Yay! My Publishing Contracts!

Last week, I got not one, but TWO publishing contracts from Italy (Newton Compton) & Germany (Heyne - Fliegt). Not only are these very awesome countries, and very awesome contracts, but they are my first ever publishing contracts!

This is surreal folks, SUR-REAL.

I was informed by another cool writerly buddy *cough* Renee Collins *cough* that I was supposed to take pictures of me signing. And so, here begins the picture taking journey.

This is me being surprised when I realized I was getting 6 copies in each of these two beautiful languages. I don't know what I will do with these copies. Maybe get a pedestal with bullet-proof glass and an alarm that triggers if anyone breathes around it too heavily?

Yeah...I'm still throwing around ideas.

This is me displaying my contract proudly. Isn't it so pretty?! I tried really hard not to drool on it. And look! Most of my facial paralysis (the infamous Bell's Palsy) is gone. I still look slightly more relaxed on the right side, but more like that side of my face is on vacation than on strike. I'm pleased to be able to smile with teeth on both sides again.

HUZZAH!

Like I said. November = great. October was sucky beyond all measurable means of suckitude. But November and I get along just fine.

My thumb, complete with celebratory glitter-pink fingernail polish, approves of the contract signage as well as the month of November. There was much happiness throughout the land.





And now to be serious for a moment. This is incredible. I've imagined holding a publishing contract in my hands a million times and it never even came close to the real thing. This road has not been easy, but dude--does this make it all worth it? Yes. Yes, it does. It makes it feel real and I can't even explain how grateful I am. I'm lucky. Beyond lucky.

Share my happiness today? Anything totally fabulous going on with you? Are you and November getting along? Let's start this week off with even more good news.

Marketing 101

I've had a couple of recent requests for some marketing tips and so today I'm revisiting a post from a couple years back.

My B.S. is in Public Relations with a minor in Psych (watch out or I may analyze you). After graduation I worked as a P.R. Analyst and later a Marketing Coordinator.

With this kind of background, I've developed some pet peeves when it comes to the publishing world. There are so many aspiring authors and debut authors that seem to think the world ends with a happily ever after upon publication. Understandably, they have a hard time looking past that momentous event to the reality of what happens after. This leaves them in a world of hurt.

I've heard it said that it's hard to get published and even harder to stay published. I'm absolutely certain that is the truth. In light of that, I thought I'd do a post with nine quick basic marketing tips.

Many of you may already know most of these. Let's face it, I'm preaching to the choir here. Nonetheless, I hope you might find something new or interesting that can benefit you or another author-friend of yours.

1 - Be accessible - Establish a web presence, have a website, let people find you.

2 - Network, network, network - This one takes hard work, time, and maintenance. Get out to writers conferences, develop a blog following, connect with people who might in turn connect with you.

3 - Have Giveaways/Contests - Universal truth = people love to win things, and it doesn't matter what. Contests and giveaways always raise the excitement level. Help spread the buzz about you and your work, get people involved in new creative ways and they will want to help you succeed.

4 - Start at Home - Get involved on a local level. Become familiar with writers groups, schools, libraries and bookstores in your area, and allow them to be familiar with you.

5 - Contact Bookstores/Libraries/Schools when traveling - Let's be honest, few debut authors get sent on massive, nation wide book tours. Whether or not you have a book tour, if you happen to be traveling, you should take advantage of it. Contacting bookstores/libraries/schools on your travels will help spread the word to other regions.

6 - Learn how to write a good press release & get a list of contacts - This is huge. Monumentally huge. Even if you spent 24 hours a day out there, spreading the word, you won't reach as many people as if you learn to properly utilize the media. And I mean every form of media. Arrange a blog tour, know the contacts of local newspaper, radio, tv, podcasts, vlogs... everything you can think of. Just do it.

7 - Know what is newsworthy - It doesn't take a lot to turn a note in the newspaper calendar into a local interest story, and many more people read those than check out the calendar listings. Service to your community is never a bad thing. Use your meetings and signings to coordinate support to give back to the community.

8 - Gather support - Recognize that your supporters want you to succeed and let them get involved. Form street teams, give them bookmarks to pass out, whatever. Just be creative and help them spread the word on your behalf.

9 - Be yourself - The most interesting and dynamic authors out there are the ones who aren't afraid to have a little fun with it. Enjoy yourself. You are living your dream. Have fun with your marketing and those who are around you will have fun too.

Anyway, there are some basics. If you have any questions, go ahead and leave them in the comments. And have a GREAT WEEKEND! :)

And Now...to NaNo

So, I've decided to support all that is NaNo... but not by writing. I'll be doing NaNoReMo and focusing on my reading this month. I currently have  eight books to beta for my crit partners and then I get to move on to some wonderful published books that I need to catch up on. While I'll still be writing, my focus this month will be on reading.

AND I'm so excited about it!!

How many of you are doing NaNoWriMo/NaNoReMo? How is it treating you so far? Any progress? Do tell!

In Honor of Halloween--A Creepy Excerpt!

I'm a big fan of all things Creep-tastic. Thus, I love Halloween. So far this year, I've attended three Halloween parties--one as a pirate, one as a beverage, and one as a football player...like I said, I love Halloween. Also, I love today. It's a big day for me. Momentous even. Why? Because my lower right side of my lip is starting to move again!

