I’m so happy to say to all my patient fans that Infinite Faith (Infinite Series Book 4) will be released May 1st!
It has taken longer than I predicted due to the ENORMOUS restoration project that I’ve taken on which I’m still slaving away at on weekends, but that is another story and another book!
Infinite Faith was originally going to include three past lives, but after much thought and feedback, the story can’t end here and a fifth book is needed to complete the story. I know that is welcome news for many of you that have begged for the Infinite Series to go on and, after writing much of the third life of Infinite Faith, I realized that as much as you might plan a book, its characters develop a life of their own and take the story in their own direction. I was going to deviate from the original story format since I thought it would be exciting, but it just didn’t feel right. Therefore, Infinite Faith will include two fantastic lives, it’s on its way to being published and I’ve got some of Book 5 (Infinite Salvation) finished already!
Enough about that, I’m sure what you really want to see is the gorgeous cover S. Frost Designs created for me. This might be my favorite cover yet!
I also want everyone on my website to have a heads up that the eBook will be $4.99 instead of $5.99 for the first day only, so mark that date on your calendar (but I will still send out a reminder mass email that morning). I want you all the get that deal since it’s the only time I discount the later books. In return for the discount, I would be so appreciative for honest reviews since they are so important for new releases. Thanks so much for waiting for this fourth book and for your awesome support!
My latest venture in self-publishing has been something I never thought I’d attempt. If you told me that I’d be creating audio books years ago I’d laugh and show you how I haven’t even figured out my iPhone yet. I first saw a discussion about creating audio books on the Kindlebord’s Writer’s Cafe forum (where I get on all my self-publishing information). I clicked on the thread only out of curiosity and was surprised to hear indie authors report how easy it was to create audio books and if you’re not putting one out you’re leaving money on the table.
My impression was that you needed to be tech savvy to create one or have a lot of money to pay someone else to make one. I knew a few indie authors that narrated their audio books themselves but knew that would never be an option for me. However, these much clever indies had found a site called ACX that helps indies produce their own audio books much like Createspace and KDP have made self-publishing ebooks and print books so simple. I decided to make an account and clicked every tab I could find to answer all my endless questions.
My biggest problem was that I worried my unusual reincarnation fantasy would not make a good audio book due to the fact that I would have to find one very talented narrator who could pull off different accents, different genders, and different ages in a believable way. Yet, what did I have to lose if I put a sample up? So I picked out a few pages of each life from my first book for folks to audition for.
A few weeks went by without any auditions, but then my project got selected for a stipend. I had no idea what that was at first but found out that it is an incentive program that ACX puts on certain books for producers and narrators. Not only will they get the 50%-50% royalty deal, they also get $100 for every finished hour of audio book paid by ACX. Well, the auditions started rolling in. The very first audition I listened to floored me. Completely not what I expected, this narrator took the book in her own direction and I loved it.
What to do now?
Well, I had to read more information on the site about how I make an offer and I was sure to read all the fine print about making an audio book with ACX. I decided I would go with the 50%-50% royalty deal, the exclusive distribution option with ACX that yields more profit for me, and had to select the date I wanted the narrator to complete the first fifteen minutes and the date the whole project should be finalized. Since there was a stipend attached, it was important to see when the stipend time was up since they grant them for only a few months at a time. I checked when mine was up and made sure I gave extra time for my narrator to complete it.
Well, she unfortunately responded that she was busy with another project at the moment and wouldn’t be able to finish it by that date. I was so disappointed and wondered if everyone would sound terrible next to her skill. I listened to a few more auditions and learned that I definitely didn’t like strong accents and glaring voice changes for different characters. The first narrator showed me that subtle was the way to go.
Finally, I got a message from a producer who was interested in my project and gave a list of narrators that worked for him with samples of audio books they’d completed. I picked Jessica Peterson out immediately since she read similarly to the first narrator that I’d heard. The producer had her read my sample and I made the offer which they quickly accepted.
He got to work right away and kept me informed of all their deadlines. It was so nice to work with such a seasoned professional. Since I was so inexperienced it was wonderful to have someone guide me through the whole process. He asked me to go through my whole book and pick out any words that might have difficult pronunciation. Usually there might only be a few words that need to be clarified, but with all my historic names, places, and things this took me a very long time.
