Author: AuthorAngelaS

amazon.com/author/angelasnyder
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Reviews

AuthorAngelaS

write-a-review

   Today I’m going to talk about reviews.  Any indie author you talk to will say the same thing…a review is one of the most important things you can do for them.  A review lets other potential readers know what they can expect from the book they are about to purchase, and it can also be a deciding factor between someone passing up a book or purchasing it.  Even if you leave a few words in a review like “I loved it!” or “I liked it!” and leave some stars, you are amazing in the indie authors eyes!  If you think that your review won’t matter, TRUST ME, it does!  So if you have a favorite indie author out there, please leave a review.  They will be very grateful for it!

Every five-star review I receive is like a dream over and over again.  Never did I dream that I would publish a book that so many people would tell me time and time again that they couldn’t put down and that they fell in love with the characters.  Vampire Next Door wouldn’t be where it is today without my small, but increasing, group of fans!  I love each and every one of my reviews and each and every one of my fans.  It’s so nice to be on Twitter and Facebook and have people retweet and favorite/share and comment things that I post.  So for that, I say thank you!!

My newest review is five stars, and it is from fellow writer, Joseph Forte.  You can find Joey’s review on his reviews and recommendations page on his blog: http://www.josephfortewriting.com/?page_id=22

His review is on the Amazon (Canada) website, and it reads:

“Vampire Next Door is an edge of your seat, romantic, paranormal thing of beauty that will have your eyes screaming for more. I was hooked before I cracked the book open as the cover, as plain and simple as it once was, gave an eerie, dark feeling of what was to be expected. The cover was spilling with anticipation and this novel clearly delivered in all aspects. From the onset, the author reels in her readers by using imaginative and figurative language in addition to a writing style that leaves a sweet craving in the reading mind, always wanting to turn to the next page and read, just one more chapter. The story line is fabulous and character development is wonderful as they both keep the reader in suspense as the words fall off the page with ease. If you’re looking for a romantic, suspenseful novel with twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the very end, then Vampire Next Door by Angela Snyder is a book to engage in. Be sure to pick up a soft cover or eBook right now as it is well worth the money invested.”

Read Joseph’s review on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Next-Door-Angela-Snyder-ebook/product-reviews/B00EV69622/ref=cm_cr_pr_top_recent?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

    You can find out more about Joseph and his book, At the Window, at his website:

http://www.josephfortewriting.com/

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Book Giveaway

AuthorAngelaS

1000 facebook fans pic

In celebration of 1,000 fans on Facebook, I am holding a giveaway on my Facebook author page.

www.facebook.com/AuthorAngelaSnyder

There are two prizes up for grab:  A signed copy of Vampire Next Door and an e-book copy of The List, my new novella.

So go like the Facebook page, and find the giveaway post at the top of the page.  You have to be a fan of the in order to be qualified to win.  The winners will be chosen at random.  Like the post and comment with your choice of the two prizes.  That’s all there is to it!  The giveaway ends March 8th.

Good luck!

Writing

New Cover

AuthorAngelaS
Vampire Next Door
Vampire Next Door

   Vampire Next Door‘s cover was reVAMPed! 😉  I now have a great cover thanks to Cheryl Ramirez over at www.ccrbookcoverdesign.com.

    The Kindle edition should be updated today.  The paperback version on Amazon will feature the new cover in about a week or so.  Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iBooks and everywhere else will follow suit soon enough.

    Let me know what you think  of the new cover in the comments.

goodreads-badge-add-plus-d700d4d3e3c0b346066731ac07b7fe47Find Vampire Next Door on Goodreads

Amazon.com
Buy Vampire Next Door at Amazon.com

Worldwide Amazon Universal Link: myBook.to/VampireNextDoor

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Tips and Tricks For New Authors Part 3

AuthorAngelaS

Smashwords Review

So you’re ready to publish through Smashwords.  You should take some time to consider this if you are transitioning from Amazon exclusively.  A lot of authors have complained about less sales through Smashwords than with Amazon.  And, of course, you lose all the perks like the lending library, free days (if you choose to do that) and the new Kindle Countdown Days.

First thing is first.  Go to http://www.smashwords.com and make an account.  Get all of your information filled out including payment and tax info.  Once you are done with that, you are ready to upload your book.  Click on the PUBLISH tab at the top of the Smashwords website.  You are going to input all of your book info.  A lot of this can be copied and pasted from Amazon.

