Ally Aldridge - Ally Aldridge

April 15, 2021 Ally Aldridge Diary, Novel, Personal, Writing

Camp NaNo April 2021 – Midway Check In

Here’s my Camp NaNo writers diary for the first half of Camp NaNo.

This post contains a few bookshop.org affiliate links.

Weds, 31 March

Camp NaNo Eve I attended the first of World Indie Warriors IG Lives. J D Groom & Cassidy Reyne are the hosts and introduced their own Camp NaNo projects.

WIW are also doing snippet challenge on IG to give people an excuse to share her the projects they are writing.

Each week there is a prompt, and you post a snippet from your WIP on that theme. I’m a rebel and posting on different days. But, I’m determined to do them all within April.

Thurs, 1 April

I caught a Writing Sprint on Facebook hosted by @unstoppableauthors . It helped me make a good start on my goals, achieving 1k words. I’m going to look out for this sprint next week.

The sprint was hosted by Urban Fantasy author H B Lyne and dystopian author Angeline Trevena. Both also have published writing resource books.

Friday, 2 April

Busy day today. I took my son to play in the garden of a friends house. It was really cold and we couldn’t go inside due to the pandemic rules.

My husband found my long lost Kindle. It needs charging but I’m so happy to have it back.

I managed to write 500 words today. I am so close to the end now but took a break as I’m struggling to picture the big fight scene.

I finished reading A Heart of Salt & Silver. Look out for my full review next week. A short version is already on Goodreads, Litsy, and Amazon.

Saturday, 3 April

Spent the evening going through the list of people I follow but don’t follow me back to decide if I want to unfollow them.

Sunday, 4 April

I went to Homebase to get paint for some redecorating we’ve been talking about for ages.

Didn’t feel well so I went to bed early. Good news was my Kindle is charged, so I watched The Wilds on Prime.

Monday, 5 April

I cleared out my son’s bedroom and did masking tape. His room was the first we decorated when we moved in. At age 5, he peeled off the animal stickers as he said they were to babyish, and we promoted to redecorate… 2y later, we are doing it.

My son is a bit nervous about not sleeping in his room. He doesn’t like change. But, he’s excited to see his new grown up room tomorrow.

Still not feeling great, so had another early night. I didn’t write but I did a lot of research and practicing a new skill, that I’m hoping to sell one day. I was creative, but not with Sky Heart.

Tuesday, 6 April

Noah loves his new room. #Win

I had work all day today but managed to write 500 words for Sky Heart. I have roughly three major scenes to go but these are big ones and pretty tough. I’ll admit I feel intimidated.

I’ve done some brain storming for the big battle but still can’t see it clear in my head. I can however see the ending, so I may jump ahead to that.

Wednesday, 7 April

I worked more on my secret project. I also worked on prepping images for my IG feed.

This evening I watched the WIW Live with guest author Kara S Weaver. They chatted about editing, the different types, and why it’s important.

Thursday, 8 April

Today has been pretty chilled out other than my phone screen cracking.

I won a free call with Pagan Malcolm, who coaches authors to take their careers to the next level. I’m booked in next week, early Friday morning (although for her, I think it’s late). I’m not sure what to expect – should I get her to help with my battle, public speaking, or my secret project. Whatever we get up to, I’ll probably blog my experience.

I watched the replay of a masterclass I recently attended on how to write a 5 star ending. Then I watched a live author chat from the fantasy writers festival, QuaranCon2021.

Once the kids were in bed, I used an app to animate my characters created in Art Breeder, to sing. Author procrastination at its finest.

Mariah from Ocean Heart on Wombai.ai

Then, I attended a writing chat and Sprint by Unstoppable Authors hosted by H B Lyne and Angelina Trevena, and wrote 478 words.

Friday, 9 April

This was a bad day. First, my 2 year old threw my mobile phone and the screen cracked. I use my mobile for everything but can’t afford to fix it, so I’ll have to carry on and hope it doesn’t get worse.

Then, I received news that my daughter isn’t getting a place at our chosen nursery. She was on a waiting list for morning sessions which fit around my work & childcare availability but they only have afternoon sessions. To accommodate that, I’d have to cut my working hours in half and not only is my employer unlikely to agree to that as it’d make travelling to my appointments within the time very challenging, but I also can’t afford to reduce my hours. I now need to find another nursery or quit my job. There aren’t many nursery’s nearby as most closed permanently during the pandemic for various reasons.

When I’m stressing about a problem I can’t write. I opened my manuscript and stared at the blank page before closing it and trying something creative. I worked on my secret project.

Saturday, 10 April

We decided that I’m no stressed enough, so we painted part if the front room. Every chance my 2y old got, she was “help painting”. It was exhausting keeping her away all day, and the house was freezing as we kept the windows open.

I did not write. My head is not in the right place.

