Posts Tagged With: self-publish

Guest Blog Post: Tania L Ramos + Giveaway!

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Michelle Proulx

Remember that blog tour I mentioned I was taking part in? Well, the day has finally arrived! Today we have with us Tania L Ramos, author of the adult romance/drama Be Still (click here for my review). She’s an extremely talented author who I met over WordPress, and she’s here to share some thoughts with us about how to set realistic, achievable goals.

So here’s what you need to do if you want to be awesome:

1. Read the guest post. I really enjoyed reading it, and I think you will too.

2. Enter the giveaway! Go to Tania’s Facebook page and find the “Blog Tour with Michelle Proulx, Post Comments Here” post (should be easily spotted). Leave a comment saying that you read this blog post, as well as your email address. Then you will be entered for a chance to win a softcover copy of Be Still! For free! Woo!

3. If so inclined, you can also check out Tania’s website. There’s lots of information there about her, her book, etc. Do it!

And so, without any further ado, Tania’s guest post!

Tania L Ramos, author of Be Still

Hello friends of Michelle Proulx and thank you for following my blog tour. My name is Tania L Ramos, author of two books titled, “When I Thought I Was Tough,” and most currently, “Be Still.” By day I am a registered nurse in a recovery room. By night I punch away at my keyboard and put on my author hat. Currently, I am a marketer, publicist, and social media novice all for my most current book. Most importantly, I am an independent author and that has been the scariest part.

Like so many others, I dreamed of being published and getting paid for what I love to do. Then I discovered that was like saying I wanted to be an award winning actress in Hollywood. Well, I had my fifteen seconds of Hollywood fame when I played (in a non-speaking roll) a paramedic for several episodes of the television show E.R. I was never discovered and, so, I went on into my role of being a real medical professional then chose to start writing during a very bleak period in my life. That bleak period is a whole other story, one of those Hallmark television after-school specials.

With my time off I wrote my first novel. I thought I would have been happy at that, but all that did was spark a great fire for the desire to be an accomplished author. What is accomplished? I had a few goals in mind went I decided to independently publish, “Be Still.”

Goals:

1. Have a professional looking book (accomplished)

2. Have a book signing (accomplished)

3. Reach a rank of less than 1,000,000 on Amazon (accomplished…for a few hours)

4. Have a book party (accomplished)

5. Have a book trailer up (accomplished)

6. Have an author video interview up (accomplished)

7. Do a blog tour (in process of being accomplished)

8. Sell 250 book by August 31,2012 (short about half, but there’s still time)

My guest post today is about having goals and making them realistic. Sure, I would love to be a NY Times Best Seller and have a company pay me to write instead of investing my own money to write, but it takes baby steps. There are many authors out there who started out self-published and eventually won out the big publishing houses, but even those authors would say they had to first pay their dues. Never, or at least rarely, do things come without working at it first.

I have paid over $6,000 into being published. And I do not mind saying that. There are many authors who refuse to reveal numbers, but I’m here to state the truth, so other authors going this route know they aren’t alone. Over $6,000 in publishing and at least another $2,500 in marketing and publicity. I have tried it all. I made a commitment to put any money I make back into marketing or into publishing my next book. I didn’t expect to make a profit, but wouldn’t scoff at it should that happen. I am a relatively unknown author and have prepared myself to pay my dues.

I set goals first off, and placed them on a blackboard in bright shiny colors to see every morning. The list above are just some of my goals, there are many more: send out a press release, create a Facebook fan page, start using Twitter, etc. Every day I set out to complete one task and called it an accomplishment. I celebrated every minor milestone such as hugging the woman who had no clue who I was but bought my book at the mall anyways. What was all the hubbub? Someone who didn’t know me from Eve bought a book! To me that was a major ordeal. When I sold my first ten books I shouted for joy and posted it to every social media outlet I could. Again, it wasn’t the 250 by August, but it was a milestone on my way to the bigger picture. I celebrate everything so nothing too small can ever be a disappointment.