The biggest obstacle is going to be the formatting.  If you are using a Kindle formatted file, it will be almost perfect enough for Smashwords to not yell at you to change a million things.  If your book is not perfect, Smashwords will not include it in the premium catalog, and your book will not be sent to Barnes and Noble, etc.  So it is very important that you pass all of the requirements and fix all of the errors.

The biggest error was that my font was too big.  This only applied to the first page of my formatted book as the title and my name were too big.
The copyright also needs to be changed to something like this:

Book Title

FirstName LastName

Copyright 2010 by FirstName LastName

Smashwords Edition

****

Or, this is a good short one too

****

Book Title

FirstName LastName

Copyright FirstName LastName 2010

Published at Smashwords

****

Or, if you’re a publisher, this is a good one

****

Book Title

FirstName LastName

Copyright FirstName LastName 2010

Published by CoolCats Publishing at Smashwords

    You can also add this blurb after your copyright:  “This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.”

   Any of the examples above are acceptable with the blurb following after.

It took about a week to be approved for the Premium Catalog.  After you are approved, you will be able to find out all of your channel information by going to your dashboard and clicking on “Channel Manager” in the left-sided list.  Your Channel Manager will tell you what companies you have opted in or out with, if your book has been shipped, if your book is going to be reshipped, when the next shipment is and any notes.  Helpful Tip:  Smashwords ships daily to Apple, Kobo and Barnes & Noble (B&N daily shipments commenced August 5, 2013!) most business days, and once-weekly (usually Thursdays) to other retailers.

    If your e-book has already been published through Amazon KDP, I would suggest opting out of Smashwords shipping to Amazon.  You want to opt out of that as soon as you publish your book on Smashwords.  Go into your dashboard and Channel Manager and opt out of Amazon.

   It took less than a week for my e-book to be put on the Barnes and Noble website for Nook and about a week for it to appear in the iTunes/iBooks library.  All the various channels will vary depending on your book content.  Smashwords makes it very clear that if you are writing erotica or a book that is not the “norm”, so to speak, you are probably going to run into problems.  For example, iTunes could take up to a month to approve your book if it’s erotica, so be prepared for the time delay.

Publishing

Happy Thanksgiving!

AuthorAngelaS

sf_happythanksgiving3_02

    Happy Thanksgiving, bloggers!  I just wanted to spread the word on Amazon’s really awesome deal that I happened upon this morning.  They are offering a code at checkout that lets you save 30 percent on ANY BOOK from today until December 1st!  My book is included!  http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Next-Door-Angela-Snyder/dp/1492149640

    “Take an extra 30% off any book offered by Amazon.com from now until December 1st. Enter code BOOKDEAL at checkout. Here’s how (restrictions apply).”

    So help spread the word to all the indie authors and readers in your life who might not have seen the deal yet, and I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Writing

Vampire Next Door

AuthorAngelaS

Vampire Next Door

    I recently published my first novel, “Vampire Next Door”, on August 29th, 2013.  On that day, I remember having such a surreal feeling.  My lifelong dream had been to publish a book.  And I had just done it.

   My passion for writing came at an early age.  I can remember writing songs and poetry when I was in second and third grade.  I remember writing entire plays by fifth grade.  I started my first novel when I was fifteen.  That novel is still a work in progress, and I believe it will be my masterpiece, so to speak.  And, of course, it is about vampires.  My obsession with vampires started in the year 1994.  Interview with a Vampire and “The Last Vampire” series by Christopher Pike were at the top of my list of things to obsess about.  The more I watched and the more I read, the more I wanted to write about vampires.

    “Vampire Next Door” was initially two separate stories.  The first story was about a battered woman who was married to a rich, powerful and evil man.  There was a vampire living next door who was in love with this woman and saved her life after her husband had gone too far.  The woman reminded him of a long lost love from his past.  It was really a fairytale kind of story.  At the same time I was developing that story, I had another story in my head.  The other one was about a woman who had amnesia.  While trying to adjust to a new life without a past, she fell in love with her doctor, who had an evil twin brother.   Now, the plots for these books were not complete in any sense.  I honestly would have never finished each one individually.  They were missing something…a lot actually, and I was too busy working on several other books to pay them any mind.  They were just ideas.  And that was that.

