Launch day for Castles on the Sand

Many of you will remember me advertising my Kickstarter campaign to get a Kirkus Review for my novel, Castles on the Sand. That campaign was ultimately successful, and Kirkus dubbed the novel: "A fast-paced blend of high-stakes drama and average teenage concerns (sex, appearance, friends), capped with a welcome message of hope."

You may also remember my post on how to make a book trailer, in which I showed the trailer for the book: 

Today, the book was released on Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and Smashwords, and I shall update my little section of the righthand sidebar accordingly!

Kickstarter campaign underway for the next E.M. Tippetts novel

As many of you know, I've got two writing careers. I've gone the traditional route as a science fiction and fantasy author and sell short stories to magazines, sub novels to agents and editors, and have been working on that for over a decade. Then last year I watched the indie movement get underway and really wanted to jump in an join the fun. So I revived my old chick lit pen name, E.M. Tippetts, and indie published two novels.

The rest, as they say, is history. Fans have been so incredibly supportive and I make a very respectable supplementary income from my novels. Now I'm in the final edits of my next project, and I'm turning again to my fans for some support. I would really like to get a Kirkus Indie review for this next project, so I've launched a Kickstarter campaign to cover the cost.

For those of you who don't know Kickstarter, it is a fantastic resource for independent artists of all stripes. This'll be my first campaign, but not the last, I hope!

 

Secrets

An aspiring writer asked a publisher “What’s the secret to getting published?”
The publisher said, “You won’t believe this, but you just need to show up.”

Huh?

Show Up – as in:

• Write consistently.
• Show up to writing classes, conventions and seminars, etc.
• Improve your writing to a professional level, and then keep improving.
• Query and submit until you get picked up - even if it’s years.
• Keep your deadlines.
• Be reliable.

Also, Be a Finisher.

• Finish that scene you’re avoiding.
• Finish the manuscript.
• Go back and revise. Take the steps necessary - which requires time and a lot of effort - to make your book shine.
• Send it out.

Now a few words on The ‘Why’ of Writing:

Recently I listened to Christopher Loke, editor of Jollyfish Press, speak. The first question he asked was, “Why do you write?” Everyone in the room grew quiet, and you could hear their mental wheels spinning. Before anyone answered, he said, “Please don’t say you write because you love it.”

I’m glad I wasn’t the only one there who looked shocked. Seriously? Don’t we spend the countless hours scribbling on any writeable surface, pounding our keyboards, and thinking through plotlines, because we love it?

I can’t quote his words exactly, but this is the gist of what he said next:

“I hope you write because you’re envisioning your story on a shelf in a bookstore one day. I hope you write because you want lots of people to read your stories. I’m a business man. I don’t want a writer who is just happy writing. I want and need someone who’ll bring me business, keep bringing me business, and keep my company healthy and successful. I really hope you see it as a job.”

Okay. That makes sense. They don't want someone who 'plays' at being a writer. They want people who show up and finish their stories.

I don't know about you, but I'd definitely love to see my book in print in a real bookstore. Sure, seeing writing as a job may take the glamour out of it, but who doesn't envision that glorious finish line: their own sweat-and-blood book in a Barnes and Noble?

I guess if we truly love writing, we’ll be willing to take the steps necessary to get our stories there.

So to close, I’ll be brief.

• Show up.
• Be a finisher.
• Aim high.

And then not only you, but your publisher and all your readers will love it.