Sunday, 11 April

So, my 2y old didn’t sleep. She was up at 3am. By 5am I gave up and she attempted to “Help painting.” I’m pretty sure I’m running on empty.

I did make progress on some blog posts and have drafted two Behind the Book posts that I now just need to proofread and schedule. I probably won’t get to this until next weekend.

I also helped my 7y old son to create a cute Woodland scene for school. We borrowed my mum’s Cricut Maker and he created his die cuts in Canva, and I helped him add them to Cricut. I then helped with sticking them down where he told me, while he painted. We spent over two hours on it.

I’m so frustrated. I want to write the fight scene for Sky Heart but it’s not coming to me. I didn’t want to waste my time, so I worked on my secret project.

Monday, 12 April

I’ve found two nurseries that might be able to take Aria. Fingers crossed I can sort this out so I can feel more settled.

I spent most my day playing with Aria, and tidying up. I also completed most of the application form for one of the nurseries.

I accidentally forgot to charge my laptop so it was taking ages to come on even with the charger in. I decided to watch some TV with my hubby.

Tuesday, 13 April

I worked all day today.

Then, in the evening I wrote 192 words. It doesn’t sound like much but I finally had a breakthrough with the difficult scene and can see it now!

Wednesday, 14 April

I worked today, and by the time the kids were in bed, it was already 9pm. I attended the World Indie Warriors IG Live. Today the guest speaker was Michelle Raab, chatting marketing, writing dystopia, and psychology.

Keily from Sky Heart on Wombo.ai

[kofi]

If you enjoyed this, you will like:

Behind the Book: Crown of Conspiracy by Kara S Weaver

Book Review: Crown of Conspiracy by Kara S Weaver

Why I love World Indie Warriors

Where to find the best indie books…

April 12, 2021 Ally Aldridge Editing, Publishing, Tips, Writing

My Process – How to Publish a Book (collection)

I’m constantly learning and revising everything I do. Sometimes it’s to strengthen existing knowledge and skills, and other times it’s because new things come out.

When I decided to self publish, I didn’t know where to start. I wrote this blog series reflecting on what I did. I hope my process provides others with an outline to get started.

With self publishing you do it your way, so if you want to do it different to me then you can. That’s the beauty of self publishing, you are in control of it all. Equally as empowering as that is, it can also be very daunting when you’re starting out.

Step 1 – Write Your Novel

My process starts right at the beginning with a blank page! I’ve included links to useful guides to help you writing the first draft.

Click here for step 1.

Step 2 – Edit Your Novel

Your novel should go through several edits before publishing. I include links to previous posts about the editing services I used to help you figure out which you need.

Click here for step 2.

Step 3 – Publish Your Book

This step covers what to do to get your interior and exterior right, and some of the different publishing options. I’ve linked to posts about my cover designer and formatter.

Click here for step 3.

Live This April!

During Camp NaNo, authors Cassidy Reyne and J D Groom have organised some Live sessions this April. They take place every Wednesday at 9pm (UK), on Instagram via @worldindiewarriors.

These sessions will support those doing Camp Nano, but each week they’ll have a different guest to discuss a topic of the week.

I’m their guest on 21 April at 9pm to discuss self publishing and answer any questions. Please do come join us.

[kofi]

If you enjoyed this, you will like:

Don’t put off writing your novel

How I did my cover reveal

My virtual Book Tour

My virtual Book Launch

April 8, 2021 Ally Aldridge Uncategorized

Behind the Book: The Stories Stars Tell by C L Walters

This book is C. L. Waters most recent YA release and the final post in my Behind the Book series with her. I’ll put links to the previous ones at the end.

Who will love to read this book?

I think readers who like Sarah Dessen and Jennifer Niven will like The Stories Stars Tell because it explores a romance between Emma and Tanner, but more importantly, each of them as characters on their own.

Tell me about the main characters Emma and Tanner?

Emma Matthews is a smarty-pants perfectionist who’s locked in the box of her religion and afraid to step outside the bounds of that to explore her sexuality. She feels ill-prepared to face college. Tanner represents the freedom and bravery she wishes she had. Maybe taking a risk with him will give her the bravery she needs to move forward.

Tanner James is a party-boy who’s partied his way through high school into a corner without options instead of dealing with the trauma of his brother’s death and his parents divorce. He wants to create a new story outside the Bro Code he and his friends created. Emma is a new story, but one he doesn’t feel like he deserves.

The blurb says that the traditional end of year send off is to jump off the cliff – have you ever dived off a cliff?

I haven’t ever dove, but I have jumped! It was a blast (and terrifying too).

Hawaii looks like a beautiful place to live, does such a setting inspire your writing?

Definitely. So many possibilities for stories, though I confess I’ve only written two that explore this place. I don’t want to appropriate it; there are amazing Hawaiian and local authors who do such a beautiful job exploring culture and place.

