It's Official!!!

It’s official!

First, I want to thank all the wonderful, amazing people who have been behind me through this whole thing. I never could have survived, or continued, if it hadn’t been for all your loving support and occasional push when needed. I love you all to pieces.

After hundreds of hours, buckets of sweat and tears, kaparkinson.com is finally finished and I have a tentative release date for The Ninth Chosen: The Shadow Prison for the first week of June! 

AHHH! Sorry, I had to scream. This has been such a long road. I know it’s not over yet, in many ways it’s just beginning, but I feel like I have made it across a huge milestone and it deserves a virtual scream:).

I am so excited! This is a huge, scary, step, but I’m so thrilled you’ll be taking it with me. Because I am doing this all by myself, I owe so much to my early fans and blog followers. You all have been my beta-testers and cheerleaders. It has been, and will continue to be, your comments and suggestions that make the website and final book something that will entertain and draw future audiences. Please don’t be afraid to give me honest feedback. If you think something great needs to be added to the website, let me know. If you see something awful that needs to be fixed, let me know. The comments on Wattpad will only give everyone a better final read. The comments and feedback on the website will only make it more fun and entertaining for everyone. I LOVE suggestions!

Here’s a short list for what is in store for your visit to the website:)

·       *All new subscribers to the website will receive an awesome free PDF entitled, Insights into the Main Characters of the Ninth Chosen Series. It has some amazing character sketches by Lisa as well as fun tidbits about the main characters that couldn’t be included in the book without huge info dumps:). This also allows you to receive automatic email updates when I post something about the book, like release dates, preorders, and other fun stuff.

  

     *There is an About the Hidden World page where you can learn all about many of the characters and creatures of the Hidden world. It includes sketches by Lisa as well as some by me.

·       *There is an About Lisa Anderson page where you can read about my amazing illustrator, link to her Facebook, or even contact her for her commission pricing.

·        *There is an About the Book page where you can read the basic blurb for the book.

·       *There is an About the Characters page where you can view a list of Characters as well as the definitions of different terms used in the book and a language dictionary.

·       *Each page has a several share buttons from Facebook to Pinterest. Lisa has given permission to “pin” the images you see of hers to your Pinterest boards or share them via other social media, so long as the main URL still directs back to the website and her copyright is not removed. 

  

·       *On the About the Hidden World page there is a link to my Pinterest board entitled, Novel: The Ninth Chosen, where you can view all the pins I relate to my story—character look-a-likes, creatures, and settings used in the book.

·       *On the main page you’ll find a link to Wattpad where you can read the first chapter. I’ll be adding a chapter a week until the book is officially released. If it goes as planned then you should be able to get a sneak peak and offer valuable feedback on the first eight to ten chapters! Reads with “comments”, “follows”, and "votes" on Wattpad greatly help my promotion, so I’d love for you all to take a look if you have time. You will have to create a free account, but it’s a really fun site and you can read a ton of books for free! Just put in your favorite genre, rating, and it will make suggestions for you to read. Some authors post samples for feedback, but some established authors actually post the whole book for free! Even big names like Brandon Sanderson post to Wattpad:)!

·       *Also on the main page will be links to all my most recent blog posts and categories.

I invite all you amazing people to come take a look, invite your friends, and leave a comment or two. Word of mouth is an Indie author’s best friend. 

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!! I hope you stay on the journey and don’t leave disappointed.
 

www.kaparkinson.com

 

If you have any questions or concerns you can email me at:  

kaparkinson AT kaparkinson DOT com

Stay tuned! Next week I plan to post a little history of how the book came about:)

Exciting News!!!

Over the next week or so there will be some big changes here on my blog. Backgrounds will change, pages will disappear (and reappear somewhere else), a cool new header will grace the top. . . .

Why . . . ?

Because my novel, The Ninth Chosen: The Shadow Prison, is going to take it's first baby steps into the world!

For the last year or so, I've been querying my little heart out only to have it stomped on time and time again, I was continually asking myself, should I persevere? Should I continue down this rocky road to publication? Or should I give up on this silly dream and be content with my already awesome job of stay-at-home mom?

I made my decision. I would quit and I would be okay with it.

I wasn't okay. I couldn't seem to get over it. It was a good decision. Why couldn't I let it go?

Because writing is a part of me. The greatest joy for me in writing comes when someone reads something I've written and tells me it had a positive effect on them. I have always loved working with and inspiring youth. I've known, despite my periods of self-doubt, that it is somehting I'm meant to do. I want to write and I want to inspire others. I can't stop writing any more than I can cut off my arm or stop breathing.

So what to do? I decided not to give up writing, but I was so sick of the publishing game. I asked the advice of my writing mentor Mary Rosenblum. She said two words that sent me into a panic. Self-Publish. . . .

Gasp! Self-publish? But . . . isn't that like saying, "I am a crappy writer and that's the only way I'll ever see my book in print"?

Boy was I wrong.

LOT'S of homework and tons of advice later, I've discovered that this is the best way for me personally to go, and probably always has been. I just had to get over the idea that no self-published authors write well. In fact, I've learned that many New York published authors are finishing out their contracts and turning to the freedoms of the Indie route as well.

It is a HUGE undertaking if you want to succeed. It's not just taking your manuscript, slapping a cover on it, and putting it on Amazon. It requires much, MUCH, more work than that. I have put in hundreds of hours already and I'm not done yet. But here's just a short list of why I decided to do it (after a lot of praying, crying, and sweating, I might add).

An Indie author sets their own deadlines. An Indie puts out as many (or as few) books as they want, AND in whatever genres they choose. They control the content--no one can tell them there's too much religion, not enough profanity, gore or risque elements. An Indie answers to no one but themselves. An Indie sets their own prices beyond the required amount of the printer/carrier. An Indie earns upwards of 70% of their royalties versus the average 15% with a big publisher. The Indie retains control of EVERYTHING. I can keep my focus on my main priority, my family, and still fulfill my dream of writing books for teens that are clean, moral, and entertaining.

The pitfalls?

An Indie answers to no one but themselves. . . . I have to do all my own promotion. ALL of it. That means paying for, setting up, and maintaining an active website; utilizing social media platforms like Goodreads, Wattpad, Pintrist, and even (if I can handle it) Facebook. I have to self-motivate. Set realistic deadlines and goals. Divide my time between writing and promotion. Whether or not the book succeeds resides mostly on my shoulders.

A little scary. (Sarcasm on little:)

The website is giving  me migraines, but hopefully it will be ready to share with you soon.

I've hired the artistic genius of Lisa Anderson to do my book cover design (check out her work on her faacebook page--she is AMAZING!!). She has some incredible character sketches of Tolen that are so eerily close to the way I see him in my head it gives me chills. It's like she looked right into my brain!

I have some BIG surprises in store for the website with the help of Lisa. Just a hint of what's to come: Character interviews featuring some of Lisa's sketches and fun little-known facts and backstory on the world of the Hidden. . . . There will also be exciting giveaways to celebrate the book's release (hopefully early summer--it will be available on Nook, Kindle, Kobo, as well as many other ereader devices via Smashwords, and in paperback on Amazon. com). I will also be offering special gifts to those who subscribe by email for the website newsletter.

I hope you are as excited as I am for the website and release of The Ninth Chosen. Come over for a visit as soon as it's up and running and bring your friends!

If you want to be alerted when the website is up as well as any other news of what's to come, sign up for the email subscription here--if you haven't done so already. Once the wesbite is up you can subscribe there for the newsletter and cancel your subscription to the blog if you choose.

Stay tuned!!! :)