How to put your book on Amazon – Part 2

Okay, so part 1 of this process can be found over here.

Starting with the last bit of instructions on there, here’s the continuance of getting your book up on Amazon!

1. All right, now you’re at the stage where you have everything you need. For those of you that are eager to roll, get yourself over to Amazon and get started!
2. I kind of jumped the gun on that ‘run over to amazon’ prompt. You are going to have to go to kdp amazon (Kindle Direct Publishing) to get started but it might help you to know what you need to have decided a couple of things before you finish setting everything up.
3. That and you need to have your book formatted and ready to go.  For both my writing and my eBook formatting I use a software called Scrivener. If nothing else, it has a cool name. No really, I love it for my writing. Plus they have a nice 30 day trial and if you decide to buy, it’s only $40. It does a ton of stuff (a lot that I don’t even use) and it will format in all kinds of different file types. For amazon, I have my story (and all it’s accompaniments) compiled into a ‘.mobi’ file. To upload to Amazon you can also use a ‘.pdf’ of your book. I haven’t tried that so I don’t know how that comes out BUT the ‘mobi’ file comes out beautifully. I imagine it will also take ‘ePub’. I can only tell you what I did but I am sure there are many ways to skin this dinosaur.
4. As I mentioned earlier, get yourself over to amazon and log in or sign yourself up. While you’re doing that, you might want to be listening to ShutEmDown by Celldweller, you know some crazy loud music to go along with your crazy loud plan for world domination, one book at a time. Or not. Your choice.
5. Once you’re logged in, you will see, at the top of the page: Bookshelf, Reports, Community and KDP Select.  The bookshelf is where you end up once you’ve logged in too. This is where your list of books will be once you have them in there!
6. At this point, you might find that your brain has grown in proportion to your understanding of this website and you see that you can move along this thing without my help. If so – by all means, carry on quickly and get that book published. If not, I’ll help explain the parts and walk you through the quick version. But that will be another day.

Cheers!

How to put your book on Amazon – Part 1

I imagine there are a zillion places out there (okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little) that will tell you how to put your book on Amazon for some fee or another. The truth is, if you go to Amazon, they walk you through it for the most part and you can actually get through the other side relatively unscathed. Now that’s kind of easy for me to say. For more years than I am willing to share my full time, professional job has been as an administrator. Sometimes it was as a secretary, sometimes an assistant and yet other times running several divisions of a company. Now top that with some back ground in design and I had it “easy”.

That said, I also write a really good “How-to”. I’m going to tell you, in bite size pieces, how to get your book up on Amazon and available for all to purchase. This does not mean anyone will purchase it, I am not teaching marketing right now. But putting it there, yeah, I can do that.

So here are the first very basic steps:

1. Prepare to spend some money. Yes, you can do this on the cheap. And some of you may have people you know to cut out some or a lot of expense but don’t cut yourself short. How much you need depends on a few things. Read the list below and go from there.
2. Write story. (Hard to believe, I know, but extremely important)
3. Get story edited by an editor. I do not mean your mother’s sister’s best friend who loves to read and won the spelling contest of 1984. Unless she’s an editor and then yeah, that’s cool. And that’s all I’m going to say on that.
4. Get the story proofread. Yes, after the editor has their way with you (which if it’s a good editor, it really doesn’t hurt) make sure you get a final proofread.
5. Get a book cover. I was lucky. I could design my own cover. Somebody, somewhere will find fault with it but I love my cover so they can kiss my arse. There are many places online doing book covers, some expensive and some cheap. Make sure you look at the reviews or go by referral or maybe you’re lucky and have a friend who designs.  You’re going to have to do some research and find the right designer for you. Make this happen. Do not let it scare you away. You wrote a friggin novel (or story or whatever the heck you did) and you deserve to share it. Just make sure the cover doesn’t scare people away from it.
6. Go buy an ISBN. International Standard Book Number. You can get them assigned by Amazon or Createspace or from elsewhere else but then someone else owns it and it can be a pain for your future marketing/ownership and well who knows what else.  Just bite the bullet and buy it. (When I last checked they were $125 each or $250 for 10, I bought 10…)
7. There are a few things you need to write in addition to your story, if you want to that is, that you should go ahead and do now: Dedication, About the Author, “Book Blurb” (What does it say ‘on the back of your book’?), Acknowledgments.
8. All right, now you’re at the stage where you have everything you need. I’m going to walk you through the process on Amazon but I have to give my daughter a spelling test so I’ll have to get back to you on that. For those of you that are eager to roll, get yourself over to Amazon and get started!

