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!