Spring Re-Freshening - Are Your Books Do for a Makeover?

Hey, gang! Hope all of you have had a great weekend and enjoy an even better week ahead. AND...

I've been busy overhauling the aesthetics of my Moonsongs series recently, and it has brought to mind a dilemma that indie authors (specifically) face:

When should we slap a new coat of paint on our catalogues? How often? Or better still, should we at all?

Here's my reasoning for making a change, and you can tell me if it makes sense to you:

- My stories are all in the same series and universe, yet I'm not sure my current covers would give much indication of that other than the words on the front.

- I'm thrilled when even one person reads my stories, but I'd always love more people to read them. I'm not breaking any sales records, so maybe a change of cover and labeling will help. (I've heard others say it can make a big difference.)

- My first story (Blood Fugue) has been out for well over a year, and I'll be releasing the 6th story soon-ish. This is a logical time to rebrand things and build momentum for the home stretch. (The series will end with #12--to hopefully be published by the end of this year or early next.)

- My current covers are very polarizing. Some people really like them, other people seem to literally hate them. I'm gambling that a more stylistically neutral cover will encourage those sitting on the fence to give them a shot.

- I've never been satisfied with calling these stories "books" because they're technically novelettes. (Moonsongs "books" just fit the series mechanics, and no one knows what a novelette is. LOL) I've seen other authors using television terms like 'episodes' and 'seasons' to label their serialized stories, and I think it's incredibly simple and easy to understand.

- One major tool indie authors have at their disposal is the ability to re-brand and market their work differently whenever they choose. It's a great way to keep your product fresh and visible. (Something businesses do in every industry.) I'm exercising my right. :)

My plan is to refresh the covers, update the electronic files (making sure my author bio matches my current public one, correct a couple of typos that snuck into final versions, make sure I've got my entire catalogue linked in each story, etc.), and evaluating/tweaking my product descriptions.

Here's a sneak peek at my cover overhaul (click the image to compare to the old covers):

I've still got a few tweaks to make, but I'm hoping the consistency (and toning down) in style will yield positive outcomes.

What about you? Have you thought about changing things up? Assuming you're not already a bestseller, do you think these types of changes can bring you more readers?
AND SPEAKING OF CHANGES...

Most of you know that I'm a contributor over at the New Adult Alley, and I wanted to share news on that front. Beginning in April, the Alley will be doing more than ever to bring all of the important information, fun, and insight on all things in New Adult literature right to your fingertips. 

We have a new forum, newsletter, and more. For more details, click HERE.

~EJW~

Indie Life: Using Your Space

Hey, gang! It's the second Hump Day of the month, and that means it's time for another Indie Life post. What is Indie Life? We'll get to that, but first...

Yo, EJ! Where You Been?!

Well, I moved from Texas to California last month--so I've been several places recently! But now I'm settled and resuming life as a West Coaster.

As far as blogging goes, because of the move I totally botched the Google Reader-ocalypse. I didn't adopt a new system in time to transition my reader list over. So in short, I lost everything and have been flying blind the last couple of weeks. But I'm catching up. (Some of you will have seen me around more lately... which may or may not be a good thing.  :)

I've got a new reader thing going in my web browser, but I'm having to rebuild my blog list from ground zero. Which really isn't a bad thing in theory. My old list was beyond unmanageable. I can't tell you how many blogs I had on there that no longer existed.

Anywho, please be patient with me. I'm finding most of my old favorites by stalking the comments of other blogs and adding y'all back that way. Until then, if you haven't commented here in a few weeks, please do just say hi as I'm adding everyone who comments here (it's the easiest way to find you).

I'm the world's worst about reading blogs on my phone, etc. and not getting to the comments, so that last bit was for my fellow lurkers. :) 

What Is New Adult Literature? Or Maybe, What Is It Not?

Yes, yes... I'm on that old box again. :) You all know I'm keen on New Adult stuff, and most of you know I'm a regular contributor over at the New Adult Alley Blog. Well, this week I did up a fun list of WHAT NEW ADULT LIT ISN'T.

Definitely hop over for a little NA FYI and say hello if you have a chance!

What is Indie Life?

How: Sign up on the Linky at the bottom of this page

When: Post on the second Wednesday of the month (starting 1/9/2013)

What: Write anything indie related: something that will inspire or help a fellow indie; something that celebrates a release or a milestone; something that talks about the ups and downs, joys and heartaches of Being Indie.

Click: The banner above to learn more and join the fun!

Using Your Space

To paraphrase the Pauli exclusion quantum mechanical principal a tad: No two objects may occupy the same space.  

Now, I can promise you that's the last time I'll bring quantum physics into this blog to illustrate a point (well, at least the last time I'll do it in this post). Because frankly, I'm not that damned smart. :)  

However, it DOES say something very important with regards to what this whole independent author thing is all about: Identity and owning your space. 

