Pippa's Journal - 8/15/12

Well, I said I wouldn't post over August, but a few things have come up that I'd like to share with you...

Action!

The paperback format of Keir is out! Um, yes, I know I said October and this is August. I'm not entirely sure how it happened. Even my publisher's website still says October, but Amazon, B&N and The Book Depository all have it available, although Amazon says limited stocks. My own copy arrived Monday! Squeee! Much as I love digital and my Kindle, there is still much to be said for holding a print copy of you book - and I finally have one. Of course, the early arrival means I've missed doing any kind of tour or event ready for the release, but it DOES mean that I can celebrate Keir's third anniversary on the 17th (the day I first sat at my computer with an old short story in hand and turned it into a 100K book) with two giveaways of a print copy, open to anywhere in the world. The first giveaway is via Goodreads (check out the widget on the side bar to enter) and is open for a whole month from the 17th August. The second is taking place on my blog here from the 17th August until the 29th, as I'm taking part in the Romancing the Hop Blog Hop on the 31st (with another prize and an interview with Keir himself). All you have to do to be entered into the draw is comment on how you most like to celebrate a special occassion, and let me know if you want it signed. :) As an additional note, Keir is a third off at The Book Depository for an unspecified time, and with free worldwide shipping.

Despite having three children home for the summer and straying hideously from my outline, I'm still on target to complete Campnanowrimo with When Dark Falls. I'm not very happy with the story, and the romance element is pretty weak, but I'm getting the words down. Doing Nanowrimo has taken a completely different discipline and methodology to what I'm used to, which has been both an interesting and a stressful adventure. Overall I'd say it's been a worthwhile experience, and I still hope to succeed, but I'm not sure it will change my normal writing habits. I may outline more and I do need to stick to more regular writing sessions - something that will be easier with all three children in full time school from September - but pantsing is a more natural thing for me than writing to an outline.

In the meantime, I'm pleased to say that I received a request for a full manuscript from a publisher after querying with a partial. I'm not going to say much more than that at the moment, but rest assured I will give you the news as soon as I can. I'm determined to prove (to myself most of all) that I'm not a one-trick pony, and that I can repeat Keir's success.

Discoveries

One discovery I made in the last couple of weeks was one I could live without. It seemed that Keir had been pirated. However, it appears there was some doubt over whether the site in question was legitimate or not, but it went down before I could find any definitive answer. I'm not going to name the site - merely tweeting the site name in the hope of trying to learn whether the site was illegal or not resulted in me getting my first piece of hate mail via Twitter. The discussions since have been vitriolic, with the authors supposedly responsible for the site's demise being publically listed and abused. I have no idea which side is 'right' as regards the legitimacy of the site in question, but the aftermath is horrible and, in my view, unnecessary. Well-founded arguments are all well and good, but when it descends into poisonous and personal attacks, and a general campaign of hate on both sides, nothing good can come of it. In the meantime, it seems Keir has been pirated for real and I'm in the process of crafting my first DMCA. The dark side of publication. :(

On the subject of piracy, the fabulous Allie Ritch did a post on some legal alternatives to pirating here. One of the major reasons that some people admit to using pirate copies is that they can't afford things otherwise. So Allie put together some suggestions of completely legal ways to fill your bookshelves or your ereader AND help out your favourite authors at the same time. Pop over and see what you think, and if you can add any other suggestions to the post. I'm thinking of doing a post on the SFR Brigade blog in the near future with a suggestion on how we can at least provide readers with some legal options for free books. It won't stop pirating, but if we can at least guide a handful of readers toward legitimate sites, it's got to be worth doing.

I saw this on Twitter this week - a plot scenario generator. One of those fun little gadgets for sparking inspiration if you're struggling. Having deviated from my outline for the nanowrimo too far to return to it, the idea of a plot generator quite appealed to me.

  
Also, as I continue to tweak my website as prevarication not to launch it, here are two posts by Greta Van der Rol on what not to put on your website if you want people to bookmark it, and also five things you should have.
Five steps to help you build a better website
Five things I hate about websites

Happenings

This week I've had debut sfr author Angela Renee visiting my blog to celebrate the release of her novel YOU ARE MINE. And of course I've already mentioned the upcoming giveaway to celebrate three years since writing Keir. On the 21st voting opens at You Gotta Read for the August book trailers, and my video for Keir is up for the vote! I'd love for you to stop by to leave a comment, and I hope you'll take a moment to vote - even if not for me. 

The monthly Amazon tagging list will open on the SFR Brigade blog here on the 27th for the party on the 30th. I've adjusted the times on the list after several people said it had closed before the end of Wednesday - apologies! I hadn't taken into account the time difference between the US and the UK, assuming since the inlinkz site was US that it would automatically be US times. Wrong! 

There will also be another additional note to the tagging party itself, so please read the instructions. Liana Brooks tweeted recently that 'malicious' tags are being added to books, such at 'too expensive' and 'boycott'. I also saw another author tweet that the tag 'DELETE' had been added to her books. Please keep your eyes open for any of these kind of tags. Apparently you can remove them on your own books, but if you could leave a comment on the SFR Brigade site should you notice any on other members' books so that we can see about their removal. What a sad state of affairs.

On a happier note, it's the Romancing the Hop blog hop from the 31st August, run by the fabulous Carrie Ann Ryan. Check out her blog here for the participants list and the grand prizes. All those taking part will also be offering up goodies - mine's a $10 Amazon or B&N gift card.

 

Ping Pong

At Donna and Laurie - it's eye-opening for me hearing about the conference. I have to say I'm slightly disheartened about the changes to the RWA and to the contests, just as I'm considering both. To be honest, I'd classify myself foremost as a science fiction author (or at least speculative fiction) rather than a romance author. I'm pretty sure the romance aspect of Keir wouldn't be strong enough under the new guidelines. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out, but I'm sure it's disheartening for a lot of authors, particularly those who may now be designated as associates rather than full members. I feel like it's put a GH forever beyond my reach just as I felt the aspiration to try.