Writing fiction is like hard and stuff

Last week I signed up for the writing challenge over at Book In a Week .

Why? I need the practice. When I was a teenager I wrote all the time. I was always jotting down poems and songs and even short stories. Fast forward to my 20s and I started about 4 novels, no I never finished any of them, but I did start. One even got into the 7th chapter, go Lyza, go Lyza!

Yet as I sat down in front of my laptop last week to start work on my short story, I froze.

Then I googled how to write a short story :) I am not ashamed here people. Everyone needs a hand up at times. And this time it's me. I stumbled upon Book in a Week and decided I liked the premise. You sign up, get approved and list your goal for the week. I started with a modest 15 pages, then you write and write, you don't worry about editing during this time you just put your words down every day for an entire week.

The people on that site are some of the nicest people you will ever meet online. A few reached out to me personally just to say hello and welcome me. For an introvert like me, it was nice to be taken into the fold on a site where it seems most of the people have been friendly for months or even years. You should check the site out.

We start on Monday and I am looking forward to it. I liken it to actors who take acting and improv classes to improve their craft. Never stop learning. And hey, if you meet some nice people along the way, all the better. :0)

Pen names for E-books

Obviously every writer's goal is to make money with their writing. And as I read articles, e-books and blogs it seems that getting more e-books out there is one of the key ways to gain exposure and make more sales which equals more money.

But what if you want to expand and write in different genres and categories?

There are some e-book authors doing quite well while crossing genres and using different pen names. I think I may do the same.

I do love writing non fiction budget travel books, but I have other things I long to work on. The biggest is to start and actually complete a contemporary romance novel. I say complete because over the years I have started and abandoned a few novels. Gotta work on that follow through :)

I think I am going to go with pen names for my next few projects. One is that I have been told that ethnic sounding names, like mine, do not sell as well. People assume they will not relate to your work. I pray that after I get a few reviews that I can overcome that with my books. No matter my name I am a single mom and I write for other single moms, it's as simple as that.

I do have other Traveltini's for my Broke Single Mom series that I want to put out in the next couple of months. I also have a couple of short stories I want to get started on, the issue is timing and organization.

With my Traveltini books its about research and compilation while my short stories should be pretty easy to get down on paper as they are both fictionalized versions of my dating life.

For now I will keep my very ethnic sounding last name on my non fiction titles and I will be brain storming pen names for my shorts.

And if when I finish my novel I will decide if I use one of the names I am already using or if a new pen name is in order. :)

Writing and selling the non-fiction e-book

Some people say that writing non fiction is the way to go if you want to make money fast. I haven't the slightest if this is true. What I do know is what is true for me and that is that I haven't made enough money yet to even cover my costs.

So why am I continuing to write non fiction? Especially when so many writers are caking it (making money hand over fist) with fiction?

Because I genuinely enjoy writing about shoestring budget travel, time flies when I am writing and doing research and crunching numbers. And I believe that once I get my name and books "out there" and noticed I will be helping so many people that are just like me. Single parents that believe the only way to take their kids on a vacation is to either visit family out of town or set up camp and sleep in a tent.

In this day and age there is no reason that almost everyone shouldn't be able to take a week off and have a grand old time of it without going into credit card debt. My 5 day Chicago vacation was around $400, including Amtrak tickets, parking, food and hotel and we got blessed and stayed at the amazing Embassy Suites a few blocks from the Navy Pier. Meanwhile my sister went camping near Washington DC for 4 days and spend $400 just on the camp site. A nice camp site to be sure, with a lake, pool and cafe, but at the end of the day she was still roughing it.

I do want to write a novel, most writers do. But for right now I will write my next few non fiction books to add to my virtual shelf space and take it from there.

So if you have a passion for something, gardening, cooking or playing the piano and want to share your knowledge and write about it, then do. Don't let anyone tell you there isn't a market  for it or that you are wasting your time.

Do what makes you happy and then market the heckaroni out of it! And if it works then yay for you! If it doesn't? Well at least you won't spend the next 20 or 30 years wondering "what if".

Oh wow! Slow sales, does this mean there is no hope? And my new e-book cover.

