January 24, 2016

Hiya, lovelies!

So it's currently 5 AM, and I can't sleep on account of me and my best friends watching scary videos on YouTube a few hours ago (who needs sleep anyway?!), so I've spent some time revising Twisted, and I came up with a neat idea!

To kick off the publication of Twisted, I want to do a little giveaway! Remember how I mentioned I was only going to publish the ebook version? Well that's kind of changed - I'm going to print a small amount, too, and the lovely winners (I haven't decided how many yet) will receive FREE PRINT BOOKS. And a little note from me! I'll be reminding ya'll more of this the more organized I get, right now it's just an idea, but I'm excited for it - I think it'll be an awesome way to kick start the publication!

So yeah, keep an eye out for the giveaways in the future! I hope to publish Twisted in March, but I'll keep ya'll updated!

Love,
Sarah xx

January 12, 2016

Wow, so I almost made the common mistake of titling this in 2015, but caught myself at the last moment! 

Hiya, lovelies! Happy new years!! Another new year coming our way, full of opportunities and, of course, challenges yet to be overcome. How exciting! 

Boy do I have some news for you! The cover design for Twisted has just came in this morning, and though it still has things that need to be tweaked, it is absolutely amazing! I got goosebumps just from looking at it. Once the artist is completely finished with it, I'll give thanks to her properly on here in case any other self-publishing author is looking for a credible cover artist. 

My sister is currently critiquing the manuscript - and it's a bit nerve-wracking but exciting at the same time. Remember last time I said that she critiqued my work and what happened? That I rewrote the entire manuscript? Yeah, I certainly remember that. But luckily this time, there was improvement, so she's not calling for me rewriting anything - she's just helping me with with believablity and characterization, which is actually always fun. I'm so lucky that she's willing to set aside time and help me out on this - and she has been a great help!

The only nail-biter is that my content/developmental editing starts officially the 20th, so I have 8 days now to polish the manuscript the best I can until then. Eight. Days. God help me.

And just to top it off, I start classes on the 20th - so that must be a magical day of some sorts. But anyhow, I hope everyone's enjoying the new year - keep your head up, stay positive, love ya'll! :) 

December 29, 2015

Hiya, lovelies!

So I had a weird sense of...strangeness. I literally feel like I just posted my last blog post a couple days ago, but here it's been a couple weeks? It's insane how quickly time goes by around the holidays - wow! 

Anyhow, so I recently heard back from my editor about my editorial assessment, and she should be getting that to me around the 6th of January. I also contacted an amazing artist from deviantart to commission for both the ebook and print version of the book cover for Twisted - I've already chosen what stock photo I want for sure on the cover, I just need to essentially make it look cool and format it, hence is why I hired a professional - for a very reasonable price, may I add! I'm also going to go entirely through full content editing around the 20th of January, so I'm hoping to get Twisted out at the end of February! And then finally start working on Unstable.

I have an idea for how I want to start getting my book out there, and my original thought was to sell ebooks first, since it's going to cost to print books, and if my book flops, then I won't lose THAT much money. But I've decided that a lot of people probably still prefer actual books over ebooks, so I'm going to print a few at first to see how that goes and sell in both formats. It's honestly so much to think about, and I'm so thrilled to talk to my editor about the process in accurate detail so I don't make any huge mistakes. This is my first time going for this, so of course it's nerve wracking, but I really feel like I'm ready to get Twisted out there! 

I also have a new and professional twitter that ya'll might want to check out; I post about books I've read, about my personal blog, and more on books I will publish one day, so yeah - check it out @Sarah_Marie28

Other than that, I hope ya'll are having a great time celebrating your holidays! xx

December 14, 2015

Hiya lovelies!

I hope everyone is having an amazing day, I got to sleep in this morning and eat brownies for breakfast so, evidently, life is beautiful. I'm off for the winter break as of now, so no classes 'till mid January soo

FREEEDOOOOOOOM.