You share what you’ve learnt on your blog to help other writers. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to an aspiring author?

My initial advice is always read, read and read more. Read inside your favorite genre and the one you write, but also read beyond it. There’s so much to learn from other writers (both good and bad).

What can we look forward to from you next?

I am in the process of writing a companion novel to The Stories Stars Tell about Tanner’s best friend Griffin. It’s titled In the Echo of this Ghost Town. I think I have a thing for the villain, or those broody misguided boys. It’s planned for release in the fall of 2021.

Can you share a snippet of the book?

Sure!

This was one of the first scenes I wrote and I talk about it a lot as the starting point for Emma’s and Tanner’s story:

I nod, pasting a fake smile on my face. “You might be right, Bella,” I say, self-satisfied that Tanner has actually touched me. “I guess I’ll find out how boring I am at Berkeley next year. Where are you going to school?”
Her smile fades, because if rumors are true, she didn’t make the grade. Too much focus on non-academic activities, I surmise. There is a tangle of self-satisfaction in saying it, at first, but I recognize the pettiness of it and feel guilty. It isn’t kind or Christ-like.
“Well–” I push my arms into my own backpack and settle it on my shoulders– “have fun at Senior Send Off.” I leave the bathroom with their snarky comments caught on the door behind me.
Her accusation — you’re so boring . . .what can you offer someone like him — has my mind swirling, overthinking as I walk to my locker.
I’m not boring!
But I know it’s true.
I glance at Tanner’s locker. He’s there, so I open mine and shove my head inside, and then roll my eyes at myself for looking at all. Except I can’t keep my eyes on the perfectly arranged interior of my locker. I sneak another peek. He’s across the hallway leaning into his own locker. Balled up papers slip out, and he bends to pick them up. His red t-shirt moves with his body, the hem adjusting to allow a glimpse of tan skin at his waist. I’m thinking about him without his shirt and those blue jeans hanging from his hips, hugging his behind just right.
My stomach dissolves into a sparkly mess.
Tanner stands, and with a little shake of his head gets his dark hair, a little long with soft curls around his face, out of his warm brown eyes. He turns his head, and I look away before I’m caught staring.
I could say I don’t know why my insides melt when I see him. THAT would be a lie. Of course, I know WHY I’m attracted to him. Attraction isn’t the issue. It’s the stupidity of allowing it. It must be a truth universally acknowledged that my book smarts have detonated my common sense, or something like that. My brain knows I’m being ridiculous and counts the ways to remind me.
First, I’m freaking out of his league. Um, Truth: perhaps, it’s the other way around. Compromise: a bit of both.
Second, he only dates party girls. I’m not.
Three, he’s an f-boy.
Four, my future plans don’t involve a guy like Tanner James, even if for some ridiculous reason I want them to involve Tanner James. I’m just so freaking curious.
I sigh, recalling Bella’s awful accusation and hate that she’s right. Aside from my drunken junior year risk, I’ve played my entire high school experience scared and safe. I smack the locker door shut and scold myself for looking at Tanner at all.
Excerpt from The Stories Stars Tell by CL Walters

Where can we go to discover more about you and your books?

Let’s see, if you’ve visited the website (www.clwalters.net) and you’re following my instagram, you can follow me on Goodreads (CL Walters) and Facebook (CL Walters) and there’s always my newsletter – which you can sign up for on my website. This year I’m releasing a serialized novella, a new chapter each month. Should be fun.

Thank you, Ally! This was fun.

If you enjoyed this, check out my other Behind The Book Q&As with C. L. Waters here:

Behind the Book: Swimming Sideways (book 1)

Behind the Book: The Ugly Truth (book 2)

Behind the Book: The Bones of Who We Are (book 3)

April 5, 2021 Ally Aldridge Novel, Publishing, Tips, Writing

How to fund your creativity? Patreon, Ko-Fi, Kickstarter, etc…

I see fellow authors being savvy with their income, diversifying revenues to support their dream as an author and I thought, “Could I do that?”

I dismissed the idea because, “Why would anyone support me?”

Now, I know, that’s my self doubt speaking. The same self doubt that told me I couldn’t self publish. I’m getting better at believing in myself and recognize that everyone has to start somewhere.

Not to spoil the ending but I now have a Ko-Fi account (more on that later…).

As usual, I plan to share what I found out and how I made my choice. Here are the main options I considered:

One method is to create an exclusive group for your fans. They pay a fee to join like a club membership and you reward them with things like training, exclusive content (short story, character art, etc), early access to your product, or shoutouts.

Mighty Creators

You create a community for your fans to join. You can include paid content and subscription plans to generate revenue.

Pro: Helps to build a community of loyal fans, and has different revenue methods.

