"A weeping Willow sang its lullabies/ And shared its secrets." - "Alabama Rain" by Jim Croce
I love this song. I love it for the mention of Willow, and I love it for its simple poetic beauty. Imagine the things Jim Croce could have done if he hadn't been taken from the world so early...
Okay, onto the point of this post. I finished chapter one of my fourth Willow Ryan novel yesterday! Aside from a few computer malfunctions (ugh!), it went really smoothly and I am happy to say I am back in the swing of things. I write something every day, but I haven't written fresh pages for a novel since September. It's good to be back! Book Four (undecided on a title at this point) opens up with two-and-a-half year old James getting into mischief and trying Willow's patience. Sounds like real life, right?
Check back for the latest updates on Book Four in the Willow series and hopefully updates on the progress/success of the first three. Secrets and Promises are currently available as ebooks on www.bn.com and www.amazon.com, and Surprises will be joining the ranks in the near future. Exciting stuff!
Showing posts with label Barnes and Noble. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barnes and Noble. Show all posts
Friday, January 28, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Highs and Lows
"Do your feet get cold in the winter time?/ The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine/ It's hard to tell the nighttime from the day/ And your losing all your highs and lows/ Ain't it funny how the feeling goes away...?" - "Desperado" by the Eagles
Yes, it's not even nine o'clock in the morning and my days is already filled with highs and lows. When I was checking my email this morning I discovered an email from an agent I had recently queried. With equal amounts of anticipation and dread, I opened the email and was greeted with a polite rejection letter. Sigh. It was a nice one, saying that Secrets does not fit their current needs, but they invited me to query them again in the future with other projects. I guess that's a good thing, but it doesn't really make a difference at this point, does it?
Just like in "Desperado", it's cloudy and damp, but not quite cold enough to snow. A very dreary day. Kind of fits the mood though.
Okay, the pity party is over. On the high side, Secrets and Promises, the first two books in the "Willow Ryan" series, are now available for download on Amazon.com! After hearing good reviews of their e-publishing program from authors on the B&N message boards, I decided to go ahead and upload my books. Hopefully I will have better luck on Amazon than B&N. Only time will tell...
Yes, it's not even nine o'clock in the morning and my days is already filled with highs and lows. When I was checking my email this morning I discovered an email from an agent I had recently queried. With equal amounts of anticipation and dread, I opened the email and was greeted with a polite rejection letter. Sigh. It was a nice one, saying that Secrets does not fit their current needs, but they invited me to query them again in the future with other projects. I guess that's a good thing, but it doesn't really make a difference at this point, does it?
Just like in "Desperado", it's cloudy and damp, but not quite cold enough to snow. A very dreary day. Kind of fits the mood though.
Okay, the pity party is over. On the high side, Secrets and Promises, the first two books in the "Willow Ryan" series, are now available for download on Amazon.com! After hearing good reviews of their e-publishing program from authors on the B&N message boards, I decided to go ahead and upload my books. Hopefully I will have better luck on Amazon than B&N. Only time will tell...
Saturday, January 15, 2011
A Little Help From My Friends
"Oh I get by with a little help from my friends/ Mmm, gonna try with a little help from my friends." - "With a Little Help from my Friends" by the Beatles
eBook sales have been slow. Very slow. Almost nonexistent. I feel like complaining about it, but it would do a lot more good to try to solve this problem. But how? Any ideas?
If those of you who have read my "Willow Ryan" books know of anyone else who would be interested in reading them, please spread the word! My first two Willow novels, Secrets and Promises, are available for download at www.bn.com for only $5.99 each. For people who do not have a NOOK e-reader, they can simply download a free NOOK app to their PC, MAC, Blackberry, iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad straight from Barnes & Noble's website. It only takes a second and they are good to go.
I really want to get the word out about my books, and I really appreciate all the help and advice I can get. Thanks so much!
eBook sales have been slow. Very slow. Almost nonexistent. I feel like complaining about it, but it would do a lot more good to try to solve this problem. But how? Any ideas?
If those of you who have read my "Willow Ryan" books know of anyone else who would be interested in reading them, please spread the word! My first two Willow novels, Secrets and Promises, are available for download at www.bn.com for only $5.99 each. For people who do not have a NOOK e-reader, they can simply download a free NOOK app to their PC, MAC, Blackberry, iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad straight from Barnes & Noble's website. It only takes a second and they are good to go.
I really want to get the word out about my books, and I really appreciate all the help and advice I can get. Thanks so much!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Adios 2010!
"We'll take a cup of kindness yet/ For auld lang syne."
Does this song congure up the memory of the Bailey family in the final scene of "It's a Wonderful Life" for everyone, or is it just me? I had to include this song for my New Year's Eve post, so here it is.
When I was growing up, I remember hearing adults say how the older you get, the quicker the years go by, and I have to admit that it does seem to be true. This year has flown by, and now we are entering 2011. That seems very strange to me.
Yesterday my second Willow Ryan novel, "Promises", became available for download at Barnes & Noble, and I'm really hoping that this coming year will bring me better luck on the publishing front than 2010 did. It was really a dud of a year in that respect! Anyway, I am renewing my efforts to get a literary agent and become published in print, I will continue writing poetry, in the very near future I will start working on my fourth Willow book, and I am going to seriously try to get some articles published as well. Getting published is not my New Year's resolution, because people either break those on January 2 or never work on them in the first place. Instead, these goals are something that I want to do, aspire to do, NEED to do, so they will get done. I just hope that my goals for 2012 are not the same ones I just wrote about today! Happy New Year everybody!
