Hi guys!
Long time, no talky-talky, I know.
And I have only the poorest of excuses.
There was the whole moving thing, just before the snow began to fall.
No shortage of work at my full-time job.
Then there was work setting up my desk, sorting through files to find the most recently saved version of the projects I am working on (laptop to desktop transfer was challenging/entertaining/frustrating).
Then there was Life. Love. Nanowrimo, which I love, and has been a big part of my life this entire November. I wrote over 40,000 words in 20 days, most of them words of revision/editing, some of them very VERY good words… Which means, that if we’re 20 days into November, I have ten days left to work on the revision of Reaper I – III, and I can proudly say she’s over 75,000 words long at current count, with new characters, new scenes, new conflict, and a much wider range of emotions and experiences (let’s face it, she was pretty one-dimensional at times). She also has a token, a talisman now — I’ll see if her readers can figure out what that is.
I’m sure that some of you are aware that I am re-writing Reaper to make her better than ever.
As promised, she now takes place in Toronto, instead of nameless, faceless, vaguely represented “The City”.
You can read the first 8 full-length chapters of her adventures on Wattpad (right off of the website, or on the Wattpad app for your assorted devices) at:
http://www.wattpad.com/story/26797837-reaper-i-the-dark-thing
Please, feel free to comment within Wattpad on what you think of the improvements I’ve made to Reaper – I am looking for constructive feedback so that I can see whether or not I’m on the right track. She will always remain true to her voice, and nature, and goals, and drive, but if she has some terrible flaws that I just can’t seem to see, I would love to know it prior to, oh I don’t know, knocking on doors to find an agent to represent the work or an editor to take a gamble on her.
I am planning on releasing a minimum of one story per week, most likely on Tuesday or Thursday nights. It is the commitment I’ve made to the book, and the commitment I’ve made to myself. Writing is my first love, and loving boyfriend is most understanding 🙂 He’s a keeper.
Reaper I: The Dark Thing will make its debut on Wattpad, week by week, chapter by chapter, until it’s done…
It’s been up for 3 days and it’s already had about 60 reads: not bad, considering it’s a completely unknown restricted 18+ novel floating in an ocean of PG-13 One Direction fanfiction on the Wattpad website 🙂 Not sure what will come of launching it on Wattpad, whether Samantha Bennet will gain a following of loyal fans or not, but three days in, her author has 0 followers, and is still largely unfamiliar with what to expect as far as statistics…
My strategy?
For now: post my revised stories, completely free of charge, and let destiny take the wheel.
I will make a point of removing my the rest of eBooks and Print books from amazon, lulu and smashwords over the winter months.
At the moment, the other offering I have on Wattpad is a short story of mine that might tickle your fancy: Beware the Silence, it’s the ten-seconds of spotlight in a werewolf tale that takes place in Northern Manitoba that two characters wouldn’t otherwise get in the larger WIP that they are from (Josephine’s Story) — my super-secret series SotNL.
It appeared in an anthology recently: An Unkindness of Ravens by the Thompson Writers’ Guild.
You can read Beware the Silence here:
http://www.wattpad.com/story/26762882-beware-the-silence-a-cautionary-tail-from-a-larger
I figured out my Twitter password, long forgotten, shame on me, so you will see more frequent updates there @amandamaholt
Any recommendations on where else I should promote my free stories?
Where do you guys go mining for free/affordable story gems?
Happy reading!
Amanda M. Holt, Amateur Authoress
Permalink
Leave a Comment
So…
……wrapped up the 9-page Prologue on one of the novels in a horror/paranormal series I am working on….this is the Series that I only speak of in hushed whispers to colleagues or when i’m face to face with some random stranger who is curious about what i’m working on… Or apparently when I stumble unto helpful men who present themselves as admirable sources of information (or who can point me to additional resources…I wasn’t sure where to start with my research for the one project….now I know — Thanks, Rick). The Prologue is, to me, a nice intro to the background story of the main character (who i have chosen to name Paige) who i will gush about in future installments of WordPress blogs.
I don’t know which of the books in this series (and i have approx 13 planned, great number for a supernatural series, IMHO) will be the first released — at this rate, it will likely end up being whichever one is finished first….It is my intention that they will all be novel-length (think 75,000 word mark), and feature locales in MB, Saskabush, and I’m thinking a few other provinces. Being a proud Canadian, I am trying to get out of the habit of writing about Americans or featuring US metropolises as the location for my tales… IMHO, Canada as location, especially small town Canadiana or Northern Canada, are untapped resources. Which is a shame, really, because our country is gorgeous, its geography as diverse as its people — and its mythology, ghost stories, urban legends, etc.