Look, attempting to be an author is a scary proposition on any level. It's the psychological equivalent of climbing up on a rock in the middle of a turbulent sea and daring the waves not to sweep you away. 

That's true for publishing traditionally, independently, freelancing--you name it.

Your voice will be one of thousands--hundreds of thousands--and the chances of it being heard over the crying gulls and churning water aren't great. But not being heard isn't the really terrifying part.

The thing that'll cause you to dampen your favorite Superman onsie is the thought that someone WILL actually hear you. That you'll get some attention and be found not worthy, then they'll cast you back into the cold depths with all the other fish. 

Well I'm here to tell you, fears aside, you belong on that rock. In fact, the laws of the Universe demand that you occupy your space on that rock, because no one else can. It's all yours, baby!

The simple truth is this: You have a right to tell stories and ask other people to read them. They also have a right not to read them--always, always remember that! 

Indeed, some of them will actively look for reasons to invoke that right. Among those reasons: Not the right genre. Not the right name on the cover. Not the right cover. Not enough experience. Not jumping through the right hoops. Not the right training. Not the right person to ask them to read it. And so on...

Nonetheless, you still have a right to put it out there, to own your space and do with it what you want. (NOTE: This is not a SHOULD YOU discussion. The next time we spend a week together on a beach in the Bahamas we can have that conversation--whilst sipping fruity drinks, of course.)

There's been too dang much focus on the WHO in publishing for too long. It's the WHEN, WHAT, HOW, and WHY we should be figuring out. 

Being an independent author has allowed me to do that for myself. Just like in any great enterprise, there are steps to learn and methods to develop. I've had to unlearn a few things, too. (Like: Readers read the things they love over-and-over. If they love vampire stories, they don't really care if there've been 400 vampire stories published this year, they'll happily read another as long as it's done well. Who knew?)

But just knowing that I had the right to consider myself a professional--and then go about learning how to be one on my own terms--was totally liberating. 

Scary? Yes. Time consuming? Yes. Hard? Some days, very. But liberating.

So I'll leave you with this: No matter what kind of author you want to be, recognize that the space is already yours. You just have to decide how you want to use it. 

~EJW~

Over At The NA Alley Blog Today!

Hey, gang! Just wanted to let y'all know I blogged over at the NA Alley Blog today, and I'd love for you to stop by and say, "hey".  :) 

Basically, I've heard a lot of talk recently that maybe New Adult literature has peaked as a 'niche genre'. That perhaps it IS just sexy romance. This was my rebuttal.

Also, thank you to everyone who left comments on my Indie Life post. That was one of those posts I considered not posting, because I wondered if it was perhaps too personal.

Not personal in a TMI kind of way, but personal as in, "Only you feel this way, EJ." As usual, your encouragement and insight proved me wrong. :)

Hope you're week gets off to a fantastic start! (The movers are coming to pack up our stuff on Wednesday and I'm freaking out a little. lol)

~EJW~

Come Party With NA Alley & NA Lit Chat + Maybe Win A Load of Books!

It's party time!!! Come join us at #NAPARTY tonight at 8pm EDT over at Twitter. We have some serious book prizes to give away tonight, so you're not going to want to miss it.

♥ DETAILS ♥
Who: NA Alley
What: Our 1st Blogiversary Party
Where: Twitter (#NAParty)
When: May 02, 2013 from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. EDT
Why: Because we love you!

Come on and check out the author websites. They all donated to this awesome event so let's give them some love:

Summer Lane: Website | Blog | Twitter

Carrie Butler:  Amazon | Twitter | Facebook

EJ  Wesley: Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

Lynn Rush: Goodreads | Twitter | Amazon

Juliana Haygert: Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Victoria Smith: Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Jaycee DeLorenzo: Blog | Goodreads | Twitter

LG Kelso: Blog | Twitter

Once the NA Alley Party is over, join the after party at NA Lit Chat!

Hey, gang! (E.J. here) Once you're done partying with Lynn and the others, I hope you'll stick around for the official NA Alley Blog-NA Lit Chat After Party! It's super exclusive, and only those who know the password are allowed in. Closed-toed shoes and bottle service are a must!

Okay, it's not THAT exclusive, but it does require a Twitter account and the use of the #NALitChat tag in your tweets. And you'll probably be asked to verify your fandom for Channing Tatum... but that's a story for another time. :)

What is NA Lit Chat? I'll tell you: In 2012 I stumbled across this band misfit NA bloggers called NA Alley. I got really excited about this NA stuff, started tweeting with the Alley contributors, and began cyber-stalking their blogs.

