Posts Tagged With: author

Self-publishing and Taxes

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Michelle Proulx

The topic of self-publishing and taxes is something I recently learned about, as I finally filed my income tax yesterday. First off, note that I’m a Canadian, so this post may not apply if you’re American. Secondly, note that the H&R Block rep I spoke with was absolutely awesome, so much so that I ended up giving him a copy of my book, which he promised to read and tell all his friends about. Yay networking!

Anyway, I’m Canadian, and the assisted publishing company I went through to publish my book — iUniverse — is an American company. Last year, I made approximately $500 in royalties off my book (feel free to gasp in awe or shake your head in pity, depending on your own self-publishing experience). I figured such a small amount would be easy enough to do taxes for. I was wrong.

So I went to H&R Block, which is one of those accounting firms who set up booths in the mall and do basic tax returns for good prices. Fair enough — I have no idea how to do my own taxes, and my return wasn’t particularly complicated this year. Or so I thought. You see, if you’re Canadian, and you need to file foreign income, the rate for the return goes way up. We’re talking double the price. Gah!

Now, I don’t know how this changes if you do your taxes yourself, or go via a professional business accountant (the ones who charge obscene rates by the hour). But it’s something to be aware of!

So the take-away from this post is:

If you’re self-publishing through a foreign company, you’re going to have to claim foreign income on your tax return! Dum dum dummmmmm!

That’s all for today. Have a lovely Wednesday, everyone, and enjoy the unrelated media below!

Unrelated media:

Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/J44Onuq

Categories: Self Publishing | Tags: , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

The Writing Process Blog Hop

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Michelle Proulx

It’s been awhile since I participated in a Blog Hop, so I figured, no time like the present!

So let’s start off with a big thank you to Andrew Toynbee, who tagged me for this blog hop and wrote some really sweet words about me. You, sir, are a class act.

On to the blog hop!

1) What are you working on?

So I have two projects in the works right now:

  1. Chasing Nonconformity (sequel to Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It) — I’ve finished the rewrite, and have now set the book aside for a few weeks to give it time to mature (books are like wine/cheese, right?). Once the maturing process is finished, I will go back through the manuscript and rip it apart, in the hopes that the beta readers I eventually give it to won’t be too disgusted when they read it.
  2. The Elemental Guard — This is a fantasy novel I’ve been working on for a couple of years now, and I am in the process of figuring out how I want to rewrite it. I do technically have a first draft, but it’s suffering from an extreme case of “Not enough happens-itis”. So I’m going to rework the story from the ground up and make it awesome.

2) How does your work differ from others in the genre?

Well, Imminent Danger and Chasing Nonconformity are different from mainstream YA novels in that they’re not entirely focused on a love triangle. I know that’s generalizing a bit, but it’s also a fact that the vast majority of YA novels currently on the market are just obsessed with doom and gloom and tragic love triangles. The Imminent Danger series does not have love triangles, and I don’t think it ever will — well, it might, but the love triangle would be extremely nonviable, and more in there for comic relief than anything else. I also try to put a lot of humor in my stories, because A) I enjoy laughing and making people laugh, and B) whenever I write dark, dramatic things, I get kind of depressed.

3) Why do you write what you write?

I’ve loved fantasy and sci-fi since I was a kid. My parents indoctrinated me young — technically from the moment I was born, actually, as my middle name is Lothlorien (the Elvish woodlands from Lord of the Rings). So I tend to write a lot of fantasy and sci-fi because those are just the kind of stories I enjoy. I’m currently dabbling in a darker, slightly anarchic story, but even that still has some sci-fi/fantasy elements to keep it interesting. For me, I get enough of reality from living in it day to day — when I pick up a book, or sit down to write, I want to go somewhere new!

4) How does your writing process work?

Oh, it’s a complete mess. Sometimes I get an idea and immediately sit down and start banging out words. Sometimes I’ll get an idea, write it down, and then forget about it for years. Sometimes I’ll do elaborate planning for a story, with character backgrounds and histories and so on, and then get bored and never look at it again. My writing process is really just about what’s working for me at the time. Right now, I’m in a “do some high-level planning first, write the first draft from start to finish, and then re-write until you go completely batty and have to take up tai chi as a calming exercise” type phase.