Con: Creating the site can take learning and time.

Patreon

It’s like a private club for your fans. They pay a monthly subscription and you reward them. You can set different tiers with more expensive tiers getting better perks.

Pro: You can establish a regular income from your Patrons and a strong connection with your fans.

Con: You need to provide regular content to make it worthwhile for your Patrons to stay subscribed.

Another option is to get funding for your project upfront. You need to sell your product/idea to get support. Often it involves rewards like early access to the product, or maybe for high contributors you’d name a character after them.

Kickstarter

This is a crowdfunding platform where an individual (or group) can seek funding for a project. I recently saw an author on FB that did this successfully for his Sci-Fi novel.

Rewards are offered as incentives like getting the proposed product before anyone else. However, if you don’t make your target, you get nothing.

Pro: You will develop fans early on and can sell your book before it’s finished.

Con: You need to be committed to delivering your promises and confident it asking others to back you.

Indie Go Go

This is another crowdfunding platform. It is aimed at creatives and has tools to support campaigners with their project and getting support. It appears to be more geared towards tech.

Pro: Promises tools to help you start your project and beyond.

Con: Backers are looking for solutions to a problem and your novel is unlikely to appeal to this audience.

Go Fund Me

This crowdfunding site is aimed more at community projects and charities. You post a reason why you need help and people donate to support you. For example, needing help to pay funeral costs for a loved one.

Pro: Get financial help with your current project without pressure to provide rewards to sponsors.

Con: Most projects on the site appear to be charities so probably not the right audience.

Libera Pay

I think this would be called crowdfunding too. The site accepts donations from donors in support of your creative project. Donors can set the amount and frequency.

For this platform you’d need people to be invested in your projects completion. You would need to sell the idea to investors.

Pro: You can establish a regular income from your donors and focus on your project.

Con: You need to persuade people to donate on a regular basis and there isn’t a way to reward donors.

This is more casual, like a tip jar. People give money as and when they feel like it. The idea is the tip is like buying the creator a cup of coffee or whatever their favourite drink is.

Buy Me A Coffee

You supporters can buy you a coffee to be paid to you instantly. They can even subscribe to pay you a fee frequently. You can offer perks as a reward or perks to buy like a shop.

Pros: You can focus on your project and not spend time each month making exclusive content.

Cons: Less incentive for regular donations.

Ko- Fi

This is another tip jar type site with no obligation on your tippers to give. Again, the idea is they buy you a virtual drink that the creator uses towards their projects. You can create a shop for fans to buy merchandise, and you can create rewards for your tippers but it’s all optional.

Pro: Simple page creation, and low maintenance or obligations.

Con: You cannot depend on tips as a regular income.

Summary

I hope this has helped you think about all the options out there. I’ve only provided a brief overview of each and recommend you find out full details for any you are interested in by visiting their website for their full terms.

There are other ways to earn a passive income such as ad revenue or becoming an affiliate for another brand.

I have decided to go with Ko-Fi. I like the no pressure approach to me and my tippers. I want to continue being able to help others no matter their means, and keeping my content free enables all.

When I said yes to self publishing, I had every intention of doing it all myself. But, should you wish to treat me to a cuppa tea to say thanks or to keep me going, now you can.

[kofi]

If you like this you will like:

Don’t put off writing your novel

How I did my cover reveal

The process of publishing a novel – part 1

Soul Heart Readers – Street Team

April 1, 2021 Ally Aldridge Novel, Writing

Camp NaNo April 2021 Project

Camp NaNo April 2021 Goal

My goal for Camp Nano will be to finish Sky Heart. I think there’s only 15k words left. It should be doable, but I have really been struggling with the ending.

If I do manage to get it done quickly, I will work on the prequel. It will be a novella in length and about told from Denny’s POV, about how she came to be friends with Gwyn.

Camp NaNo Story Snippets

@worldindiewarriors on Instagram have come up with some prompts to encourage people to share a snippet of their WIPs during April. They are a relaxed friendly bunch, so don’t worry if you can’t post for every prompt, or if you don’t post on Saturdays. The idea is to support each other and connect with others taking part. I’m going to try to do these challenges but I don’t post on Saturdays so… I’ll be posting when I can.

Follow #WIWSnippetSaturday

Wednesday Instagram Lives

Every Wednesday at 9pm UK, @worldindiewarriors will be hosting IG Lives to keep everyone motivated towards their goal. In addition, they will have a guest join them to discuss a topic of the week.

On 21 April, I will be their guest chatting about self publishing. If you have any questions or just want to join us, we’ll be happy to see you there.

