Camp Time Again!!

It is July, and so with hot days, open windows at night, mosquitos, and a longing to dip into a pool comes the obsessive need to get my 1000 to 2000 words written for camp.  This year I started by calling my novel Camp, but changed to The Butterfly Specialist last week.  Speaking of change - its time for the Character Archetype!  I love believe-ability, even with dragons and cyber-punk dystopians, as I reader I want to believe!  This worksheet helps with your arc of change the character goes through.  Helps you set motivation, build tension, break your character at a proper breaking point to move him/her/self to change, and then slide down the arc taking prisoners, resisting and dying, or whatever your character is going to do.  This year, I have typed out all the words in the video so that you don't have to take notes or watch the entire thing for suggestions to create your own character arc worksheet.  Here you go, campers!!  Subscribe to my vlog: http://youtube.com/KaraSkyeVlog New videos every Tuesday and Saturday and every other Wednesday.

Click read more for the typed version of this video.

Two Novels Due This Month - Not Just the Weather but the Pressure is Heating Up!!

I am writing Willow - from camp notes and pre-writes - while finishing (at long last) The Nebulizer Potion and the Electric Compass.  This kind of pressure has me doing what?  Three guesses:
1.  Relaxing by the pool for R&R
2.  Organizing, furiously, in my planner; prioritizing and delegating
3.  Adding more projects to my list of to-dos

No organized person does number 3!  The answer is: number 3 - help!  I have added a vlog.  Two video posts per week.  Here is the latest vlog post I just finished up today (in time to start another - ahh!)  Luckily, the vlog is about creating e-books - specifically picture books, but with the content requirements, I also squeezed in a cover for one of the two novels due out this month.  Subscribe if you would like updates or tips about creating covers and using the Kindle Creators that Amazon.com provides authors on kdp.

Indie Publishing Isn't for Losers

Yes, its not just for losers, anyway.  Some of the best illustrators, authors, and even book marketers have shared their experiences in deciding to choose Indie or Self-publishing routes for their books, rather than traditional publishers; and, the consensus seems to be that the experience is worthy.  Its worthy of our effort, time, and attention; so, it must be living up to its promises on YouTube, Kindle Direct, Smashwords, and so on.

The main reason authors indie publish: royalties.

With Kindle Direct, an author/illustrator/indie publisher can bring an e-book to the public without print costs or bindery.  This translates directly to lower overhead expense, and the royalties are either 35% or 70% for all sales. Standard publishers often offer advances, however, and sometimes it's just hard to get all the work that creating a book really does involve done on little to no budget.  The perks gone, of an advance, the publisher's also have a marketing team.  They get the reviews done and in place by the time the book is viewable by the public.  A strategy this intelligent from a self or indie publisher costs money out of pocket, which could even include dinners for friends who won't want to read another book for a while.  Choosing a more professional route to get reviews in place, is time consuming and requires investments in free books and incentives.  So, there must be another reason.  Here are three that helped me choose indie publishing for my books.

Additional Reasons Great Authors Indie Publish Their Books

No agent required.  Although having an agent is probably great, there doesn't seem to be a open interview process and most do not accept solicitations.  In other words, unless you already know an agent, or someone who can get your foot in the door, its nearly more work getting an agent.  By then, your book is done, kids really like it, and its go time!  Its just so easy to click that PUBLISH button and if you are not a little impatient, you probably haven't written a book.

Make vs. Wait - a.k.a. Doing Both. Two sticks can play music while waiting your turn.  Since it can often take years to land an agent, and they often like working with authors and artists who can prove they know what they're doing, why not have a few titles to twelve titles selling and bringing in the revenue while the wait continues for the top five to go looking for authors, again.  A few greats have wowed with their top 10 status which put them in the spotlight, and/or the Best-Seller's Lists.  This makes easy work of getting an agent, whereas the wait line is costly, the create line earns royalties until seen.

Its just fun.  Maybe we are A.D.D. or slightly over-achievers; but authors like writing books, and artists like illustrating them.  We do the work, anyway; because it is fun.  Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, and many other book sites bring to light the work we've done that might also be stacked on a desk, or art table somewhere like the old printing press shops of the late 1600s.  Now we can bring this work - and fun - to readers so quickly that its forgotten how many months of long hours the dedication to write books takes.  

If this sounds like you, and you are waiting to get noticed, the general thought is an agent looks at a bound book with reviews as quickly as a manuscript these days.  Undoubtedly there are purists, but they might have to change, too, unless they are open to solicitation.

Why would an author charge 99 cents?!  Find out, here.

Generating READERS in a Reader's Generation

As a kid I read a lot.  I formed an annoying habit of re-reading books if I couldn't get new books fast enough.  With the young reader generations, these days however, its not just the number of books but the advanced content of the books they are reading that amazes me. Case in point, I wasn't ready for Fight Club when I read it at 23 yet my son and his friends read most of Chuck Palahniuk's books before the end of the twelfth grade.  I read on Twitter that picture books are now too often being sent back to the warehouse unopened, because parents are buying their children chapter books much earlier.  (From the get-go? I hope not!  I loved picture books, didn't you?)

With multiple generations of readers equipped with text laden e-readers, apps, and chapter books, it should be a simple path to follow for us authors - write great stuff - to be successful.  Readers, these days, like a challenging book too, no baby talk even for the babies, I guess.  I've written middle readers  - and younger -chapter books, though I've tried to appeal to all ages - and entertain.  I've tried to add mystery and an awakening moment or three where maybe you thought this sweet, kids' author wouldn't have plotted you through unruly legends or connected the loose threads you didn't expect to connect.  I know I market to a group who's growing up quickly, however.  In fact they are growing up intellectually before their Carter's wear out!  As a mom, I couldn't quite handle that, so I gently reminded, 'slow down, have some fun - don't grow up - all the way - just today'.  As for YA authors, they've known for a long time how grown up kids are, but I'm hoping there's enough childish play time for a little silly kid stuff before YA reading age.

The Five S's of a Sensible Storyline for Writing Fiction

Writing fiction is indeed a creative process. A process deciphered in endless terms and conditions with many books about elements, rules, guidelines, and advice to its craft.

Here, are five concepts which most writers already apply, however, a better understanding keeps the author in control and the writing intentional. Once defined and applied, these concepts arm the writing so that authors can choose to wield them (powerfully) or skip them (powerfully); employing them as decisively as plot and point-of-view, or not - your choice being deliberate. By learning these five writing concepts, you make choices in the writing which signify intent and command of your craft.  In children's fiction, you will most likely choose to use most of these concepts, but if you don't, knowing each concept before you skip

Writing For Children: Believable Dialogue and Likable Characters

A few simple rules, can bring characters of children's literature into the lives of astute child readers through the author's door, believably.

In this day and age, children are bombarded with almost a constant media flow of information. The internet, television, moving advertising screens, billboards, magazine ads, and just about every type of app and web ad a parent could imagine (and those they don’t want to think about). Therefore, the rules of writing dialogue for children’s books have changed.

The first rule was once: Don’t talk down to children in a children’s book. These days it’s a bit more