The Death of Kindle Worlds

If you haven't heard the news yet, Amazon is shutting down Kindle Worlds over the next few weeks. This comes after Amazon shut down all of its other programs for writers such as Write On and Kindle Scout. This was the last entity that writers still had an option to work with, and now that its shutting down, what is left for writers over at Amazon?

Although I currently have three Kindle Worlds titles, this news isn't the end of the world, so to speak. When Kindle Scout shut down, I knew that Worlds wouldn't be far behind, but I thought I would have at least until 2019 before they decided to close. I'm going to miss my $20-$25 a year in royalties from these titles. Even though it wasn't much, I recently had been looking into revamping my backlist to boost sales with new covers, better formatting, and a nice clean edit for each title. Now I have less titles to do that for, so that will save me a little time and effort.

I don't think that there's ever a good time for a book or a series of books to become obsolete, but this wasn't a great time for me to hear this. I was finally trying to get real plans in place to relocate, not just wishful thinking. A big part of that was getting my passive income streams up to par. I needed these novellas not so much for the direct royalties, but for the higher tiers on my Patreon page. My highest tier ($15) now looks a little silly, because the bulk of what patrons were paying for was digital copies of my entire backlist, which is going from five titles down to just two. No one in their right minds would join at the $15 level (even with access to all of the additional amazing lower-level perks) knowing they could pick up digital copies of my backlist for about six bucks. I'm trying my best to get more work out, but insert your favorite tired Rome-related cliche here.

The Legal Bit...

All hope is not lost because some rights do revert back to me upon the closing of Kindle Worlds. The problem is the Worlds Licensor (the author of the original series) also holds onto some rights because those who submitted a story, novella, or novel to a world was required to use characters and locations from the existing series. What it boils down to is that if I wanted to revive these novellas, I would have to have explicit permission from the author of the original series in order to do so, which isn't likely to happen.

Under the bubble of the Kindle Worlds label, the Worlds authors were getting royalties from someone else's work and probably a bit of promotion for their own work in a roundabout way without doing anything other than offering authors like me the ability to play with their characters. Without that bubble, offshoot works have the potential to dilute the power of their series, especially if you run into readers who don't understand the difference between the original series and the fan fiction titles. If I were on the other end of this, I could see why I wouldn't want former Kindle Worlds titles competing with my series.

I signed up for Kindle Worlds knowing full well I was tying up my hard work with copyright restrictions, but right now I have the feeling that it was all a waste of time. I'm sure that feeling will pass, eventually.

Titles Are Still Available... For Now

Amazon isn't pulling all of its Kindle Worlds titles until "on or around July 16th" so if you still want to check out my Melody of Love novella series, you can still get them. Unfortunately for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, they have already been removed from the program as of yesterday--the day the email was sent, so thanks for that heads up, Amazon. It's probably because they were promising proactive payment for borrows, even if the book hadn't met the reading threshold. Smart business move for them, I guess.

Melody of Love (#1)
Haunting Melody (#2)
Melody's Valentine (#3)

I also want to quickly thank those who have downloaded any of these titles since they first went live on Amazon. I do appreciate the support and the book reviews. Now I have to get back to work. Gotta build up that backlist again...

A New Book, A New Direction

Good news! If you were dying to know what happens next to Mel and Austin, the third and final installment of my Kindle Worlds The Callaways: Melody of Love series, Melody's Valentine, is now available from Amazon. And don't forget to to add it to your Goodreads shelves.

Now I get to hang up my Kindle Worlds hat and put my focus on other projects. It was an interesting experience working with Kindle Worlds and I learned a lot--plus it's always fun to write sanctioned fan fiction, if we're just going to call it what it is (and that's exactly what it is). I can't say I will never return to write something else for Kindle Worlds, but they will have to acquire the rights to something else that piques my interest for me to return. They have television series as well as book series, so if they could pull off something like The X-Files, I would be first in line to pick up the pen again. Amazon, get on that.

I have quite a few projects ready to be resurrected now that Melody's Valentine is out in the world. I'm still in the first draft stage of my diamond thief novel (and still mulling over possible titles so I don't have to keep calling it that). I'm getting ready to get back into revisions on something else. I'm going to throw it out to my patrons on Patreon. Friday I'll be posting a poll and I'm going to let you choose what I work on next in the revision stage. I've got plenty of great options you can choose from if you become a patron before the poll ends. 

