That book! Part 4

I know what you’re thinking. She has to be done, right?

Nope. The next part in my spare time is going back to writing the second book. I want the release to be close to the first, maybe even the preorder to start with the release of the first. That means I need to write fast.

And….I need another cover. I have chosen my title: Some Late Visitor. I am anxious to get with my cover designer to choose the image. I hope to again use the raven as part of my design.

I already have an idea for my third novel in the series, so I also will start taking notes and maybe write out the first scenes. I want the relationship to move along as well, so I will have to consider what situations to put my characters in to force them to interact on a more personal level.

And then I get to wait a little more.

But, check out the process so far!!
Here's the link for the first book: https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Dreary-Mystery-Rachael-Rawlings-ebook/dp/B079NTWX2S/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1518369720&sr=1-3&keywords=rachael+rawlings

still publishing that book, part 3

You thought we were done, right? Wrong!

So now I have my website up to date. http://rachaelrawlings.wixsite.com/rachael-rawlings

I have added the preorder, the lovely cover, and the blurb. I have a means to sign up for the newsletter to keep my readers updated too.

Newsletter, you say? You didn’t know I had that too!?

Many authors use a newsletter to send out chances to win books, to keep readers informed, to share favorite authors, and to ask opinions about future work. I’ve got some awesome people on my newsletter, and always enjoy hearing from my readers. So naturally, I want to give my newsletter folks the good news about my newest publication. Some have helped me with the writing and plotting along the way. Others will write reviews for me, which is awesome!

Reviews, you say?

Here’s the honest truth. Amazon loves reviews. We authors like them, but Amazon loves them. And if we get enough reviews, then Amazon will actually boost our books, showing it to new audiences, finding us new readers! Great, right? So here’s a favor I’ll ask. If you have read a book, any book, that you like, write a quick review on Amazon. It doesn’t have to be more than one line, but it will make the author super happy!!

And now that I have my newsletter updated, I can go back to writing, right?

Um, no. I still have to put some new updates on my author Facebook page, tweet a little (which I am terrible at) maybe do an Instagram, and Pinterest. I don’t do these a lot, but I want to show off my cover, so I’ll add that on my to-do list.

And then I wait a little more.

Publishing my novel, Part 2

My novel, Midnight Dreary: A Raven Mystery, is now available for pre-order, but it’s still going through growing pains. While I have the cover designed, I need to let my cover designer know how many pages it will be to size it for print. I must wait for the formatting in order to give her those numbers. Much of publishing is a waiting game at times, but my folks are all great to work with!

While I am working on the final files, I also needed to write out my dedication, acknowledgements, and biographical information. Those were easy. I have to thank the people who helped bring the book into reality and helped me refine and correct it. My dedication was a little more personal. I recently lost my father-in-law, a wonderful man who was an important influence in our lives. I dedicated the book to him. I will always miss him.

Then came the dreaded blurb. Ask any author, and their most dreaded task is writing a blurb. You want to give the reader enough to make them intrigued by the book, but not enough to give away the mystery of it. You want to bring them into the story. You want them to read your book. It is a surprisingly tiring task.

Once my draft for my blurb was written, I posted it to an author Facebook group for feedback. This is something I have learned as I go along. Never write a blurb without help. It will be terrible.

This too needs to be sent to my wonderful cover artist to add to the back of the cover. It also needs to go up on Amazon for my pre-order. And then I’ll need to update my website too. Sigh.