A New Review for Rowan Jun!

"From the opening sentence to the very last period; this story not only held my attention, but threw me head first in a very strange world."

Honest reviews are hard to come by. This early on, it's obvious that most of my readers are people who are either close to me, or I at least know their name. Some of these readers promise to plaster praises in a review, but I beg them not to. That kind of review serves no one. I'd rather have a few honest reviews than many promising shining perfection to a reader. So each reader gets the same request from me: "When you're finished reading, please write and post a serious review, telling what you like AND what you don't like, so other readers can make an informed decision about buying the book."

My lovely friend Mika promised a no-B.S. review of The Pathos of Rowan Jun, and delivered. :) Here's the result, as posted on her blog ShutterBlossoms:

http://shutterblossoms.blogspot.com/2012/04/review-pathos-of-rowan-jun-by-tamara.html?spref=fb

Hope it helps!

Cuddles,
Tamara

Creativity VS Making Money

Some comments that may be of value about creativity versus making money. I've talked about this story somewhere before, but it reared its ugly head again. 


I posted this comment on Goodreads a couple days back, in response to a comment, in the thread for Stephen King's On Writing book: 


"A friend gave me this book following his Creative Writing class in college. His VERY anti-King professor told him that he could have assigned a dozen great books on how to write well, but he assigned On Writing because the students wanted to learn how to make money writing. The professor hates King's writing but knows the man makes a killing doing what he does best: telling good stories. Writing well and making money writing are not always hand in hand. Oh, and I loved the book. Other than the awesome personal-life accounts, King gives basically two orders: 1. Write every day. 2. Keep writing."

I received a response to the effect that the professor was a jealous idiot, and that Stephen King writes well, and could write better if he wanted to, but chooses to focus on the story instead. I consider this a moot point. So I responded in kind:

"Well, this professor isn't an idiot, but he does have it out for King. Just doesn't like him. Jealousy may be a factor, but most likely it's the haughtiness I've witnessed in some professors. One of my dear art professors, for instance, is an awesome artist, but he disdains Thomas Kinkade for shirking tradition and "lessening" the value of his work by selling prints AND by doing simple genre scenes.

It is all quite silly. Kinkade made a killing with his art prints and brand, and is one of the most well known artists of his generation, painting what everyone wanted to hang in their homes. Also, far be it from me to judge an author like King who brings home millions, writing (pretty vividly) what people want to read!

As a writer and artist, I have my own biases. But they don't cloud common sense. Creative people create. Financially successful creative people create what people want to buy."

I repeat: Financially successful creative people create what people want to buy.

End of story, right? Or just the beginning? :)

Cuddles,

Tamara

Volume 2 Cover Progress

I think I've mentioned that my favorite part of self-publishing is total creative control. The Pathos of Rowan Jun was a real challenge. I had to draft, revise, edit, proofread, format, illustrate, make the cover, write blurbs, and everything else for the book, plus make adjustments for a total of three versions (Paperback, Kindle, Smashwords). And that's not even mentioning the marketing process, which I'm still fine-tuning.

I posted progression artwork for The Pathos of Rowan Jun here, so I figured it would be a good idea to do the same for Silver Empress. It's interesting to see how the concept grew from scribble to final concept. (I'll work this final concept into the finished cover. It's nowhere near ready yet!)

The Scribble:

Art informing writing content... Cluttered composition. Changed my mind at this time about releasing a short story collection. Instead, the two background characters will get their own short story book, and Silver and Briescha (foreground) headline volume 2. Smoother design possibilities, smoother story flow.

From the time when Silver Empress was going to be a short story collection.  Not anymore!

The Re-Scribble:

The decision to narrow the focus of the book to this MAJOR plot swivel made my cover characters obvious. Fiddled in Manga Studio with existing sketches and my trusty tablet to produce a new composition. Focused on the faces and worked out some loose angles and things. Very rough design...