An unexpected benefit to making an audio book was soon found out when the narrator found typos (a few missing words here and there). Which was shocking since I’ve had this darn book edited by at least six amazing editors! But since she had to read each word aloud I think it truly cleared up any of those last pesky typos.
The most important step is approving the first fifteen minutes, until then you can walk away from the deal without any penalty. Make sure you like everything: the sound quality, the vocal choices, the pronunciations before this stage since after you approve you’ll have to pay the narrator to end the project if you don’t get along. My first fifteen minutes was wonderful except for the fact that I forgot to specify that my main character begins old and at a certain phrase becomes much younger. It slipped my mind and I felt terrible to tell them that they wasted five minutes at the end since it had to be changed. They were gracious and went back to the studio to change it and I didn’t approve it until it was just the way I wanted.
Now it was definitely happening and I had faith in my producer’s and narrator’s abilities. They finished before the deadline and I listened to every word before I approved the final creation. I had to scramble to get my cover designer to make a square cover for the audition since they would not allow the cover I use for the ebook (so it’s good idea to get that done ahead of time).
It took much longer that I thought before the audio book was up for sale on Amazon (four weeks). I even sent an inquiry on why it was delayed but apparently that is the normal time it takes. I saw that the price was set at $19.95 (they set the price based on how long the audio is), but I wanted to be sure to get the Whispersync deal on there since it gives a huge discount to those who have already purchased the ebook (and since my ebook is free, I hoped it would increase sales). I wrote to ACX and requested the option and after a week the discount was available.
(Click here for the link to the audio version)
So there you have it, an audio book was created by someone who never thought they could manage it. I’ve already had a few emails letting me know how much they enjoyed the audio book and were wondering when book number two will be out. I went to work on getting that one made and requested a stipend on that book so I could continue to use the same producer and narrator. They actually granted me the stipend and my producer is up for the project, so now I’m busy looking up all the hard to pronounce words…
Self-publishing is truly an adventure.
(Check out other inspiring indie authors’ blog posts by clicking on the icon above)
I’m happy to announce that the third book in the Infinite Series, Infinite Loss, has been released!
Book Description:
With lessons and lives of sacrifice and devotion behind her, Maya must continue the journey into her next incarnations as a young and passionate Lakota warrior on the Great American Plains; the dashing British spy Major John André, fighting the tide of a great revolution; and the desolate master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe.
Each life is touched with love but strained by unbearable grief. Maya must experience life’s most trying lesson…the devastation of loss.
I want to thank you for your support and interest in my series by reducing the ebook from $4.99 to $3.99 for the first two days. I truly appreciate all the encouragement and this is my way of thanking you each personally.
Infinite Loss is now available at these locations:
Smashwords, Kobo, Itunes, and Sony will be up shortly. The print version is not out yet. I will send another notification when it’s released.
To those of you that have left reviews for Infinite Sacrifice and Infinite Devotion, thank you so much. I look forward to hearing what you all think of Infinite Loss! Enjoy!
Corey M.P. (author of newly released HIGH) tagged me for the Next Big Thing Blog Hop weeks ago. I’ve been so busy trying to get my third book of my series out that I’ve pushed this post off. While I’m waiting for the formatting, I thought it was a great time to discuss Infinite Loss.
Of course I would love to talk about the novels of the future that are rattling around noisily in my head, but I’m committed to finish out my series and have only allowed myself to outline upcoming projects. So, in all honesty, the next big thing is getting my third novel of the Infinite Series released. I haven’t said much about the third book so maybe answering these questions will give a little sneak peek!
Here are my answers:
1. What is the working title of your book?
2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
It is a continuation of the Infinite Series where I extend Maya’s spiritual evolution with past lives centered around loss and the lessons it teaches her. I took the opportunity to write three past lives in some of my favorite time periods: the early Native American Plains, the American Revolutionary War, and the early nineteenth century in America.
3. What genre does your book fall under?
This is still hard to pin down. I list it under historical fantasy, although reincarnation fantasy best describes it even though it is a specialized genre.
