Blogger Dina Santorelli, who is a fellow freelance writer working on a novel, posted her interview with me this morning on her blog, Making ‘Baby Grand,’ the Novel. I have been following this series of author interviews as well as Dina’s weekly writing tips, which I think are just so helpful. You can read my interview by clicking here. Cheers!
Author Olivia Boler
writing is fun
February 3rd, 2012
Premium Status and Kindle Love
The good news: The Flower Bowl Spell got Premium Status approval from Smashwords. Whoo hoo! [fist pump] That means they will ship it to Apple (iBooks/iPad/iPhones), Barnes & Noble (Nook), Sony (Sony eReader), Kobo, and Diesel for purchase through those channels.
The bad news: It won’t be up for sale at those places for two to three weeks. Boo hoo! [pout] Smashwords has the book in its shipping queue, they only ships on Thursdays and Fridays (today is Friday, and it didn’t ship), and then it takes another one to two weeks for the book to be available with those purveyors of fine e-lit.
The good news: You Nook, Kobo, and iPad users can upload the book NOW from Smashwords‘ website. You can then download it to your readers. You can find directions on how to do this here. Even Kindle users can do this, although I did upload it separately with a different ISBN (actually, it’s just Amazon’s ASIN, but what do you care really?), so Kindle users can get it NOW on Amazon.
Did I mention it’s 99 cents everywhere! That’s $0.99, in case you missed it the first time.
Next on the agenda: Uploading the paperback version to CreateSpace, wrestling with my website, and drumming up interest from readers/buyers other than my family and friends. Oh boy.
January 31st, 2012
Flower Bowl Spell up on Kindle
Mission accomplished! My goal back at the end of 2011, was to get The Flower Bowl Spell up for sale as an eBook in January, and I did just that. (Pat on the back.) The book went live on Amazon yesterday. I downloaded it, noticed a couple of glitches (e.g. my author photo wasn’t showing up), and got some help on the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) forum. People in the community were really great, patiently walking me through how to create a zip file on Word (I’ve often opened zip files, but never knew I could make one without special software. Sometimes I’m an unintentional Luddite).
Anyway, my next goal, to be accomplished in February, is to get the book on CreateSpace so those who don’t have eReaders can buy it. I’ll look into the Expanded Distribution plan, which means bookstores and libraries could order it too, as far as my understanding of it goes. Also, I’ll need to start promoting it, looking into book bloggers and reviewers who might give it a chance. If you know of a reviewer, website, blogger, etc., who might be interested, please share!
In the meantime, if you have already bought a copy, thank you so much! That’s $0.99 well spent, to be sure!
January 25th, 2012
A typo already??? Uploaded to Smashwords today!
Drum roll please…So, I just uploaded the novel to Smashwords this morning. I should shout hurray, right? Not so fast.
First, I’m not providing a link to the book (although if you go to Smashwords and search Olivia Boler or The Flower Bowl Spell, you’ll find it) because I immediately found a glaring typo in the dedication—a period next to a comma [.,] that is not in the original document I uploaded. What the what??? There’s another huge typo at the very end in the title, About the Aauthor. Yes, it reads “Aauthor” on my eBook files but again, NOT on my original document. I haven’t gone over the whole thing with a fine-tooth comb, so I shudder to think what I’ll find inside the doc once I do.
[NOTE: I am adding this paragraph after I initially published this post, but don't want to bug you all unnecessarily with a whole new post. I figured it out! Before you submit your Word document to Smashwords, you need to ACCEPT ALL CHANGES in the document! This is very, very important, otherwise, typos you think are fixed (even after you've hit SAVE) might show up in the eBook files Smashwords creates!]
Also, I am waiting to hear back from Smashwords about my “Premium status” in their catalog. that could take a week or two. I’ll keep you all posted.
