Writing is certainly the fun part.

Once your novel is about to be published, there is so much more you need to do.; especially if its your first. Social networking is obviously the big thing. I just got on Twitter. I just need followers.

I had business cards made up to pass out to anyone interested. I’ll be setting up GoogleAds and pay per click ads on Facebook. Medallion will be fronting some money for ad space on a few websites, so that’s good.

I got my website and this here blog, which I don’t post as much as I should. It seems useless at times, seeing as I don’t have a fan base, but if one happens to show up at my doorstep, I’ll have this online presence, otherwise it would be difficult to put one together at a moments notice.

The one thing I romanticized about isn’t going to happen. I’m being published as an ebook, so there won’t be any book signings. Maybe if UNHINGED sells enough, they might want to print it, but otherwise, I’ll have to wait for my second book to come out.

So, no one’s knocking down my door for an interview and I’m not making any bookstore appearances. In the middle of all this self-promotion, real job, and balancing my personal life, I need to find time to write because that’s the enjoyable part of the entire process.

I have to admit, the marketing portion has been a great experience so far; fun in a way. I have to hope for a favorable response and word of mouth. That’s what its all about, isn’t it? A good product will be recommended to friends.

So, fellow aspiring novelists, prepare thyselves for uncharted territory. Your job has yet to begin.

My First Review

I will not use this forum to advertise my reviews (at least not individually), but I recently got my first on UNHINGED from www.singletitles.com. I figured reviews to be part of the normal publishing process and expected to get them at some point, but it's more exciting that I imagined (because it was a great review, obviously).

The person who gave me 4.5 stars out of 5 is named Candy and that's all I know about her. Someone who wasn't my friend or family or part of Medallion Publishing actually read it and liked it. It's affirmation that I really didn't think I needed, but appreciate nonetheless. I can proudly point it out to everyone on Facebook and send the link to my family. This website I've never heard of before has made this real for me, almost like a slap to my face.

Sure, this "first" will be one of many in the process. There will be my first interview, my first reading, the first novel purchased, etc. If this is any indication of things to come, I know I'll value every aspect of the journey. That's the reason I'm keeping this blog after all. One day I might have fans, some aspiring writers, that find this blog and think its cool to look back to the beginnings when I was struggling to have my work read. As insignificant as all this is in relationship to well-established, proven authors, the first good review they ever got probably brings a smile to their faces also.

If interested, check it out. Again, www.singletitles.com and search for Unhinged.

The cover of UNHINGED

Medallion Press just posted the cover they created for Unhinged, my detective thriller ebook coming out in May. I think it's pretty sweet.

Now the clock is really ticking. I'm trying to get all of my marketing ducks in a row; advertising, Facebook, the website, business cards and anything else that goes along with it.

I'm still trying to land an agent and kind of tapered off on going straight to publishers, so for all I know, this could be my one and only shot. If this thing gets going and word of mouth spreads, I think it will easier to convince an agent to take my work seriously.

I still have the Katrina project going and is coming out fantastic. I will surely blog on what my potential agent has to say about it.

In the meantime, I've got lots of creative marketing to do!

My First Published Novel Drawing Near

I recently received my edited manuscript from Medallion Press to accept or decline changes. For the most part, I trust the editing and they did a lot of polishing - about 8000 words worth. Some of it was large chunks of sex and other things not pertaining to the story, but what I still considered an entertaining part of the read.

Oh, well. I'm not going to argue fluff right now. I have visions of this ebook taking off by word of mouth and eventually, at some point, if I want extraneous information to remain in my manuscript because I think its interesting or fun, I'll fight for it. It's funny how many avid readers don't have the problems that real editors do with content.

Anyway, I'm happy to have changed what they wanted because they were right in most cases and I've learned a lot about excessive words, repeating words, and point of view. Writing this next book, I can see so many of these mistakes and am able to correct them now. This is the Katrina book I blogged about earlier. I have lots of new on that, which I will post soon.

It's Christmas Eve and busy. I'm editing UNHINGED, I'm writing TOXIC CITY, I'm wrapping gifts and reading numerous hard covers for a contest I agreed to judge for 'Best New Hardcover' for the International Thriller Writers. It's a fun, busy time.

To all my fans (ha ha) have a great (insert religious holiday belief)!

Ahead of publishing schedule!

I just received word from Medallion Press that my ebook pub date is being moved up to May 2011 instead of December 2011. That means I have less than a year to market and promote UNHINGED into being the most downloaded ebook ever!

Is it wrong to dream?

Writers use their imagination, so I can easily fantasize about word of mouth and the demand being so high for UNHINGED that it eventually goes to print and then becomes a movie. It reads as a movie.

In case you don’t know what UNHINGED is about, it’s about a New Orleans detective chasing down a serial killer that is murdering women from his past. One twist is that they find out who the killer is rather early and the other twist is that FBI is sabotaging the investigation because they don’t want this killer to be caught.

Anyway, the plans for its release has now changed and I have to get a move on. First thing? By an ebook reader.