Some Literary Waves

Quite a lot has been going on in the indie publishing world as of late, with a couple of these things personally affecting my titles. First, the good news: Kindle Worlds is now making its titles available through Kindle Unlimited. Now if you are a KU subscriber, you can read Melody of Love and Haunting Melody for free! Just make sure to read at least 10% of the book so everyone gets paid. ;-)

Second, the not so good news: Inktera is temporarily suspending distribution of titles coming from Draft2Digital, so my books won't be listed there for awhile. Actually no one's books will--Inktera is revamping the whole brand, so until that's complete, their catalog is not available. Full disclosure: I never had any sales from this channel anyway, so it's not really going to affect my bottom line when it comes to royalties.

NaNoWriMo: If you're following my progress on the site, you know that it's kicking my butt this year, for real. I should be sailing closing to 30k right now, and I haven't even hit 20k. But I'm not giving up. I just have to pour some extra fuel on the fire and see how far it goes. No matter what, I'll still post an exclusive excerpt of the novel at the end of November on Patreon.

I hope your weekend will be filled with writing. I know mine will be!

Still on the NaNo Road

It's never a good thing when you can say that you are thousands of words behind in your writing. Especially during November. But don't worry. Even though the goal is to hit 15,000 words tomorrow and I'm stuck hovering around 7000, I'll be able to get back on track. After all, Thursday night is one of my TV-free nights--not because I force myself not to watch it. There's just nothing good on. And what better way to use that time than to write, write, write. Or agonize for two hours about how I still don't have a title. Which ever one of those options strikes my fancy.

Between freelancing work (still have plenty of spots available for my Fiverr gigs), NaNo, and revising Melody's Valentine, I've probably neglected doing all of the promotional work I should be doing. Let's get that back on track: remember, all of my books are available through Amazon and most of the major book/ebook retailers worldwide. You can check out the full list of titles to see what you may be interested in. Might I suggest my Melody of Love Kindle Worlds series books #1 and #2 so you can be ready to read #3 in January? And please, if you read it and like it, don't forget to review it!

If you are looking for a little more, you can still sign up to get exclusive content at Patreon. This week I'm releasing the cover for Melody's Valentine, and next week you can get the first look at an excerpt from Pieces, my poetry collection that's debuting on Wattpad in 2018.

September Updates

I am working hard on a number of projects. I'm sure I need to be telling myself it's crunch time, but for what? Perks of being my own boss, I guess. I treat my employees like superstars. ;-)

Like any good writer, I'm also looking to diversify my business and take full advantage of my skills. Along with the current gig I have on Fiverr, I'll be adding another one soon to help with editing blog posts. That, and I'm looking to take the first step in making my presence uber-professional, so I need to complete enough gigs to pay for that logo I've been wanting. I'm also embarking on a way to focus more on my fiction work (hint: rhymes with Smatreon), but you'll be hearing more about that in the coming weeks.

I know you're wondering about the writing. It's going as well as it can be. I have poetry ready to go for submission on Friday, MoL #3 is still coming along, and I'm nearly finished with revisions on my latest short story, which I hope to be submitting somewhere by the end of the month. I've also been slowly finishing a first draft that's been taking forever, and since I've switched what project I want to try with Kindle Scout, there are more plans to be made and writing to be done.

What are you working on this week?

Old Projects Have New Plans

Things have been going in a slow pace around here. I realized that it was because I had so many projects that didn't have a solid ending--not just the story itself, but what I wanted to do with them once they were done. Now, things have been reorganized and I have a clear path for many of these projects.

To sum it up:

• In Another Life is no longer going to be a trilogy. Instead, books 1 and 2 will be combined into a single story, and the third book will be the sequel.

• Another series (one that I haven't said much about) is being planned and the first story is going to be posted on Wattpad sometime before the end of the year. 

• I'm still working on a project for Channillo, and hopefully it will be accepted. 

• The third (and last) installment of the Melody of Love Kindle Worlds series will be completed by the end of the year. 

