Jessica Hawkins's Blog, page 9

Looking for some new romance audiobooks? Already read & loved The Cityscape Series and eager to hear it come to life? Release day has arrived! Start the series with Come Undone (The Cityscape Series, #1), now available on Amazon, Audible and iTunes. If you're new to audio and want to try a romance audiobook free, sign up for a 30-day trial below and download Come Undone via Audible.com (an Amazon company).

The series is narrated by the talented Andi Arndt, who has also read for other romance author favorites including Kylie Scott (Play, Lick), Leisa Rayven (Bad Romeo), Debbie Macomber (Love By Degree), Tarryn Fisher (The Opportunist), Mary Kubica (The Good Girl) and more. FREE WITH 30-DAY TRIAL BUY ON AMAZON BUY ON AUDIBLE BUY ON ITUNES

 *This breakdown of SP basics isn't exclusive to romance—all types of genres can benefit from it—but romance and erotica authors may get more value since this & future posts reflect my experience as a romance writer.

Once in a while, I'll get a question about how I self-publish my books. It's tough, because there are so many aspects to this process, from craft to business and everything in between. Which is basically the idea behind being self-published—I have creative and decision-making freedom, but I also don't have anyone, well... making decisions for me. So when I got a tweet from Kamrun N. asking for advice on self-publishing, I knew I couldn't possibly give her anything valuable in a simple tweet. After some thought and a long e-mail, I decided there were probably others who could use this information. Luckily, Kamrun agreed to let me post our exchange. So, whether you've already written your first book, are in the throes of your literary debut or if you're just toying with the idea of self-publishing, here's a few things to consider and some tips you can take action on right now. (In a hurry? I've bullet-pointed 5 action steps at the bottom.) My response? Oh, something along the lines of "My head might explode trying to distill almost three years of information into 140 characters."

Kamrun (and, now, all interested parties)--

Congrats on taking this leap! I know deciding between self- and traditional-publishing can be difficult, but I've been writing and publishing my own romance for about 2.5 years, and I've never looked back. I learn something new every day. Since I don't know where you're at in the process or what you're hoping to accomplish, I'll mostly cover the business side of self-publishing. I'm assuming, with the advice I'm about to give, that you want to a) find people to actually read your work and b) earn income from your writing.

I think the first and most important thing to recognize about self publishing for income, no matter where you are in the process, is that  it's a business . I like to joke that writing the actual manuscript is the easy part. I can only speak from my experience and the observation of those around me, but aside from a few outliers, building an audience won't happen overnight; it takes time and work. Basically, you have no one to rely on but yourself—because you are the publisher . Fortunately, there are many books, podcasts, communities and websites out there to help, and I’ll link to some that've helped me at the end of this post.

So where do you even begin if you want people to see your work? Social media is a great place to dip your toes into the marketing/promotion pool because it's free (unless you put a price on 'writing time,' which is something you should do once you're up & running). So, okay, if you're like, Self-promotion? GROSS. I know. Guess what? You're not alone. A lot of us are introverts by nature, but even if you're not, that doesn't mean you want to run around telling everyone how well you manipulate the English language. We are writers first, not marketers. But for better or worse, it will benefit you in the long run to recognize now that in any market, especially a saturated one, you can't sit by the sidelines and hope for the best. Start creating your online presence today—even if your book isn't finished yet. The more interested parties you have when you hit publish, the better. And I promise, the kind of self-promotion that gets you ahead in the romance genre is not the terrible kind that might immediately come to mind. Once you see that it's more about connecting with existing and potential readers (something I'll go into depth on in a later post) instead of trying to get people to buy something they don't want, it can actually be fun. Later on, you can decide if there's a better way for you, but this is the quickest and cheapest way for most people to see if there's interest out there without investing a lot.

Here are some actions you can take right now that'll cost you nothing but a few minutes: sign up for a Twitter account and a Facebook Page (this is different than your everyday Facebook account). Then, start a mailing list. Add the sign-up link to any teasers, excerpts or promotion you do. On release day, send out a blast. When a platform like Amazon sees early interest in your book, it likes that. It wants to help you help them by putting it in front of even more people. Only managed to snag 10 emails by the big day? That’s 10 more potential sales than you have right now.  A mailing list is a great selling tool  that gives you some control over marketing your product.
Showing off my PBs after my first book signing. Now that you've got a little marketing set-up going, let's take a look at your book. If you're at the very start of self-publishing, here are some links to start familiarizing yourself with (if you’re not, skip ahead 1-2 paragraphs):

Kindle Direct Publishing  (KDP), which is Amazon's digital self-pub platform. Other platforms to look at for digital publishing (unless you're enrolling in Kindle Unlimited, which is a whole other topic), are Barnes & Noble ( nookpress.com ), Kobo ( Kobo Writing Life ),  iBooks , and  Google Play . Authors also have the option of going through a distributor like  Draft2Digital ,  Smashwords  or  Book Country  to knock out most of these all at once. For a percent of your profits (typically 10-15%), you can upload one document to their system and they'll format it for most of those platforms and more (costs and available platforms vary by distributor, which I'll cover in another post).


For paperbacks, I use  Createspace , an Amazon subsidiary, which is fairly straightforward and provides info on formatting and cover design. Through CS, you sell your paperbacks via Amazon "on demand" so neither you nor Amazon is holding any inventory—the book is only printed when it's ordered by a customer and then it's shipped directly to them. There's no upfront cost (aside from what goes into making a paperback). They take a percentage plus the cost of printing. Easy! (Note: there are options to distribute your on-demand paperbacks to other online retailers as well, such as Barnes and Noble.) Do I sell many paperbacks? No. I'm not in any brick & mortar stores. They are less than 1% of my overall sales. I still recommend taking the time to do it. They make great, physical promotional tools, especially at book signings, and sales is sales, know what I mean? (There's also no feeling like holding your own book in your hand.)

You might be asking—what’s the bottom line? What's self-publishing going to cost me? In my experience—leaving marketing & advertising out of it for now—you can decide what you're willing to learn and what you prefer to outsource. Self-publishing can be less expensive (or cost nearly nothing at all) if you're open to DIY. I taught myself formatting, and I did the covers of my first series, howwwweever I don't really recommend doing either without taking the time to learn to do it well. (Like most things the last couple years, my covers have been through a couple iterations, and the evidence is out there forever.) If I were getting into craft, right about now I'd be brainwashing you about the benefits of hiring an editor, but I'm saving that for another post. This is definitely something you want to add into the budget, though.

What's awesome is that there are a wealth of freelance options available and more cropping up all the time—just make sure to stay smart and do your research. Cover photos typically come from stock photo sites like DepositPhotos (free trial, upper left hand corner), but since self-publishing is a flourishing industry, you do run the risk of stumbling upon your beautiful, unique, took-me-forever-to-find stock photo on another book (or more likely, it's already on one). You also run another risk, the one where you search "sexy couples" and are assaulted by some pretty gnarly visuals that are ANYTHING but sexy. But that's a price you pay for creative freedom... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Many authors these days choose to hire a photographer for custom photo shoots or purchase an exclusive license for an existing stock photo—both of which can be expensive. Stock photo browsing: not for the faint of heart. Man browsing the web in his skivvies courtesy of © BigStock And that covers some of the self-publishing basics of how to make money selling ebooks on Amazon, but there’s plenty more out there on the topic and loads to learn. As I said above, every day I encounter something new, from solving the mystery of an unexpected spike in sales to reaching readers looking for romance books about affairs to deciding if adding another social media platform will help or hurt (I'm looking at you, Snapchat).