A few weeks ago I did a book signing at High Desert Oasis Used bookstore’s grand re-opening event. I sold one book. Just one. I called it a bonus day. You know why? The guy who bought my book met me at the mall the week before and promised he would show up to the bookstore for my signing event. And he did. That was one of the most special books I have sold yet. And still, I only sold one book that day. It wasn’t so much the sale as knowing he came back to see me because he was very curious about the book. Milestones.

This blog tour has been such a huge ordeal for me. I didn’t know many people before writing my book. In fact, I could name all my friends on one hand. I’m socially awkward and a great savant at being perpetually recluse. Thusly, I write. So creating a book tour took so much time and emotional energy. I had to start networking, start putting myself and my emotions out there, and start speaking up. Some of you may empathize.

I was turned down by five people whom I invited to join my blog tour. I was psychologically devastated and emotionally mortified. But in between all those rejections were acceptance replies. I told myself I would do the tour even if just one person accepted. Just one. I had five people accept. Instead of wallowing in devastation I celebrated my accomplishment. FIVE PEOPLE ACCEPTED.

Not only am I hitting milestones and accomplishing goals, but I’m changing who I am. I can talk to people about my book. And conversely people are asking me questions. I have joined clubs and volunteered to do speaking events. People are contacting me now. But everyday, I still create and reach for goals. Today I am coming to you from Las Vegas, Nevada where I am working on another goal: research, video and photos of the Extraterrestrial Highway for my next book (based on aliens for young adults). There is always a goal…

I feel like a superstar and so should you in every minor and major accomplishment. Hug the lady who buys your book and has no clue who you are. Let them know they are superstars in your world. Rejoice in the person who remembers who you are and comes back. Be delighted if only one person accepts your request to host a blog tour, but jump to the sky if you get five. Take a picture of the moment you sell ten books, twenty-five, fifty and finally hit your goal. Never, never, never look at a goal as missed but look at it as an extended journey. Books are forever. It may take twenty years to hit a goal, but don’t forget to shout out loud on the day you hit that mark. Never lose sight of your dream, because nobody else can dream it for you. And when you reach that goal, after the celebration, make a new one. And if you can’t be among the stars…write about them.

–Tania L Ramos

Did you enjoy the guest post?

Sound off in the comments below!

And don’t forget to check out her blog tour stop yesterday at DavidMcGowanAuthor.com. Tomorrow she’s posting a video blog on Youtube, so stop by her Youtube channel to see that!

Categories: Blog-related, Self Publishing, Writing | Tags: author, be still, books, ebooks, guest post, iuniverse, self-publish, tania l ramos, writing, writing tips | 7 Comments

Another awesome free eBook about self-publishing …

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Michelle Proulx

You may recall that post I wrote about the “Free Marketing Tips” eBook. Well, today’s post is about the same author, Mark Coker, who started Smashwords and has written yet another eBook about self-publishing that has some very useful information for anyone who has ever, is currently, or will ever self-publish.

The eBook is called “Secrets to eBook publishing success”. Here’s a link to the download page. And it’s totally free, so if that isn’t reason enough to read it, then I don’t know what is!

There’s lots of useful info in there. I’ll share some here so you get the idea (note: these are quotes directly copied from the eBook):

80% of your book’s success will be determined by the quality of your book. The other 20% is distribution, marketing, and luck.
A good author name is simple to remember, and simple to spell. Avoid cutesy spelling, because this can make it difficult for readers to find you.
Think of each book you release as a fish hook in the ocean. When you network them together with simple mentions and hyperlinks at the end, the fish hooks form a net. Each book becomes a subtle yet powerful advertisement for the others. Each gives you the opportunity to reach new readers.
(Giving your eBook away for) free works best if you have a deep backlist or if you write full-length series.
Ebooks are immortal. They never go out of print or lose distribution unless the author or publisher willingly decides to remove a book from distribution. Your sales can start off small then gradually build over time as readers start discovering and enjoying your books.
Your book is your most effective marketing tool. Write a book that touches the reader’s soul and the reader will market your book for you through online word-of-mouth and reviews.

There’s loads more information in there. Again, here’s the link to download the eBook.

Fun time!

Categories: Self Publishing | Tags: author, books, ebooks, koalifications, mark coker, self-publish, smashwords, writing, writing tips, yolo | 6 Comments

The Versatile Blogger Award + 100 followers!

