Update Day and Where Else You Can Find Me

Hi everyone! Today’s Update Day for my Big Dreams Bloghop, so today I’ll be letting everyone know how I’ve done in July.

Before I start, though:

Today I’m also visiting Shah Wharton, giving some more reasons why I decided to self publish. Then, Nick Wilford posted an awesome review of The Vanished Knight, so if you're wondering if you should buy it, you might want to check it out. 

Okay with that said, let’s take a look-see at July and what I want to do in August.

My Goals for July: 

Writing: 

1) If my submissions aren't done by the end of the June, I want them done by end of the first week of July. 

Done, and today, both books have gone live.

2) Ditto for review copies being sent out. 

Done.

3) As soon the two above are done, I want to work on something new. Preferably a rough draft. I might join CampNano, but I'll see toward the end of June.

This I didn’t get to, but I’m now in a place where I can get started.

4) Edit my short story for my Untethered Realms Anthology.

Done.

Reading: 

1) Finish the book I'd started. 

Done.

2) Read other books. Not giving myself a goal as to how many, because I know things are going to go nuts once my books are published. 

Read one other book and started another.

Social Media: 

1) Send out all materials and guest posts etc for my blog tour. 

Done.

2) Maintain my web presence as far as humanly possible. 

Done.

Life: 

1) That Europe trip is still in the pipeline, but will possibly happen in July. I want to get all necessary things done before my plane takes off from Cape Town. 

Still didn’t happen, but that’s okay. It would have been too much on my plate, I think.

2) I want to recover from the publishing pressure by doing some other arts/crafts.

I got quite a bit of crocheting done.

3) Continue to grow my business.

Done.

So overall, I think I did great! Although I didn’t get a lot of fiction writing finished, I actually achieved all but one of my other goals.

This month is going to be a lot calmer, though, so I think I can ramp up my goal setting again.

My goals for August:

Writing:

1) Write 15k words.

2) Finish the rewrite to O1.

3) Edit BvB1

4) Edit ES1

5) Edit Untethered Realms Short Story

6) Tie up any remaining loose ends to The Vanished Knight and The Heir’s Choice. (Which includes publishing the paperback versions.)

7) Prep for rewrite to VD

8) Work on concept to P.

Writing-wise, my month should look something like this:

Reading:

1) Read six books.

2) One of which must be Shakespeare.

3) And another must be in French.

4) Read for an average of fifteen minutes per day. (Which mean I can read for an hour on one day and then skip three, if needs be.)

Social media:

1) Continue with my regular blogging schedule.

2) Regular Tumblr and Wattpad posts.

3) Start catching up on Wattpad Critiques

4) More regular presence on Twitter and Google Plus.

Life:

1) Continue to grow my business.

2) Get some crafty stuff done.

3) Start a painting/drawing.

Okay! That’s it for me. How did you do in July? Any goals for August?

Got a main character you don't like?

Hi everyone,

Today I'm at Coffintree Hill, giving tips on what to do when your main character's personality clashes with yours.

Hope to see you there!

Misha

Spectacles, Tea, Worldbuilding and Books

Hi everyone,

Are you wondering what spectacles, tea and worldbuilding have in common? Click here for the answer. (It's my guest post on Deniz's blog.)

Then, you can stand a chance to win BOTH my books on Crystal's blog. Click here for a guess at the lie.

Have a great day!

Misha

Tanya Miranda's Interviewing Me Today

Hi everyone!

Today, Tanya's interviewing me on writing, inspiration, and some things you probably don't know about me.

See you there, I hope!

Misha

I'm visiting the Ninja Captain today.

Hi everyone!

Today, I'm visiting Alex J. Cavanaugh, and sharing my top ten ways in which I broke "fantasy rules" in order to write my stories.

Hope to see you there!

Misha

Want to know how I beat the sagging middle?

Hi everyone!

Today, you can find me at Carole Anne Carr's blog, where I'm talking about beating the sagging middle. Hope to see you there.

Have a great weekend!

Misha

Visiting with Tyrean

Hi everyone!

Today you can find me at Tyrean's blog, where Tyrean interviewed me on books I read, writing and goals. I'd love to see you there!

Misha

I'm visiting Rachel Pattinson Today

Hi all!

Two things. The first is that I'm visiting Rachel today, talking about the economic reason why I'm self publishing.

Then, while we're on the subject of economics, do you know that there's a New Copyright Act coming? Well, it's not good, so please click here to find out what can be done.

Guys, I don't care what country you live in. If you depend on copyright, you need to read this.

At the risk of sounding seriously dramatic: The Copyright Act is under threat.

Big internet players are lobbying to change the law in ways that is not beneficial to the copyright holder.