In one of my correspondences to them I said that I was going to start using the #NALitChat tag on Twitter, because if YA, Adult, Indie, etc. had their own hash, NA should too. Shortly thereafter, one of the Alley ladies contacted me and said, "Hey, we should totally have a weekly chat, too. Why don't you do it?"

I was like, "I don't know how... but hell yes!"

Much weeping, gnashing, and planning ensued, but eventually we gave birth to a thriving Twitter chat in July of last year. You'll notice I said "we", because without the gentle--but persistent--nudging and support of the Alley folks I don't think I'd have had the courage to do it on my own.

Since that time, the chat has boomed. We trend on Twitter most weeks. Some of the fledgling writers who I first met on the chat not even a year ago are now USA Today and NYT bestselling authors. (No credit to the chat by the way--just an example of the kind of awesome we attract! lol) We regularly have guests and publishing industry experts who share their knowledge and insight with our NA chatters. All of which might not seem like that big of a deal, but when we started this thing, I figured most weeks it would be me, Carrie, Jaycee, Victoria, Summer, Juliana, Bailey, and L.G. talking about what we had for dinner.

In short, I've been blown away by all the fervor for NA just like everyone else, and I like to think the chat is a small part of it all. And I also think NA Alley--like so many other things in the NA community of ours--was a key part of making it happen.

So join us (9 PM EST) after the NA Alley Twitter Celebration tonight, and help Carrie and the others keep the party going.You'll meet a ton of fellow NA cheerleaders, chat with NA authors, and probably make some new friends, too. Bonus: We do this Twitter NA chat thing EVERY Thursday night, so you might even have a new hangout when it's all said and done.

Happy Blogiversary NA Alley!

Your Grateful Fans,

E.J. & Everyone From #NALitChat

THANK YOU!!!! And news...

Hey, gang! I wanted to jump on here and thank all of you who pitched in for my W4WS efforts this week. It was an amazing few days of excitement, and was a good reminder for me that no matter what kind of ugliness the world demonstrates, the beauty of simple kindness always overshadows it.

It also once again left me wondering what I'd done to deserve the kind of support y'all continue to show me. You're fantastic, and if I had to do this writing 'thing' tomorrow without you or not at all, I think I'd choose 'not at all'. 

Enough of my sappiness--how about some news?

First, blogger-writer-publicspeaking wizard, L. Diane Wolf, gave me a shout out on her blog--for being helpful to others, no less. I was thrilled to be mentioned with some of MY sharing role rolemodels in this writing-blogging scene, but was mostly just like, "You think I'm a helpful guy? You should see my friends!" *see above sappiness* You can read it HERE. (And follow LD if you don't already--she rocks.)

Second, one of my personal author heroes, Brinda Berry, shared me on her blog, not once, but twice this week! I think Brinda is awesome, but a little crazy for talking about me on multiple days. (We're trying to INCREASE traffic by blogging, B, not frighten folks off with talk of crazy, bearded people :D) 

The first post mentioned my W4WS shenanigans. The second was for her A to Z 'N' day.

She chose 'New Adult Literature' (NA). As you all know, I'm fairly crazy about the subject, so I suppose it was fitting she threw my name/work out. But honestly, it mostly just surprised (and honored) the heck out of me. 

Apparently, Brinda read my little story, Blood Fugue, on a recent vacation (yes, we're ALL jealous of you now, B) and reviewed it on Goodreads. In short, she enjoyed it, and was pleased to find a New Adult story that wasn't Contemporary Romance. (Note: The Moonsongs books are definitely NOT Contemporary Romance.)

Anyway, it was fitting, because my first post as an official member of the NA Alley Blog was also this week, and I basically blogged about the EXACT same thing. 

NA is evolving into so much more than some kind of sexified, sub-genre of YA, and I hope I can reflect that a little with my writing and actions. 

You can read my inaugural NAAB post HERE. (And I'd love for y'all to follow me over there, too.)

FINALLY, and also on the NA front, if you're at all interested in checking out what all the fuss is about, or generally want to pick some brains about the category, tonight is the night for you!

The first ever 'NA Super-Chat' is going down, and it's a coordinated effort to bring three of the larger online NA communities together: The New Adult Authors G+ Community, The NA Lit Chat Twitter group (yes, I'm still doing that thing, too lol), and NA Alley. 

It'll involve a combination of a live G+ Hangout (with yours truly on air with others) AND the usual #NALitChat Twitter chat. If you take part and follow the Twitter discussion, you'll be able to ask questions and comment to the G+ panel in real time, and we'll be responding on air.

Cool, right? You'll find all the details HERE. But basically, just be free at 9 PM EST tonight, log onto Twitter and follow the #NALitChat convo, then hop over to the New Adult Authors G+ Community. (There'll be a link up there to watch/listen to the hangout.)