As for Twisted, I sent my completed manuscript to my editor for an editorial assessment, and she should get back to me by January 6. I'm so nervous but excited to get some professional outlook on what I have so far; I know I have things I need to fix, but once she gets back to me, I'll really know where I stand from a marketing perspective. Needless to say I haven't been able to even look at the manuscript since I sent it, though I've gotten a couple of new ideas I'm going to bring up with her when I hear back. My biggest issue is which route I should take when it comes to publishing, but once she finishes reading my manuscript she's going to give me her advice on that. I'll keep ya'll updated when I hear back from her and whatnot; I also sent the manuscript to my best friend (also my ex hahah) to read and he said, and I quote, "It's like when you go to the bookstore without any money and pick up a book to skim over, and you start reading it and realize that it's surprisingly really good, and you wished you had actually brought money." Soo there's a bit of positive feedback with him on that, though he has yet to finish reading it 😂

As always, feel free to hit me up on twitter @SmilinForYa! Or just email me from here. Hope ya'll are having a great day and enjoying the holidays!

PLEASE VOTE

I'd really appreciate it if ya'll took the time to vote on this!! Thank you :) 

Le Poll

November 29, 2015

So after completing the manuscript for Twisted, I've been faced with very difficult decisions to make regards to publishing. When I started writing the 2nd revision, I thought I'd be going the traditional route, but the more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards indie writing. 

My chief concern is control - I have a genuine fear of pouring my blood, sweat, and tears into a story, then having a big, bad publish house take total control and change it into something I didn't have in mind, for MY story. I'm undergoing extensive research to see which is a better direction for me to take, and there are so many things to consider. If I go indie, I'll basically have to be my own publisher - to get my book out there, to get the cover design, formatting, ISBN, distribution. But as I mentioned, the biggest pro there is, is that I will have complete control over my book and how it sells. It sounds like it may take a great time and effort, and more expensive to start off - but then again, with traditional, you've got to cut your royalties with the agent and publisher, so the rate for royalties in indie is much higher. Overall, the biggest issue is getting my book out there - but luckily, the portrayal of indie is lifting a bit. 

I myself personal think the idea of an author publishing their own book, marketing it, and everything is so amazing. Sure an indie author doesn't have to go through a big, bad publishing house - but if they don't know what they're doing anyhow, or their story still needed lots of work, then they'll flop. The indie route is a major risk, but I'm starting to really think it's worth it. If my work flops, at least I can blame myself for that.

Anyhow, onto a lighter note, the winner of writing prompt #2 belongs to Demi and I'd love to portray her work on here, but I asked for her permission, and she had personal reasons not to have her work featured. Nonetheless, congrats, lovely! She wrote a hilarious yet touching little piece - and the two celebrities she chose were SO random and...well, unexpected. 

As for prizes, it's going to take some time for me to get those out. I'm so sorry for the wait, school has been hell, and I didn't take a lot of things into account - I just kind of plunged in there xD This is the reason I'm going to have to put a stop to the writing prompts, for now, until my life gets back into...control. 

I just want to thank everyone once again. A lot of the times I stop and get pretty emotional because to think I'm able to do what I love for a living is just...sometimes very difficult to comprehend. For those in the states who have celebrated Thanksgiving this past week, I hope ya'll had plenty of turkey, or whatever food ya'll had! And for others who are celebrating holidays I unfortunately don't know of, I hope those are going well, too! 

I'll keep ya'll updated as things progress, in terms of Twisted. In the mean time, hit me up on here, or on twitter @SmilinForYa, or you're welcome to read some of my fanfics at 1DFF. 

Love ya'll! xx

November 18, 2015

Hiya lovelies!

Soo tonight I'm going to celebrate...well, okay, probably not tonight because I've got homework and classes tomorrow, as well as work, but this weekend I shall celebrate because I FINALLY COMPLETED THE MANUSCRIPT. IT TURNED OUT TO BE A LITTLE OVER 60,000 WORDS WHICH I WAS NOT PLANNING FOR AND EVEN NOW I FEEL LIKE IT NEEDS MORE.

Now's the time to butcher the hell out of it. Fuuun. And to find some beta readers!

Since I was so happy from this, I made a little something to...illustrate how excited I am.

Anyhow.

So pertaining to the last writing prompt, honestly, I haven't had a chance to read anyone's submissions until this morning. Things have been crazy busy where I'm at, with finals approaching and me getting in tune with my jobs and whatnot, but hey, winter break is coming up, so I plan on working on some of my fanfictions and getting Twisted out there!! 

As soon as I decide on whose writing is the winner, I'll send the notification and announce them on here (and hopefully post their entry). I hope everyone's having a wonderful day!! :) xx