February Goals and January Accomplishments

Some triumphs and some set-backs.

What I accomplished:  Major rewriting and replotting of Where We Collide to make it ten times better than it was before. Finished all but 10k of the edits (my goal was 30k edits, not 50k, so woohoo)! Finished Good Criminal Heart.  

What I missed:  Submitted The Unanswerable to ABNA, but due to illness didn't have time to edit it.  Whoops.

Just in case you didn't know:  This is day nine of Sickdom.  Nine!  And while it is "just a cold" and "not the flu" and all that - nine days has really thrown off my writing/editing game.  This just means I need to step it up for February!

Original February Goals:
These are what I originally wanted to accomplish in the new year. 

• Finish editing Where We Collide
• Get Where We Collide to my beta readers

New February Goals:
Similar to the original, but with new additions (and *sparkles*)!

• Edit Where We Collide again - this time to make it into first person, and therefore, even better than it is now.
• Finish CPing
• Get Where We Collide to CPs
• Plot the entirety of No Sugar Coating (my super secret YA Magical Realism project)
• Write Part One of No Sugar Coating

My March Goals will come at the end of February.  Hopefully I will get some more random exercises to be blog content.

But know this, my friends:  I am working!

Giveaway Winners

Wow guys, I am simply blown away.

150 entries for "My Summer Vacation by Terrance Wade"?

I wasn't even expecting to pass 100 entries!

So, since I'm sitting here, blown away by the numbers, I've decided something.  Instead of two winners, I'm picking five winners. Will be e-mailing all the winners very soon.

If you didn't win a copy - and are still interested - you can purchase your copy for only $1.99 on amazon.com or smashwords.com as an ebook.  You can also buy a paperback from amazon or createspace.

And you can come back here!  February 4th will be kicking off the "Follower Love Giveaway Hope" where I will be giving away another two ebooks (not promising five, but we'll see how many people enter)!

There's a Goodreads Giveaway for one signed copy.  Feel free to enter that (bottom of post)!

Other News:

Spent all weekend editing - I feel a little beat.  Went through 32k words.  Trying to finish the major redrafting by Friday.

This weekend, I plan to read through my Amazon Novel contest entry and edit that a bit.  But I'm not spending too much time on that one.
 
My goal is, by the middle of February, have both RUHE and Where We Collide edited and almost ready to query.  Just to reflect on how crazy that is, here were my goals at the beginning of the year:

January: Finish Good Criminal Heart, get 30k of Where We Collide edited.  Submit The Unanswerable to ABNA after a quick read through (not significant editing, just a quick one!)

February:  Finish Where We Collide editing and get it to my beta readers.

March: Make edits to RUHE based on beta's comments. Attempt the same for Where We Collide.


End of February, I should be able to start querying both stories in earnest!  Which means:  OH MY GOODNESS, I'M WAY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE!

Let me dance for a second:  dance!

Oh, and I have a new project that I want to try to serialize (self-publishing).  It's called No Sugar Coating.  YA Magical Realism and super top secret... for now.  ;) 

No Strings Attached Giveaway Hop

I am so amazing pleased to be able to host people for the No Strings Attached Giveaway Hop.  I'm glad that I finally have something worth giving away!

There will be two winners of this hop, each will receive an eBook copy of My Summer Vacation by Terrance Wade.  

"My Summer Vacation by Terrance Wade" is a novelette told from seven year old Terrance's perspective.  His mother comes in through the window, scoops him up, and rushes off to France with him.  Of course, to Terrance, this kidnapping isn't just a kidnapping.  No, he's off to save the world on an adventure.

His voice is whimsical, silly, and a little bit naive.  While he might be astute with how he talks -there sure are a lot of things that he doesn't understand.

Click the "Free entry" button below to enter for a chance to win your ebook copy of My Summer Vacation by Terrance Wade!
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to check out the other "No Strings Attached" giveaway hop participants!