Have questions about what you've read? Feel free to tweet me @jess_hawk. This was an introductory post for both you & me, but I do intend to write more on a slew of different topics. (And who knows? It could turn into much more. Like, I don't know—a book?) Sign up for my self-publishing mailing list to get notified about new posts. (See what I did there? Putting actionable tip #1 to good use.) Below, I’ve added some of my favorite resources from over the years for those who’d like to dive deeper into what I’ve covered here. Some of them are affiliate links, but I don't recommend anything/one I haven't tried or know other authors are happy using.

Resources
 
Podcasts:
Rocking Self Publishing (beginner-intermediate)
The Creative Penn (intermediate-advanced)
Author Strong
Kobo Writing Life

Books:
APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

Community:
You can read questions & answers for days here: KDP Community Boards and Kboards.com Writer's Cafe

Websites Worth Exploring:
BookBub Blog
The Creative Penn

Editing/Covers/Promotion:
Recommendations from other authors are a good place to start with this, since my own experience is limited to the books I’ve published. I don't feel completely comfortable recommending editors blindly, but I've listed a few well-known ones below. Comment on this post with what you're looking for—you never know!

For proofreading/copyediting, I use Elance.com which is now UpWork.com
Editors - AdeptEdits, WriteDivas, Unforeseen Editing
Mailing list - Mailchimp (my preferred choice, but there are others)
Website - I'm tech-dense, so I use drag-and-drop website builder Weebly 
Stock photos – DepositPhotos, BigStockPhoto, iStockPhoto
Cover design – CoverIt! Designs (Ari), LM Creations (Louisa), Joshua Jadon
Promotion – The Book Enthusiast (Debra), Love Between the Sheets, IndieSage PR (Nicole)

As promised, if you’re feeling overwhelmed or want to make like milk and skim, here are 5 business-oriented steps you can start now:

1. Sign up for a KDP account, get to know the platform and check out the KDP Community Boards/Kboards I mentioned above. Research Kindle Unlimited before you move on to other platforms.

2. Ask other authors for recommendations on editing, formatting and cover design so you can begin the process outside of writing.

3. During writing downtime, get social media accounts set up. Begin with the platform you're most comfortable with (generally a Facebook Page) and a website. Start paying attention to things like fonts, colors, themes, etc., which will help your cover designer and will also give you some ideas about your brand.

4. Decide if you want to do any kind of pre-release and/or release day promotion (recommended). If you have even a small social following when you hit publish, that helps.

5. Browse through stock photo sites to get ideas for a cover (fun at first, and then really tedious). Who knows? You might get some inspiration for your next book, and you can't put a price on that.

DISCLAIMER! Although I’ve added my personal recommendations to this blog post, I urge you to do your own research and exploration before committing to anything. This post is meant to be a helpful guide for getting started, but what works for me may not work for you.

 *This breakdown of SP basics isn't exclusive to romance—all types of genres can benefit from it—but romance and erotica authors may get more value since this & future posts reflect my experience as a romance writer.

Once in a while, I'll get a question about how I self-publish my books. It's tough, because there are so many aspects to this process, from craft to business and everything in between. Which is basically the idea behind being self-published—I have creative and decision-making freedom, but I also don't have anyone, well... making decisions for me. So when I got a tweet from Kamrun N. asking for advice on self-publishing, I knew I couldn't possibly give her anything valuable in a simple tweet. After some thought and a long e-mail, I decided there were probably others who could use this information. Luckily, Kamrun agreed to let me post our exchange. So, whether you've already written your first book, are in the throes of your literary debut or if you're just toying with the idea of self-publishing, here's a few things to consider and some tips you can take action on right now. (In a hurry? I've bullet-pointed 5 action steps at the bottom.) My response? Oh, something along the lines of "My head might explode trying to distill almost three years of information into 140 characters."

Kamrun (and, now, all interested parties)--

Congrats on taking this leap! I know deciding between self- and traditional-publishing can be difficult, but I've been writing and publishing my own romance for about 2.5 years, and I've never looked back. I learn something new every day. Since I don't know where you're at in the process or what you're hoping to accomplish, I'll mostly cover the business side of self-publishing. I'm assuming, with the advice I'm about to give, that you want to a) find people to actually read your work and b) earn income from your writing.

I think the first and most important thing to recognize about self publishing for income, no matter where you are in the process, is that  it's a business . I like to joke that writing the actual manuscript is the easy part. I can only speak from my experience and the observation of those around me, but aside from a few outliers, building an audience won't happen overnight; it takes time and work. Basically, you have no one to rely on but yourself—because you are the publisher . Fortunately, there are many books, podcasts, communities and websites out there to help, and I’ll link to some that've helped me at the end of this post.

So where do you even begin if you want people to see your work? Social media is a great place to dip your toes into the marketing/promotion pool because it's free (unless you put a price on 'writing time,' which is something you should do once you're up & running). So, okay, if you're like, Self-promotion? GROSS. I know. Guess what? You're not alone. A lot of us are introverts by nature, but even if you're not, that doesn't mean you want to run around telling everyone how well you manipulate the English language. We are writers first, not marketers. But for better or worse, it will benefit you in the long run to recognize now that in any market, especially a saturated one, you can't sit by the sidelines and hope for the best. Start creating your online presence today—even if your book isn't finished yet. The more interested parties you have when you hit publish, the better. And I promise, the kind of self-promotion that gets you ahead in the romance genre is not the terrible kind that might immediately come to mind. Once you see that it's more about connecting with existing and potential readers (something I'll go into depth on in a later post) instead of trying to get people to buy something they don't want, it can actually be fun. Later on, you can decide if there's a better way for you, but this is the quickest and cheapest way for most people to see if there's interest out there without investing a lot.

Here are some actions you can take right now that'll cost you nothing but a few minutes: sign up for a Twitter account and a Facebook Page (this is different than your everyday Facebook account). Then, start a mailing list. Add the sign-up link to any teasers, excerpts or promotion you do. On release day, send out a blast. When a platform like Amazon sees early interest in your book, it likes that. It wants to help you help them by putting it in front of even more people. Only managed to snag 10 emails by the big day? That’s 10 more potential sales than you have right now.  A mailing list is a great selling tool  that gives you some control over marketing your product.
Showing off my PBs after my first book signing. Now that you've got a little marketing set-up going, let's take a look at your book. If you're at the very start of self-publishing, here are some links to start familiarizing yourself with (if you’re not, skip ahead 1-2 paragraphs):

Kindle Direct Publishing  (KDP), which is Amazon's digital self-pub platform. Other platforms to look at for digital publishing (unless you're enrolling in Kindle Unlimited, which is a whole other topic), are Barnes & Noble ( nookpress.com ), Kobo ( Kobo Writing Life ),  iBooks , and  Google Play . Authors also have the option of going through a distributor like  Draft2Digital ,  Smashwords  or  Book Country  to knock out most of these all at once. For a percent of your profits (typically 10-15%), you can upload one document to their system and they'll format it for most of those platforms and more (costs and available platforms vary by distributor, which I'll cover in another post).


