Megan S. Johnston hosts a Q & A discussion

Hello everyone! Thank you for joining my Q & A Group. You can ask any question you like on what its like to be a new author, or anything about the writing process.
I will start on April 10th and be here for two weeks.
In the mean time, please introduce yourself.

If you are an author, please post the name of your novel.

Thank you
Transition

Hello Megan, I'm also a "new" writer. Thanks for the invite.
I've written since June 2006. My first full-length novel launches March 29th.
If you have any questions about marketing your books, or yourself as a writer, please feel free to ask. :)

Hi,

Congrats you guys.You rock.

I am Marina.A hobbyist writer. I live in Brooklyn, NY and am 29 yo until this Sun then I'll be 30!
I write erotic romance. Ty Megan for inviting me.

Hello.thanks for including me.

Hello, and thanks for the invitation. I'm a writer of fantasy and horror stories.

Hi Megan,
My debut YA Paranormal/Time Travel/First Kiss romance novel entitled "I Kissed a Ghost" got released on December 20, 2012.

If you like to have some information about Off-Line Marketing I'd like to invite you to check out my web site http://www,mypennameonly.webs.com and look for the tab on the left.

I'll send you my question next month and give you my answer to it as well.

Hi Megan -

Thanks so much for the invite!

Robin Leigh wrote: "Hi Megan,
My debut YA Paranormal/Time Travel/First Kiss romance novel entitled "I Kissed a Ghost" got released on December 20, 2012.

If you like to have some information about Off-Line Marketing I..."

Robin,
I tried to check out your website, but it doesn't go through. Would you please check it again?
Thank you

Megan

Hi Megan! Thanks for the invite :)

I am a new writer about halfway through my first book, I have no idea what to do when I am done with it find an editor, try and get it published or self publish? It's definitely more of a "New Adult" type of book. Right now I am just writing and loving it. I have always wanted to be a writer now that my kids are older I finally have the chance.

Hi, Megan! Thanks for inviting me to this group. I'm looking forward to the Q&A next month. I'll be sure to think up some good questions in the meantime. ^_^

I recently finished the first draft of a contemporary romance novella. I'm not happy with it (at all), and have set it aside in preparation for editing. Though I am also working on an extended outline for a longer version of the story, one that may actually make novel length. I plan to start the actual writing (or editing) early next month.

Lura

Megan wrote: "Robin Leigh wrote: "Hi Megan,
My debut YA Paranormal/Time Travel/First Kiss romance novel entitled "I Kissed a Ghost" got released on December 20, 2012.

If you like to have some information about ..."

I found the problem with the link. There is a comma after the www. It should be a period, like so: http://www.mypennameonly.webs.com That link should work. ^_-

Hello everyone! Thank you for joining my Q & A about what it's like being a new author.
I will be here everyday for the next two weeks answering your many questions. I am hopeful I will have the right answers/advice for you.
It took me about 2 1/2 years from start to finish before I self-published my first novel, Transition, The Chimera Hunters, with Author House.

This answer is for Destiny: Finish your novel first, and after it is edited many, many times, then look at your choices of whether to self-pub or go traditional.

Thanks a lot for inviting me to your Q & A session... I have considered doing one myself!

I self published my first novel last year, then published the second book in November www.theevolutiontrilogy.blogspot.com. In the meantime, I published short story collections in aid of charity www.shortstoriesgroup.blogspot.com

Go to my profile to check out all my books Vanessa Wester

I have not submitted to agents since Jan 2012 and have considered going down that road recently. I self published because I wanted to share my work and saw it as a challenge. However, the promotion of my books takes up a lot of my time and I would love to have a "marketing" team behind me. My reviews have been very good so far and I believe my Trilogy would do well in the mainstream.

Could you let me know what you are planning to do to promote your book?

Also, why did you go with Author House? What was the publishing process like for you?

Thanks a lot
Vanessa :)

Vanessa wrote: "Thanks a lot for inviting me to your Q & A session... I have considered doing one myself!

I self published my first novel last year, then published the second book in November www.theevolutiontri..."

Vanessa wrote: "Thanks a lot for inviting me to your Q & A session... I have considered doing one myself!

I self published my first novel last year, then published the second book in November www.theevolutiontri..."

