Ally Aldridge Behind The Book, Fantasy, High

Behind the Book: Gem of Meruna by Elexis Bell

Elexis Bell – Gem of Meruna


The Gem of Meruna blurb

Gem of Meruna made you a published author, but you recently released it again, why?

The first time around, I was woefully undereducated about the publishing world. As such, I didn’t know to run (as fast as possible) from any publisher that expects you to pay them. I thought it was normal for the author to cover part of the costs. But…it definitely isn’t. That was just a vanity press.

My novel received no edits. It got no marketing. I was inundated with phone calls from their marketing people trying to sell me promotional packages, all of which were pitiful yet expensive.

Basically, it was a legal scam and my novel suffered for it. Now that I’m self-publishing, I’m making it right.

You now have three self published books, does publishing get easier?

It does, actually. It’s still very time-consuming and certain aspects are tedious, no matter what. But the metadata, copyright, and ISBN process gets easier with practice. Each time through, I have little tricks I picked up the time before.

What was the earliest story you can remember writing about?

In 3rd or 4th grade, my class was assigned a creative writing project wherein we had to write about a horse and a bat. I don’t remember the story I came up with, but I do recall something my teacher said when she called for me to read it. Apparently, I already had a reputation for writing darker stuff, because she said, “Knowing Elexis, the horse and the bat probably both die.” Lol.

What genre is Gem of Meruna and can you name any similar books?

It’s high fantasy romance. As for similar books…I’m really bad at finding comparison books. That was one of the hardest parts of querying when I was pursuing traditional publishing.

Please share a snippet or teaser from Gem of Meruna?

A noise startled Kiluna awake. It was far too close. The sound came again, right at her ear, but this time, she realized what it was.

Father had often snored when he slept, and Grandmother had, as well. But Kiluna hadn’t heard that sound since they died. Joseya’s snore was much softer, quieter, but its proximity made it seem far louder.

That was when Kiluna noticed it. Joseya no longer faced away from her, rather he nestled in close. One arm curled under his head, but the other wrapped around her waist.

Nothing about it felt strange though, just…right. She didn’t want to move, or even breathe too hard, for fear of waking him. The embrace would be retracted if he woke, she knew it as sure as she knew her scars were still there.

So, she laid still. She concentrated on his breath on the back of her neck. She relished the moment, all the while wondering if this would be the only time she lay near another Leey.

Her eyelids fell, blocking out the world as she savored the closeness. She didn’t notice when she drifted back to sleep.

Several moments later, she felt Joseya stir. His sudden movement made her jump. Instantly, he pulled his arm back to himself, muttering apologies as he did so. Kiluna flinched at his words but held in her pain. A single tear escaped her eye, leaving a tiny wet spot on the earth.

Which character from your books is most like you?

Every character gets a little piece of me. Sometimes it’s my favorite color, sometimes it’s more than that. Annabelle from my novella and Chloe from World for the Broken (my upcoming dark post-apocalyptic romance) have a lot of big experiences from my life, but so does Christian (also from World for the Broken).

What project are you currently working on?

I’m currently editing a dark post-apocalyptic romance, a dark high fantasy romance, and a dark supernatural high fantasy romance for release. Hopefully, I’ll be releasing all three this year, but at the very least two of them. I also just started writing another dark high fantasy romance wherein a deposed prince teams up with a druid high priestess to landscape their enemies to death.

Where can we find out more and buy your books?

My website has information and links for all my published works, as well as little tidbits about my WIPs. My blog is chock full of (blunt) writing advice and updates on all my work.
www.elexisbell.com

All my books are available on Amazon, and can be found on my Amazon author page.
www.amazon.com/author/elexis_bell

img_5919

Elexis Bell – Author Bio

If you enjoy this, you should check out:

World Indie Warriors

Behind the Book: Number Eight Crispy Chicken by Sarah Neofield

Book Review: Crown of Conspiracy by Kara S Weaver

Why I have chosen to Self-Publish

To discover more ways to connect, click my link tree:





 

Ally Aldridge Books, Goals, Tips, Writing

Why I Love World Indie Warriors

First you need to know who World Indie Warriors is.

World Indie Warriors is a collaborative group of indie creatives.

Indie creatives are people who created something and decided to put their product out into the world themselves. Creatives can be writers, artists, musicians, singers, actors, designers, etc. The list is endless.

For these creatives to make their product they need resources, knowledge, experience. The vision of WIW is that together we can help each other grow.

Why am I part of this?

It’s true, for years I’ve dreamt of being traditionally published but as I’ve met more brilliant talented authors that are self published, I’ve started to ask ”Why wait for someone else to say yes, when I can say yes right now.”

Being part of WIW has enabled me to see how self publishing could be a reality. One of my fears was that I had no idea where to start. The answer is WIW.

The group shares what works, what doesn’t work and offers guidance and encouragement.

At first I wondered what I could bring to the group. All the other members are more experienced and I felt inferior in comparison. But, those beliefs were my own. The members never treated me as less important and always value everyones contribution. It is a truly inclusive and diverse group.

What do I get out of it?

Initially I joined for the wealth of information. Whenever someone is willing to help me, I’m always very grateful. However, I quickly found myself part of something much bigger.

