See you later

This is how it's in London today. Blue sky, sunshine and I'm off to the roof park. Since I sat in front of my laptop for the past two days, more or less unsuccessfully trying to create a decent plot for the Thriller, I think I need a break. So the weather is great, my bike's calling, the kilos grinning. A bit of exercise won't do any harm, right?
Need some food for the iguana and there's plenty of green stuff for him.
I'll take my Kindle to read a little and pop to the market to get some fruit and veg. The roof park isn't open for the public yet, meaning I'll probably have some wonderful peace up there, sitting in the sun.
Maybe I'll get some more ideas on how to carry on with the story. Here's what I wrote yesterday, Not much as you can see, but it's only the beginning of the scene. It'll become more...um bloody, probably.

Natalie blinked and looked about, trying to orientate herself. She was alone in a small room. The only furniture � as far as she could tell � was the bed she was lying on. Its mattress was worn and the frame creaked and wobbled. She shivered under the far too thin cover. Where was she?

'Hello? Is there anyone there?'

A loud pang made her heart leap into her throat. She lay still and listened. It was silent again. Slowly, Natalie relaxed and sat up. Another thud. Howodd. Lookingattheceilingtofindoutwhatcausedthenoise,shesawnothing.Atleastnothingthatwouldhinttowhereitcamefrom.Sheswungherlegsovertheedgeandstood.Theroomseemed cleanwithafaintsmellofbleach.

'Whatthehell?'shesteppedclosertooneofthenakedwalls.Adirt-coveredlampofferedadimlight,enoughtosee,butnotenoughtoreadthefadingwordsscribbledallovertheplace.Shesquintedandtriedagain,tonoavail.How strange.

Another two thuds made her jump back.

'Hello?' she called out again.

Thud.

Slowly, she took a step back. And another.

Thud.

She shrieked when her calves touched the bed, her heart leaped into her throat.

'Hello? This isn't funny.' It came out half a whisper.

Thud, thud.

Natalie sat down and leant against the wall behind her, pulling the cover over her knees.

'Please, stop.'

Thud, thud, thud.

As if she were in a cardboard box with a bed, wearing earplugs while someone worked on a drum kit. That's how it felt. A dull droning that sent vibrations through her body. Uncomfortably buzzing in her head.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she breathed in and out to calm herself down. Nobody was going to hurt her, right? It's just noise; she'll be fine.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

It came from above.

Pang.

A door being slammed? Would someone come to rescue her? Or at least explain what is going on?

Pang, thud, pang, thud, thud.

Yes! I received my first 5-star review

For Candlelight Sinner, that is. And even better news is that the reader seemingly enjoyed the book, because she gave it the highest rating, which is wonderful. I'm still trying to bring across that the book might be labelled as paranormal romantic comedy, but it's far more urban and chick lit than paranormal. Think Charmed, and there aren't even demons in my book.

Anyway, here's what the reader said:

Candlelight Sinner is easy to read and a good book to take on holiday.

It is written in the first person. You view the events through the eyes of the two main characters, Tom and Celia. The only downside is that if go back to the book after a break you need to read a sentence (or two) until you know who you are and get back into the story again.

One is an angel and the other is part light side and part dark side. The dark side try to get Celia to go completely over to them whilst she is developing her relationship with Tom, who is in trouble for romancing someone who is half dark side. Celia also has human friends and she tries to hide the supernatural events which occur.

A light enjoyable read.

2600 and counting

I've always said I won't give my books away for free, unless they are for reviewers or some hand-picked people I want to give the books to.
Now I have been hearing good things about the Amazon KPD select programme -- something to get your books out there, your face and your writing known. Let me explain in short: you are exclusive with Amazon for 90 days in which you are  not allowed to sell e-copies of the enrolled book elsewhere. During that time you are allowed (you don't have to) give away your book for free for five days. You can do them all in one go or split them.
I've enrolled Excuse me, where is the exit? and also my new book Candlelight Sinner, which I both unpublished and removed from Smashwords since I never really made money there. Amazon is my main sales outlet.
Now my sales weren't too bad, but not very good either. Roughly about 150 in the past months, slowly going up again, but that's not enough to rectify the hard work I put into writing and promoting them.
With the promotion -- both books are free over the weekend -- I had over 2700 downloads since yesterday. To be honest I'm still in shock about the vast amount of downloads. It seems that my short stories do really well in the humour genre (position 3 as I type), yes even in the overall free charts (position 19). Candlelight Sinner has taken off on Amazon.com.
I wonder if that mirrors the 'buying' patterns of readers. I will admit that downloading freebies is addictive as I have downloaded about 20 books myself in the past two days. I only downloaded what I would buy in a shop, based on the pitch and I know I will give all of them a try, hopefully finding one or the other gem.