Well Vanessa, after months of deliberation I decided on Author House because they offered some of the same things a traditional publisher does, at a reasonable rate. I also wanted the experience of self-publishing. Even with traditional publishing you have to do most of the marketing yourself. The process went very smooth, they walked me through everything.
My novel came out in May of 2012, and I wish I had started my social media prior to it coming out.
I went with M3 Media for a lot of my marketing, but now they only do my twitter media for me, I do the rest. And yes, it is time consuming. I will be pitching the next novel in the series this coming July to Agents and Editors at the PNWA.

Lura wrote: "Hi, Megan! Thanks for inviting me to this group. I'm looking forward to the Q&A next month. I'll be sure to think up some good questions in the meantime. ^_^

I recently finished the first draft of..."

Hi Lura, is there anything you would like to know about the writing process?

Wendy wrote: "Hi Megan -

Thanks so much for the invite!"

Thanks for joining Wendy...

A.F. wrote: "Hello, and thanks for the invitation. I'm a writer of fantasy and horror stories."

Hello A.F., Do you have any questions on the writing process?

Megan wrote: "Robin Leigh wrote: "Hi Megan,
My debut YA Paranormal/Time Travel/First Kiss romance novel entitled "I Kissed a Ghost" got released on December 20, 2012.

If you like to have some information about ..."

Hi Robin,
I will check out your novel. Do you have any questions for me?

Catrina wrote: "Hello Megan, I'm also a "new" writer. Thanks for the invite.
I've written since June 2006. My first full-length novel launches March 29th.
If you have any questions about marketing your books, or ..."

Hi Catrina, I think everyone would like to know about marketing, since it is so time consuming.

Research. When do you do it and when do you recommend doing it? Should I finish researching before I start the first draft of a novel? Or is it okay to do research while writing or even after finishing the first draft?

I started doing research for a historical paranormal novel about two and a half years ago. I never finished the research and have only written a few scenes. But maybe I just need more discipline.

For my current WIP, I need to research a couple of things. I finished the first draft and have started on the second but find myself wishing I'd done my research in between drafts. I think, for this one, I'm going to have to pause this draft until after I finish researching the one Big Thing that needs it.

Lura wrote: "Research. When do you do it and when do you recommend doing it? Should I finish researching before I start the first draft of a novel? Or is it okay to do research while writing or even after finis..."

Lura,

In regards to research: When I write, I find it is easier for me to do the research as I go along. For some authors, they write everything out, then do their research. It is a personal preference on what is easier for the author.
In regards to the editing of the drafts, I believe I must have edited my novel at least ten times before I sent it to my editor. Then she did a first draft, then a second.
I hope this helps.

Megan S. Johnston

Megan wrote: "Hello everyone! Thank you for joining my Q & A about what it's like being a new author.
I will be here everyday for the next two weeks answering your many questions. I am hopeful I will have the ri..."

Thanks for the advice Megan, I appreciate the feedback!

Megan wrote: "A.F. wrote: "Hello, and thanks for the invitation. I'm a writer of fantasy and horror stories."

Hello A.F., Do you have any questions on the writing process?"

I'm curious, since I write fantasy, on how you use traditional mythology in your books. Do you use myth and legends often as a basis for stories? And when you do use them, do you like to stay close to the original myths, rework old legends, or do you like to mix it up?

A.F. wrote: "Megan wrote: "A.F. wrote: "Hello, and thanks for the invitation. I'm a writer of fantasy and horror stories."

Hello A.F., Do you have any questions on the writing process?"

I'm curious, since I w..."

A.F., what an awesome question:

Yes, my novels are based on myths and legends. I take an idea then make it my own. My first novel is based on the Chimera, in Greek mythology, which is a fire-breathing female monster resembling a lion in the forepart, a goat in the middle, and a dragon behind. But my Chimera are a race of people who can change their shape into different animals and were condemned by the Gods to walk the earth in search of their one true mate for life.
I took an idea,(fiction)and ran with it.

Destiny wrote: "Megan wrote: "Hello everyone! Thank you for joining my Q & A about what it's like being a new author.
I will be here everyday for the next two weeks answering your many questions. I am hopeful I wi..."

Your very welcome Destiny.