[kofi]

If you have enjoyed this content, you’ll like:

Why I love World Indie Warriors

The World Indie Warriors Brochure

Why I have chosen to Self Publish

March 25, 2021 Ally Aldridge My Books, Ocean Heart, Publishing, The Soul Heart Series, Tips, Writing

The Process of Publishing a Novel – 3 of 3

This is the last post in this series.. If you missed the previous posts they are:

Step 1 – Write your novel

Step 2 – Edit your novel

Or check out the collection for all parts.

Step 3 – Publish your novel

Here is a handy info graphic of what I’m going to cover in this post.

You can save this to your Pinterest board.

Blurb

If you are self publishing you will need a blurb for your book. You can write this yourself or hire a professional.

Here’s a post about the making of the blurb for Ocean Heart.

Cover Design

Your book cover will be one of the first official marketing materials for your book. They say “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover!” Except, people do.

You can design it yourself but if you are going to do print copies, it can be tricky to get the spine right if you don’t know what you’re doing. I opted for a professional.

Look at other covers in your genre. These covers are what your ideal reader is expecting. If your cover appeals to the wrong audience it’s going to make it hard to sell.

Here’s a post about how I chose my cover designer.

Marketing

Once you have the cover, start marketing your book. Don’t wait until it’s published to start marketing.

Fun things to do, are a cover reveal to drum up interest. Here’s a post going into more detail on how I did my cover reveal including tips on creating digital bookstagram pics for promoting your book.

You can also have a preorder period so people don’t have to wait until the release date to buy and can order it right away! These purchases won’t be counted until release day, boosting your release day sales.

I learnt a lot about marketing my book from author Pagan Malcolm and did the Storyseller Academy course that covers a lot of ways to promote your book and how to change your mindset.

Another, fabulous person to check out is Michelle Raab who specialises in Marketing for Indie Creative and is the founder of World Indie Warriors.

Check the links at the end of the post for posts on my book launch. They’re useful to check out if you need some ideas.

Formatter

This is the person that makes the inside of your book pretty and accessible in different formats for different eBook readers. You can do it yourself, or use tools available online.

Here’s a post about my experience with my formatter.

If you want to do it yourself, you might find it useful to check out Brittany Wang’s YouTube video showing where to get a free template and how to edit it.

Alternatively, you can use the tools provided by your chosen distributor to turn your manuscript into a book. I believe Amazon, D2D, and Ingram Sparks offer these tools for free.

Proofread

Big mistake I made was skipping this step. I uploaded my files to Ingram and then one of my ARC readers (author Cassidy Reyne) let me know where I’d missed some typos. ?

My formatter was happy to amend my files for free but Ingram charged me for changing the files. ?

Don’t skip this step. The last pair of eyes on your book are necessary. No matter all the edits already, and how perfect you believe it is, get a proof reader to do a final quality check.

Self Edit

If your proof reader spots any issues, you will need to make the changes and inform your formatter exactly what you needs changing!

And you thought you’d finished editing. ?

Upload Files

If you are happy with everything, upload it to the distributor site you are using. Popular choices are:

Amazon
Ingram Spark
Draft 2 Digital
Lulu
Barnes & Noble

ARC Reader

Send your ARC readers a final copy. Between now and publishing you could make changes but we’d hope that by this point it is done.

The ARC readers need enough time to read it before you publish. This enables you to gather reviews for marketing and gives readers an idea of what others thought.

ARC readers will leave an honest review. Your book cover & blurb should attract the right readers. If your ARC readers are surprised by your book (and not in a good way) you might want to change the cover or blurb to ensure you attract the correct readers.

Check out my post on Betas vs ARC readers.

Publish

That’s it! Except now your book is out there, you still need to market it. Don’t be shy – every chance you get, give it a shout out. And, on that note…

Redfae Bookshop is my Affiliate Bookshop.org Shop Link.

[kofi]

If you enjoyed this, you will like:

Soul Heart Readers -Street Team

My Launch Month Plans

My Virtual Book Tour

My Live Stream Team

March 22, 2021 Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Contemporary, Fantasy, My Books, Novel, Ocean Heart, Romance, Sky Heart, The Soul Heart Series, Tips, Writing

Don’t put off writing your novel!

Have you seen that advert of a mum working from home? She is lying on the floor cooing at her baby and typing on her laptop. I bet you know the one I mean.

Well, I’m embarrassed to admit I believed this could be my life. My dream has always been to be a Novelist and I also longed to be a mother, so this image was singing to my heart, ”you can have it all!”

If I’d waited for my ideal writers life, I’d still be waiting.
Ally Aldridge

I’ve been writing stories ever since I could put a sentence together but for many reasons I put off seriously trying to get published until the prospect of children was on the horizon.

As soon as I got engaged in September 2009, I came off the contraceptive pill. I wanted it out of my system so I could get pregnant as fast as possible once married. We married in June 2011 but different factors got in the way of motherhood.

During that time I wrote Hunted, Instinct and Drift (now published as Ocean Heart). I edited Drift, queried it, got some requests… but never an offer.