——–

Nailed it! Okay, moving on to part 2 of the blog hop — tagging four authors to follow in my glorious footsteps. I’m not going to give them advanced warning on this because, quite frankly, I don’t have the patience to send out emails and wait for responses. So they’ll just have to deal with the free advertising, and decide for themselves if they want to participate in the blog hop.

Audrey Driscoll — This wonderful lady is the author of one of the best self-published books I’ve ever read, The Friendship of Mortals. It’s haunting, and beautiful, and thought-provoking, and has a dash of Lovecraftian horror that will absolutely blow you away. Also, the book has a fancy new purple cover!

Danielle E. Shipley — Aside from being a sweetheart, Danielle blogs all about writing and fairytales, and occasionally even about writing fairytales (gasp!). She has a great little series of novellas out called The Wilderhark Tales.

Kate Sparks — First of all, Kate reads all my posts and leaves awesome comments, so that alone makes her one of my favorite bloggers! Her blog is also quite excellent — all about writing, publishing, etc. She’s also recently posted a few pictures of Loki and his adventures with a pink pony, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Celeste DeWolfe — You know her as the talented artist behind all the Imminent Danger fan art I keep posting, but Celeste has many other talents! Her blog is really fun, with a huge variety of topics — ranging from web comics to music to books. And she’s currently posting her first novel, Life of Gaia, on Jukepop Serials (i.e., she posts it chapter by chapter, and you can read for free and leave comments).

Thanks for reading, everyone! Have a fabulous Friday!

——–

Unrelated media of the day:

Two sentence horror stories! It’s a thing! Check out more here: http://imgur.com/gallery/aHrf8

 

Categories: Blog-related, My Works, Writing | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

My re-write is finally finished!

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Michelle Proulx

Well, more or less. The initial re-write of Chasing Nonconformity (sequel to Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It) is done … now I have to set it aside for a few weeks, come back, re-read it, and change everything. But you know what they say — you can’t edit a blank page! And my page is definitely no longer blank.

I’ve discovered something very interesting about my writing process. When I’m at the start of a project, I get really into it. We’re talking 5,000 words/day writing sprees, nearly suffering from dehydration due to not wanting to leave the computer to get more water, etc. It’s invigorating (and possibly detrimental to my health).

Then, around the 30% mark, I slow down. It hits me how much I still need to write, how far the journey still is to get to the end … and my motivation evaporates. I have to force myself to sit down even for one measly hour to bang out a few more pages, and even then when I get up after the writing session, I feel both exhausted and like I haven’t accomplished very much.

This continues on until about the 60% mark, where I’ve passed the halfway point and the end is finally in sight (albeit off in the distance). And when I hit the final 10% … back to the writing sprees and dehydration! Booya!

Possibly this is a horribly inconsistent way to write, but … well, apparently it works for me! I guess I’m just the kind of person who likes to start things, and likes to finish things … but doesn’t like all that mucking around in the middle. Anyone know a short cut for getting straight from start to finish?

Thanks for listening to me ramble! I’ll leave you with some unrelated media to brighten your day … and also tease you with some news: I will be re-releasing Imminent Danger at some point in the next few months, with new cover art and slightly edited text! If you’ve already bought the ebook, don’t worry, it’ll be on the Kindle free days thing, so you can pick up a new copy no problem. Stay tuned!

 

Unrelated media of the day:

First up, a cute owl for your viewing delight:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then a helpful little article about how to decide what tense, POV, etc. to write your book in:

http://writetodone.com/make-right-decisions-book/

Categories: My Works, Writing | Tags: , , , , , | 40 Comments

So I got my first 1 star review …

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Michelle Proulx

That’s right — Imminent Danger has officially acquired its first 1 star review. I won’t post the link here, but if you hop over to the Imminent Danger Goodreads page, you can check out the review for yourself.