Megan wrote: "Lura wrote: "Research. When do you do it and when do you recommend doing it? Should I finish researching before I start the first draft of a novel? Or is it okay to do research while writing or eve..."

I had a feeling the research thing would be a matter of personal preference. Thanks.

I already knew I'd have to edit and edit and edit. My first draft was just utter crap. I skipped over too much and skimmed important scenes. And probably added a few unnecessary scenes as well. I've a feeling I'll end up with around a dozen drafts before it's anywhere near ready.

Hey everyone, my name is Pierce Minor, author of the TWISTIR novel. Thanks for the invite Megan!

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...

Lura wrote: "Megan wrote: "Lura wrote: "Research. When do you do it and when do you recommend doing it? Should I finish researching before I start the first draft of a novel? Or is it okay to do research while ..."

Lura wrote: "Megan wrote: "Lura wrote: "Research. When do you do it and when do you recommend doing it? Should I finish researching before I start the first draft of a novel? Or is it okay to do research while ..."

Lura,

My first draft of Transition was in first person and was awful to say the least. It took me 4 months to re-write it in 3rd person, which I found much easier. I am in the process of writing the 2nd in the series and I will continue to write in 3rd person point of view.

Megan

Pierce wrote: "Hey everyone, my name is Pierce Minor, author of the TWISTIR novel. Thanks for the invite Megan!

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17..."

Welcome to this question and answer group Pierce. I will check out your novel. What was it like for you when you first became an author?

Thanks Megan!

You know, I've published 3 books, but since Twistir is my first novel, I feel like it's all new to me... hearing feedback from new readers who've been living with my characters for a matter of days or weeks, and I've been living with them for such a long time... It's really hard to describe the feeling. It's definitely positive and exciting, but also kind of eerie. Because while you're locking yourself away for months (or years) on end, trying to finish the book, you hope people will like it. But it's still strange when they do, and you're like "Wait, what? Did you say you LOVED it??" lolol. I will say one thing I've been feeling lately... the pressure to release the next book. People want to know what happens next, which is great, but also a little scary. I'm thinking, "Oh crap, what if they hate the second book??" lol. I guess every author with a series goes through this.

But like I said, an overall positive experience (minus the sleepless nights and early mornings.) Like now, it's not even 7am in Los Angeles, and I've been up working for an hour, after barely sleeping, and I'll be hitting Starbucks in about 15 minutes. Normally, I like going when they open at 5am and no one's there.

Pierce wrote: "Thanks Megan!

You know, I've published 3 books, but since Twistir is my first novel, I feel like it's all new to me... hearing feedback from new readers who've been living with my characters for a..."

I can understand your frustration, I am half way through the second novel in my series, The Chimera Hunters, and feel the stress of getting it done.
I find working on my novel first thing in the morning when I am refreshed, to be the best time for me. It seems as though we follow the same line of thinking.

Megan

Megan wrote: "Lura,

My first draft of Transition was in first person and was awful to say the least. It took me 4 months to re-write it in 3rd person, which I found much easier. I am in the process of writing the 2nd in the series and I will continue to write in 3rd person point of view.

Megan"

My first draft was all third person, except for the one day I randomly wrote in first person. (I think I was half asleep that day.) The second draft has the same two POVs, but the female POV is being written in first person and the male POV is in third person. So far it's working out alright, but we'll see how it holds up. I'm actually glad I screwed up and wrote that one scene in first period during the first draft. I like the flow of that better for my female POV character. Not sure why, but it just sounds better.

Celeste,

Have you sent out review copies to book bloggers? Depending on who you can get to review your book, word-of-mouth (well, cyber mouths) can spread pretty quickly.

There are several blogs dedicated to reviewing romance and/or paranormal books in general. Some of them have large followings. (I.e.: Smart Bitches, Trashy Books specializes in romance book reviews. Bitten by Paranormal Romance specializes in paranormal romance. Both of those have over 500 followers. I'm pretty sure they have over 1000 followers each. I can give links shortly; I just have to go look them up.)

If you haven't done the above, I highly recommend it. Most bloggers will accept ebooks, so doing that could be free.

Hope this helps,
Lura

P.S. I have a book blog of my own, but it has a fairly small following and has been on hiatus for most of the past two years. I actually just restarted blogging this past Saturday. I'd be happy to read and do a review for you, but I don't know how much it would help. ^_^

Megan wrote: "Pierce wrote: "Thanks Megan!