For paperbacks, I use  Createspace , an Amazon subsidiary, which is fairly straightforward and provides info on formatting and cover design. Through CS, you sell your paperbacks via Amazon "on demand" so neither you nor Amazon is holding any inventory—the book is only printed when it's ordered by a customer and then it's shipped directly to them. There's no upfront cost (aside from what goes into making a paperback). They take a percentage plus the cost of printing. Easy! (Note: there are options to distribute your on-demand paperbacks to other online retailers as well, such as Barnes and Noble.) Do I sell many paperbacks? No. I'm not in any brick & mortar stores. They are less than 1% of my overall sales. I still recommend taking the time to do it. They make great, physical promotional tools, especially at book signings, and sales is sales, know what I mean? (There's also no feeling like holding your own book in your hand.)

You might be asking—what’s the bottom line? What's self-publishing going to cost me? In my experience—leaving marketing & advertising out of it for now—you can decide what you're willing to learn and what you prefer to outsource. Self-publishing can be less expensive (or cost nearly nothing at all) if you're open to DIY. I taught myself formatting, and I did the covers of my first series, howwwweever I don't really recommend doing either without taking the time to learn to do it well. (Like most things the last couple years, my covers have been through a couple iterations, and the evidence is out there forever.) If I were getting into craft, right about now I'd be brainwashing you about the benefits of hiring an editor, but I'm saving that for another post. This is definitely something you want to add into the budget, though.

What's awesome is that there are a wealth of freelance options available and more cropping up all the time—just make sure to stay smart and do your research. Cover photos typically come from stock photo sites like DepositPhotos (free trial, upper left hand corner), but since self-publishing is a flourishing industry, you do run the risk of stumbling upon your beautiful, unique, took-me-forever-to-find stock photo on another book (or more likely, it's already on one). You also run another risk, the one where you search "sexy couples" and are assaulted by some pretty gnarly visuals that are ANYTHING but sexy. But that's a price you pay for creative freedom... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Many authors these days choose to hire a photographer for custom photo shoots or purchase an exclusive license for an existing stock photo—both of which can be expensive. Stock photo browsing: not for the faint of heart. Man browsing the web in his skivvies courtesy of © BigStock And that covers some of the self-publishing basics of how to make money selling ebooks on Amazon, but there’s plenty more out there on the topic and loads to learn. As I said above, every day I encounter something new, from solving the mystery of an unexpected spike in sales to reaching readers looking for romance books about affairs to deciding if adding another social media platform will help or hurt (I'm looking at you, Snapchat).

Have questions about what you've read? Feel free to tweet me @jess_hawk. This was an introductory post for both you & me, but I do intend to write more on a slew of different topics. (And who knows? It could turn into much more. Like, I don't know—a book?) Sign up for my self-publishing mailing list to get notified about new posts. (See what I did there? Putting actionable tip #1 to good use.) Below, I’ve added some of my favorite resources from over the years for those who’d like to dive deeper into what I’ve covered here. Some of them are affiliate links, but I don't recommend anything/one I haven't tried or know other authors are happy using.

Resources
 
Podcasts:
Rocking Self Publishing (beginner-intermediate)
The Creative Penn (intermediate-advanced)
Author Strong
Kobo Writing Life

Books:
APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

Community:
You can read questions & answers for days here: KDP Community Boards and Kboards.com Writer's Cafe

Websites Worth Exploring:
BookBub Blog
The Creative Penn

Editing/Covers/Promotion:
Recommendations from other authors are a good place to start with this, since my own experience is limited to the books I’ve published. I don't feel completely comfortable recommending editors blindly, but I've listed a few well-known ones below. Comment on this post with what you're looking for—you never know!

For proofreading/copyediting, I use Elance.com which is now UpWork.com
Editors - AdeptEdits, WriteDivas, Unforeseen Editing
Mailing list - Mailchimp (my preferred choice, but there are others)
Website - I'm tech-dense, so I use drag-and-drop website builder Weebly 
Stock photos – DepositPhotos, BigStockPhoto, iStockPhoto
Cover design – CoverIt! Designs (Ari), LM Creations (Louisa), Joshua Jadon
Promotion – The Book Enthusiast (Debra), Love Between the Sheets, IndieSage PR (Nicole)

As promised, if you’re feeling overwhelmed or want to make like milk and skim, here are 5 business-oriented steps you can start now:

1. Sign up for a KDP account, get to know the platform and check out the KDP Community Boards/Kboards I mentioned above. Research Kindle Unlimited before you move on to other platforms.

2. Ask other authors for recommendations on editing, formatting and cover design so you can begin the process outside of writing.

3. During writing downtime, get social media accounts set up. Begin with the platform you're most comfortable with (generally a Facebook Page) and a website. Start paying attention to things like fonts, colors, themes, etc., which will help your cover designer and will also give you some ideas about your brand.

4. Decide if you want to do any kind of pre-release and/or release day promotion (recommended). If you have even a small social following when you hit publish, that helps.

5. Browse through stock photo sites to get ideas for a cover (fun at first, and then really tedious). Who knows? You might get some inspiration for your next book, and you can't put a price on that.

DISCLAIMER! Although I’ve added my personal recommendations to this blog post, I urge you to do your own research and exploration before committing to anything. This post is meant to be a helpful guide for getting started, but what works for me may not work for you.

*This breakdown of SP basics isn't exclusive to romance—all types of genres can benefit from it—but romance and erotica authors may get more value since this & future posts reflect my experience as a romance writer.

Once in a while, I'll get a question about how I self-publish my books. It's tough, because there are so many aspects to this process, from craft to business and everything in between. Which is basically the idea behind being self-published—I have creative and decision-making freedom, but I also don't have anyone, well... making decisions for me. So when I got a tweet from Kamrun N. asking for advice on self-publishing, I knew I couldn't possibly give her anything valuable in a simple tweet. After some thought and a long e-mail, I decided there were probably others who could use this information. Luckily, Kamrun agreed to let me post our exchange. So, whether you've already written your first book, are in the throes of your literary debut or if you're just toying with the idea of self-publishing, here's a few things to consider and some tips you can take action on right now. (In a hurry? I've bullet-pointed 5 takeaways at the bottom.)
My response? Oh, something along the lines of "My head might explode trying to distill almost three years of information into 140 characters."

Kamrun (and, now, all interested parties)--

Congrats on taking this leap! I know deciding between self- and traditional-publishing can be difficult, but I've been writing and publishing my own romance for about 2.5 years, and I've never looked back. I learn something new every day. Since I don't know where you're at in the process or what you're hoping to accomplish, I'll mostly cover the business side of self-publishing. I'm assuming, with the advice I'm about to give, that you want to a) find people to actually read your work and b) earn income from your writing.

I think the first and most important thing to recognize about self-publishing for income, no matter where you are in the process, is that  it's a business . I like to joke that writing the actual manuscript is the easy part. I can only speak from my experience and the observation of those around me, but aside from a few outliers, building an audience won't happen overnight; it takes time and work. Basically, you have no one to rely on but yourself—because you are the publisher . Fortunately, there are many books, podcasts, communities and websites out there to help, and I’ll link to some that've helped me at the end of this post.

