Since the last time I blogged I did two bookstore appearances. It's actually more difficult than I thought to convince people who have never heard of me to buy my book. Unless you have a bus load of family and friends show up, don't expect your sales to be through the roof. That being said I had an amazing day at both venues. I can't get over the number of people who admit to either considering writing a book or are in the process. My advice to all of them was "Just do it" If writing is what they are supposed to be doing they will instantly know and never look back.
I've had a book club pick up my book for their new read which is pretty exciting. There is another book club at the Chapters I appeared at that may consider my book as well. I gave a copy to the lady who facilitates it. Cross my fingers she feels its worthy enough for the club.
Tonight I have a radio talk show interview to discuss my book. I've never done anything like that before so I'm a little nervous. I emailed him and asked for a list of questions he will be asking but much to my dismay he doesn't "plan" his interviews. Ugh!
I received a response form a Harlequin submission I sent way back. It wasn't a form rejection so I am pleased. Unfortunately The Jaxon Effect doesn't really fit the Super Romance Category I submitted it under. They want 99% of the story to be between the hero and heroine. This title is a bit more complex than that. Maybe "The Men from Remington's," series would be better suited. Stand alone titles tend to work better for Harlequin.
On a good note I submitted to another publisher on Thursday evening. Monday afternoon I received a response, they requested my full manuscript. After hitting the roof I fine tooth combed it again and sent it to them yesterday evening. Before submitting it I did another round of editing and shaved 3000 words from the story. It could take up to thirty days to hear back, then again they said it could take up to eight weeks to hear back from the query I sent and it only took a couple of days so I hope its sooner. Even if they reject at least I know the most recent query letter that I struggled to perfect is in the pocket.
Book two is moving along well although I have to admit I have been writing scenes that I have no idea where they belong yet. The characters are being secretive and only giving me glimpses of the full story but I like what they are showing me. There is a bit of "one-upmanship" going on which is fun. It tells me their relationship will never become boring or monotonous. They are both too stubborn for that to happen.
Its time for me to relax my mind and get back into Jaxon and Kate's world. Have a wonderful day!
K.C.
Publish Post
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Cliff Hanging and Reviews and a Writing update!
First let me say I am sorry to the haters ;) who were angry enough to throw their e-readers across the room when they realized The Jaxon Effect book 1 was over. Although some of you paid me back by giving me a 1 or 2 star rating you are my best spokespeople!!! Why? Because although you gave me a low score and skewed my rating average you were motivated to do that because you were engaged in the story. You WANTED it to not be over. You WANTED answers and you didn't get them. The characters came to life for you and you felt vested. Although I would have loved a 4 or a 5 star rating I totally understand.
The good news is you will get the answers Book 2! I will also say as of now my intentions are not to leave you dangling at the end of book 2. Hopefully you will want to read book 3,not because I left a dangling carrot but because you want more of Jaxon and Kate's story. I hope you love the characters as much as I do.
For those of you wondering about book 2 I am pleased to say the characters have been very co-operative lately. The past three days I flew through six chapters. I spent 48 hours in the same pair of pyjamas but that's okay. When the characters want to speak I drop everything and I write. I am becoming excited about this one as the story begins to unfold. What I thought I was going to write and what I actually wrote are two totally different things. I had the outline done. The entire book was in point form chapter after chapter and then I began to write it. I wrote five chapters. They were decent and were on point for the most part with my outline and then...... BLOCK!!!!! I left the story alone for a couple of weeks. I edited what I had wrote several times hoping that something would soon start up again but it didn't. I was getting worried and I thought if my husband or my kids asked me one more time how many chapters I had I was going to scream. I put away the outline and decided to take a break from the story all together. Funny thing happened after a couple of days of not trying to force a square peg into a round hole the characters began talking again and what they said was those five chapters I had been fiddling with for a month were completely wrong. As much as I wanted to be organized and plan out the story and all that good stuff it doesn't work for me. So I began again from scratch and I am happy to say I have already completed ten chapters. I have read some blogs from authors who talked about how they write a story. They have a schedule they follow. They outline, they research, they sit at their computers for a certain number of hours each day etc. I can't do that. It would be nice but its not how I roll. Hopefully the continuing sequence of events in Jaxon and Kate's life won't disappoint you. The story continues as its supposed to continue not how I thought it would originally.. I truly believe when the characters tell the story and make the decisions it can't be wrong. I love the direction the characters are leading me in and I really hope you will too.
