It's not easy to go in search of someone to make pictures of your words. I can search for what I want, but somehow I just get an idea in my head and it doesn't always happen to be among the stock images.
I'm never sure if I can afford an artist, but I am on the lookout for places to see who is out there. Who wants to do erotic images (or at least, images for erotica ebook covers)? Those two do not have to be the same thing.
When I look at ebooks, there are a lot of covers that show skin or some barely-there outfit that will (hopefully) interest the reader. Sometimes the cover does not match with my read of the book. I don't find it easy to translate my words into something to match the front.
I suppose I'm lucky I have a good editor to work with already.
So this week is dedicated to finding the requirements for any place where I might publish an ebook, looking for the spots where the artists are congregating, and possibly looking at stock images to see if I can get ideas for the words I've already written.
Plus, I'm going to send the first one to the aforementioned editor and put the finishing touches on it so I'll be ready to go when I get that artist. Oh, the exciting life of a writer!
Showing posts with label ebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ebook. Show all posts
Friday, May 17, 2013
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
A Price to Publish
I know I'm writing to a niche audience. It isn't easy when you want to write erotica. It isn't something you want tattooed on your forehead or proclaimed in block letters on the outside of your home. While it isn't something I hide, it is also something I know most of my neighbors and acquaintances wouldn't understand.
But that's not really the point. Even those friends who read and love what I write can't answer my question about what price to set for my stories. And thanks to this Huffington Post article among others, I know I'm not alone.
At this point, I'm not a big name anywhere. I know people must have run across my work because it's out there. I've been published in a few places. That doesn't mean I have a big audience or following. If I put books or short story collections out there, I am not sure that I will have them snapped up by millions of readers. So goes the doubt of the would-be writer.
Yet there is a price to not publishing, too. Maybe I'm not able to say that a certain number of words is necessary for a $.99, $1.99, or $9.99 ebook, but if these stories just sit in my computer hard drives forever they don't get to do what I'd love them to do most: be read and enjoyed.
I won't stop from my earlier goal to be submitting to magazines. Part of that is getting my name out there and even the token payments remind me to stay on target to write and submit and do everything I can to be published. But what about those great stories I've worked on so long that simply cannot find the right market to be published? Maybe that's the place to start with the ebooks and self-publishing to allow them to find their larger audiences.
Yes, part of this is spawned from my latest rejection letter, which stated that my story was well-written but not what they were looking for. I've given more thought to what they are looking for, and I may try again.
Until then, it's good to get a good feel for what I've written and how the short stories might fit into collections and how many novellas I've got ready to go. This is the time to get out there and find my spot. Encouragement is appreciated.
But that's not really the point. Even those friends who read and love what I write can't answer my question about what price to set for my stories. And thanks to this Huffington Post article among others, I know I'm not alone.
At this point, I'm not a big name anywhere. I know people must have run across my work because it's out there. I've been published in a few places. That doesn't mean I have a big audience or following. If I put books or short story collections out there, I am not sure that I will have them snapped up by millions of readers. So goes the doubt of the would-be writer.
Yet there is a price to not publishing, too. Maybe I'm not able to say that a certain number of words is necessary for a $.99, $1.99, or $9.99 ebook, but if these stories just sit in my computer hard drives forever they don't get to do what I'd love them to do most: be read and enjoyed.
I won't stop from my earlier goal to be submitting to magazines. Part of that is getting my name out there and even the token payments remind me to stay on target to write and submit and do everything I can to be published. But what about those great stories I've worked on so long that simply cannot find the right market to be published? Maybe that's the place to start with the ebooks and self-publishing to allow them to find their larger audiences.
Yes, part of this is spawned from my latest rejection letter, which stated that my story was well-written but not what they were looking for. I've given more thought to what they are looking for, and I may try again.
Until then, it's good to get a good feel for what I've written and how the short stories might fit into collections and how many novellas I've got ready to go. This is the time to get out there and find my spot. Encouragement is appreciated.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Progress on Goals
I have one or two chapters left in my novel. Finally this project is nearing a close. I've passed 81,000 words today, which feels like an accomplishment in itself, despite the need to restructure the beginning. I do have ideas on how to do that, so no complaints. It's interesting that I'll finally complete this novel after almost a year and a half working on it. That isn't long in terms of a usual novel, but it feels like a long time.
I'm sure it would have been finished sooner if I hadn't kept putting it to the side for all the pieces that were difficult to write, or for the times when I didn't feel up to writing this particular project at the time. Writing is often a personal venture, and almost always solitary.
I'm often ambivalent about this novel project. I plan to publish it, especially after the amount of work that went into it, but the big question is always how. It isn't ready for that stage yet, but it's in the back of my mind often. I know I have some major edits, but after that - traditional publisher or self-publisher? Agent or not? E-book or paper? Who's my target audience? (Okay, I actually have a pretty good idea on that one.) How much time and effort will I spend promoting and marketing this novel? How large is the market I'm focusing on? So many questions, so much time left to put into the manuscript before it's ready to go...
To the other goal, I did send out a submission this month - other than the botched story from the last post. So, there is progress and it's in the direction I want to go.
I'm sure it would have been finished sooner if I hadn't kept putting it to the side for all the pieces that were difficult to write, or for the times when I didn't feel up to writing this particular project at the time. Writing is often a personal venture, and almost always solitary.
I'm often ambivalent about this novel project. I plan to publish it, especially after the amount of work that went into it, but the big question is always how. It isn't ready for that stage yet, but it's in the back of my mind often. I know I have some major edits, but after that - traditional publisher or self-publisher? Agent or not? E-book or paper? Who's my target audience? (Okay, I actually have a pretty good idea on that one.) How much time and effort will I spend promoting and marketing this novel? How large is the market I'm focusing on? So many questions, so much time left to put into the manuscript before it's ready to go...
To the other goal, I did send out a submission this month - other than the botched story from the last post. So, there is progress and it's in the direction I want to go.
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