SIA Showcase for Readers and Writers discussion

Howdy folks! Needless to say, I think we're all excited for this new offshoot of our SIA group. Now, settle in and allow me to ramble.

I'm very new to this indie-author gig, although I've been writing for a couple (okay, more like a few) decades. I decided to go ALL IN and published three of my completed manuscripts within a few weeks of each other in late July and early August 2016. Nothing like jumping in the deep end, right? It was just so exciting to finally get my babies out there in the world.

It was only after publishing that I stepped back and really thought "Now what?" Thankfully, you all were here to creep on in the main SIA group. I learned (and am still learning) a lot by lurking on the various threads.

The most difficult thing for me in marketing my books is that I just cannot stick to one genre. I have a mystery/thriller, a PNR/horror, and a PNR/suspense. To make matters worse, my muse currently has me writing a YA fantasy (almost done) and a fallen angel romance. What?!? If I did know better I'd think my muse had multiple personality disorder.

Any-who... I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone a little better as we settle into our "party house" Cheers!

Hi Jessica!! Hugs!!

Ahhh, Miss Jessica!

*waves like a crazy person*

Welcome to da party house!! ^_~

Don't sweat about your genre Jessica. I'm the same.

I have published.

Two thriller/whodunnits

Two fantasy

One big saga

One book of short fiction and verse

Works for me

@Sam (fka Sue) hugs to you too!

@Annie I'd wave like a crazy person too 'cept I already am one, so I guess I'll send you my normal wave? ;)

@Jane glad to hear I'm not the only one with a genre-hopping and genre-blending muse. She drives me batty sometimes, but I have to follow her.

Everyone have safe and merry Christmas... or whatever holiday you celebrate. Cheers!

Welcome Jessica! Writing in one genre seems like it would get boring, don't you think? Some people can do it, but I read a bunch of different genres, why limit our writing?

Hi Jessica!! I'm with you! I started off in one genre then switched and I will probably switch at least one more time. If not more. I like reading many genres as well so I like to write different genres too.

Hey, Jessica. I write two genres. Keeps things interesting and I might even venture out into more at some point. I say write the story that speaks to you:)

Really nothing wrong with jumping around between genres; diversity makes for more interesting writing. Hell, if you get experienced enough with so many different genres you'll be better at mashing them together, and you could write a sci-fi horror mystery about fallen angel romance.

Hi Jessica, I know what you mean about publishing all over the place. I have a woman's fiction fantasy out and then I also write gay fantasy. I have a dark horror in editing mode and am WIPing a superhero.

I can, at least, say I'm steadfastly in the fantasy genre.

I do, however, find it hard to build that audience when I'm all over the place. No reader knows what to expect. Hopefully they just find my stories good and know to trust that.

Welcome to the group.

As part of our January SIA group showcase event, I'm making my title Mirror, Mirror free for one day only (Friday Jan 13th). Be sure to pick up your copy https://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Jessica...

Ooooh, good choice, Miss Jess! I dig Friday the 13th!! (no joke)

Would you send me a reminder PM the day before, pretty please? I'm gonna promo it for ya but...

I'm super forgetful haha! So, yeah.

Hugs,
Ann

...if I remember! No, seriously, I'll definitely send you a shout. Thanks Annie. Hugs!

Well, between the two of us...

I hope someone else remembers LMAO!! And totes my pleasure, Miss Jess!

*happily accepts return hug*

Jessica wrote: "As part of our January SIA group showcase event, I'm making my title Mirror, Mirror free for one day only (Friday Jan 13th). Be sure to pick up your copy https://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Jessica......"

Great News! Thanks for the heads up.

As of yesterday I moved all three of my titles onto KU. I was trying to keep at least one up on Barnes & Noble, but after no sales in 2 months over there I figured I wasn't losing anything by moving it exclusive to KU. The last book to join the KU party is Desolation Gulch. Any KU subscribers looking for a romantic suspense with a touch of the paranormal should check it out. ;)

How's Kindle Unlimited working for you? I assume you're satisfied otherwise you wouldn't have moved all 3 books but I keep hearing horror stories.

I like it fine, but I have little to compare it to. :)

I started the self pub journey in July and actually put my first e-book out on B&N. Then I set up on KDP. I put two books on B&N, repeated them in KDP, and put my third exclusive to KDP Select to see what that was like. Ran like that for a while but saw virtually no traffic over on B&N. that's when I gradually moved everything to KDP Select. I was never on Createspace or Smashwords or other platforms so I can't compare to those..

