I survived the epic, renowned Camp NaNo gauntlet (I mean writing challenge). I haven't always met my goal, but this year I did. Here's how.
Camp NaNo you're in a "cabin" group chat with friends and set a goal. (If you're really awesome, you have a cabin name (Mitchtam) and a separate chat room for wars.) My goal was 30,000 words on my Martin Crossroads draft. I reached it!
How did I do it?! I list a couple things in this video!
As I said in the video, that wouldn't have happened without my cabinmates: Alea, Ashley, Athelas, Faith, Hannah, Kara, Katie, Nadine, Rosalie, Savannah, Sword Girl. They were amazing!! (And yes, famous o.o) I really hope I didn't forget anyone. #writerslife
The thing is, as thrilled as I was to hit my goal in a hectic month, that's not what it's all about. At least not for me. It's really about making progress and finding what works to hit my goals. I'm always relieved to find I can hit goals and can write decent words. I'm not a consistent or very disciplined writer, so working on those two things amongst friends makes for a pretty fun (if insane) experiment!
Did you do Camp NaNo? How did it go? How do you reach your goals (in any area of life)?
Just as a reality side note here, I did this entire blog post on my phone. That's basically what my post-NaNo writing life has looked like ;P
I left myself only a few days to spare, but I finally filmed my video for the eighth Very Awesome Vlog Challenge that Ivy Rose hosts. I'm so glad these are back!
Before I link to my video, let's talk about link-ups.
Ivy's video challenge is link-up, which means she has something embedded in her blog so that people who decide to participate in an event (in this case, record a video answering preset questions) can add their link simply by clicking.
I've yet to create my own link-up anything, but they're a fantastic idea! Beyond just encouraging someone to leave a comment on a blog post or interact on social media, the person behind the idea of the link-up has created a specific interactive project that requires the person to actually engage in order to participate.
Of course, you can't force someone to participate. But link-ups are a great way to highlight other people, get to know one another better, and try new things. All without having to leave home or spend money! Plus, you're not committed to coming back, even though most link-ups have recurring editions.
You should definitely try out Ivy Rose's link-up because vlogs are also really really fun. (And she asks great questions.)
(and yes, I was supposed to say "bye" at the end, but I hit stop too soon :P)
What are some fun link-ups you've seen or have participated in? I'd like to do one twice a year maybe, but I have yet to find the perfect idea. Maybe I should do the next signature challenge as a linkup? I'd love to hear your suggestions!!
Also!! Speaking of involved, fun things, all the way through the end of March you can submit questions to a whole group of authors (including me) in this blog post. We'll answer them in April! :)
My firstborn little book baby is one today! *sniff* Cue all the reminiscing, Q+A, giveaway, sneak peeks, and just about everything else!
WHAT PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY:
I swear I'm not doing this to be vain xD Those of you who are published will understand just how lovely it is to hear people love your book (especially people whose opinion you value), and I am being choosy and sharing only a few tearjerkers, I promise. ;)
You know, the Martins are my newest favorite fictional family :D ~ Lisa on page 200
How can a person switch favorite characters so many times in a single book?! ~ Kaitlyn K on page 365
There is something so wonderful about this book. I can't even put my finger on it- it's just so pleasing and peaceful. I loved it! ~ Rachel's Bookish World
Miss Abigayle’s writing style has an old-fashioned feel to it that absolutely sucks you into the story while giving you the warm fuzzies. ... This is the kind of story that you want to curl up with and forget life’s problems for a few hours. ~ Ivy Rose
This book is so happy. I just felt bright and uplifted after finishing it. ~ Olivia Rollins
I'm so thankful for all of my readers and reviewers *sniff*
Have you reviewed Martin Hospitality yet? I'm just going to remind you that some of you who "reviewed" on Goodreads have actually only gotten as far as "review to come once published." Which is totally fine! Just a little reminder there ;) I'm also going to throw out there that Amazon is the place to post reviews. As in it helps me a LOT. Even more than Goodreads. So if all of you would copy and past your Goodreads reviews, I would get +30 reviews before the day is over. What are you waiting for?!
THE AWARDS:
Again, I'm not vain ... just insanely proud of this accomplishment! Mainly because I know for a fact there is no. freaking. way my book would have ever done this one its own. Nope. Not even with my help. Soak it in, my friends. You're looking at a supernatural act of God.
On the note of awards, I've been considering putting the award on the cover of my book. There's space, the color is decent, and I feel like it might help catch people's eye?? But I want your thoughts on this! Vote in the poll for me? Pretty please???