But with books on promotion for free on a daily basis, I'm a little worried that readers might rather download free books than paying for them, especially if they are by new Indie authors.
Many authors who have enrolled their books have reported an improvement on sales and it better when I think of the amounts of books given away. I expected only a couple of hundred downloads, but the actual figures make this one author dizzy. By the way, since starting this post about fifteen minutes ago, I had another 100 downloads. If only that would happen every day, with readers paying for the books. :-)

Self-publishing: it's crucial to be realistic

I read it more and more on writers' websites that authors, being fed up with getting rejection after rejection, are eager to self-publish. Often accompanied by the words 'I've heard so much about all the success stories, I'm thinking about it, too.'

As much as I support self-publishing at some point, I can't help but wonder how they define 'success'. Would they call one book a week a success or maybe one book a day, perhaps ten books a day? And I wonder if they know how little they get from each sale. Unless they start with a novel at $2.99, which is what you need to have to receive 70% royalties, but readers are more reluctant to buy. If you price it lower, you might get more sales, in fact you have to make many more sales to have the same royalties you'd get from one sale with $2.99 (about �2, I think)

I had priced my novel at 99c to start with and sold 65 in the first month. I then put the price to $3.49/�2.50 and the sales dropped drastically. Might be the subject matter (paranormal romantic comedy), but it could easily be down to pricing.
Reviews from independent blogs didn't seem to boost sales either. Now don't understand this as a moan; I've always said, you never know if a book sells or not; despite good reviews readers didn't exactly queue to buy the book. It's just something one has to accept. I will release the sequel to No Wings Attached in Janurary and will see how it picks up and if it picks up, if it will push the first book's sales, too. If not, then there's not much I can do other than writing them off as 'good books, but nobody wants to read them'.
Unless you couldn't care less about sales, for most of us self-publishing is a full time job; the press release, the plugging, the guest appearances, interviews, blogging, give-aways, talks, signings (if you have paperbacks), blog tours, etc. Marketing isn't to be taken lightly, because it's crucial to selling, unless you have a highly commercial book in a popular genre, like Thriller, for instance. Then it might pick up without you doing anything, especially if it's of good quality.

My short stories have been rather consistent in sales, I had them on a low price from the beginning and they have been perceived well by readers, which I'm glad for. Still, I personally wouldn't call rougly over 3500 sales (kindle only) since March as successful -- others might disagree -- but to me success begins if I sell about 1000+ in a month, because that's when your book is visible in the Amazon charts.

I think the sales figures often sound much better than they actually are. I receive 30% of each sale for 86p. Again, I'm not complaining, it's not a whinge, I'm just trying to bring across the reality of self-publishing to those who are dreaming. Hocking, Locke, Leather and the likes are the exeptions of the rule. Certainly, there are a few inbetween who sold over 10k or more books, which is fantastic, but the majority of authors struggle in the lower ranks, competing against the vast amount of new authors who release their books daily.

My advice is to be realistic, don't expect anything and if success comes around the corner by surprise, you will be more able to enjoy it.

Note: I'm refering to amazon kindle and smashwords here, as I don't have experienced B&N yet. Smashwords, to me, has not been proven the right platform, which might be due to less promotion because I have my main sales through Amazon.

The cover for Candlelight Sinner revealed!

When I said I'm going to think about a cover for my upcoming novel Candlelight Sinner, people groaned, asking if it's going to change as many times as the cover for No Wings Attached. You can all rest assured, it's not going to change. The amazing Sessha Batto has done it again, she took my ideas on board and came up with a stunning work. And I'm in love. I mean I'm seriously in love, but see for yourself:

It mirrors the plot, has a great deal of warmth and...well, it's just perfect. For those of you who remember my sad attempts to find a good cover for No Wings Attached: you can laugh now: it looks like I'm going to change it again. Simply because the covers in a series should be themed. So I'll head off to find something pretty to match and I already have an idea. And covers are important, after all. I wasn't sure how the second book would turn out, as you know, I'm not the best plotter in the world, but I'll learn, I promise.