Sunday October 6th I will be doing a book signing at Chapters John and Richmond in Toronto. Please join me if you are in the area.
Have an awesome day!
K.C.
The good news is you will get the answers Book 2! I will also say as of now my intentions are not to leave you dangling at the end of book 2. Hopefully you will want to read book 3,not because I left a dangling carrot but because you want more of Jaxon and Kate's story. I hope you love the characters as much as I do.
For those of you wondering about book 2 I am pleased to say the characters have been very co-operative lately. The past three days I flew through six chapters. I spent 48 hours in the same pair of pyjamas but that's okay. When the characters want to speak I drop everything and I write. I am becoming excited about this one as the story begins to unfold. What I thought I was going to write and what I actually wrote are two totally different things. I had the outline done. The entire book was in point form chapter after chapter and then I began to write it. I wrote five chapters. They were decent and were on point for the most part with my outline and then...... BLOCK!!!!! I left the story alone for a couple of weeks. I edited what I had wrote several times hoping that something would soon start up again but it didn't. I was getting worried and I thought if my husband or my kids asked me one more time how many chapters I had I was going to scream. I put away the outline and decided to take a break from the story all together. Funny thing happened after a couple of days of not trying to force a square peg into a round hole the characters began talking again and what they said was those five chapters I had been fiddling with for a month were completely wrong. As much as I wanted to be organized and plan out the story and all that good stuff it doesn't work for me. So I began again from scratch and I am happy to say I have already completed ten chapters. I have read some blogs from authors who talked about how they write a story. They have a schedule they follow. They outline, they research, they sit at their computers for a certain number of hours each day etc. I can't do that. It would be nice but its not how I roll. Hopefully the continuing sequence of events in Jaxon and Kate's life won't disappoint you. The story continues as its supposed to continue not how I thought it would originally.. I truly believe when the characters tell the story and make the decisions it can't be wrong. I love the direction the characters are leading me in and I really hope you will too.
Sunday October 6th I will be doing a book signing at Chapters John and Richmond in Toronto. Please join me if you are in the area.
Have an awesome day!
K.C.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Torontonians really do rock!
Hey there
So its Monday morning and the weekend is finally over. I had my first big event yesterday at Word on the Street, Toronto. My husband and I prepared for this for a while. Okay he prepared for this on my behalf. He is my saviour!
I wasn't sure what to expect because this was actually my first time at Word on the Street, so just in case I bumped into an agent or publisher I had made ten query packages. As I believe I have mentioned in an earlier post (or should have) that query is going to give me and ulcer. There are so many contrasting beliefs on what at query should look like. At 1:30 am on Sunday I finally decided to go to bed and stop changing my query. It turned out I didn't need it anyway.
I sold approximately 25 books and handed out hundreds of book marks. I had some encouraging discussions with people who were not into my genre but they were so darn supportive all the same. I was starting to get a little worried when people would stop and pick up the book , read the back and then put it back down. Of course my first thought was that there's a problem with my blurb. So I started asking people, "Do you read romance?" It turned out many of them didn't but they were drawn to our display and the book's cover so they stopped. Through many of those conversations amazing things happened. When people realized I was the author they would smile broadly and offer congratulations. Many people offered advice on marketing etc. Many of them took post cards, sell sheets, and book marks to distribute to people they know who do read my genre. This happened multiple times all day. I had some postcards printed to advertise my launch at Chapters on John street in Toronto on October 6th. At least a dozen or more people had said they will try to get people to come out to support me. I was blown away. These were complete strangers that wanted to help.