First, I'm linking to Richmond Illustration Inc because that post explains all this much better than I can, but in case you're still wondering if you should bother to click through, let me present you with a little excerpt from the above mentioned site as a TL:DR:

• How Orphan Works will Impact Artists
Brad Holland in “The Return of Orphan Works: The Next Great Copyright Act” states:

“The Next Great Copyright Act” would replace all existing copyright law.
1. It would void our Constitutional right to the exclusive control of our work.
2. It would “privilege” the public’s right to use our work.
3. It would “pressure” you to register your life’s work with commercial registries.
4. It would “orphan” unregistered work.
5. It would make orphaned work available for commercial infringement by “good faith” infringers.

6. It would allow others to alter your work and copyright those “derivative works” in their own names.

7. It would affect all visual art: drawings, paintings, sketches, photos, etc.; past, present and future; published and unpublished; domestic and foreign.

Don't relax just yet, if you read here and here, you'll see it they're not limiting this to visual art. This extends to all copyright. 

In other words, this is a BIG DEAL, and it could directly affect us all if the new act goes through. As someone who already had a taste of almost losing my income to third parties using my work without my permission, I don't want to see this becoming legal in its current form. 

So what can we do? 

The Copyright Office is trying to figure out the best way to present a law that protects copyright holders while helping out people trying to do research. 

As such, they have put out a public call for comments on the law, and will use those comments when drafting a proposal for congress. 

So if you want to help them not propose what's currently on the table, please submit a letter here. 

Include the following in your letter: 

– It's important that you make your letter personal and truthful.
– Keep it professional and respectful.
– Explain that you're an artist and have been one for x number of years.
– Briefly list your educational background, publications, awards etc.
– Indicate the field(s) you work in.
– Explain clearly and forcefully that for you, copyright law is not an abstract legal issue, but the basis on which your business rests.
– Our copyrights are the products we license.
– This means that infringing our work is no different than stealing our money.
– It's important to our businesses that we remain able to determine voluntarily how and by whom our work is used.
– Stress that your work does NOT lose its value upon publication.
– Instead, everything you create becomes part of your business inventory.
– In the digital era, inventory is more valuable to artists than ever before.

If you are NOT a professional artist:

– Define your specific interest in copyright, and give a few relevant details.
– You might want to stress that it's important to you that you determine how and by whom your work is used.
–You might wish to state that even if you are a hobbyist, you would not welcome someone else monetizing your work for their own profit without your knowledge or consent.

(From The Return of Orphan Works: The Next Great Copyright Act)

A good example of a letter (albeit by a visual artist) can be found here. 

If you're still wondering about submitting, think about it this way: 

My letter took me about 30 minutes to draft. 

You have nothing to lose by writing and submitting one too. 

There are people who stand to gain HUGE profits from our copyrighted work if the current form of the New Copyright Act goes through, be it now or in the future: and it won't be you.

Next Stop: Next Door

Sort of. Actually, I'm visiting Murees Dupe, who lives so close to me that we met each other for coffee last weekend. (Which is a nice change from, you know, living on the other side of the world.)

My topic for today is Strong Female Characters, so head on over to tell me what you think. Even better, Murees has another excerpt posted. :-)

Next Stop: TF Walsh

Hi everyone!

Today I'm at TF Walsh's blog, writing about how I approach worldbuilding. There'll also be an excerpt, so if you'd like a glimpse of the series, do head over and say hi.

See you there, I hope!

Misha

And so it begins...

Hi everyone,

Today is the start of my blog tour, and I'm visiting Beth Fred. I'm sharing my best tips for self-publishing, so if it's something you're interested in, do stop by!

Misha

Sometimes, I think I'm turning into a terrible blogger.

It's not really my fault, though. Until Monday, I've been running around like a crazy person trying to get the final versions of my books submitted so that I can send them out to my reviewers.

Once that was done, I couldn't sit down and write this, because I have a boatload of guest posts and interviews to do. (At least three a week for five weeks starting Monday.) So yeah. Things are still hectic on my end. 

So much so that I *might* have succeeded in giving myself an ulcer. 

Sigh. 

No worries, though. I've just sent out the blog post for the Friday after next. The books are in. My proof copies for paperbacks are ordered. The review copies are out.  I've made the person who I dedicated the second book to cry on her birthday. 

Life's good. 

Even better, I submitted finals exactly twenty-six days before my release date. You know what that means? Yup. A to Z. 

I'm posting excerpts on my tumblr blog.  Two a day, each corresponding to the letter corresponding. If you'd like to check that out, go here. 

I'm also doing a check-up on my 2015 goals on my other blog.

After that, it's time for me to visit some awesome bloggers again. 

What are you up to?

Rachel Pattinson on Why It's Great to be an Indie Author

Hi everyone! Sorry for my prolonged silence this week! I'm really in crunch time with my publishing at the moment, but I'm pushing to get the books out this weekend. Don't worry, though. Today, I'm leaving my blog in Rachel Pattinson's capable hands. 