As you can probably imagine, it makes me sad that someone out there paid money for my book and didn’t enjoy it. It also sucks because no one likes to hear their work merits a mere 1 star rating — essentially, that if the book were graded as a test, it would get a measly 20% and flunk the course.  And I’m not going to lie — it kind of crushed my emotions when I first saw the review. But then I remembered that I’ve weathered much worse than this — namely, receiving a bad review in person to my face — so I think I’ve calmed down. More or less. Mostly.

Now, it’s not very classy to go line by line through a bad review and dissect it, potentially shaming the reviewer in the process, so I’m not going to do that. The only thing I’m going to bring up is this — that I really don’t understand why people feel the need to leave nasty reviews when they haven’t even read the entire book. The reviewer admits they stopped at chapter 10 … which is like reviewing a song when you’ve only heard the first 45 seconds. I just don’t get it.

I mean, yes, if the book is truly so horrendous that you literally can’t bring yourself to read any further, and feel it’s your civic duty to warn off other readers before they spend their hard-earned free time and money on a disgusting and despicable piece of literature … sure, go ahead and leave a review without reading the whole book. But I’m pretty sure (like 90% sure … maybe 85% …) that Imminent Danger isn’t a hate-filled, vitriolic piece of filth.

Okay, fine, I’m a little upset. But I guess that’s what happens when you get a bad review. I’ll get over it! I had some gravy-smothered mashed potatoes and watched an episode of Chuck, so I’m well on my way to recovery. Just needed to vent a little bit. I’m better now. I just need to remember that different people are different, and that there’s no such thing as a book everyone likes.

Sigh.

 

Unrelated media of the day:

Categories: My Works | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 97 Comments

Almost done the re-write!

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Michelle Proulx

For anyone who’s been wondering what the heck happened to me recently, the answer is pretty simple: I’ve been writing. As you may know, I’ve been working on the sequel to my first novel, Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It, for a couple of months now, and sometime around last week I just got struck with this incredible fervor to write. And so I did. And now the end is in sight!

According to my hilariously poor attempt at a “chapter outline”, Chasing Nonconformity is going to be 47 chapters long, plus an epilogue. Presumably this will change once I cut it down a bit, as it’s sitting at 125k words and that is most definitely too long for a YA novel! Anyhoo, I’m currently on chapter 42, which makes me almost done! Huzzah!

That’s the good news. The bad news is that I’m completely re-writing the last part of the book, so this is all going to be writing from scratch–i.e., I can’t take what I had before and shift it around a bit to have it fit in with the book’s new direction. But that’s okay. Writing is fun!

Oh, and then I obviously still have to go back and take care of a whole bunch of nitpicky things. For one, the main character Eris switches outfits constantly despite only having access to one outfit. So that’s going to take some figuring. For another, this is a sci-fi book, and although I thoroughly explain a lot of important world-building concepts in the first book, I haven’t actually inserted those explanations in the second book, so I’ll have to go back and figure out a way to work those in. The life of an author never grows dull, my friends!

That’s all for now. Just checking in to let everyone know how it’s going. Wish me luck on the final chapters, and I’ll report back when the re-write is complete!!!

 

Unrelated media of the day:

This may sound silly, but I’ve recently started listening to “zen” music while I write, and it’s absolutely fabulous for getting stuff done. Something about it just puts you in an awesome frame of mind for creating. At least, that’s what I’ve found! So light some candles, brew some tea, put on this Youtube video as background, and see if it helps your writing process! And if it puts you to sleep, well … even writers have to sleep sometime.

Categories: My Works, Writing | Tags: , , , | 19 Comments

My publishing plan for 2014

Posted on January 25, 2014 by Michelle Proulx

Now, let me preface this post by stating that this is an extremely tentative plan, cooked up in the shower yesterday, and now delivered via the magical power of the internet to your computer screen!