I've had great experience with KDP support when needed. And I'm working my way thru the KDP Paperback beta. I know its missing some features (author proof copies being the most obvious) but I'm playing the part of the squeaky wheel, hoping to ensure that is rectified soon.

And as a reader, I love KU. That's where I pick up most of my books. It's a great bargain! So I figured I'd cater to readers like myself and make it easier for them to get their hands on my titles.

What a fun Friday the 13th event! I hope everyone's had as much of a blast as I did.

Since my current KDP Select cycle is set to expire soon and I had forgotten to use up my free days, I figured I'd coast on the coat tails of our group freeday. If anyone missed out on yesterday's download bonanza, you can still pick up Mirror, Mirror free!

As the final day of my five freebie days wraps up, I'm stoked to say I racked up just over 600 downloads. Granted, a little over half of those came from our group's Freeday the 13th event. I'm still excited to see my Facebook posts and tweets paid off (many thanks to those of you who retweeted & shared, BTW). It's tough trying to market while still working a full time job, plus being a wife & mother! So many of you make it look effortless, while I'm left feeling like I need a vacay. Don't mind me if I just curl up in a little ball for a few days...

Maybe when I wake up, a fraction of those downloads will have magically turned into reviews? Hey, a girl can dream, right? ;)

You never know! I got 300 downloads in a recent promo and 2 new reviews have come in!

Disclaimer: I haven't been putting pen-to-paper or fingers-to-keyboard for several days. Laid up sick. But I was planning and plotting in my sleep deprived and medicine addled mind.

I'm at a point in one of my WIPs were my female MC is going thru some awful stuff at the hands of my antagonist. She's held captive and, without going into too much detail, has to be at death's door before her path can cross that of my male MC (a fallen angel). Needless to say, in my sick state I came up with some really bad things for my girl to go through. Nothing is committed to paper yet, and we'll see what survives after the fog of illness has faded...

But my question, after all this ramble, is: do you ever feel bad for the things you put your characters through? Have you ever written a scene and thought, "No. I can't leave things like that." and edited it back a notch or ten?

Jessica wrote: "But my question, after all this ramble, is: do you ever feel bad for the things you put your characters through? Have you ever written a scene and thought, "No. I can't leave things like that." and edited it back a notch or ten? "

Oh yeah, definitely! I have a real problem being mean to my characters. Yet, I know they need to go through struggles to bring out the story properly. So you totally have my sympathy. The best kinds of struggles and plot complications ultimately lead to some kind of growth. But I still know I can be a big wimp when it comes to my characters.

lol I almost exclusively put my characters through h*ll! I feel bad for a minute but I almost never change it. I cried while writing my second book because of the things I had to do to my characters! It's a part of the process I guess lol

Jessica wrote: "But my question, after all this ramble, is: do you ever feel bad for the things you put your characters through? Have you ever written a scene and thought, "No. I can't leave things like that." and edited it back a notch or ten?"

No, I really like tearing characters apart and making them suffer. This sounds like it's a joke but...

*blank stare*

I have gone back to sprinkle on extra angst, though. Like if the scene doesn't quite gimme enough feels XP

Feel better soon, Miss Jess!! x

EDIT: We agree, Miss Ember. Shocker haha!

LOL Jessica! Love your new title: making bad things happen to good characters! Now you're speaking! I'm glad to know I'm not the only insane person around. It makes me feel better to know there might be someone worse than me after all. :P

(Edited I had the wrong name!! Jessica, not Annie. Not sure where my head was...)

I have absolutely no compunction about putting my characters through whatever. They put me through enough with their constant me, me, me....

Alex wrote: "I won't go into details, but if it makes you feel better Jess, the main character from my book has a wife and 2 kids at the start of book 2, and the situation changes by the end of it, and I'm not ..."

LOL Alex! Yeah, I've been know to eradicate family members before (poor Sam, rolling up on a news story to find her parents crisped). I did't have a problem with that at all. But this is different. I guess because I'm doing alternating POVs and that puts me in Shea's headspace while she's held captive and (insert triggers here)... I'm questioning my decision to do so. I'm trying not to fight (too hard anyway) where the story is taking me.

Jessica, I totally relate to not wanting to stick to one genre! Heck, I can't even stick to one genre in a single book, and it's still an open question what genre I'll use for my next book.

I struggle with just how much to torture my characters. I mean, I'm not nice to them, but... Maybe I need to create some more characters so I can be really cruel to them and work my way up to torturing my main characters.

I admire your ability to torture your characters, I really do.

