Natasha Alexander » self-publishing

Just Desserts: The official launch!

Natasha — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 17:37:20 +0000

It’s official! I’m excited to announce that Just Desserts: Greed. Lust. Death. Tiramisu. is now available for purchase – and your reading pleasure – as a Kindle Book from Amazon, a Nook Book from Barnes & Noble and an eBook for other ereaders AND as a PDF download from Smashwords.

This launch is such a big deal that cities and towns across the U.S.A. are celebrating with live concerts and massive fireworks displays all week-end long! At least I think it’s for my book launch – maybe something else is going on as well.

What’s Just Desserts about? Among other things, it’s about greed. And lust. And death. And – you guessed it – tiramisu. Here’s the short blurb you’ll find on each publisher’s site:

Vince Fantozzi is stuck in a dead-end rut, kowtowing to his dad’s every demand while he watches his own life slip away from him.

Until Shirley and Jack move in next door.

Suddenly, the pursuit of happiness – or maybe some decent lasagna – shoves everyone into the fast lane and turns Vince’s life on its edge as he careens down a road he never thought he’d travel, accompanied by an eccentric bunch of fellow travelers.

Just Desserts is a novella, so it can slip easily into an empty hour time-slot in your life. I tried describing it as a “one beer beach read” until I was reminded that I drink very slowly, so it might be a “two beer beach read” – especially on a hot day.

Practically none of the genre categories the publishers offer work for me, so here are a couple of my own descriptors to add to “fiction, general” and “fiction, humorous”:

sort-of-noir
Carl Hiaasen lite
noir: over easy
Southern-fiction-but-not-really

Just Desserts probably fits into “dick lit” as well (yes this category exists) since it’s edgy and funny and I blow stuff up but no, I can’t go there. I just can’t. Y’all understand, I hope, and bless your hearts.

Here’s what some of my beta readers have to say about Just Desserts:

“I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t Dennis Lehane goes South. Great fun.”

“Grows on you and keeps you curious about what is coming next.”

“I love it! It’s ready for prime time.”

“I like it, Mom.” (I know, what else could he say?) “Especially the last couple of chapters, because I had no idea what was going to happen next.”

Curious? Let me know what you think. You can read the first two chapters by clicking JUST DESSERTS EXCERPT at the top of the page. Then I hope you’ll order and read the entire book.

Now go watch some Just Desserts fireworks and join the celebration!

I Love a Winner!

Natasha — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 21:25:30 +0000

Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all.

Well, Cathryn Grant’s Book and Kindle Giveaway is over – you can find out who won the contest here.

But I gotta say – I really feel like I was a big winner last week. It was fun to welcome new visitors to my blog and to visit those blogs in return. I discovered several new-to-me blogs to follow regularly, and that’s a real treat. I learned something about the passions that fuel people’s need to read and to write.

Of course I look at everything through my own lens, but getting into someone’s head – whether a fictional character, an author, or your own head as a reader/writer – to learn a bit more about human nature is a thread running through most of the comments. I get that, wanting to write about characters who climb into the brain somehow, want to read about them.

I’m reading Elizabeth George’s For the Sake of Elena right now. George has an amazing talent for slowly tossing little pieces of a character out like breadcrumbs that you just have to follow, hungry to learn more.

I bought the book at a used book fair last year and when I opened it, I found a little purple card taped on the inside front cover with this written on it: Absolutely the best Elizabeth George. If you like this one, you can go back and read all of them.

oh. yeah.

Go Inside the Writers’ Studio to learn more about independent publishing

Natasha — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:12:20 +0000

The lovely Paper Rats, Kel and Kris, post an informative interview with April Hamilton and Zoe Winters today. Here’s a chunk of their introduction, which ought to be enough to send you scurrying Inside the Writers’ Studio to read the whole thing here:

Once looked down on as a path for the untalented, self-publishing (or independent/indie publishing) is becoming an increasingly more respectable way for authors to get their work into the public eye. Some have used it as a stepping stone to a “traditional” publishing deal, while others are content, even happy, to do-it-themselves. Some authors have even found self-publishing to be a viable way to make a living.

April Hamilton and Zoe Winters are two writers who were at the forefront of the “Indie Author” movement. April is the founder of Publetariat, “an online community and news hub built specifically for indie authors and small, independent imprints.” Zoe produces a humorous animated YouTube series called “Zoe Who?“, which seeks to combat the stigma that still surrounds self-publishing.

In addition to their own works of fiction, April and Zoe have each published informative guides for writers who are considering self-publishing: April’s is called The Indie Author Guide: Self-Publishing Strategies Anyone Can Use and Zoe’s is Smart Self-Publishing: Becoming an Indie Author. Today, Inside The Writers’ Studio talks to April and Zoe about their books, about the conflict between the traditional and indie publishing worlds, and about what makes a good self-publisher.

Reading, Writing, Thoreau, Soccer Moms, Kindle Giveaway – oh my!

Natasha — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 16:07:42 +0000

I’m participating, along with several other bloggers, in Cathryn Grant’s Suburban Noir Fiction and Kindle Giveaway. Lucky winners will receive a FREE copy of Cathryn’s debut novel, The Demise of the Soccer Moms, OR a FREE Wi-Fi Kindle pre-loaded with the novel.

My post today about my love for reading and writing is part of the contest. Read it, read the contest rules below, and then leave a comment on my post to enter the Giveaway. Good luck!