Late 2013, I had my son. He took over my life in the most glorious way, but it was obvious how unrealistic that image in my head was. My working hours were reduced but it didn’t enable any extra time for writing. If anything, I had less time. I was juggling a job and my parental responsibilities. Most evenings I was too shattered to do anything.

Once my son turned three, we decided we were ready to grow our family. Fortunately, I didn’t fall pregnant quickly because a few months later the company I was employed at went into administration. Expanding our family was put on hold until we got financial stabile again.

To my relief, almost a year later, we decided to try again and I fell pregnant straight away. My daughter joined us in the summer of 2018.

During this time I’d continued to edit and query Drift. I realised that I have to just make my situation work if I wanted my dream. That meant, I often wrote in the evenings when my kids slept. Sometimes they have worn me out in the day and I have to be okay with letting myself take a break.

I focus on celebrating what I have achieved and that I’m still making progress, instead of being frustrated I can’t do it as fast as others. I blog and schedule content on my mobile whilst my kids play. I make my social media posts on my phone often using Canva. In the smallest pocket of time, I can still work towards my goals.

Due to my new can do attitude, I’m now a published author. That’s right, in December 2021, I said yes to myself, and published Ocean Heart, book 1 in The Soul Heart series. If I’d waited for my ideal writers life, I’d still be waiting.

Redfae Bookshop is my Affiliate Bookshop.org Shop Link.

During lockdown, I’ve lost my childcare for my youngest . And, whenever the schools close, I’m homeschooling for my oldest. My employer has been pretty supportive and when I’ve been most impacted by the pandemic, I have been placed on Furlough.

These days I have even less time to write! But, I’m writing. Maybe not everyday, but I am getting there.

My message to you is, do what you can now because every little bit will add up. There’s nothing to lose. Worst case scenario, you have a fabulous novel all to yourself.

[kofi]

If you enjoyed this, you will like:

The Process of Publishing a Novel – 1 of 3

12 Tips for Self Editing

Notebooks of Story Ideas

How to Beat Writers Block

BUY ME A CUP OF TEA ON KO-FI

March 18, 2021 Ally Aldridge Behind The Book, Book Genre, Publishing, Tips, Writing, Young Adult

Behind the Book: The Bones of Who We Are by C L Waters

This book is the finale in the Cronus Chronicles series. I will place links for the earlier books in this series at the end of the post. Each interview covers different writing tips and info about the series.

How long did it take you to write this book once you had the idea?

The idea of Gabe’s story came in flashes, but once I finished writing Abby’s and Seth’s stories, Gabe’s story took about six or seven months to write the first draft. Another month or two to rewrite. I’d say the process from drafting through publication took sixteen months.

This book was written after you lost your dad – was it a therapeutic outlet? I notice that it deals with death.

This book explores my grief to some extent, or the ways in which suppressed grief has power over us. Writing Gabe’s story allowed me to process the loss of my father and my own pain. In many ways, I felt stuck like Gabe. When he walks into that childhood fort, I felt like I completely understood his need to hide there, to face death; though Gabe deals with suicide ideation, I think each of us face the symbolic death of self when we face the pain of loss, and then the subsequent rebirth when we find our way out of it. I’m not sure if that makes sense?

Tell me about the character Gabe?

Gabe has faced immense bullying his entire high school career; it’s called The Freak Challenge, and the object is to get Gabe to fight back. Writer of poetry and lover of Abby, he hasn’t fought back because he knows who started the challenge—Seth—and he’s biding his time to get back at his former best friend for the betrayal. His therapist has tried to help him. His adoptive parents have helped him. Even Abby, now, has helped him, but lingering over his head is the knowledge of his real parents and his fear of becoming them. When things spirals out of control and Seth’s life is on the line, Gabe crashes and feels like everything that’s happened is his fault, the fault of the DNA he carries in his body, and that the only way to save everyone else from the monster he’s becoming is to end it.

Each book is a different character from the series story. What inspired these characters?

You’ll see the parallels with the three characters in the Twilight series. Abby-Bella, Seth-Jacob, and Gabe-Edward (though an awesome reader thought Seth and Gabe were reversed which I love too). When I rewrote the books, Abby was inspired by the emergence of Hawaiian culture in my island home. The exploration of how one’s culture informs identity. Seth, as a villain, was inspired by the idea that even the villain has a story. That those either-or dichotomies are often flawed because as people we are a million variations of color. Finally, Gabe was inspired by my daughter who has struggled with mental health. When I read the statistics about males and sucicide rates, I was so saddened, I knew I wanted to explore this further.

When you finished the series you gave it a new look. What was it like relaunching a book and redesigning the covers?

