Monday, February 16, 2015

Still waiting

I'm still here! I've been having very frustrating computer issues which have been slowing down my rate of work. After almost five years of flawless behaviour my laptop is showing signs of age and running soooooo slooooooow. I've tried a few things that seem to have helped a bit but I have to face that I'm going to have to take it to be checked over. That's a pain since without my laptop I can't get any work done but it's so slow something that should take me five minutes can take 30, so something must be done.

That's my current peeve, feel much better for having a mini rant about it, thanks for reading :) As to other news, well I've started the author page and linked it to Twitter. Now I know that's very lazy of me and I won't keep it that way - I'll start putting things on twitter separately to those that go on Facebook. For now at least I'm more active on Twitter.

Here's the link to the author page, go take a look and 'like' it :) I'll be doing more interactive things as I go along. Once a week I'm featuring a selected author. It will be someone I like - sometimes well known, sometimes an indie author. I'll also have a gratitude day where you can leave comments on what makes you grateful. I know other pages do the same but I've found it's a very good exercise to sit and think about things you are grateful for. I believe it helps to retrain the mind to think more positively so I'll be doing it too.

Oh yes, the link:

Sheryl Lee

Hope that worked.

Other news, let me think. Oh yes, I've changed the title of Blank Canvas to Living a Lie. It's surprising what a difference a title and/or cover change can make. We all choose a book by the title and cover. We may not subsequently buy it, but it's the appearance of the cover that first attracts us to pick up (or click onto) the book. Since my publisher made the changes I've noticed my sales rankings on Amazon have risen quite a bit. It's selling - probably not a lot but it's selling and that's a good thing. Here's the link for the improved title too :)

http://www.amazon.com/Living-Lie-Sheryl-Lee-ebook/dp/B00KE7URKM

The publisher changed the blurb a bit, which was a good idea. I was so focused on the difficulties faced by the main character over her memory loss that I didn't even think to add into the blurb the problems that created in her marriage. Not that the publisher added anything about that either, he added a bit from the epilogue which I like. It was those changes he made that got me thinking about the blurb and what I should have put - her relationship with her husband. This woman had to live with a husband she didn't recognise which was very hard for both of them. And then when her memory returned, along with a repressed memory, she had so many other issues to deal with that her relationship with her husband suffered. The book is as much about the path they took to find each other again as it is about the fallout from her repressed memory.

The blurb is important of course, it's what makes the reader decide to read a sample and ultimately to buy the book. I'm learning, always learning. This writing gig is so much more than just writing books. It's a constant learning curve. I know I'm much better as a writer and also as a self publicist than I was when I started. Like any skill, practice makes better - not perfect  because it can never be perfect - but better.

And the werewolf book? Still haven't heard and that's a positive thing. Most of the agents I submitted to promise to reply in 2 to 4 weeks. A quick rejection means that there's something wrong with your submission - either your writing or your query letter sucks, or they don't want your genre. That was the rejection I got, that agent wasn't accepting my genre so that's ok as it wasn't my writing that sucked.

A longer wait gives the promise that your submission has made it past the initial knee jerk rejection and it may actually be read. Maybe there will be a request for more. Who knows? But no news in a short space of time is good news. So I wait, and I hope, and I plan for self-publishing if I get a slew of rejections. Because even if agents think the paranormal genre is dead you only have to see the number of books of that genre on Amazon to know that it really isn't. People don't stop reading a genre they like just because there has been a glut of books of that type, they are just more discerning with a wider choice.

So I'm planning, I'm writing outlines for three books (the prequel, book 2, and another totally different one that's insisting on being written) and I'm planning to go and see the woman about the shelter book to talk to her about the direction I think it needs to go in. Yes I've just ended a sentence with a preposition - I'm cool with that :)

I will of course let you know when I get a reply on the submission, even if it's all rejections you will know, promise.

Oh, and I know it was yesterday, but happy Valentines Day. Remember there are more types of love than romantic love and you are loved, you are most definitely loved. I hope you took the time to appreciate those who love you, even if romantic love is not a factor this year :)










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