Silver, left. Briescha, right. Foreground: Scribble hand  and sword! :)

The Final Drawing and Base Colors:

I realize that I forgot to save a JPEG of just the basic finished black and white drawing. Oh, well. Here's the finished drawing with some base colors, a texture on Briescha's skin, and no background. Silver is all base-gray and solid black at this point. She'll have mirrored skin, God-willing, when I get finished with her. (Still not happy with her mouth shape...) I've overlaid another texture on Briescha's skin to soften the shadows, but there's sooo much left to do...

Final V2 line art with base colors, some shading

As always, the images contained in this blog post are copyright Tamara Henson, Tamara Henson Studios and may not be used without my express written consent.  I welcome any feedback and constructive criticism you can provide on this design, either via comments below or direct messaging on FB or dA. 

Cuddles,

Tamara

Now doing art for my next novel...

Thanks to loads of input from two friends and my mother, I've finalized the release order and composition for my next two books. I originally decided on releasing some short stories while I edit Volume 2. Now, I've decided it's in the best interest of the story to release Volume 2 instead. The book will be titled Silver Empress  and follow the story arc of the Azelan named Briescha and her twin sister... Silver. :D (When a bereft child character insists on naming a newborn, someone should step in. Just sayin'...)

Which brings me to my next digital art challenge:

Julie Bell is the master of making very organic people and things look like shiny silver. With oil paint! And here I am, aspiring to do the same with highly advanced imaging software. I could expound on the fact that Julie and Boris have been making fantasy and sci-fi art since before I was born with amazing success, and that I'm just starting out by comparison. But that would be an excuse, and I don't like those. Regardless, I'm still feeling incredibly inferior. Will have to break out the Julie and Boris book for color reference. But this kind of challenge gets the blood pumping! Also... What kind of idiot creates a character with mirrored skin and then places that title character on the cover??? This kind of idiot. :)

Cuddles,
Tamara

News, and SMASHWORDS!

Things happen... 

1. My paperback order arrived with unforeseen print errors that had nothing to do with my uploaded files. The print company is correcting the issue and reprinting my order now. That means a delay for anyone who pre-ordered the book. I will supplement your pretend-despair with digital hugs. *hugs* They're working as quickly as they can to remedy the situation. Two more weeks, maybe...

2. I won an award for my cover design! This warrants re-mentioning to improve my mood after hauling a big box full of patented Rowan Jun doorstops and table-levelers into my house. (Can't in good conscience sell a defective copy...) 

3. After some tedious re-formatting and uploading, I've made The Pathos of Rowan Jun available on Smashwords! There should be tons of new formats to select beyond just Kindle. The book won't have full distribution to online retailers until it goes through review, but you can view and buy it directly here:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/141710 

(Formats include EPUB, PDF, and tons more...)

Cuddles and even more hugs!

Tamara

I WON AN AWARD!

I won the eBook cover design contest for fiction! How very exciting! The Pathos of Rowan Jun was one of 67 eBook covers submitted to the Fiction category for February, 2012. 


Here's what Joel Friedlander, The Book Designer, posted about my submission:

"Tamara Henson Coffey submitted The Pathos of Rowan Jun designed by Tamara Henson Coffey. “I wanted to express a graphic novel feel for a very action/adventure type of story, so I made a close-up of a fully inked comics-style character and hand lettered the title and author name.”

JF: An astonishingly strong and harmonious blend of art and lettering. The energy in this cover is palpable, it almost leaps off the screen. Getting this kind of internal consistency and focus, here for a “warrior sci-fi” story, is unusual. Great stuff."

See the original post, as well as the stiff competition, here: http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/03/e-book-cover-design-awards-february-2012/

This just raised the art-bar for me! :D Bring on the next book!

Cuddles and "Squeees", 

Tamara

Self-Publishing Links and Advice, Vol. 2

I just posted this advice on reddit for the following question: Does self-publishing hurt your mainstream publishing chances? Thought I'd share it here, as it may be helpful...

