finish it. I was very excited to see your name pop up on my site by the way. It’s like having a celebrity connection.
Hi, Joan. Thanks for the reply. You made me laugh by saying that I was a celebrity, ha. Well, maybe someday…
Sebastian
Hi Joan. It’s nice to meet you. First of all, thank you for following Bookfinda blog! And I’m so glad to read your blog – interesting and so personal as if I talk to my good friend. I stay and follow. Please keep writing as I want to read more
I’m probably way too honest on this blog! But that’s just me. I promised my dad I’d never use his real name, so that seemed to appease him as I air the family laundry.
I’m so appreciative of anyone who gives part of their busy lives to check out anything I write. I’m glad you enjoy it. Have a wonderful day!
I look forward to reading your other posts. I also have two big dogs, and one medium one who is a diva, instead of a cat.
I love our big dogs. They are so sweet and loving. It’s hard for me to imagine what it would be like to own a “teacup” type pet, although I think they are so adorable. Thanks for stopping by to check out my blog. I look forward to hearing more from you.
It’s nice of you to stop by! Glad to meet a fellow big dog lover. Is that one of yours that is your profile pic? If so, what a beauty! I look forward to hearing more from you.
Sorry for the delay. I have a Bouvier, in the photo, a Goldendoodle and a springer spaniel cross (all rescues). They have saved my life on many occasions and keep me going. They are my best friends.