Being part of WIW is much more than just a knowledge source. They have become my author friends and together we empower each others creativity to become more than we could alone.

We support each other with marketing so we don’t get lost in the noise of social media. We collaborated to create a giveaway with an incredible prize of signed books and merchandise for our first winner. I got to be part of the Claerie Kavana’s Duet Rubato ARC (review coming soon).

View this post on Instagram

Thank you to everyone who took part in our #wiwjulychallenge , we had so much fun getting to know you. . So without further ado, the gold star contributor and winner of our super duper giveaway is @sarahneofield !! ? . Sarah walks away with a large collection of prizes from indie authors, including signed books, so please contact us with your mailing details! . For your chance to be a winner, follow us and #worldindiewarriors ,and keep your eyes peeled for future challenges. . . #worldindiewarriors #wiw #indiepoet #indieart #indiemusic #writer #indieauthor #authorsofinstagram #author #iwrite  #indiewriter #selfpublishing #indiewritersofinstagram #fellowcreativeminds #indiecreative #writingcommunity #amwriting #readersheart #everyonehasastory #everystoryhasahome

A post shared by World Indie Warriors (@worldindiewarriors) on

Over the next few months, I plan to share more with you about the WIW members and activities.

Anyone can join WIW. If you want to be part of the group, here is where to find World Indie Warriors:

If you enjoyed this you will like:

  if_twitter-01-01_3066980  if_instagram-01-01_3066990  if_youtube-01-01_3066976  if_g-01-01_3066962

Ally plus text

Ally Aldridge Tips, Writing

#PitMad

What is #PitMad?

Last month I did #PitMad. This Twitter event is where writers tweet a pitch for their book. Interested editors/agents like the tweet to request a submission. Writers then check the submission guidelines and submit if they are interested.Twitters can support writers by retweeting the pitch – but must not like (only agents/editors can like).

The event took place on 6 Sept. Pitches must fit in one tweet and be for a complete and polished manuscript. You can tweet three times for each novel within the 24h period. The tweet can be the same pitch or different. You can pitch more than one novel during the event.

There were loads of amazing pitches. I easily could have given into the voices of doubt in my head and been intimidated. But, if I don’t try new things, I’ll never learn. If I shy away from putting myself out there then I’ll never achieve my dream of being published. It was scary but I’m pleased I did it.

I only joined the event during the final hours. If I were to participate again in future, I’d spread my three tweets out throughout the day.

I noticed many writers compared their book to two titles already in the market. I’ve never done this so it might be good for future thought.

Request

I did get a like! Getting a like was very exciting, I felt as if I had finally made it and my husband had to remind me that although they’ve requested I submit, it doesn’t mean they will sign me.

In fact, turns out, just because they requested my manuscript doesn’t mean I have to submit to them. After looking at their website, I choose not to submit…

Why? The publisher is a new print launching in the Fall. That’s not a problem. Their website was incomplete and their facebook page had only been active for three weeks. I could have ignored all this if I could find out about the agents background in publishing but there is nothing. No history.

My heart sank as I realised, this might not be the big break I had thought it was. I’ll keep my eye on Burchette and Ferguson but until I know more about who is behind the company and what they can offer me, I will leave it for now.

The future

The next #PitMad is on 6 Dec and I’d love to hear your tips so I am better prepared next time. Have you done #PitMad? Can I see your pitch? How do you decide what book is most like yours? Do you think I was right to ignore my request?

I’d like to do more Twitter events. I wish there was somewhere I could go to find out about events taking place. Do you know of such a place?

  if_twitter-01-01_3066980  if_instagram-01-01_3066990  if_youtube-01-01_3066976  if_g-01-01_3066962

Ally plus text

Ally Aldridge Tips, Writing

#AskAnna

Earlier this month, Curtis Brown held a twitter event called #AskAnna where Anna Davis was online to answer questions about writing and publishing.  She is an author and worked in publishing for over a decade and delivers some of the CB Creative courses.

The event was good fun – although, a little slow to start.  Afterwards, I thought of more questions I wish I had asked but this was my first twitter Q&A that I’ve participated in. Usually, I can’t attend as I’m at work.

If you couldn’t make it, you’ll be pleased to know I saved the Q&As I found most useful from the event (start at the bottom and scroll up):

I hope CB do more Twitter events in future and that I can attend. This was good fun. Best of all, it was great to be invited to ask questions as I then knew we were welcomed and not a nuisance. I would love to hear of more a Twitter events – have you done any?

In 2017, I completed the Curtis Brown course Start Writing Your Novel.  Click here to read my review about it. I’m really tempted to do more courses with them but at the moment, I don’t have the time or money.

The Literacy Consultancy looks really good but, again, I don’t have the money to pay for their services at the moment. They edit and review manuscripts and advise of marketability and who to approach and have a mentor scheme where someone with experience supports you with in-depth advice on your novel. I can’t believe I’ve not heard of this organisation until now! Have you?

if_twitter-01-01_3066980  if_instagram-01-01_3066990  if_youtube-01-01_3066976  if_g-01-01_3066962

Ally plus text