That last sentence may have given away the general theme of my series….suffice to say, I’m keeping it more or less under wraps until I have 1 – 3 titles of the 13 to realease.
Since some of those titles (take “Paige” for example) whisper some days and roar others. Today, she shrieked like a housewife who’s just found her husband in bed with his golf trio wrestling sans clothing. Today, “Daniel” kind of whispered, and “Tic Tic” went Tic Tic and kind of reminded me that they’re lurking around in my head… I look outside my kitchen window and I hear the calls and cries of the flagship of the series going “forget about the others, write about us, write about us” and “don’t forget to drive out there….you gotta get back in THE ZONE!!!!” and “but is it all connected as a subterranean complex, or???”
As you can imagine, imaginings can be quite demanding little creatures at times.
And isn’t it funny, there’s a point in every moon cycle — and every woman’s cycle, which seems to be correlating ATM — that creativity surges, a spark burst into being, the spark flares and the fire of “What if-?” is born…whether to sear too soon and fizzle out in a brief puff, or smolder long with much smoke or burn bright and true with fuel that may stand the test of time……it’s always hard to predict, isn’t it.
I genuinely hope that people will find my series interesting. Interesting enough to sit through all 13 installments?
XX fingers crossed XX
Enough about my not-so-secret top secret project, now.
On to what i propose to work on this week on my days off: SHADES OF GREY: BOOK 3 aka See No Evil. I broke my promise to myself, to a friend, and to the general public. It was due to be out in July, i shall try my very absolute best to have it out by my birthday (August 13th, if anyone’s interested 😀 ). I’ll be 33, which is a duo of my favorite number (3), so I am satisfied that I am turning this age. 32 was a good year, it had its ups and downs, but in my biased magically thinking numerically titillated opinion, 32 is a boring number. Not a prime 😦 Not evenly divisible by 3. Divisible by two 16 times (who cares). Adds up to five when 3 + 2 are put together (its only saving grace). 33 — 3 x 11 (prime by a prime, cool) and two 3’s, also cool. So ya, I have a little infatuation with numbers.
There — look, a slithery thing on the underbelly of my mind.
It be true, there are other slithery things there 😀
You shoulda seen how excited i got about turning 27.
That was 3 x 3 x 3. divisible by 3 nine times. or 9 three times….3x3x3….beautiful…
Three 3’s.
3 cubed…
Okay, time to feed myself and start thinking about getting ready to work. Like, at the thing that pays my bills and is the other source of gratification/accomplishment in my life: nursing.
So ya, I’m getting hungry.
Was originally going to have ribs at a joint outside of town, but am now glad that i didn’t, because I had a great chat with the owner who ended up offering himself as a resource (and offering to point me in the direction of some local history buffs) — so really, it all worked out to benefit me GREATLY!!!
Tuna sandwich for supper, Ribs next saturday if i don’t work 🙂 My treat to myself, if I am very productive.
Weight watchers points are taking a beating, but I gotta feed my brain, it does the thinking that does the doing that does the coffee pouring that does the drinking that does the thinking that….oops. got stuck in a loop.
HEY, FELLOW CANADIANS!
HAPPY CANADA DAY (tomorrow)!!!!
Sincere regards and happy reading!
Amanda M. Holt
Amateur Authoress and Sometimes Numerology Nerd (Listening to Evanescence….up next? Florence + The Machine!!!0
Permalink
Leave a Comment
So…
……in a previous post, I stated that I only had about $650 in sales Dec – Jan.
I just looked up my sales on the Kindle Direct Publishing account website…approx $700 in sales in USD, $70 GBP, and $25 in Euros. I really must learn to understand the monetary systems a bit better!
I expect that the first week of February will result in approx $70USD in sales and European sales approx $15 in assorted monies.
Anotherwords, off to a slow start, but little progress is still progress, and at least I am building a readership with my $0.99USD priced books and free promotions (where the BIG download numbers occur, in the 10’s of thousands!)!!!
