Publishing A Novel: Cover Model?

It's been a little over three months since BAND GEEK came out on Amazon and I'm thinking of doing something very drastic: I'm debating whether I should change my book's cover.

I'm very, very torn about this because I spent a lot of money to have my cover professionally designed. Moreover, I absolutely LOVE the cover. The designer, Damonza, did an amazing job and came up with something that's fun, mysterious, cool and interesting. It's received many compliments from readers and is definitely different than many of the young adult book covers that are out there:

The problem is, I don't think that this cover is attracting the audience I really want to get: teen/20-something girls.

While browsing online and on Kindle, I realized that most of the best-selling YA books have something important in common: they have people on the cover. There will either be a close-up of a girl, a shot of a cute guy or a shot of a couple. I doubt that this is what makes these books best sellers; a great story and writing is, of course, necessary, but I do think that the packaging helps. For instance, a really cute book that I recently read is Lacey Weatherford's Crush. As you can see, there is a smokin' hot guy on that cover; he really does get your attention! And based on many reviewers' comments, this is what made them purchase the book. Don't get me wrong; it's a great story and many readers agree with me, but many also admit that it was the cute guy who drew them in. Weatherford must be aware of this, too, because her soon-to-be-released sequel, Smitten, has yet another close-up of the same hottie.

I shouldn't be too surprised by this because now that I think about it, most of the teen books that I've read do have people on the cover. Judy Blume always had a pensive or happy girl (or boy in some cases) on the front of her books. The Sweet Valley High series featured shots of the twins, Jessica and Elizabeth, or their friends. The Alice series always has Alice the character front and center. Even the Harry Potter books have kids on the covers. In fact, the only seriously popular YA books that I can think of off the top of my head that DON'T have cover people are The Hunger Games and Twilight. But they cross over into other genres. BAND GEEK falls right into the contemporary fiction/romance slot where cover people dominate.

People seem to be enjoying BAND GEEK; it's getting great reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, and most of the bloggers who reviewed it during my last book tour gave it positive write-ups. Right now, it's at 4.5 stars on Amazon and 4.09 stars on Goodreads, for which I'm very proud. But despite the good press, it's not selling as well as I'd like and I suspect that I chose the wrong type of cover for my coveted audience.

As of now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. If I switch up my cover, I'll have to once again plunk down a hefty chunk of change and I can't guarantee that a new cover will indeed boost sales. On the other hand, if a change DOES work, it could be worth it. I don't know. But I do know that with my next book, there will definitely be a face on the front.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A AND GEEK GONE BAD.

Publishing A Novel: Finding Your Audience

First up: My blog tour continues today with an excellent review of BAND GEEK up at Musings From An Addicted Reader. Head over to the site to comment -- and get a chance to win a free copy of my CD FLUTE PATH and a pair of my handmade music earrings!

I'm grateful to be getting so many positive reviews, of course, but one thing that I've noticed is that my audience isn't turning out to be the audience that I'd planned to get.

When I wrote BAND GEEK, it was with teens in mind. It's a story about high schoolers and definitely has a teenage sensibility. My heroine, Melinda, is naive, somewhat bratty at points and is still learning about the world. In some ways, she's very mature, but in others, she's way behind her peers. I figured that a 14, 15-year-old girl could relate to her and attempted to write Mel as realistically as I could.

To my surprise, a lot of adults have picked up and enjoyed the book! I suppose this shouldn't be that shocking to me; after all, I love young adult literature and read it often. I just didn't expect so many people who are in my age-range to be interested in a high school story. But I think that it's appealed to them because going to high school and being a teen is something that EVERYONE can relate to, whether you're still a teen or not. It's kind of a universal experience and readers are either dealing with that time in their life right now ... or are reading my novel with a sense of nostalgia.

I think it's also easier to get different types of books today, thanks to the Internet. Not that it was difficult before; bookstores stock every genre and it's not like I grew up in the Dark Ages (though sometimes it does seem like it as I can't even imagine being without my cell phone these days). But when I went to the bookstore with my parents, I'd generally hang out in the YA section while they looked around at what they wanted. If I wanted to get books from different genres, I had to find them in the bookstore or library. Nowadays, you just click on a couple of links and there you are. It's not a huge change, but it does making shopping for books quicker and easier -- and you never know what surprise book you may stumble upon in an online search.