Following the book event we went down to college street for a "Magical evening with local authors," Since I had never done anything like that before I had no idea what to expect. We were greeted at the door by two very welcoming gentlemen. Since we were almost the last to arrive, sitting a distance away and the speaker system wasn't optimal it was difficult at times to follow what was going on.
Four authors were scheduled to read excerpts from their books. I had assumed readings were reserved for those who wrote gorgeous pieces of literary fiction that would read like poetry. It was appearing that way at least until a lady stands up at the microphone and begins to read an excerpt from her romance novel. What? Romance authors are asked to speak at these things. That's amazing. When this lady spoke I quickly realized why. She had passion. She read the pages from her ms with heart. She took on the persona of each character as she spoke. I really didn't care what she was saying, it was the fact that she was passionately in love with her work that made me smile. I realized in that moment that we, the romance authors of the world, are a special breed and I need to start practicing my public speaking because I too want to share my passion the same way this lady did.
We shared our table with a lady that was on her own. A complete stranger. Two hours later it felt like she was a friend. That might have been the best part of the entire day! We talked about my fear of public speaking and she gave me some really great advice. She was just so genuine and supportive. She had a belief in me and my book although she hadn't read a word of it. People like that don't come along often, so when they do the encounter is memorable and in this case worth mentioning. It turns out this woman has some media connections. When she finally told me where she worked the thought truly hadn't even crossed my mind that she may be able to help me get some exposure. In fact when I asked her where she worked and she told me I think she expected a light to go on in my head. (which maybe if I wasn't dog tired it would have) Later I went to the bathroom and when I returned my husband informed me that she was going to do what she could to get my book in the hands of the right people. Immediately I felt awkward. I cant explain why and I know my response was something really strange because I didn't know what to say. I should have just said thank you. Which I did do after but I think my first response was something like" its okay if you can't I know its hard to do things like that." WTF is wrong with me. I think I liked this lady so much that I didn't want the basis of our new found friendship to be based on a "What can you do for me?" bottom line. I don't have a business head. I am all about emotions and relationships. Maybe that's why I'm a romance junkie. And truth be told I think part of me knows what's coming next and it scares me. Success is something we dream about but when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt its around the corner it becomes very daunting. I can be my own worst enemy. Maybe I need to find a doctor with a couch. ;)
I could have written a half chapter in the time it took me to post this. I have a lot of wonderful fans that are anxiously awaiting book two so I better get back to work!
K.C.
So its Monday morning and the weekend is finally over. I had my first big event yesterday at Word on the Street, Toronto. My husband and I prepared for this for a while. Okay he prepared for this on my behalf. He is my saviour!
I wasn't sure what to expect because this was actually my first time at Word on the Street, so just in case I bumped into an agent or publisher I had made ten query packages. As I believe I have mentioned in an earlier post (or should have) that query is going to give me and ulcer. There are so many contrasting beliefs on what at query should look like. At 1:30 am on Sunday I finally decided to go to bed and stop changing my query. It turned out I didn't need it anyway.
I sold approximately 25 books and handed out hundreds of book marks. I had some encouraging discussions with people who were not into my genre but they were so darn supportive all the same. I was starting to get a little worried when people would stop and pick up the book , read the back and then put it back down. Of course my first thought was that there's a problem with my blurb. So I started asking people, "Do you read romance?" It turned out many of them didn't but they were drawn to our display and the book's cover so they stopped. Through many of those conversations amazing things happened. When people realized I was the author they would smile broadly and offer congratulations. Many people offered advice on marketing etc. Many of them took post cards, sell sheets, and book marks to distribute to people they know who do read my genre. This happened multiple times all day. I had some postcards printed to advertise my launch at Chapters on John street in Toronto on October 6th. At least a dozen or more people had said they will try to get people to come out to support me. I was blown away. These were complete strangers that wanted to help.
