Details coming soon!!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Avoid the Formatting Nightmare
In my opinion, one of the worst things about being self-published is formatting! FORMATTING!
Luckily, this time around with my second novel I am a bit more prepared and I do dare say I have nothing to worry about. BUT (yes that's a big butt) It isn't my awesomeness that will make this formatting journey better. It is simply one thing...or should I say one person and his Super Hero formatting powers...
DEREK J CANYON
I kid you not people, the guy is awesomeness! Without his book Format Your eBook for Kindle in One Hour - A Step-by-Step Guide I would most likely still be trying to format Released for Kindle, no joke. He was even nice enough to quickly answer any questions that I had, which I really appreciated because with the publication of my first novel I was a nervous wreck.
I, of course, am using the guide to format Savor which will be available September 1, 2011.
I urge you all to avoid the screaming, tantrums, nightmares and hair pulling and get yourself a copy of this book! I promise you its a godsend and Derek is an angel!
I, of course, am using the guide to format Savor which will be available September 1, 2011.
I urge you all to avoid the screaming, tantrums, nightmares and hair pulling and get yourself a copy of this book! I promise you its a godsend and Derek is an angel!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Foreign Rights 101
After receiving an email last night from a Turkish Literary Agency regarding Released, I headed over to the Kindle Boards for some much needed advice. Selling the rights to your book to another country is a big deal, so naturally I grew skeptic, but a very well informed author put it very simple terms that I wanted to share with you all.
Book rights are specific to territories. Usually that equates to countries - so Italian rights would be rights to publish the book in Italy - but sometimes it combines several countries - such as German rights for Germany and Switzerland (where they have a lot of German speaking citizens.).
Each time you sell rights to a territory, you are giving the publish in question the exclusive rights to publish your book in that language in that territory.
Rights are specific to type of publication as well. So I could sell hardcover rights to one publisher and mass market paperback rights to another. Or ebook rights but retain print rights. And so on.
Foreign agents take between 10-15% of the deal, both advance and future royalties. This is standard. If you are also working with a US agent, you pay their fee as well. So if I have a US agent who takes a 15% cut, and they work through an agent in Russia, for instance, who takes a 10%, I am actually giving up a 25% cut of my deal to the agencies in question. In return, they handle all of the negotiation and contracts, accept payment on my behalf, convert that payment to the currency I've agreed to be paid in, and send that to me.
Foreign rights deals tend to be lower than US rights deals. The same book that might sell for 15K advance in the US might get a 5K advance in France or Germany or Japan. It might also get a $500 advance in places like Hungary and Poland.
The nice part about foreign rights deals is that they are essentially free money - you've already written the book, so there isn't any more work involved. You are essentially getting paid a second time for the work you have already done in writing the book. Multiply that by ten or fifteen countries and you can easily see why rights deals are so useful to an author.
Once you agree to work with an agency, you cannot work with anyone else in that territory until the contract has expired. (So you can't have two different Russian agents, for instance.)
Foreign agents will often use the net to find works they think they might be interested in, ask if you control the rights, and only THEN decide if they want to represent your work. They don't want to spend the time reading hundreds of books for which the rights have already been sold. Once they know the rights are available, they will request a hardcopy or digital copy. They will read the book and then offer a representation deal if they like it. Only then will they start submitting the book to publishers in their territory, trying to secure you a deal.
Each time you sell rights to a territory, you are giving the publish in question the exclusive rights to publish your book in that language in that territory.
Rights are specific to type of publication as well. So I could sell hardcover rights to one publisher and mass market paperback rights to another. Or ebook rights but retain print rights. And so on.
Foreign agents take between 10-15% of the deal, both advance and future royalties. This is standard. If you are also working with a US agent, you pay their fee as well. So if I have a US agent who takes a 15% cut, and they work through an agent in Russia, for instance, who takes a 10%, I am actually giving up a 25% cut of my deal to the agencies in question. In return, they handle all of the negotiation and contracts, accept payment on my behalf, convert that payment to the currency I've agreed to be paid in, and send that to me.
Foreign rights deals tend to be lower than US rights deals. The same book that might sell for 15K advance in the US might get a 5K advance in France or Germany or Japan. It might also get a $500 advance in places like Hungary and Poland.
The nice part about foreign rights deals is that they are essentially free money - you've already written the book, so there isn't any more work involved. You are essentially getting paid a second time for the work you have already done in writing the book. Multiply that by ten or fifteen countries and you can easily see why rights deals are so useful to an author.
Once you agree to work with an agency, you cannot work with anyone else in that territory until the contract has expired. (So you can't have two different Russian agents, for instance.)