I'm a multi-genre indie author so there will always been at least ten or more genres in just one of my novels alone. I write every one of my books with always a load of several genres mixed in. I'm literally incapable of writing single genres. Yes, I had the problem of when it's time to put it in a category, they only allow you to add it into a few categories and it doesn't include all the genres that are in one of my books least of all any of my others. But I embrace it. Also I have no problem torturing my characters. It's a gift.

Jessica wrote: "But my question, after all this ramble, is: do you ever feel bad for the things you put your characters through? Have you ever written a scene and thought, "No. I can't leave things like that." and edited it back a notch or ten? "

Oh yes. Unlike some of our resident sickos (and I say that with love), I'm not too keen on torturing my characters. I might remove a limb or two (I kind of blew up my first MC and she lost an arm) but there are certain lines I won't cross. In one book, I had a bad guy that was about as awful as you could get (child murderer bad) and I had to dial back the descriptions from one of his victims.

Hi Jessica!! :)

I love your intro and everything else! I hope some of the downloads from your promotion magically turned into reviews :)

Christina wrote: "some of our resident sickos"

You flatter me.

Annnd I totally 2nd what Miss Marie said!!

*sprinkles magical review dust everywhere*

Annie wrote: "Christina wrote: "some of our resident sickos"

You flatter me."

Well, I *wasn't* going to name names... ;P

Christina wrote: "Well, I *wasn't* going to name names... ;P"

Credit where credit is due...

*grins*

Maybe because life isn't a genre. If the experiences are real no need to invent. I like the expression, keep writing.

I need to send a quick shout out to fellow indie Nicole R. Locker.

Last night, outta the blue, she sent me an amazing cover update for one of my books. It was the last one that still had my original, amateurish attempt as a cover. An update was something I'd been meaning to do but life kept getting in the way. Needless to say I'm thrilled! Talk about paying it forward... now I've gotta find my opportunity to share the love. Yay!

Jessica wrote: "I need to send a quick shout out to fellow indie Nicole R. Locker.

Last night, outta the blue, she sent me an amazing cover update for one of my books. It was the last one that ..."

So somebody made a nice thing happen to a nice character. Awesome...

Alex wrote: "That's awesome, such a lovely thing to have happen, which book got the cover? Is it up? Where can we see it?
I like pictures and always like to see how peoples covers are looking."

Haha! I'm so used to trying not to bookwhack ;) She made a cover for *squee!*

So, got a call from my sister. She works for a large retail store one town over. Apparently, a newer member of the management team there approached her after seeing one of my author posts on my sister's Facebook feed. This woman asked my sis how she knew me and when she learned I was a memeber of the family, proceeded to have a total fan-girl moment, asked my sister if there was any way she could arrange a meeting and maybe have me autograph one of her books. Apparently she's bought paperbacks and ebooks of all three and loves them! She just randomly found them via one of the 'suggested reads' emails from Amazon. Whatever I'm doing, it's finally working!! *squee*

Oh wow! That's super amazing, Jessica!!! Congrats on having a fangirling fan!!!

That is freaking awesome! To have a fangirl!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!
Congrats!

*does weird old-lady congratulatory dance and sprinkles room with fairy dust. Dog jumps excitedly*

Jessica wrote: "So, got a call from my sister. She works for a large retail store one town over. Apparently, a newer member of the management team there approached her after seeing one of my author posts on my sis..."

Woot! Always great to meet a fan!

V.M. wrote: "That's amazing! Let all the fame and power go to your head! That's step one in creating an army. Then you get to name them.
I suggest "Jessie's Girls"

:)"

Epic! I love it. :)

Hi, Jessica! You have fans in "real life?" I can't even imagine! That's awesome!

Jessica wrote: "So, got a call from my sister. She works for a large retail store one town over. Apparently, a newer member of the management team there approached her after seeing one of my author posts on my sis..."

Sweet! A fangirl! That's really awesome.

Jessica wrote: "So, got a call from my sister. She works for a large retail store one town over. Apparently, a newer member of the management team there approached her after seeing one of my author posts on my sis..."

Umm...

Whoa!!! That's freakin' awesome sauce!! Congrats on the new fangirl!!!!

Hugs,
Ann

My humble little short story Fractured cracked the top ten in its category on Amazon yesterday. Woot-woot. Then I had the immense joy of watching it climb from #8 all the way to #2... where I now seem stuck. LOL

I'm calling in the troops! If anyone is interested in a free download and a fast, suspenseful read - you know what to do. I just wanna be able to say I hit the top, even if I don't stay there!

https://www.amazon.com/Fractured-shor...

Got it. Good luck :)