Good Sunday everyone! Today's calendar says, "There is always a way." True. And if you are querying, that way is not giving up. MOST people attempt to publish before the book it's ready and then get disappointed when they receive rejections galore. They end up shelving a good manuscript and moving on when the answer … Continue reading Journey to a Bestseller: How An Agent Can Read ONE Chapter and Know If Your Book is Any Good (Series #35)
Hello everyone! So happy to be here today. My desk calendar today says, "You don't have to be perfect to be AMAZING." So true. Today, my friends, is the launch of my third book, The Final Rescue, the last book in the Freedom Fight Trilogy. It is $0.99 this week. In fact they are all … Continue reading Journey to a Bestseller: Amazon Ads.2 and Bookbub Ads (Series # 34)
Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com A lot of people have opinions about this subject, and it is one that I'm passionate about. I agree that opiates are bad, and people shouldn't be started on them if at all possible. The government is waging a war against opiates and they are hard to get … Continue reading The Opioid Epidemic
Good Sunday everyone! I am so frustrated with the AMS ads. I am a relatively smart person, so I read up on it, took a course--twice--testing at 100% both times. I thought I knew what I was doing. My first ad was accepted, but when I went the next day to look at its performance, … Continue reading Journey to a Bestseller: Amazon Ad Results.1 and Official Book Trailer (Series #33)
Good day everyone! I have super news! I have the ten required Amazon reviews I need to buy ads for launch. I am throwing the net wide, but not without advice from those who have had success with ads. Launch day for The Final Rescue is March 22nd, 2020. Which happens to be a Sunday … Continue reading Journey to a Bestseller: Amazon Ads for Fiction Authors (Series #32)
Hello everyone! We have some new people and I digressed from the "journey" last week with my story about my German grandmother. I appreciated all the kind words. So, I decided we'll start off with a low down of what I'm working on what the next steps are. First, we have been on a marketing … Continue reading Journey to a Bestseller: Catch-up on Our Book Progress (Series #31)
I apologize for not writing a blog last week. My grandmother recently passed away not long before she would have turned 97. Don't worry, we aren't sad. And before you get offended, you have to know my grandmother, or as we called her, Oma. So, today we are deviating. Today I'm telling you about Oma. … Continue reading Oma’s Story
Good weekend everyone. Happy Sunday. This week is for the indie crowd. I have been talking the last few weeks about spreadsheets and queries. But what about us self-publishers? I hear you. Your book, finished and self-edited, should now be in the hands of beta readers. And only include your mom in this if she's … Continue reading Journey to a Bestseller: First Steps for Marketing (Series #30)
How to write a query letter,
Photo by Max Ravier on Pexels.com Hello everyone! Sorry I'm late this week. The carpet cleaner is coming and my world is upside down. Now, I had someone tell me this week that my website confused her. I want to know, do any of the rest of you feel that way? I'm not sure why … Continue reading Journey to a Bestseller: Getting Your Agent List Ready to Query (Series #28)
Here are new "author photos" that are mostly me being my goofy self and my sister in law snapping away. She came by this week and did my hair and makeup for the photos. So sweet, she just called and volunteered to do it. Beca is a hair and makeup guru. @Lipstickzombae Don't let my … Continue reading Journey to a Bestseller: Making a Spreadsheet For Researching Agents (Series #27)
Hey everyone! I took a week off for the holidays. Actually, I was writing my newsletter and I forgot. Shhh. So, in the life of our WIP which I am going to start calling by its title: The Clockwork Pen, I now have my first draft. I wrote the whole thing and went back to … Continue reading Journey to a Bestseller: After Typing “The End”~What’s Next? (Series #26)
If you're a writer, feel free to share this post with your readers. As for you readers, the superstars, the audience, the fans, has anyone asked you to give them a review of their book? Maybe a friend, a new author, perhaps. Does the idea of leaving a review make you want to throw up … Continue reading Step by Step Book Review Template…For Readers.
We are about to enter a different phase with our NEWLY COMPLETED manuscripts! Yay! Yes, I finished "the bestseller" this weekend. If you are writing with me, have you finished your first draft? What was your word count? My final word count for the first draft, which always raises quite a bit by the end, … Continue reading Journey to a Bestseller: Four Editing Tips (Series #25)
It's been a long week, folks. I was in a book fair at Woodneath Library in Liberty, Missouri, this weekend. Joined by my daughter and my writing partner. The tables were tiny, but it was a nice set up and all my swag fit on my table, and I got some good ideas from other … Continue reading Journey to a Bestseller: Evaluation of Anonymous Query and Sample Pages (Series #24)
Hi everyone! I'm going to try to make this shorter than usual so I can get back to writing. I'm coming to the big climax. I'm on Chapter 16 and I have about half a chapter put down. I'm not sure if I want to end it in this chapter, though. It seems too soon. … Continue reading Journey to a Bestseller: En & Em Dashes (Series #23)
Stay tuned. There's sample writing coming in this post. But first, with my editing, I have to add and subtract commas, and semicolons. So, as a writer and editor, I felt like I should brush up on my own education while solving some issues for you writers. Do you believe in the Oxford comma? Know … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: Commas and Pirated Content (Series #22)
Hello! Good Sunday afternoon! I didn't have a chance to write this week, but I promise next week's post will be about the WIP. What I did work on this week was marketing my existing books by updating my keyword phrases and categories on Amazon. Why is that important? Amazon's almighty algorithm A9 (or A10, … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: Increase Your Chances of Being Seen on Amazon {Keywords & Categories}(series #21)
I was talking to someone today who told me there was one skill to selling million dollar books. There might be, but none of us knows what it is. The price pledge of this knowledge? Five weeks of your time for training and five thousand dollars. You heard me right. To be fair, I did … Continue reading You Could Have a Bestseller by Reviewing One Book. You Could. Read This.