What I've learned from this is to not market your work to just one audience. For my next novel, I'll pick a prime group of people whom I think may be interested and market to them, but I'm going to broaden my horizons, as well. You just never know who will want to read your story!

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, now just 99 cents!

Publishing On Amazon: The Case Of The Disappearing Review

If you decide to publish with Kindle Direct Publishing, be warned: Lately, Amazon is really cracking down on getting rid of reviews that don't seem to be legit. The idea is to prevent authors from posting "sock puppet" critiques, i.e. reviews that they themselves have posted under fake names. In fact, authors are no longer even allowed to write reviews of other books (which I think is so unfair, but that's a post for another time). Unfortunately, whatever software Amazon uses is a little too sensitive and often deletes perfectly legitimate book reviews. It's happened to thousands of authors online (just do a Google search and you'll see plenty of write-ups) and it recently happened to me.

A few days ago, I received a wonderful five-star review of BAND GEEK on Amazon from a reader named Cornelia. She (I'm assuming this is a she) wrote:

"Band geek Melinda falls for the zany, popular trumpet player Josh. Every girl in junior high or high school who longs for a boy to see past her exterior appearance and fall in love with the real wonderful person inside (a.k.a. most girls) will relate to Melinda and fall for Josh. He sees beauty and creativity in Melinda and leads her on adventures that help her see herself in a new light. What starts off as a simple love story evolves into an examination of the morality of revenge. Is revenge ever justified? How much is too much? The stakes increased as the novel progressed leading to an exciting and satisfying ending."

What I really liked about this review is not just the fact that she gave me five stars (though that's nice!), but that she seemed to really understand my story and what I was attempting to say. Plus, it's flattering to know that I touched her enough so that she felt compelled to write such a lovely review. I so appeciated her critique that I copy and pasted it onto my Facebook author page to show friends.

Boy, am I glad I saved it because a few hours later, it disappeared. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I copied it and Amazon took it to mean that the review was already on another site. Perhaps the writer is an author hersef or had her Amazon account taken down. I guess I'll never know, but I'm disappointed that such a great review was removed. So if you're reading this Cornelia, I just wanted to publicly thank you for taking the time to read my book and write about it. I'm sorry that your review wasn't good enough for Amazon, for whatever reason.

For the most part, I've been happy with Amazon and think that the company is pretty fair. However, I'd like to see them have a less strict review policy. As an avid reader, I enjoy looking at others' book reviews and I'd hate to see too many legit ones get lost in the shuffle.

Speaking of which, please read and review my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Writing A Novel: On To The Next Project

I took a much-needed break from promoting BAND GEEK today and spent time working on my next novel. So far, I've completed my first chapter and am happy with how it's turning out.

Writing a new story has its good and bad points. On the one hand, my book is a blank slate. I can invent any character I want and make her do anything, without having to worry about continuity. On the other hand... the book is a blank slate, meaning that I still have to actually write the story. And much as I enjoy doing that, it's even more satisfying for me when I can see my words come to life on the page. It's especially frustrating when the story is already complete in my head and I've yet to put in on paper.

It also takes some time for me to get comfortable with new characters. Melinda and Josh have been a part of my life for such a long time, so it feels weird -- and almost like I'm cheating on them in a way -- to be writing about someone else's story. But I'm already falling in love with this new set of characters and plan to give them the same care that I gave the characters in my first book.

The business of writing (emphasis on business) takes a lot of work and patience, as I'm finding out, but ultimately, I'm a WRITER -- and this is what I need to concentrate on. I'm glad to be so fired up about my next project and am eager to see where this story takes me.

