Forever on Nook, Other E-readers, and Paperback

I know everything is up and going on Amazon and Smashwords but I’m getting many questions about the release date on the Nook and other e-readers. The good news is Nook should be up within 24-72 hours. The bad news is that it may be 2-3 weeks before it is available on other e-reading devices like the Sony e-reader and iBooks.

Forever can be downloaded for other e-reading devices (besides the Nook and Kindle) on Smashwords. The paperback is ready to go through Createspace. It will soon be available through Amazon and B&N as well. Below I have the links for Smashwords and Createspace to purchase electronic copies or paperbacks. I will let everyone know as soon as Forever is available through other vendors.

Smashwords  Createspace

Forever Release Date Moved Up

So a funny story for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

I uploaded the new version of Immortal some months back after editing was completed. It took nearly four days to go live on Smashwords and another two days before it was updated on Amazon. I don’t really know how long it took before Barnes & Noble got it up on their site but it took a few weeks.

The reason I’m telling you all this is that I set my release date for Forever as December 1, 2011. I didn’t want the formatting and upload time to cause me to miss the date so I began the process in the WEEEEEEEEE hours of the morning on November 24, 2011. Funny thing is it didn’t take as long as I thought it would. In fact, it is now available for purchase on Smashwords and will soon be available on Amazon. I considered removing them and waiting an extra few days but that can be a tricky game so I am leaving them up.

Think of it as a Black Friday present. I hope you all enjoy and that the rest of your Thanksgiving weekend is a happy one.

Forever Book Trailer

I made a book trailer for the upcoming release. I hope you all enjoy it.

Forever Release Date

I know everyone has been waiting for an update and I told you I would let you know milestones as I reached them. The suspense is over in some regards and just starting in another. Forever has been sent to the proofer (to make sure all my I’s have dots and those pesky homophones are found). With that said, I am setting the tentative release date for Forever as December 1, 2011.

As a little treat, I am also posting the cover for Forever. I hope you all enjoy it. And I look forward to your feedback.

Mistake Number One

Not hiring a professional editor.

This may seem like a no brainer but I have to learn everything the hard way. This is the thing I regret the most and would change if I could. I honestly thought that when I released Immortal it was the best it could be. There were, however, some glaring errors in the manuscript and those reviewers or readers who threw their hands up and quit reading I apologize.

Earlier this year I decided to correct this issue. I hired a professional editor (Lynn O’Dell) and after a few months of hard work and back and forth we got it worked out. I now have the edited version of Immortal at Amazon and Smashwords. I have also uploaded it to B&N but I’m not sure how long it will take to be corrected as they tend to lag behind slightly on updates.

My advice to those who are considering going the Indie route is to hire a professional editor. It may seem like and unnecessary or frivolous expense, but it is worth every penny you spend. Also make sure they do an adequate job (most editors will offer sample edits). There really is no substitute for an editor. Beta readers are great but they usually are not getting paid to find the mistakes. So if you want your book to be the best it can be, get a reputable editor. This will not guarantee success but it will hopefully help prevent some bad reviews or readers giving up on your novel prematurely due to common spelling errors or holes in your plot.

Mistake Number Two

Not finishing the series before publishing.

This one is a little tricky. Immortal is the first book I have ever written. I knew from the very beginning it would be a series. I never dreamed how long or difficult writing a series could be. Writing the second book, Forever, has been a learning experience on the scale of writing a first book.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not advising anyone not to publish until the entire series is completed. Just be prepared for the fact that it can take a lot longer than you thought to write and things don’t always go as planned

Mistakes I Made When Going Indie

There is a lot of debate about self publishing or indie publishing. The tide has changed with the success of authors such as J.A. Konrath and Amanda Hocking. This has given some validity to the act but there are still some who think it could be a fluke.  

After much research and inner debate I decided to try my hand at it and though I have not (as of yet) had the success of the above mentioned authors I am still doing far better than I could have ever dreamed. With this success I have run into things that I would have done differently and I hope to explore these topics over the coming weeks and what, if any efforts or ideas, I have come up with to try and fix these errors. 

Hopefully, none of them are as bad as this. Okay, at least one of them is as bad as this.