Sorry I'm late this week. It was newsletter week and I felt like I'd already written the blog. They got to see the many phases of the cover for my third book. I have been busy this week. I have been networking with authors from a site I joined called AllAuthor. It's a place for … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: Newsletter Ideas, Author Visibility, and Marketing Help (Series #20)
I just realized that I changed the name of this series part way through it. But I think I like it the way it is, so it stays. Pthft. Besides, I already made my hashtag. #Journeytobestseller Lol. I put myself on another author marketing site this week called AllAuthors. They are pretty darn cool even … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: Book Reviews!! (Series #19)
Ocean Bubbles Hello! Hello! I am excited this week! My schedule is full and I'm having to block out time to dedicate it to my different jobs. When you work from home, you never really leave your job. So when you get a half an hour you are overcome with guilt about the four "rush" … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: Essential Scenes in Every Story- Part Six (Series #18)
Hey everyone. I didn't get any writing done this week. Isn't that terrible? Shame on me. But, I did spend that time doing writerly things. Okay, I was making swag... but someone's gotta do it! I have the cutest swag, too. What is swag? Mirriam-Webster says, " The freebie swag, sometimes also spelled schwag, dates back to … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: Essential Scenes in Every Story- Part Five (Series #17)
Good day everyone. Well, it's night, but you get the idea. I've been writing this week about the second pinch point, or second battle. In the story, I have the MC happen to meet the crazy king who tells him that the people he thought he was responsible for killing, are actually prisoners in the … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: Essential Scenes in Every Story- Part Four (Series #16)
Hey guys. Pretty simple post today. I was busy with client work all week and haven't had time to write a thing for myself. But, I don't want to keep you from learning about the story structure, so let me talk about the part I will be writing this week. I believe last week we … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: Essential Scenes in Every Story- Part Three (Series #15)
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com Hey everybody! Sorry I'm late this week. I've been a busy bee. I recently made new covers for my books because they weren't selling well. And those buyers were not rejecting my book based on context, they don't even know what my book says. They were scrolling through the books, … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: Essential Scenes in Every Story- Part Two (Series #14)
Happy weekend everybody! I just did the stupidest thing. I had some very important emails from a publisher, and they were getting lost in my overflowing email box. So I made a new folder. Then I put all my important emails from the publisher in them. THEN my email told me that the file couldn't … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: Essential Scenes in Every Story- Part One (Series #13)
Hello. Sorry I'm late this weekend. I've been busy. Learning how to do more book marketing and structure. Enjoy every single moment. That's what my calendar says for today, and it's true. Writing the novel is the journey. You know how they say it's not the destination that's important, but to enjoy the journey? Well … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: First Novels and My New Covers (Series #12)
Good day, friends! I have been super busy this week. I am editing the third book in the trilogy, and I have been using some techniques taught by Liz Pelletier, at Entangled Press. She is an editor that I really admire and she teaches the standard three-pass edit system. If you are interested, I found … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: Writing Books That Sell and Editing Like a Pro (Series #11)
Hello folks! I know. That title is like, whaaa? Those things don't go together at all! Well, you're right. So let's get to it. I am doing great. I went to a small writer's conference in Topeka, KS this morning and got three free ARCs (Advanced Reader's Copies) of some fantasy books. One was a … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: “Chapter One” and Twitter Pitch Events (Series #10)
Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com Hi guys! It's been a busy week. I finished the second draft of my client's manuscript during the day; and worked on my book at night. Just in case you are new to this blog, I am writing a bestseller...or what I am going to do try my best … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: Word Count, Character Sheets, and Kindle Reads, oh my. (Series #9)
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com Hello everyone! Despite a week packed with things to do, I was super productive and it feels so good. As I said last week, the writing of our "bestseller" is on hold for another month or so (I told my betas they would get it sometime in September). So, we … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: Padding the Plot and Punctuation (Series #8)
Today I want to share with you the one fact in writing: something else will come up when you are trying to write a book. For you it might be something like an emergency home project that simply needs to be done, or you could have a school paper that you must do. For me, … Continue reading The Journey to a Bestseller: “Something came up” and Writing Descriptions (Series #7)
I haven't even written in my WIP this week. No word count change. Ugh. I told you that you could catch up to me this week. Yes, I have a new client who needs me to read, but I have spent my time on my trilogy these last few days, so I can give her … Continue reading The Journey to Making a Bestseller: Beta Readers (Series #6)