You know, I've published 3 books, but since Twistir is my first novel, I feel like it's all new to me... hearing feedback from new readers who've been living with my c..."

Megan,

Lol. I wish I could be a normal morning person. My brain begins to "work" at around 8-10pm(ish), depending on what I did that day, and I'm usually "refreshed" bright and early ONLY when I didn't sleep the night before. lol. #VampireSchedule

Celeste wrote: "Hi Megan,
I have a question for all the authors here because I see that you have used a company to do marketing. I'm curious what others, who have not hired someone, do to market their self publish..."

Celeste,

It's too early for me to know how well this works for my novel, but they seem to come in handy for me whenever I get the tough question, "So, what's the book about?"

I use Vistaprint to create business cards that look just like my book cover. On the backside, there's a quick description of the story, (or hook, or LOGLINE), along with a background photo, the book website, and a QR code that can be scanned by smartphones. These are relatively cheap, compared to expensive flyers, and easy to make yourself on the Vistaprint site. Depending on how simple you want them, you might even be able to get away with a free design and just pay for shipping costs.

Hope this helps!

-Pierce

P.S. - I guess the point would be that... I keep these with me at ALL times. (In the car, my bags, jacket pockets, gym bag, etc.) You never know...

Celeste,

I'm sorry to hear you've had such crap luck with sending out review copies. That really stinks. I currently have several reviews I need to finish, but I'd be happy to add your book to my queue. It may take a month for me to get to doing the review, though. I'll message you with more info as well as where to send it if you're still interested.

Have you visited local libraries and asked if they mind if you leave some of your business cards? I've left a few (generally 3 or 4) bookmarks and/or romance trading cards at the local library when I've done street teams for a couple of authors. Also, if your local library does e-book lending you can find out about donating one of your books for that. That along with the business cards could help get the word out locally. From there, who knows how far it could spread?

Also, any time you see someone with a book (or ereader), ask if they read romance. If they reply in the positive, hand them a card. Ask them to pass it on if they're not interested in your particular brand of romance to anyone they know who would be. For example, one of my co-workers only reads inspirational romance, but she knows that I read pretty much everything. She would pass your card onto me.

Hope some of this helps. I'm mostly just tossing out ideas. Things I've heard of/seen other authors do, things I've helped other authors with, etc. I'm hoping to use some/all of these things for myself eventually. Once I have something worth publishing. ^_^

Lura

EDIT: P.S. I must be more asleep than I thought. I really seem to like the word also right now. ^_-

Celeste wrote: "Hi Megan,
I have a question for all the authors here because I see that you have used a company to do marketing. I'm curious what others, who have not hired someone, do to market their self publish..."

Celeste,

Point taken by Lura! You can do a lot on Goodreads to promote your novel for FREE. I did a giveaway and over 700 people added my novel to their TO READ LIST. Also, R2R (Read to review) is a great site here on Goodreads. Give them the information and get readers to review it on Amazon, B & N and Goodreads. Also, do book tours with bloggers, you can find some that do it for FREE too.
Hope this helps...

Megan

Megan -

Congrats on new release and thanks for the invitation.

Very interesting exchange and am learning a lot. My number top questions have to do with marketing. You mention book blogs, how did you find them? Just doing searches? Or is there a more efficient way?

Thanks and will add you book to my list. As Stephen King says, "If you're too busy to read, you're too busy to write."

Book Blog Directory: http://directory.kaysbookshelf.com/

My book blog, TuraLura's picks was listed there two years ago. It currently is not listed, but I have applied to get in reinstated as I have started blogging again. I'm hoping to have another review going up later today or earlyish tomorrow. (Not sure which of my long list of backlogged reviews it will be though.)

Wendy wrote: "Megan -

Congrats on new release and thanks for the invitation.

Very interesting exchange and am learning a lot. My number top questions have to do with marketing. You mention book blogs, how di..."

Hello Wendy, thank you for joining us. The way I found the different tours, is here on Goodreads. I searched different groups until I found several that worked for me. I also found several through twitter, where I have over 16,000 followers. Social media has been a great source for me. It takes time, but in the end is worth it.