YA Book Update!

Hello my Writer and Reader family!

Today’s blog will be an update on my current book journey. It’s been a few months since I last spoke about where I’m at with my newest Ya book. And there is much to tell!

 

***Disclaimer: no one paid me to mention them or any business they offer. I have used the resources I am mentioning and loved it enough to share. There are no paid promotions in this blog. I trust and used what I am sharing in this blog.***

Editing journey

My book took about 8 months to edit. Yep…8 looooong months. The editing process took that long for many reasons. I worked very close with my editor on my book. We basically re-wrote the book since in my inexperience I wrote the first draft in almost every person(1st person, 2nd person etc.). Haha I couldn’t make up my mind as to which person the story sounded best in.

For those of you writers who are afraid your inexperience with writing will prevent you from publishing a book, Fear not! Editing, and a good editor at that, will take that manuscript, and give it the much needed editing love it deserves.

Once my book was about 90% finished, I read through it and felt like I was missing something still. I prayed about it, and rewrote some parts of the book. Then we had to re-read that to make sure it all worked.

This is where we hit a snag and my editor had some life events come up so without planning on it, I had to continue on without her. Thankfully my editor is doing A-okay!

You can check out Donna’s info here: https://www.instagram.com/catt.the.cat/

What do I want for this Ya Book Series?

I decided at the beginning of this book that I wanted it to look as professional as possible. With this in mind I choose to outsource editing, illustrations and formatting. Many obstacles have hurdled themselves in my path when it comes to being an author.

One big hurdle is my reallyawfulgrammarandspellingskills…yeah if you ask any of my close friends and family members they will tell you how bad it is. HAHA no lies, I often joke how my English and Spelling teachers would be beyond shocked that their “F” student ended up being an Author. Ironic right?

I am living proof, you can achieve any dream with the right attitude and resources. I suck at grammar and spelling, thus I hire a professional to take care of that side of things. Problem solved.

Hiring a professional huh? Sounds pretty darn expensive. Which for all you normal or underpay authors, like me, this sounds wayyy out of the budget range.

Well the truth is, it is a huge expense. But, I knew it was coming so I saved money, picked up a few side jobs in order to make this happen without going into debt. Plus, I used something called Payment plans. Which I did not know existed until a few years ago. They are huge game changers.

PRO TIP: PAYMENT PLANS

When you are choosing to outsource make sure you go with people who can accept payment plans.

Payment plans have saved me so much anxiety. I can choose how much to pay each month for how ever many months I can or need to. It allows you to be flexible, not go broke all at once and you get what you want in the end.

Tip: PayPal Must Have!!

PayPal is very common now and I have found 90% of the business’s, small and corporate take PayPal payments.

PayPal is secure and a super easy way of paying bills or transferring money. Highly recommend it.

 

Illustrations journey

I took about 5 to 6 months for me to get all of my illustrations done. This is a long time, longer than my illustrator and I originally agreed  upon. There were several outside events that affected my illustrator and could not be helped. So we talked, and decided to roll with the punches.

I love her style of art so I was willing to push my deadline back for the illustrations. I might do a separate blog just about Tanya and how she creates my illustrations. I’m veryyyyy excited to show off the illustrations of my book! 😍

You can check out Tanya’s illustrations here: https://www.instagram.com/tanya.maneki/

Tip: Always keep communication with your people, Authors!

You can adjust and make different moves when obstacles come. Keep talking to your editor, illustrator and or formatter.

Once the illustrations were completed I saved them all on my computer and moved on to formatting.

Formatting journey

Before I even hired my illustrator I had my eye on a formatter who I had heard of from YouTube and her Instagram account. She’s also a self published author and someone I have been following for a few years now.

You can check out Mandi’s info here: https://www.instagram.com/mandilynnwrites/

I hired Mandi Lynn to do my book formats and cover design. Collaborating with my illustrator we came up with a cover design together before giving it to Mandi to work her magic on.

I’m not going to spoil it for you Dear Reader. But I will tell you, It looks pretty darn AWESOME! If you like old trunks, gold sparkles and deep green colors, you might love this cover!

Mandi offers a few different formatting packages, I chose the diamond package which literally takes care of all 3 book formats, covers and designs. So I pay, give the info and illustrations, sit back and wait for the finished product.

AHHHHH I love outsourcing.

AND This is where I am currently Dear Reader!

Sitting back, doing nothing and waiting for the magic to happen.

JK! I wish!

In reality what I am actually doing is: Getting updates from Mandi about the book.

Researching marketing potential and reviewers.

Blogging, writing more.

Ohh did I mention going to my first Author Launch in September in Emporia! More on that in next weeks blog. 😉😃

There you have it, my latest update on my Ya book coming sometime this fall.

 

Question for my Dear Readers.

Are you a Reader? Do you review books? Do you enjoy supernatural and Christian/Catholic genre’s?

If you said yes to these questions and are interested in getting on my list of reviewers, drop me a chat and ask for “Lily’s Guide to Releasing Antique Spirits” book blurb. Unless you’ve already read it from my Instagram™ account, then reach out and let me know you’re interested in being a reviewer.

Also If you are a blogger for Catholic teen girls, Catholic books, and want to be a reviewer or collab send me a chat.

I’d love to hear from you!

***Disclaimer: no one paid me to mention them or any business they offer. I have used the resources I am mentioning and loved it enough to share. There are no paid promotions in this blog. I trust and used what I am sharing in this blog.***

 

Thank you for reading until the end. As a new blogger any and all support is appreciated and welcome.

Write on~

Cecilia