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I’ve always felt inadequate around Top Ten lists. I’ve never been able to hone in on just ten of anything and declare them my all-time favorites. There are simply too many “tops” to pick from in most categories, and “it depends” turns out to be first on most of my lists. Mood, time of day, what I had for lunch — they all influence my choices, which can change faster than coastal weather.

Same thing with developing a short list of why I love to read and write. It depends — there are SO MANY possible reasons fighting for top ten status on my Literary Love List.

Cathryn Grant, indie author of the just-released Demise of the Soccer Moms, and Linda Cassidy Lewis, indie author of soon-to-be-released The Brevity of Roses, had a wonderful conversation yesterday on Linda’s blog. You can read it here. Cathryn talked about the pull of examining “lives of quiet desperation” and how that pull drives some of her writing.

Yeah, I get it. Even those of us with pretty great lives feel that quiet desperation at some point(s) in our lives. Reading gives us a chance to explore that desperation through the lives of characters we can relate to – sometimes with a happy face resolution, sometimes with a resulting pile of dead bodies, sometimes with, well, no resolution at all.

Reading provides an opportunity to get out of our own skins and into someone else’s. A good writer makes that step from one skin to another seamless. A great writer makes it inevitable.

Getting inside another person’s head is just one of the reasons I love to read. I like to think it helps me understand human nature a tad better. Not just the desperation, but the aspirations, hopes, doubts, fears, loves that drive us.

Getting inside another head is a great draw for me as a writer, too. Especially when that other head, that other character, takes risks I would never attempt on my own.

I have more reasons, of course, for loving to read and write, and they are always changing.

But enough about me. How about YOU?

What compels you to read? To write?

Enquiring minds want to know.

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Enter the Suburban Noir contest for the chance to win a copy of “The Demise Of The Soccer Moms”. The grand prize is a Wi-Fi Kindle. Rules for the Kindle Giveaway:

1. Between February 4 and midnight PST, February 11, comment on any one or all of the 7 participating blogs to get one entry per comment. Limit of one comment per blog for a possible total of 7 entries.

2. Between February 4 and midnight PST, February 11, tweet any one or all of the participating blogs to get one entry per tweet. Limit of one tweet per blog for a possible total of 7 entries. Tweets must have @CathrynGrant so I can track them.

3. Participants can have a total of 14 entries between commenting on blogs and tweeting.

4. Ten people will win their choice of an eBook or paperback copy of Cathryn Grant’s Suburban Noir Thriller, “The Demise Of The Soccer Moms”. One additional person will win a Wi-Fi Graphite Kindle (valued at $139) pre-loaded with a copy of “The Demise Of The Soccer Moms”. Please note the paperback copy will not be available until March. Winners will be chosen by a random number generator.

The schedule for entering at participating blogs is listed at Cathryn’s blog.

Sex toys and iPods

Natasha — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:54:05 +0000

Well, if this title doesn’t up my blog stats and clog my spam filter, I don’t know what will.

I’m sorry to disappoint those of you visiting my site for the first time because of its title, but this post is actually about how authors merchandise and sell their books.

No, really.

Bye. Thanks for dropping by, and come back again, y’all… In my next post, I’m gonna write about punctuation faux pas and it should be pretty – uh – revealing as well.

Okay: I read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal on How Authors Move Their Own Merchandise. In it, writers shared some stories about what they’ve done to get noticed and ultimately to sell their books.

The article should definitely give pause to any writers hoping that going with a traditional publisher means the publisher will do the marketing for them. That just ain’t the case. However you publish your book – indie or big-box publisher – you need to be prepared to do some heavy lifting in the marketing arena in addition to the typical social networking blitz.

According to Penny Sansevieri, CEO of Author Marketing Experts, 1,500 books are published every day in the U.S., including traditionally and independently published titles. She’s quoted in the WSJ article: “To get noticed, you have to throw more at people than just your book.” She’s in the book marketing business so of course she’ll say that, but still…

Which is where the sex toys come in. Lynn Schnurnberger chose Babeland, “a sort of FOA Schwarz for adults,” for her publication party for The Best Laid Plans since one scene in the novel takes place there. Got her and her book noticed.

My WIP is tentatively called Tap Dancing at the County Fair and the thought of locational publication parties terrifies me, frankly.

Give-aways like key chains and drawings for iPods or e-readers are popular to draw attention to a book. You’ll see one of those give-away drawings on this very blog in a couple of weeks.

Putting together a cabaret show based on your book? Another marketing scheme that a couple of writers have done. (You will NOT see that here.)

And, of course, buy-one-get-one-free: tucking in a copy of someone else’s novel with your own book. That’s what Ayelet Waldman did to boost sales of her Bad Mother in 2009: She included a free copy of a novel by her husband.

Uh, Waldman’s husband is Michael Chabon.

The Michael Chabon.

Ya think that helped Bad Mother make it to the New York Times best-seller list?

Still, even if you didn’t marry a Pulitzer-Prize-for-literature winner, the WSJ article has some worthwhile hints, though it can be a tad depressing to realize that putting on your thigh high latex boots to market yourself and your book is a must-do.

This brings me to a different literary couple: John Yunker and Midge Raymond. I’d never heard of either of them until yesterday, when, thanks to R.J. Keller’s Facebook share, I came to Love in the Time of Amazon: A Book Trailer about Sales Rank.

Read the blurb, and watch their trailer – funny and probably painfully true. And then, of course, buy their books.

Oh – about the boots. They’re available online for $369.60. You know what to Google to find them.

Me, I’m sticking with the tap shoes for now, but you never know…