Deadly to Love Paperback Update

I have just re-formatted and published the paperback for Deadly to Love. 

This means that:

1. The book is now a standard U.S Trade paperback size instead of pocket.
2. The book is now up to date with the Kindle version.
3. The paperback is now cheaper for you guys to buy by quite a bit!

Because I had to create a new book there is a new ISBN which is: 9781291410259. There will also be an overlap as to when the old version is removed from Amazon and the new one is up. 

For now the paperback is only available through Lulu (should take a week to appear on Amazon) but I will let you know when I get confirmation it has been distrubuted.

Here's the link to the book on Lulu as the old version hasn't been removed from Amazon yet. Deadly to Love (Elemental Killers)

Proof Copy

So today I got my first copy of Elemental Killers #2 in the post. I had it bound so it would be easier for me to carry around and re-draft, well that's what I told myself. The formatting was also a distraction from some work I really didn't want to do. I really want to share a picture of it with all you guys but that would mean revealing the cover and that is not something I want to do yet so you'll have to be patient and keep checking back to for the reveal.

Anyway, now that I have seen it in print I'm so excited I don't want to wait to start going through it. I love how the cover has turned out and due to this I think revision is going to have to wait until the weekend. I feel like sitting in the sun and being creative so that's where I'm heading now.

Elemental Killers #2 & Beta Readers

Today I completed the first draft of Elemental Killers #2. Standing at around 88,000 words without editing it is currently my longest novel to date and so far I'm very pleased with how it has turned out - although I haven't read what I've written yet...

There were ups and downs with creating the main plot line and I'm sure there will be many more in ht editing process. Most of the downs came from one male character, who will remain nameless, acting up and not listening to my wishes. However, I got there in the end and the character started to behave so nearly all of the writing was a positive experience. I really enjoyed creating the book and I'm looking forward to re-drafting even more. 

Because of my exams I will not be able to release the book before the end of June at the earliest, however I want to offer out a few ARCs (with basic editing) to around five or six beta readers to get a feel for what I need to work on in the book before release. Keep checking back as I will be posting a form in the near future.

Hitting Publish

I don’t know whether it is the same for other self-publishing authors but for me, hitting publish on Amazon is one of the most nerve-wracking things in the whole process. I hover over that minute button for ages, just trying to build up the courage to send the book into review.

When it comes to pressing that button all of my confidence goes and suddenly I am questioning things I would not under normal circumstances, for example my form filling in skills are suddenly under scrutiny as I check, double check and most probably check a further three times to make sure I have filled everything in correctly. Even the spelling of my name is brought into question. I mean how hard can it be to spell “Mia?” It only has three letters in it, but as soon as it comes to clicking that button my mind starts to doubt things I have done all of my life.

Pressing that button is the culmination of months of hard work. It is the final hurdle for authors and even after all the work that goes into writing the novel itself, I still find pressing that button harder. My head is full of ideas I am hoping to turn into novels, I enjoy the planning and seeing the ideas unfold on paper and I love the writing process, especially watching the pages/word count slowly increase. The editing process I don’t like so much but more time goes into re-drafting and editing than writing it the first time. So after all that it seems silly to worry about pressing a tiny button doesn’t it? I mean, I’ve put the effort into writing something and getting it ready for the public to see so shouldn’t I be excited about the prospect of it being available to buy?

Well of course I am, I love seeing my work out there but every time I go to press that button saying “finish and publish” nothing seems as good anymore. I automatically think I have uploaded the wrong draft of my novel or my computer has a mind of its own and has done something it shouldn’t – which did happen once, Chrome auto fill put my name as ‘Mia Hoddell Hoddell,’ luckily I noticed it before in one of my many checks.

Combined with this there are also the nerves caused by people being able to see and read my work. Questions form in my head like “is it really good enough?” or “are people going to like it?” as I doubt myself. Sadly, this feeling never goes away and I don’t think it ever will. Authors have a personal connection to their work and getting any kind of feedback will always be nerve-wracking as each book is a little piece of us.

I still find that little button the biggest hurdle though. Once I’ve clicked it my mind goes into overdrive, screaming at me “What did you do?!” and that fact that I have to wait 12hrs to change anything I may have got wrong only increases this feeling. However once I get the email through from Amazon saying my book is live and I can see everything is fine the whole drama of clicking that button seems just slightly over the top.

*First posted on I Heart Reading as part of the Deadly to Love tour.

Counting Down

The countdown has begun. There are only 6 chapter left!

I have been doing a chapter a day (maybe more sometimes) and now I have only the final few chapters of Elemental Killers #2 to write! I'm aiming for the first draft to be complete by the end of April, if not a few days sooner depending on my college work load. I've given myself a deadline and this time I'm going to stick to it. I have to, or else I'm going to get no revision done in May...

Anyway despite the first draft being nearly complete due to May/June exams I'm going to have to sit back and wait to start editing and re-drafting so the book won't be out for another few months - late June at the earliest maybe but don't hold me to that. It will give you time to read the first installment Deadly to Love though if you haven't already.

I may be looking for beta readers as well so if you're interested keep checking back as I will post and update and form here when I've decided.

Besides that nothing much else has been happening. The Deadly to Love tour has been on going and ends tomorrow (25th) so make sure to check out the stops and get your last minute entries for the giveaways in. There will be something for everyone who has entered or hosted!

Find the schedule and giveaways HERE. There have been some amazing blogs hosting me, you have to check them out!