THE STATS:
In case you've forgotten I'm a statistics fanatic queen B)
Goodreads:
How many copies printed: 159
(I'm guessing I easily sold 100 if not more of these)
How many Amazon copies sold: 51
Grand total copies in existence: 210
Gracious, that feels like a lot to me. It'll be a while before I can put "Over 1 million copies in print" on the front but that's okay. Maybe my goal for its second birthday? (Kidding, I kid.) xD
I'm pretty sure I remember telling my brother that I'd be really happy if I sold 100 copies in its first year, and I definitely surpassed that thanks to promoting family and friends and some successful book signings. ^.^
The Martin Hospitality e-book will be FREE for the first time ONLY tomorrow Sunday, February 4 in celebration. Spread the word and grab a copy while you can!!
Sign up for my newsletter in the sidebar before the afternoon of Sunday, February 4 to get an exclusive sneak peek at Martin Crossroads (the sequel)! Hint: it involves Farris's siblings ;)
Okay, so I tried to do a spoiler warning for those who haven't read Martin Hospitality, but if you stop listening when I say to you won't be able to hear me end the spoiler warning haha xD SO. Maybe skip around when I say spoiler warning if you're really that concerned? Sorry xP
These questions were so good. SO GOOD! Think I'm exaggerating?
I hope you all enjoyed that! I still don't know how to edit a video so ... yeah. Instead of a blooper reel at the end you get it sprinkled all throughout lest I bore you with perfection xP Thanks again for the terrific questions; I hope my answers met the challenge.
MERCHANDISE:
To say I'm obsessed with the idea of bookish merchandise would be an ... understatement. To say the least. I'm still greatly brainstorming quality, inexpensive things I can offer, so I'd love to hear what you would like to buy. But for now, I can promise you these:
12 different cardstockbookmark - available NOW on my Etsy shop (why yes I did design all of this week ... o__o)
Themed candle - coming summer 2018, courtesy of BookBurn Candles
Magnetic bookmarks - coming ASAP (I've ordered the supplies for these and just have to make sure my plan to make them actually works)
What else? As I said, ideas are welcome! T-shirts, frameable quotes, mugs, decks of cards ...
SEQUEL TIMELINE:
Initially, my hope was this spring. Due to the amount of planning this novel is taking and the fact that I've devoted some of my time to other writing endeavors ... that's obviously not happening. While I would love to have Martin Crossroads out in 2018, I'm not sure how feasible that is ... I probably won't know until I attempt to draft it yet again (which will be soon). At all costs I would absolutely like it to be out by spring 2019 -- 2 years after Martin Hospitality. I'll keep you all posted! And as I said above, you can get an additional sneak peek if you sign up for my newsletter before tomorrow afternoon!
And now for the parting photo:
Thank you all so much!!! I know this is how I end almost every post and video, but I have no words to express how much you all mean to me. If Martin Hospitality could talk, I'm sure he'd agree ;)
Q: Okay, so how much time do you think I spent preparing this blog post? o.o You'll find my estimate next week.
Hey, everyone! This post is going to catch you up on a couple things that have happened recently. Serves as a kind of November wrap-up post, I suppose ;)
The only reason I quit doing wrap-up posts is because I transferred most of the life and update type stuff to my monthly newsletter (sign up in the sidebar). BUT, there are a few things I want to make sure everyone knows so there's no confusion. I haven't begun my Nov newsletter yet, either, so ... you're actually getting first scoop this time. ;)
First, the exciting thing: Andora's Folly has a paperback release date! December 9, 2017. ONE WEEK!! I already have a teency little paperback proof in my hands which you can watch me unbox in a video here. (Forgive the meh quality. xP)
I still have to work on that back cover and add a finishing touch to the updated Kindle edition. Then you guys will have a snazzy paperback option or at least a more current version of the Kindle. ;)
I'm not doing any huge release or anything. But I will announce on Dec 9 that the paperback is available. Of course, it would be awesome if you guys wanted to spread the word. Or for all of you who've been waiting for the paperback, grab yourself a copy for Christmas!
Some health issues exploded for me this month, so I think I only wrote around 15k for NaNo? I find that very pathetic. I wrote that in about two weeks, which isn't bad. But I really lagged the second half of the month and got almost nothing done D: I've had a head cold off and on for about six weeks and a cough for two. I went to the doctor and I have walking pneumonia and overuse syndrome in my wrist. Thank God it's not full-fledged pneumonia or carpal tunnel!! I was still told I needed to take it easy, down lots of drugs, and for my wrist: stop. writing. *cries* The only cure for overuse is to ... stop using. So I'm looking into dictation or a more therapeutic keyboard or something. Because we all know I can't completely stop.
