EBook Cover Reveal!

So if you've been following me on my social media, you might have seen some pictures like this floating around my feed:

If you've been a little confused as to where these random quotes are coming from, I'm proud to announce that I have been developing my novella, You Will Make It, as an eBook available on the Kindle store!

Developing YWMI into an eBook has been a fun and challenging process.  My favorite bit so far, honestly, has been customizing the images for all the quotes I grabbed from the book to post on Instagram and Facebook.  I started writing YWMI in 2010, inspired largely by a song of the same title by Jem, and also this image that I had found on DeviantArt by the talented andrahilde.  If you haven't seen some of the fan art she's done for Legend of Korra or Avatar the Last Airbender, I totally recommend her art gallery.

The novella was largely inspired off the whole Twilight craze.  While at the time I had actually enjoyed the books just fine, the immediate overload of vampire romance books which followed the Twilight saga I found to be a little nauseating, and so, in true teenage, angst-y fashion, I decided I was going to write a story that was way cooler than all the Twilight knockoffs, because my story was going to be different.

While I can laugh at my predisposition back then now, the root of what really inspired the novella was the characters.  As I started writing, this young woman started to emerge - bubbly, whipsmart, full of sarcasm and wit.  I really started to love Mickey as a character, and I labored to make her struggle a very grounded one, though not one I could possibly ever understand in its full complexity.  To be a young person, and not only have to grapple with the reality of your approaching death, but having to wrestle, everyday, with a constant, ever-present chronic pain, while not wanting it to define you.

I hope that I managed to evoke that from Mickey's character, because her struggle is very much one of not wanting to be just another "cystic fibrosis patient", and although I could probably best define the novella as a cross between The Fault in Our Stars and Twilight, I didn't want for it to be just another "hospital" story, or another "vampire romance".  I wanted it to be about two teenagers finding love and acceptance for each other, and helping to find love for themselves as well.

This is a short excerpt from one of the first chapters:

You’re never supposed to have a child with problems, the sort of problems which can dictate what the rest of your life becomes. No one wants to have a kid with a mental disability, or a handicap, or a terminal illness. That’s everyone else’s kid. That other poor bastard you heard about on the news, or at last week’s PTA meeting. When you’re young, they give you statistics. “One out of every three women in this room will be assaulted at one point in their life”, and you think, oh. That’s bad. Not because you’re scared for yourself, but because you’re thinking of that poor unfortunate “one”, looking around yourself and trying to guess who the likeliest candidates are.

If you're interested in reading more, stay tuned, because the book will be released soon!  I couldn't be any happier with the cover.

How do you guys like the cover?  I'd love to hear what you guys think of what you've seen of You Will Make It so far!

Traditional vs Self-Publishing

For as long as I've been writing, I've waffled between the choice of traditional vs. self-publishing.  Traditional publishing has always been my long-term goal, but there is something intrinsically alluring about having complete control of the publishing process that you just can't ignore.

But there are some ups and downs about both processes, as I've discovered after some extensive research.  Let's pro/con this, shall we?

PROS

1. You get advance money

2. Professional editing and cover design

3. The publisher takes care of distribution

4. The bragging rights of being traditionally published

CONS:

1. You are almost entirely responsible for your own marketing

2. You may only get back %12 of what the book makes in terms of royalties

3. Little to no choice over cover design

4. You'll face a lot of rejection from agents, publishers, editors - you name it

PROS

1. Complete creative control

2. You can make anywhere from 35% to 75% back on your book's sales

3. You can save money on distribution if its an eBook

4. eBooks are getting increasingly more popular

CONS:

1. You are entirely responsible for your own marketing

2. It's all out of your own pocket

3. Takes a lot of marketing skill to pull off

4. Overall, isn't any "faster" or "easier" than successfully publishing traditionally

The main takeaway I had from all these revelations was that, if marketing isn't your strong suit, it better be - and soon, because no matter what route you take, that troll is still going to be waiting for you under a bridge somewhere down the path.  The other takeaway here is that no matter which direction you take, getting a book published and sold - that's the catch word here - is always going to take an outstanding amount of effort, time, and smarts.

I thought I would take a crack at the self-publishing process, even as I still explore more traditional avenues.  Shortly, I will be publishing my novella, You Will Make It, as an eBook for purchase on the Kindle store.  Vampire romance meets The Fault in Our Stars, when Mickey, a teenage pulmonary fibrosis patient, discovers that there is a boy lurking around her hospital, feeding off the life of those in their final hours. She is determined to get to the bottom of this strange boy, and winds up falling in way too deep - and a little bit in love.

If you're of fan of vampire romances, but have started to bore of the usual tropes that come with the genre, keep an eye out for it.  I wrote it years ago, around the time that Twilight was still all the rage, and when, in my research for an urban fairy tale I was writing, I found out about the concept of "pranic vampires" - vampires which feed off of life force rather than blood.

You Will Make It will be coming to the Kindle store soon, so have your eye out for it!  Have you ever self-published?  Published traditionally?  I would love to know your thoughts in the comments down below.  Stay tuned for more updates on You Will Make It!