And more great news: one of my Beta-readers got back to me with five pages of comments, giving me the feedback I needed to see if the book works as a stand-alone novel. The talented (I'm just saying that because she loved the book. -- Just kidding.) short story writer Winn Smith has volunteered to read the first draft since she hasn't read the first book and boy, are her comments helpful.
I've started to edit/rewrite with great enthusiasm and am falling in love with the book again. It makes me smile, it makes me laugh it makes me feel all fuzzy and guess what? Next month, you'll be able to read it, too, because I plan to have it out in January. So you better warm up your Kindles, Nooks, iPads, Sonys or even your PC's, because I'm planning a special surprise.

Here's the blurb:
Being madly in love with Tom, a rather good looking, immortal wish-consultant and working in her dream job, life seems to be perfect for 32-year-old Celia. If it wasn't for the dark side still being after her or Sam, a charismatic man asking for her help, causing dilemma. When Tom gets another demanding case, and Celia takes her friend on a trip to Lanzarote, everything's about to change. The question is: for the better or for the worse?

The gloves are off the 3rd! Just because you've written a book doesn't make you a writer

I've been thinking about this for a long while, pondering if I should post this, but I feel I need to say something. It's my blog in the end and I can post whatever I like, right?
I've been watching the Indie community for the past few months and I've been among 'writers' for over two years now. What I have observed is a lot of people who have written a book, think they are now a writer and will be famous author. Their mum, auntie, sister, gran and two best friends said their book's great, too, so it must be true. Bursting with confidence they submit their humble scribblings. Then: the truth hits home, rejection after rejection; soon, they will be able to plaster their entire house with them. Still, they don't think something's wrong with their writing, it's the others who don't recognise their genius.
They decide to go for self-publishing. Heavens thank Kindle, Nook and Smashwords. They get their friends and family to buy a copy each and write a review. Of course it's all praise. Ah, it looks so pretty, doesn't it? When the first real reader buys the book and complains about the bad editing, poor characterisation and plot, apart from the typos and other errors, it's the arsehole who didn't get it, when more negative comments arrive, they cry out for people to put those stupid reviewers right.
No joking, I've seen it all. I wonder if the 'never give up' advice might do more damage than good to some of the 'authors' out there. Stephenie Meyer's and J.K. Rowling's rejections are quoted. Well, Meyer had about 15 and Rowling 12. That's nothing in publishing. I got about 45 for all my three book together. Then, I don't write YA and I don't have a series at the ready. I know why my books got rejected, though I had an acceptance for the shorts stories and an offer to resend after tweaking for No Wings Attached, both of which I denied in the end.
I hear pure readers when they say they have enough of Indies, though there are quite a few who are good, sell well and made themselves a name, there are still far more who receive dream-shattering reviews on their books. Or there are plenty of Indies who don't sell, despite all effort to market their books. Maybe that's a hint for them to either write something else, or just give up. Maybe that's why they got so many rejections in the first place (unless they write for a small market)? Perhaps they need to learn a bit more about writing and hone their skills before they throw their unreadable books at the public. Many readers already voice their demand for some sort of quality for the Indie books, I absolutely agree. I guess that would shake up the market considerably and we'd have about a third of books left. A certain standard would force aspiring authors to edit and proof-read their books until they're green in the face. A shame they're not doing it already voluntarily, it's part of the 'job'.
And: not every person who has written a book is cut out for the industry. To survive as an author, you need to learn constantly, produce at least one book a year - a book of quality, that is, the Indie-market is fast and every changing, before you know it, you're forgotten. And that's the pressure many self-appointed authors can't handle.

Always remember: just because mummy says you've written the next bestseller, doesn't necessarily mean it's true.

JUST ADDED after misunderstandings: I'm not addressing the issue of cutting edge literature or books that don't fit into neat genres, they often have a small readership, hence the low sales. 