Meantime, please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Publishing On Kindle: Fears And Frustrations

There's an episode of Sex & The City when Samantha takes on the job as publicist to her future boyfriend, Smith, and she assures her actor beau of the following when it comes to getting recognition (paraphrased): "First come the gays, then the girls, then everyone else." This is what I'm sensing -- and hoping -- will happen with my book, as I try to get my name out there as an author. Though don't expect me to hang a nude ad of myself in the middle of Times Square as Sam did for Smith. Trust me, this will just scare everyone...

I am seeing the start of this scenario playing out, which leaves me hopeful. For me, it was first friends and family members who downloaded my book, as well as former high school classmates. Now I'm starting to get a bit of positive feedback from teens. From there, I'd like the word to spread and for this to become the type of YA book that appeals to everyone from teens to adults. I just have to wait and be patient... and it's no secret that I have a difficult time doing that.

Meantime, I'm working my butt off as I try to "sell myself." To those of you who spend all day tweeting and social networking, I don't know how you do this. Frankly, it's exhausting. I feel like I have to tweet and send Facebook messages constantly to keep the momentum going -- and before I know it, hours have passed. I actually got one of my Twitter accounts shut down for tweeting too much. Can you believe that? Oh well, live and learn. I don't mind doing the work, though, if it sells my books and lets people know my name.

There are days when I get very frustrated. Yesterday was one of those days where I was having doubts about both my jewelry and writing ventures. But I then forced myself to put my work away for a while (it was Saturday, after all) and went out for dinner with Jon and some friends. Some good German food and my friends' happy baby cheered me up and I was in a great mood by the time we returned home that evening -- and then I received positive e-mails from a fan of my book and a fan of my jewelry. This fired me up and the doubts began to fade.

That's the one downfall of having an artistic career, be it writing, painting, singing or doing anything else that's subjective to people's tastes. If you want to actually make money from doing it, you depend on others liking your work... and at times, that can be trying. I have a thicker skin than I did when I started out, but I'm not wearing armor, either. It still hurts when someone doesn't like my work or when I don't feel that it's getting enough notice.

This is why I have to remind myself that ultimately I'm doing this because it makes ME happy -- and that it's okay for me to sometimes take a break and enjoy other aspects of my life.

To read and review my book, check out REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

More Excerpts From REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD

Here are a couple more excerpts from BAND GEEK:

Josh offers to drive home Melinda for the first time and she's surprised by his car. FYI, my mother-in-law, Sharon, is an avid Star Trek fan, so his car decor is in her honor:

Josh led me across the parking lot to his car, which turned out to be an old, beat-up station wagon. Several bumper stickers were plastered onto the pea-green vehicle, including ones that said, "Honk if you love Tribbles!" and "I break for Spock."

"What?" Josh said, when he caught me chuckling. "This belonged to my Aunt Sharon. She really loves Star Trek."

"I'm sorry," I said. "This just isn't the type of car I expected you, of all people, to be driving. I thought you'd have something cooler, like a motorcycle." I tried to open the door to the passenger side but it wouldn't budge. He crawled across the driver's seat and pushed it open for me.

"It only opens from the inside," he explained. "But really," he went on, as he cleared a bunch of soda cans off my seat (none were Coke, I noticed). "What did you expect me to drive? I mean, I'm 16 and have hardly any money. I'm just glad my aunt was getting rid of this old thing."

"Well, you're lucky you have your license at all. My parents don't seem too anxious to teach me how to drive when I get my permit." Actually, they haven't wanted to discuss it at all. Whenever I bring up the idea of getting my permit, my mom will be like, "You don't need to drive. There are a lot of crazy people out there." I think she's so reluctant for me to get my license because she hardly drives herself, only on Long Island, but never in the city. But I love the idea of being able to get in a car and go wherever I want. I love the thought of being able to escape when I need to.

Josh turned on the engine and the car made a few choking sounds. "Get someone else to teach you to drive," he said. "It's not like your parents can make you do what they say forever."

"You don't know my parents," I sighed.

In this excerpt, Mel talks about her paintings. Fun fact: In college, I had several Dali posters in my room. I then invited over this guy I liked ... and he was horrified by the paintings. He thought that I was "sweet and nice" and was appalled that I liked Dali's out-there work. Needless to say, he and I didn't end up dating...:

For my last birthday, Lana gave me a professional painting kit, mainly because she thought I needed a hobby other than playing the flute. "It's perfect for you," she said as I opened her gift. "It's artsy and it's the type of thing you can do for hours without having to talk to anyone."