4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
If a movie was based on my series it would be unique in that different stars could cameo for all the different lives as they change gender and race throughout time. As long as each character retained the same eyes and markings, you could use many stars for each role. This is the only way to make it authentic to the countries and times involved in my books. Buckheimer, call me 🙂
5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
With lessons and lives of sacrifice and devotion behind her, Maya must continue the journey into her next incarnations as a young and passionate Lakota warrior on the Great American Plains; the dashing British spy Major John André, fighting the tide of a great revolution; and the desolate master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe.
6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Self-published and loving it!
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
One year.
8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I don’t know of any other books that attempt to evolve a large cast of characters throughout so many incarnations. I think at this point, my series is unique.
9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?
It’s a combination of the love of history and the fascination with reincarnation.
10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I search out the most hidden parts of history. I strive to surprise my readers with fresh look at a culture or time period, avoiding the usual stereotypes and historical clichés.
Instead of tagging five people I want to extend the invitation to anyone who would like to share their current project with us (who hasn’t been tagged already by this point). Just post the link in your comment so we can go and check it out.
Thank you again, Corey, for the tag. I’ve enjoyed it!
Wow! That was so much easier than I thought and I’m so pleased with the results. I’ve posted it up on my Book Trailer page and please let me know what you think!
Even though I’d been searching and collecting images for a bit before, the actual process of creating the video clip took me about a day and a half. I never used iMovie before so this was learning completely from scratch. I wanted to let everyone know exactly how I did this so anyone can create one themselves–and I’m no techy so seriously anyone can do this.
Step 1) First, I opened up a new project on iMovie and titled it. Then I downloaded all the images I collected free and some I purchased to iPhoto (not sure if there is a direct way to just download it to iMovie, but remember I’m figuring this all out on my own and this way worked). When I clicked on the camera icon on my iMovie page there was all the photos I wanted when I highlighted last months photos. I was able to just drag each photo to the desired placement of my new project.
Step 2) Once I got them all in the order I wanted I went to Kevin MacLeod’s website, searched the mood I wanted, and I sampled some fantastic choices. I knew immediately which song I wanted to go with and I downloaded it to my iMovie. I clicked on the musical note tab to drag the song to my project. The music shows up as an encompassing highlight around your pictures. It will go as long as you have pictures or when the song ends. I found I had to delete a few images to fit the song time (click on the clip and press delete).
Step 3) Now I tried it out with the music by hitting the play button. I realized I needed to change timing to get each image in time with the music. Each image gets a default time of 4 seconds so in order to change them you must click on the image until clip duration pops up and you can type in exactly how long you want the image to appear. If you want all the images that duration you check the box to apply to all clips, otherwise leave it unchecked to specify this one clip. I found I needed to tweak each time to fit perfectly with the music and this did take some time.
Step 4) When doing step 3 be careful not to be completely exact since you need to put some transitions between clips to make it all smooth. Next to the camera icon and the musical note icon is an icon for transitions. Click on that and you can highlight each option to display how the transition appears. I decided to use two different transitions to decipher between the lives and within the lives. I used a flash between the lives and the cross dissolve between the others. Drag the transition and place between the desired clip and click on it to set the timing of the dissolve.
Step 5) Hit the play button again to perfect the timing EXACTLY to the music. This takes some time.
Step 6) To finesse the look further you can apply cropping, Ken Burns effect, and even video effect. Click on the image and under the clip duration box you see Video Effect. It defaults to None but when you click on it you get so many options to play with such as flipped, black & white, dream, sepia, and so many more. Once you choose the desired effect click on the cropping icon next to the microphone. On the side bar of your clip you’ll see three options Fit, Ken Burns, and Crop. I mostly chose the Ken Burns since it allows you to zoom and move the image however you want. This looks wonderful since it adds movement to the stills. When you click this effect a red and green box appears on the image. If you click on the green ‘start’ box you can control the size and placement of where the image will begin. Then you do the same for the red ‘end’ box and by overlapping or separating them you get as much movement as you would like. This is another part where you need some time to get it just the way you want.
