Jaxon Knight's Blog - Posts Tagged "behind-the-scenes"
Gearing up to release
I'm super excited to release my first book - but I thought I'd give you a little behind the scenes on what that means.
The pre-order is up, but I'm still editing the manuscript (in the last third as of date of publishing).
Here's what's on my to-do list:
Finish editing
Decide what advertising graphics I want and relay that information, plus text, to my cover designer
Finalize blurb
Write details for the copyright page
Write endmatter
Set up pre-order for book two (so can link in endmatter)
Format the paperback in Vellum (can maybe get wife to do this step) and give paperback details to cover artist so she can give me the wraparound cover design
Upload paperback to Amazon and set to release
Order author copies of the paperback
Set up a newsletter
Write and edit bonus story to give as a freebie to newsletter peeps
Distribute ARCs for reviews
Draft text and graphics for author takeovers
Write some blog posts to promote the book
....
and probably some other stuff I've forgotten. Oh, I also need to cook food, eat it, do laundry and generally have a life as well... Phew !
The pre-order is up, but I'm still editing the manuscript (in the last third as of date of publishing).
Here's what's on my to-do list:
Finish editing
Decide what advertising graphics I want and relay that information, plus text, to my cover designer
Finalize blurb
Write details for the copyright page
Write endmatter
Set up pre-order for book two (so can link in endmatter)
Format the paperback in Vellum (can maybe get wife to do this step) and give paperback details to cover artist so she can give me the wraparound cover design
Upload paperback to Amazon and set to release
Order author copies of the paperback
Set up a newsletter
Write and edit bonus story to give as a freebie to newsletter peeps
Distribute ARCs for reviews
Draft text and graphics for author takeovers
Write some blog posts to promote the book
....
and probably some other stuff I've forgotten. Oh, I also need to cook food, eat it, do laundry and generally have a life as well... Phew !
It's Alive!
Rival Princes is now live! I've had people in touch with me to tell me they have it on their kindles, which is nerve wracking.
I've also had people ask if self publishing is difficult.
The actual act of self publishing is really simple - you just upload an image for the cover, and a document for the manuscript and then you tell Amazon a couple more things and make it live. You don't even have to have an ISBN for self publishing on Amazon.
The difficulty is finding people willing to actually buy and read your book.
So, because I want this book to do well I had to have a cover which matches the genre expectations. In this case it had to have two good looking guys and a certain colour palette. It also has to be gorgeous, so I hired a professional. I'm no designer, and I don't know the ins and outs of what the market wants in a sweet contemporary romance cover, so here we are. I do adore the cover...
I also hired a professional editor, because the last thing you want is for readers to be distracted by typos, repeated grammar errors or incorrect words. Sure, I've edited this book myself and I've had alpha and beta reader feedback, but there's always stuff that gets missed. I'm sure there's still a spelling error or something in there... My editor is also a developmental one, so she gave me some amazing feedback on how to make the scenes pop - varying action and thought and adding in some things I hadn't considered. Better book = happier readers.
And then there's the marketing aspect. I'm aware I have barely dipped my toes into the vast sea of online advertising. I'm doing things like updating here, sharing my book ad on gay romance facebook groups, doing a group takeover, blog posts and so on. I could be sinking a lot of money into Amazon and Facebook ads too, but I'm not quite ready to. Advertising can easily suck up a lot of time and money, and I'm leery of doing that - but also if I don't, then I might not reach a good audience. How do you decide what to do?
All of this is a huge learning curve, and I know I'll get better at it as I go. In the mean time, I just really hope people like exploring the Fairyland theme park, and fall in love with my boys the way I did.
I've also had people ask if self publishing is difficult.
The actual act of self publishing is really simple - you just upload an image for the cover, and a document for the manuscript and then you tell Amazon a couple more things and make it live. You don't even have to have an ISBN for self publishing on Amazon.
The difficulty is finding people willing to actually buy and read your book.