First Month of a New Release and Goodreads Giveaway

As a new author, I thought it might be interesting to look at the first month release and talk about my experiences with self-publishing.  I think your first book should be the book that you make mistakes with - not in grammar or typos, mind you, but with the strategy behind the release.  This is something that I learned more by doing - with advice from some friends.

What I would have done differently:

1. Set a release date and get the paperback and kindle version released on the same day
2. Have a few proof copies to give away a month before the release date, instead of after the release date
3. Advertise better - share excerpts, create a blog hop or tour, get the word out there - submit to bloggers
4. Set up my Amazon Author page in advance - instead of after the release (which, I will never have to do again)
5. Set up the information on goodreads in advance so that the release can be put on new release lists - and do an early giveaway copy

So how did the book sell with little to no marketing beyond G+ and twitter?

I would say:  Decently.

It was released partway into December, so it didn't even have a full month.  The sales break down is below.

Total sales: 17
Sales I know were from family: 7
Promotional Copies: 2 (not included in total sales)

• Kindle: 8  
• Smashwords: 5
• Amazon Paperback: 4

This month I am doing a goodreads giveaway (widget on the bottom of this post) for one signed, paperback copy.

I wasn't expecting "My Summer Vacation by Terrance Wade" to blow up.  I am honestly pleased that 10 sales were not to family members (though I love my family's support). Must mean I'm doing something right.

More planning will go into publishing The Unanswerable, as my first novella.  It's funny how vastly different these two stories are.  Terrance Wade, the kidnapped 7-year-old who believes he's on an adventure to save the world, vs. Matthew, a man who struggles to keep his family alive at the end of the world.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

My Summer Vacation by Terrance Wade

by R. A. Desilets

Giveaway ends February 01, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Drifting Away

Got another Writing Prompt today from the fabulous Nina Pelletier on G+.  So here's the first flash fiction piece of the year based on this prompt:

#1 - 1st person POV
#2 - 400 word count maximum
#3 - Your character has an unusual superpower.  Very Very unusual.  Have him/her tell us about it.

-----


"Hey," he smiled at me. I loved his smiles.

“Hi,” my voice was tentative.

I hated meeting new people, especially new guys. It was my fault that I was such a loner. One of my girlfriends told me a long time ago that I should get over it. But we’re not friends anymore. Call it self-fulfilling, but I saw Gina and Thomas, my ex, run off together long before they did.

“I’m Jack.” He held out his hand and leaned over the counter.

I tried to act the dumb blonde bit and refused to shake his hand. Instead, I continued with my customer spiel. “Our special today is Midnight Moon Chocolate – it’s really good.”

He eyed me; deep blue, grey steady on mine. He withdrew his hand. For the past month, I was able to gawk at him. He was gorgeous. But I didn’t want to touch him. It would ruin everything.

“Tell you what, Kylie. How about you and I go out on a date. Tonight? This place closes at nine, right?” It wasn’t really a question.

I looked down at my nametag. He made my voice sound like music. “Fine,” I grumbled. It was going to be tonight or never. “Ten.” At least I could go home and get the smell of spoiled milk out of my hair.

We met later at the only theatre in town. We had coffee beforehand, we talked, and we watched the only movie playing at 11pm. I treated him like he was on fire, staying far away from his hands as possible. Touching would ruin everything.

He leaned against his car at the end of the night. “I have to ask, is there going to be another date?”

“Maybe,” I said. Here goes nothing. I planted a kiss right on his lips. It took him by surprise. But what I saw surprised me more. The first time I touch someone, I see the last moment I will ever see them. I feel my heartbreak. That’s how I knew about Thomas and Gina before it happened.

Jack was the first person who wasn’t going to leave me. He cried silently over a hospital bed, my hospital bed, and I felt myself drifting away.

When I pulled back from our first kiss, I had a tear on my cheek.

“That was different,” he said bemused.

“You have no idea.” I wiped the tear away.