HUZZAH!

For those of you who don't know, I've spent the last two weeks with the right half of my face paralyzed. It's a temporary thing called Bell's Palsy, but still pretty freaky. So, I'm VERY happy to see a little of my movement starting to return.

In honor of all this, I've decided to post the first page of a project that has been on my mind lately. It's extremely rough, but I love it in all it's creepiness. So, enjoy! And--

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The city surrounds me. Shiny rectangles so tall I can barely make out where they end and the sky begins. They wrap me in shadow. Hiding me. Holding me. I feel safe here, and I don’t remember the last time I felt safe anywhere. The sun sets against an unseen horizon, but I don’t head home. Why should I sleep in a city that doesn’t?

            The sounds and smells of this place are like a different world. It smells like people. The park around me fills the air, green and vibrant. I’m surrounded by millions of breaths taken at once—by life. The best thing the parents ever did for me was to die without giving me much trouble. Everything I’ve ever known is death and pain, being drenched in life feels good.

            Closing my eyes, I extend my arms and feel the warmth of the city flow around me, flow through me. No more pain. No more clawing fingers dying to break another bone, to raise another bruise on my pale skin. No more cruel eyes and words twisting my world. Now they are just dying—just dead.

And I don’t regret what I’ve done.

To Russia With Love OR Hooray for Kasie West!!

Alright, a person who is totally and absolutely uneducated on Russia...is about to educate you on Russia. Take copious notes:

~ Royal families get cursed.
~ It is very cold and you get many chances to wear extremely fashionable scarves.
~ Princesses tend to wander off, but don't worry, they are soon saved by dashing rogues who sound surprisingly like John Cusack.
~ Little talking bats may seem bad at first, but they are really good.
~ Never trust a guy who lives at the bottom of the ocean/river, especially if his head occasionally falls off.
~ Russian people LOVE to dance, but mostly only in ballrooms at palaces, or at the Moulin Rouge...which seems like a long way to travel to dance. Their options appear limited.

This is all that I learned from Anastasia, but by looking at the above map, I can also tell that:
~ they like yellow
~ they like their space.
~ Also, any book printed in that language = uber cool.

Go ahead. You can say it--I am a virtual Sherlock Holmes.

Which leads me to my absolute new favorite fact about Russia...

They are the first foreign country to pick up rights to Kasie West's PIVOT POINT.

From this, I deduce they are considerably above average intelligence. Well done, Russia.

Oh, and also, *~*~*~CONGRATULATIONS KASIE!!~*~*~* I'm SO excited for you!!

See?! Don't you feel all educated now? Go check out Kasie's post on this very subject and congratulate her!

Sometimes It Is Written On Your Face

This industry can be amazing when the roller coaster is in full swing. The highs are so high, the lows so low. In the past year, I've experienced both. My life outside of writing has been quite theme-park-ride-esque as well. While I certainly do my best to handle it all with patience and grace, sometimes I fail.

Sometimes, I'm just not that strong.

A week ago Sunday, I woke up with dry lips and tried to rub them together. I couldn't. It was a nearly impossible task. I'm prone to occasional random allergies, and assumed I had a fat lip because of it. When I looked in the mirror to check it out though, I realized that my lip was normal size, but the right side of my face was paralyzed.

Total panic ensued. It may or may not have involved weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth--I admit nothing. The only thing I knew that caused paralysis like this was a stroke, so I rushed to the E.R. and learned about something called Bell's Palsy. It is (thankfully) a temporary paralysis of one side of the face brought on by a special cocktail of illness (just getting over strep) and stress (Dad is home from the hospital now).

So while life has improved on both counts, my face somehow missed the memo. It's the most bizarre thing I've ever experienced. It's like the Universe has decided I cannot be trusted to recognize relaxation when I see it, so it has stamped it across one side of my head to make sure I have a good example for my reference.

Thanks, Universe...appreciate you.

So, as I've asked around, it appears many people are more educated about Bell's Palsy than I am. Do you know someone who had it? How long did it last? etc. Don't mind me. I'll just be chillin' in this hammock and trying my best to regain some symmetry in my life--and my countenance.

Not to be a downer...

But I just wanted to give a quick explanation of why I didn't post when I got back on Monday and probably won't be posting for the next week or so. I came back from my (amazing, incredible & wonderful) vacation with a horrible case of strep throat. I've been sick in bed for the last three days.

Then yesterday, my dad had surgery and when he came out, his body was septic, his kidney's shut down and his lungs weren't working right. They kept him on a ventilator and put him in a drug-induced coma while they hope that his body sorts through the toxins in his blood. With my sickness, they won't let me come see him.

It's kind of been a rough week so far. If any of you don't mind throwing a prayer or two my dad's way or just crossing your fingers for him. I would really appreciate it. And please have patience with my absence. I promise to be back to regular blogging soon.

~*~*~*UPDATE*~*~*~

Thank you all SO much for your kind words, thoughts, and prayers. I'm happy to say that my Dad is improving. His kidneys are functioning much  better and they were able to take him off the ventilator last night. Today they moved him out of the ICU and into a regular recovery room. I can't express how much I appreciate all of your support. You guys are the best. :)