These days are flying by! I missed both my blog and my newsletter this weekend. Ugh. I hate being late. I am an early person. If I'm on time, I feel late. It's a thing. Photo by luizclas on Pexels.com Anyway, I found this great site called Inkarnate where you can make your own fantasy … Continue reading The Journey to Making a Bestseller: Maps and Writer’s Block (Series #5)
Photo by Rakicevic Nenad on Pexels.com Sorry about the weekend everyone! I was out of town for the week in small town Oklahoma and I had no reception at all. It was awesome. Fishing, and four wheelers, and fireworks, and paddle boats, and zip lines, and swimming, and hard lemonade... aah. Photo by Aleksandar Pasaric … Continue reading The Journey to Making a Bestseller: One-third Done (Series #4)
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com I started writing my manuscript five days ago. I plotted the heck out of it, wrote out a directory of scenes, though not as detailed as I usually do. I've got two tabs (on my laptop) open constantly: Synonyms and Steampunk images. One of the things you want when writing … Continue reading The Journey to Making a Bestseller: The First 20K (Series #3)
Here it is, ladies and gentlemen... RELEASE DAY for The Queen's Heart is TODAY! The Queen's Heart is the second book in the Freedom Fight Trilogy. Ready to pick it up? Click here> The Queen's Heart Want more information? Read on... This book is in the same world as The Key of F, with the … Continue reading The Queen’s Heart Release
Photo by Janko Ferlic on Pexels.com Hi everyone! This week I sat on a publishing panel for writers at Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, which was the most impressive library I've ever seen. It's not only full of books and beautiful architecture, it has great conference rooms, a gift shop and a cafe... and … Continue reading Get Published: Questions from a publishing panel
Hi everyone! It has been a crazy week. That's one of the good things about being a writer with a self-imposed deadline-- some weeks go out the window and that's okay. I did discuss my fully laid-out concept to my writing group and they have all given me the seal of approval. As well as … Continue reading The Journey to Making a Bestseller- Research (Series #2)
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com I spoke last week about an epiphany I had when I realized I was showing other authors how to get published and the things I have learned from working in the publishing business, but doing things my own way. I have decided to take my own advice and write my … Continue reading The Journey to Making a Bestseller: Concept and Planning (Series #1)
Photo by Burak K on Pexels.com This was a hard question. It's completely subjective. The hardest part for me might be your strength. That's why the writing community exists, and it needs to. Authors need to help each other with our own expertise. I wrote my first book with my (30-year) best friend. But when … Continue reading Agent Questions Volume Twenty-eight: What’s the hardest part of publishing for you? (Twitter Series #8)
How do I get started on a bestseller?
Te Solvo By Jennifer Haskin “I am special. I am loved. I am worth it.” Milo repeated the words from his self-help podcast, and absently straightened his suit coat. There were a few tiny clouds dotting the sky and the bright sun beat down on his head as he ambled along the sidewalk. People bumped … Continue reading Part two of this week’s blog: Te Solvo (A novelette by Jenn Haskin)
What can I do/say that will get me an auto-rejection to my query? What other mistakes can I make in publishing? These are normal questions for authors. The publishing world is such a mystery, it can feel like walking in a field of land mines. No one knows where to step. I believe once you … Continue reading Agent Questions Volume Twenty-Six: Common Mistakes and Automatic Rejections (Twitter Series #6)
Photo by JJ Jordan on Pexels.com Many of the questions I received asked things like, “Are you interested in disabled protagonists?” “Will you take YA fantasy without romance?” And “How often do agents/publishers take a chance on an out-of-trend book, hoping that it’ll make a trend?” First of all, agents are always hoping to find … Continue reading Agent Questions Volume Twenty-Five: Do You Take my Genre? (Twitter Series #5)
Twitter question: Is it normal to be able to write a WIP happily for hours but to get major league writer's block when trying to write a summary/synopsis? Absolutely. Many of us struggle with this one. Authors think that they are moving from the creative task of writing a fictional work into a strange uninhabited … Continue reading Agent Questions Volume Twenty-Four: Summaries and Synopses (Twitter series #4)
Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com How do I find the right agent? I was asked this question by several people and I wanted to spend some time on it. I was also asked the process of a manuscript from being written to getting published, so I plan to explain how to find the right agent … Continue reading Agent Questions Volume Twenty-three: Finding the Right Agent/Publishing A to Z (Twitter Series #3)
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com The first question for this post is: Why query at all? I must say, this one stumped me. I even googled it and found no articles explaining why we query. The simple fact is publishers use agents to filter readers like coffee grounds. I’m not saying it is a bad … Continue reading Agent Questions Volume Twenty-two: Why Query at All/ Commercial vs. Literary (Twitter Series #2)
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com I recently had a friend ask her Twitter followers what one question you would ask an agent if you could. I was surprised at the answers. I thought they might be akin to the blog posts I had been writing, but they centered around, "Why don't you love me?" and … Continue reading Agent Questions Volume Twenty: How Do I Get Representation? And Five More Questions (Twitter Series #1)