Hey all, I am in a pretty iffy place right now. So I'll give you the rundown.

-I have decided to shut down the blog that I created just for my readers
-My job is getting me down
-My sales suck, big time!
-Editing my second book, waiting for new cover

I have now asked anyone that visits my Broke Single Mom blog to come on over here and check me out. I've only gotten 5 visits on that blog in the past 4 months, so I doubt it will be a problem.

My job? Well it's a job and my biggest professional desire is to be able to support myself and my family with my writing so no matter what, it's not where I want to be 5 days a week.

My sales? Well over the past 4 months I have only had about 20 sales and yes, that is counting both Nook and Kindle. Have a done much promoting? Er, no. Why? Er, cuz I'm a dumb ass that's why.

It is so overwhelming and frustrating and not a little scary to try and follow all of the advice out there for e-book writers when it comes to marketing. If I were to follow even just the top 10 I would have no time to sleep. It seems my fellow e-book authors spend just as much, if not more time on marketing than they do writing. Where do they find the energy and time?

I have to just pick one and try it for a while. I have decided to utilize Yahoo Answers and use my signature to try and attract interested topical readers to purchase my book. I will answer budget vacation questions, no spamming, I will give them thoughtful answers pertaining to what they need. It helped me get eyes on my blogs in previous years, let's see if it helps me this time around.

I am not a social networking person, I do not have a Face book or Twitter account. I may have to soon if sales don't pick up though.

As for my second book, I am in the middle of editing and also waiting for my designer to implement a few changes to the mock up he sent me. He actually got my ideas almost right on the money but when I saw the finished product the bottle bothered me.

As you can see from the mock up it's a book on a New York City vacation on a shoestring budget of $600. I will post the updated cover as soon as I get it.

Honestly, some days it feels like I am destined to be a worker bee in someone else's hive for the rest of my life. But I push through it, what other choice do I have? I let life happen and did not start going after my dream until recently. I can't keep doing that to myself. I just bought an inspirational mini plaque, it reads;

DREAM YOUR LIFE....LIVE YOUR DREAM

I like it, it spoke to me, as they say.

Here's to dreaming!

Sales Numbers for my first non fiction ebook

So, it has been a few weeks since I put up my first ebook for sale on Barnes and Noble and Amazon. According to the numbers on my sales reports I've only sold 3 total so far. Kinda sad, but I have hope. I've gotten really good feedback on the actual content of my book, so I am considering taking a leap (of faith and money) and redoing the cover. Since it is the first thing people will see I am thinking that a more colorful and fun cover might help me with sales. I'll be working on that this week. Here's to hoping that it works, or I'll never get out of my 8-5. whaaaaaaa!

So, anyone else out there in Cyber Land trying their hand at selling their non fiction books as ebooks? I'd love to hear from you :)

Until next time.

Working the Kinks out of posting my ebook on PubIt and Kindle

It's done. My book is now officially available for sale on both Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. After the upload I realized that there were a few mistakes that I needed to change and I found out that fixing them takes a while.

I uploaded the proper file to Barnes and Noble but not to Amazon, dag-na-bit! The result is that if anyone buys the Amazon copy today there will be two chapter 11 headings in the index and though there is a chapter 7 it got skewed in the conversion which makes it look like a mere continuation of Chapter 6. I have gone in and replaced that version with the correct file. But like I said, it takes a while...24 hours is what the Kindle site is saying.*

*Update; the correct version is now live and for sale replacing my flawed first try:) Kudos to Amazon's Kindle program, it was no where near 24 hours more like 5 hours.

But aside from this hiccup I have to tell you how wonderful it feels to have finished and posted my book for sale so soon after changing my business focus.

I've also decided to have this first book be part of a series, the "Broke Single Mom" series. And I am already researching and working on my next book.

I am new to all of this in the self publishing ebook world, but I am willing to learn and if you are thinking of testing the water, I say jump in! So we make mistakes, at least we're trying. and those can always be rectified :)

Ebook writing for the Kindle and the Nook - Starting Over

Okay so here is the sitch people. I have tried my hand at many businesses over the years because ever since I was 16 years old and pregnant with my daughter I have wanted a very Emma Harte type of existence. And while our lives do mirror each other when it comes to the tragedy and hardship part on so many levels its scary, they absolutely DO NOT on the success in business area, sadly for me.