It was hard work (and costly) but I’m so glad I did it. I am so proud of how they turned out, and they are so much more in line with how I envisioned them in the redesign as opposed to the original covers (which I liked too). It’s a lot of work. Finding a cover designer, formatting, learning the ins and outs of publishing in a more hands on way. I don’t think it’s probably a path for everyone, but I’ve enjoyed the process.

Do you design the covers yourself or use a designer?

I hired a cover designer. Her name is Sara Oliver (https://saraoliverdesign.com) and I think she’s amazing. I love working with her.

Can you share a snippet of the book?

Would love to . . . Though I’m not sure what to share. Here’s one of Gabe’s poems:

Vomit up the monster.
It plays with blocks,
Stacking and rearranging them
Around holes in my heart.
I’m the butt of a joke;
It’s laughing, wide mouthed,
And kicks – cracking what’s already damaged.
The monster crawls back inside
To be vomited another day.
-by Gabe
Excerpt from The Bones of Who We Are by CL Walters

Where can we go to discover more about you and your books?

My books can be found on any of your favorite platforms. I would always recommend going to your independent bookstore and you can always request them to bring it in.

Redfae Bookshop is my Affiliate Bookshop.org Shop Link.

Discover more about C L Waters on her website.

If you enjoyed this, you will like:

Behind the Book: The Ugly Truth by C L Waters

Behind the Book: Swimming Sideways by C. L. Waters

Book Review: And The Stars Were Burning Brightly

Why & how I chose my cover designer!

[kofi]

March 15, 2021 Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Fantasy, Review, Romance, Super Powers, Urban, Young Adult

Book Review: Red Blood: Card Holders by Kaitlyn Legaspi

I was fortunate to be part of Kaitlyn Legaspi’s ARC team. I didn’t quite manage to finish this ARC in time but I wasn’t far behind.

Red Blood: Card Holders by Kaitlyn Legaspi released on 19 Feb 2021. Add to your Goodreads.

Setting

This novel is set in a futuristic world where there are bound and unbound people. Unbound people have powers, and those with more than one power are specialists. Specialists can learn to use cards that boost their powers.

The unbound are rules by the Card Catchers. The story starts with a tournament being held where all the unbound must compete, so the strongest are selected. The tournament can be deadly, hence Neela’s resistance to partake.

Characters

Neela is the main character. She is a feisty vigilante orphan, growing up in the slums with her brother. Neela is an untrained specialist.

Jacen is Neela’s big brother. They are super close as they’ve pretty much grown up only having each other. He doesn’t have any powers.

Brochan is to become Neela’s trainer when she is required (or forces) to compete in the Red Queen tournament. Part of his team includes wife Lily, and brother-in-law Will.

Amil is a specialist trained assassin. He also becomes Neela’s first friend. There’s a lot of flirting between them. Unfortunately, Amil’s brother isn’t quote so friendly.

Review

Neela is a feisty young vigilante, with unbound powers. She doesn’t want to compete in the Red Queen tournament, until she is caught by her trainer. On their way to the tournament they are attacked.

Neela meets Amil, a young assassin that everyone is cautious of. He quickly becomes her friend, which draws the attention of his not so nice brother.

People are targeting Neela. As they try to figure out who they are, more secrets unravel. Could the attacks be linked to her parents deaths?

My only negative is that sometimes it felt too dialogue heavy, and there were a lot of occasions thar Neela’s hair got roughed up or her head patted.

Red Blood is full of fast paced action and superpowers. It reminded me a lot of Naruto, but without the school. It’s a fun read. Kaitlyn has put a lot of thought into the magic system and World-building to bring this story to life.

Top Tip: Don’t skip the Prologue!

[kofi]

If you enjoyed this, you might like:

Book Review: Sorceress of Truth by J D Groom

Check out my Live Stream Team

Book Review: Wiccan Romances – Amelia’s Story by Nicola Hebron

Whart to Watch if you love Super Powers

March 11, 2021 Ally Aldridge My Books, Ocean Heart, Publishing, The Soul Heart Series, Tips, Writing

How I did my cover reveal

I couldn’t wait to show off my cover, and it was the first real piece of marketing I paid for. That’s right, your cover is an important part of selling your book.

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover…

A book with an eye catching cover will naturally attract more attention. It also should communicate what the book is about, so your ideal reader picks it up.

DIY Cover

It’s fine to make your cover yourself. But, if you do make sure you have permission to use any images, fonts, or any other element in your design. You may need to buy certain licences from the creator to use them.

If you want to design your own cover, check out author Elexis Bell’s blog post series on the topic:

Step 1: Creating a cover

Step 2: Creating a cover

Step 3: Creating a cover

Professional Cover

Commissioning a professional can ensure you make the right impact. Check their portfolio and testimonies to see if they are right for your book. You may find it useful to check out my post on how I found my cover designer.