Both The Passive Voice blog (http://www.thepassivevoice.com/) and Joe Konrath (http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/) are strong advocates for why we should NOT go the traditional publishing route.

This guy's a treasure, too: http://www.thebookdesigner.com/ He gives practical advice for do-it-yourself designing, and also resources for paying others for services.

All three make valid points supporting self-publishing as a means in itself, not just a springboard to traditional publishing. From my experience, I enjoyed more creative control by self publishing. Since specialty "niche" nonfiction can rack up quite a respectable following, you may stand a good chance with self-pubbing.

I encourage you to read up on the above sites and make the decision yourself. If you expect to be a multi-millionaire by month's end, you will set yourself up for failure. If you treat it like a business, expecting overhead and a steady break-even point, AND if your book finds a market, you'll not be disappointed with the results.

Good luck!

Kindle and Paperback Now on Amazon!

Both Kindle and Paperback versions of The Pathos of Rowan Jun are now linked on Amazon. Just click on  your preferred version in the "Formats" box. See it here: 

http://www.amazon.com/Pathos-Rowan-Jun-ebook/dp/B0078L898E/

More formats on the way, too! I'll be working with Smashwords to post several other formats to allow for the widest possible download options. I'll give you links when those are up for grabs. 

NEXT BOOK: Yep... I've already started edits/rewrites/revisions on the next book. It'll be my first anthology of side-stories to the main arc. These particular three novellas will contain character prequels to Volume 2. There will be art! Even better: I'll celebrate it's release (for a limited time) with a VERY low introductory price! Yep. 99 cents! 

(Huh. Anyone else out there remember the "cents" symbol key? I think @ replaced it? I miss it... and suddenly feel kinda old! LOL)

Cuddles,

Tamara, who fondly remembers the "cents" key

PAPERBACK NOW AVAILABLE!

The paperback has been approved for ordering! The first place the book has been made available is my Createspace page, here:  https://www.createspace.com/3775570

It'll show up on Amazon (hopefully linked to the Kindle book) in about a week. And then it's on to Expanded Distribution, where I'll have to hound the bookstores to pick it up. In a little over two or three weeks, my order will arrive for local sales and website sales. If you're on my local preorder list, you'll get it when that order comes in!

More product pics on the way...

AN ASIDE ABOUT ADVERTISING AND PLATFORM:

My book is finished, as prettily formatted and printed and designed as my skill and brain allow. This is all very exciting. I self-published a book. I'm told that's pretty impressive. I published without querying an agent or submitting to a small press, and I had TOTAL CREATIVE CONTROL, which is exhilarating!

And yet I have a touch of melancholy. I don't do melancholy, so it's confusing. Can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel like I've overstayed my welcome on my social network sites, like I've aggravated some people and just alienated the rest. But I really know almost everyone on my Facebook, and they're not all avid readers. And I have many followers who are also writers on Twitter, who I don't expect to buy my book, really. They are the community with which I want to learn and grow, not potential readers. I just haven't expanded my readership to my target audience yet. Working on that, next...

Truth be told, I'm not a super-awesome marketing expert. :) I know platform-building comes first, and I'm trying very hard to do that. I know advertising is key. (People can't buy what they don't know about!) I even bought an experimental ad here: http://www.kindlefantasyauthors.com/. Top of the page. Maybe the shiniest thing on that whole blog. (Experimental because the readership of this blog is under 1000. Maybe not a good return on investment, but I needed to practice somewhere...) I have an AdWords campaign in the works, but it's still under review. I'm told AdWords can be super-effective or a total loss. Encouraging, no? :D So we'll see. 

I also submitted to thebookdesigner.com Cover Contest, which is exciting!

I write stories and make art. I know where I stand there. Advertising is just a creative extension of my existing skills. I have some videos, banners, text ads, and other things in store for a broader audience. Then I'll focus my campaigns once I figure out what works, and I will thoroughly appreciate the feedback from anyone who experiences those campaigns.