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Michelle Proulx

Candace Knoebel was kind enough to nominate me for the Versatile Blogger award! Thanks so much! I like winning things. And I like blogging! So this is, quite literally, a win-win.

But before I get into the nitty and gritty of the award, I just wanted to shout out a THANK YOU to all my followers – I hit 100 today! Woo! That’s 100 people more than I knew three months ago when I first started blogging. You guys are awesome, and I’ve loved my time here on WordPress thus far, so thanks again for reading, following, and supporting 🙂

On to the Versatile Blogger award!

Step One: Share 7 things about yourself

Okee dokee. Here goes!

1) My head is super sensitive. By that I mean that if I put my hair up in a ponytail (even a low one), it starts to give me a headache within minutes. The only solutions I’ve found thus far are leaving it down, clipping it high up, or doing a french braid.

2) I keep a book of Sudoku puzzles in the bathroom. I bought it in South Korea, and I have stopped doing the puzzles because I don’t want to have to throw out the book. Sentimental value and whatnot.

3) I have recently developed a crush on Alex Pettyfer. My celebrity crushes usually last about three days or so–but man, it’s going to be a brutal three days.

4) My jedi teddy bear guardian has now been joined in his security detail by Tibbers, the five-foot tall bear I bought at Costco.

5) I really enjoy K-Pop, and I wish that English musicians would cover K-Pop artists’ songs, because A) K-Pop songs are awesome, and B) I want to be able to understand the lyrics!

6) Today I found my door unlocked, and became convinced that someone had broken into my apartment while I was in the bathroom. I proceeded to grab two knives from the knife block and stalk around the apartment yelling, “I’ve got two knives, intruder! I suggest you leave before I find you, because it won’t end well for anyone involved!” I never did find the intruder, so clearly my bluff worked.

7) People talking in movie theatres drive me absolutely insane. I usually just get up and move, but sometimes I will turn to my friend and do the passive-aggressive, “Do you think these people sitting behind us will EVER stop talking? It’s so annoying!” and hope the chatterboxes hear. It’s not hard! Just keep your mouth shut! Ack.

That took a turn for the dark. Let’s lighten things back up.

Step two!

I hereby nominate … hmm …

Clotildajamcracker

Keri Peardon

and

Tania L Ramos

Congrats!

Now all y’all gotta do is accept the award, thank the person who gave it to you (me!), share 7 things about yourself, then pass the award along to as many people as you like (the official rules suggest 15).

Happy blogging!

Link of the day!

Erm, this one’s a bit racy, so I’ll provide a link instead of just showing you the image. It’s Game of Thrones related, btw.

http://www.memecenter.com/fun/139647/game-of-thrones-memes

Categories: Blog-related | Tags: author, blog award, books, ebooks, game of thrones, imminent danger, meme, self-publish, versatile blogger, writing, yolo | 4 Comments

Be Still — Book Review

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Michelle Proulx

Me with my copy of Be Still!

The Book

“Be Still”

The Genre

Romantic Drama

The Author

Tania L. Ramos. This is her second novel, which is self-published through iUniverse. Check out her blog and her website for more information!

The Plot

Plastic surgeon Jack Silver thinks his life is perfect – until he loses his daughter and wife in a series of tragic events. A decade later, Jack discovers that he is dying. He desperately wants to reconnect with his estranged son Travis, but Travis wants nothing to do with his father. Enter Dr. Christina Amity, Jack’s protégé and dear friend, who strives to help father and son work out their issues before Jack’s disease claims him. But even as Christina and Travis grow closer, Jack finds himself inching towards death, drawn by what he thinks is the spirit of his dead wife. Will Jack make peace with his son before he rejoins his wife and daughter in the afterlife? Will the emotionally-damaged Travis ever find love? Read Be Still to find out!

The Review

Let me start by saying that, despite the genre of this book being the polar opposite of what I usually read, I really enjoyed Be Still. The plot was engaging and well thought out, the characters relatable and believable. It’s a tragic story that’s at the same time uplifting, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes the romance/drama genre.

