The Writing Bug Strikes At Random

The Writing Bug Strikes me at strange times in my life. I took a bit of a hiatus after self publishing my book to give myself a breather. In that time I have written book reviews and continued to read, read, and read some more. Nothing however, gives you that same feeling as filling up that blank page staring back at you with that blinking cursor.

I actually have several books in the works and my hardest decision right now is deciding which one I want to run with. My first book was something that had lain dormant for years where everything I have written lately is fresh.

I'm even considering dabbling into children's books before this burst of inspiration leaves me again. I just need to decide what to do about any illustrations in the book, because I know my drawing skills would not do the images in my head any justice.

I believe that for now and the foreseeable future I will continue to self publish. I can always look for an agent on the side, but the most important thing to me is getting my material out there. I enjoy writing in my free time so I might as well keep doing it and the self publishing industry has made the process pretty easy for even this beginner to accomplish.

That's my only update for now. Hopefully I will be back shortly with more information about my new book and which idea I chose.

Visions of Prophecy by Brooke Dorn is now published!

After many many many rewrites, edits, query letters, rejections, and tears my book has finally been self published. I originally published in January but went through one final rewrite today. It is available on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and on Kindle. 

I finally had enough of sitting and waiting for an acceptance letter that may never come. So now while I try out a few more options my book is for sale and I have been getting some great feedback. 

I think the Kindle rewrite was probably the most difficult part of the whole experience. While my book looked great in print form, my Kindle upload went all wonky on me. 

Still now that it's all done I feel a great sense of accomplishment and I'm super happy. Thank you Createspace.com, amazon, and Kindle for giving me the tools to breathe life into my book.

Any readers who love a good fictional fantasy novel be sure to check out my book. I'm sure you will not be disappointed.

Fellow Bloggers Look Out For suvudu.com! Calling All Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Comic Book Fans!

I got an interesting email yesterday from Del Rey books and opened it up to discover a new form of blogging. www.suvudu.com is a website that caters to bloggers with interests in science fiction, fantasy, and comic books. If you join their panel you can pull content directly from your blog for republishing directly through their site.

Their site also features book reviews, new book releases, gaming news, contests, and much more! There was so much content that I didn't have enough time to get through all of it yet, and I probably never will.

Still if you are a blogger looking for a little extra exposure for your blog then this is surely a place to check out. Join the panel and start submitting your blog posts for editing through the suvudu panel. You won't be sorry after you receive all the extra attention that your blog deserves.

Another nice little feature that this website offer is that yours blog can be directly connected to your twitter page. That way anyone following you will know right away if you make a new blog post. Which is great in today's world where everyone's twitter is connected to their cell phone.

I highly recommend checking this site out at some point when you get the chance. It offers bloggers a whole new take on getting their material out there!

Ekphrastia Gone Wild! Coming Soon!

A few months ago I sent a three poems in to be considered for publication in a new anthology of poetry called Ekphrastia Gone Wild. The contest was being held by the Poetry Super Highway with a little help from Rick Lupert. After I had forgotten all about my art themed poetry submission, I received an email notifying me that two of my three poems had been chosen to include in the anthology.

So now I am sitting back and waiting for my contributor's copy in a state of shock after hearing that I am going to have poems published in the same anthology as  Nobel Prize winner Wislawa Szymborska! This confirmation of my writing skills seemed to be just the boost I needed for my career, because since receiving this news I have started writing two additional novels.

I will still always hold out hope that my novel Visions of Prophecy will eventually get published due to the hundreds of query letters I send out. Until that point I will keep writing my new novels and hope that they will surpass the greatness of my first novel. So while I have your attention, keep an eye out for Ekphrastia Gone Wild, due out sometime in 2013!

I Have ReThought My Self Publication

After many months of editing to make my book perfect in my own eyes I had finally taken a much needed break and began writing again. During my break I went to a local grocery store and stumbled upon a book called The Full Moon Slayer, that was written by a hometown author. Seeing their book sitting in my local grocery store made me realize that I wanted it to be my book sitting there as well.

With self-publication you never know if your book will ever see a shelf. It becomes available as an eBook and for print on demand. It could never even sell one single copy. I have decided that I want the whole package and I'm not going to settle for less. I am going to find an agent to publish the book that I have worked so hard on, and that deserves to be sitting on that shelf in the hometown author's section.

So I got a new list of agents to query and I have been sending them out again. I am dedicated to this project now, even more than I was before. I am sure that this passion will also grow for the children's book that I have recently written. I know that my books are amazing, now I just have to learn how to prove it to those agents.

For any aspiring author out there seeking advice, all I have to offer is to tell you not to sell yourself short. If your book is good, make it great. If it's great make it amazing. Eventually someone will give you the chance to make your dreams come true, if you are willing to put the work into it.

Thanks everyone for reading and I hope all of the people affected by the tornadoes in Oklahoma and Kansas are safe and well.

The Decision Has Been Made, I'm Self-Publishing

I've made my decision and I'm now in the process of preparing my novel for self publishment. I have chosen to use Create Space as my self publishing company, because they offer entirely free self publishing. Then if I make a little bit of money from my book, for an additional 25$ I can open my book to a much wider range of selling options.

I'm happy with my decision because I no longer have to feel that feeling of disappointment everyday when I check my email. There are no more rejection letters and no more tedious query letters to send out. My life is much more stress free, and it leaves me with time to concentrate on my writing with no distractions.

This option might not be the best choice for everyone out there, and it is something that you have to weigh your options on. I will never know what might have been if I had decided to wait it out. My book might have gotten published traditionally, but then again it might have just sat on my computer forever. So everyone out there be sure to keep your spirits high and keep an eye out for Visions of Prophecy by Brooke Dorn. It will be available soon!

To Self Publish or Not? That is The Question.

Well it's been awhile since I got on my blog, but I'm thinking about taking a big leap. I'm really frustrated with the publishing market and self-publishing my novel seems like it might be the direction that I need to go. I've read tons of pages with people urging new authors to wait it out, but I don't think I want to wait anymore. I think it might be time to abandon ship and see if I sink or swim. Afterall I don't really have much to lose, except to not sell any copies of my book once I release it. As of today I'm seriously leaning towards self-publication.