A Day in the Life of an Indie Writer!

Today is Sunday, and even though I am watching the Chiefs beat the Eagles and will definitely watch the Cowboys play the Broncos, I'm also working. Now that I am a full-time writer, I have to use every moment I can when I'm not "momming" to work on writing and all of the other stuff that goes along with attempting to be a successful Indie author. So, here is a look at my day so far!

1) Check email--get rid of all that junk I don't need but haven't unsubscribed from. See an email from another awesome writer who wants to do an email newsletter swap, email her back, set up dates, reduce price on Cordia's Will: A Civil War Story of Love and Loss so that it's a good price for her readers on Sept. 22. (Incidentally, it's now 99 cents for you, too! You can pick it up here.)

Cordia's Will is only 99 cents for a limited time!

2) Check on my Prelude Kindle Scout campaign. See that (surprisingly!) we are still in Hot and Trending!

Nominate Prelude on Kindle Scout and you could get it for free!

3) Check in on KBoards and comment in response to a witty post by the amazing author Steve Vernon whose Kelpie Dreams is awesome, and you can find it here.

4) Check on my Facebook, Amazon Marketing Service, and Bookbub ads (no, I didn't actually get a Bookbub, but I have been approved to run ads with their peeps, so I do that a bit.)

5) Re-price 1000 keywords on an AMS ad because it's not working too well. (This takes a loooong time.)

6) Check my email subscription and the report from my last newsletter.

7) Check my Instafreebie links. (I just listed The Doll Maker's Daughter at Christmas for FREE last night, and you can get it here!)

Download Doll Maker on Instafreebie! Read the whole novel for free!

8) Set up a FREE promo for Transformation for Oct. 7-10.

Transformation will be free October 7-10. Read it for 99 cents today!

9) See that Illumination is now life for pre-order for only 99 cents through October 15, and post that to Facebook. Tag my incredible editor.

Pre-order Illumination while it's only 99 cents!

10) Send an email to the incredibly talented JC Clarke at The Graphics Shed about some upcoming book covers she is working on.

11) Decide that some people might not realize how hard Indie authors work so write this blog post!

This is about four hours worth of work, and I haven't written a darn word that counts! My plan is to start writing Melody's Christmas tomorrow and to have it available in November for pre-order. It's my first contemporary romance, but I'm excited about it. I am a huge fan of Hallmark Channel Christmas movies, and this one will go right along with those storylines.

Melody's Christmas will be available this winter! The amazing cover is by The Graphics Shed

What are you up to on this Sunday afternoon? Whatever it is, I hope you get to spend some time with your family and friends!

Beneath the Inconstant Moon--Chapter 1 Excerpt

Beneath the Inconstant Moon is my NaNoWriMo project, and it's just about finished. I've never written anything like this before. Inspired by stories like Shutter Island and The Girl on the Train, I wanted to write a story where the main character could not be trusted! Set in Baltimore in the 1840s, this is a romance novel full of suspense and heartache.  Whether or not Genevieve will have a happy ending is yet to be determined! Here is an excerpt from Chapter 1. Please let me know what you think in the comments or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/IDJohnsonAuthor
Thanks for stopping by!

Digital art by Renata Lechner
Photography by Cathleen Tarawhiti
Model - Danielle Lightfoot

Chapter 1

1846

            The ocean seemed to have a temper. It wasn’t calm and serene as it had been just the day before. Rather, the waves were rolling in against the rocks so furiously the whitecaps seemed to bubble as they broke and attempted to reform with the next in succession.  It would not be a good day for her husband to return, not with the sea so angry. It would be better if he waited until tomorrow when perhaps the ire had died down a bit, and the water would welcome him back to solid ground, at last, with the gentleness he so deserved after such a long and tumultuous journey.

            She could only assume it had been tumultuous or else he would have returned by now. He was long past due, having reached the apex of the appointed amount of time many months past. But she knew he would be there any day now, any moment. And that is why she sat sentinel by the window, rarely leaving her post, watching and praying for him to return.

            The view was a bit obstructed, and it seemed that many of the clippers that came in looked similar now that time had passed. There were occasions when she was certain she spied the Mary Ann nearing port, but after waiting hours for her husband to disembark and make his way home, she would be forced to accept that the ship she had been watching must not have been his. And so she continued to watch for hours, craning her head when necessary to get a better view, sometimes late into the night when it was much more difficult to see and exhaustion blurred her eyes. Eventually, she would give up and find her way across the room to her bed, steadfast in her belief that tomorrow would be the day her husband would arrive home.

