A Public Service Announcement

So, like I said there have been more than 30 kindle copies of "Moonlight & Stained Glass" have been sold by Amazon.com.

There have even been copies sold in the UK and Germany, 3 each.

Now, there have been a total of 2 copies returned. Perhaps they were accidental purchases. This is actually what I'm hoping is the case, because if these people bought the book and read it and then returned it that's kinda sad. Here's why:

When a book is published using KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) the person publishing the book - author or publisher - has two available selections for royalties, 30% or 70% royalties. If the book is published with a 70% royalty rate, the minimum price that KDP will allow you to set the book for is $2.99 (in US currency, not sure what that translates to for their other markets) and the kindle version can be bought via print-match (if you purchased a paperback through Amazon) at a reduced price of $1.99, $0.99, or FREE. If the book is published with the 30% royalty rate, the minimum price the book can be listed for is $0.99 and the only available print-match option is FREE.

Now here's the thing, I don't particularly care about the money. If I did, I would have picked the 70% royalty option. I don't care mostly because I know I'll never be able to make a living off of it. However, even with the 30+ copies that have been sold, that means the royalties I will receive are equal to approximately $10.00 (yep, ten whopping US dollars). Not much, and that's okay. I figure that whatever I make from these books I'll either donate to a charity or two that I really care strongly about, or it'll be rainy day money. I have a two and a half year old son, and I know soon he'll learn how to ask for things. I'm not talking about food or things around the house. I'm talking about things that cost money. He'll want to go places, buy souvenirs, and make memories. If I can save the money I make from my books, then someday that'll most likely be the money I use for things like fishing trips with him.

So, not just for my sake, I implore you to keep the kindle books you purchase on Amazon unless it was an honest mistaken/accidental purchase.

Rolling right along...

At this point I am utterly amazed. Chapter four of "Snowboards & Tuxes" is posted, and more than 30 kindle copies of Moonlight & Stained Glass have been sold. I'm so happy...

By the way, my brain was overworking again last week and even though I'm still working on book two I have already come up with the title for book three. As an added bonus, the first person to guess the general idea of the pairing in book three from the title will win a signed set of all the books as they are completed and published.

The title for book three is "Turquoise & Jade." Let your imaginations run wild... ;)

Sometimes...

I feel evil.

Like when certain things happen in my stories, and I'm just like "Mwahahahahaha!"

Hmmm, but really I don't mean for my characters to get hurt or upset. What happens just happens. For me, it is the natural flow of the story line.

Kind of like the characters themselves. Some people hold fast to the belief that author's write characters in their own image or in the image of a loved one. I disagree with this sometimes. I don't create the characters so much as I...find them. It's like they already existed, and I just happened to think about them and got to know them until I could get into their head. Perhaps, that is why I enjoyed writing fanfiction before I pursued writing original pieces.

For instance, Ewan is most definitely NOT written in my image. I'm short, curvy, and most definitely NOT a snowboarder or skier. Thus, I find I am having somewhat of a hard time figuring out how he will act or react to certain occurrences. I do plan to rectify one thing though, as I am planning a skiing/snowboarding trip with my best friend/sister. ^_^ We also will be eating at Eske's which is mentioned in the story. It is a real pub & grill which I fell head over heels in love with when I ate there for St. Patrick's day last year.

Forgive my rambling. I really wanted to let you all know that I'm going to be working on the character profiles, and I plan to include as many extras as possible so keep an eye out for interesting tidbits about your favorite characters.

Stupid...interwebz

Some days I really despise technology. Today is one of those days. Damn internet, browser, webpage, etc. whatever's fault it was for posting my last blog post half a gillion times. -_-

...Did I Really Do This...?

Did I really just publish a full-length novel?

Yes. Yes, I did. After 22 years of life on this planet, I finally accomplished something with this brain of mine. Wow.

I don't really know what to think right now.

Three months of writing, one of review and revision, and one spur of the moment decision to reach for the stars...and here I am. A (self)published author.

Am I afraid to catch flak like so many other self-published authors do? OF COURSE! Jeez, I'm confident not cocky. I'm scared to death that the overwhelming consensus from the public will be that I should never put pen to paper...er keyboard to screen(?) ever again. Now don't get me wrong. I can handle a bad review. As a matter of fact I WANT at least one bad review.

Why? Because I know I've done my job as a writer. Not every reader will love every story they read. We all have our preferred genre and niche and so on. I don't trust books that lack negative reviews, because to me it screams that the reviewers were hand-picked by the author or publisher.

Could I say that I feel a little less sane as of clicking "save & publish" and still have my readers love me?

Btw, I love you all and really truly don't think I could have done this without you.

Sumanagun!

I finally got to the doctor... I'm going to have tests done to determine if it really is carpal tunnel or something else. After that, treatment will be discussed and hopefully I can go back to my regularly scheduled programming. *chuckle*

CHAPTER 2 OF SNOWBOARDS & TUXES IS FINALLY UP!!!

Seriously though, not writing for the past couple of weeks has sucked. -_-

If any of my readers are reading this, please don't be shy! Email me, message me on fb, or get in touch with me on the AFF forums. I love to hear from you. ^_^