New covers, website, and lessons learned #writerslife

First new cover!

Fearless finally has a cover it deserves! Though I'm already itching to make another. I'm telling myself to wait until next year. I need to get some writing done!

The book got a little boost in downloads when I changed the cover on Amazon, but it has settled back into its normal rank. It does all right. It always has downloads every month, but does it convince readers to buy my other books? I don't think so.

Writer Lesson #1: Times have changed. Free books do not lead to sales of your other books.

The TOTEM series!

I LOVE these new covers for the TOTEM series. I spent much more time on them than I anticipated, but it was worth it. The covers are much more urban fantasy than the previous ones.

There have been no bumps up in sales when I changed the covers and the keywords on Amazon. Yet I haven't done any promoting either.

Writer Lesson #2: A great cover and a fantastic story aren't going to sell books. Promotion is key. If you have the means, buy ads.

Feeling quirky!

For the Sasquatch Susies trilogy, I was inspired by my cozy mystery friends. I love their simple and fun covers. These were easy to make and I really love them. I'm going to do up new covers in this style for my other erotica titles. But next year. Need to write.

Writer Lesson #3: Write first. All the other author business can come later.

I've also been fussing around with my website. I left the hosting company and that was a mess. They'd been perfectly fine until I expressed my desire to leave and take my domain name with me. I finally managed to get my domain name from them and registered it with another host. It was half as cheap, and I was feeling good. Then I discovered that if I want to actually use my domain name with my new host, I'm going to have pay more for it. They didn't say this upfront. I had to go digging for it. And the price to use my domain name with them was much more than my former host.

I'm not paying that much money just to attach my domain name to a site. BUT my domain is registered with them, and I can't change that fact for 60 days. I can't even get a refund.

So I've currently moved to a free site on Wix. It will likely be my permanent site from here on out. I like the way it's designed, and it's easy to use. I'm also going to stay here on Blogger for a while. I need to get around to catching up with everyone!

Two lessons learned here.

Writer Lesson #4: Always read the fine print, even when you have to dig for it or ask. Ask for the details even if you don't think there is anything else to know.

Writer Lesson #5: I surveyed several author friends, and many feel that readers don't go to author websites anymore. It isn't essential to have your own site these days. (Don't waste money on your own domain name!) Usually only writers check out other writers' websites. Being present on social media is important, but an Amazon page or a Facebook page is enough as a home base.

It's been a while, but I'm writing again. It's a short Samhain story for my pen name, but at least it's something!

What lessons have you learned lately that you would like to share?

Elven Obsession cover reveal and Friday Five for August 1, 2014

1. Last week I mentioned I was stressed out by my son's preschool relocation. Thankfully, the school has been allowed to finish out its lease, and so we can stay this school year. Yay! I've been helping clean up the playground and getting things ready for the children. 17 days until school starts!

2. Click on over to Untethered Realms for a review written by me. Also find out who won the huge giveaway! Thank you so much to everyone who entered and followed our blog.

3. I've been reading and critiquing a lot this week. I haven't gotten any writing done, but these are some darn good reads! I'm immensely lucky to have such talented CPs and beta readers, so when I read their stuff, I'm blown away.

4. My website is coming together. My husband has all the basics done. I aimed for minimalistic, and it turned out very... bare. We discussed what things we could add without making it crowded. One thing I'm adding is a background, and I had a few amazing images I picked for it. If people visiting the site can tear their eyes from my shirtless dragonslayer to see it! Keep your fingers crossed that the site will be live very soon.

5. I'm excited to help the tantalizing Decadent Kane reveal the cover for the Trouble With Elves series. This is my favorite one yet!

 Elven Obsession is coming August 29th.

You can find Decadent Kane here:

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Wicked Wednesday - the little things of website design

As you might have heard, I'm redesigning my website. It's long overdue. Very long overdue.

A few weeks ago, I spent some time browsing other authors' websites. I wrote notes of what I liked, of what worked well and what didn't, and what would be best for me. I realized my tastes are minimalistic. I didn't want anything full of graphics, blinking lights, or a soundtrack.

I designed a new look. A chore I thought would be simple with the sort of layout I wanted, but it was the little things that made it into an hours long job.

 

Background image / header. Most authors have a personalized header. Some use a background image. I prefer the latter. But what to use? My first idea was to find an image or series of images that captured what I write. Bad idea. So much of my time wasted browsing images. I found the majority of authors use images from the covers of their books. Though I wanted a gorgeous new image, I thought that maybe people who visited my site would think the image was from one of my books and get confused. So I decided to go with one of my cover images.

The color palette. Many paranormal romance authors feature red and black on their sites. Urban fantasy authors use red and black too, or blues, grays, and black. Romance authors have a lot of reds and pinks. While I'm partial to blue, I want my site to stand out. The background image I chose led me to pick from a color palette I never expected. Dark and light browns and golds. Browns? I know, I know, but it looks rich and casts the right atmosphere.

Fonts. I'm still changing my mind about fonts. I'd just have everything in Courier or Times if I had my way. I'm not picky, but a lot of people are really enthusiastic about fonts. Font matters as much as the color palette in creating the right look. So, I've been trying out a ton of them. I like simple and easy to read fonts. I don't like the fancy scripts or very genre specific ones for me. I'll decide on something sooner or later, and it'll likely be in the Courier family.

I've handed my husband all my notes. He'll be programming the new design for me. I just hope he doesn't spend all his summer evenings playing Skyrim and forget about my site!

 

If you have a website or a blog, how much time and consideration did you put into the little things?

Friday Five for July 18, 2014

1. I think I've been outsmarted by a chimp. A Mailchimp. Is it really that easy to use? I didn't find it to be. Setting up the newsletter itself was simple, but the whole setting up a list and subscribers thing was not. I'm crossing my fingers. So... TA DA! I created an author newsletter which I have named "Geeks, freaks & EEKS!" You can subscribe to the newsletter by typing your email address into the handy little box on the right side of my blog. Subscribers will get all my exciting news before anyone else. Plus there will be special giveaways, previews, and excerpts.

2. Sorry, I can't share the secret I've been bursting to tell you yet. This contract business is slow-going. I really, really want to tell you, though.

3. My website is still under construction. You'll see the old one if you click on the link. I wanted a minimalistic and clean look, but maybe it's too bare? I don't know. My husband is slowly working on it.

4. Click on over to Untethered Realms for the monthly news post. We're having a huge giveaway celebrating reaching 100 followers on our blog, and some of us are participating in Smashwords' July sale. Find out which books are half off or free!

5. The weather has been mild here all week. My son and I have been out most days enjoying this lovely summer. My husband and the boy are going to do some backyard camping this weekend. I hope to enjoy some quiet writing time, and at night with my husband outside, I will joyfully hog the entire bed!

Have a great weekend!