Make your book as good as possible

Writing is hard work. Did someone tell you it's easy? Well, that someone lied. Big time. The transformation from the very first draft to the actual book published is enormous, especially when you're just starting out with your first book. If you are lucky and happy to learn, it will get easier once you've been through the process of rewriting, editing, proofing, etc.

I've read a few self-published books that weren't ready by a long shot and I've stopped reading most of them. Not saying there aren't good self-published books out there, but it looks like I didn't find them yet. I'm self-published myself and I know how hard it is to go through the book over and over and over again until you're sick and tired of the book you once loved, but it's worth it. It's my reputation, my author's name out there and I want the book to be the best it can get. Though, I've learned that I've sold over 1000 copies of the short stories with words missing, stray words and typos I didn't see. I've sort of rushed to publish it, not doing another round of proofing. Luckily, a friend was kind enough to point them out and it's fixed now. He also found quite a few in my novel, even AFTER proofing twice. That said, I can live with typos and missing words, but I can't live with poor character development, continuously use wrong dialogue attributes, plot holes and illogical story lines. Those are things that drive me mad as a reader.

Now, how to avoid things like that, you wonder.

Well, first off, learn the craft. Talent is one thing, but you need the skills to actually enhance your talent. That's what beautiful writing is. See it as a paining with a perfect frame, it will accentuate the painting, if you have a shabby frame it will look odd, drawing your eyes to the ugly frame rather than the painting itself. It's the same with writing, a great story can be disturbed by bad use of grammar or dialogue attributes or plot holes.

I'll take the painting again: imagine you have a person in it and he has an arm where the ear should be, now wouldn't that irritate you? Same goes with writing, when you have plot holes, it disturbs the flow, lets you pause and drags you out of the story, you stop to think where that character came from, where it went and what purpose it might have when it doesn't add to the plot.

Learn as much about writing as you can, try to secure yourself some beta readers, those who are confident in giving feedback. Try not to ask family and friends, unless they know a thing or two about writing and are honest with you. Compare your dialogue with traditionally published books and correct yours. Google is your best friend when it comes to read about 'rules'. Depending on how self-critical you are, you might need three rounds or more of editing and beta-reading. (I went 16 times through my first novel.) Don't ask the ones you've had before, they're now biased. Fresh eyes is what you need.

Be patient, don't rush into it. When you put a book out which isn't ready, you're likely to lose potential readers for your second or third book.

Make your book as perfect as you can. The end customers, your readers, will thank you by not only recommending a book they enjoyed, but also with loyalty.

If you'd like to know more about the journey of my novel No Wings Attached, please read an interview with me here:

Good news demand to be shared

I've received a few wonderful reviews and feedback for No Wings Attached. And that's not all; people have messaged me on twitter, contacted me on facebook or via e-mail, telling me how much they enjoyed the book. What surprises me the most is that a lot of men seem to really like it. They probably fancy the idea of wooing a women by making her wishes come true ;-)

Here's the newest review from amazon.com:

I read Stella's book last weekend and I enjoyed it. "No Wings Attached" is light-hearted and hopeful, but is not sappy. Although it doesn't get overly dramatic, it has enough tension to keep you moving through the reading at a nice clip.

Tom is sent to Celia as the result of a mistake he made as a wish consultant. He needs to make good the mistake and the sweet results of his making good is the plot of the book.

Celia and Tom read as real people and very believable. The author definitely has a handle on proper characterization of her H and h. You'll not want the book to end, I promise you.

I call "No Wings Attached" a good buy. You'll not regret the purchase. 

Here's one from Goodreads (by a man):

NO WINGS ATTACHED was fast paced and fun. Near the end, it had it's suspenseful moments, and a dramatic twist. I enjoyed getting both main characters first person points-of-view. 


No Wings Attached is available at the kindle store and smashwords. Please click on the picture to the right to read the first three chapters or find the links to all outlets.

Teaser of the second book of Stella's rants

I've been asked if there's a second book following the success of Excuse me, where is the exit?. The answer is yes, I've not run out of rants. Yet. I've collected about 17 ideas and will see how they transfer into a story. This is the first draft of the first story which will be corrected before publishing. Connected to my recent accident, here's what I've observed, of course, with the usual exaggeration.

