Headlines and Deadlines

I’m still excited about my new venture into indie publishing but I’m also starting to get freaked out by my own self-imposed deadlines (eek). You see, there’s a rather major thing happening right now that I haven’t blogged about yet… I’m expecting my very first Sprogling (i.e. baby) very soon (April soon, in fact!) and although I’d planned to publish Jinn Nation before she arrives, I’m getting scared by the scarce amount of time I seem to have left. Still so much to do! I’ve decided to just chill the hell out and see how it goes. I’m aiming for an early April release (book, not baby! – she’s not due until the 13th ) but if I have to wait until after she’s born, I’ll just approve proofs, update websites and promote in-between nappy changes. They do sleep sometimes, right?…

I realise this all makes me sound a lot less excited than I actually am about the impending Sprogling… I actually can’t wait for her to get here, making my current relationship with the notion of time rather complicated. Sigh.

So what of Jinn Nation? Plans for its publication are definitely progressing, whether or not I have the occasional freak-out to suggest otherwise. The cover is currently in the hands of a very talented designer and I’ve been so excited about the drafts I’ve seen so far – it’s going to be awesome! I’ve also redesigned my website to include the book (feel free to laugh at my meagre excuse for a Jinn Nation cover – it’s just a placeholder until the real thing is ready ) and my first indie effort – The Undead Alliance. I didn’t code a thing this time, which only felt mildly weird! Instead, I signed up with Wix.com where you can build a free Flash website entirely online in a drag and drop stylee. You have to put up with a small banner across the bottom of your webpage (you can pay for a premium package that gets rid of this), but I was really impressed with the amount of effects and features you can use. I had fun anyway Wix also host the pages on their own servers. Go check me out now I’m all Flashy! – www.carolinebarnardsmith.co.uk

I’ve also finally perfected the blurb for Jinn Nation:

In Dunraven Road, Dylan wanted to tear the world down – now he only wants to find his place in it.

Once, the vampire Dylan had feared nothing and no one. He’d rampaged throughout the world on a seemingly never ending quest to fill his eternal years with the finest, most outrageous extravagances; with exquisite, soft-limbed young women and copious amounts of rich, vibrating blood. But life, however full of joy, inevitably changes.

Finding himself alone for the first time in his long unlife, Dylan turns to the preternatural race of savage creatures called the jinn – a path that inevitably leads him to Christa, a strangely childlike woman with the power to control minds and read thoughts. Mutually intrigued by each other, they set out on a blood-soaked road trip that crosses the United States and the Atlantic Ocean; finally leading them beyond the world itself to the mysterious fae kingdoms of the Inbetween.

What do you think? Suitably appetite-whetting? I’ve tried to include more detail than I did in Dunraven Road’s blurb, because I remember being told it didn’t give enough away to make some readers want to buy it. Which sucked, obviously.

I’m hoping to have a sample of the novel up on my website by next week.

Just before I sign off, I have to mention this blog post by indie author Katie Salidas: Self-Publishing & Marketing Advice – What I’ve learned this past year. If, like me, you’re new to all this indie publishing malarkey (or to being published in general), the information in this blog is seriously worth checking out. Invaluable.

I’m off now to complete some more final polishes on Jinn Nation, here’s hoping I’m less freaked out the next time I blog!

The New Californian Gold Rush

I’m so happy to announce that my very first offering for the Amazon Kindle is now live on their site – mostly because formatting it took so bloody long.  It’s my zombie novella, The Undead Alliance.  

Want a blurb?

A new novella from the author of Dunraven Road.

He’s a stinking, undead, rotting carcass with unfortunate brain activity. She’s a human captive, kept alive so that her vital organs can one day help sustain her rotting zombie masters. Romeo and Juliet they ain’t.

Gabriel thought that waking up as a zombie was the end of the world. In fact, a new world was just beginning – a world of dark, creeping horror overseen by a decomposing eccentric in a pirate costume calling himself Captain James.

Five short years later and the dead have risen up to claim the UK. Gabriel finds himself in charge of the North Sector Harvesting Plant, watching the daily influx of the living with a weary eye. Having become increasingly disillusioned with The Undead Alliance and its practices, the arrival of the very human Daisy seems to be his salvation – but who would ever love a zombie? If he wants to convince her he’s more than just the sum of his maggot infested parts, he’ll have to break her out of the harvesting plant and defy everything the Alliance stands for. All of which is easier said than done, especially when he has to deal with the unwanted attentions of Princess – the icy paramour of Captain James himself.

Is Gabriel strong enough to turn against his charismatic yet ultimately evil leader? Or will he watch Daisy die?

I’m getting ahead of myself though, perhaps I should explain how I came to the decision to self-publish (which will henceforth be known as indie publishing, because it sounds sooo much cooler)…

For those of you who’ve been listening to my radio show, you’ll know I’ve been talking about e-publishing and the Kindle in particular, especially since Amazon recorded astronomical Kindle sales over the Christmas period. So many sales in fact, that at one point the Kindle was outselling the latest Harry Potter book. I’ve always been interested in digital publishing, although back in 2008 I was lamenting the fact that “In the early days… ebooks also suffered from the same snobbery used to demean print-on-demand services. If you had to resort to publishing through an ebook publisher, your book wasn’t worth jack.” Well, I think I can safely say that things have now changed. The Kindle and other major ebook readers such as Barnes & Noble’s Nook steadily grew in popularity over the course of last year, meaning of course that ebooks did too – particularly those published by indie authors who unlike the traditional publishers were putting out their work at a decent price. Paranormal romance author and indie publishing’s current heroine Amanda Hocking has sold over 185, 000 books since April 2010. E-publishing has suddenly become interesting.

Now, of course you’ll always be able to find self-published novels of the same calibre as some of the drek that often stinks up the place over at Lulu; but authors such as J.A. Konrath and H.P. Mallory are proof that this is no longer the norm. J.A. Konrath in particular propounds upon the benefits of hiring professional book designers and cover artists. It seems there really is nothing a traditional publisher can do that an author can’t do for themselves. Social networking even makes promotion easier (and cheaper), often bypassing the need for the sort of large scale advertising campaigns employed by the traditional print publishers (campaigns which have become infrequent to non-existent in recent years anyway, giving new authors about as much support as a cheap sports bra).

Perhaps what has really spurred me on to try my hand at indie publishing though is the amount of control you retain; not only over the content of your work, but over the royalties you can accrue. Many authors claim they’re not indie publishing simply because the traditional publishers rejected them, they’re indie publishing because they get a better deal. All of which is starting to make the traditional publishers and agents sweat into their designer suits.

In the wise words of J.A. Konrath:

“This is the California Gold Rush of 1849. Will everyone get rich? No. But damn near everyone who tries will make more money than they would if they try the traditional publishing route.”

Why wouldn’t you mark out a spot and start sifting for gold?

So, The Undead Alliance is my trial run. I’m planning to do similar things with my latest novel, Jinn Nation and I’m excited