So, because I want this book to do well I had to have a cover which matches the genre expectations. In this case it had to have two good looking guys and a certain colour palette. It also has to be gorgeous, so I hired a professional. I'm no designer, and I don't know the ins and outs of what the market wants in a sweet contemporary romance cover, so here we are. I do adore the cover...
I also hired a professional editor, because the last thing you want is for readers to be distracted by typos, repeated grammar errors or incorrect words. Sure, I've edited this book myself and I've had alpha and beta reader feedback, but there's always stuff that gets missed. I'm sure there's still a spelling error or something in there... My editor is also a developmental one, so she gave me some amazing feedback on how to make the scenes pop - varying action and thought and adding in some things I hadn't considered. Better book = happier readers.
And then there's the marketing aspect. I'm aware I have barely dipped my toes into the vast sea of online advertising. I'm doing things like updating here, sharing my book ad on gay romance facebook groups, doing a group takeover, blog posts and so on. I could be sinking a lot of money into Amazon and Facebook ads too, but I'm not quite ready to. Advertising can easily suck up a lot of time and money, and I'm leery of doing that - but also if I don't, then I might not reach a good audience. How do you decide what to do?
All of this is a huge learning curve, and I know I'll get better at it as I go. In the mean time, I just really hope people like exploring the Fairyland theme park, and fall in love with my boys the way I did.
book 2 - 1 week to go
So I pushed myself to release book 2 fast, and it is definitely a push.
In just over a week Mischief and Mayhem will be live on Amazon - Kindle Unlimited, and the paperback soon to follow.
I ... don't think I'll release so quickly again without more front end preparation. It doesn't help that I went to Rarotonga for 10 nights (well, it does help, it was freaking awesome) but wifi isn't much of a thing there so I couldn't be on top of my editing the way I wanted.
But never fear, I will pull through and book 2 will be done in time.
If you liked Cody from Rival Princes, you'll love this book which goes into Cody's backstory, his rich internal life and challenges.
It also introduces Dean, a perky roller coaster operator with the biggest heart in the park...
I can't wait for people to read this one, it's a little different - a slow burn, opposites attract kind of story, but I think you'll like it.
Book 3 is also in the works, look for that in mid -September, featuring chef Charlie and the heir to the Fairyland themepark empire. Well, more on them later.
In just over a week Mischief and Mayhem will be live on Amazon - Kindle Unlimited, and the paperback soon to follow.
I ... don't think I'll release so quickly again without more front end preparation. It doesn't help that I went to Rarotonga for 10 nights (well, it does help, it was freaking awesome) but wifi isn't much of a thing there so I couldn't be on top of my editing the way I wanted.
But never fear, I will pull through and book 2 will be done in time.
If you liked Cody from Rival Princes, you'll love this book which goes into Cody's backstory, his rich internal life and challenges.
It also introduces Dean, a perky roller coaster operator with the biggest heart in the park...
I can't wait for people to read this one, it's a little different - a slow burn, opposites attract kind of story, but I think you'll like it.
Book 3 is also in the works, look for that in mid -September, featuring chef Charlie and the heir to the Fairyland themepark empire. Well, more on them later.
Recipe for Chaos - launching this weekend!
This one has been a bit down to the line, from my cover artist getting sick, to edits coming through at midnight and my frantically trying to work out which of many named recipes in the book I should stick in the back of it. But I got there.
(I also launched another book and another pen name since the last Fairyland book, heh)
The manuscript is being uploaded to Amazon today and stress or not, this book is going to launch!
Can't wait for you all to meet Max Jones, heir to the Fairyland park and see what happens when he meets up with fan favorite chef and king of snark, Charlie...
(I also launched another book and another pen name since the last Fairyland book, heh)
The manuscript is being uploaded to Amazon today and stress or not, this book is going to launch!
Can't wait for you all to meet Max Jones, heir to the Fairyland park and see what happens when he meets up with fan favorite chef and king of snark, Charlie...