Following the book event we went down to college street for a "Magical evening with local authors," Since I had never done anything like that before I had no idea what to expect. We were greeted at the door by two very welcoming gentlemen. Since we were almost the last to arrive, sitting a distance away and the speaker system wasn't optimal it was difficult at times to follow what was going on.
Four authors were scheduled to read excerpts from their books. I had assumed readings were reserved for those who wrote gorgeous pieces of literary fiction that would read like poetry. It was appearing that way at least until a lady stands up at the microphone and begins to read an excerpt from her romance novel. What? Romance authors are asked to speak at these things. That's amazing. When this lady spoke I quickly realized why. She had passion. She read the pages from her ms with heart. She took on the persona of each character as she spoke. I really didn't care what she was saying, it was the fact that she was passionately in love with her work that made me smile. I realized in that moment that we, the romance authors of the world, are a special breed and I need to start practicing my public speaking because I too want to share my passion the same way this lady did.
We shared our table with a lady that was on her own. A complete stranger. Two hours later it felt like she was a friend. That might have been the best part of the entire day! We talked about my fear of public speaking and she gave me some really great advice. She was just so genuine and supportive. She had a belief in me and my book although she hadn't read a word of it. People like that don't come along often, so when they do the encounter is memorable and in this case worth mentioning. It turns out this woman has some media connections. When she finally told me where she worked the thought truly hadn't even crossed my mind that she may be able to help me get some exposure. In fact when I asked her where she worked and she told me I think she expected a light to go on in my head. (which maybe if I wasn't dog tired it would have) Later I went to the bathroom and when I returned my husband informed me that she was going to do what she could to get my book in the hands of the right people. Immediately I felt awkward. I cant explain why and I know my response was something really strange because I didn't know what to say. I should have just said thank you. Which I did do after but I think my first response was something like" its okay if you can't I know its hard to do things like that." WTF is wrong with me. I think I liked this lady so much that I didn't want the basis of our new found friendship to be based on a "What can you do for me?" bottom line. I don't have a business head. I am all about emotions and relationships. Maybe that's why I'm a romance junkie. And truth be told I think part of me knows what's coming next and it scares me. Success is something we dream about but when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt its around the corner it becomes very daunting. I can be my own worst enemy. Maybe I need to find a doctor with a couch. ;)
I could have written a half chapter in the time it took me to post this. I have a lot of wonderful fans that are anxiously awaiting book two so I better get back to work!
K.C.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
The Jaxon Effect
I am thrilled. When I originally enrolled my book on KDP for Kindle I opted not to go into the borrowers pool. However with my sales on the other devices being dismal and my sales on kindle being not much better I thought what do I have to lose. Since my book is actually the first of a trilogy why not? I put a year into my book. It spent almost a thousand dollars on my print version and cover design that was why. But then again what did I have to lose?
I pulled my title off Smashwords (who distributes to all the other devices) and went KDP exclusive. Holy cow its only been like a week and I have had close to 4000 downloads and around fifty ebook sales. I don't really know what that will equate to in dollars because some of that was under "Free e-book promotion days" where I will earn squat for those downloads. But I don't even care. What's amazing is that there are 4000+ people across the globe who have now heard of K.C. Michaels. Many of whom love The Jaxon Effect. I have amazingly enough gained like sixty twitter followers and at least twenty new fans on my Facebook page in the past couple of days. I have gotten several messages through Facebook, twitter and my website from people who have read my book and are chomping at the bit to read the second installment. I am over the moon.
I now have 19 ratings on Goodreads and five on Amazon and counting. The Jaxon Effect has also been added to over 150 times as a to be read on Goodreads as well. I am still of course hoping to find agent representation so the distribution of my print books can be handled by someone else. For now I will box, ship and drop off copies to retail outlets as necessary. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.
I would also like to say I love every positive message I receive. I read them all and they inspire me to keep moving forward. I must get back to my writing now so until next time I will say goodnight!
