Seasons Greetings!

I have some great news to hopefully add a little extra sparkle to your holidays. Actually, I have several pieces of great news.

You may or may not have known I’ve had some struggles finding an artist for the series. All of my artist have produced fantastic work, but unfortunately there are other considerations. Is the work commercial enough? Does it grab the eye? Does it have the correct feel for the story? And there are other considerations that don’t even relate to the art. Does the artist handle the licensing promptly? Do we work well together? Is communication solid?

I Have A New Artist!

Well, I’ve found an artist who seems perfect for the series and who I work with very well. Since I’ve had so many ups and downs with artists though, I didn’t want to announce the work until we had finished a few covers together and I knew it was going well. It’s going very well. Her name is Kirsi Salonen and you can find her portfolio here. She has an amazing Dark Fantasy series that I recommend you peruse for your own enjoyment.

The Light Who Shines Gets A New Cover!

So the first task was to redo the cover for The Light Who Shines. I wanted it to speak to the romance in the story since I’ve been plagued by a certain set of readers who are unhappily surprised that the plot has a thread of romance. Believe it or not, I don’t want just anyone reading my books. I only want the right readers to read my books . . . that is to say, people who will really enjoy it.  Part of the art of getting good reviews is to market your book correctly. Every time I get a complaint that the book has too much romance, I take it to heart. I don’t think, “Oh, I should get rid of some of the romance.” Instead I think, “Oh, somehow I’m marketing to people who hate romance. How do I fix that?” There are some things I can’t control. For instance, I can’t control who sees the book on Amazon, but I can control my book cover.  I figured that if I let the first cover of the series speak to the romance that would be enough. Readers would know what to expect.

This print version is available on Amazon here.

The Light Who Binds Gets A New Cover and is Available in Print!

I know some of you dear readers are print only readers and I’m sorry you’ve had to wait. I knew I was going to change the covers and I didn’t want to make you buy one that was of the wrong style. Maybe you aren’t like me, but if I had a set that all matched, except for one or two, I’d have to rebuy those books so I had a matching set. Sadly, I’ve done this before. So, knowing I was going to quickly redo the covers, I just couldn’t do that to you. That’s why the print version for The Light Who Binds has taken so long. I needed the artist to finish the cover first. It’s done now, and it’s glorious!

You can see this cover is all about the action. My intention is that the covers for the rest of the series represent a specific scene in the book, most likely one of the focal points of the story.

You can get your copy here.

A Gorgeous Inside!

It isn’t all about the cover. One of the wonderful things about being an Indie Author is that I do my own publishing work. It’s hard to find a publisher willing to devote an entire day of someone’s salary to adding special details inside a book. It seems the mass market books have become duller and duller over the years. Rarely do you even get real chapter titles. It’s even more rare to get special fonts unless it’s a special anniversary edition. Well, not so with my print books.

Each chapter has a real title and each chapter header is in a special Celtic font. I’ve also placed gorgeous initial block letters at the beginning of each chapter. Here’s an example.

I don’t know about you, but my little book loving heart goes pitter-patter when I see details like that. So I wanted to give it to you all to enjoy. These details are also inside of The Light Who Shines print edition. Unfortunately Amazon doesn’t allow us to use these special fonts in Kindle editions. In this one way, print really does rule.

The Audio Edition is Released!

Ohh, my dear Readers, I know many of you have been waiting for this. The audio version has just been released and it is available on both Audible and Amazon. It will soon be available on Amazon Whispersync. Now, I may have mentioned this before, but my parents are avid audio listeners. They listen to an audio book for several hours every evening together. So I want to share a tip my father shared with me. I shouldn’t share it with you because it will reduce my profits. But, I find myself compelled to anyway . . .