Before I go. Just want to point out the irony of the subject, because at midnight last night, I needed to remember that indie authoring is awesome. ;-)

Take it away, Rachel.

Four reasons why it's great to be an indie author

First of all, thanks for having me today, Misha!

Writing can be a lonely job. Especially if you're an indie author. You don't have the support of a giant publishing house behind you, you're not getting paid millions of pounds to write and you're still stuck in your day job for the foreseeable future. Let's face it: in our lowest moments, everyone has those days when they'd rather just quit this whole writing business and become a hermit instead.

Well today, I'm here to spread the indie author love and tell you why being an indie author rocks. Here are my four reasons why you should be celebrating the fact that you're an indie author:

1. You wrote a book
Okay, so this isn't strictly reserved for indie authors, but I think a lot of indie authors don't give themselves enough credit. Can we all just stop for a moment please, and recognise the fact that you wrote a book. An actual book. With actual words. That actual people can read. At some point you took all those weird little thoughts that have been swirling around your fantastically weird* brain and you've made something out of them. This is such a massive achievement and you should be shouting it from the rooftops. I've read a lot of blogs and articles from authors (whether traditionally or indie published) who say that it's always been their dream to write a book. Well guess what? Give yourself a great big tick - you've accomplished that dream.

*this is in no way a bad thing. Weird brains are awesome. We wouldn't be writers without them.

2. You get to keep creative control
I've heard horror stories about authors being forced to change every little thing about their books in order to fit in with what their editor/publisher/agent deems to be 'marketable'. Or they're expected to sign over all their rights to the highest bidder, regardless of what the author actually wants. But I like to think of the publishing world as a load of people frantically trying to find a needle in a haystack. No one really knows whats going to happen. No one really knows what the 'next big thing' will be. Yes, people can make educated guesses on what readers might like, but who would've thought that erotica based on Twilight fan fiction would've turned out to be such a huge success? Or Twilight itself for that matter? True, most indie authors don't have thousands of pounds to spend on marketing campaigns, but my point is that no one can really predict the future, and no one can tell you with 100% certainty what readers will or won't like. Want to write that book about cake-loving aliens? Or a mash-up between GoT and Terminator with a handful of Jurassic Park thrown in for good measure? Go for it. I'm not saying it'll sell. I'm not saying it won't. I'm saying that you should be writing whatever it it you want to write - no one else. And that's why I love being an indie author. I can write what I want - if it works, great! If not, well then, I've learnt a valuable lesson and I can keep moving forward with my writing. And the cherry on top of the cake is that as an indie author, you also get to keep all your rights to your novel. Boom.

3. You can work at your own pace
It's up to you how much (or how little) you write. Want to release one book a year? Or churn out five in six months? It really is up to you. You're in control of your writing and your time - which can be a good or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. It's good because if you suddenly get busy at work, or you're dragged out of your writing cave by your significant other to interact with real people instead of the ones in your head, it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. You don't have to answer to anyone and I find this an incredibly liberating thought. It's up to me how much I write. My writing career is entirely in my hands - and I rather like the thought that I don't have any kind of boss to answer to. On the other hand, if you're a huge procrastinator (like me), this probably isn't such a good thing. But hey, at the end of the day, your time and your writing is still your own. So go forth and write prolifically! Or not. Whatever, it's all cool.

4. An awesome indie community
I've saved my best point for last. There is no way I ever would've had the courage or confidence to keep writing if it hadn't been for the wonderful indie author community. Without their support and encouragement, I never would've had the confidence to self-publish my book. I honestly think that indie bloggers, reviewers and writers are the best bunch of people ever - each and every person that I've reached out to over the past few years has been friendly, welcoming, supportive and cheered me on every step of the way. I can't thank them enough. They do amazing work every single day, simply because they love to do what they do, and I hope to be a part of this community for a long time to come. Being an indie author rocks, because you know that no matter what, you have the support of the whole indie community behind you.

So, in conclusion, if you want a career that involves tears, tantrums, throwing your laptop across the room in frustration, becoming addicted to tea and sugar AND YET being able to write about fantastical worlds every day, and having the support of a truly fantastic bunch of readers and writers, then indie publishing just may be for you. There's a whole lot more to indie publishing than what I've listed here, but if you're an indie author and you're having a bad day, just remember this: you rock.

Now go and conquer the world.

About the author

Rachel Pattinson graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a BA Hons in Publishing Media. Born and raised in the north of England, she shares a love for anything to do with tea, cake, bread and butter, rain, the dark, lakes, fells and Lord of the Rings. She now lives in Norfolk with her partner in crime and is currently working on several new projects. Her debut novel Synthetica is available now from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

If you fancy a chat or have a query, you can contact her on her blog, Rachel's Ramblings.

Email her at: rachelsramblingsblog[at]gmail.com.

Or follow her on Twitter at: @REPattinson1

Add Synthetica to your TBR on Goodreads!