Cover Reveal Images

You will need to prepare the images for the cover reveal. My Cover Designer included a social media package which included social media banners, 3D Renders and an IG version.

The 3D Renders have been so useful. I often add them to various social media posts I’ve made. I’d highly recommend them.

3D Render

I am fortunate that my cover designer created me 3D renders of my paperback and my eBook. However, if you don’t have that privilege, here are some ways you can obtain one.

BookBrush helps authors to create images to market their books, including 3D renders. You can try it for free or pay for more options.
DIY Book helps indie authors create covers and has a tool to easily create 3D Renders.

Stock image

You may want to utilise a stock image within your social media post. Make sure you have permission to use it. Here are my favourite sites:

Unsplash is a resource of images by photographers made available for free.
Pixabay is another great resource for free images.

I like searching for flat-lays I can add my book and text to.

Decide on a date

There is a lot of division on when to do your cover reveal. What it boils down to is personal preference.

One successful author recommend 6 months, or as soon as possible. Another, suggested 3 months at most, as they struggled to keep the momentum going. A lot of authors said only a month.

I started mine during the 1st week of September, with the full reveal on 7th September. My book was on preorder on 1st October, and released on 1st December. This worked well from me.

Cover Reveal Teaser

You should have already been talking about your book and generating interest. As your cover reveal approaches you want to incite interest. You can capture peoples curiosity with a partial reveal, announcing the date you will reveal all…

How I created my partial reveal pics…

I created mine by using a torn paper image from Unsplash.

I edited the image in a free app called Adobe Photoshop Mix . I cut out the part of the image where I wanted my book to show through.

I uploaded the cut out image and my cover to Canva. Canva is my favourite app for creating Social Media posts. It was here that I added the text.

If you have Book Brush, you can use their templates to achieve something similar. Personally, I prefer Canva as I have more freedom to do what I want. However, if you are stuck how to start, you might find Book Brush easier as the templates are specifically for authors.

Of course, you could achieve a similar affect by wrapping your book in paper and tearing a teaser rip in the paper. Then take a nice photo. You may still wish to use an app like Canva to add text.

Cover Reveal Team

You can ask friends, family, and/or fans to support you by sharing, liking, and/or commenting on your reveal pic. The more engagement the pic gets, the better it will perform in the algorithm.

Make sure the post is public and that you use hashtags your ideal reader follows. It’s okay to tag the book title but it’s unlikely anyone will be following that hashtag yet, so choose ones that describe the themes and genre of the book.

I was really fortunate that a number of my IG followers were willing to share my cover to their IG stories and I had loads of lovely comments on my post.

If you don’t have anyone to help, you can pay for a cover reveal service. On 1st Nov, I used Xpresso Book Tours for a Book Blitz and was really impressed by how many signed up. They also provide a cover reveal service which I’m sure would be just as good.

Cover Reveal Image

You need a nice picture of your book for social media.

Manually: Again, you can do this manually by taking a nice picture of the physical book.
Digitally: I didn’t have a physical copy so I created my image digitally.

I mainly searched Unsplash for flat lays, books, beach, ocean, mermaid, and any other theme relating to my book. I then edited it in Canva.

View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Author Ally Aldridge (@redfae)

Keep up the momentum…

Once you have done the cover reveal, you must keep up the momentum until release (and beyond).

It’s a waste of your time to get everyone excited about your book and then let them forget. Once you’ve shown off your gorgeous book, got them excited, you need to keep reminding them it’s coming. Get then to sign up to your news letter, and you may want to have a preorder option.

It can help to set aside a day to come up with content ideas. Then, schedule the content ahead of time so you can space it out and consistently post. Here are some good apps for this:

Preview: This app is free and enables you to see how your IG content will look on your feed. You can schedule post reminders or to post automatically.
Facebook Business Suite: It’s free to use and enables you to schedule posts to FB, IG and Twitter.
Planoly: The free plan enables you to schedule to two platforms for free. I paid for extra features during my launch month in Nov, so I could schedule videos.
Hootsuite: The free plan enables you to schedule posts to FB, IG and Twitter. You can pay for more features.
Later: Allows you to schedule posts to Instagram.
IFTTT: A useful app for sharing posts you posted on one platform, to another.

I also regularly schedule my blog posts. There’s no reason you can’t do your cover reveal on your blog. You want to spread the word so why not on all your social media platforms.

Ocean Heart Gallery

The first image, with the shells, candle and yellow blanket is one I took of my physical book on my bathroom floor. The others, I created in Canva using images from Unsplash.

I added some of these to my Facebook group album and told my street team and blog tour team, they were welcome to use them. Having a bank of images of my book enabled me to keep posting fresh content to IG, in the lead up to my book launch.

I hope you found my cover reveal experience useful. I’d love to hear your thoughts and what worked for you.