• Something (I still don't know what) will be on Kindle Scout--I just have to pick which of my projects will have the best chance at success.

When it comes to new projects and challenges, I'm looking into doing a massive reading project. Since I still have a number of reading obligations for March, it's not going to start just yet. When I get closer to launching myself on this new journey, I'll have more information. That, and I have to be very good at staying away from NetGalley and Penguin First to Read so that I don't continue to bog myself down with even more reading obligations.

What are your reading/writing plans for March?

Haunting Melody Now Available #newrelease

Great news! You can now get The Callaways: Haunting Melody (Melody of Love #2) from Amazon. Technically you could have purchased it yesterday--my schedule was a little heavy and this was the first chance I had to write a blog post. I hope if you've enjoyed Melody of the Love that you'll pick this one up as well. Book number 3 is in the works, and that will conclude Mel and Austin's story.

And that project I chose for October? It's going to be Verses and Vows, another one in the chick lit sphere. I'm reading over my first draft from a couple of NaNos ago, and I keep seeing one thing--I hurriedly write to get the story out, and it's always too short. I managed 30k (didn't win NaNo that year, did I?!). I seriously envy writers who can churn out 70k+ in their first drafts, then have to go in a cut. I always have to think of things to add.

Anyway, that's what I'm concentrating on. I've found a small press (more of an indie collective) that I would like to present this project to, so this one is getting all my attention for awhile. We'll see what happens...

Now Accepting Requests for Early Reviewers

Are you interested in getting your hands on Haunting Melody a couple weeks early? If you can't wait to get your copy, you can join my Review Crew. For those who have already read Melody of Love and left a review, you have a spot waiting for you once you fill out the form (see below).

For those who haven't read it yet, don't worry! Even if you haven't read the first book in the miniseries, there are still spots available for you. For everyone that's accepted, you'll be receiving a PDF copy of the book, and I would love it if you leave your honest review within two weeks of the book's release, which should be the first week in October.

How do you get in on this great deal? Just fill out this form. I can't wait to share Haunting Melody with everyone!

The Cover Reveals You've Been Waiting For

Everything has been worked out with the covers for both Melody of Love and Haunting Melody, so let me introduce you to the new covers.

The Callaways: Melody of Love (Melody of Love #1)

The Callaways: Haunting Melody (Melody of Love #2) - COMING OCTOBER 2016

Are you ready for Mel's next adventure? Wednesday I'll have all the information for you to join my Review Crew and get early access to this book.

The Countdown to Haunting Melody (and an Oops)

Today we're starting the countdown to the release of Haunting Melody. Get excited, people!

To kick things off, here's the synopsis for Haunting Melody:

Pop star Melody is getting ready to work on her next album with the help of musician Sean Callaway at Ashbury Studios. She feels like she has it all: a great career, a fabulous love life with dancer Austin Eckhart and friends she can rely on. But strange things are happening at the studio—equipment failures, accidents and strange voices. Rumors start spreading that Ashbury Studios could be haunted. Will Mel be able to help her friends figure out what's going on before something bad happens?

Today was also going to be the day of the new cover reveal for Melody of Love. But here's where the oops comes in. I ended up submitting to Kindle Worlds a draft version of the cover that I wanted, rather than the final version I had in mind... and once submitted, you cannot make changes until they've approved the ones you sent. I received the email this morning that my changes were approved, so it's time to go back and change them again. If I'm quick enough, the draft cover may not show up on the book's Amazon page. Then again, I'm second guessing everything, so who knows. When the final draft revamped cover is live, I'll let you know. Out of the hundreds of things that could go wrong in this process, I'd be a lucky lady if this is the worst that happens.

It's been a busy August, but I thought I would check in to make sure that you know the next six weeks are going to be pretty awesome. As I gear up for the release of Haunting Melody in October, there's going to be plenty of fun leading up to it. Each week in September, you're going to be treated with cover releases, the synopsis, and much more. You can also be a part of the fun. If you've already read Melody of Love, I'll have a chance for you to get access to a pre-release copy of Haunting Melody (more details to come!). I may also give you a sneak peek on my next project, which I think many of you will enjoy.

Now... back my writerly juggling act!!