Foreign agents will often use the net to find works they think they might be interested in, ask if you control the rights, and only THEN decide if they want to represent your work. They don't want to spend the time reading hundreds of books for which the rights have already been sold. Once they know the rights are available, they will request a hardcopy or digital copy. They will read the book and then offer a representation deal if they like it. Only then will they start submitting the book to publishers in their territory, trying to secure you a deal.
There is an ongoing thread regarding this topic in the Writer's Cafe of Kindle Boards, so hop on over if you want more up-to-date information or if you have additional questions.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Series I want to read...
I have been badly wanting to read this series and it is next on my TBR list, so you should add it to yours and read them. Plus the covers are awesome!!! The author is Sarra Cannon and you can check out her blog here at http://www.sarracannon.com/
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Interesting Book of the Day
I came across this book as I was being sneaky at work and clicking through the Goodreads website. (shh.. don't tell my boss!)
The cover and title made me giggle and I just had to spread the word! It is called Fat Vampire: A Never Coming of Age Story. The book is currently listed in a giveaway in Goodreads. Click this link to enter to win!
I am starting to really like finding interesting books, so I may make this a weekly thing! :o)
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Great Things To Come!
As I am sure many of you know I have finished writing Savor, book #1 in the Warm Delicacy Series!
Cheering and happy dancing may commence... I'll wait. :o)
Need to catch your breath from all the excitement? Me too!
Ok, now to move on to more great things! I have decided on what I will do for the giveaway and its going to be awesome. I won't give away what the prizes are just yet, but I think they are terrific! (Yes I used terrific - I'm bringing it back don't judge me!) I can reveal that the grand prize is more than just stuff you will get shipped to you in the mail. ;-)
I will be doing a blog tour and this weekend I am sending out requests to all my favorite bloggers to see who is interested so that I can get the ball rolling.
::shameless plug:: If you are a blogger and want to be part of the release celebration and giveaway for Savor, just shoot me an email! The more the merrier! :o)
My ultimate goal is to have Savor available for purchase by September 1st, with the blog tour and multiple giveaways spanning the entire month. I also want to do something big for the 30th cause it's my birthday! I'm thinking a prize pack for a lucky winner!
I have heard from several people who are dying to read Savor, and for those marvelous fans I am going to be posting not just the first chapter of Savor, but the first TWO!!! Yes!! Because I love you all so very much I am going to post more than the usual first chapter! Stay tuned as I hope to have it up an available to you all soon.
Then...drumroll....
I hope to have book #2 Indulge, available by the end of November.
Can I do it??
Wish me luck!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Giveaway Brainstorming!
I have been thinking and thinking about what kind of giveaway I am going to do for the release of Savor. I know I want to give away some awesome prizes and I thinking I also want to try my hand at a blog tour which I have never done and know very little about.
I am hoping that I can pick all your brains or beg for any tips you can give me from what you have learned during giveaways you have done or blog tours you have participated in. Anything you can tell me will be greatly appreciated.
Now to the fun part. For every blog that participates in the release of Savor I want to do a giveaway, but I haven't decided what I want to giveaway other than a free ebook copy of Savor. I would like to have a full range of possible prizes; i.e. signed paperbacks, ebooks, kindle skins, bookmarks, etc. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions for what they would like to see in a giveaway?
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Indie Recommends
It's almost the weekend!! I thought it would be fun to recommend some great indie books to you all for a fun weekend read! Take a look and grab yourself a copy!! Both YA and Adult.
Authors listed are available through the following blogs. Drop by their site and say Hello!
Megg Jensen - Author of Anathema
Karly Kirkpatrick - Author of Into the Shadows
Penelope Fletcher - Author of Demon Girl
Angeline Kace - Author of Descended by Blood
Katie Salidas - Author or Immortalis Carpe Noctem
Authors listed are available through the following blogs. Drop by their site and say Hello!
Megg Jensen - Author of Anathema
Karly Kirkpatrick - Author of Into the Shadows
Penelope Fletcher - Author of Demon Girl
Angeline Kace - Author of Descended by Blood
Katie Salidas - Author or Immortalis Carpe Noctem
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Help name a character in Savor!
I am finishing writing the last pages of Savor and am becoming stumped on a character name.
Throughout the story he has remained a mystery and at the end of the book he is revealed. Originally I wanted to name him Stefan, but I don't love it as much as I did when I started writing Savor.
I am asking the help of anyone who may have some ideas. I don't want anything that is used popularly today and am looking for something historic and sounds a little exotic perhaps. If you have any ideas I would love to hear them. Here is a picture of what I envision the character to look like.
He is a very mysterious character with a bit of an arrogance to him, but secretly has a heart of gold that he doesn't like to so show. Honor and duty are incredibly important to him.
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