Coming Soon: The Guardians Book One

It’s coming…and I’m super exited.  It will be available in the next few weeks!!

The Guardians by Lisa Barry

Enjoy reading, get cake!

There’s a definite difference between a book you simply enjoy and a book that somehow talks to you. It wiggles its way into your mind, your heart or maybe even brings out the devil in you. In those cases, you just want more. More adventure, more action, more love or whatever it is that speaks to you.

For example, you read a book and you enjoy it. Maybe you even love it. But did you turn that last page and immediately run to buy the next book in the series or something else the author has written? I mention this because I read a book a few weeks ago, even blogged about it, and I genuinely enjoyed it. I was completely content with the read. I found it to be a page turner and it left me smiling. I did not, however, rush out to grab the next book. I ended up reading a few books by an author I had read before and enjoyed. After a couple of those, I switched gears and went in search of something new. Finding it, I tackled it and you know what? As soon as I finished that last page I promptly went and bought the next book. It was bedtime so I didn’t crack it open but I made sure I had it for later, no questions asked.

One book may talk to you or be more real or more  something than another. It doesn’t mean one is less than the other, although I am sure that many will disagree, it just means that it didn’t talk to you the same way and deliver whatever it is that you need to smile at the end.

I’ve had two debates recently with people who I feel, frankly, are pretty shallow minded in this regard. They read a book and it either speaks to them or it’s crap. Or in another’s words, a piece of shit. Well, I’ve read some books that I thought were shit. But I don’t share that around because something I don’t like might be enjoyed by someone else and I don’t really think its my place to judge for someone else.

A piece of shit could also mean a million different things. The book didn’t talk to you at all (hello, anyone there?). Or maybe it was so full of typos that you were pulled out of the story too many times and found yourself annoyed.  Or maybe at the end you didn’t get what you were looking for. I don’t like to read dramas, for example. I have my life with its ups and downs and everything that goes with it. I read for pleasure. I read to feel the emotion of the character who overcomes the bad guy, finds love or wins the war. I don’t really want to read about someone ending up with the short end of the stick. I see that in life, my own and others, and I read for the joy. Now that’s me. Others like ‘reality’ books and I’m down with it and I don’t call it shit just because it’s not my thing.

All that said, I like cake.

The co-founder of my writers group and I were talking about a book one day and she commented that she didn’t get pie at the end. I loved the saying and it has since spread through our group like wildfire. I don’t know where she got it from, I’ll have to make a note to ask. The funny thing is that I’m not really fond of pie but I sure do like cake, especially angel food cake. So I just changed up the comment to fit me.

So I like cake. Particularly if it has supernatural features. Read and enjoy whatever it is you like. And do it often. Cheers!

Book Review: HP Mallory

Just discovered HP Mallory. I picked up the book To Kill a Warlock on a whim, having no information on the author. Took me no time to finish it and, yes, I bought the second in the series  immediately after turning the last page on my Kindle. The book was very easy to read, has very likable characters, the lead character, Dulcie, is a fairy who kills plants but kicks butt as a Regulator, which could be compared to a cop but for the supernatural. It’s funny, quirky and I really enjoyed the book. I’d like to say more but I just got called in from my day off to work on an emergency…

So if you enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse series or Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series, than this series is a sure thing. 🙂 Here’s a link: http://hpmallory.com/dulcie-oneil-series/

Enjoy!

Christopher Farnsworth – Nathanial Cade series

I’m on a roll today. Making up for not blogging last month!

I found a series I am really enjoying. I’m on book 3 and already know I will buy Book 4 when it comes out. The Nathaniel Cade series by Chris Farnsworth.

The Nathaniel Cade series features a vampire who is blood oathed to the President of the US and has been pledged to every President for the last 140 years.

The US has been plagued by supernatural elements, not nice ones. Alone, the government cannot protect the citizens and keep the evil bay. So when they discover a newly turned vampire in 1700 something or other, the President was able to get the vampire, Nathaniel Cade’s agreement to blood oath his life to the protection of the President from whatever bad guys start to come out of the woodwork.

Cade is not your fluffy, shiny, womanizing vampire. He’s a cold-hearted killer who happens to be on the good side. He has a new handler, Zach, who is the go between for Cade and the President. Zach starts off a wuss (he was a politician after all) and grows into his position as the series progresses. The first book through me off slightly as it started in military style but after I got through the first chapter, I was hooked. I read the first chapter to my husband (story time) and He Who Dislikes Fantasy even thought it was awesome.