Basically I feel really lazy and may kind of disappear from everywhere. For now, I'm going to keep posting every week. But I might have to take a hiatus before long, because blogging is a lot of typing ;) Since all my work requires typing, I need to limit the bits that don't make me money. Sounds horrible, but it's a reality at the moment.
Anyway, I just thought you guys should know that. :)
Being behind on drafting Behind the Act (the matinee book), meant I was also behind on editing chapters for the agent who was interested. I hit a bit of a roadblock the other day when I realized that there were no proposal guidelines on the agency website, only query guidelines. So using the more direct email I'd been given, I emailed the agent a query and asked for the proposal guidelines if he was still interested in moving forward.
He was and he wasn't. With this new trend in traditional publishing houses to only consider manuscripts from authors with a "significant" platform, I'm still too tiny to be considered. I don't blame the agent at all, because there's not much he can do about industry standards. But it does seem to be a futile cycle. I want to traditionally publish to get more following and reach more people. However, I can't do that until I have enough following. See the problem?? It's because larger publishing houses, in particular, are scaling back the marketing. They don't want to start with nobodies.
Don't let that discourage you, though! I doubt this is the case with all publishing houses (espeically not the smaller ones), and it means that self-publishing is only becoming more respected and viable. Traditional publishers are almost requiring authors to be self-published first because building a large following otherwise is a little hard ...
So I don't know if I'll look at more agencies or if I'll work toward self-publishing Behind the Act ... If I'm going to run into the same wall everywhere, there's not much point. I need to keep building here with you guys :) But at the same time, I feel like I should try at least once more. Because who gets signed with their first agent? Basically no one.
ANYWAY!! I'm not crushed by any of this, so you don't have to pity me xD And I am making some progress in the Andora's Folly department. Up next on my list is going to be merchandise for my already published books, I think. *shrug* Who knows. Everything's changed this month and I have no idea what's next. It means so much to me that you guys stick with me. Tiny platform or not, you guys are much more than numbers to me.
2018 basically has a clean slate now. I don't know what it holds. But December's going to be crazy, so I guess the first thing is to survive that. ;) I actually do consider this the most wonderful time of the year even with my life turning upside down in November, so I shall rest up with Netflix so I don't miss out on the holiday season!
Enough about me!! Tell me what's new with you :D How was your Thanksgiving? Did you do/win NaNo? What does 2018 hold for you?
Huge shout out to my brother for posting on Saturday without blowing up my blog! Today I'm bringing you a vlog I filmed with Ivy Rose while I was at her house.
Thanks to Victoria Minks for tagging me for this on YouTube. (You can watch her video here.) I decided the questions were hard enough for me to answer alongside Ivy and it worked out perfectly! They were fun to answer and provided a good distraction from how tired we were.
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Thank you guys for watching! I had a ton of fun with Ivy, and visiting her may have to become a tradition ;) Watch for the huge writing conference, picture-filled post coming your way on Saturday!!
Hey, everyone! Today I have the next installment of the Very Awesome Vlog Challenge. But the big news is I'm also launching a review blog, Loop + Paschall. The neatest part about it is, the blog belongs to my brother and one of his friends. I'm really excited to share all of this with you guys!!
Blog Launch
So Loop + Paschall. The online names of two teenage guys I've grown up with who enjoy watching movies. Sometimes to rave over, sometimes just to laugh at. Since their after-church conversations for the past few years have largely consisted of swapping opinions and critiquing different things, I had the brilliant idea to suggest a joint review blog. They both shrugged it off and went on talking about their differing opinions on the movie version of John Carter.
Well, now they have caved. What's more, I think they're actually excited about doing the blog thing! Last Saturday marked their first review: Spider-Man: Homecoming. The post for today is Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, one they went to see in theaters together. Without me.
Without any further ado, here's a screen shot of their header (which I designed and already featured :P) AND the link you've all been waiting for.
Leave them some comments. Subscribe. Go crazy! We all know how rare the male blogger breed is. ;)
VAVC #6 Vlog
And now for the vlog ;) Life has been super duper crazy of late, but I squeezed this video in when babysitting a sleeping child. Besides, Ivy got her video posted, so I had to do mine ;) As the video says, I hope to film one with her next month!! So much excitement.^.^
As always, you should join the link-up!Right here.
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Are you as excited about Loop + Paschall as I am?! Are you going to the OCW Summer Conference, too? (Please say yes + yes!!!!)
