HI! I think the KINDLE VERSION of INDEBTED is just HOURS AWAY from being published on Amazon.com. When it publishes, maybe I'll be able to answer this question by the PIXIES: WHERE IS MY MIND? My publisher finished the eBook conversion and uploaded the file to Amazon.com on APRIL 25th. I completed the set-up a few hours later. The process usually takes about 12 hours or less after the set-up is completed. That means sometime in the morning of the 26th it should be LIVE ON AMAZON!!! (In the US market. The other extended Amazon markets should follow within 48 hrs.) I keep checking every few minutes (because I'm completely obsessed with this project and my mind can't move on until it's done). I will post it here with a link to the page when it is LIVE.
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The paperback version of INDEBTED is out on Amazon.com. I am dancing around my house to HEADLIGHTS by MORNING PARADE! My friend, Kaitlyn, says that ANGEL WITH A SHOTGUN by THE CAB reminds her of my books! How amazing is that? Thanks Kaitlyn for the huge compliment :) The countdown to the eBook release has begun. I received an email from my publisher stating that they have already begun the Kindle conversion. I will let you know the minute I hear anything. I'm so excited! It will be SOON (but now can't be soon enough, right? I know--totally dying, too.) I plan on checking in often with you in the coming days, even just to tell you what I'm listening to while I wait. Feel free to let me in on what you're doing too to pass the hours between. (I get such a kick out of your comments--you have no idea. I'm addicted to you, too. I'll have to start Incendiary right away because this blog is like writing in a journal that actually talks back to me, like an interactive diary or something. How great is that?)
I received the proof of Indebted. I'm pulling the trigger and approving it. It will be turned over to Amazon.com so they can build a site for it and in a few days it will be available in paperback. I will also immediately approve the Kindle conversion and the Nook/ iBook conversions too. Kindle takes 2-3 weeks. Smashwords.com will release a Nook and iBook version around the same time (2-3 weeks--you'll find Sony e-reader and other ebook versions as well on Smashwords.com). It will take longer to get it on Barnes and Noble's and Apple's websites. I'll keep you updated. I've been listening to GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE by ELBOW all week. It reminds me of Brennus...he's not happy about the brand over Evie's heart. The proof of Indebted came yesterday! I was looking it over and I found one thing wrong: the "about the author" page is not in it. I started laughing because I'm going to approve it anyway. It would take a couple of weeks to fix it and I don't think I can handle it. It's the same "about the author" as in the first two books in the series so WHO CARES! NOT ME! (Somewhere, a traditional publisher is snickering at my lameness.) Get ready because I'm pulling the trigger. Amazon.com should have it up and running in a few days because they are SO NOT LAME...and then...bliss...fini...on to INCENDIARY! Yay :) After it publishes, I will then turn around and pay to have the publisher add the "about the author" to it. Amazon can sell the "first edition" while CreateSpace works on adding the page for the "second edition." It will probably take 2-3 weeks to fix it. What does that mean? It means that there will be a limited first edition of Indebted and you'll be able to tell if you have a first edition because it won't have an "about the author" page. That's my compromise...and who knows, maybe something good will come out of this mistake.
I'm super excited to announce that the cover for Indebted is in! I can't wait for you to see it. As a thank you to Celeste Harrington of The Book Hookup for and amazing interview she did with me (see interview here: http://thebookhookup.com/2012/04/03/interview-with-amy-a-bartol/ ) I'm letting her reveal the cover of Indebted today on her website: http://thebookhookup.com. I'll post Indebted's cover here tomorrow.
You will also find that Celeste is giving away a FREE signed copy of INESCAPABLE on her website. This is an international giveaway so GO NOW and enter to WIN! GOOD LUCK! http://thebookhookup.com/2012/04/03/giveaway-signed-copy-of-inescapable-by-amy-a-bartol-international/. I'm waiting for the physical proof of Indebted to arrive while listening to DAMNED by THE WHITE BUFFALO. I think I'm a little obsessed with this song. It reminds me of Russell. I won't get the physical proof (first book) this week. The reason I know this is because CreateSpace usually sends me an email to let me know that it has shipped. I haven't gotten said email. It won't be here until next week. I know, I'm dying too! I think the holiday slowed them down. (NOTE TO SELF: stop trying to publish at the same time as major holidays--last time for Intuition it was Christmas (print book) and New Year's (eBook).) I bet that it will be the 4th of July for Incendiary. I have impeccable timing. It's the debaclist in me.) I'll post again the minute I know something. The one thing I do have is the cover jpeg. I promised to let Celeste of thebookhookup.com do a cover reveal for it, so look for an announcement soon!