It is almost always cheaper for you to buy the ebook version and then pay the extra for the Whispersync version than to buy it straight on Audible. However, if you are an Audible member and you have the credit system, then you should compare the costs. It is still usually cheaper to go with the ebook version/Whispersync than to use one of your Audible credits. The Whispersync version of The Light Who Shines was going for only $1.99 last year, so it was definitely better to go that route than to buy it straight on Audible. The Whispersync version should be available any day now, but definitely within the next few weeks.

I’m telling you this because my narrator, Elizabeth Klett, is a master of voices. It’s amazing what she does with the characters. I think it’s a performance that is not to be missed. Yes, I used the same narrator for The Light Who Binds as I did for The Light Who Shines.

You can get the Audible version here.

You can read a five minute sample of it here. Just click on the link below the book cover.

Just a reminder: It is so helpful to me when you give my books a review. Not only do other readers use it as a guide on what to purchase, but Amazon determines which books are most well loved based on the number of reviews and that makes a big difference to the amount of exposure they are willing to give me. Even a short review really helps.

Happy Holidays!

Lilo

Yay! Today is the day! The Light Who Binds is out on Kindle!

A couple things to remember . . .

• I’m offering it at a reduced price for this weekend only at $3.99.
• For this weekend, any sales made for The Light Who Shines (Book 1) will be donated to the International Wolf Center. So this is a great time to share the series with friends if you love it.

Amazon link: http://amzn.to/1Jq3Qvh

Enjoy!

Lilo

So, I submitted The Light Who Shines to ACX, which is a company that acts like a market for authors to find Audible approved narrators for their book. Getting it on audio has been one of my goals for this year.

Then, ACX gave The Light Who Shines a special “stipend” which they only give to books they feel will do really well. (Oh yeah!) It is essentially a bonus that goes from ACX directly to the narrator to try to attract the best talent. Not only did I find a great narrator (Elizabeth Klett), but the offer is now signed, sealed, and delivered!

So The Light Who Shines should be in audio by Christmas! Woot! Woot! Doing the Happy Dance!

P.S. Elizabeth did the Prologue in her audition, and I got chills. Serious chills, up and down my arms. It was exquisite. The drama was restrained, but the tension in her voice was breath-taking. My Mom got the chills too. And my sister who is a harsh audio book critic (she listens to audio day-in and day-out) 100% approves of Elizabeth’s narration as well. So this is going to be really good. I am so excited.

Ohh, P.P.S. The Elizabeth does a fantastic Irish accent for the Prologue too. (Happy Dance!)

Lilo

Friends, I am so excited to reveal the updated cover. The previous cover is beautiful and I consider it fine photographic art. But I felt it needed a splash of color to stand out on the Amazon page and a bit of a fantasy feel. I also felt it was missing a crucial element, namely the wolf Varg.
 
Varg, with absolutely zero script, is the most loved side character of all. I had no idea he would create such magic and even held doubts about having him in the book. I felt it was a bit of personal self-indulgence because I would love a huge wolf with mysterious magic powers as a guardian! But my readers seem to want him too. So much so, they have not only offered him a home in their abodes, but they have actually created a hashtag demanding I create Varg T-shirts. I shit you not. (Who came up with the saying anyway? And why? Err . . . Let’s not digress.) The hashtag is #VargTshirt should you feel the urge to use it.
 
Without further ado, here it is!

Isn’t it lovely?

As much as I love the cover, there is something else I’m possibly even more excited about. Only a true bookworm would understand this adoration. Along with the new book cover, I also reformatted the interior file. The title and chapter headings are in the same Gothic Celtic fonts you see on the book cover, and each chapter has a dropped initial cap block! What is that you ask? Let me show you!
 

How can you not appreciate those initial cap blocks?!!! I had an insane desire to color them deep blue or red, but I restrained myself. (Barely!) That will have to wait until I’m traditionally published and, well, famous, and able to produce an “Anniversary Edition” of some sort. Besides it would have added to the cost and I didn’t want to do that.
 
Is that it? Nope! This update also includes a round of tightening. The book went from 136K to 130K. The changes were made to reduce some repetition and unnecessary adverbs. No major parts were removed. Finally, it was proofed by an English professor so I expect it to be in tip top shape.
 