The biggest difference is that well I am a real person while Ms. Emma Harte is fictional. But she has always been so real to me, such an inspiration. I have read that book over 20 times in the last 21 years and I own 3 different copies of it as well as the DVD. Yes I am a fan lol. If you have ever read it you know, and if you choose to read it then you will know.

Why would a 37 year old woman continue to strive for though never achieve any real success and yet still feel like this fictional character is someone to be looked up to? Partly because like all of us, I still view the heroine of "A Woman of Substance" through the eyes of a pregnant 16 years old that felt alone in this world when her daughters father died. Also because like almost everyone else as well, I want the American dream. I want to be able to work for and build a legacy for my children and grand children and I pray that I can have fun along the way.

But how can I when I have spent the past 9 years of my life on hold? I have changed from the person I once was and I hate it. Today I can say that I am so tired or being sick and tired of my life. My house is always in a shambles, I have gained 90 EFFING pounds - bleh, I have not dated since my last horrific relationship ended and my kids are crazy and disrespectful. I have no social life, I only see my friends when we vacation every year and though I love (most of) the people I work with I hate my job.

What do I think I need to start changing these things?

-God
-Church
-New business shift
-Ability to stop being passive/agressive and stand my ground with my children
-Actually riding the bike I was gifted by my mom
-Deciding that I am important again

Sooooo......

God and church - I will start reading my bible each night again. And I will try the church I visited a few times last year.

New Business Shift - I have tried for years to start an ebook publishing business. Well I took certain steps to do this but never really followed through. My old counselor says I am scared of success, how twisted is that? Anyway, now, instead of looking for people who have done the deed with AIS (ass in seat) and written books, so that I could publish and market for them, I have decided to "put up or shut up'. I have written my first non fiction book and I am in the process of editing it.

Passive/Agressiveness - I'm sure its from my upbringing but I have a difficult time calling someone out, now I do get to a point where I've bottled it up for so long that I let people have it and it can and has, gotten VERY ugly and scary. It's like I am a different person. This is unhealthy and I want to erase that out of the way that I handle my children and all of their young adult and teenage angst. All it does is stress me further and not solve the initial problem

Riding my bike - Simple, Get off my ass and get on my bike, ugh! But seriously I went from a size 3/4 to an 18 - how sad :(

I am Important - I am ! I just have to constantly remind myself that I am and that all of the hard work and sacrifice I am planning to under take is doable because I am important enough to work for, as are my children.

Until next time, I leave you with a quote that I likey :) "Setting a goal doesn't guarantee success; it just gives you a target. You still have to work your tail off to hit it. —Dave Ramsey

Here goes nothin'

Madam C.J. Walker, America's First Self Made Millionairess

Okay, I'll just say it.

I heart The Black Rose. It is the "based on fact with a lil fiction thrown in" story of the infamous and in my opinion, FABULOUS Madam C.J. Walker.



Mrs. Walker is a true inspiration to any woman thinking that her time has passed to go after her dream of starting her business. She was born to slave parents in a small town and was poverty stricken most of her life. She was a washer woman up through and a little beyond the time she decided to change her station in life, and oh yeah, she was 37 years old.

Yep, you read that right. She was 37 years old when she started what would propel her to the title of the first American self made female millionaire. Some say she was the first black female millionaire, but she was actually the first female millionaire period to have made her own fortune and not married into or inherited her wealth. And I believe that if it wasn't too late for her then it isn't too late for any of us!

She started a hair care business geared toward the black community at a time where most black women tried hard to keep out of harms way and simply survive. Her company was the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company.

There are other books based on her personal life as well as business ventures, a few written by her grand daughter. And while the facts stated were interesting I love the spin of the Novel based on her life much better. It was a lovely, inspiring and oh too fast read. I couldn't put it down. And I walked away from that book invigorated and ready to own my future.

Madam C.J. Walker was a visionary, she was daring and bold and she is my new hero.

If you are in need of inspiration, please check this book out. You can read it gratis from your local library or grab a copy on Amazon for about $2.