At the time, I'd jokingly told her to shut up, that I'm not that much of a shut-in, but she is right about me loving the arts. Before my dad started working such long hours and my mom began to take care of my grandfather, they'd take me to the city to see concerts and visit the museums. My favorite was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met is huge; it took us all day to go through about a quarter of it, but I loved how every time we entered a different wing, it felt as if we were going into a new world.

As for my own paintings, I've been on a Salvador Dali kick lately. After Lana gave me her present, I purchased a bunch of art books so I could see what various painters' styles are like. I really like Dali's. His stuff is really strange; for instance, he has this one painting called "The Persistence Of Memory" that has all of these melted clocks in it. I love how his stuff looks like one thing at first and if you keep looking at it, you see something else.

So I've been trying to do some Dali-like paintings myself. Right now, I'm working on one where I'm making everything in my room appear melt-y. I was in the middle of painting a melted version of my bed (which is harder than it looks because the cover is floral and I had to make all the flowers look distorted) when I heard someone come home. I looked at my clock (which isn't melted, by the way); it was 9 p.m.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, now only 99 cents!

Writing The NEXT Novel

Now that BAND GEEK has found its home on Amazon, I'm thinking about my next book. It's been difficult to get into that frame of mind, because I've been so caught up in BAND GEEK's release and promotion. But the best way to succeed as a writer is to keep on writing. I have many more ideas for stories and am excited about actually putting them into print.

Right now, I'm still in the outline stage of Book No. 2. I can't say too much about it at this point except that it's going to focus on the friendship between a straight girl and a gay guy -- kind of like a younger Will & Grace. Josh and Melinda have a traditional romantic love story in BAND GEEK, but this is going to be a different sort of love story -- a platonic one.

I have my main characters' names and basic personalities down and I have some ideas for a working title and plot. The trick is now putting it all together ... and then editing, editing, editing. I woke up a couple of nights ago all excited because I finally came up with a solid ending to my story. Still, nothing will be definite untill I actually see my tale and characters come alive on the page.

I shared some of my ideas with a good friend and he was very excited and enthusiastic. This is a good start and means that my story is at least potentially interesting. Tying it all together is the real challenge, though!

My plan is as follows: after I return from California, I have two weeks of my book tour for BAND GEEK. I'm going to concentrate on that and then get down to business on my second book. I'd love to have four or five chapters wrapped up by the end of the year, and then have the story ready to go sometime in 2013. Given how long it took me to get BAND GEEK out there, this is a tall order, but I have confidence that I can do it. So stay tuned for more news about my next novel!

Please read and review my first novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, now only 99 cents on Kindle!

Writing A Novel: Rejection Blues

If you're writing a book or are thinking about writing one, I can give you one guarantee: There will be at least someone out there who doesn't like your work.

If you plan to send a manuscript to agents or editors, be prepared for this fact, because they're going to reject you harder than any unrequited love ever did. Don't take it personally. They're just doing their jobs and are looking at your idea as a possible business investment and not just as a form of entertainment.

When my first round of rejections from agents rolled in, I took it really hard. There was one agency who'd liked my manuscript enough to ask for it in its entirety. I got my hopes up ... and it was sent back with a note saying that my book started off strongly, but then went downhill and that my narrator, Melinda, was "wound too tight." Ouch! I cried for hours, thinking that my dream was over. Which was ridiculous. I'd just gotten started at this point!

I quickly grew a thicker skin and got used to the rejections. Some were form letters: "Sorry, but your book is not the right fit for our agency." Some agents were very nice about it: "You're story is great and I love your writing, but I don't have the right connections to properly sell it." Others offered some sound editing notes: "I didn't find X scene with Mel and Josh to be very realistic. You might want to work on that and then consider resubmitting."

