These Are the Moments Book Launch Party

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Okay, now that the world has stopped for just a moment or two, I can finally tell you about the amazing book launch party I had in my hometown. And also get a little sappy about how I'm a published author now . . . someone get me a soap box.

But first, I need to thank you. Yes, you. If you've read my book or bought it or posted a review, I'm so grateful to you. I'm unbelievably amazed by the power of this community and I can't thank you enough. *showers confetti on your head*

Okay, let's recap:

Book Launch Party

In Covington, Louisiana, which also happens to be the setting of These Are the Moments, a girl put on a red dress and her red lipstick. Hint: this is me. With 120 books in the backseat, my mother, sister and I drove off to the Southern Hotel which was kind enough to host us for the evening. There was wine. There were nerves. But most importantly, there were books that needed good homes.

As 5:30 neared, a couple walked out of the bar and stopped to look at my poster.

"What's this?" stranger man asked.

"Oh," I said, caught off guard. "This is a book. I wrote it." Eloquent, let me tell you.

He takes out his wallet. "You're local. So you're family."

I awkwardly hover over the table and sign my name. I sold a book. I watched him and his wife leave with my words tucked under his jacket. And I wanted to remember that feeling forever.

If I could put that night into words, I would need a whole book to do it. I signed over 91 books that night. I watched as my family and friends reveled over the cover, gently opening to see what I'd written to them inside. If there was one prominent feeling, one single and solitary emotion I can pinpoint, it was love. I'd never felt so much love and support in my entire life.

Thank you, Covington. Thank you for raising me. Thank you for loving me.

Book Launch Day

Aside from my friends and family, my Twitter tribe is amazing. In little over a year of blogging, I've made incredible friends that were excited right along with me, tweeting confetti emojis, and sending me pictures of their shipping notifications. (Shoutout to Brett from The Prodigal Sister.)

I couldn't really prepare myself for all of the friendship. Honestly, I'm a very lucky girl. And if you're reading this, know that I'm so thankful. I do not take a second for granted.

So if you're curious about sales, allow me to be straight-up with you. Here are my sales to date:

1. Book Launch Party: 91 copies sold. Additionally, I sold about 6 copies in-person post-party.
2. Ebooks through Kindle Direct Publishing: 25 ebooks sold.
3. Print copies through Createspace: 19 copies sold.

Not too shabby for less than a week of publication. If you'd like me to create sales reports for this blog to help you learn more about how I sell and the steps I take to sell more, please comment below. I'd be happy to provide income reports.

Praise for #TATM

It's one thing to write a book and sell it. It's another to have people actually like it. There has been so much love for this little book so far, and even though it's not your typical, happy-go-lucky romance, I think that makes it all the more special.

I'm not going to sit here and rave about my own book. But I do want to honor those who took the time to write a review. If I'm missing anyone, please comment with your review link below.

1. She's Novel Featured Lady. Thank you, Kristen, for the honor!
2. Huffington Post Summer Reading List: Romance for Real Girls. Katie Li, you are magnificent.
3. 125Pages. 4.2 stars from Laura Nagore.
4. A Time 2 Write Guest Post. Thanks to Abi for letting me host her blog for the day.
5. Books and Ladders Review. Wonderful to meet Jamie and so happy she enjoyed the story.
6. Write Like Rowling Review. Thanks to C.S.!
7. Better Novel Project. Christine is my girl. Go check out her amazing TATM fan art.
8. Writer's Edit. I'm so thankful to Writer's Edit for publishing my first short story. They're incredibly supportive and interviewed me for their blog!

Now, back to the notebooks. I've got a second book to write.

Createspace Advice: Tips to Mastering Print Publishing

Hello, friends. It's lovely to see your bright, smiling faces this fabulous Monday morning. So yesterday was my birthday, but that wasn't the most exciting part of my week. Last Wednesday, I received the first print copy of and I nearly died of excitement. (It's an actual possibility. Look it up.)

As a self-published writer, you have to ask yourself some big questions. Which platform are you going to use? Are you going to print copies or just stick with ebooks? When I first decided to use Createspace to print my book, I was a little overwhelmed. What size book should I pick? What kind of cover should I use? 

