Back to Business

After an extremely busy weekend of work and play (though admittedly, I felt it was more play), it is time to get back down to the daily grind.  Of course, for the self-employed author, the daily grind is actually quite enjoyable, so I’m not complaining.  Still, I’ve kind of been in Self-Congratulatory-Fun mode since Comic Con ended and I need to get back to my Okay-You-Are-Building-Your-Future-You-Need-To-Be-Serious-And-Stay-Focused mode.

And even as I’m writing this, I just took a break to go buy “Cups” on iTune.  Focus, Jackie, focus!

Okay, so what do I need to focus on, exactly?  That’s a good question. The two big ones are

1) My signing at Half-Price Books on June 24.

Originally, I had thought that my signing on June 24 would just be for Boy Band, but Half-Price has since contacted me and asked if I would bring all three books!  Of course, I am more than happy to do so.  I need to get to ordering those books, however.  I also need to restock on all my fun giveaway stuff, like postcards and bookmarks.  Comic Con kind of wiped me clean (which is a good thing!).  But I need to stay on top of all that.

2) Cemetery Tours 3.

As I told everyone at Comic Con, I plan on releasing the third Cemetery Tours late September-early October, just in time for Halloween!  That means I have a LOT of work to do between now and then.  I know where the book is going to go, but I am also going back and re-writing and thanks to events and a lot of weird life things, I’m afraid I’ve fallen a bit behind.  June is going to be my catch-up month. I do have a teaser board up and going on Pinterest, if you’d like to check it out and see what may or may not be in store for our haunted heroes (OMG that sounded so cheesy… I apologize): https://www.pinterest.com/windtrailpub/teaser-board-cemetery-tours-3/

I’m especially eager to get back to work on my Cemetery Tours series because of all the enthusiastic feedback I’ve gotten from readers, especially those I’ve met at recent book events and fellow authors. Screen Shot 2015-06-03 at 4.21.05 PM Screen Shot 2015-06-03 at 4.21.14 PM Screen Shot 2015-06-03 at 4.20.53 PM

So much love!

I’ve also been playing around with the idea of redesigning the covers to the series.  I love the covers I have now, masterfully created by graphic designer Benjamin Durham, but the thing is, I used ShutterStock images.  After designing the cover to Boy Band, I’m realizing that I think I prefer using my own images.  I don’t have to pay for rights and there’s no limits on how I use that image.  So, that’s something else to think about.  If you have copies of Cemetery Tours and Between Worlds now, congratulations! You might have limited first edition covers!

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Love to all!

Grown Up Stuff

Hi, all.

This has been a very busy week.  House-sitting, regular job, one friend is in the hospital (on the mend, thank goodness), and another friend, I just found out, is going through a divorce… crazy, I tell you!  Life is weird.

With all of this going on, I haven’t had a lot of time to concentrate on either promoting Cemetery Tours, editing the sequel, or writing the new manuscript.  That’s the only problem with being an independent author.  Along with regular life, you have to figure out how to get all of that done too.  What I wouldn’t give for the luxury of being able to just work on my books and focus on writing!  The good news is that it is almost the weekend.  I plan on devoting the next few days to getting the sequel marked up, edited, and printed off again next week so I can start going over it myself and formatting it so I can finally move forward with ISBN and PNC.

That’s not to say I’ve gotten nothing accomplished this week.  I did FINALLY manage to get my two Pinterest accounts Verified!

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Unfortunately, it was simply impossible to verify through my company website, http://www.windtrailpublishing.com , so I added two new blogs to my WordPress account.  I haven’t had time to really spruce them up yet, but once I get them up and running I will let you know.

I am also thrilled to announce that A) Cemetery Tours reached the top 200,000s in Amazon’s Bestselling Paperbacks.

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Cemetery Tours has also reached over 500 likes on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/CemeteryTours

In preparation for the sequel’s release in June, I’ve also set a new goal.  I want Cemetery Tours to have 50 reviews on Amazon by the time the second book is out.  It has 37 reviews right now, so I only need 13 more.  I’m really hoping we can make that happen.  I’ve even started up a Review Party Event that people can RSVP to on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/events/793721513991057/

Anyway, I realize that this post has mostly been me, me, me, but I am super excited about the sequel and future projects.  What are y’all working on right now?

Supporting Indie Authors

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I am an absolute Pinterest addict.  I’m more addicted to it than I ever was to Facebook.  It might actually be something of a problem.  

However, I am trying to use this affliction to better myself, my writing, and my newfound life as an independent author.  For example, several of my boards are actually accumulations of ideas for stories.  For example, I have a “haunting” board.  Guess which book that one’s for?  😉  

Anyway, after all the fun I had meeting other indie authors from all over, I decided to make a Support Indie Authors pin board!!!  

I realize this is not a very enlightening or important post, but I’m really excited about my new board.  

Enjoy!  

Also… HUGE shout outs to Jeanne Marie at http://womenwhothinktoomuch.wordpress.com and momshieb at http://momshieb.wordpress.com, both of whom have purchased Cemetery Tours!  Thank you both so, so much!