I actually came to value the last kind of rejection. It meant that a busy agent had enough faith and interest in me to read my work and make notes on it. Plus, I was getting some valuable critiques in the process. I really tried to listen to their notes and work with them if I felt that they'd genuinely help improve my story.

Now that BAND GEEK is on Kindle, I'm gearing up for a different type of rejection: rejections from readers. Right now, my ratings on Amazon and Goodreads have been four and five stars, but I'm not delusional enough to think that all of my reviews will be that positive. SOMEONE out there is going to hate BAND GEEK. He or she will find Josh's schemes unrealistic or Mel and Josh's relationship to be lame, or will just hate band geeks in general. I don't know what it will be, but if I sell a lot of copies -- and that IS my goal -- I have to take the bad with the good. In my past job, I dealt with a lot of celebs who called anyone who was against them a "hater," but I don't want to automatically assume that about my future detractors. Our tastes vary and someone might just not like my writing.

This doesn't mean that I'm looking forward to getting bad reviews. Quite the opposite! I hope that I continue to get 4 and 5-star ratings and that everyone loves, loves, loves my work. That's what we all want as writers, right? But after already surviving some major rejections, I know that it sucks -- but it isn't the end of the world. You might even learn from them.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, now only 99 cents!

Publishing On Kindle: Technology Is Awesome

I'm not a very technology-oriented person. I never feel a rush to buy the latest gadget and don't own n iPad, iPod or even a working DVR. I've never used Skype. I didn't get a cell phone until 2007 and I haven't felt the need to upgrade. I can't send e-mails or photos from it, but it works just fine if I need to call or text friends.

Still, I can't ignore the fact that I wouldn't have the career that I do if it weren't for technology. All of my ventures from selling my writing to selling my jewelry take place online. I network using social media sites like this blog, Facebook and Twitter. And I'm almost never without my trusty laptop. I use it for everything from watching movies to reading books. It's my lifeline.

My husband and I had a recent discussion about technology and how much basic communication has changed in even the past 10 years. When we were kids (both children of the 70s/80s), our vision of the "future" mainly centered around big changes in transportation. We expected teleportation and flying cars. But it's really entertainment and communication that have been revolutionized -- and our tech just keeps getting better.

I was reminded of this today during a cab ride, of all places. I'm leaving for California for a few days, so I dropped my cat off to stay with our vet. The cab driver who picked me up to take me back home ended up being the nice guy who drove me quite often when I broke my leg a few years ago. He asked what I've been up to and I told him about my book (even though he's way out of my demographic, but hey!). He took out his Kindle Fire and spoke my novel's title into the speaker ... and there it was, ready to be purchased! So cool! It was like something right out of The Jetsons.

I don't know if I'll be buying any gadgets any time soon. I'm happy listening to music on my laptop and don't have a burning desire to get the most high-tech cell phone that's out there. But I am grateful for how good the Internet has been for writers, artists and musicians, and can't wait to see what comes along next.

Please read and review my 5-star novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, now only 99 cents!

Thoughts About Self Publishing And Indie Publishing

When I started writing BAND GEEK in 2002, there was no way that I would've considered self-publishing my novel. At the time, I felt as if that were the last resort, a thing that a "writer" did if his or her work sucked and had no other choice. 10 years later, my very humbled older self knows how much more complicated the situation is -- and readily welcomes the changes that have taken place within the publishing industry.

When it came to getting my work noticed, I didn't do too badly the first time around. I received plenty of rejection letters, but was ultimately asked to sign on with two agencies -- and actually got to be the one who rejected one of them. I signed on with Jean V. Naggar's literary agency and had very high hopes. I was going to sell millions of copies of my book and be rich! BAND GEEK would be made into a movie! I even had an idea of who I'd cast for certain roles. Back then, I thought that a not-so-messed-up Lindsay Lohan would've made a great Kathy.