On the Agenda

August is going to be a super busy month. Since everyone's going back to school, I thought I might as well assign myself a bunch of homework. That's how self-employed adulting works, right?

First up: more chapters of In Another Life have been uploaded to Write On. If you want to dive into the suspenseful world of Natalie LeBeau and her adventures at the lodge, go for it. And be sure to leave some comments and tell me what you think.

Haunting Melody (Melody of Love #2) is in the middle of revisions. I'm also working on the cover, with a bonus redesigned cover for Melody of Love (Melody of Love #1). If you want to make sure you're all caught up on the adventures of Mel and Austin, make sure to pick up your copy of book #1 before October.

Draft2Digital has partnered with Books2Read, so now I have a handy-dandy link to all the places where Unfolding Life is sold (excluding Amazon and Kobo). I also wanted to make sure all of my German fans know that I've distributed Unfolding Life with Tolino. Because Tolino distributes to multiple storefronts, I don't have just one direct link, but you can find my book at Hugendubel and Thalia. And to put my college minor to good use:

Deutsche Freunde! Unfolding Life ist für den kauf bei Hugendubel und Thalia verfügbar.

I think that's close!

Melody of Love: Year One (And What Comes Next)

It takes a great amount of courage to come up with a story, to play with fictional lives like they were plastic dolls. And it takes a mountain of confidence on top of that to think you can pick up someone else's pile of dolls and put them into your own little world.

This is the one-year anniversary of publishing my novella, The Callaways: Melody of Love. I took it upon myself to sneak into someone's toy chest and start playing with their fictional characters because this novella was based on The Callaways series by Baraba Freethy. I was able to do this through Kindle Worlds, a pretty fantastic place (though not really well known) where authors of popular series offer up their worlds and their characters for some of us to experiment with. I did this because I was in the middle of reading the series when I found out that it was available on Kindle Worlds. And when life smacks you in the face with a sign like that, you've got to take your chance.

Diving Right In

I think the reason I didn't find this project as daunting as I should have was because I wanted to be immersed in the world, not necessarily with the lives of the specific characters. One of my favorite novels in the series was the one about Sean Callaway--the black sheep of the family because he was into playing music and not being a firefighter, doctor or other public servant like the rest of the big Callaway brood. His novel led to finding his love, Jessica, and helped her reignite a desire to dance like she used to before she was widowed. The novel ends with Sean and Jessica opening a recording/dance studio in San Francisco. And that's where I found the perfect place to create a love story of my own.

I used original characters to create Melody of Love, but without Sean and Jessica in the picture, the story couldn't have taken place. This was my first attempt at romance, so I had to navigate the waters of what type of romance it would be. There's a huge sliding scale in this genre where from one end the goal is the story ending with the couple holding hands for the first time all the way to full-on smut that you only read on an e-reader so no one can see the cover. I decided to stick with a more middle-of-the-road approach because that's where this series falls, and it can be hard to please romance fans, especially when they are coming from an established romantic world.

Publishing Through Kindle Worlds

Once the story was written, the work had to go through more steps than I had before with previous independently published work. The formatting had to be correct, sticking to a few specific rules like not including a photo on the author bio page, which I happened to forget when I first submitted it. After all of the little things were taken care of, I submitted it and still got it rejected. I was totally and completely disheartened. What could I have done wrong when I spent weeks getting it just right? Turns out, it was something very simple and something I should have been aware of before submitting my work.

The problem was in my book's description. I can't believe I would overlook it, but I didn't mention a Callaway family member. Not once. And because the book is based on a specific series, something needed to be mentioned, not just the two original characters I created. After taking care of that problem, it was smooth sailing. This probably gave me a better idea of how traditional publishing could go--lots of back and forth, getting everything just right before it's finally published.

I must also address this point to any authors looking to publish something through Kindle Worlds: just like any other major publisher, there is a lot of fine print and not a lot you have control over once you submit your work (heads-up for authors: you don't get to set your own prices). Be sure to read all of the fine print before you publish so that you are aware of what rights you hold and what rights the original author or the publisher holds.