Hi. I'm getting super psyched for the release of Indebted. I should get the cover soon (hopefully by tomorrow). I have that excited-scared feeling so I know it will be soon! I can't wait to hold the proof in my hands (but that won't be until next week). Remaining calm is ceasing to be an option so I've been listening to this sweet rendition of CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE by INGRID MICHAELSON in an attempt to NOT freak out. I'm crossing my fingers that it will BE OK. I've hit yet ANOTHER SNAG in the release of Indebted. The cover is not ready. This will probably push the RELEASE OF INDEBTED to the FIRST WEEK OF APRIL 2012. I apologize to all of you who've been waiting for months for this. I'm not happy about it, but I understand that when mistakes are made the best thing to do is fix them and move on because just like in GET IT DADDY by SLEEPER AGENT: "I'M NOT A BABY NO MORE" EITHER · Here are the details for the cover: CreateSpace sent me the cover mock-up after 5:00 p.m. on 3/21/12 (which was Wednesday). I was scared to open it because I wanted it to be perfect. I said a small prayer and then I peeked. It was perfect...perfectly wrong and I thought at first it might be a joke—more like a prank. The cover was great, there was only one small problem: it was the EXACT SAME COVER as INTUITION—trees, red feather—except it says Indebted on the front.
· I called them the next morning (because they were already gone when I called on Wed.) and found out that the designer had pulled the wrong cover option off the file because there were two—one I used for Intuition's cover and the one I want to use for Indebted's cover. (The odds were fifty-fifty and I guess he was feeling lucky.) · So since it's their mistake, they're going to fix it fast and get it to me sooner than the 5-10 days, right? WRONG! I couldn't get them to help me out like that. I guess at least I now know where I stand. (I think that they should know up front that they can't break me. I've already been toughened up by my attempt to get a literary agent. They're lightweights compared to that torture.) · In the words or Winston Churchill: You do your worst - and we will do our best. I've HIT A SNAG in my plotting for a MARCH RELEASE date of INDEBTED. The release has the potential to spill into the first few days of April, making me an April fool. I'll know more in the next couple of days. I promise to update you as soon as I know for sure. I'm trying to: "RUN, WHIRLWIND, RUN" so I'm NOT like one of the girls they're sing about in this AMAZING song: GIRLS LIKE YOU by THE NAKED AND FAMOUS · Okay, here are the details regarding Indebted. First, the good news: I received the corrected PDF (interior format) proof of Indebted today. I checked all the corrections and it looks BRILLIANT! I approved it an hour after receiving it. The next step that follows is usually for my publisher to print it and send me a physical proof in the mail—the first copy of the book. (This is where the bad news comes into play.) Normally, I have the cover already squared away, however, it's not ready yet.
· I was supposed to get the cover proof yesterday. (My team leader—yes, that's what she's called, which always makes me smile because I think of Star Wars and I want to say, "Copy that, Gold leader," after everything she says—told me last Monday that I would have it in 5 business days, which is standard.) When it hadn't come by 5:00 p.m. today, I called CreateSpace. Their representative said that they're "slammed" in the art department and it could be as late as the 22nd that I receive my new cover proof. (And she hinted that it may even be later than that, so I had to thank her quickly and get off the phone so she wouldn't hear me beating my head against the wall.) This is very bad for me. I'm desperately trying to have this release by at least the 31st of March. Everything is up in the air until I get the cover, so I plan to give you updates as I get them. · In the spirit of managing expectations, I feel I should mention again another point for those of you new to this sandbox: when I say release, I mean the paperback version of my book. The eBook version usually follows 2-3 weeks after the paperback goes live on Amazon.com. (I know, Grrrr, right?) I feel the same way! I want them to go live at the same time, but that is not how they build sandcastles around here. I don't make the rules; I just try to avoid the cat poop. (And right now there's a big, steaming pile of it headed my way if I don't pull this off by the end of March.) WE ARE STILL SET FOR AN END OF MARCH RELEASE OF INDEBTED. So just like this amazing song by KINGS OF LEON: IT'S COMING CLOSER: · Here's the latest news: I submitted corrections to Indebted's PDF (interior format) today. That means that within five business days I should get another PDF proof of the book. Once I approve that one, the publisher will print the first copy of Indebted and send it to me in the mail for final approval.