Step 1: Finish writing Chasing Nonconformity

This is the most important step, as this sequel is the pivot point around which the rest of the plan turns. I’m about halfway through the re-write right now, and will hopefully get it done by the end of February. Then begin the rounds of editing and beta readers and general headaches … so I’m hoping that if I buckle down and really put my nose to the grindstone, I can maybe eke out a finished manuscript by September?

Step 2: Get covers for Imminent Danger and Chasing Nonconformity

Of course, I already have a cover for Imminent Danger, but that cover is technically owned by iUniverse, and I don’t really feel like paying them several hundred dollars to come into possession of a cover to which I’m not particularly attached. The plan, you see, is that I’m going to re-publish Imminent Danger on my own (i.e., not through a vanity publisher), which will give me much more control over the fate of the book. So I’m going to need covers for both books 1 and 2.

I was in talks with a cover designer last year, but things didn’t really work out — I didn’t know what I wanted, and the designer had a particular style that, while lovely, just didn’t mesh with what I had in mind (despite me not actually knowing what I had in mind). See the problem? Indecision abounds in my world. Anyway, I’m now messing around with cover design on my own, and have tentatively acquired a new designer … more on that story as it unfolds!

Step 3: Break from iUniverse and re-release Imminent Danger via Amazon KDP

So this is actually two steps in one. Basically, I kind of like the idea of trying out the Amazon KDP program, but that of course means I can’t have my book for sale on other websites. Since iUniverse is currently distributing Imminent Danger to every website under the sun, that will mean that I’m going to break from them at some point. I don’t know when, but … it’s definitely going to happen. I mean, unless I can find a way to re-publish Imminent Danger on Amazon KDP and still leave the iUniverse version up and available … maybe call the new version the “Deluxe version” or something? If anyone knows about this sort of thing, by all means send your wisdom my way!

And then the second part of the step is, of course, to re-release Imminent Danger on Amazon KDP. I don’t know that I’ll stay in the KDP program forever, but it seems a good way to start. My tentative plan for this is to re-release the book sometime in September. I’m thinking of doing the Kindle Countdown Deals program for the first three months, and then switch over to the 5 free days option just in time for …

Step 4: Release Chasing Nonconformity for Christmas!

This is, of course, assuming I’m actually able to come up with a finished manuscript by the fall, which is … let’s just call it an extremely optimistic plan. But I’m nothing if not optimistic! So assuming everything goes according to plan, I’ll release Chasing Nonconformity around the start of December … and at that point Imminent Danger will have gone into the “5 free promo days” program, so I can offer it for free for a few days in December/January to drum up interest and encourage people to give the series a shot.

 

I am obviously a complete “n00b” at marketing, so any thoughts/comments on my plan are greatly appreciated!

 

Unrelated media:

Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/GrN3m

Categories: My Works, Self Publishing, Writing | Tags: , , , , , , | 64 Comments

Cover Reveal! Danielle Taylor’s “Falling For You”

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Michelle Proulx

Technically I was supposed to post this about twelve hours ago, but better late than never! Without further ado, I present to you the cover for Danielle Taylor’s new romance novel, Falling For You.

FfYgood (2)

Julia Burns can’t remember a day in her life when she didn’t have to work. So the ad in the paper sounds perfect to her – even if she does have to marry a complete stranger.

Nicholas Steele isn’t used to being around people since the accident that left him disfigured. Having a permanent house guest isn’t his idea of fun, however, the press would have a field day if they found he and his new wife weren’t residing together.

On paper, their ‘fake’ marriage fits both their needs, giving Nicholas a wife and Julia the security she’s always dreamed of having. In reality, every moment Nicholas and Julia spend together brings them closer to falling for each other.

* * * * * *

About the author:

Danielle Taylor is the author of the Captive Hearts Series and the WattPad sensation Falling for You, which broke 100,000 reads in less than a week.
You can find Danielle on:
Categories: Guest Post | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Book Review: The Amber Ring (A.L. Walton)

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Michelle Proulx

The Booktheamberring

The Amber Ring

The Genre

Fantasy Novella

The Author

A former network administrator and software developer for the U.S. Department of Defense, A.L. Walton (otherwise known as Piscis – or simply “the fish”) currently resides in Boise, Idaho, where he spends a good chunk of his time making stuff up and putting it on paper. And writing music. But mostly the other thing.

