Gabrielle Bisset

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

ROW 80 Check In 5-18

Welcome to Wednesday and another check in with ROW 80.  So much is going on with having two books coming out in June that writing is fighting with promotion for equal time.  I think if someone asked me what I thought was the biggest surprise about having a book published, I would have to answer the promotion that goes into it. 

I can say I see the issue from both sides since I'm self-publishing my first novella, Vampire Dreams, on June 10 and am being published by Siren for my novel, Stolen Destiny, on June 29.  As far as I can tell, it's the same process for the author.  I'm expected to do the lion's share of publicity for the book with the publisher, and I'm doing all the publicity for my indie book. 

Thankfully, I didn't go into this thinking it was 1955 and publishers catered to authors.  (Ok, settle down.  Wipe the soda from your face and make sure it isn't still coming out of your nose. Did you get any on the screen?)  I'm a hands-on kind of gal (do my own home improvement, home school my son), so this promotion work isn't anything I can't handle.  It is, however, taking away time from the writing. 

This week I finalized the edits for Vampire Dreams, which is set to release on June 10.  I'm so excited about that!  Coming in a little under 20,000 words, it's the first in a trilogy of erotic novellas set in Victorian England.  It's the only one out of the three that's paranormal (the other two are straight up historical). 

I also completed Love's Master, the second novella in the trilogy.  Editing will begin in a week or so, but for now, I'm very pleased with this story. It's an historical, but with a twist:  it involves BDSM (pretty light stuff, in truth, but yummy). 

Finally, I began the last novella, as of yet untitled.  I'm about eight pages into it, and I'm loving it already!  Now you see why I'm wishing my time didn't have to be so devoted to promotion. 

I'm so thankful for the bloggers and authors who have extended me a welcome to come to their blogs and talk about my books.  Expect to see them here at my blog because I'm all about reciprocity--people helping one another can get a lot done. 

So what's the final tally?  Final edits done on Vampire Dreams.  Ten pages done in Love's Master (about 2500 words).  Seven pages completed in new novella (about 1750 words).  Met my writing goal this week. :D  And much hobnobbing with others on the promotional front. 

For a look at how others in ROW 80 are doing, click HERE.  Have a great day, and take the time to enjoy what you're doing.  It makes a world of difference. 

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Congratulations on your two books! Marketing and promotion is a lot of work. Some advice I have received on promotion is to make sure you have a schedule for it, and divide your time up between writing and promotion accordingly. You will definitely want to make sure you have plenty of time to work on your new stuff as well as promoting the older stuff. One person I know spends 4 weekdays writing and one weekday working on promotion.

I homeschool my son as well :)

Melanie

Unknown said...

Thanks Melanie! Isn't the home schooling wonderful? I don't know if my son would give the same response, however, since he has a history prof for a teacher. I'm tough, but fair. LOL :)

Andrew said...

Doing all my own promo no matter which way I published was the biggest surprise for me when I looked into my options. One book seems like a lot, but two? Good for you! Much success.

Unknown said...

Thanks Andrew! The promo is really so important. :)

Julius Cicero said...

Busy, busy, busy. I'll bet it's just about as fun as the writing itself. I've never done it, but a promo of your own work can't be overdone. Give 'em hell!
Do what it is that you do best, and do it with all of your might- Marcus Tullius Cicero

Unknown said...

Thanks Julius! This promo thing isn't too bad. It's just a lot of outreach. It's very exciting, though. :)

Nadja Notariani said...

June is shaping up to be a busy month for you, Gabrielle! I should complete my novel in that month as well. Oy....I'm thinking a night out for the girls is in order come June!
Any title ideas for the newest novella?
~ Nadja

Unknown said...

Your novella or mine? LOL Mine I'm still thinking Masquerade, but yours I have to think on. As for the girls' night out, I'm all in. Any chance we can rustle up some of those specimen we like to admire?