Cooking Up Something New

Things kind of fell off a cliff for me after my last book. Who knew putting out 13 books in 5 years could be so draining? I tried a new genre and a new pen name, then I stopped writing for a bit. I went from having twenty stories in my head fighting for a place on the page to none, and I did my best to fill the time with other things. I learned Dutch, German, and Spanish until I could read at the beginner level. Then I forgot them all again. I volunteered at the theater until my body quit on me.

And I kept seeing that meme asking: would you be willing to be a pet to a race of super-intelligent aliens? That's where the idea for The Karshe Device began.

It's an apocalyptic sci-fi aventure with three distinct points of view: the human pet, a recently abducted human, and the alien who's trying to save the "galactic wildlife." When I started, I had no plans to publish, but as I reached the home stretch, I realized this is a story I wanted to share. 

To save her species, she must spark a rebellion. Coming soon!

Singing and Editing - My Playlist for Ship Whisperer

In Ship Whisperer, the character has a song that she hums, that helps calm her thoughts and connect her to her psychic ability. What is this song? Well, it hasn’t been written yet.

I have this pet peeve when I’m reading or watching far-future sci-fi—characters that sing songs older than I am, as if a new classic will not have been written in the next however many centuries. It just bothers me.

So when it came to this story, my choices were (1) annoy the crap out of myself by picking an old, familiar song in the public domain, or (2) write a new song. Well, let me tell you, it is no easy task to write a song when it’s the only song in the universe. There’s too much pressure to have the perfect message that encapsulates the novel.

Now there’s an artist I’ve been listening to recently, and in more than one of their songs, there’s a hummed verse or a chorus of “la la la…” I can’t explain why, but it makes me happy. So I thought “what if there are no lyrics to my song? What if it’s a melody of la la-la la-la?”

My brain couldn’t get behind that either. I dug through some of my old poetry and found one piece called Kinesthesis that seemed like it might work, and I considered using those lyrics and making a song. But it was TOO apropos to the bigger picture of the story, and it didn’t really capture the simplicity of the lullaby I wanted to create. Clearly, I fell into the trap of overthinking this. And so I leave it to my dear readers to find the tune.

But in the meantime, here are some songs that were running through my head while I was editing and proof reading. I usually write in silence, and to be fair, I was also editing and proof-reading in silence. It’s just really loud in my head.

(Links are to versions on Bandcamp so you can support these indie artists.)

- Tiny Paper Elephant by The Doubleclicks https://thedoubleclicks.bandcamp.com/track/tiny-paper-elephant

- A Simple Song (in Troubled Times) by Sunday Comes Afterwards https://sundaycomesafterwards.bandcamp.com/track/a-simple-song-in-troubled-times

- The Horse is a Pain by Sunday Comes Afterwards https://sundaycomesafterwards.bandcamp.com/track/the-horse-is-a-pain

- Space Shanty by Misbehavin’ Maidens https://misbehavinmaidens.bandcamp.com/track/space-shanty

- The Alligators by The PDX Broadsides https://thepdxbroadsides.bandcamp.com/track/the-alligators

- Buffalo by The PDX Broadsides https://thepdxbroadsides.bandcamp.com/track/buffalo

- Klingon by The Library Bards https://librarybards.bandcamp.com/track/klingon

- Sky Full of Phoenix by Rhiannon’s Lark https://rhiannonslark.bandcamp.com/track/sky-full-of-phoenix

- Han and Leia by The Chromatics https://thechromatics1.bandcamp.com/track/han-and-leia

- A Lullaby for Mr. Bear by The Doubleclicks https://thedoubleclicks.bandcamp.com/track/a-lullaby-for-mr-bear-adult-version

I’ve actually done covers of The Alligators and A Lullaby for Mr. Bear on my youtube channel. I’m learning Han and Leia for a future video. Yes, I enjoy musical comedy. No, Ship Whisperer is not a comedy. It’s called balance.

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Ship Whisperer comes out October 14, 2021. If you'd like to join my launch team as an Advanced Reviewer, please check out my Book Sprout ARC page. 