Enjoy :-)

A&E

Where zombies go at daytime

You are hungry, so you go into the kitchen, sharpen your knife and get to work on the peppers � and, very unfortunate, your fingertips. �Ouch!� you mutter annoyed and run your bleeding finger under cold water. Not that it makes any difference, but it can't do any harm, can it? You switch from the coloured water to the half-prepared dinner and curse another time, then wonder how to tackle the way from the kitchen into your bathroom without unnecessarily decorating the floor.

A few quick steps, hand under the injured finger, and you reach the bathroom with your massive stock of plasters, creams and bandages, antiseptic lotions, sprays and anything else you need to do a surgery at an open heart. If only it would help stop the bleeding. After what felt like sixty minutes of holding your arm over your head, a tissue firmly pressed to the wound, you resign to the fact that you need to see A&E. Splendid, you think. Nothing better than spending a few amusing hours in a hospital's waiting area.

The cut wrapped up with a makeshift bandage and off you go. A short bus ride later, you arrive at your destiny. The rather unpleasant member of staff behind the desk isn't impressed you dare to interrupt her typing a text message into her mobile phone and barks her questionnaire at you.

�Name?� You give her what she asks for.

�Date of birth?� Can I lie? You shift uncomfortably from one foot to another. And eventually whisper your answer. She repeats it loud and in a firm manner. Thanks for that!

One look at the heaps � supposed to be people � reveals, you are the main attraction and since they are so bored with waiting, even information about your bowel movements will entertain them. When she's finished interviewing you, she says what you hoped not to hear, �It's quite busy, take a seat, someone will call you.�

With a deep sigh you nod, then walk over to sit amongst the half-dead and moaning living. The only available seat is next to a guy who has his arm tugged to his chest, looking as he needs a cuddle and a lollipop. Behind you sits what seems to be an entire Indian family, five generations, taking up seven seats talking loudly and laughing. When you throw a quick look over your shoulder you wonder who of them is in need of treatment, they look all more than chirpy to you, and another assessment reveals, they have all their limps. You shrug and turn your attention to your iPod; at least you can drown the busy chitter chatter. But a minute later, paramedics wheel in an elderly man, who looks more on the brink of death than anything else, and park him right next to you. Guess the doctor orders only half a loaf from now on. With distaste of this half-zombie you lean to the side, when you're smacked over the head.

�Oi!� You turn around to stare at one of the children behind you, smugly grinning and waving with its plastic animal. They really need a sign outside: �Dogs and children have to wait here�!

Just when your anger about the rude behaviour peaks, they all get up to swarm around another family member who's just appeared, wearing a cast. Ah, you think, here's the missing link. In this moment a woman, guided by her boyfriend or maybe husband takes the family's place behind you, he's clutching a cardboard bowl, she's clutching her tummy. Oh please don't vomit into my back! You never know if it's food poisoning and you're not keen on combing scampi out of your hair.

Doctors and nurses head from one end to the other and you and the people in the waiting area move their heads as if they're watching a tennis match. Your name's called and with your hopes up, you pipe a �here�. It's one of the nurses who came to assess if you're an urgent case or not. When she reached out to remove your bandage, you hiss at her which makes it apparent you're not in danger to lose consciousness any time soon. With no chance of getting out here in the next fifteen minutes, you rummage in your bag and dig out a cereal bar. When you are about to rip it open, the half-zombie next to you gurgles and splutters, making you cringe. Probably best to just call the undertakers.

You put the bar back into the bag and get to witness the conversation between the nurse and a Polish woman in front of you.

�Iwona?�

The woman nods.

�Can you tell me what happened?�

�No, no, I don't know, hurting, it hurting.� Iwona weeps and points to her foot.

�How did you do it?� the nurse tries again.

More pointing and then, �I'm scary!�

You have severe problems to stifle a laughter, for Iwona doesn't give the impression to make good money as a bogy. To not hear any more, you put the head set back into your ears and are able to relax, still internally shaking your head about this madhouse. Thankfully, the half-zombie is wheeled away and you can sit straight in your seat.

�Help! Help!� A cry, louder than your music rips you out of your trance and you look up. A young guy, followed by three others, shuffles towards the desk, his hand pressed to a blood-soaked shirt.