So where do you even begin if you want people to see your work? Social media is a great place to dip your toes into the marketing/promotion pool because it's free (unless you put a price on 'writing time,' which is something you should do once you're up & running). So, okay, if you're like,
Self-promotion? GROSS. I know. Guess what? You're not alone. A lot of us are introverts by nature, but even if you're not, that doesn't mean you want to run around telling everyone how well you manipulate the English language. We are writers first, not marketers. But for better or worse, it will benefit you in the long run to recognize now that in any market, especially a saturated one, you can't sit by the sidelines and hope for the best. Start creating your online presence today—even if your book isn't finished yet. The more interested parties you have when you hit publish, the better. And I promise, the kind of self-promotion that gets you ahead in the romance genre is not the terrible kind that might immediately come to mind. Once you see that it's more about connecting with existing and potential readers (something I'll go into depth on in a later post) instead of trying to get people to buy something they don't want, it can actually be fun. Later on, you can decide if there's a better way for you, but this is the quickest and cheapest way for most people to see if there's interest out there without investing a lot.

Here are some actions you can take right now that'll cost you nothing but a few minutes: sign up for a Twitter account and a Facebook Page (this is different than your everyday Facebook account). Then, start a mailing list. Add the sign-up link to any teasers, excerpts or promotion you do. On release day, send out a blast. When a platform like Amazon sees early interest in your book, it likes that. It wants to help you help them by putting it in front of even more people. Only managed to snag 10 emails by the big day? That’s 10 more potential sales than you have right now.  A mailing list is a great selling tool  that gives you some control over marketing your product.
Showing off my PBs after my first book signing. Now that you've got a little marketing set-up going, let's take a look at your book. If you're at the very start of self-publishing, here are some links to start familiarizing yourself with (if you’re not, skip ahead 1-2 paragraphs):

Kindle Direct Publishing  (KDP), which is Amazon's digital self-pub platform. Other platforms to look at for digital publishing (unless you're enrolling in Kindle Unlimited, which is a whole other topic), are Barnes & Noble ( nookpress.com ), Kobo ( Kobo Writing Life ),  iBooks , and  Google Play . Authors also have the option of going through a distributor like  Draft2Digital ,  Smashwords  or  Book Country  to knock out most of these all at once. For a percent of your profits (typically 10-15%), you can upload one document to their system and they'll format it for most of those platforms and more (costs and available platforms vary by distributor, which I'll cover in another post).


For paperbacks, I use  Createspace , an Amazon subsidiary, which is fairly straightforward and provides info on formatting and cover design. Through CS, you sell your paperbacks via Amazon "on demand" so neither you nor Amazon is holding any inventory—the book is only printed when it's ordered by a customer and then it's shipped directly to them. There's no upfront cost (aside from what goes into making a paperback). They take a percentage plus the cost of printing. Easy! (Note: there are options to distribute your on-demand paperbacks to other online retailers as well, such as Barnes and Noble.) Do I sell many paperbacks? No. I'm not in any brick & mortar stores. They are less than 1% of my overall sales. I still recommend taking the time to do it. They make great, physical promotional tools, especially at book signings, and sales is sales, know what I mean? (There's also no feeling like holding your own book in your hand.)

You might be asking—what’s the bottom line, Jessica? What's self-publishing going to cost me? In my experience—leaving marketing & advertising out of it for now—you can decide what you're willing to learn and what you prefer to outsource. Self-publishing can be less expensive (or cost nearly nothing at all) if you're open to DIY. I taught myself formatting, and I did the covers of my first series, howwwweever I don't really recommend doing either without taking the time to learn to do it well. (Like most things the last couple years, my covers have been through a couple iterations, and the evidence is out there forever.) If I were getting into craft, right about now I'd be brainwashing you about the benefits of hiring an editor, but I'm saving that for another post. This is definitely something you want to add into the budget, though.

What's awesome is that there are a wealth of freelance options available and more cropping up all the time—just make sure to stay smart and do your research. Cover photos typically come from stock photo sites like DepositPhotos (free trial, upper left hand corner), but since self-publishing is a flourishing industry, you do run the risk of stumbling upon your beautiful, unique, took-me-forever-to-find stock photo on another book (or more likely, it's already on one). You also run another risk, the one where you search "sexy couples" and are assaulted by some pretty gnarly visuals that are ANYTHING but sexy. But that's a price you pay for creative freedom... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Many authors these days choose to hire a photographer for custom photo shoots or purchase an exclusive license for an existing stock photo—both of which can be expensive.
Stock photo browsing: not for the faint of heart. Man browsing the web in his skivvies courtesy of © BigStock And that covers some of the basics of self-publishing, but there’s plenty more out there on the topic and loads to learn. As I said above, every day I encounter something new, whether it comes in the form of a problem to solve or an unexpected spike in sales from which there's no obvious source. 

Have questions about what you've read? Feel free to tweet me @jess_hawk. This was an introductory post for both you & me, but I do intend to write more on a slew of different topics. (And who knows? It could turn into much more. Like, I don't know—a book?) Sign up for my self-publishing mailing list to get notified about new posts. (See what I did there? Putting actionable tip #1 to good use.) Below, I’ve added some of my favorite resources from over the years for those who’d like to dive deeper into what I’ve covered here. Some of them are affiliate links, but I don't recommend anything/one I haven't tried or know other authors are happy using.

Resources
 
Podcasts:
Rocking Self Publishing (beginner-intermediate)
The Creative Penn (intermediate-advanced)
Author Strong
Kobo Writing Life

Books:
APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

Community:
You can read questions & answers for days here: KDP Community Boards and Kboards.com Writer's Cafe

Websites Worth Exploring:
BookBub Blog
The Creative Penn

Editing/Covers/Promotion:
Recommendations from other authors are a good place to start with this, since my own experience is limited to the books I’ve published. I don't feel completely comfortable recommending editors blindly, but I've listed a few well-known ones below. Comment on this post with what you're looking for—you never know!

For proofreading/copyediting, I use Elance.com which is now UpWork.com
Editors - AdeptEdits, WriteDivas, Unforeseen Editing
Mailing list - Mailchimp (my preferred choice, but there are others)
Website - I'm tech-dense, so I use drag-and-drop website builder Weebly 
Stock photos – DepositPhotos, BigStockPhoto, iStockPhoto
Cover design – CoverIt! Designs (Ari), LM Creations (Louisa), Joshua Jadon
Promotion – The Book Enthusiast (Debra), Love Between the Sheets, IndieSage PR (Nicole)

As promised, if you’re feeling overwhelmed or want to make like milk and skim, here are 5 business-oriented steps you can start now:

1. Sign up for a KDP account, get to know the platform and check out the KDP Community Boards/Kboards I mentioned above. Research Kindle Unlimited before you move on to other platforms.

2. Ask other authors for recommendations on editing, formatting and cover design so you can begin the process outside of writing.

3. During writing downtime, get social media accounts set up. I'd start with a Facebook Page and a website. Start paying attention to things like fonts, colors, themes, etc., which will help your cover designer and will also give you some ideas about your brand when the time for that comes.