After months of research, I finally pinned down all of my preferences. Here's my best Createspace advice:

Set a Publishing Timeline

As a first-time self-publisher, the last thing you want to do is rush yourself. After you finish writing your book, try to make a flexible publishing timeline. Here are some general guidelines:

1. Developmental Editing: Two to three weeks depending on your editor. Tanya Gold takes two weeks, and helps you outline a schedule.
2. Book Cover Design: This is the big one. It can take anywhere from two to four weeks depending on adjustments. Because I fell in love with my original design by Natalie Olsen, it only took two weeks. Note: when picking a designer, find someone who is familiar with Createspace and the dimensions, etc.
3. Proofreading: This can be overlapped with the book cover design, as mine was. For me, it took about two weeks. Note: Allot for a week or two between receiving your developmental edits and sending the updates to the proofreader.
4. Interior Formatting: Interior formatting is what makes a book look like a book. I formatted my own book, using Joel Friedlander's Book Design Templates. This took me about a week to navigate. Need help? Try Crenel Publishing.
5. Print Time: Since I'm kicking off the book release with a book launch party, I need to place a bulk order. Since Createspace is a print-on-demand service, this can take a while. I made sure to give myself at least a month of print time, just in case.

Buy Your Own ISBN

Okay, some of you may disagree with me here. Through Createspace, you have a couple options. You can either use a free ISBN from Createspace or you can purchase your own at Bowker. Let me break it down for you:

1. Free ISBN: pros: You get to keep your money. cons: You most likely won't be able to sell your book in bookstores/lend them to libraries.
2. Bowker ISBN: pros: You are your own publisher. With the free ISBN, Createspace is listed as the publisher. Also, this is a universal ISBN. It's accepted by Ingram, Createspace, wherever. cons: It costs money. Too much money.

For more information, read this post from The Book Designer or this one from Ksenia Anske.

Order a Print Proof

The Createspace website is very user-friendly. It's designed in a series of steps, and helps you to navigate your way to a published print book. You upload your files directly onto the site and within the next 24 hours they will approve them. Once this is completed, you'll view the digital proof.

While it's not necessary, you should order a print copy. I chose expedited shipping, and received it in three days. It's really important in order for you to see what the book actually looks like on paper. From there, you make changes and approve.

Sort Through the Details

With print publishing, there are a thousand tiny details. It helps to have a good concept of these before you start the process. Here's what I've got for you:

1. Trim Size. Yes, you'll have to choose the size of your own book. You'll need to have this fairly early so that your cover designer can fit the proper dimensions. I chose the 5.5x8.5" option, which is pretty common. Tip: Createspace provides templates that you can provide to your cover designer to help with sizing.
2. Page Color. This one is a pretty easy choice. For fiction writers, cream colored paper is the standard.
3. Pricing. This gets a little trickier, because it involves royalties. Thankfully, Createspace provides a handy little calculating tool to figure out just what you are making. For me, I'm pricing my book at $12.99. (The ebook will be $2.99.)

Set a Book Release Date

For this one, you'll want to set a release date far out enough that you can get print copies delivered to you—if you're planning a launch party, that is. Additionally, you'll want the extra time for promotional/marketing reasons. If you're a first time self-publisher, you don't need to do any mega-marketing. Focus on writing more books. Still, you'll want to get the book wherever you can. More to come on this later.

Discussion Time: What are your Createspace questions? Do you have any Createspace advice to share with us?

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How to Find a Book Cover Designer

Good morning, friends! When I was searching for a cover designer for These Are the Moments, I did not know the first place to start. A great cover can make or break a book sale for you. Let’s dive into the process!

Like learning how to find a freelance editor and how to find book bloggers, I had to find out where to search for a cover designer.

First up? The best places to look for designers:

Do The Research

Google is your friend.

I'll be honest with you. I didn't have the first clue about where to find a cover designer when I first started the publishing process. I knew that I wanted a good quality designer at an affordable price, but beyond that, I was clueless. 

When it comes to finding a book cover designer, take it to the search bar. Make sure to search based on your unique need. Try "affordable book cover designers" and "book design for self-publishers." Where should you search? A few suggestions: 

• Search Engines. Because, obviously.

• Pinterest. Fun fact? This is where I found my cover designer. Probably not the most effective way, but it worked for me.

• Amazon. Have a crush on a book cover? Pay attention to who designed it! From there, you can contact the designer for rates.

Use your resources.

If you have friends with self-publishing experience, ask about their experience with their chosen designers. Take to Twitter with the hashtag "selfpub" and see what kind of response you receive. 