But typos are the least of my problems right now. I am trying to revamp my website, oliviaboler.com, on my own. Let me just say, I am not a web master. Ha! That’s certainly clear, since my already long neglected, decrepit website has completely disappear. Which is why, again, I am not linking it up here. I have lost hours since last night trying to figure it out on my own, the whole FTP, PHP, blah blah blah. Oh, these are the times independently publishing is so daunting, and I wish some kindly editor had just taken on my book and dealt with all this minutiae herself.
OK. Got to call tech support, get groceries, and upload to Amazon. What are you doing today?
January 24th, 2012
Olivia Boler gets a 7×7 Link Award nomination. Yay!
The 7×7 Link Award
I am happy to tell you, fellow bloggers, that my little blog that could has been nominated for a 7×7 Link Award (apparently not related to 7×7 Magazine). Thank you, The Flying Yenta, for this exciting nomination! And I love your blog, too!
So, there are three requirements of the award, and here they are along with my fulfillment of them:
I. Share something about yourself that others don’t know.
Man, this is hard. I have so many personal secrets…just kidding. Not really. Um, something you don’t know that I’m not too embarrassed to share. Well, if you know me, you know that I am half-Chinese. If you don’t know me, then you think I’m “Mediterranean” or Latina or Jewish or Native American, etc. But no, I’m Chinese. My father’s Caucasian genes (mostly Austrian and maybe Italian with some English, Irish, and French) just really dominate. And here’s a bonus share: Even though it’s so uncool to do in my PC San Francisco community of foodies, etc., I sometimes take my kids to McDonald’s. Gasp! What can I say? I love me some french fries!
II. Link seven posts from your blog that you think are worthy.
2. Can you feel the excitement???
3. The nit and grit of indie publishing—edit, draw, format, shoot
4. Getting down to the funky business of writing
5. Reading your stories aloud is a good thing
6. So, Olivia, what do you write?
7. Flower Bowl Spell cover revealed!
III. Nominate seven other bloggers that deserve the award and haven’t received it yet.
(Note: I’m not sure if these blogs have or haven’t been nominated. If they have, then they are surely deserving of a repeat nomination.)
1. Kana’s Chronicles — Kana Tyler is “a writer, an explorer, a coffee-drinker, a recovering addict, a barefoot linguist, a book-dragon (“bookworm” doesn’t cover it), a raconteur, a minister, a sailboat skipper, a research diver, a tattooed scholar, a pirate, a poet, a spiritual adventurer, a photographer, a cartographer, a joyful wife, a mom (and Granny), an island-girl at heart… A list-maker! 
” And she’s generous with her freelance writing tips. Thank you!
2. Olivia Everett — The blog of Karla Mouncey-Jaggers who is writing a series about Olivia Everett, “as she fights her way tooth and nail through the vampire politics that saturate London.” What fun!
3. Peter Denton — Pete is a writer chronicling his creative writing progress, which is so inspiring!
4. Making Baby Grand, the Novel — The blog of Dina Santorelli, who gives us regular writing tips as well as super-duper helpful and fun debut novelist interviews. I love it.
5. Sue Healy — She had loads of success with her writing in 2011, and she has writing advice and wisdom we can all use. Excellent stuff.
6. The Bird Sisters — The blog of author Rebecca Rasmussen, whose debut novel, The Bird Sisters is a soaring achievement (pardon the pun!). Read it!
7. Siobhan Fallon — Of course I have to include Siobhan Fallon, one of my bestest writing friends (and just plain old friends) whose debut short story collection You Know When the Men Are Gone, published by Amy Einhorn Books (of Kathryn Stockett’s The Help fame) is taking the critical world by storm making major “Best of 2011″ lists left and right. So go buy it now!
Yay, recognition! It’s good to know I’m not writing into a black hole. Thank you, blogging community!
January 13th, 2012
That Scary Next Step
So, here’s my progress report on releasing my novel into the world, like a baby bird that has just learned to fly:
- I have gone through all of my copy editor’s edits.
- I have the cover.
- My sister-in-law/photographer sent me a link to the photos she took, and out of 58, I have to narrow it down to 5 (so far, I like more than that).