With all of these excellent updates, you might be wondering how it has impacted price. Well, the Kindle price stayed the same and the print price actually went down by 3 dollars. This is because I lost 6K and my new fonts take up less page width. As a result, my page count went from 470 to 370 so the print costs were reduced. Win, win!
 
I have one more piece of exciting news. I know, it is so exciting already you probably can hardly handle it. (Smile!) But, with my new cover on the book, this happened!
 

 
And that is the last of the happy news.
 
It is my greatest desire to produce a product that is high quality and enjoyable across many levels. I do hope you love the new changes as much as I do.
 
The Kindle version is out now! The revised print version may not be available for a day or two yet as Amazon is still processing it. But it has been approved so it is just a matter of time. 
 
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1eL48yy
 
Lilo 

Update! The print version is now live on Amazon.

Things have been pretty hectic lately. I’ve created two print versions of my book on createspace.com, which are now being distributed by Amazon, their parent company.

I’ve learned a few lessons about writing in the process. The biggest is that I wrote too many words! Almost 140,000 words! The consequence is that it costs a lot to print. Therefore, my price is not as low as I wished I could offer. Apparently, most commercial books are preferred to be between 60,000 and 80,000 words. I hope my potential customers will factor this in when they consider purchasing it or will turn to the ebook version. Meanwhile, I’ve resolved to do better for Book 2.

So far, the book is averaging 4.5 stars on Goodreads and readers are asking me for Book 2 already. Considering this is my debut novel, I’m sure you can understand my excitement!

6 x 9 version: This one is formatted very nicely with 12-point easy to read font, a little spacing between paragraphs (.3), and nice size chapter headings. It is my favorite!
Click here for this version.

5 x 8 version: I created this version to offer a cheaper option for those who want print. It is printed in 10 point Times New Roman as that is a bit tighter. It has been tightened as much as possible and relieved of the Author Bio and the Preface.
Click here for this version.

Both are beautiful books with a glossy cover and white pages! I searched forever to find a cool looking unrestricted use font to use as the chapter headings.

Ebook Version: This is obviously the best value (as always). Click here for this version.
It is also available on Barnes and Noble and on Smashwords.

My most cherished details about the book itself (not the story) are the chapter names. I love chapter names! Each name received thoughtful consideration so that it would hint, but not reveal the contents of the chapter. Each chapter is a different scene in the book.

Lilo

Last week I finally “popped my literary cherry” as my sister says. I released The Light Who Shines on ebook to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. A very exciting day, let me tell you.

A few things have changed since I last wrote. Most obviously, the book cover is now stunning! Thank you so much Ivan Phillips for all the photo work. I’ll post more on this later. I’ve removed “Illustrissima” from the title, as I determined people would have a hard time spelling it and searching for it. And finally, the book took a lot longer to bring to completion then I originally thought. I started my first draft in March and it is now January. I hope to become more efficient over time, but I do work a 40 – 60 hour a week day job in addition to writing. Ahh, such is life!

I have also learned that when you become a new author, people don’t automatically swarm your book to buy it. In fact, hardly anyone even notices. While it may be the most exciting day of your life, competing only with the birth of your first born child, it doesn’t actually turn into a national holiday. I certainly knew this was the case, but I hadn’t felt it to really understand it. Now I have. However, I did get an excellent five star review on Amazon from one fine person who addressed me as Ms. Abernathy and lauded my book’s enjoyableness and professionalism. After staring at the title a few moments in puzzlement, I realized he was actually referring to me. I guess I have become a “Ms.” (last name) now. Another surprise!

Interesting Note: When I first typed enjoyability, my software program accepted the word. When I typed enjoyableness, it said it was a spelling error. Yet, I find enjoyableness in the dictionary but not enjoyability. It’s a shame because enjoyability has so much funnability to it!

Lilo