· The cover is sort of a sore subject with me right now. I couldn't seem to explain my vision for the cover to the designer. I take full responsibility because I'm a writer and I should be able to describe in words what I want, but it just never came across to them based on what I've been getting for mock-ups. It came to a point in the process that I was afraid that the cover was looking "self-pub." Don't get me wrong; I am self-pub. I will own that all day and into the next; I just don't want you to be able to point to my cover and say, "Ahhhh, self-pub." I pay for it to be done professionally, so it should look professional. I know that my covers are not the norm anyway. I am aware of the genre for which I write. I'm supposed to have some smoking-hot guy on the cover—or a very beautiful girl in an elaborate ball gown walking though a field or conversely draped over a chair—or a kick-ass, tatted vixen in a leather outfit who is ready to smack the taste out of your mouth. Sex sells. Beauty is everything. I get it. But, I don't know...done and done, right? If I do it too, then I don't stand out. Not to say that mine are cutting-edge covers. I mean a feather is hardly original, especially when it comes to the kind of story I write, but there is still something about it that appeals to me. It is very, very simple—and simple is difficult for me. I find simple a challenge. Simple is appealing in another regard: because size does matter. Sometime simple comes across better when the image is small, like in an eBook ad. I am primarily an eBook author (for now, anyway). If the cover is complicated, it doesn't seem to come across as well. I am also hoping for a more universal appeal. Maybe it will appeal to others outside of the genre as well—more of a crossover book. (Marketing executives are clutching their sides right now from laughing so hard at me.) Anyway, I scrapped the cover they were working on. I called a halt to it yesterday. I'm going with the alternate mock-up from Intuition. I remember really liking it when I had to choose between the two last time. I don't get that feeling now, but I think it's because I'm really disappointed that I couldn't explain myself well rather than it not being amazing. (Sorry, bored yet?) As soon as I get the jpeg of the cover, I'll post it so you can see it. · I'm NOT going to dwell on the cover. I'M GETTING SUPER EXCITED FOR INDEBTED! I JUST READ THE LAST CHAPTER! I WANT TO TELL YOU RIGHT NOW WHAT HAPPENS, BUT I CAN'T! UGH! I'M DYING! ONLY A COUPLE MORE WEEKS AND YOU CAN READ IT FOR YOURSELVES! IT'S COMING CLOSER! Hi! WE ARE STILL ON TRACK FOR AN END OF MARCH RELEASE OF INDEBTED. Unfortunately, I don't have a firm date on it, yet. Sorry. Just like this song by the Black Keys: I GOT A LOVE THAT KEEPS ME WAITING... Here's an update on the publishing progress of book 3:
· I received the interior mock-up on 2/23/12. The interior mock-up consisted of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of the book formatted in a PDF file. It looks AMAZING! I approved it just a few hours after I received it. (I saw a couple of errors, but these were small and they were things I can change later by using the Interior Changes form so it was no big deal. The interior designers did really well with Chapter 2! I'm so happy!) · Okay, now I have to talk about the cover (which I'm dreading). In the past, I have been blown away by the CreateSpace cover mock-ups in the first round of the cover design process. I went with the first round mock-up in Inescapable. I literally didn't change a thing. For Intuition, I only changed a couple of things and went with the second round mock-up for the cover. Maybe that has spoiled me, I don't know. This time, after receiving the mock-ups, I was not blown away; I was very, very concerned (borderline panic attack). When I received the two design options for the cover of Indebted, how do I say this nicely...neither design met my expectations or achieved the caliber of work that I had gotten from them in the past. I declined both options (which I'm not supposed to do). Then, I panicked. I replied to them in writing that maybe we could try working on the second concept from Intuition's mock-ups that I didn't use last time (the second choice). The designer (and I still don't know who it is) sent me another mock-up similar to the one I suggested, but it was not the same design. It was like a second choice of that second choice, do you know what I'm saying? I declined this option, too. I tried again to explain what I want on the cover in writing in a window they provide authors to communicate with them. That was on 2/22/12. I haven't heard back from the design department. I have to wait and see. |
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