Well, things didn't work out as I'd hoped. My agent was great. She was very supportive and gave me some wonderful editing notes. She's the one who'd suggested that I change my title from its original name WHO'S ON FIRST? That's when I came up with REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

My manuscript was sent to a dozen houses that handle YA books and it got a lot of positive responses. Most publishers liked my general story. Two houses actually came close to purchasing it, but wanted me to make a few changes. But no one was on board with it 100 percent. Some editors didn't like the beginning. Some loved the opening, but hated the ending. Some thought Melinda was too immature. Some thought that she was too wise beyond her years. I kept making small changes in an attempt to please everyone, but it felt as if I were twisting my book into a pretzel. I was open to constructive criticism; I wanted to make my book as good as possible, but it just wasn't working out. It wasn't just the story that mattered; its earning potential and marketing abilities were also concerns. I wanted to sell that "perfect" story to them, but couldn't figure out how to do so.

Finally, my agent exhausted all of her YA connections and basically dumped me as a client. But I have absolutely not hard feelings. She was just doing her job and had run out of options for me. I was disappointed, but didn't take it personally. As I said, she was great and really encouraged me.

I continued writing for fun and with the hope of finding another agent. Meanwhile, my husband and I came up with an amazing idea for a quirky travel guide. I'd rather not give too much information away because this is something that we're still working on, but we put together an outline and business plan. We then landed an agent (sorry, I forget her name) and she sent our outline to about 20 publishing houses.

The editors LOVED it. They went crazy over our idea and were all prepared to gvive us an advance. I was ecstatic. I seriously thought that our book would be part of a bidding war. Again, my head filled with dreams of riches, best seller lists and all that jazz.

This time, it was the marketing people who hated us. The marketing people! They couldn't figure out where our book would go in a bookstore since it straddled two categories and so they refused to take it. We were so disappointed!

It was at this point that I began to get frustrated with the publishing industry. Don't get me wrong, I think that traditional publishing is still very important. But it felt as if I had to cross one obstacle after another from landing an agent to pleasing the marketing people. Moreover, the number of people whom I was trying to please really isn't that large because the publishing industry is pretty incestuous. It may seem that you have a choice of many agents or editors, but only a certain percentage will even look at your genre. And then there are sub genres within that genre, i.e. "YA Paranormal Romance." In the end, it's only a handful of people who decide your fate. Do they really represent the opinions of the general public?

This is why I decided to become an indie author. Is it because I couldn't get my book sold to a traditional publisher? Yes. I wish it had been sold, but I gave it my best shot. However, the industry has changed and being an indie writer comes with so many exciting possibilities. I call the shots. I get to participate in my cover's design. I get to market my work. I get to plan my book tours and speaking engagements. I get to choose my own deadlines and release dates. I can write my story the way that I want to without having to worry about pleasing anyone else ... except, of course, all of my readers. Which is who we're all trying to cater to in the first place!

That said, I definitely take back any thoughts I ever had about self-publishers being "losers." There's some garbage online, but there are also many, many amazing and talented authors, many whom have "unmarketable" stories to tell. I'm so glad that we now have a platform where we can easily share our work.

I still think that there's a place for traditional publishing and I'm curious to see where it heads with ebooks growing more popular. I'm just thrilled that the Internet has provided writers, artists and musicians with so many thrilling opportunities.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, now only 99 cents!

Publishing A Book On Kindle: Finding A Good Editor

When it comes to editing my work, I'm pretty obsessive. At Soap Opera Digest, I'd read over articles multiple times and I did the same with BAND GEEK. And yet, I'm only human. There have been many times where I've read my work in print and have seen typos or have -- gasp! -- spelled an actor's name wrong. Trust me, I beat myself up over those errors; I didn't take them lightly. I'm sure that there are even typos in BAND GEEK. I did my best to catch them all, but no one is perfect.

This is why it's so important to have a capable person edit your work before it goes to print. At the magazine, we had a system of checks and balances where pages would be edited by multiple people. It wasn't 100 percent effective (again, we're all human), but it worked pretty well. For my book, I had several people do reads on it -- but I made sure that these were people who know how to write well and who'd give me an honest critique. Having friends and family read your manuscript is a great way to get some feedback, but it helps to have your work looked over by someone with actual editing skills.

I'm very fortunate in that I know other writers and journalists. My first draft was read by my journalism pal, Marybeth, who went through and commented on every single line. Meanwhile, I had my parents and several friends also look over and comment on it. But Marybeth was the one on whom I counted to offer serious writing critique.