What it all comes down to is time. I have no delusions about the pace of building a writer's career. I do have the very human desire to see results quickly. My "quickly" is different from many others' "quickly," and operates in 3-month quarters. Quarters feel like forever, there is much experimentation, and feedback on that experimentation may not come for weeks or months. And yet, my brain likes the exercise. So please bear with me as I learn the new skillset called "advertising." :)

Or maybe reality just needs to set in. I just published a book. This is pretty dang cool. Now comes the hard work, which really doesn't bother me. Now comes the risk that everyone or no one will love the book. Now comes the most important element to a successful writing business... the NEXT book!

Cuddles,

Tamara

The Pathos of Rowan Jun, Now On Kindle!

The Pathos of Rowan Jun, Kindle Edition 2 (the FINAL version) is up for grabs now!

http://www.amazon.com/Pathos-Rowan-Jun-ebook/dp/B0078L898E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329630518&sr=8-1

THE BLURB:

BURY YOUR HUMAN SOUL IN THE HEART OF A WARRIOR!

“What are you, boy?” asked the Valkyrie.
“A murderer,” Rowan said. “Nothing more.”
“I will be the judge of your worth, now.”

* * *

Rowan Jun awakens to a new, violent world when the Slaveship QuellTruth crashes on the planet Unata.

The human struggles to reconcile his bloody past with that of his new home, and sets out to become the greatest warrior Unata has ever known!

THE STORY:

This sci-fi adventure begins when the title character Rowan is thrown into the mix with a race of warriors on a new planet. The reason? He sabotages the directional controls aboard the QuellTruth, on which he is a slave, in order to save 10,000 slaves from lifelong servitude. The result? The ship crashes, killing all the slaves he tried to free. 

Rowan's guilt rises to strangle him as he seeks out refuge, freedom, and the ability to protect even just one person with his new skills as a warrior. Then a new enemy brings war upon Unata. The creatures—the warrior class from the Slavers’ race—thirst for vengeance over their losses, threatening to wipe out all Unatans. Can Rowan overcome his paralyzing past, to fight and protect his new home? Will he prove for the first time that he can become the Champion of Unata?

COVER:

THE ART:

Not counting the full color cover, the book has 12 illustrations. The map and one other illustration are in full color, for devices that have that functionality. However, they still look great in black, white and gray!

Sample illustration, the title character:

I hope you enjoy the story. Thanks for stopping by!

Cuddles,

Tamara

NOVEL VERSION ANNOUNCEMENT

Regarding The Pathos of Rowan Jun: In reviewing my proof, I found some issues to resolve. That said, looks like one final version of the Kindle book is in order as well. Version 2 will correct minor proofreading errors and will be the final release on Kindle. In a day or so, it should be up and I'll post a notice. If you have purchased Version 1 and would like the updated Version 2 when it's released, send me a message (if Amazon doesn't let you download the update for free, that is!).

Also, I'm correcting issues found in the proof before finalizing the paper book. That version will be on schedule for the end of the month as planned.

LESSONS LEARNED: 1. The finished product gets better the more you revise, 2. The process gets easier the more you repeat it, 3. Finished is a relative term. (All obvious, I know!)


Cuddles,
Tamara

The "Arghs" of Self-Publishing: How-To

At around 4:06 PM, Wednesday, February 15, 2012-ish... I may have successfully finished submission of my paperback novel files for The Pathos of Rowan Jun. I have illustrated, re-illustrated, tweaked and poked and prodded and screamed and kicked and stared stupidly at a screen for weeks. I have watched slow progress bars and eaten junk food and ignored family and friends. Did I mention I screamed? Yeah, I did that. I'm not saying that the following survival tips will keep you from doing the same. But awareness is key!

By comparison, the un-illustrated Kindle version was easy. (When I figure out how to accurately illustrate a Kindle book, I'll let you know! SEE BELOW!) I may have begun a pattern of un-illustrated Kindle version for a low price and illustrated paperback for a regular price.Which is fine by me at this point! Plus, later on, I'll expand distribution to B&N and Smashwords, etc., so that'll be a fun learning curve, too!