    I often hear from authors about their characters speaking to them, almost as if they’re begging for their story to be told.  Well, Sebastian wouldn’t get out of my head.  I thought about him.  I dreamed about him.  He was everywhere.  One day while I was looking through my many, many, many (did I say many?) documents with all my stories on my computer, something just clicked.  Combine the two stories that were going nowhere and come up with a brand new story.  And so Sebastian Alexander became the main character for “Vampire Next Door”, and he became my obsession for the few months while I wrote the book.  Sebastian had finally found his home in “Vampire Next Door”.

    My method of writing is not methodical, to say the least.  I tend to think of my method as a jigsaw puzzle.  I get ideas for chapters, and I write them down at a feverish pace while the idea is still in my head.  Now, I could be working on the beginning, the middle or the end at any given time.  And, hell, I work on several different books at the same time as well.  How all of those chapters come together at the end into one big story is a mystery.  I like to think I have the entire story in my head and that I planned the whole thing from the beginning, but I don’t know if I honestly believe that sometimes.  But I also give a lot of credit to my “jigsaw puzzle” method, because I think that’s how my stories get so much action.  I’m writing each chapter individually and giving it everything I have, and it makes for  a great story in the end!

    The characters were easy to come up with.  I never have a hard time with the characters actually, and I usually create them before I even come up with a good plot.  Sebastian Alexander is based on real-life actor Colin Egglesfield.

Colin Egglesfield aka Sebastian Alexander
Colin Egglesfield

    And the ladies out there can see why I didn’t mind having that image stuck in my head for months.  😉  Whenever I have a book idea, I create a folder and keep the character’s pictures in it.  It helps me when I’m trying to imagine a certain way they would act or look in different situations.  I even keep pictures of houses, cars, etc., just to help with bringing the characters, places and things into reality while I write about them.

    Although the characters were not hard to come up with, the blurb was.  The blurb for “Vampire Next Door” was not a simple task.  In fact, I think it was harder than writing the entire book.  I made about a hundred drafts of a blurb and edited and edited and edited until I thought it was near perfect.  “Vampire Next Door” has such a complicated plot (most of my books do) that it was difficult for me to pinpoint the real drama that would catch the reader’s attention and not give away any spoilers.  Here is the blurb:

After being left for dead in the woods, a woman wakes up from a coma. With no memory of her past, she is given the name Jane Doe. While trying to adjust to her new life, tragedy strikes again. However, this time a mysterious and handsome next-door neighbor is there to help her pick up the pieces. But is he really a stranger, or does he hold the key to unlocking her past and finding out who wants her dead?

    Not bad, eh?  It only took me two days and about a hundred revisions and the advice from a few friends.  All that work for just a blurb!  I’m thinking for future novels that I’ll write the blurbs first and then the book! 😉

    If you would like to purchase a copy of “Vampire Next Door”, you can find it on Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EV69622  There you can find the e-book for your Kindle or the paperback.  I also have an eStore through CreateSpace – https://www.createspace.com/4153084

Publishing

Tips and Tricks For New Authors Part 2

AuthorAngelaS

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR NEW AUTHORS PART 2

[KDP and CreateSpace]

    Not sure how to publish your book or with whom?  Here is my take on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and CreateSpace.  FYI — Amazon owns both of them. How to differentiate between the two:

  1. CreateSpace is for paperback only
  2. KDP is for e-books only

    The way I went about publishing is I went through CreateSpace first and published a paperback form of “Vampire Next Door”.  I have heard from many people that it’s less difficult to publish the paperback first and then have CreateSpace format (for free) a version and create an e-book that will be readable for the Kindle.  So if you want a paperback or think you will want a paperback, work with CreateSpace first.

    CreateSpace is very easy to use and extremely user friendly.  You are basically going to create a new title, and they use a step-by-step process to get you through it.  The first step is to go to http://www.createspace.com and sign up for a new account.  You will go to your Member Dashboard and Add New Title.  You will then complete the categories of Setup, Review and Distribute.  After you are done creating your paperback, CreateSpace will send all of your files over to KDP, and that makes it so easy!