The Plot

At the age of ten, Sofia Corona saved the Fairwoods from the malevolent grasp of the Cedar Witch and her goblin army.

Two years later, she drowned unceremoniously in the lake behind her Oregon home.

In the months following the Heroine’s death, when the Fairwoods face a resurgence of goblin attacks, they are forced to turn to Sofia’s cynical twin sister, Maya, for help. Although she wants nothing more to do with her sister’s fanciful adventures, Maya comes to realize that this one last favor could give her the closure she needs to put Sofia’s memory to rest and move on with her life.

With her twin’s magic ring and faithful gryphon companion, Maya embarks on a reluctant journey of whimsical antics and unwitting self-discovery in this stark but humorous fairy tale.

The Review

I loved this novella. It’s short, it’s sweet, and it does a glorious job of turning the traditional “hero” story on its head. One of the things I loved about this book is that there’s your classic heroine destined by fate to save a magical world of zany fantasy creatures … except that she drowns in a pool, and suddenly it’s up to her emotionally detached sister to save the day instead. 

The character of Maya is so fun, precisely because she is so far removed from what a heroine is supposed to be. She’s rational and cynical, so rather than reacting to a whimsical forest creature with delight, she gives it this “you’ve got to be kidding me” look and then tries very hard to be polite while inwardly bemoaning the ridiculous situation she’s in.

The novella is packed with a variety of whimsical forest creatures, my personal favorite being a tribe of trolls who consider themselves expert hat makers (they’re not), and are convinced the rest of the world are set on stealing their hats (they’re not). Sometimes the “whimsical encounters”, as I like to call them, seemed a bit tightly packed together, but it’s a novella, not a rambling 100k word fantasy novel, so allowances must be made!

All in all, a delightful little read!

The Rating

Five out of five stars

 

Links:

A.L. Walton’s blog

Buy the book on Amazon

Check out the book on Goodreads

 

Unrelated media of the day:

Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/7FNBr

Categories: Book Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Happy New Year!

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Michelle Proulx

Okay, okay, I’m a little late to the party — six days late, to be exact. But I’m here now, so Happy New Year, my lovely blogging friends!

Like all bloggers, one of my resolutions this year is to blog more — specifically, I intend to read other people’s blogs more, and try to update my own blog a few times a week. I’ve been doing fairly well with my ‘eat healthy’ resolution thus far, so hopefully I can carry that success over into the blogosphere.

A quick review of 2013 (only the good things)

  • Published my first novel! And it actually has good reviews!
  • Published my first short story!
  • Got my first fan art and fan fiction!
  • Became VP of the London Writers’ Society!
  • Didn’t screw up being VP of the London Writers’ Society!
  • Got a raise!
  • Finally moved out of my mother’s apartment! (well, sort of — actually, she moved out and transferred the lease to me)
  • Got a car! (again, mother’s doing — she gave me her old car and bought a new one)
  • Got asked to be a bridesmaid at my best friend’s wedding!
  • Learned how to walk in nature for more than half an hour without having a nervous breakdown over bugs being freakin’ everywhere!

I’m sure more awesome stuff happened, but those are the ones I can remember off the top of my head. I haven’t had my morning tea yet (one of my 2014 resolutions is to drink more tea), so my brain isn’t working at 100% capacity yet.

Looking ahead to 2014

My re-write of Chasing Nonconformity, the sequel to Imminent Danger, is going slower than I would like … but it is progressing, so I’m cautiously hopeful about getting it done in the next month or so. I finished revising chapter 14 last night (out of 48), so I still have a ways to go, but several of the upcoming chapters don’t need to be changed at all, so that should make life easier. My announced plan last year of a January 2014 release date for Chasing Nonconformity was wildly optimistic, and definitely won’t be happening. Maybe I can still swing a spring 2014 release? We’ll see. Fingers crossed!