I read some of the not-so-nice reviews on Amazon before buying the book (the good reviews too). I thought it mildly funny and definitely ridiculous that someone would read a fantasy book and then say it was too unreal. Seriously? Isn’t that the point of reading fantasy? To bring out our imagination and enjoy other peoples self-created worlds?

I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books (even stayed up past midnight a couple of nights reading which is highly unusual) and continue to enjoy book 3. Cheers Chris!

Hope you all enjoy it too!

Hounded by Kevin Hearne

Okay, I know I haven’t posted in a year. A lot of great things (and not so great) have occurred but I will get to them a bit later…

Because I just finished Hounded by Kevin Hearne. I’ve read a TON of books in the last year and I have a huge list books to review BUT this one was so friggin enjoyable that I had to blog immediately. I can only hope this is the start of more frequent blogs. 🙂

Hounded is the first of a series. If the fact that I bought the next two in the series (can you say LOVE KINDLE!) doesn’t tell you how much I enjoyed the first, well, …hm.  The book stars Atticus, which isn’t his real name, as a 2000 plus year old Druid in current day. He is just trying to survive, run his book and herb shop and be left alone. Of course, when you happen across the God of Love’s sword, which just happens to be able to slice through ANYTHING and you stash it away for a rainy day, things tend to come after you. This book has Gods, demons, werewolves, vampires, the Fae and more. Kevin Hearne’s humor is absolutely hilarious, I actually laughed aloud a few times. That’s pretty rare. I was completely entertained. Kudos to Kevin for a thoroughly enjoyable book. I look forward to reading more.

And with that, I leave you to go work on my taxes. The exact opposite of reading Kevin Hearne.

Child of Fire by Harry Connolly

Loved this book.  Talk about distracting.  The first chapter starts with Ray Lilly driving along with a very powerful sorceress (or magician or something) who hates his guts but isn’t allowed to kill him.  He’s following her driving orders only to pull over to confront a couple on the run and then watch one of their children burst into flame.  It doesn’t stop after that.  Ray is a criminal who’s trying to not to be one, fresh out of jail and suddenly stuck with a member of the Twenty Palaces, a secret group that’s sole purpose is to rid the earth of people wielding illegal magics or taken over by demons, killing whatever gets in the way to that goal.

This is one of those books where you finish it and immediately feel the void of needing the next fix, the next impossible situation of Ray Lilly and the thirst to see how it ends.

Harry Connolly rocks. A new role model for me and my writing.  It made me feel like my writing was sub-standard and yet inspired me to be better.  To figure out how to create my characters more, unroll my story more intelligently.  Or certainly try like hell.

Click here to go to Harry Connolly’s website.

Lucy Snyder’s Spellbent and Shotgun Sorceress

I finished these two off pretty quick back to back.  Honestly, I think I’m going to have to remove books from my house.  It’s so easy to get involved in someone else’s story and stop working on my own.  But at the same time, they can be so inspiring.  I’m torn.

These books start off with a bang and keep going.  I enjoyed them.  If you enjoyed any of the other books I’ve recommended, you’ll like these too.  There were parts where I could put the book down and others that I couldn’t.  I like that. I know some people like a book that grips them to the point of staying up half the night.  Sure, I can appreciate that but I also appreciate a book that I can put down periodically and get something else done.  I don’t always want to but life has to be taken by the horns and wrangled with, can’t live it sitting on the couch or the comfy chair in the back porch.

These books are about a gal named Jesse Shimmer who, despite her crappy life thus far, finally finds her place only to have it ripped out from under her, ground up and tossed into the fire.  She feels it but still has the guts and tenacity to kick some arse and get it back.  I like a strong character who feels it, even has a good cry but gets back up on her feet.

Good times. Enjoy.

Click here to go to Lucy’s Website.

Dragon Bones by Patricia Briggs

I really love the way Patricia Briggs writes.  She grabs a hold of your attention and doesn’t let go til you turn the last page.   I just finished Dragon Bones, a completely different series to the previous ones I’ve mentioned here.  She does it again though, creating a world, characters and a story to love.

This story is about Ward who for personal reasons allows everyone in his realm to believe him on the slow side. His father is a nasty bugger who preys on removing anyone with power around him. When he is removed from the picture, who is next in line for the master of the realm – Ward. Ward now has the people wondering how it’s going to go,many people would like to see him get gone and yet others support him.  He now has to find a way to convince everyone that he’s not the slow witted boy they thought and fight to take back what is his.  It’s a magical story with wonderful characters.  I will have to get the next book, Dragon Blood and keep going.