Would You?

Would you continue to write if you knew you would never get published?

This question was asked of me the other day and It made me think. I'm interested to know the opinions of others on this question.

How to conduct yourself as a writer...

This topic came up on a forum I frequent. So, I thought I'd ask the question here.

Do you think it matters as a writer how you conduct yourself both online and with the public in general?

Personally I say yes. If you act like a nasty ass**** it turns me off, not only from you just as a person but also as a writer. I won't be buying your books nor will I be telling anyone else to do so. It may also affect future sales too if your behaviour becomes public knowledge etc...

I may be wrong, but it's how I feel. This has long been a hot topic for me. So again, what's your opinion?

The Details

So, the contracts have been signed and sent back. And I can finally announce the details of my first sale.
My publisher is Evernight Publishing. My historical novella was a bit on the hot side of things and when looking around for whom to submit to, I though long and hard on which one would be right.
Evernight was at the top of my list. They are new, but through the grapevine(yes, we writers talk in pvt)I heard good things. Plus, they do have kick ass covers:)
The edits are coming up soon and I'm nervous. This is all new to me, but it's a learning experience and one that I am looking forward to.
You will also note that I did choose to go with a pen name. See a previous blog post for that topic.
And last but not least, I have my cover. It's awesome and is just what I wanted.

Three Authors Needed for Interview

I'm looking for three authors who write in three different genres. Romance, Horror/thriller, sci-fi/fantasy to participate in a multi author interview on my blog, Write Outside the Box. If interested, PM me.

Thanks~

NOTE: The three slots have been filled. :)

Pen Names, Yes or No?

As you may know, I've recently sold a historical romance novella.
It will be released under a pen name. I decided to use a pen name because I write in three genres and I want to keep each very seperate from the other.
What's your thoughts on pen names? Do you or would you use one?

I Sold It!!

I am very pleased to announce that I have sold my historical romance novella as of today!
Can you say squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! It's certainly a thrill :)
More details will come once the contracts are signed and delivered.

A special thanks goes out to my sweetie(Adam) who has been my main support. I love you lots! And also to Absolutewrite for being one heck of a great place for writers to hang out and learn.

Cheers!

Author Interview: Jamie DeBree

It's with great pleasure that I welcome author, Jamie DeBree to Write Outside The Box. She was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to share with us some details in regards to self publishing. She has successfully done this with her newest novella, 'Tempest'.

R- Can you tell us about your latest release 'Tempest'? What inspired you to write 'Tempest'?

J- Tempest is a novella (30k) that follows Professor Charlotte "Charlie" Reynolds and mystery man Jake Nelson on a fast-paced, steamy romantic adventure through the wilderness. My favorite comment people make about it is that they can’t put it down. Believe it or not, the only "inspiration" I had was that I needed another serial novel idea for the blog, one that would be far better than the first one I attempted. So I sat down one afternoon with Holly Lisle's free "Create-A-Plot" mini-course, and literally developed the characters and plot for Tempest out of...nothing. It was very cool, actually, and I still employ those methods whenever I can't figure out a plot structure.

R- Real self publishing, that which is not with a vanity publisher takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Can you describe the process and what led you to make that choice?

J- With Tempest there wasn't really a choice - because I posted the draft as a serial novel in it's entirety on my blog, most publishers would consider "first rights" used up as far as publication goes. So I knew I'd have to self-publish Tempest if I wanted to put it up for sale, and I'd gotten enough good feedback for it that I decided it was worth the effort. I revised it to make it flow as a novella rather than a serialized story and had a friend edit it for me. I bought professional cover art from another friend and formatted the files for print and ebook. It took me longer to figure out *how* to do most things than it did to actually do them. After that was done, it was just a matter of uploading files here and there, proofreading, and that's pretty much it. The actual process really isn't as hard as you might think, with all the tools, templates, and print-on-demand companies available for low or no-cost. The hardest parts for me are the revisions, and marketing. But I’ll admit, self-publishing Tempest was like getting my first tattoo…I want more. It’s a heady feeling being in complete control of your work all the way through publication. ;-)

R- What are your future writing goals? And what are you currently working on?

J- My ultimate goal is to make enough money to quit my day job and write full-time. I'd prefer to do that with my own self-publishing company, but I'll evaluate opportunities as they come my way. Currently I'm preparing another romantic suspense, Desert Heat, for release in January. It's a full novel-length work in the same basic style as Tempest. I'm also working on a series called The Fantasy Ranch series. I'm drafting the first book, The Biker's Wench as a serial on my blog at the moment, and I'll draft the second book, The Minister's Maid during National Novel Writing Month this year. I have a series of short erotic stories planned and started to publish under a pen name, and I'm plotting a suspense/thriller novel to serialize under another pen name after the first of the year. I like variety, and I think the key to making money as a writer is to write well, and write prolifically. The pen names are just a means of categorizing my work so readers don't get confused.

R- What makes Jamie DeBree, Jamie DeBree? (feel free to plug all your blogs and interests!)

J- Um...let's see. Aside from all the writing, I work full-time as a web developer for local county government. Most recently every second of free time I have is taken up by the huge Halloween party my husband and I hold each year. We have a Scaryview Scrapbook blog for Halloween stuff if you care to take a peek (http://scaryview.blogspot.com). I also love nail art, and do weekly manicures that are posted at Nail Art Tuesday (http://nailarttues.blogspot.com).

I adore my husband and my two dogs, Gabriel (a Doberman/lab mix) and Lucy (a German Shepherd/lab mix), I like to crochet though I haven't in a long time, and I'm quite introverted for as social as I am online. I love social networking, and can normally be found on Twitter, Facebook or both on any given evening. I’m also a night person, and even when I have to get up early (6am) for work, I’m generally up until 1am or so.

I love crime dramas on TV, and have recently discovered Dr. Who - fascinating show. I like to watch the same sort of movies as the genres I read - everything from romantic comedies to action/thrillers to a little horror and everything in between. My tastes are quite eclectic.

R- Last but not least, what advice would you give a fellow writer thinking about going the self publishing route?

J- Don't rush it. Take your time, and make sure that not only is your writing the best it can be, but your presentation (cover art and formatting) are as good as you can make them too. There is, sadly, still a stigma attached to self-publishing, and making your work look as professional as possible goes a long way toward convincing people to take a chance on a self-published book. The quality of your writing is what will bring them back for more.

R- That sounds like great advice to me. And thank you Jamie once again for taking the time to do this interview. It was very informative.

J- Tempest is available on Amazon, Smashwords and most other online retailers in ebook form, and in print on Amazon or directly from my web site. Order links can be found at http://jamiedebree.com/orders.html.

For more information on my current projects and links to my blogs, newsletters and social networks, visit my web site at http://jamiedebree.com.

Thanks so much for having me, Rhaina! It was a fun and thoughtful interview, and I really enjoyed it.

Is this a sign of things to come?

A lot of writers are finding moderate success with self publishing, mainly e books through such venues as CreateSpace, LuLu and a couple others.

Recently on Absolutewrite(the best writers forum), low sales have been discussed in regards to e books with smaller e book publishers. And when I mean low, I mean low. One author openenly cited sixty-nine books in a year, which is rather bad in my opinion. This was with a press who while not at the top of the list, is also not at the bottom.

Novellas in particular can be a hard sell. But my question is, why not publish them on your own? Especially if sales are only reaching double digits in a lengthy period of time.

Now don't get me wrong, I understand that it's a heck of a lot of work. As you can imagine you are responsible for everything including the cover art, editing, formatting etc...

What are your thoughts? Opinion? I'm interested to know.