I haven’t posted in a while, so I figured I’d catch you all up on what I’ve been up to over the last month or so. In no particular order, here are some of the things I have accomplished:
- Received my 100th rating and review of the Evolution Trilogy on Goodreads. Thank you to everyone who has bought and rated my books, but not the negative reviews, I hate you!! Just kidding, I appreciate all feedback, even the negative, because it helps me understand my readers and how to improve as a writer (just be gentle, please, I’m fragile :) Sales of the trilogy are now over 800 although I think I’ve given away more books than I’ve sold!
- Completed the first beta draft of my new YA dystopian novel. I am so proud of my new book and hope I can find an agent soon! Please, please, pretty please agents, I would love to be your client. I’m a hard worker, a quick learner, work well with people…I feel like I’m in a job interview so I’ll stop now. Anyway, I’ll wash your car, babysit your child, buy your coffee, whatever it takes (but I’m not desperate I swear).
- Received feedback on my new novel from my beta readers. Thank you to all my beta readers, you are amazing and have a wonderful eye for detail and I can honestly say that after revising, editing and rewriting based on your comments, my novel is significantly better. I think you’ve just earned yourselves a spot in the acknowledgements, wink, wink. I just wanted to share some of my favorite beta reader comments because they put a huge smile on my face:
-“I’m excited for the next book and this one isn’t even out yet!” -Alexandria
-“HOLY CRAP! I literally JUST finished and I’m kind of on that crazy after-you-finish-an-epic-book high!” –Kerri
-“OH MY GOD!!! What a lovely story David! I am in LOVE with it!” –Nicole
-“Awesome job. Can’t wait till the book is going to come out. Let me know when so I can demand all my friends to read it.” –Kay
-“I was heartbroken and cried my eyes out, but that’s one of the things I love. If an author can make me feel that much emotion through their characters then in my book that makes them so much better.” –Kay again
-“The action was absolutely amazing, and it kept me on my toes the entire time! Overall it was kinda sorta FREAKING AWESOME!” –Kerri again
-“I love this book! I am already dying to know what happens next!” –Christina
-“Wonderful story!” –Laurie
Thanks again to all my readers, beta readers, friends and family for all of the support you’ve given me so far. Undoubtedly I’ll need your help again soon as I try to realize my dream of becoming a full time writer.
Behind every writer there’s an army of heroes!
Wow, congratulations! I got the same kind of feedback from my beta readers on my new literary fiction novella, Creation, and I was jumping for joy. I'm swimming in my own novels and coursework right now, but I'll check out your new novel over the summer (assuming it's out by then). Congrats on all of those AE reviews as well. I'm sorry that mine was on the negative side, but I definitely agree that negative reviews can be extremely insightful. I was taken aback by a ranting one-star review I got on B&N, but as I thought about it, I realized the reviewer was right on a lot of points, and I was horrified after reading through my novel post-pub and seeing they were right. I'd completely missed the mark on what I want to accomplish, and I'd let my characters down. I wanted to make Zanni a bad-ass, but I definitely fell back into the whole scaredy-cat femme thing as so many novels do. Thankfully, I have two more novels in the trilogy to redeem myself and to make her grow into a stronger character. Live and learn, right? (Or in this case, write and learn.)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Kat, I was so excited when the positive feedback from my beta's started rolling in :) I only shared the positive here, but there was lots of constructive feedback too, so that was so helpful in identifying some of the mistakes I made in the book...I don't have a release date yet as I am seeking a literary agent which could take a few months. No worries on your review of Angel Evolution, I have definitely gotten worse, and similar to the negative review you received your comments were pretty spot on anyway! I think your first book, Darkness Surrounding, as well as my first book were pretty decent attempts considering we self-published them and it was our first try. As long as we learn from our mistakes and take them into the next novel, it will all be worth it. Best of luck with Creation and Streets.
DeleteI am about halfway through Angel Evolution and am loving it soo far! Oh wait, got to get back to reading. DON'T TELL ME ANYTHING!!! (I like surprises) :D
ReplyDeleteLOL, that's awesome Holly, so glad you are enjoying it :) The other two in the trilogy are even better, I promise! Enjoy! P.S. my sister's name is Holly :)
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