4. Decide if you want to do any kind of pre-release and/or release day promotion (recommended). If you have even a small social following when you hit publish, that helps.

5. Browse through stock photo sites to get ideas for a cover (fun at first, and then really tedious). Who knows? You might get some inspiration for your next book, and you can't put a price on that.

DISCLAIMER! Although I’ve added my personal recommendations to this blog post, I urge you to do your own research and exploration before committing to anything. This post is meant to be a helpful guide for getting started, but what works for me may not work for you.

JH: I’m excited to interview Jenn of Rave and Rant About Raunch Book Blog for this week’s ScriptFlip, especially since I’ll be attending her one-year blogiversary next week (more on that later). Jenn is a self-proclaimed romance junky who believes in promoting what she loves and sharing her addiction with others (don’t expect an automatic positive review, but do expect honesty). Like I said, her blog is turning a year old, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, find it here!

Jenn, tell me a little about yourself and how you got started blogging.

Jenn : I am a romance novel blogger, college student, coffee addict, book boyfriend fan girl, and dog lover!

I find my romance novel addiction a little strange because in real life I am not an overly romantic person. But with these books, I can’t get enough. Maybe I use up my romance fix with the books I read. Who knows?

I read my first adult romance novel by accident. At the time I was a student and flat broke. On my kindle I stumbled across a free book and thought… “What the hell? I’ll read this for something to do.” I think I expected more of a Nicholas Sparks novel or just a PG sappy love story type thing. I began reading and when I got to my first sex scene my jaw dropped a little. I am not easily offended or uncomfortable with sex, but it just wasn’t what I expected. I had to go back and look at what I had bought, thinking…”Did this thing come with a disclaimer on it?!” Before then I had no idea about this genre of novels or all the indie writers involved with it. I have always been a reader but since this discovery my kindle has got a lot more use. 

In my non-social media life my friends have no interest in romance novels (which I totally don't understand!) Originally, my intention on this journey was not really to be a blogger. I started my original blog (Which was on blogger, but now I'm on Wordpress) as a book discussion forum to connect with people who were reading the same books as I was. However, I found out pretty quickly that nobody was going to read my thoughts when no one knew I had even created the blog. Obviously, no one was going to visit when there was no promotion of the site. I kept posting my thoughts on the books I was reading but I could see from my stats page that I was only getting the random viewing. 

At this point I had no idea about the whole indie romance world or romance social media community. One day I decided to look up an author I was reading to check out her Facebook. I guess here is where you could say my journey really began. Here, I saw all my fellow readers I had been looking for. You know how social media stalking can go… and I quickly fell down the rabbit hole. I snooped around from there and soon found bloggers, groups, and all of the authors I had been reading for the last two or so years before then. I was like a kid in a candy store with my new findings! There was a whole Internet world I knew nothing about before that day. 

I started looking at other blog sites and realized this is something I would love to do. I created my Facebook blog to help promote my then blog on Blogger and connected with a few fellow bloggers that taught me the ropes and showed me the ways (I would have been lost without them back then and now I still stay connected with them and we help each other in any way we can). Once I did this I saw people were starting to read my blog posts and leave feedback. Authors of the books I was reading were leaving me comments and I was flabbergasted! 

At this point though my posts were really more discussion posts as opposed to reviews and they contained A LOT of spoilers. I wasn’t thinking about the idea that I was giving stuff away to people. I just wanted to talk about my obsession with others who enjoyed the books I did. I had some authors contact me and ask that I add clear warnings before my posts so that unsuspecting readers didn’t happen upon my posts and have a story ruined for them. From there my posts began to evolve and progress and eventually I was able to lose my warning label by figuring out the art of expressing my emotions on a book without also providing spoilers. My posts still discuss how I feel about a book but it’s more of a review now and done in a way to not ruin the story for anyone else. 

Now this month marks one year since then and I have learned so much, found so many great authors, and made friends across the world. I have learned about cover reveals, blitzes, and tours. I’ve read and reviewed ARCs and given feedback to authors on pre-published books. I’ve hosted Facebook events, organized for authors to do takeovers of my blog and even done some taking over myself.  I went to my first book event over this last year and then another. Having a blast at both. Last year I had no idea this world existed and now I feel like a true member of it. JH: I’ve found, and I think most people can agree, the indie romance sphere is extremely welcoming and, fortunately for authors like me, loyal. And congratulations on your one-year anniversary! You must’ve seen a lot come your way since you started. How do you choose what book to read next?

Jenn : There are a lot of factors that go into choosing my next book and I would like to say I'm more organized but the truth is that I rarely know what the next book I will read is until I select it (Unless I'm in the middle of a series or have been seriously anticipating a new release).

Here are some factors I consider when choosing my next book and they are not in any particular order but just in order of how I have thought of them to share with you.

1. Have I read this author before?
This isn't a deciding factor because obviously I love to read new authors but when I have read the author before it means I have insight into their style and quality of work. There are some authors I practically have a countdown on their new releases!

2. What type of sub-genre is it within romance?
When I’m considering this… none of these are hard rules but they do influence my decision making process. There are certain sub-genres that usually just don’t do it for me and some I am more partial to. Generally I don’t have a pull toward paranormal/fantasy, (PG) young adult (Teenage characters and fade to black sex scenes), and the overly controlling book boyfriend (A man that tells a girl what to eat for lunch just doesn’t turn me on). I also have sub-genres I more obsessively read; Rockers, Mystery/Thriller/Suspense, Fighters… among some others, but these are probably my top. I have a definite sweet tooth for the cocky, bad boys with tattoos.

3. When the author is unknown (to me), this is what I look at (I’ve listed this in order of my process because I have had many authors ask me how I make the decision on a new read):
First, I read the book description. The description gives me an idea of what the book is about it and usually also gives me my first look at the authors writing style and care toward their work. Next I check out the book’s Amazon and Goodreads rating. This is strange for me to admit (because I am a book reviewer and I know authors depend on reviews) but as a general rule for me I don’t read the actual reviews of a book when someone has requested an honest review from me. I don’t want to take the chance that someone’s thoughts will influence my own. I like to keep my mind as open as possible when someone is asking me for an honest review. So when I look at these sites I look at the star rating and I look at the breakdown of how many reviews they got for each star rating. Then a lot of times I ask around to people in the community I have met if they have read the book in question or the author. When I do this I usually ask them to simply tell me if they would recommend the book or ask that they give me no other details. I don’t usually post things like this in Facebook groups because I tend to get more information than I want and I have also seen posts like this turn into book, author, or character bashing (which I don’t support). I have fellow bloggers who I trust will give me an honest, respectful answer and avoid giving me unwanted information. Next I look up other books by the author on Amazon and Goodreads and repeat the first two steps of this process I have already mentioned. This tells me if it is a debuting work and how people received other work by the author. I know some readers are highly influenced by a cover but this is probably the least influential toward me. It’s the last thing I consider and mostly only influences my decision if the cover stands out and screams, “WOW!” For the most part non of these things will automatically keep me away from a book but just go into the decision making process. I also use this same process when I have read the author before but I am not 100% sure about a certain book of theirs.