            It would be horribly boring, maddening even, if it weren’t for her baby to keep her company.  Even now, as she watched the waves toss about and spray the seagulls with salty brine, she glanced down at her sweet angel’s face where he lay sleeping in the bassinet beside her. She reached down to stroke his cheek softly, afraid she might wake him. His blond curls poked out of his snow white bonnet, and he cooed a bit in his sleep. He was such a happy baby, such a peaceful little soul, and she couldn’t wait for her husband to return so that he might hold his son at long last.

            “Madam?” a voice was calling nearby.

She startled, not aware that anyone else had entered her room, and turned to address the woman.  “Oh, please be quiet,” she whispered sharply. “You mustn’t wake the baby.”

The woman drew up her shoulders and took a deep breath.  “Madam, are you done with your dinner plate, or shall I leave this bit for later?” the woman asked through clenched teeth.

She looked at the plate curiously. Had she eaten dinner already? Was it that late in the day? It seemed like it should still be morning.  There wasn’t much left on the plate, only some bread crust and some other unrecognizable scraps. She wasn’t even sure what she may have eaten for dinner, assuming she must have been the one to eat whatever had previously occupied the plate.  She looked up into the impatient eyes of the woman who had the mysterious plate thrust at her in a clenched fist and finally managed, “I’m finished, thank you. That should be all.”

The woman nodded at her sharply, and then offered a small cup to her. “Your medication, madam,” she said, her lips drawn into a straight line.

She looked at the medicine for a moment. She really didn’t like taking it; it made her feel—odd.  “Must I?” she asked with a sigh.

“Come now, Mrs. Edwards,” the woman insisted, forcing it into her hand.  “You know how he gets when you don’t take it. And please don’t cause another uproar. I can’t handle any more of that today.”

She dropped her eyes, and took the medicine, absently wishing the help would stop calling her that name.  She didn’t bother to voice her annoyance again, not after that reminder. Sometimes it was better to just remain silent and endure. Once her husband returned, she wouldn’t have so many hardships to bear.  She took the medicine, swallowed it down, and took a sip of water.

“Very good, madam,” the woman nodded. “I shall be back in a few hours to check on you before bedtime. Is there anything else you require?”

“No, that will be all. Thank you, Scarlet,” she replied.

The hard look was back about her face again as she turned to go, shaking her head and mumbling, “My name is not Scarlet.”

My Top Ten Ways to Procrastinate While "Writing"

Any author will tell you we don't just sit in front of a computer screen for hours on end and let the words flow freely (and if they do tell you that, chances are they are lying.) My method consists of writing furiously for ten to thirty minutes at a time and then distracting myself for a few minutes. Here's my top ten ways to ensure nothing productive happens:
10) Check to see what song is playing on Pandora.  Of course, I usually recognize the songs on my favorite stations, but sometimes something new will come on. Then, of course, I have to see what it is!
9) Check email.  There's very rarely anything of interest in my in-box. But sometimes it's worth a second just to confirm that no one important has sent me anything of interest, like this Nigerian Prince I've heard about.
8) Check my blog posts. Sometimes I stop by just to see if there are any comments or how many people have read my post.  There are rarely comments (sad face emoticon).
7) Check Fiverr.  I'm pretty much done selling my soul as an editor on Fiverr. But occasionally I will check in to see if any funds have cleared.
6) Look at pictures on Pinterest for inspiration.  I don't spend a lot of time here, but sometimes it helps to clarify my thinking. Particularly when I am checking out my secret "hot guy" board... just saying.
5) Look up something for my story.  I like to double-check my facts from time to time, or see what type of vehicle I should incorporate, pick out a snazzy hotel for my MC, that sort of thing.
4) Tweet. I often have random thoughts while I am writing that needed to be Twittered.  Here's one from earlier today, "If my husband's not gonna read my books, I'm gonna start naming my heroes after my ex-boyfriends." It had to be said, people. Incidentally, follow me @authoridjohnson
3) Check for new reviews.  I don't get a lot of reviews. I still like to check every once in a while to see if anyone has any insight into my writing they would like to share. If you do, please be kind. I am mostly human.
2) Check Facebook.  There's really nothing to see here.  Checking my newsfeed really only consumes half of my day, tops.

1) Check to see if I've sold any books. This would also include the page count for the new KDP program. I check this several hundred thousand times per day. It is almost always the same....

All right, my fellow writers! What eats up your time??

