Blogging Break

So....Hi.

*Awkward pause*

I know I haven't blogged in like two months, but I have a *really* good reason why. Three words. I started college.

Every time I get home the only thing I want to do is curl up with a good YA novel, but then reality hits me and I remember, aw crap, I have a buttload of homework left. And since I am in the Honors College, I have a crazy amount of reading and writing I have to do.

I will be in touch soon!

I PROMISE: I WILL READ LIKE CRAZY DURING WINTER BREAK.

Wdebo :)

Desert Apple-Versailles

Title: Desert Apple

Artist: Versailles

Language: Japanese (No singing in this one though)

TTS: None

Wdebo's Notes: I got into Versailles after I saw a cosplay picture about Visual Kei and not knowing what it was, I decided to search it up and found them. (Not a very exciting story, I know...) At first I was like 0_0, then it started to grow on me, and now I'm absolutely in love with them. Versailles is awesome, I love their costumes/looks, it's so cool. This is one of my favorite songs from them.

Listen and Love!

Wdebo :)

BB: Guest Post + Contest: Linda Joy Singleton

Next up is Linda Joy Singleton, author of of many books including the DEAD GIRL series. (DEAD GIRL WALKING, DEAD GIRL DANCING, and DEAD GIRL IN LOVE)

Enjoy!

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MY PERSONAL HISTORY OF E-BOOKS

With e-books so popular, I thought I'd share some of experiences with electronic books. I know to most readers, it seems like e-books just suddenly sprang up last year and seem to be taking over the publishing world. But you might be surprised to know that I sold my first e-book over ten years ago. It wasn't an easy process, either. I went through ALL the same steps as I would have with a traditional publisher.

In 1999, I attended a writing conference at a castle where an e-book editor spoke and talked about this new method for publishing. I love to try new things, so I pulled out some manuscripts that hadn't sold yet and sent them to HardShell Word Factory. It took a long time to go through the submission process, then when my books were accepted (for middle-schoolers) I had to wait my turn for editing and for the cover art. They had their own artist -- a talented young man who was sadly murdered a few years ago -- and he did the covers for MELISSA'S MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, MAIL-ORDER MONSTER, PHANTOM BOYFRIEND and LOVE POTION (mysterious, magical, romantic books for younger teens). I went through editing the same as with my traditional publishers (at the time I was writing a cloning series for Berkely called REGENERATION). It took two years before the first two books were out in floppy disk format. They packaged these books in little boxes with disks inside and covers like real books. Readers could also buy two-books-in-one paperbacks of these books. I love these books and was excited to embark on a new type of publishing. This was years ago before the Kindle or Nook. But there were e-readers. The best was the Rocket Reader. The first out into the world and a great device. But it didn't survive and the others that followed had battery problems and were still too expensive to lure readers away from paperbacks. (Not that I wanted to do this -- although I have many e-books on my I-Pad, I continue to buy and prefer paper books).

So I had these e-books published and online waiting for readers. Guess what happened? Not much. In 2001, kids weren't going online to look for books. My annual royalty statements from the e-books totaled less than $5. Still I loved these books and was glad to have them out there.In 2003, I gave it one more try and my favorite e-books, DOUBLE VISION, was published by Amber Quill. This YA is about a teen girl who must pretend to be an alternate version of herself in a parallel world to prevent a murder in her family. Still the market wasn't there yet so few sales.

Jump ahead to January 2011. I've published over 35 traditional YA/MG books and still have the 6 e-books out, too. My publisher, Flux, decided to try an experiment by offering my THE SEER book, #1. DON'T DIE DRAGONFLY for free for a month to Kindle readers. Many people received e-readers for Christmas and were eager for free books. My book sold like crazy! My book made it down to #12 in the top free books for Kindle. In May, my publisher tried this again with my book DEAD GIRL WALKING, and it made it down to #7 in the top free-books. Now I seem to make more e-book sales than paperback sales.

And my e-books published years ago--suddenly they're selling. I'm receiving royalty checks larger than 3 digits! E-books have come a long way -- and I've enjoyed going along for the ride.

CHECK OUT MY E-BOOKS:

Double Vision

Mail-Order Monster
Love Potion
Phantom Boyfriend

~~~

Now for a giveaway!

Linda will be giving away an autographed copy of DON'T DIE DRAGONFLY. Enter now for a chance to win!

Random Entertainment Clips (28): Anime Attack (1): AMVs

So, basically during this summer I have gotten crazily addicted to animes, so as a tribute to this insane addiction, I have decided to set aside some Random Entertainment Clips for anime ^^

One main thing that comes with animes are AMVs, so here are some of my favorites :)

Enjoy!

Anime: Soul Eater
Song: This Is Halloween
By: sarfios



Anime: Ouran High School Host Club
Song: High School Never Ends
By: MeliChan923



Anime: Gravitation
Song: Never Had a Dream Come True
By: gokusanzokami
*Warning: Contains shonen-ai (BL, BoyXBoy-Whatever you wanna call it)*


Anime: Black Butler (Grell) & Death Note (L)
Song: Grace Kelly
By: Kitovraska



That's it for now ^^

I have a playlist on YouTube where I add some of my favorite AMVs if you wanna check it out HERE :3

Wdebo :)

BB: Guest Post + Contest: Jess C Scott

Next up is Jess C Scott!! Enjoy!

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Staying Focused as an Indie Author, by Jess C Scott

Jess C Scott, author of The Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy and EyeLeash: A Blog Novel
Independent publishing offers tremendous opportunities to writers everywhere. The indie publishing model is speedy and efficient, and allows a writer to have full creative and business control.

I decided to self-publish my debut book (EyeLeash: A Blog Novel) in June 2009. I published my second book in August 2009. Both these books (and many of my subsequent novellas/novels) aren’t exactly “commercially categorizable.” They don’t fall neatly into a specific category. These types of books can be problematic for mainstream commercial publishers, who have certain expectations with regards to the business of commercial genre fiction.

Some writers write for the money. Others write because they love to write, and want to share their work with the world. I happen to fall somewhere in the middle.

My ultimate goal in life has always been to “making a living from writing” (I’m currently 24, and have one more “basic financial goal” to meet in 2011).

I’ve noticed that there seems to be a lot of focus on how much indie authors earn, and how many copies they sell. There seems to be a lot more emphasis on quantity, instead of quality. Maybe this is because society values money and materialism. I’ve had to question my own values and beliefs, along the way, to decide for myself what I really wanted to do (as an indie author).
At the end of the day, I want the stories I write to be able to stand the test of time. Earning an income from writing is important to me, but I cannot do it at the expense of my vision as an author/artist/non-conformist.

What I’m making money from is just as (if not more) important to me, as how much I’m earning (with regards to writing/publishing).

Indie publishing offers me the opportunity to get stories out in a timely fashion, and create stories that I want to write, not what a conglomerate dictates to me is right for a particular genre/market.

As an artist, I’m very careful to ensure that I do not exploit this opportunity, which traditional commercial publishing is not be able to provide for me. This is why I continue to stay focused on the characters and storyline.

Making money is great. But making money from providing something of meaningful value is even better.

To all the indie authors out there who share a similar perspective: Do what you love. Keep improving. Keep going.
---------------

LINKS:

Website: http://www.jesscscott.com
EyeLeash Page: http://jessink.com/eyeleash.htm
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jesscscott
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jesscscott

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jess identifies herself as an author/artist/non-conformist. Her literary work has appeared in a diverse range of publications, such as Word Riot, ITCH Magazine, and The Battered Suitcase. She is currently working on a YA “seven deadly sins” series, an incubus-themed anthology, and The Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy. Connect with Jess online at www.jesscscott.com.

~~~

NOW CONTEST TIME!

Just fill out the contest below for a chance to win a signed copy of EYELEASH: A BLOG NOVEL.

Wdebo :)

Basket Case-Greenday

Title: Basket Case
Artist: Greenday
Language: English
TTS: None

Wdebo's Notes: My current favorite Greenday song. Muah. I love Greenday's older songs better ^^

Listen and Love!



Wdebo :)

BB: Guest Post + Contest: Alex Cavanaugh

Next up is the author of CassaStar [My review HERE], Alex Cavanaugh! Enjoy!

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Challenges of Writing a Sequel

Some writers envision detailed worlds and further adventures for their characters. They plan for more books. Not everyone has that vision, though. I certainly didn’t!

When I wrote CassaStar, it was intended to be a standalone book. I’d carried the idea around for years and even wrote a rough draft when I was younger. I’d envisioned many adventures for Byron and Bassa, but when I wrote CassaStar (spoiler!) I killed off one of the characters. That rather nixed further stories.

I panicked when people began asking about a sequel, even before CassaStar’s release. What the heck was I going to write?

One question continued to come up from fans - why weren’t there any women in the book? I decided to give the fans what they wanted and introduced a female lead into the story. Drawing upon an earlier idea, I created a whole new storyline, one that I hoped would satisfy my readers. That definitely taught me to continue fueling new ideas.

I also continued with the theme from the first book - friendship and trust. After countless rewrites of the outline, I used NaNo last year to complete the first draft of the sequel. I revised the story, ran it by my critique partners and test readers, and submitted it to my publisher in June.

And I am happy to say the sequel will be released next February 28 as CassaFire!

Of course, now everyone expects a trilogy! Back to the drawing board…

Thanks again, WDEBO, for allowing me to be part of your anniversary celebration!

~~~

Now for CONTEST!

Enter to win an ebook copy of Alex's book CassaStar. (Just fill out the form below!)

Wdebo :)