4. How the author approaches me:
Authors contact me through Wordpress and through Facebook looking for honest reviews. I have made connections with authors from the way they go about it. I know some bloggers who automatically do not respond to the obviously ‘copy and pasted’ message, but these don’t bother me as long as they are professional and kind. However, with that being said I am probably more inclined to help the author with the personal message. It’s nice to know I’m appreciated too or that they have taken notice to something they like about my blog. And when things are done this way the chances are greater that we will develop a long lasting, mutually beneficial relationship. With the ‘copy and pasted’ messages the relationship usually doesn’t last past the decision to either review or not review said book (and if I do review... the upcoming tour/blitz/review/etc.). I know authors are insanely busy though (especially around release time) and that is why I don’t automatically dismiss ‘copy and pasted’ messages.

JH: I’ve seen both sides—the sheer amount of book blogs (and time constraints) make it hard not to copy/paste sometimes, but receiving copy/paste messages can definitely be a turn off. It’s a balance. So far, what’ve you loved most about blogging?

Jenn : Really the best part about blogging for me so far is everything I’ve learned and the relationships I’ve made. As I said before, last year I had no idea this book world existed and over the last year I have learned so much. I’ve learned how the indie world works and about the promotions within the community, that is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Prior to blogging, I had NO ONE recommending me books, only my kindle suggestions. Some days I would search for hours through these suggestions looking for a book to read and now I have a TBR list that is frightening. I’ve been to book events were I came face to face with authors and was showered with their welcoming of a small time, new blogger. I couldn’t find one person to discuss books with last year and now I’ve been to full events where there are hundreds of people there for the love of books, just as I am. I’ve learned how to create and run a blog, work with html, and run social media events that go worldwide.

I’ve learned how helpful people in this community are and that leads me to my next point; the relationships I’ve made. When I first reached out to other bloggers I really thought... “Why would these people help me? They are trying to build their own blog…I’m the competition. The ‘little guy’ but still the competition.” Boy, was I wrong. I’ve found I have had to eat my words a lot over this last year while learning new things. The bloggers I reached out to welcomed me with open arms; listened and answered every question I had, made video demonstrations to help me, called upon their author connections when I’ve needed help, given me step-by-step descriptions of things to help me learn something new, called upon others when they didn’t know an answer (Brittany Alexander from Brittany's Book Blog - Jen Wildner from Just One More Page - Shannon Hunt from Once Upon an Alpha... you three have helped with my journey so much this year). It’s been amazing and it’s taught me that when someone comes to me for help I’ve got a lot of ‘pay it forward’ points to give out. I’ve connected with authors I have read and admired, found new amazing authors to add to my circle, joined street teams, and met authors in person. I’ve learned I have authors right here in my own town that I have the opportunity to do things like book clubs and nights out on the town. This year of blogging has been amazing and really brought new opportunities to my life.

JH: It makes me smile to hear how the bloggers of this world prop each other up and pay forward what they’ve learned. It makes all the difference, because at the end of the day, you all got into this because you love books, plain and simple. It’s supposed to be fun. But I know it’s also a ton of work—so why do you do it? Tell me what you like about running a book blog.

Jenn : I own and operate the actual blog; I do all of the posting, corresponding, and all the technical stuff (I’m a little bit of a control freak when it comes to the stuff I produce) but I have a reviewer who reads and writes reviews for me. Her name is Dottie. I like the contrast between us because I think it provides a more diverse blog when it comes to the reviews we accept and put out. While we both live in the U.S.A. we live and have grown up on different coasts of America. She lives in C.A., while I live in Florida. We are of different generations, and at different stages in our lives. She enjoys light paranormal and fantasy where this is usually not true for me. We do favorites lists at the blog; where we each separately list our top 5 of different sub-genres to try and help others find books that we LOVED and when she handed over her lists to me I was amazed at the lack of overlap between our lists. It helped show me that we have two people here that can provide you with totally different points of view. (And P.S. I would be lost without her; unable to produce anywhere near the number of reviews we do and I would also lose my sounding board for decisions concerning the blog and my double checker when I am unsure of how something sounds in my review or to make sure I’m avoiding spoilers!)

I like that both of us are on the same page about being here to promote authors and books we love and not dwell on the things that aren’t for us. We won’t post hateful reviews. If we have a critique it must be accompanied by a reason so that someone reading our reviews can decide for themself if it is something that would or would not bother them in a book.

JH: I love the idea of favorites lists, especially for those who might be new to the genre (or subgenre). Speaking of favorites—if you could have dinner with any author, who would it be and why?

Jenn : This is a seriously hard question but if I had to choose just one, my answer would probably be K. Bromberg. I discovered The Driven Series much later than most, probably because prior to blogging I solely relied on my kindle for book recommendations. I only began my Driven book journey about five months ago. I love Colton, Beck, and Hawkin; as I’m sure many of us do but I think my larger pull to the series and K. Bromberg is the way she writes female characters. In my opinion, she sets a high bar for this. In her writing, the “good girl” doesn’t have to be the “boring girl”. Just because a girl is more conservative in her choices doesn’t mean she can’t be sarcastic and funny. And even when she’s not writing the good girl, she gets it right. I am always a fan when a writer can capture a strong, powerful, funny, woman character that isn’t afraid to channel her “inner slut”. Girls are allowed to have fun too, ya know? Bromberg really has a way with words, taking simple phrases or imagery comparisons and making them something beautiful. Concerning her writing in general; she paints a crystal clear picture of feelings through words and her depictions that make the reader laugh, cry, swoon, hurt, turned on and a roller-coaster of other emotions during the reading experience. She is the author I would choose to have dinner with; because I admire her, because I love her writing, and because even with her being one of the more popular authors she still makes the time to communicate with her readers on social media. I would say that during my blogging journey she has responded to 99.9% of the times I contacted her in any form of way on social media, even when I simply tag her. As a reader I appreciate this and as a blogger, someone who is tagged or reached out to by people probably only 1% of the times someone like she is I can’t imagine how she pulls this off. I think dinner with her would be a blast and I don’t think I could resist fan-girling over her during.

JH: You actually have a way with words yourself—it reminds me how far behind I am on my TBR! If you were to write a romance book loosely based on your life, what would the title be?

Jenn : Afraid to Commit. Honestly the idea of commitment outside of my romance books has never been something I have been comfortable with. I think I may have a lot in common with the misunderstood bad boys of the romance genre.

JH: That, and some of the women too. As a fellow commitment-phone, I know—the struggle is real. J Last question. There are tons of passionate readers out there, as we know. Do you have any advice for those thinking of starting their own book blog?

Jenn : Just go for it! Play around with Facebook or your blog site of choice and find what works for you. Your process and knowledge will grow and change as you keep going. You'll find what works and doesn't work for you. Don't be afraid to reach out to people; other bloggers (reach out to me!) and authors you love (Just make sure you're courteous, not just looking for free stuff, and in it for the right reasons). Be open to new things and learning. Please, please don't get into blogging and bash on books. The authors work so hard and just because a book isn't right for you doesn't mean it won't be someone else's favorite. Sometimes, I also see a lot of people in groups bash on female character. This is something I just don't understand. That character is whiny, she has an eating disorder, she totally isn't worthy of her leading man. This is something I don't like either. These books are predominately written by female authors. Often times in popular media woman are already beat down about their appearance, promiscuity, and a million other things. I don't get why even when it comes to fictional characters, some people (men and woman) still feel the need to bash other woman. If you become a blogger, don't allow bashing of any kind on your site! It's hurtful and unnecessary. Have FUN and enjoy the ride!