Step 7) Now you’re ready for text. It’s best to try to be as laconic as possible. Write out a script on a piece of paper and try to remove any unneeded words. Your job here is to give your potential reader the impression and feel of the book. A brief outline of what’s in store for them and to entice them into going to your website to read more and hopefully buy. You’re trying to grab them, so the fewer words the better. Go hit the upper case T button between the camera button and the transition button. You’ll get some different placement options and text effects. Once you’ve picked the one you want drag it to the clip. Click on the clip and the text box will appear where you wanted it. Type in desired text and if you’d like to change the font, click the font button that appears above the image your working on. You’ll get some options of text, color, size, style and alignment to play with but if you want more text options you can click on System Font Panel. It’s a great idea to always include your cover, website, and planned launch date at the end. You can always go back and take the date out later to use after the launch.
Step 8 ) Watch the whole project again and perfect everything. Once it’s exactly the way you want it go up to the File button and select finalize clip. This will take about 40 minutes. Once that’s done go to the share button and select the YouTube option and upload it (you’ll need to sign up for a YouTube account before this step if you didn’t already have one). Make sure to specify if you want this clip viewed privately or publicly. Since most of us want as many people as we can to see it, most will choose the public option. Click the view option as soon as that’s done and you’ll see your original, amazing book trailer up for everyone to see!
Step 9) You want to be sure to give the specified credit under the descriptions box on YouTube for Kevin MacLeod’s music–and if you haven’t already donated to him for the clip you should do so now.
Step 10) Now it’s time to send this link out to friends and forums to get feedback if anything needs to change. Once you feel confident that it’s as fantastic as you can make it. Email it out to all your contacts, post it on your blog, send it out to guest blogs, feature it on your Facebook account and every possible place you can send it! Let this be your calling card!
So that’s it! Hopefully I made this easier for everyone–remember a special note–I’m not tech savvy and this might have been completely round-about way to do this, but I did it and if you need help follow this and it does turn out pretty awesome if I do say so myself!
Good luck to all you out there and feel free to comment here if you have any questions. I’ll try my (technologically-challenged) best to help
Scary, I know, but when you’re trying to get your book out in the busiest time of year, it’s bound to happen.
After the initial shock and denial stage, I immediately tried bargaining with her that I could push back my release a few months if she needed more time and, she first agreed—until she found out the page count of the third book. Clocking in around 640 pages, she just couldn’t promise me that it would get done by March. Since it usually takes another two or three months after the editor is through to make the changes and to send it off to copy editors, I knew I couldn’t make my fans wait that long.
But how could I change editors mid-series? Would this effect the consistency of my books? Could I find someone with the same skill at the same price? How could someone jump into such a complicated series mid-way?
After breathing into a paper bag for a few minutes and then self-medicating myself with too much chocolate, I realized that this might be meant to be (what I always say to myself in difficult situations). My editor recommended a few editors she works with (at a small press publishing company) and said there was one in particular that had a strong background with historicals. I contacted this person, sent off a sample chapter, and was so pleased to see that their styles were incredibly similar (at the same price to boot!).
She seems wonderful and she not only said she’d get right on the project, but that she wanted to read the first two books so she could understand the third book that much more!
So, just a word of assurance to any of you that might get the same shock, there are plenty of fantastic editors out there and situations might arise where you need to find an alternative mid-series. Take a deep breath and send out sample chapters to other recommended editors and feel around for one with a similar style. In hindsight, it would have been a good idea to touch base with my editor a month earlier so that I could have had more time to find a good fit, but this time I was lucky to find someone so fast who was willing to start the project immediately. So keep in touch with your editors!
Thanks to an insightful post by the talented Yesenia Vargas, I decided it would be a good idea to create a separate website for my series. Yesenia does an amazing job discussing the pros and cons of creating a separate website, and even though she ultimately decided to keep one website, I decided that it would be best for me to create two for the following reasons (you know I love bullets).
This website is a place to share my trials, triumphs, and observations with other writers. I need you all for support and advice, and hopefully, I might be able to help others as well.
Every time I host a giveaway, market, run a promotion, or I’m featured in an interview, I don’t want to spam all my writer friends.
If I had a few standalone novels then I would most likely keep them all here, but given that this is a four-book series, it’s probably best to create a separate site.