The Andora's Folly blog tour is coming your way next Saturday! If you signed up, be sure you got the mega e-mail with all the information! Until then, Andora's Folly can be pre-ordered here.
It's time for another Very Awesome Vlog Challenge video and some updates on what's new!
There were some really thought-provoking questions for this April-June vlog. What makes this one different?? I share my latest book purchases and disclose some facts about myself in the course of the video (which happens to be 3x longer than usual). Definitely join the vlog challenge HERE while there's still time! You're entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card when you join the link up ;D So why I'm begging for competition, I don't know.
Now for the part where I ramble even more. There are few things that have happened of late that I thought you should know about. As always, if you really want to be in the loop, you'll have to subscribe for my newsletter in the sidebar. :)
First, I failed Camp NaNo. You probably don't know that yet unless you already read my newsletter. April was long and painful and the words really fought back. I wrote a blog post on Teen Authors Journal all about titled I Failed NaNoWriMo (and I'm glad). I'd really appreciate it if you'd give it a read and some feedback :) The project that I did not reach my goal on was drafting Martin Crossroads, the sequel to Martin Hospitality. The good news is I have recovered from my untimely burnout and am finally churning out words again!
I wanted you all to know that a paperback of Martin Hospitality will be part of a large giveaway over at Reading Is My Superpower. The giveaway runs May 15-21. You enter by genre (as many as you please): YA/Speculative, Contemporary, Historical, and Mystery/Suspense. All the books are Christian Fiction and Martin Hospitality is part of the Contemporary genre giveaway.
The next piece of news is on Andora's Folly. I get it back from my alpha readers today, so I need betas! Once again, I am not putting a limit on how many. I'm just filtering people out by these requirements:
I recognize your name. Just explain who you are and how I should know you on the form :)
You can read 30,000 words in two weeks (May 27-June 10)
You will offer advice and provide honest (but kind) feedback
You will write me a honest review on Amazon and/or Goodreads
Click HERE to view the form if the embedded version doesn't appear below. I can't wait to see who all signs up! This form is open through Friday, May 26. If you can't beta read, take heart. The publication date is July 29!
You can learn more about my stories on My Writings page. :)
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Phew!! That needed to happen ;) Any questions or comments?
Have a great Mother's Day :) Be looking for a special Tuesday post from Gemma's point of view!!
It's a double-feature vlog and random information! Who can pass that up, right? Also check out who won the giveaway!
Brought to you by the lovely Ivy Rose, I was disappointed when I never managed to film the 3rd vlog and submit my link. Now we're onto the 4th round, but I decided to cheat. So I answered the questions for both installments in this video. Hopefully the quality's okay; I was trying out my new phone in my room (with bad lighting) so it's not great ;) But I answered the questions!
What did you think? You have until April 15th to submit your video to Ivy's linkup. As I mentioned in the vlog, you'll be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card. If you haven't tried vlogging yet, it's worth a shot! Just go with it. I didn't even wear makeup this time because it was 9pm. Be you and people will love it :)
For the rambling updates bit, my cousin is coming to stay for Spring Break and all my college friends will be home this weekend so I'm trying not to freak out!! Pictures may spam your Facebook. Or we may have too much fun for pictures. We'll see ;)
I will be doing Camp NaNo this April. I'm actually beginning March 15 as a part of Ivy's NaNo make-up and I'm going to follow that all the way through the end of April with the real NaNo, if that makes any sense. Basically 6 weeks of NaNo to write 50,000 words on my next novel Martin Crossings. Hopefully.
I'm also trying to figure out what writing conferences I'm going to attend this year. Everything's so expensive for us poor indie authors *cries*
That being said, I have some free resources for you. I'm participating in this indie e-con this year, so if any of you would like to attend, definitely check that out! It will take place on Kendra's blog.
Second, Michael Hyatt's webinars. He ranked high in Thomas Nelson and has really helpful webinars every now and then with applicable steps to success that you fill out in a nifty handout. He has one coming up this Monday & Tuesday called The 7 Deadly Sins of Productivity. Even if you can't make one of the live one, sign up so you get the recording access :)
And now for the giveaway winners!!
SARAH GRACE
won the signed Martin Hospitality paperback
BROOKE M.
won the typewriter postcards and bottlecap magnets
EMILY D.
won the watercolor notebook and postcard
Congrats, ladies! You should have an e-mail from me asking for your mailing address ;)
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A vlog and rambling, just as promised. Hopefully you found some of that helpful and fun. Thanks for entering the giveaway! What random life updates do you have for me?