JH: Well said. I don’t think I truly grasped that female character bashing bothers me for the same reason. Like it or not, most of the time we can see some of ourselves in the characters we read (or write), and maybe we should strive to use that as a tool to cut ourselves some slack once in a while instead of the opposite. Jenn, thanks so much for stopping by the blog and for the thoughtful answers!
 
Authors: Rave and Rant About Raunch Book Blog IS currently accepting review requests!
Readers: Jenn is throwing a huge, multi-author event for her one-year blogiversary. And I’ll be taking over September 3rd! Check out the lineup below & join the party!   Don't forget to follow Jenn’s blog on Facebook and Twitter to stay in the loop and to talk books with her.

I'm back from the San Francisco author event and I have an extra set of The Cityscape Series paperbacks to give away! And since I'm also pouchsessed (obsession with pouches, it's real), I'm giving away the books in a freaking-adorable Forever 21 denim zipper pouch (that I also own) (pictured below). Good luck!a Rafflecopter giveaway

Come Undone was my debut novel, written in 2013, and is book one in The Cityscape Series. (That's not one of the things. Hopefully you already knew that.) Below are 12 tidbits that might make you smile!

I started the original draft (which was only 3 or 4 scenes) in 2007, and it, David & Olivia were called Christian & Anna. Those names were chosen before Fifty Shades of Grey came out, and they were inspired by Christian Troy from Nip/Tuck and Anna Karenina from Tolstoy’s novel.It has some version of the word fuck 31 times.Some other possible titles for Come Undone included, What Happens, The Opposite of Us and Straight Lines.It was halfway finished when inspiration for book two struck. I wrote the opening scene of Come Alive on an iPod while on a bus in Croatia.It originally had a different cover: a close-up photo of gold glitter that I took myself. Sadly, it can still be found on Goodreads.It advanced to the 2nd round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novelist Award in January 2014. 2,000 were chosen from 10,000.It has 70,832 words.You can read its very first ever review on I Love Romantic Fiction. Originally, Olivia had Lucy’s job as a personal stylist and that’s how the bow tie scene came to be.Half was written in New York City, and the other half in California.The opening scene was an art gallery instead of the ballet, until I went to see Swan Lake at Lincoln Center in NYC. The setting was so romantic that I went home and rewrote it.I inadvertently share a character name with Sons of Anarchy: Marcus Alvarez (SOA) and Mark Alvarez (Come Undone). Not intentional, though they have some similarities!

BUY / BORROW NIGHT FEVER SERIAL "I love books that make me feel a variety of emotions and feel them intensely. To question the things I thought I believed, to relate to characters for their moments of vulnerability, to see the layers of them as they unfold. I'm positively addicted, consumed, overwhelmed by these characters."--Amazon Reviewer
 
"This is what Jessica does. She creates a story so compelling that overwhelms you and takes you for the ride of your life. It changes you and what you believe. It shakes you to the core."-- Mia's Point of View
 
"From the first sentence, this book had a slow burn that gradually increased until the ending where it was a raging inferno and it felt like my heart might beat right out of my chest...If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would."--A Risqué Affair Book Blog

Start the serial reviewers are calling "edgy" and "the ride of your life." Now available as a complete set on Amazon, or borrow free with Kindle Unlimited.

The Night Fever Serial box set includes the following novellas. Reader discretion is advised.


Night Fever (1)
Night Call (2)
Midnight (2.5)
Night Moves (3)
Night Edge (4) BUY / BORROW NIGHT FEVER SERIAL

Do. Not. Disturb. #amreadinglouisebaySometimes you just need something a little fun & steamy...right? Enter the What The Lightning Sees series by Louise Bay. During my vacation, I read my share of funny, sexy & sweet--Lightning hit all three of these for me. Haven works at Rallegra, a women's magazine, and Jake or "Harry" is brought in temporarily to help out. They butt heads from the moment they meet, and as luck would have it, they've been assigned to work together. Their quick-witted exchanges and obvious chemistry had me finishing the entire series in under 48 hours! When I did, I immediately drafted some questions for Louise Bay about the series, and fortunately she agreed to play along. JH: Louise, welcome to #ScriptFlip! I'm happy to have the chance to get my questions answered about the Lightning series. Have you always written fiction, or did something in particular spur you to write and publish your first book, Faithful?

Louise: Until 2013, I’d not written any fiction since school. I walked out of a job I didn’t like and I knew I wouldn’t find something else straight away so I wanted a task or a goal that would keep me occupied and give me some routine.

When I started Faithful I didn’t tell anyone until I was about half way through the book because before then I had no idea whether I’d give up. At the half way point I realized I could do it and more that I was really enjoying it.

JH: Sounds a lot like my process with Come Undone. I didn't tell anyone I was writing for a while. Jake Harrison from What The Lightning Sees seems to have it all—looks, ambition, humor. Is there one thing all leading men must have in your books? If you can say, who was your inspiration for him?

Louise: I think that all the men in my books have to be man enough to deserve the women they end up with. When I say man enough I mean I think I write men who are grown-ups. They’re not perfect but they’ve got broad shoulders and are determined to win their women round.

I didn’t really have inspiration for real life for Jake. Haven came to me first so Jake had to be man enough for Haven and that takes some doing. What’s nice is that they heal each other but it’s not until Haven that Jake realizes that’s what he needs.

JH: Haven writes for Rallegra, a women’s magazine. If you had her job and her deadline, what topic would you write about right now?

Louise: I would right about the rise in self publishing. People who aren’t readers or writers in the genre still see it as a fringe thing. Someone I know asks me from time to time whether I’m still “vanity publishing”.

JH: Oh, boy. Hard to believe they're not seeing the potential. Where did you come up for the title of What the Lightning Sees?

Louise: The title is taken from the lyrics from the Prince song Raspberry Beret. In the middle eight the song goes “The thunder drowns out what the lightning sees.” I’ve always loved the lyric and I thought it fit Haven and Jake well because I see Jake as being Haven’s lightning. He can light her up like no one can and see parts of her that she keeps hidden from most people.

JH: Haven had a few little quirks that were quite endearing, like constantly smoothing back her hair. What physical gesture gives you away when you’re feeling something specific, like nervous, excited or upset?

I have precisely NO poker face. Everything I’m thinking shows on my face, unfortunately. It’s a problem. I also babble.

JH: [Spoiler alert] Ash doesn’t have much of a filter. What do you think she would’ve said if she’d come face to face with Millie in the final scenes after learning the truth?

Louise: It’s true, Ash doesn’t have much of a filter but I don’t think she’d waste her breath on Millie. If she did, I’m sure she would just offer her a single, withering put down.

JH: Thank you for giving me a glimpse into Brit speak. It was fun getting to know some new colloquialisms. Are there any Americanisms that you find weird or humorous?

Louise: That’s so funny because I work quite hard so there isn’t much Brit speak!