    You can create a cover through CreateSpace or you can go through any number of other sources for a cover.  The important thing to remember is that your cover should be one of the last things you do, because the cover is a wraparound cover.  That means that your trim size, bleed and page count all come into account.  So if you are in the early stages of creating your book, you will have no idea what your page count is.  If you want to save money on a cover, search Google for “pre-made cover”.  You can find cheap pre-made covers for both paperback and e-books.  It is a lot easier to go with a cover through CreateSpace, but their stock photos will not always suit everybody’s needs.  The number one best thing about picking a CreateSpace cover…?  If you need to edit your book later on and your page count changes, CreateSpace automatically formats your cover to fit your book.  That’s not so easily done through another channel.  That is why it’s very important to make sure you are totally satisfied with your book before going through the process of creating a cover.

   You will run into the option of “expanded distribution” while publishing your book on CreateSpace.  There has been a lot of debate over whether it’s worth the $25 or not to have your book available to Barnes and Noble, libraries, etc.  Well, now CreateSpace offers expanded distribution for free.  The big thing to remember about expanded distribution is that your royalties will be extremely low.  Speaking of royalties, let’s do a breakdown.  Let’s say your book is $10 on CreateSpace.  Your royalties would be as follows:

  • Amazon.com – $2.63
  • CreateSpace eStore – $4.63
  • Expanded Distribution – $0.63

    As you can see, your are going to make the most money from your paperback from your eStore.  Here is my eStore – https://www.createspace.com/4153084  When people buy straight from your eStore, you make more royalties.  I have sold only a fraction of paperbacks from my eStore compared to Amazon.com, however.  Amazon offers the free super saver shipping when the customer buys your book and whatever else that adds up to $25.  That is appealing to a lot of customers.  I still try to push the eStore because of the higher royalties, but it’s harder to get people to purchase from there when Amazon.com is so convenient.

    Kindle Direct Publishing is, like I said earlier, only for e-books.  You can sign up for Kindle Select.  That means your book is basically under a contract with KDP for three months.  That might seem like a long time, but it goes relatively quickly.  Being under the contract means you cannot publish your e-book anywhere else.  You cannot go to Smashwords/iBooks/Nook Press, etc.  This contract has nothing to do with your paperback on CreateSpace.  So if your paperback is on Barnes and Noble’s website, don’t worry.  It only applies to the e-book, and KDP will not end your contract.

   One of the benefits of being enrolled in KDP Select is the free promotion.  Basically your book is listed as FREE on Amazon.com.  The biggest benefit of this is that your book jumps to the top of the free e-books list.  After the free promotion is over, Amazon pushes your book over to the paid e-books list.  If you are high on the list, you get more exposure.  For a new author, that is great news.  The downside?  The exposure is short-lived and you just gave away hundreds, if not thousands, of your e-book to potential future buyers.  I would only recommend the free promotion if you have a series of books.  List the second book or the first book for free.  If you list the second book for free, people are more apt to buy the first book in the series.  If you list the first book for free, if people enjoyed the first book in the series, they will buy the rest of the series.

   KDP now offers Kindle Countdown Deals.  You can find more information here:  https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A3288N75MH14B8  It allows authors to run limited-time discount promotions on their books, which can help earn more royalties and reach more readers.  Basically it marks your book down and people think they are getting a really great deal for a limited time, so they buy your book before the promotion is over.

    My KDP Select contract is over in the beginning of December, and I will be publishing my e-book with Smashwords.  Smashwords will distribute your e-book to various places like Barnes and Noble (Nook) and iBooks for Apple products among many others.  People can even read your book on their computers in different formats.  The royalty percentage is really great too!  You earn 60% of List Price from Major Ebook Retailers and 85% Net at Smashwords.com.  I will write part three based on my experience with Smashwords.

https://www.createspace.com/

https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin

https://www.createspace.com/4153084

Publishing

Tips and Tricks For New Authors Part 1

AuthorAngelaS

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR NEW AUTHORS PART 1

So you published a book…now what?

    Publishing a book is both exciting and terrifying at the same time if you are an indie author.  The following is my take on being an indie author through my eyes.

    I recently published my first novel “Vampire Next Door”.  You can find it here on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EV69622  To say I am a total noob at the whole indie author/publishing thing would be the understatement of the year.  I did some research before publishing, and I will stress the word some.  I have had several people ask me for advice, and my number one piece of advice is always do your research.  You need to know what you are in for.