Why Reviews Are Stupid (Sometimes)

Recently, I received two 3-star reviews on my book Cordia's Will: A Civil War Story of Love and Loss. Don't worry--this blog isn't a rant about how everyone is being mean to me and judging my writing too harshly. In fact, the second review was actually quite helpful.  I appreciated the writer's candor and his insight. You see, it is possible to write a review and do it in such a way that you are not only helping readers decide whether or not they want to read the book, you are also being helpful to the writer.  The other review, however, retold the entire book, including plot twists, and included comments that were supposed to be derogatory that were actually compliments, such as this gem:
"[The scenes that depict war] read like they were copied from the history pages..."
Uhm, thank you? It is historical fiction after all....

How many stars must a book get for you to choose to read it?

This got me thinking. What have readers had to say about other books--best sellers and the like--that, if the authors read them, would make then laugh or cringe?  After all, one little 3-star review on Stephanie Meyer's page is not that big a deal. Put it on my page amongst my other three or four reviews, well, it tends to stick out.  So, I did some research and I found some examples of ridiculous reviews for literatures heavy hitters.  See if you can identify what book each reviewer** was talking about and check your answers at the bottom.

1) "I have to give it a one star because the book in its narrative is lacking so much in basic reality that it is flat-out sloppy.  The 'unreliable narrator' style, typical in books written from the perspective of children, mentally challenged individuals, substance abusers and others of this sort is what I'm referring to."

2)"This book is quite possibly the most insipid novel I have ever read in my life. Why this book is so highly treasured by society is beyond me. It is 345 pages of nothing.  The characters are like wispy shadows of something that could have been interesting, the language that could be beautiful ends up becoming difficult to decipher and led me more than once to skip over entire paragraphs because I am tired of having to stumble through them only to emerge unsatisfied and the plot is non-existent..."

3)"If I'd enjoyed the book more, I would have found it easier to suspend my disbelief, but as it was, I was constantly irked by questions and inconsistencies."

4)"[The author] is not a bad writer. She has the ability to string words together. Unfortunately, she lacks any kind of flair. There was no original description; no truly evocative language.

5)"[The book] aimlessly stumbled about, tripped over its own feet, and then proceeded to face plant into the ground like a drunken frat boy at a keg party. I was not amused."

6) "... as the book wore on...I began to realise that I was growing more and more bored and found myself struggling to read on. "

7)" ... it's just so f--ing dumb....If you happen to be a 40-50 year old (white) man, and like reading about '6 figures,' then I'll understand you liking this book."

8)" I don't care if it is some great story about surviving in a war zone or some [bs] like that. None of these characters really expressed the complexities or debated the moral dilemmas involved in surviving the Civil War."

9) "As always, I like the author's narrative voice, but as a character sketch of a marriage, this wasn't quite sharp enough or funny enough or emotional enough for my taste."

10)"There were too many characters to keep track of. And for each character, I only knew them through their work.  There was no emotional development of characters, no seeing their feelings."

11)"This book was utter failure to me in respect of a horror novel.  Didn't scare me, nah, not at all, didn't even make me wince."

12)"I'm not going to comment on the literary shortcomings of this book, the cliches, the painfully long narrative, the fact that the characters will not think about an issue for months, but then suddenly it becomes important again. Smarter people than me have already said all this."

Okay--how many of them did you figure out? Some had some pretty obvious clues, others not.  Here are the answers: 1) Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 2)Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 3) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 4) Twilight by Stephanie Meyer 5) Divergent by Veronica Roth 6) The Fault In Our Stars by John Green 7) The Firm by John Grisham 8) Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell 9)Landline by Rainbow Rowell (Goodreads fiction book of the year) 10) The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy 11) The Shining by Stephen King 12) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling

So, what's my point?  Well, for writers it's this: Don't let one annoying review get you down. If you getting the same sort of comments over and over again, then it's probably something to pay attention to. If it's just one person's opinion, as another brilliant writer, Taylor Swift once said, "Shake it off, shake it off!" For readers, let me just say this, the person who wrote that book is probably going to read your review. Would you say it their face?  Would you say it in those words?  With that tone? If you are reading a book by a little known author, chance are writing is not their full time gig. They might be a firefighter or police officer, or pastor by day--or a teacher, like me--just trying to get their heart and soul out there for the world to see.  So, while I would never ask anyone to alter their opinion, if you feel it is necessary to be negative, do so in a classy way.  You'll get your opinion across in a way that both the writer and other potential readers will appreciate.  And there's nothing stupid about that!

**All of these reviews are from Goodreads.com and the opinion that they are stupid is solely my own, though you may agree. I left the names of to protect the anonymity of the poster, even though they are posted in a public domain.**