Would love to 'see' you all there if you have some free time. (Quit laughing... we all remember what free time was like. *scrunches brow pondering* It was fun... oh yes, we likes it, Precious.)

~EJW~

My A-Z Plans & New(s) Adult

Winner! Winner! 

Congrats to Melissa Maygrove on winning last week's giveaway for a free eCopy of Julie Flanders' Polar Night! Julie will be in touch, and I hope you enjoy. :)

My A to Z Plan... or Lack Thereof

Hey gang! April is nigh, and that means the A to Z blogfest is getting ready to explode our inboxes and web readers. It's a great bit of fun, but an extremely nuts time for those who participate.

I've decided to abstain this year as I'm very busy preparing my third Moonsongs book for launch (coming very soon!), prepping my home and family to relocate across the country in June, and adapting to some exciting new blog/writing opportunities. (More on that below...)

So what's my A-Z plan, then? To support you all, of course! Almost every blogger I follow is doing A-Z, so I'm going to spend my time commenting on and sharing your posts. As a result, this blog will be pretty quiet in April.

But you'll probably still be able to find me around the blog world...

New(s) Adult

If you've been following this blog very long, it's no secret that I'm a fan of New Adult literature. I love the idea of creating stories specifically for the 18 to 20-something crowd. It's a time in life when folks are truly just figuring out adulthood. They're actively conquering life and, sometimes, life is conquering them.

Being that age often means struggling to find a career or an identity in the professional world. It can also mean a lot of exploration in relationships with a freedom and responsibility not experienced in the teenage years. 

In short, it's a dynamic life stage. A stage that was very meaningful to me personally, and one I think deserves some real attention from both readers and storytellers alike. 

I truly believe it's not a category of literature that simply should exist, it's a category that demands to exist. (And does now!) That passion is what led me into the New Adult community online. 

How I got into NA

Just under a year ago I was totally floored to find this blog of New Adult writers and enthusiast called NA Alley Blog. At the time, I had no idea there was a name for the kinds of stories I mentioned above. I just knew I was writing them, and that I wanted to read more like them.

After visiting with NAAB, an idea was hatched to start a weekly New Adult chat on Twitter. So I did. 

I honestly figured it would just be me and those enthusiastic ladies from NA Alley doing all of the chatting at these things. People in publishing circles were still very uneasy with the concept of New Adult, it seemed, and considering I'd just heard of the term myself, I couldn't imagine there'd be much interest.  

I was very, very wrong. 

The chat was an instant hit, and thanks to the support/knowledge of the folks at NA Alley, it became a real resource for the NA community. We had authors of all kinds, readers of all kinds, editors, etc. stopping in to chat with us on a regular basis. Word of mouth spread, and within weeks we were regularly trending on the BIG Twitter lists. 

Amazing!

I'm proud to say that the chat is still going strong (we'll celebrate our first birthday in July), and has grown into quite a 'thing'. I still host most Thursday nights, but have been able to tap into a network of professionals who are eager to share their expertise with New Adult writers. So you never know who'll be around! 

Meanwhile, New Adult has also become quite a thing. Publishers are eagerly looking for it, big time media is starting to investigate it, and readers are snapping it up. 

And I truly think it only goes up from here.

My next role in the NA movement is... 

That's why I was so thrilled to apply to be, and subsequently be accepted (last week!) as an official contributor to NA Alley Blog. These are the folks who got me into NA, the people I turned to for NA answers, and now I get to be a part of that for others.

As part of NA Alley Blog I'll have a special opportunity to share my--hopefully--unique voice with a diversity of writing and reading communities. I'll do my best to bring energy, fun, and encouragement as well. 

I'll be blogging about NA centric things over there on a regular basis, as well as taking part in the various activities and initiatives on that front. I'll be sharing that stuff with you all, of course, but this blog will still be my own--for better or worse. :) 

I'll be busy, and it may take me a while to figure out how to mange three blogs/endeavors (I'm still running the NA Lit Chat blog). But I hope you'll stick around to see where this latest adventure takes me. Who knows, maybe you'll even join me on the NA front?

A Special Thank You

I want to publicly thank Alex Cavanaugh and P.K. Hrezo for endorsing my application. If you know them (how could you not), you know they're special people in our writing community. They're great ambassadors for what we all do and aspire to do as writers online. They operate with a class, thoughtfulness, and spirit of community that is hard to find in my 'real life' relationships, much less from people I've never met face-to-face. 

It's the spirit of people like P.K. and Alex I hope I bring to the NA community, so they were naturally the first people I approached to write me notes of recommendation for the NAAB position. 

Just as naturally, I suppose, they said yes. :) In the end, they are more than role models, they are people I'm proud to call friends. And I hope they would consider me the same. 

~EJW~