A Built-In Audience

Writing a book doesn't guarantee you'll find an audience. Writing a book based on someone else's popular romance series doesn't guarantee you'll find an audience either. This discovery surprised me. I thought that super fans of this series would be all over my novella, even if it did veer off to another, non-Callaway couple.

Guess again.

Like anything you create, you have to get the word out about it yourself. I know I have a few fans out there (okay, maybe just two), but nothing like the the fan base of the original series. I was banking on bringing a few of them over to read my work, but as of writing this post, none of the readers who read and reviewed Melody of Love were actually readers of The Callaways series. I can't tell you whether that's a good or a bad thing. Maybe it doesn't matter at all since I put a lot of effort into making it a standalone story while still honoring the atmosphere of The Callaways. 

My biggest setback in the marketing game is that I'm reluctant to use the original author's name in the way I advertise the book. For some reason, it feels wrong to bring up her name just to make a sale, even though she clearly gave permission for authors to come in and write. (Just to be clear, I also feel the same way about books advertised as Stephen King-meets-Judy Blume or whatever big-name authors they choose to compare themselves with.) I've also purposely not approached Facebook fans of hers or posting about my work on her fan group pages (of which I am, of course, a fellow fan) because it seems like it would be in bad taste. So I haven't yet found out what her fans think of my work--and readers coming in as non-fans all have the same issue: it's too short.

That is a problem I can remedy. I wouldn't mess with Melody of Love to make it longer, but I would provide more novellas featuring my original characters. In fact, the novella I was working on last fall was a continuation of this story. So this October I'm going to be releasing a second novella called Haunting Melody (you heard it here first, folks). There is also a third novella in the very early planning stages, which would take my Kindle Worlds experiment from a good little story to a mini-trilogy within the world of The Callaways.

It was a thrill to work with someone else's characters with permission, especially since I spent some of my high school years honing my writing skills on unpublished fan fiction. It was also a great learning experience to publish work through Kindle Worlds. Even though Amazon is a giant in the world of all things written and published, it's nice to see that they have programs to help provide the space for independent authors to grow.

Death to (Most) Deadlines

Deadlines are a great tool for getting things done. But do they really help when they are picked at random? I've been talking for a few weeks about the writing calendar I put together for the end of the year. I had scheduled work for five different writing projects on it. I set firm deadlines for revising and even releasing some of the projects. But what did these deadlines mean when it came to the day it was to be something great and it just wasn't there yet?

Arbitrary deadlines don't help writing. I know that traditionally published authors probably have firm deadlines that can't be changed, but these people have a team backing them up. Indie authors don't always have that kind of support for each project (but kudos to the ones who do!). I know that my team of people I lean on is quite small, and they are not always available for every project. That just means I have to work harder to survive in the indie landscape. And that's why I'm declaring death to those deadlines I set. My five projects are not to the point where I would want them to be, and I'm not going to rush the process.

I did promise a novella written, revised and published by the end of October. That's not happening. I tried my best, but now I realized every project has it's own growth and development. Melody of Love was my success story--a novella written, revised and published within three weeks. Looking at that pace now, it seems crazy. For this followup novella, that pace just couldn't be kept. And since it is Halloween-themed, this novella won't see the light of day for another year. And that's totally okay.

I'm all for putting the pressure on to get a good product, but if a deadline doesn't feel right, don't force yourself to release something that just isn't ready. It won't help your writing career or the reputation of indie authors.

Aren't Stars Beautiful?

The ones in the sky... sure. The ones that make up five-star reviews, even better.

The past five days have been pretty great over here in my little world. Not only did I get a five-star review for Melody of Love, I just received a five-star review for Unfolding Life this morning. Beautiful, beautiful stars.

Both of these reviews come from Reader's Favorite, so they won't be factored into my overall Amazon star rating (or probably my Goodreads rating either), but the exposure is more than I thought I would get, especially for the haiku collection. Now it's time to affix my little digital seal to the covers so I can brag without actually bragging anymore than I am right now.