Yes, it would be nice to one day be able to write to support my writing, and write alone, but for now I have to keep my day job! lol It’s a day job I love, so it’s one that I will likely keep until, if, and when my writing income becomes the greater earning power, allowing me the luxury – and priviledge – of being to work primarily as an author whose success (or failure) is at the entire mercy of their reading audience.
That being said, I apologize for my previous inaccurate account of my Amazon sales. Since this Blog is written in part to chronicle the ups & downs of an amateur author, I was almost certain that someone would appreciate hearing the honest numbers involved in my endeavour (35% royalties for books priced under $2.99USD; 70% royalties for books priced over $2.99 USD through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing).
I am keeping my single installments of Reaper Series (paranormal/horror for adult audience), Shades of Grey (paranormal/horror for adults), and Getting Lucky (erotica series) priced at $0.99, so I am getting 35% of $0.99 or roughly $0.34 per sale there. Stand alone titles (such as Her Man [romance] and The Deal [erotica/paranormal]) will also likely remain at $0.99. I will offer larger collections in the future, which I expect to be priced at approx $3.99 for Reaper I – V and possibly $2.99 or $3.99 for the Shades of Grey I – V collection.
I am going to be selecting a charitable organization with each title, to whom I am going to give a portion of the royalites collected. I estimate this amount will be between 7% and 10% per royalty. I will calculate and distribute this amount at the end of every year.
With February/March being the income tax season here in Canada, I am of course concerned about making sure that I accurately report all of my income, expenses, etc. At the moment, my writing income is very small. My expenses have put me in a “loss” situation for 2011 (through the purchase of software, new laptop, printer, filing cabinet x 2, office supplies [i.e. printer cartridge, paper, pens, mouse, keyboard, flash drves, external HD, etc], and other incidentals).
I look forward to working with the very patient and knowledgable staff at H & R Block to help me figure out those receipts I need to keep track of, and those I don’t — etc. It’s all very…..complex. Capital losses and write offs and whatnot. But that’s what the Tax Literate are for. I fall into the category of Tax Illiterate. But i’m working on that!
Anyway, my self-assigned break is over, so it’s time to hit the floor and do a round.
Sincere regards and happy reading!
Amanda M. Holt
Amateur Authoress, Night Nurse and Taxation Neophyte
p.s. Reaper V due out on or around February 29! WIll try to promote FREE at that time! Are you excited? I’m excited! Number V already! Whoot-whoot!
Permalink
Leave a Comment
Cover art by Alex DeShanks
Hello again, people!
Today I advertise “An Unusual Encounter of the Rock Star Kind”, a contemporary paranormal romance novella, the blurb for which reads as follows:
“A chance encounter with the lead singer of a rock band leaves Cassandra rapt with anticipation. Les is everything that the young nurse has ever dreamed of – and the sexy drummer from Boston is even hotter up close in person! He is apologetic for accidentally knocking her to the frozen Winnipeg sidewalk, yet she barely feels the ice and snow with all the heat that is rushing through her core.
Cassandra wonders if his invitation to supper is as innocent as it seems. Is it his way of saying ‘sorry’, or the beginning of something more? She finds herself wondering: just how far is this encounter going to go?
More than that, she wonders: what will be for dessert?”
Rating: SPICY-Graphic language, one sex scene.
Genre: Contemporary Paranormal Romance.
This little novella has been a point of contention between myself and my editor at New Concepts Publishing. I felt that the tale should be told in present tense, first person. They felt that it was fine in its original version, of mixed present tense and past tense, as they felt that a story must be told in past tense, not moment by moment.
I wrote this piece entirely as a writing exercise, to flex my nubulous literary muscles (read: amateur finger flexes, ten thousand word repetitions). I wanted to test the waters, to try different tenses and see what the end result would be.
The end product? A product that my editors seemed thrilled with (thrilled enough to publish), but something that I feel is a touch awkward in its current state.
I guess the only way I’ll know for sure whether “An Unusual Encounter of the Rock Star Kind” is a hit or a miss is through book sales and love or hate mail as a direct result of that audience…
Either way, whether it sinks or swims, I welcome your critique, comments, and constructive criticism on the latter.
You can always email me at holt_writer@hotmail.com
My sincere thanks for your support and interest!
Amanda M. Holt
p.s. – cover artist is Alex DeShanks, who always does a lovely job!
Permalink
Leave a Comment
The Novels of Amanda M. Holt 