PS: Dates to Remember
Sept 22nd Word on the Street Festival booth 197
October 6th Chapters John and Richmond in Toronto (Book launch and Signing)
October 20th Chapters St. Catharines, (Book signing)
I have a shipment that I sent to Coles at 800 Grand Lake Road in Sydney, Nova Scotia. They should arrive the end of this week or beginning of next week.
follow me for updates regarding book 2 @jaxoneffect or @KC_michaels on twitter
Or find my fan page on facebook The Jaxon Effect
Thanks
K.C.
I pulled my title off Smashwords (who distributes to all the other devices) and went KDP exclusive. Holy cow its only been like a week and I have had close to 4000 downloads and around fifty ebook sales. I don't really know what that will equate to in dollars because some of that was under "Free e-book promotion days" where I will earn squat for those downloads. But I don't even care. What's amazing is that there are 4000+ people across the globe who have now heard of K.C. Michaels. Many of whom love The Jaxon Effect. I have amazingly enough gained like sixty twitter followers and at least twenty new fans on my Facebook page in the past couple of days. I have gotten several messages through Facebook, twitter and my website from people who have read my book and are chomping at the bit to read the second installment. I am over the moon.
I now have 19 ratings on Goodreads and five on Amazon and counting. The Jaxon Effect has also been added to over 150 times as a to be read on Goodreads as well. I am still of course hoping to find agent representation so the distribution of my print books can be handled by someone else. For now I will box, ship and drop off copies to retail outlets as necessary. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.
I would also like to say I love every positive message I receive. I read them all and they inspire me to keep moving forward. I must get back to my writing now so until next time I will say goodnight!
PS: Dates to Remember
Sept 22nd Word on the Street Festival booth 197
October 6th Chapters John and Richmond in Toronto (Book launch and Signing)
October 20th Chapters St. Catharines, (Book signing)
I have a shipment that I sent to Coles at 800 Grand Lake Road in Sydney, Nova Scotia. They should arrive the end of this week or beginning of next week.
follow me for updates regarding book 2 @jaxoneffect or @KC_michaels on twitter
Or find my fan page on facebook The Jaxon Effect
Thanks
K.C.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Its been a while
It's been another while since I blogged. Life just zips on by and before I know it I am down for the count. A couple of weeks ago I went to NYC and wrote 5 chapters in one weekend. It was amazing. I need to go back again. I was so focused it was scary.
Today I am officially on consignment at my local Chapters store. Its located in St. Catharines Ontario and I will be doing a book signing on October 20th from 1-5pm. October 6th I will be at the Toronto Chapters for a signing as well from 1-5pm at the John and Richmond location. September 22nd I will be at Word on the Street in Toronto. Lots of amazing thing happening and the reviews for my book have been wonderful!
Today I am officially on consignment at my local Chapters store. Its located in St. Catharines Ontario and I will be doing a book signing on October 20th from 1-5pm. October 6th I will be at the Toronto Chapters for a signing as well from 1-5pm at the John and Richmond location. September 22nd I will be at Word on the Street in Toronto. Lots of amazing thing happening and the reviews for my book have been wonderful!
Friday, August 16, 2013
This is so much work
I thought writing the book was work. Holy cow promoting it and publishing it and then republishing it is work too. So of course now that my husband has seen a finished product he has decided to help me. I love the help I really do but it would have made my life easier if he would have been the research guru that he his now months ago. There are a few more new things he has learned and shared with me. For instance that free isbn number that CreateSpace gave me. I should not have taken it. I should have just gotten my own because now I have to retire my CreateSpace isbn and upload a whole new file and cover image and start from scratch in order to change my isbn. There was an article that suggested I drop my CS isbn and replace it with my own isbn and then I can print on demand through Create Space for online retailers and I can use Lightening for bookstore orders. I am sharing this information because I'm hoping my mistakes and trials and success will help someone else at some point.