I am probably holed away in my bed typing like crazy for NaNo at the moment, and yet I make a video appearance! If you enjoyed my vlog last time, I assure you the questions are even better this go round. Also, you get another peek into my brain's spontaneity if that's appealing at all . . .
Once again this is Ivy Rose's challenge and I love it! I've really come to look forward to this (so much so that I filmed this like 2 weeks ago). She explains how to do it all in this post, so check it out. Enjoy the vlog and let me know if you're going to participate. I really want to hear your answers to these questions! You have until December 15 and then there will be new questions ;)
Forgive the road noise and camera jolts. I was holding my mom's phone because it has the best video quality, and the outside light is better. I feel like I was a little more myself in this video, though, so hopefully that's a good thing, hehe. Also, here's my video from last round in case you missed it ;)
In the style of last time, I shall do nothing but ramble for the rest of this post. You have been warned.
First, MARTIN HOSPITALITY IS AT THE EDITOR'S! Yep, just let that sink in. It still hasn't for me. And it will be back in my hands soon. I can hardly wait to see what the lovely Kelsey Bryant had to say!! ^.^ Actually, the fact that I've made it this far is what blows my mind. Thank you, God!!! I tore up my handwritten editing to do list to celebrate. I was handwriting lists. That's how bad it was. The computer was no longer good enough.
I also got to meet the lovely Mandy Cavein person last week. We talked cover design (her first) and are moving forward with her amazing talent! I really want to tell you all about it, but I shall refrain. For now, you only get one hint: she's a watercolor artist. ISN'T THAT COOL?! I am so excited to finally be confidant about our vision and Mandy's skill. The day I get to share the cover with you all is going to be so incredible. Now go check out her Facebook page I linked you to. *shoo*
Also, due to some of my awesome friends already completing NaNo a group of us got together to create this celebratory post for Mary Horton. It may have involved bribery and hacking. Seriously, it was SO fun. I hear the unfathomable Katie Grace is to be congratulated today as well! *confetti and pizza* Me? You can track my word count in the sidebar, because no I'm not finished yet :)
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If you're reading this and doing NaNo, I applaud you. I cannot do both, so sorry for abandoning all your blogs this month. Are you going to do the vlog? *puppy eyes*
I'm bringing you my first ever vlog today as part of a link-up! Go check out Ivy's page for details and instructions to join! :)
~Link-Up~
*inhale* *exhale*
Once I got going, this was really fun and it didn't feel nearly so weird talking to a screen! The ending is lame because my sister walked into our room and threw me off. But she froze and backed out like a good girl, hehe. Thank you all so much for watching! Sorry for the dim lighting (my room is weird). I'll film it somewhere else next time. :) Let me know if you're going to do the link-up!!
Oh and before you ask: yes, my hair is actually that color and yes it's actually that very strange breed of half-curly. I don't know where it came from, but that's okay ;)
~Catch-Up~
There are a couple things that have been going on lately that I want to mention not in a wrap-up post :)
First, my betas! They are so incredible. I love every single one of you. There is just nothing like the feeling of someone really enjoying your book even in a flawed state! People are shipping my characters, having book-related dreams, finding music, rambling on social media about it . . . *happy sigh* It's just so amazing!! But they're giving me honest feedback, which is what makes them so helpful. I'll have plenty to tweak and revise as I read through it one more time before my editor gets her chance.
Second, I am now on Goodreads!! Yes, that is new news, because now I am an author on Goodreads. *gasp* That means all of my lovely betas can add Martin Hospitality as a current read (*hint hint*). The rest of you lovelies would be doing me the biggest favor ever if you would add it to your to-read list!! My betas helped me decided that I would publish under the name Abigayle Claire, so that's the name on my author profile. Here's the link to the book :)
Third, Martin Hospitality now has a public Pinterest board that you can check out! There aren't any true spoilers in there unless you don't want to know the baby's gender/name before you read the book ;) Click here to check it out and please comment on the pictures so I know your thoughts!
Also in the realm of other book obscurity, I have a cover underway (hopefully), an editor hired, a formatter lined up, and ISBN figured out. The release will be early December through Createspace (quite possibly 3 months from today!). Hopefully a blog tour and giveaway and all that jazz will come together as well . . . Having nothing to do with my book at all, I have a very awesome obscure guest post up on Mary's blog. Go check it out!
Thank you guys so much for your support! Again, I hope you enjoyed the vlog! Please, please do one. Please? I really want to see your videos. It's my new favorite way of getting to know people. There's so much you can't get through a screen :)
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Okay, so what surprised you when you watch the vlog? My voice, hair, mannerisms? I think it'd be interesting to know how I strike people :)