Try Reedsy.

There's an amazing new website called Reedsy, by my friend Ricardo. (No, that's not an affiliate link. Just a total fan over here.) Reedsy is a simple way to connect writers with cover designers and editors.

You review the designer/editor profile, and then reach out to them with your project. From there, they'll send you a bid with a price suggestion, and you'll make your choice.

How to Choose Your Designer

When it comes to choosing a designer, there are three things you need to consider:

1. Affordability. Know your budget before you even begin to look. Think of this as wedding dress shopping. You may fall in love with the fancy Vera Wang, but your savings account may be left crying.

2. Experience level/reviews. You want to make sure your designer is a professional. Browse their portfolio and their customer reviews. When communicating with him/her, pay attention to the response times and the way he/she handles business.

3. Your book. When you browse through this designer's work, can you envision what he/she could do for your book? So much of choosing a designer is gut instinct. It's taking a leap, and praying that you stick the landing.

Be Prepared

Have Your Book Ready.

There's a great chance that your designer will want to read your book for inspiration. Have an edited copy prepared to send, as well as ideas of what kind of design you may want. 

Know Your Timeline.

Designers can take anywhere from two to three weeks, so make sure to budget this time into your publishing plan. There are definitely designers who can accommodate a faster turnaround time, but for your sanity, make sure you give yourself ample time.

Be responsive. 

This is someone's livelihood. Make sure you are responsive and clear about what you're looking for in a design. If your designer reaches out to you with a question, be ready with an answer!

Images vs. Illustrations.

Personally, I didn't want a stock image for my book cover, so I made sure to seek out a designer who could accommodate this.

Discussion Time: What do you know now about how to find a book cover designer that you wish you had known before? If you're looking for a designer now, what are your struggles? 

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How to Find a Freelance Editor for Your Book

This is post #10 in a fifteen post series, entitled “15 Days to Writerly Awesome in 2015,”  posting on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday of January.

If you've been keeping up with #TATM, you'll know that I finished writing my novel just recently. The next step? Self-editing. You can review my tips here. And finally, here I am, looking for a freelance editor. If you're publishing traditionally, your literary agent will hook you up with a publishing house, where they have happy little editor elves waiting for you. (I realize I'm oversimplifying.)

For self-publishers or writers prepping their stories to seek representation, finding a freelance editor is key. Hint: this is easier said than done. Hint: you probably already knew this. Read on for all of my editor-hunting secrets:

Social Media Rules

In order to find a freelance editor, look to your friends. Ask your writer tribe who they have used in the past. Google, of course, is always a great resource. But here's my secret. For me, I found my lovely new editor through Pinterest. That's right. When I researched finding an editor on Pinterest, it led me to the Freelancer's Union website, where I then found my new editor. When it comes to seeking support for your novel, you've got to get a little creative.

Ask for a Sample Edit

Once you've narrowed down your list of potential editors, it's time to see if you're compatible. Think of it as dating, but the stakes are higher, because this is your book for crying out loud. Pay attention to the response time in your interactions with these potentials. (This can be really telling of how available they will be to you.) When you receive the edit back, compare each editor's notes. Tip: Don't mistake a lack of notes as an indication that your writing is flawless. You are not Beyoncé.

Ask the Right Questions

• What is your editing process? This is when your editor-to-be will explain how he/she works. Pay attention. Does this timeline work with your publishing schedule? Does this editor give ample amount of notes? Will you receive the edited book all at once or in small doses?
• Are you available soon? Some editors will book months in advance. Availability is key to actually getting to work with your editor of choice.
• What is your previous experience? On his/her website, your editor most likely listed credentials and reviews from past clients. Still, it's important to hear this directly from your editor. Tip: Try to get the editor on the phone. It's a much more effective form of communication. 
• What are your rates? Do you offer package deals? This is the tricky part. Editors are not cheap, people. Choose ahead of time what kind of service you're looking to purchase. For me, I'm doing four chapters of developmental editing, and an evaluation for the remainder. I highly recommend hiring someone as a proofreader, at the very least. Once you decide this, think budget. What are you willing to pay for a good editor as well as for each type of service?

And that's all, folks! Back to the writing cave, I go. #TATM will be sent off to editing on February 11th, so I've got my work cut out for me. Happy writing!

Discussion Time: Have you ever hired a freelance editor? If not, do you plan to? Please ask any further questions below!