So in a nutshell if you want to offer print on demand books and your goal is to see in bookstores you need your own ISBN.You are better off at Lightening. If you want to focus on online sales then the best place to be is Create Space but I would suggest getting your own number so if you want to do both you can. More than one ISBN is not a good idea because best seller lists are based on isbn tracking. Clear as mud?
So in a nutshell if you want to offer print on demand books and your goal is to see in bookstores you need your own ISBN.You are better off at Lightening. If you want to focus on online sales then the best place to be is Create Space but I would suggest getting your own number so if you want to do both you can. More than one ISBN is not a good idea because best seller lists are based on isbn tracking. Clear as mud?
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Marketing! Marketing! Marketing!
Exciting things are happening. I printed off a list of local bookstores under the Chapters/Indigo umbrella and made a couple of phone calls. It seems most managers have taken vacation this week so I do have to call a few back but I did have success with a chapters store who has agreed to carry my book on a 30 day consignment trial and another store requested I email my book's information as they do have space available. Only one loaction (a small coles store) said it was more bother than it was worth to set up an indi author so I wrote her a two page letter begging her to reconsider. Will see how that pans out. There are fifty stores within a two hour drive from me and my goal is to get in all of them over the next twelve months. I am not above begging.
I sold an ebook on Amazon.es which is Spain. Totally cool!
We managed to book a booth at Word on the street, which is a huge book festival in Toronto where there will be over 250,000 readers on site looking for their next great read. I am completely pumped and we contacted create space to speed up my re-edit which is scheduled for proofing on the 23rd but today they said they will prioritize and will have it ready by the 16th so we will have our order in on time for the festival. It takes around 11-14 days from ordering to actually receive the books. Expediting shipping is too pricey. Especially since I have already paid for 100 copies that I am selling at a discount due to editing errors. My fault not CreateSpace.
One other thing I wanted to mention that I noticed today was that although you may get a printing package a little cheaper than what CreateSpace will do it for The cost per book is a much better price at CreateSpace. Based on the printing costs being relatively reasonable I do not have to price gouge to make a buck. Sometimes once the vendors take a cut there isn't much left. I was on an indi site where the printing costs to do my book to exact specifications was literally double the price. Based on that the minimum list price was almost thirty dollars because they take a little bit on top of that printing cost as well. My online price(because I don't cover shipping costs) is $13.95 and I am pretty sure my vendor list price will be around $14.95.
So things are continuing to move forward. My average rating on Goodreads is 4.25 and I am thrilled!
I almost forgot there is a book trailer in the works too.
.
Till next time <3
KC
I sold an ebook on Amazon.es which is Spain. Totally cool!
We managed to book a booth at Word on the street, which is a huge book festival in Toronto where there will be over 250,000 readers on site looking for their next great read. I am completely pumped and we contacted create space to speed up my re-edit which is scheduled for proofing on the 23rd but today they said they will prioritize and will have it ready by the 16th so we will have our order in on time for the festival. It takes around 11-14 days from ordering to actually receive the books. Expediting shipping is too pricey. Especially since I have already paid for 100 copies that I am selling at a discount due to editing errors. My fault not CreateSpace.
One other thing I wanted to mention that I noticed today was that although you may get a printing package a little cheaper than what CreateSpace will do it for The cost per book is a much better price at CreateSpace. Based on the printing costs being relatively reasonable I do not have to price gouge to make a buck. Sometimes once the vendors take a cut there isn't much left. I was on an indi site where the printing costs to do my book to exact specifications was literally double the price. Based on that the minimum list price was almost thirty dollars because they take a little bit on top of that printing cost as well. My online price(because I don't cover shipping costs) is $13.95 and I am pretty sure my vendor list price will be around $14.95.
So things are continuing to move forward. My average rating on Goodreads is 4.25 and I am thrilled!
I almost forgot there is a book trailer in the works too.
.
Till next time <3
KC
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