Other than that, I have a few other things coming up. My best friend’s wedding is in August, so lots to do to help her prepare for that. I believe we will be getting together once a month to watch Disney movies and make invitations and place settings and whatnot. And then there’s our possible move to Nova Scotia, which may or may not be happening after the wedding. My brother is graduating this spring, which I’m super proud of him for accomplishing … my mother bought a new house, which she’ll be renovating over the next two years or so … I may or may not be publishing another short story, assuming I ever get it back from the depths of my mother’s unread inbox …

 

So a big thank you to everyone who followed my ramblings in 2013! I’ll try to do better at following your own adventures this upcoming year … promise! Happy New Year to all!

 

Unrelated media of the day

Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/E1UDmGR

Categories: Blog-related, Writing | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 38 Comments

Legends of Windemere: Allure of the Gypsies has arrived!

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Happy Saturday, everyone! For today’s post, I’m psyched to share with you some self-publishing news from the blogger we all know and love — Mister Charles E. Yallowitz, author of the Legends of Windemere series! The big news today is that …

Legends of Windemere: Allure of the Gypsies has arrived!!!

Well, technically it arrived a few weeks ago. But it’s still new and exciting! So …

Buy it Here!

Allure Final Cover (2)

Book Blurb:

The epic adventures of Luke Callindor and Nyx continue after their journey down the L’Dandrin River in Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower.

Reeling from his failures in their previous adventure, Luke leads his surviving friends to his hometown.  With his mind frayed and his confidence fractured, Luke must face the family and fiancée he left behind.  It is a brief homecoming when the vampire Kalam attacks the village, forcing Luke and Nyx to break into his lair for the key to resurrecting a fallen warrior.  It is a quest that will force both young heroes to reach new heights of strength and power that they never knew they had.

Can Luke and Nyx escape the lair of Kalam?  And, what role will the orphaned gypsy Sari play in their looming destiny?

*     *     *

Wondering what you’re in for? Check out the praise earned by the first two installments of this high fantasy series.

wattpad beginningReview Excerpts for Legends of Windemere: Beginning of a Hero:

“I greatly enjoyed the vivid characters, the gripping plot, and the refreshingly unique writing style (present tense). ” – kdillmanjones

“This is a sophisticated and delightful read. I recommend this book to lovers of Fantasy or to General Fiction readers. The story is compelling enough to entertain a wide audience.” – John Howell

“One of the things that won me over was the bouts of humor. Especially in the beginning. “This is not possible! I am a Paladin!” I thought I was going to die with delight.” – C.N. Faust

rsz_prodigy_cover_finalReview Excerpts for Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower:

“Something I find unique about this fantasy novel that I don’t often find in others, is that the hero, Luke Callindor is rather of the unlucky variety. He does not get everything he asks for, he stumbles, falls, gets knocked down (literally)and taught lessons as he goes. This is helping him to grow into the hero that was promised in the first book.” – Ionia Martin

“Nyx is such a strong personality. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and more of the other characters, new and already known, with the rich tapestry of Windemere unfolding in between intense actions scenes and moments of kindness and budding friendships.” – Danielle Taylor

“Almost like the Harry Potter series. The books start out so young and innocent, but by the last book – watch out!”  –  Momto4Booklover

*     *     *

Charles author photo B&WAuthor Biography:

Charles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After his wife decided that she was tired of hearing the same stories repeatedly, she convinced him that it would make more sense to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house under orders to shut up and get to work, Charles brings you Legends of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you and his wife is happy he finally has someone else to play with.

Contact:

Blog-  www.legendsofwindemere.com

Twitter-  @cyallowitz

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/CharlesYallowitz

*     *     *

To celebrate the debut of Legends of Windemere: Allure of the Gypsies, Mr. Yallowitz is also holding a Goodreads Giveaway! The prize is a paperback copy of ALL THREE LEGENDS OF WINDEMERE NOVELS.  Winners will be picked at the end of December.

Categories: Self Publishing | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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