�He's been stabbed, he's been stabbed. Man, this guy just came and stabbed him,� one of the followers rushes out an explanation. Everyone's eyes are on the scene which reminds of a crime flick. Immediately, he's guided through the right hallway, where the heavier injured people are treated. A middle-aged man appears to mop the floor, everything's back to 'normal'. Another person lowers himself next to you, pale, moaning and rocking back and forth. You don't even want to know what his problem might be.

Eventually, your name is called and you walk into the room with many chairs and a few curtains closed. A friendly, but clearly overworked doctor comes to see you. Removing the bandage, which, by now, sticks to the wound hurts and you don't care if the whole hospital can hear you and let out a loud whimper. The doctor tries with humour, but it fails, you're in pain. He takes a thorough look at your finger, then orders the nurse to do the dressing. You're lucky, everything will heal fine. When the nurse comes in, she proves that a smile can hide an evil personality. Not taking prisoners, she grabs your finger and presses as if she wants to take out all her anger at it. You feel as if your eyes pop out and shriek,�Ouch!�

�Well, I have to do that in order to stop the bleeding.� And I just want to kick you!

You breathe heavily, breaking into cold sweat. Oh no, please, I don't want to pass out.

She takes a quick look again, then it's back to torture. �You all right?�

What do you think? �Yes,� you say, suppressing a curse.

�How did you do it?�

As if small talk helps, you think but answer her question.

She peeks at the wound another time, it's still bleeding, but she decides to dress it. Another harsh moment of pain and you're willing to murder her. Two minutes later, you're ready to leave this horrific place. Outside, the sun is going down. When you arrive at home, you throw the vegetables, together with your finger cuts into the bin and dial the number of your favourite take away.

The importance of a book cover

My novel No Wings Attached will be out soon. Originally I had planned end of May, but some unforeseen things happened and it's delayed. My sincere apologies if you are waiting, it's not going to be long anymore, promise.

Part of the delay is me being picky with the cover. Though some say, the cover is not important, it's what's inside that counts, I tend to disagree. Being a visual person myself, covers are the first that catch my eye, giving me a clue of the genre; then the title and after that the pitch (text on the back of the book). If all three fit my mood, I'll buy. If I'm not sure, I'll sample.

So the cover is important, why else do publishing houses have a marketing team that also decides on the cover? I usually have a very clear idea of what I want. Unfortunately, I'm not designer and that shows when speaking to people who are supposed to translate my ideas into covers that swoon me. Difficult, as I'm a difficult client.

I drew the first few covers of the book in Paint. A hard job and took ages, but I was pleased as I was able to see my ideas form into something visible. Of course I wouldn't be able to use it when actually selling the book. Thinking back, I went through all kind of covers, some I liked a lot, some I didn't.

My almost final cover is this:

We will tweak it a bit more, but the girl's perfect. Celia is 32, funny and warm-hearted. The book's a light-hearted romantic comedy with a paranormal twist. A bit like Bridget Jones meet Charmed.

I hope you'll like the final cover as much as I do and find yourself lost in the story, forgetting for your daily troubles for a while.

You can read the opening here:

No Wings Attached will be avaible on kindle and smashwords and later via POD.

Amazon payment on its way!

I've got notice from amazon that my first payment is on its way. That's for the sales in March (116, 100 in the UK and 16 in the US). They pay me for the UK sales only since you need to have a mininum of $10 to rectify a cheque to be sent out. I'll get paid for the US sales next month.
However the first payment will be �35 and will immediately go to charity. It's not the world, but it doubles next month and so on since sales for Excuse me, where is the exit?  have increased steadily.

 

Just to clarify again: I'm not posting this to brag, rather than informing people who follow the development, who helped me get the word out there and, at the end of the day, it's you readers who make it happen. Without you guys, I wouldn't be able to donate. Besides, there not much to brag about approaching a mere 1000 sales. I know of some authors who sold 7k in seven weeks or 10k in four months or people who just sell many more books than me. But I'm still a little proud. ;-)

Further good news:

My next book, No Wings Attached, will be out soon. It's still in proofing phase, but I hope I manage to release it on the 31st as planned. I think I'll have a little party with some friends, especially Fifi, who kindly offered to help me smoothing out my Germish. Thank you, Fi! I love you.