As great as these reviews are, it's all about looking forward keep the momentum going. I'm itching to get started on multiple projects, but my to-do lists just aren't cutting it. So I printed out calendar pages to clearly see the time frames for all of the tasks I have to do: first drafts, revisions, covers, etc. It will also give me a better picture on when and how to start marketing each project. It might be old school to use paper, but I know that the visual aid will provide more help to keep me accountable for my distractions--mostly TV binges. But that's just research for scriptwriting, isn't it? 😉

Because I Like a Challenge

I'm sitting here, day after day telling my lovely readers about the books I have for sale (Unfolding Life and Melody of Love, if you have forgotten) and about my upcoming project (Seeing What Develops). But I can tell you that my mind is miles ahead of all these things. I'm already editing, revising and working up the marketing for more projects to come. That's where I'm running into the most common problem a writer can have: staying in a single category or branching out to a new genre.

Right now, my work falls into the categories of romance and chick-lit, which often go hand in hand when it comes to sales and the type of reader interested in it. I like writing in these genres. They are fun and light. Personally, I like to read this stuff right after a heavy literary novel or a long biography to break things up on my reading list. But this isn't all I write. I have suspense novels in various stages of completion. I have also started something I still can't categorize but may end up in literary fiction, though it seems to have elements of an alternate world--just not alternate enough to be categorized as fantasy.

Like my reading list, I don't think my writing should have too much of one genre back to back. That, and I'm having a difficult time realizing I'm in a writing rut when it comes to assigning characters professions--I seem to use the same three in all of my romance/chick-lit. While I'm working that out, I'm going to get my first suspense novel ready.

Writers approaching a change in genre can do two things: they can hide it or they can embrace it. I'm choosing to embrace this change, even if it means having to build a whole new readership. I think the readers who like my romance would still enjoy my suspense trilogy, though they have to wait longer for the romantic payoff. Some writers hide a genre change behind a pseudonym and never mix their marketing between different types of readers. This is often the advice for readers who don't have a huge fan base in either category.

Nope. Not going to hide. I'm going to make that turn into suspense and hope my readers will follow me there. Of course, I'm also looking forward to picking up more readers along the way.

Win a Copy of Melody of Love #bookgiveaway

This week's blog post will be short and simple. I'm hard at work on the second round of revisions for the novel, which up until now has been known as my 2014 NaNoWriMo project. Today I can start calling it by its official title: Seeing What Develops. Lots of little details are being worked on too, such as the blurb, the cover and getting it all ready to be uploaded to WriteOn.

While all that is going on, I thought I would treat everyone to a chance at winning their very own ebook copy of Melody of Love. You can enter below. Good Luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

July is Buzzing

This is going to be a very busy week! First of all, Unfolding Life will be FREE on Amazon July 6-8. That means if you haven't picked up a copy yet, you have plenty of time to get it. And if poetry isn't your thing, you can always pick up my Kindle Worlds romance novella The Callaways: Melody of Love for just $1.99.

Now that the shameless promotions are out of the way, let's talk about my July session of Camp NaNoWriMo. It's not going well. Yes, the month starts with a holiday, but since I laid around and watched a The Twilight Zone marathon for half the day, I have no excuse for having less than a thousand words (as of writing this post). I need to get back to business on that. My problem? I think I'm getting too caught up in the historical details of my work. The novel/serial/project (whatever label you want to use) is set in October 1942, so I worry I don't have enough historical details. Then I go looking for some and get lost in all of the research. I'm easily fascinated, especially with all the 1940s era YouTube videos I found.



But, no matter how much history fascinates me, I have to get writing. I'll save the details for the revision draft, otherwise it may never get written. So it's back to doing what I do best. Are you working on anything exciting this week?

Exciting Things on the Way

I'm heading back to Camp NaNoWriMo in July, but I'm still not sure what I will work on. A lot of people I know who participate in one or both camps use it for editing. I thought about that since the first book of the trilogy really needs to be edited so it can move into the next phase. But I just don't know how to keep myself accountable word count-wise with that. Book three of the trilogy still needs to be written, so that's an option too.

The third option I have for July's project is getting my 1940s-era detective serial written. I have finally found a place where I can submit it, and if it is accepted, I'll be able to make at least a small profit from it. Well, as long as I have a few subscribers. I still have a few days to make my final decision, so while I contemplate on that, you can go and buy my Kindle Worlds novella Melody of Love. And don't forget to add it to your Goodreads bookshelf too!