Self-Employee of the Month!

 I hate headshots. I know some authors like to put them on their book covers (or in their books). I know some readers like to see them. I think it's the weirdest thing. Humans are an inscrutable race. Nevertheless, every now and then I set up the green screen and the lights, I put on makeup and think about which shirt I wouldn't mind seeing the collar one in a photo, and I take a ton of pictures.

These are some that did not get selected for professional use. Now, I get to use them for entertainment purposes.

And calling back to my previous post about the many hats of a self-publisher, every one of these employees works in a different department, and they are all deserving of an award.

The awards are as follows:

• January - Valerie the Ad Content Writer, for composition and editing of book blurbs
• February - Valerie the Tax Accountant, for completion of business taxes
• March - Valerie the Market Researcher, for blog promotion reconnaissance 
• April - Valerie the Publicist, for her amazing efforts in hosting an online book launch
• May - Valerie in Human Resources, for negotiating a contract with editing services
• June - Valerie the Novelist, for great efforts in writing alien stories
• July - Valerie the Cover Designer, for tireless efforts in designing seven book covers
• August - Valerie in Advertising, for creating promos that doubled our previous month's page reads
• September - Valerie in Layout Editing, for efforts in preparing Book 7 for publication

Seriously, indie authors. Congratulate yourself for the volume and variety of work you do. Celebrate a little bit. I can't wait to see what other awards I get this year!

This dose of happiness was inspired by the Beardo "Self Employee of the Month" comic book. If you need a slice of life comic, check him out! 

The Many Hats of a Self-Published Author

There are many hats, and they all say something about you

A lot of us, when we start the road to self-publishing, know a lot about the craft of writing, but we don't realize just how many different hats we'll have to wear (or how many different types of experts we'll need to hire) to realize our dream. Below is a list of some of the jobs involved.

I made this because a lot of us, when we're working on a single step in the process, get frustrated that it's not straight forward and we can't learn it in a weekend. For example, I recently re-did the book covers for my series. I thought I could do it in a weekend or a few days. For six books. I eventually realized that when I originally hired my cover artist, I gave him a single stock photo and asked for text/color work around it. He probably spent an hour or three, and we had some back and forth over the days to get in all the tweaks. I was trying to create art from multiple stock photos (something my artist would have charged four times as much to do). I was learning how to place text, do color corrections, make light and shadow elements... I was learning a whole new trade.

A lot of the tasks a self-publisher takes on are new trades, and completely different from their primary skill, which is writing books. These jobs on their own might require a degree or certification, and many years of experience to get good at. There's a reason books about self-publishing can go on for volumes. Let's give ourselves permission to learn, to ask for help, and to take no shame in outsourcing to an expert.

THE MANY HATS OF A SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHOR

Management

1. Project manager (responsible for overall schedule and budget)
2. Book keeper (responsible for tracking expenses, sales, royalties, and inventory)
3. Human resources (responsible for finding services, interviewing and hiring editors, artists, or any outsourced task)
4. Office manager (responsible for finding best computer, software, ink, etc)

Writing Phase

1. Author

Editing Phase

1. Beta-reader 
2. Editor 
1. Developmental
2. Line/ Content
3. Copy
3. Proofreader 

Publishing Phase

1. Blurb / copywriter
2. Front/back matter content writer
3. Layout and formatting expert
4. Cover Artist
5. Web Designer/ webpage master
6. Market researcher (responsible for researching keywords, categories, price points, and potential markets)
7. Distribution guru (responsible for uploading books, covers, blurbs, to various distribution sites, and applying market research)

Marketing Phase

1. Ad copywriter
2. Graphic artist (for online ads, physical media like bookmarks, and other swag design)
3. Video editor (optional)
4. Market researcher (responsible for finding new outlets)
5. Ads & promotions manager
6. Social media/blog content writer
7. Sales and market analyst (to figure out if your current marketing efforts are profitable)

Events (for those who do live events)

1. Travel coordinator
2. Event planner/coordinator
3. Publicist
4. Bio writer
5. Photographer (headshots)