And more:

I'll be at the Stoke Newington Literary Festival. As a visitor, but I plan to be actively involved with a workshop next time round. I'll be meeting some fab people I've met on authonomy and am majorly excited to hug them all. Yes, I've threatened them to do that.

It's going to be a blast!

Writing is easy, then comes editing...

I have to admit I had no idea how writing, editing, the industry itself works when I began with my first novel. I asked a friend who said,' You just send an overview and the first few chapters to a publisher and that's it.' Easy, I thought.

My aim was 120k. Why? Because I didn't know better. So every day I typed and typed, edited as I went along and in 2.5 months, my brand new baby was complete. My friend did the cold reading, commenting along, but it seemed I've done a good job plotting and creating scenes and characters, looking back with the knowledge I've got now, she didn't suggest anything major.

Then I went on the hunt for publishers, thinking, well the book is SO great, they'll rip it out of my hands and the editor will fix my Germisch. That's what all my non-writer friends believed, too.
What an awakening when I learned about authonomy and that publishers want a near-perfect manuscript. What? They won't invest their money into me, the raw diamond and future best selling author? Their loss! Rejections proved others were right, I was wrong.

Thrown off the high horse of dreams, I got down to business and learned as much as I could about writing and editing. And there's a lot to know about. With every new thing I learned, I went through my manuscript, cutting out long-winded passages that cost me hours to write, changed dialogue attributes back and forth, comparing published books with my humble scribblings. Went through it again and again and again and.... ended up hating my book.

I tend to read books only once, twice perhaps if I really like it. Imagine to have to read a book up to fourteen times and even being the one who wrote it! It's painful. I procrastinated, I pushed off, I neglected and at some time I plainly didn't want to go near it anymore. I put it aside after the 13th edit and wrote two other books instead.

After a few months, I decided I need to get it over with, because I still believed in this book, it's my baby in the end and I want to get it out there, pretty and entertaining and maybe even successful, it didn't deserve to be hidden away. And somewhere along the process of reading and making small alterations, I fell in love again. Tonight, I've finished the last chapter of a 82.382 k novel and by end of May, it will be available to download on kindle, hopefully also on smashwords and nook. I can't wait!

Celebrating 500 and an award!

It's been almost two months since I released my humorous short stories Excuse me, where is the exit? and I worked tirelessly to promote and market it. The hours and effort I put into it, paid off:

I'm chuffed. Not only did I sell my 500th book today, I also edited Chapter Seventeen of No Wings Attached, which means there's only one chapter left and it goes into the proof-reading round. It went a strict diet along the way and lost 40k to be precise. I finished the first draft at 120k and that was quite a heavyweight. Can't wait to have it out there, to see how my baby is doing.

To round up what already was a wonderful day, I had a visitor, the lovely Lor Mandela, to my blog who left a nice surprise:

I never win something and it is a wonderful award, being called versatile by someone else than myself. Please pop by on her blog and say hello. You'll also learn about this tradition, which I fully intent to continue, so perhaps it's your blog that receives a surprising gift from me soon?

A brilliant and happy weekend to you, my visitors and readers. You are fantastic. Thank you.

Warm up your kindles! My book's out! All proceeds go to Japan.

****UPDATE****

Sales have risen to 82 so far; keep them coming. Please help to get enough together to make a difference. I've now decided to donate all proceeds to the BritishRedCross and Doctors without Borders.

 





I plan to raise money to donate to the people who have lost everything in Japan.I've set a low price so that as many people as possible can afford to buy it. All profits go to charity.

Excuse me, where is the exit? is now available to download from amazon UK  at �1.14 and amazon US at $0.99. You can read some excerpts of the book if you click on the link, there above, under my name on the top of the page.

Review from a reader:  I've just finished reading this. It's a collection of light hearted short stories written from a woman's point of view. I recognised myself in some of them! Obviously I enjoyed some more than others - my personal favourites are Cycling, Housework, Wasps and Hairdresser. Some of these had me laughing out loud!

I hope you enjoy it. Leave me feedback and recommend it to anyone who can't run fast enough.

Please help. It's not only an entertaining read, but it's for a good cause, too.

I'm working on making the book available via POD, for those who prefer a paperback.

If you'd like to have a signed copy, please contact me via e-mail. You can find the address to the right.

Love,

Stella