    Your novel should be about 50,000 words and over.  Just remember when you self-publish a book — the more words and the bigger your book is, the more money it will cost to manufacture it.  The more it costs to manufacture it, the less royalties you will have.  So in a sense, a shorter story will make you more money in the long run.  So you want your book to have a great story, but keep it on the short side, if you can.  If you can’t shorten it, think about writing a series of books.  A lot of readers will gravitate towards a series more than a single book.  A lot of publishers are in the market for book series right now as well.  Young adult, dystopian and series are three things you will hear that are in high demand as of right now.  That is always subject to change, however, as people’s tastes change and the next new “big thing” hits the market.

    If anyone tells you that writing the book is the hard part, they’d be lying.  Writing the book is absolutely the easiest part of the process.  With millions upon millions of books out there and a big percentage of them being independently published (and relatively easily I might add), the entire process of publishing your own book can be quite a daunting task.  I came to realize that firsthand.

    The most important thing to remember is that you are publishing independently.  Don’t expect results overnight, and don’t quit your day job…even if you hate it.  Helpful Tip — Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) waits 60 days to pay you.  That’s for e-book sales only.  So if you sell in August, you are not getting paid your royalties until the end of October.  Patience is something else you’ll need to learn all too quickly.  CreateSpace, on the other hand, pays monthly.  That is only for paperback sales, however, and I personally have been selling four times as many e-books than paperback.  If you are publishing your e-book with Smashwords, they pay quarterly.  The bottom line is don’t expect money right away.  It will take a few months to see any real profit.

    If you think are you ready to publish your first novel, think again.  Go back and read your book, edit it and then edit it again.  Your grammar and formatting should be flawless or close to it.  Why?  Because if you have too many grammar mistakes or your book is hard to read or understand, your reviews are going to be horrible.  How many times have you read reviews on Amazon that read “I loved the story, but just couldn’t get past the poor grammar”?  Can’t afford an editor?  Have some friends or family members (that you can trust) read over your book for free.  If you are afraid of putting your life’s work in someone’s hands, then don’t do it.  Edit the book yourself or find a more trustworthy friend.  The formatting and grammar of a book can mean the difference between a two or three-star review and a five-star review.

    Speaking of reviews, getting them will be difficult, to say the least.  It is definitely not an easy task for most authors.  Unless you have a strong and large fan base, you will quickly learn why people are paying other people to review their books.  Let’s face it — The more reviews you have, the better your book looks to possible customers.  The easiest way to get your first review is to ask a friend or family member who has read your book to leave a review.  Even if you only get one, one review is better than none.  The most important thing to remember is don’t put too much pressure on someone to leave a review.  Most of the time I ask nicely.  Either they leave one or they don’t.  It’s out of your hands at that point.  You don’t want to nag someone to leave a review, because they could, A, not leave a review at all or, B, leave a negative review.

    Why don’t people leave reviews?  The most popular answer to that question is they don’t know what to say.  They feel like anything they write would be inadequate or dumb.  But in reality, even a review that says “I loved it” or “I liked it” would be more helpful than they could ever know.  The best thing you can do for an independent author is LEAVE A REVIEW.  If you are thinking of doing a book giveaway, do a giveaway for the people that leave reviews.  That should give you a jump start on getting reviews.

    If you are gearing up for your first book release, you should already be building a Twitter and Facebook following.  It’s a quick and free way to get a lot of potential readers and communicate with fellow authors who will be more than happy to help promote you in return for promoting them.  You can search for authors on Twitter by the #author hashtag.  Another trick to find new readers is search for keywords such as “love to read (insert your book’s genre)”.  I often search for romance/paranormal or just plain old “love to read”.

    So you joined Twitter, but you need help connecting to other authors.  A great group on Facebook is Authors Tweeting Authors.  It’s a private group that allows authors to tweet each other.  Here is the link to the group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/142128792643893/  Another way for authors to tweet authors is to join the World Lit Cafe at http://www.worldliterarycafe.com  There you can joint tweet teams, post your Facebook page links, Twitter usernames and more.  It’s a great way to connect to fellow authors and, once again, gain exposure.  And the best part is it’s free.

    Stay tuned for part 2…