- I need to write my acknowledgments page—and have someone proofread it (and make sure that someone is included).
Then it’s time to upload it! I’ve only read through the Smashwords style guide once, and I’ve barely glanced at Amazon’s, so those are two major tasks that need doing.
This might be a good time to mention that I’m quietly freaking out a little bit here. I’m like that. I’m not one of those people who says, “OK, my ducks are in a row, so let’s take that next step!” and then goes ahead and does it. I hem. I haw. I ask the question, “Are you sure the ducks are in a row? Maybe they need a little adjustment? Perhaps they aren’t lined up precisely so?” And I don’t actually do anything about rectifying this. Not right away. Instead, I run errands, do chores, take on a freelance project, write a blog entry, read a book, or watch TV. (In my defense, some of these things need to get done!) Because the moment for taking that next step doesn’t feel…quite right. To be more frank, it’s scary. When I send my baby bird (or duck) out into the world, it’s all on me whether it flies or falls (that is to say, has a major typo, formats weirdly, etc.). Such is the nature of indie publishing. I know what I need to do. I just. Have. To. Do. It.
January 2nd, 2012
Of books and puppies
Happy New Year, people! Okay, it’s January 2, but it’s still a new year, and better late than not at all. Yesterday, I was busy cuddling up to my friend’s new puppies, Jem and Scout, who are adorable mini Goldendoodles, and here’s a heartstring-tugging picture of them:
Jem and Scout, photo courtesy of Theresa H.
Are you totally melting? Believe me, they are just as adorable as they look.
As you literary types know, Jem and Scout are characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, brother and sister, and Scout is the narrator. This is one of my favorite novels, so in honor of Harper Lee (and all of you who named your children after the esteemed authoress), I’m sharing a list of the books I read in 2011. I started keeping track of what I read each year about 10 years ago, when friends kept asking me to recommend books and I could not readily recall any titles off the top of my noggin. My mother-in-law also inspired me to try completing a book a week, for she sets herself the goal of reading 52 books a year. I’ve never reached that, although I came closer than I have since first having kids, reading 38 books last year.
I do wonder if my Kindle and e-reading programs on my iPad, iPhone, and computer have something to do with this. I’m certainly not less busy than I was in 2010, when I read 27 books. Far from it. A writing colleague, Claire Light, mentioned on her blog that reading on the Kindle had increased her speed of reading by about 100 percent, if my memory serves. And if you check out her blog, you’ll see her 2011 reading list reaches 130! How would reading on these electronic devices help? I’m guessing it’s their portability, or the fact that when I check out e-books from the library I have to get them back in 3 weeks. What do you think? Has e-reading made you a faster reader?
OK, here’s my list:
- *Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
- Matched by Ally Condie
- *The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter
- The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
- *Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
- Summer at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs
- Evermore by Alyson Noël
- *Refresh, Refresh by Benjamin Percy
- Jenny and the Jaws of Life by Jincy Willett
- The Matchmakers by Jennifer Colgan
- *The Genius in Children by Rick Ackerly
- †Octavia Boulevard by Yvonne Daley
- Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
- *The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen
- *I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson
- †Family Poems by Larry Beresford
- If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This by Robin Black
- Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
- A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
- Switched by Amanda Hocking
- Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
- Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
- Torn by Amanda Hocking
- *One Day by David Nicholls
- *State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
- The Romantics by Galt Niederhoffer
- The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted by Bridget Asher
- †It Only Happens Now and Then… by Mary P. Hamilton
- *A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
- †Roads Without Hills by Charles McKinnon
- *†Damascus by Joshua Mohr
- Ascend by Amanda Hocking
- *The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
- *The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
- †Count Edweird Lefang’s Rhymin’ Halloween by Eddie Morales
- †Cold Comfort by Ellis Vidler
- Sleeping With Paris by Juliette Sobanet
- *You Know When the Men are Gone by Siobhan Fallon
* Olivia’s Favorites † Read for a review or article
December 21st, 2011
Flower Bowl Spell cover revealed!