For the next go-round, I had my novelist friend, Amy, go through the book. Marybeth then did another read. Again, they were both very honest and gave me some ideas of things to change.

For this most recent version, I got a nice surprise. Back in January, I received an e-mail from a young woman named Rachael who claimed to be my cousin from my mom's side of the family. I checked it out and she is indeed my second cousin. Turns out that she is also a writer/journalist, who writes personal histories for people. Basically, they tell her their life stories and she puts their history into a book. Her work is amazing.

She and I quickly bonded and she spent a week with us in June. She then graciously agreed to edit this final version of BAND GEEK. I asked her because I knew she'd be thorough and honest. And she was! She gave me such great feedback and had notes on everything from how I could improve certain lines to how I could make Josh and Melinda's relationship work better on paper. I've had many agents critique my work, but her notes rivaled any of theirs.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have journalist friends or a long-lost cousin who happens to be a writer, but you can still find someone capable to edit your book. Perhaps you have a friend who was an English major and teaches a writing course or perhaps you could turn to a former teacher for help. If not, consider joining a writing group or even take a writing class. You could hire a professional editor, but that can be very expensive. Plus, I think it's more helpful to figure out the editing on your own. Marybeth, Rachael and Amy didn't rewrite my work for me. They simply made suggestions and then it was up to me to implement them. A writing class or critique group will be helpful in the same way.

Even with all of this editing, I KNOW that BAND GEEK isn't perfect. I tried. I worked on this novel until my brain felt as if it would explode. Really, all I could do was make it as clean as possible -- and hope that my efforts paid off.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Book Recommendation: 6 Seconds Of Life

Being a writer is hard enough. Being an indie author is even tougher because we have to market ourselves. We don't have a publishing house behind us to arrange book tours and interviews, etc. And, as I'm learning, many book review blogs ignore indie authors and will only do write-ups on novels that are published the old-fashioned way.

In some ways, I can understand this. It's so easy to publish on Kindle that anyone can do it -- which inevitably means that there will be some terrible indie books out there. Hell, you may even think that BAND GEEK is one of them, but trust me, there's worse!

Anyway, I'm attempting to start a little project called "Project Pay It Forward." What I intend to do is select and read promising-sounding indie YA books. If I think they're must-reads, I'll post reviews on this site and Amazon. This way, I can help give some publicity to those talented authors who've decided to go solo. I may be only one person and I'm a tiny fish in a huge pond, but I'd like to do what I can. I'm hoping that other indie authors will join me and will help pay it forward by reading and reviewing other great indie books. I'm not asking them to necessarily take a look at mine -- though it would be nice!

The first book that I'd like to share with you is called 6 SECONDS OF LIFE and is by Tonya Fitzharris. In short, it's about a suicidal teen who flashes back on her life while jumping off a bridge. Before she takes that fateful last step, a stranger muses that it takes about six seconds until one hits the water ... hence the intriguing title.

This book blew me away. It was honest, raw and you really felt for the narrator, Maura. In a short time, she deals with her parents' marriage crumbling, a shaky relationship with her first boyfriend and a disastrous freshman year at college. All at lot to take in, especially for someone so young. At times, she was very unlikeable and many of her decisions were questionable. However, she was REAL. Though she was flawed, she was ultimately a good person and I rooted for her to finally come to her senses and look to the future. I really wanted her to succeed.

I especially liked the realistic way in which the author portrayed teen relationships and a not-so-great start to college. Personally, my freshman year at Binghamton sucked. In high school I was always told that things would "get better" in college and I longed for those years. When they didn't get better, and in fact got worse, it was hard to deal with. Fitzharris ably conveys how lost one can feel during this time.

My one minor quibble with the book is that there were a few typos and grammatical mistakes ... but that's another issue that indie writers have to deal with: not always having a professional editor on hand unless you want to shell out big bucks. Overall, thought, I was impressed with this story and encourage you to check it out!

Meantime, please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, now on sale for only 99 cents!