Does this song congure up the memory of the Bailey family in the final scene of "It's a Wonderful Life" for everyone, or is it just me? I had to include this song for my New Year's Eve post, so here it is.
When I was growing up, I remember hearing adults say how the older you get, the quicker the years go by, and I have to admit that it does seem to be true. This year has flown by, and now we are entering 2011. That seems very strange to me.
Yesterday my second Willow Ryan novel, "Promises", became available for download at Barnes & Noble, and I'm really hoping that this coming year will bring me better luck on the publishing front than 2010 did. It was really a dud of a year in that respect! Anyway, I am renewing my efforts to get a literary agent and become published in print, I will continue writing poetry, in the very near future I will start working on my fourth Willow book, and I am going to seriously try to get some articles published as well. Getting published is not my New Year's resolution, because people either break those on January 2 or never work on them in the first place. Instead, these goals are something that I want to do, aspire to do, NEED to do, so they will get done. I just hope that my goals for 2012 are not the same ones I just wrote about today! Happy New Year everybody!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Woo Hoo!
"Congratulations, you got a good deal/ Congratulations, how good you must feel." - "Congratulations" by the Traveling Wilburys
Yes, I am congratulating myself today because my first novel is now available for download as an ebook on www.bn.com! I am so excited by this, not because I think it will make me rich and famous (I am a realist after all and know not to get my hopes up about anything), but because I am finally getting somewhere and doing something to accomplish my goal of becoming a published writer. And look, I did it! True, I'm not published in the traditional form, but I am electronically published, which is pretty thrilling for me. I ran into some problems getting my book uploaded, so it's a relief to know that everything worked out okay... so far. I'm excited, but hey, I'm still a glass half empty kind of girl.
Now, I just hope that someone will see my ebook, think it looks interesting, and be willing to pay $5.99 to download it. If you want to check out my novel on www.bn.com, search either Shannon Higgins or Secrets: A Willow Ryan Novel and it should come up. Wish me luck!
Yes, I am congratulating myself today because my first novel is now available for download as an ebook on www.bn.com! I am so excited by this, not because I think it will make me rich and famous (I am a realist after all and know not to get my hopes up about anything), but because I am finally getting somewhere and doing something to accomplish my goal of becoming a published writer. And look, I did it! True, I'm not published in the traditional form, but I am electronically published, which is pretty thrilling for me. I ran into some problems getting my book uploaded, so it's a relief to know that everything worked out okay... so far. I'm excited, but hey, I'm still a glass half empty kind of girl.
Now, I just hope that someone will see my ebook, think it looks interesting, and be willing to pay $5.99 to download it. If you want to check out my novel on www.bn.com, search either Shannon Higgins or Secrets: A Willow Ryan Novel and it should come up. Wish me luck!
Monday, November 1, 2010
I've Got the Barnes and Noble Blues
"Well now what's the use in dreamin'/ You got better things to do/ Dreams never did work for me anyway/ Even when they did come true." - "I Feel a Change Comin' On" by Bob Dylan
How's that for a nice pessimistic song? That is the attitude I had for the last few days about my latest venture into... e-publishing. After trying the traditional publishing route for over a year, I have decided that I need to try something different. Barnes and Noble is starting a new program where writers can upload their work and sell it on bn.com as a ebook! Sounds great right? After tons of editing, I tried to upload my book last week to no avail. I tried so many times I considered throwing my computer out the window and adding B&N's PubIt! to my long list of things that didn't work out publishing-wise.
But today, I got some helpful advice and had my mom try it from her computer at work, and surprise surprise, it worked! My first "Willow Ryan" book is now processing and HOPEFULLY will be available for download from www.bn.com later this week. It sounds too good to be true, so I hope the pessimist in my head is wrong in thinking that it probably is.
How's that for a nice pessimistic song? That is the attitude I had for the last few days about my latest venture into... e-publishing. After trying the traditional publishing route for over a year, I have decided that I need to try something different. Barnes and Noble is starting a new program where writers can upload their work and sell it on bn.com as a ebook! Sounds great right? After tons of editing, I tried to upload my book last week to no avail. I tried so many times I considered throwing my computer out the window and adding B&N's PubIt! to my long list of things that didn't work out publishing-wise.
But today, I got some helpful advice and had my mom try it from her computer at work, and surprise surprise, it worked! My first "Willow Ryan" book is now processing and HOPEFULLY will be available for download from www.bn.com later this week. It sounds too good to be true, so I hope the pessimist in my head is wrong in thinking that it probably is.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Write the Next Line
"Why do I find it so hard to write the next line?" - "True" by Spandau Ballet
I just completed a massive edit on my first Willow novel and am now seven chapters into the second one. For the most part it has gone very well, but there have been a few lines that have just tripped me up. For one reason or another they just didn't read right to me, so I ended up changing them over and over again until I either had to take a break from frustration or I was finally satisfied with the results. I know that editing is a major part of writing, but it's my least favorite part - by far!
I'm hoping that this work will pay off though. Barnes and Noble is starting a very exciting e-publishing program that I will talk more about in the near future when I am ready to dive into this head first. Now, back to editing! Ugh.
I just completed a massive edit on my first Willow novel and am now seven chapters into the second one. For the most part it has gone very well, but there have been a few lines that have just tripped me up. For one reason or another they just didn't read right to me, so I ended up changing them over and over again until I either had to take a break from frustration or I was finally satisfied with the results. I know that editing is a major part of writing, but it's my least favorite part - by far!
I'm hoping that this work will pay off though. Barnes and Noble is starting a very exciting e-publishing program that I will talk more about in the near future when I am ready to dive into this head first. Now, back to editing! Ugh.
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