I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t the hugest fan of Jack Silver. He basically gives up on living after his wife dies, withdrawing from the world and from his son, all of which really irked me. I have a hard time connecting with parent characters who emotionally abandon their children. At the same time, I totally understand why he did what he did because his plot arc was beautifully written, so even though I didn’t really like the character, Tania still got me to sympathize with him.

On the other hand, I loved Travis and Christina. Their romance is sweet, and realistic, and flawed, because when does love ever go smoothly? I actually found myself caring more about Jack because I was seeing him through Travis and Christina’s eyes, and it was bittersweet because their shared grief over his impending death is one of the things that brings them together.

I quite enjoyed Tania’s writing style. It flowed nicely, and it was very easy for me to lose myself in the story. One criticism I would make is that the description sometimes got a little flowery, but for all I know that’s the norm for this genre of writing. It certainly didn’t detract from the story, it just made me pause and think, “Goodness, that’s a lot of adverbs”.

The Rating

4 out of 5 stars, plus an “Awww!” factor of 8 puppies.

Remember that blog tour I mentioned?

If you have an excellent memory, you’ll remember that I’m participating in a blog tour next week – the blog tour of Tania L Ramos, to be specific, aka the author of Be Still! Whoa. Crazy coincidence, right? Anyway, here’s a reminder of the blog tour dates:

July 19 – http://katherinenader.tumblr.com

July 20 – http://nerdybookreviews.wordpresscom

July 21 – http://freebies4myfamily.blogspot.com/

July 22 – http://davidmcgowanauthor.com/

July 23 – https://michelleproulx.wordpress.com/ ((ME!))

July 24 – http://www.youtube.com/user/tramossnvvc/videos ((video blog))

Tania is also holding a sweepstakes right now, which can be viewed on her Facebook page. Basically, for every 100 books she sells by August 30th, she will donate a copy of her book to a high school of the winner’s choice. It only works for U.S. schools (something about foreign policy), and she promises to donate a book even if she doesn’t hit the 100 books sold mark. And if you’re poor like me and don’t want to buy a copy, you can still go to the Sweepstakes tab on the Facebook page and enter anyway.

So come back next Monday for my leg of the blog tour!

Tania will be writing a guest post about … about … okay, we really don’t know yet. If you have any ideas, sound off in the comments! She’s a self-published author, so maybe you have some questions you’d like her to answer? Just relay them in the comments section here and I’ll forward them to her.

Cute and addictive game:

http://www.silvergames.com/nyan-cat-lost-in-space

Categories: Book Reviews | Tags: author, be still, book contests, book review, books, ebooks, funny, indie, meme, nyan cat, review, self-publish, tania l ramos, writing, yolo | 4 Comments

How do you write a good sequel?

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Michelle Proulx

I actually got on this topic because of the following video:

Now, I would like to clarify that I am aware Phantom Menace is a prequel, not a sequel. I do understand the distinction. But it’s basically the same concept — you’re continuing a story that’s already been established.

So here’s my question to you — how do you write a good sequel?

I am currently reworking the sequel to Imminent Danger, that book I keep babbling about that I will be self-publishing sometime this century. And I’m racked with self-doubt (“wracked”?) because it has to be as good as the first book, but I’m not sure how to make it that way. As the fast-talking man in the Star Wars video says, sequels/prequels need to be new and original, but they also have to evoke a feeling of familiarity. So how do we achieve that delicate balance?

My current strategy is to write the story I want to write, then get someone else’s opinion on how it holds up as a sequel. I can’t be a good judge of that, because I wrote it. I’m too close to it to see it clearly for what it is. I think that’s where George Lucas went wrong – he was so confident in his own artistic brilliance that he disregarded other opinions, hence the mediocrity of Phantom Menace and, to a slightly lesser extent, the other two prequels. I’m not going to lie, I actually do quite like Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith (parts of them, anyway), but there’s no way I would ever call them better than the original trilogy.

Another thing I’ve tried doing is going back and reading the first book and writing down the things that I liked about it, the things that made me laugh, the things that made me “awww!”, etc. Then (hypothetically), I will take that list and apply it to the sequel.

I don’t know. What makes a good sequel? How can you ensure a sequel’s as good as the original? Can an author be trusted to reliably evaluate their own work?