Isn’t that just always the way? You finally get some down time, and then that cold you’ve been fighting decides to jump on your back and give it all its got. So, even though I just got my edits from my talented and hard-working copy editor this morning, I can’t dive right in. The cold doesn’t help and the down time is fast disappearing. There are kids at home on winter break, relatives to visit, freelance work, holiday gifts to be wrapped (we observe Christmas, although in a secular way. My 6-year-old has been asking about the meaning behind it all, so I gave her a rundown of pagan winter solstice coupled with the birth of Jesus Christ. She absolutely loves Jesus now and weeps when she thinks of him dying on the cross.)
Anyway, I did get some beautiful cover designs from Fena, my cover artist, and this is the one I decided on after getting opinions from a few close friends who are familiar with the story:
The book centers on a magickal urban witch (yes, I opted for the “k” in magick to distinguish it from magician magic, at least in my mind) and fairies, and Fena really captured that without being cheesy. No, it’s not a young-adult novel or written for children, although I think there is definite crossover appeal with the former.
I also created a Facebook Author Page, so be sure to “like” it, and please spread the word! I’ll put writerly updates and thoughts there. I also need to set aside a day to revamp my website. I actually want to start using WordPress to build it and need to find a day to give myself a crash course in doing that.
That’s all for now. Happy holidays!
December 14th, 2011
Can you feel the excitement???
I’m waiting for my sister-in-law Andrea to show up and take my author photo, and thought I’d check in since I’ve got all this pent-up nervous energy. I’m not crazy about gettin’ my picture took, but it’s not the worst thing in the world. And Andrea will make me look decent. Hey, I even got my hair cut yesterday, which came with the usual lecture on using a good conditioner (yes, I only go to the salon about two times a year, which is partly why I haven’t found a permanent stylist—I’m too embarrassed by my split ends).
So, my manuscript is with my copy editor, hurray! I worked on it over a few days, and decided to format it for Smashwords first. I did the best I could, but got hung up on details like using page breaks or not, and whether to put the acknowledgments (still drafting that) at the beginning or end. Really, quite dull. But oh so very important! I’ll worry about KDP and CreateSpace later.
Another option I found out about while lurking on the Kindle Boards (really, I should just go ahead and officially join), is PubIt, which is Barnes & Nobles’ version of KDP. Several authors on the Boards do all four plans (Smashwords, KDP, PubIt, CreateSpace) for each of their books in order to reach as many readers as possible, so I think that’s what I will try. Each one has slightly different formatting requirements, so it will be a lot of busy work, but in the end will save money.
And now the sexy news: I got my book covers! Fena created two beautiful covers, but I’m not quite ready to share them yet because, task master that I am, I’ve requested a few, um, tweaks. She’s really so talented and approachable. When I get that all ironed out, I will debut whichever one is the winner. Or maybe I’ll ask you all for your help.
Also, I’ve been thinking of putting up the prologue to the novel I’m publishing, The Flower Bowl Spell, on this blog. Would that be a fun thing to read?
Olivia’s Recent Tweets
Error: Twitter did not respond. Please wait a few minutes and refresh this page.
Facebook Page
Recent Posts
Tags
7x7 link award
1667 words a day
2011 reading list
50000 words in 30 days
AAR
A Discovery of Witches
agent
agent contracts
agents
Amanda Hocking
Amazon
Amazon.com
Ann Patchett
copy editor
cover art
Dry Bones Press
e-book
ebooks
facebook
favorite writers
freelance writing
Heidi Ayarbe
independent publishing
indie publishing
ipad
Kindle
literary fiction
nanowrimo
noe valley voice
nook
Olivia Boler
print on demand
publications
rejection
self-publish
self-publishing
short story contests
Siobhan Fallon
small presses
Smashwords
Suzanne Collins
The Flower Bowl Spell
traditional publishing
writing process
Year of the Smoke Girl