Ask the Author: B.A. Mealer
Answered Questions (12)
B.A. Mealer
You will get it. You take a couple of hours and write a few posts in advance, Then you set them for when you want them to go out. Just write what is of interest to you and most of your readers will be interested. What you like will show, so don't make it a chore. Think about what you'd like to hear from your favorite author that doesn't involve writing tips and hints. Save that for groups of authors. When I pick up a book or sign up for a list, I want what they are doing, little snippets of their life and what they are working on.
B.A. Mealer
Blatantly asking folks does help. But I actually wrote a short novelette as a give away. It was a prologue to the novel I was selling. I gave it away for free on AuthorsXP and Prolificworks in their promotions. Cost me less than $100. I had less than 20 % who left. You enter them in the giveaways that fit your genre. On Bookfunnel, they have free list building giveaways and I got al most 100 from one of those. These are people who read in your genre but you need to keep them engaged with Monthly news letters and updates and when your book is due out and things about your. So it does take some work to keep them on your list. Those who send out daily newsletters that are nothing but "buy my book" get deleted and a lot of unsubscribes. You can do every week if you want but once a month seems to work quite well. Use a company like Mailerlite where you can have 1000 people on the list for free.
B.A. Mealer
If you have a publisher, yes, they should provide the ISBNs for all the version s they plan on publishing.
B.A. Mealer
I haven't used Book Buzz. I don't use many of the outside advertiser. I mostly keep to Amazon ads and a few cross promotions from Book Funnel, APX, and those types. I spend as little money as possible right now as I finally got my 'she shed' office and I need to get it finished. That means that trying out new promotion sites are going on the back burner.
B.A. Mealer
I am using hello@theauthorstudio.co, her name is Blair, She will do a sample for you. Same with Jamie Brydone-Jack at jbyrdonejack@gmail.com. I use both of them and they will do the in smaller chunks is you can't afford the $1200 for a 120,000 word book. Blair did have a special going on for proof reading only. I use them for copy editing which is slightly more intensive with sentences, flow, word choice, and things like that. Proofreading is basically punctuation and a few other things they see along the way. Jamie caught my time and eye color mess ups along with an issue with names. You can also check on UpWork. Those are vetted and you can look at their ratings. Most of them will do samples and you can play let's make a deal with them. I have used UpWork for several things including a cover design (until I found 100covers which I love.) The other one is Reedsy. They have people all over the world and you can find ones from the UK and US. If you go with Jamie or Blair, let them know I sent you to them. Good Luck
B.A. Mealer
It isn't really a mystery in my life, but I do have a grandson who sees ghosts and talks to them. He is totally unafraid of them and finds them fun. We first thought he was making it up until he asked if it was okay to talk 'red and 'orthy...my parents, Fred and Dorothy, who had died in the house prior to my daughter moving into it. I can see it as a basis for a story with some fantastic things happening. He talks to this ghost kid who gets him into all sorts of trouble. How do you tell a child that he doesn't have to do what a ghost tells or asks him to do?
B.A. Mealer
Writer's block is something I haven't had a real problem with yet. If I'm having a problem with a book, character, scene, etc. I put it on the back burner, let it percolate for a while and do something else. Georgia, one of my trio of women in a series, has decided to be stubborn in the way she meets her romantic interest. She is still sitting in limbo, but I've had several ideas on different directions to take her. It isn't a block so much as the book got bogged down and went the wrong direction.
Another idea is to create your perfect person on paper. As you make them into this character you want to meet, imagine places for them to be and situations for them to solve. Add friends, lovers, enemies.
Think about a plot. What do you want to happen in a book? I dislike the formula books, but each book has to have certain elements to work, so start with those things and build a story around them. Nothing has to be connected until you start fleshing out chapters...then you connect them.
When you sit down and see that blank before you and you don't know what to write, close your eyes and daydream for a few minutes. Become that hero/heroine and then write what you dreamed, even if it is only one scene.
If I'm at an impasse, I'll edit a book I have written just to get away from the current writing until I can look at it with fresh ideas. When you see things, experience them or learn about them, write down ideas for books or short stories. I have a list of ten ideas for books and given enough time, I'll get them all written.
Another idea is to create your perfect person on paper. As you make them into this character you want to meet, imagine places for them to be and situations for them to solve. Add friends, lovers, enemies.
Think about a plot. What do you want to happen in a book? I dislike the formula books, but each book has to have certain elements to work, so start with those things and build a story around them. Nothing has to be connected until you start fleshing out chapters...then you connect them.
When you sit down and see that blank before you and you don't know what to write, close your eyes and daydream for a few minutes. Become that hero/heroine and then write what you dreamed, even if it is only one scene.
If I'm at an impasse, I'll edit a book I have written just to get away from the current writing until I can look at it with fresh ideas. When you see things, experience them or learn about them, write down ideas for books or short stories. I have a list of ten ideas for books and given enough time, I'll get them all written.
B.A. Mealer
The freedom to let your imagination go. You bring people to life and put them in situations where they have to step up or fail. The more I learn about writing the more I enjoy it, even the editing which is tedious at best.
B.A. Mealer
If you want to write, be aware it isn't easy. There is a lot to learn plus, you need to have more than one idea for a story. Take those classes. Buy those books which help you. But...you need to sit down with the pad and pen or at the computer/laptop/tablet/phone and write.
90% of the people who want to write, never complete one project. They start and then quit. You need to be that 10% and complete what you start. That first draft is going to be horrible, but you can edit it after you are finished writing it.
Remember: 90% of the failures in life are those who have the habit of making excuses--George Washington Carver
So....stop the excuses and do it.
90% of the people who want to write, never complete one project. They start and then quit. You need to be that 10% and complete what you start. That first draft is going to be horrible, but you can edit it after you are finished writing it.
Remember: 90% of the failures in life are those who have the habit of making excuses--George Washington Carver
So....stop the excuses and do it.
B.A. Mealer
The answer to what I'm working on depends on what I feel like for that day. Currently, I'm editing "The Jillian Factor", a romantic suspense for publishing. I'm also editing my first novel, an urban romance, and making it a series due to the length. I also have another book I'm on the third draft about a girl who is an angel. I'm also working on the second book to one I've written, wanting to get it written before publishing the first novel. I'm also writing the third book in a series.
As you can see, I'm multitasking in a way, but it is the editing which takes a lot of time. When you are an indie author, you don't have that free editor to go over your work multiple times as you make corrections. You have to have it in great shape before the first edit and then as correct as possible prior to the proofreading, both of which are costly.
As you can see, I'm multitasking in a way, but it is the editing which takes a lot of time. When you are an indie author, you don't have that free editor to go over your work multiple times as you make corrections. You have to have it in great shape before the first edit and then as correct as possible prior to the proofreading, both of which are costly.
B.A. Mealer
I see, hear or read things which give me ideas. I also have this technique of falling asleep where I make up stories in my head. Those stories are now being written. Most people don't look around them or don't see what is there. I've learned to just let my imagination go and put it on paper.
B.A. Mealer
For Abilene, I got the idea when I was riding through New Mexico on my way to Nevada for a class. It was so beautiful and I could see a story taking place there. When I saw all the oil wells near Carlsbad/Roswell area...well that gave me a plot.
I will admit, I have fallen in love with New Mexico and the high desert in Arizona.
I will admit, I have fallen in love with New Mexico and the high desert in Arizona.
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