My other site has less followers, but readers don’t seem to want to follow a writer’s blog. They want information about your books, background, promotions, and releases. It’s good to give them what they want. Instead of clicking around on your writer’s blog, lead them directly to your books.
I wanted to separate each book on its own page, where I can list everything pertaining to that book (cover, blurb, historical background, and book trailer). That way, the reader only views information about the book they’ve read. I wouldn’t want to spoil the next book in the series for them.
I also started additional pages on my other site where I feature fun things such as information about past lives and my favorite reviews left by readers and bloggers.
I still have an Infinite Series tab at the top of this blog that leads you to my other site (and vice versa) so they are not completely separate.
Through WordPress site stats, I see that people who search for my books or author name go directly to the other website. This blog gets more views by people looking up writing topics. So I do think it was a wise choice.
Here’s the link if you want to stop on by. On a side note, I’ve released the cover to Infinite Loss, so go check it out!
I’m just realizing that no matter which writing phase I’m in, I mumble to myself that I wish I was at another stage. Seriously, this is the pattern that is revealing itself:
I begin writing my first draft (I wish I was editing, that is sooo much easier!)
I start to revise (I wish I was already sending it the editor since my delete-hitting finger goes numb)
I get all my corrections back from the editor (I wish I was blurb writing since I pop Motrin endlessly to keep the headache from seeing so much red at bay)
I have to take a whole novel and sum it up in a few attention-getting sentences (I wish I was promoting already, can I just pay someone to do this?)
Release, promotion, and attempting to get reviews (I wish I was writing again, that is sooo much easier!)
The sad thing is that this took me three books to figure out. Honestly, I kept thinking the next step was going to be so much better. Only now, I realize that every step has its challenges. I even keep hearing this in the back of my head, “Take a break from the series, this next idea is going to practically write itself!” I’m learning not to trust that voice, it’s an immature, impulsive voice with no long-term memory, bent on distracting me. If I listened to this voice nothing would get done.
So, I know now that every step of self-publishing is tedious. Even a passion can be tedious since any worthwhile art is not created without sweat and tears. I think this is why writers have to fight that rush to get the book out and off their minds.There is such freedom once you move on to the next release.
Do you agree? Is there a step that is pure enjoyment for you or do you find yourself praying to move on to the next phase only to
find you struggle with that one as well?
Just wanted to point you all to a fantastic giveaway hosted by the awesome ladies at the Open Book Society! It’s a simple giveaway and you have great odds of winning! Go check it out here if you’re looking for a free ebook.
On an apologetic note, my blog has been completely neglected lately do to a nasty cough & cold that has made its way around my house (and it’s not even fall yet!) Be back soon 🙂
I love these Lucky Seven Challenges! Not only do I get to share a little of Infinite Loss with you, (another perk being self-published), but I get to perfect seven lines of my book before revisions! Nothing polishes a few sentences up like releasing them for everyone to see. I’ve done a Lucky Seven before with this same work-in-progress, but it specified page 77, so it’s all good!
Thank you to Delia, from Postcards From Asia, for nominating me 🙂 The rules are: you must go to the 7th page of your current work-in-progress, go down 7 lines, and post the following seven lines. The following is from the first draft of my third novel in the series, Infinite Loss.
Frantic yelps erupt within the camp and Father springs, yelping from our teepee. Mother grabs for my little brother in the papoose and takes me by the hand to flee with the other women and children. Everyone runs and screams—all except for Apawi, who lies down on his buffalo blanket in the center of camp for us all to see and sleeps soundly. In the light of the full moon, the men grab their lances and bows, jump on their ponies, and hurry to make the formation to protect the camp—the formation of wild geese. Father whoops and leads the group, taking the very top of the line. They all stand their horses still as the thundering sound comes closer and closer, shaking every living thing awake and running for cover. Dark shapes charge toward us, with a cloud of dust reaching high into the air above them.
Well, that’s all I’ve got to share with you for now. I would love to see what everyone is up to—so to all of my followers, consider yourself tagged! Put a link to your Lucky Seven Post below so we can all take a look!
laurenwaters 