We are so used to Americanisms because of US film and tv being so prevalent in our culture so not many surprise me. But one thing that when I’m in America that always surprises is that I get asked if I’m “all set” all the time. Mainly by waiter and waitresses but it’s so funny because we don’t use the phrase at all. It also suprises me how formal Americans are, particularly in business. In the UK we never address each other as Mr Jones or Mrs Green – even if we’ve never met each other before and would never use madam or sir. Oh and how can I forget “fanny pack” *titters*. Fanny is vagina in the UK. 
JH: Ha! Fanny can actually also be referred to as the behind in America. Was there a film, song or experience that inspired What The Lightning Sees? All three?

Louise:  I love The Taming of the Shrew. I know I shouldn’t – I’m very happy to call myself a feminist – but I do, it’s one of my favorite plays. And so when I was developing Lightning, I liked the idea of someone being softened and opened up by love. That’s where the initial idea came from. Jake is not Petruchio in any way and Haven isn’t Katherine so it’s not like it’s a retelling. But it was an inspiration.

In contrast Ash’s book is very very inspired and influenced by music. I have a playlist for all my books but for me, the playlist for Ash’s book is very important to me. A little exclusive for you – "Where My Heart Belongs" by Gloriana is kind of the theme song. I’ve played it non-stop while listening to it. In fact I’m playing it now. (JH: You can follow Louise Bay on Spotify here.)

JH: Aha! That brings me to my next question! I’ve stalked your page and discovered Ash is getting her story. You know I love a good triangle, but just as much, I am a sucker for unrequited love. Care to share any details of what we can expect?

Louise:  I love a stalker, particularly when it’s mutual!

Ash’s book picks up where Lightning finishes so Ash is trying to put some distance between her and Luke so she can hopefully find a love for herself.  We follow her journey. Is that too much of a tease?

JH: That's perfect! Looking forward to getting to know Ash and her filterlessness. (Yes, that's a word.) Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions!
To those reading, you can pick up the first in the Lightning series free right now, or grab the box set at a discounted price. Don't miss any of Louise Bay's upcoming releases (and there are a few planned!). Sign up for her mailing list, and be a good groupie—follow her on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.

If you enjoyed the interview, be sure to sign up for my mailing list to see more. If this is your first time visiting my page, welcome!  You can find my books on Amazon or check out my Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest.

Neon nails and Vintage by Lisa Suzanne #currentobsessionsI will admit, what first drew me to this next series was the covers. THEY'RE GORGEOUS, and thankfully, they perfectly fit the words in these books. If you liked my Night Fever Serial, I think you should pick up Vintage . Not that the series have a ton in common, but the dark undertone, strong female lead and element of suspense give them a similar feel. This isn't necessarily a feel-good romance, although the theme of love is strong throughout. It's got some grit, and the sensuality is kiiinda off the charts.

From my review: "Roxy and Parker fall for each other fast, but the suspense that threads the story is a slow-build that had me flipping pages like crazy to find out how it would all come together." JH: I'm beyond thrilled to welcome author Lisa Suzanne to the blog today & to have the chance to ask her some questions about her latest series, Vintage (Vols. 1 & 2). Lisa, thanks for indulging me! Have you always written fiction, or did something in particular spur you to write and publish your first series, the He Feels Trilogy?

Lisa: I’ve always written fiction—at least back to high school. I think the first book in the He Feels Trilogy goes back probably fifteen or so years. It wasn’t meant to be a trilogy, but after I published the first book, I had to explore what happened to Travis! And so the series was born.

JH: In your other life, you’re a high school English teacher. What’s your favorite book to discuss with your classes? When kids enter your classroom, what hashtag pops into their head?

Lisa: My top favorite is probably The Great Gatsby, but I also love teaching Into the Wild! As for a hashtag, probably something like #figureitout or #sheisobsessedwithherdog.

JH: Ha! Roxy Price is a complex, layered character. Which of her qualities do you admire most?

Lisa: I love her ability to bounce back. She’s been through a lot, but she’s tough even when she doesn’t want to be. I also love how grounded she is. She could easily get caught up in the world around her, but she remains true to herself.

JH: Completely agree—grounded is a great way to describe Roxy. During both books, I felt like I was right there on tour with Black Shadow. What kind of research went into creating that experience for the reader?

Lisa: I’ve always loved music and attending concerts. I’ve been lucky enough to get front row seats and meet & greet opportunities with some amazing artists. But the one piece of research that stands out the most happened last summer. I scored VIP passes to the Uproar Festival in Tucson from a new member of the band Seether. He and my brother played in a band together in high school, and he not only took us backstage, but he took us on his tour bus. To see a huge tour like that from behind the scenes was an amazing experience that I knew would end up in a book.
JH: Aside from the explanation in the books, any personal significance to the names Roxanna Cecilia “Jimi” Price and Parker James?

Lisa:  There really isn’t! For some reason, Roxy never felt like a Roxanna to me, but when I tried to change her name, I couldn’t. It’s who she is. But just like she doesn’t like her name, the nicknames fit her a little better. I liked the name CC because my favorite show is New Girl (and Jess’s best friend is CeCe). (JH: I love New Girl too! My goal in life is to marry a man named Nick so we can be Nick & Jess. Ha!) As for Parker… I couldn’t figure out his name. I have a slight obsession for Parker Hurley, so I stuck the name “Parker” in there as a placeholder, and it just fit.

JH: Ahh. Parker... Hurley... I'm envisioning him with black hair, maybe a tiger tattoo, and... uh, where were we? Oh, yes. You and I share a fantastically-talented cover designer (Louisa of LM Creations), and she hit the nail on the head with Vintage. Did you know right off the bat what you wanted on the cover?

Lisa:  Louisa is AMAZING! I love her!!! I really didn’t know what I wanted on the cover. I knew I wanted something sexy and different, and when she sent me that mock-up, it was the most perfect representation I could have possibly imagined. It just fit the characters and the whole feel of the book to perfection. 

JH: Rock music is front and center in these books. Favorite rock artist or album?

Lisa:  I love all different kinds of music. My favorite bands are Matchbox Twenty, Maroon 5, and Imagine Dragons, which are all on the more mellow side of rock. I also love bands like Metallica and Mötley Crüe, classic bands that have lasted through the years.  

JH: Did you write the lyrics for Vintage and what was your process with that?

Lisa:  I did write the lyrics. I think because I’m such a music junkie, I’ve studied lyrics and I try to write it like a poem. I try to sing it in my head a certain way to see if it would work as a song. If I like how it sounds in my head, I hope someone else will, too.
JH: That's amazing. Lyrics aren't easy, I'm sure. What’s the scoop on your current work in progress?

Lisa:  I’m working on a romantic comedy that is set to release August 27! Not Just another Romance Novel is about Piper, a woman working toward her master’s degree in Psychology. She comes up with a project where she combines her love for romance novels with her passion for psychology. Her social experiment is to date all of the stereotypes in the books to find out which one will lead her to her happy ending. My beta readers are just starting to get back to me with feedback, and so far I’m hearing awesome things! I can’t wait to share this one!JH: That sounds like fun—to write & to read! Thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview and for bringing us Vintage. The series was just what  I was looking for.

Guys, if you haven't yet, pick up copies of the completed series, Vintage (Vol. 1) and Vintage (Vol. 2) now. You can also stay in the know about Lisa Suzanne's upcoming releases by signing up for her mailing list. Be a good groupie and stalk her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest.
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