UPDATE:
The super-top-secret secret of making images show up in your Kindle book? Save your file as an HTML, Filtered Document, and THEN ZIP TOGETHER THE IMAGES FOLDER AND THE HTML FILE!!! Then upload the zipped folder. I felt so digitally dumb, since it's the obvious thing to do. But that happens...

Here are the general steps of self-publishing I have undertaken so far...

HOW TO SELF PUBLISH:

1. Write book.
2. Edit/Revise/Polish manuscript.
3. Follow formatting instructions for manuscript using Kindle and Createspace walkthroughs and templates.
4. Simultaneously create book cover art using templates, new art, and some fly by the seat of your pants Photoshop learnin'.
5. Co-Simultaneously create art for website, merchandising, and logo/branding THEN order said materials. I have a huge, awesome banner, full-color postcards, and T-shirts featuring the book cover. (www.vistaprint.com = easy and cheap)
6. Purchase ISBNs for your book. Otherwise, Amazon will control your distribution options. (Official gov't contractor for ISBNs: https://www.myidentifiers.com/) Buy 10 or more. It's cheaper that way.
7. Upload files to Kindle's direct publishing website, follow steps, fill out forms and publish. (https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin)
8. Upload files to Createspace, fill out forms, approve files, and submit for review. (https://www.createspace.com/)
9. HAVEN'T DONE THIS YET: Order paperback proof, approve final product and submit for distribution.
10. HAVEN'T DONE THIS YET: Promote and reap the benefits of your hard work! (Eventually, if it reaches your target audience, and if people actually like it...)

THE ARGHS! OF SELF-PUBLISHING:

1. You will notice glaring, silly proofreading mistakes almost as soon as your Kindle book goes live.
2. You will anxiously fix the file, upload again, and wait hours for it to publish and go live again. The version with the errors will remain available for purchase during this time (I'm pretty sure).
3. You may have to repeat!
4. Each time you have to re-upload your Kindle eBook, your ranking will drop dramatically. I think. Maybe. I'm #132,944 Paid in the Kindle Store as of now! (Hey! Give me some time, all right?)
5. As you make corrections, rename (with version number, or something) and backup the different document or art file names. There WILL be different versions... Keeps file confusion at bay.
6. I think Createspace servers update between 3 and 4 am. The upload would constantly stop, restart and then time out. No red-eyed jubilation and sound sleep for me! But when I gave up, slept, then uploaded later in the morning or afternoon, the upload went smoothly, if a little slowly. (My .doc file was over 26MB, though...)
7. I also tried to upload from my jump drive, and that seemed to cause a time-out. Probably something related to the file's location or compression or whatever, I assume. (Though I'm no tech, I did some customer service related to file uploads.) I saved the file to my desktop backup folder and uploaded from there. No timeouts related to location.
8. You will stare stupidly at the progress bar, drawing shapes around it with your in-process-cursor until the huge interior-content file uploads. This will not speed up the progress bar! :D
9. You will have to upload several times at this slow rate of speed to make file corrections.
10. The Interior Reviewer on Createspace is your friend. Y'know... the friend who loves you enough to tell you that shirt makes you look fat. For me, things cropped up like low-image resolution (oops!), formatting (*cringe*) and margin issues (*double cringe*), and active Table of Contents issues. The conversion from Word to PDF that happens in Createspace bumped some of my chapter titles to another page, so the TOC page number and actual page number were wrong. A manual fix and yet another upload later, and the FINAL final file is in review.

There you go! An evaluation that is by no means comprehensive, but represents my personal experience with the process. Let me know if you have any questions, or if you have anything to add to these lists. I'd love to hear from you!

Here is the finished Kindle book as it appears on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Pathos-Rowan-Jun-ebook/dp/B0078L898E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329342078&sr=8-1

Love and Cuddles,

Tamara