Cool news for Chuck/Thor fans:

Zachary Levi (Chuck!) has been cast as Fandral in the upcoming Thor sequel. Fandral, to remind you, is Thor’s Asgardian friend, the skinny, blonde, mustachio-ed guy with the rapier. Or was it a legit longsword? I don’t remember. Anyway, I’m extremely excited because I love Chuck, and I love Thor, and it’s going to be awesome having them together! Click here to read the article and watch Zach’s interview with Leno.

Image cred: http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/UPDATED-v0-4-Star-Wars-Opening-Crawl-After-Effects-Template-SEE-FIRST-POST/topic/9001/

Categories: Writing | Tags: author, belatedmedia, books, chuck, george lucas, self-publish, sequel, star wars, thor, writing, yolo, zachary levi | 23 Comments

I’ve finally submitted my manuscript!

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Michelle Proulx

This image has nothing to do with the post. I just like it because it’s awesome.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s official. I have finalized the manuscript for Imminent Danger and How to Fly Straight into It. It is written, edited, revised, and submitted to iUniverse via their incredibly complex submission form.

So what does this mean?

Step One: Editorial Evaluation

To quote Rebekka, my iUniverse “Check-In Coordinator”:

Your project is now ready for its Editorial Evaluation. Your project will be assigned an Editorial Consultant and you should hear from them within 2 – 3 weeks (once your Editorial Evaluation is finished). It’s helpful for you to understand that the Editorial Evaluation is a general overview of your manuscript, which focuses on key industry-standard areas, based on your genre of book. Some of these might include: point of view, grammar, plot points, etc. At the end of the Editorial Evaluation, you will receive a 10-15 page form, which highlights areas of possible improvement in your manuscript and gives you pointers regarding how to make your manuscript more marketable.

Now, my hope *fingers crossed* is that there won’t be many suggested changes. I hope this because I have had approximately 15 people read the manuscript and made a zillion revisions based on their suggestions, so there really shouldn’t be all that much left in the book needing fixing.

Of course, these are professional editors reading the manuscript, so they’ll probably catch something or suggest something that my myriad proof readers missed. I’m cool with that. As long as they don’t tell me to “re-write the entire book” like one super-helpful reader did (*sarcasm*), I’m good.

While I wait for the Editorial Evaluation …

I bite my nails and hope it turns out well! No, seriously, I will probably get back to editing the sequel to Imminent Danger. When last I checked in on it, it was titled Interspecies Relationships and How to Make an Already Complicated Situation Worse. As that is somewhat of a mouthful, the title will be one of the first things I change.

My big thing with a sequel is making sure it’s as good (or nearly as good) as the first book. Because is there anything worse than reading a sub-par sequel to a book you love? Famine is worse, probably. Poverty. Child soldiers. Slavery. But you get my point!

And what is there in store for us, your loyal blog followers?

I just switched to “FAQ” mode. Whoops. Anyway, I really want to start posting excerpts from the book, which y’all may or may not read at your leisure. That won’t happen until the Editorial Evaluation gets back, however, so until then … expect pretty much the same. Random thoughts on writing, links to various photos/videos that probably no one but me enjoys, etc.

Woo!

Thanks, as always, for letting me ramble on. Speaking of Ramble On, that song has an entire verse about Lord of the Rings. Talk about awesome.

Right. So that’s my news, as well as my random link of the day. Happy Thursday!

PS: Can I even say PS in a blog? Right. Moving on. Does anyone have an opinion on vlogs? Good? Bad? Annoying? Would anyone watch an unknown author ramble about her publishing experience for 3-4 minutes? I won’t force you to watch any vlogs if you say yes.

Categories: My Works | Tags: author, books, ebooks, editing, imminent danger, indie, iuniverse, lord of the rings, ninja, ramble on, self-publish, sequel, vlog, writing | 16 Comments

So close to submitting my manuscript!

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Michelle Proulx

You’ve been listening to me whine about how much I dislike editing for the past few weeks, but that’s all about to come to an end. Today I got my last proofread manuscript of Imminent Danger and How to Fly Straight into It back, which means that I officially have a final manuscript to submit to iUniverse! Woooo! Final, that is, until they have their editors look it over and give me a whole list of changes to make. But let’s not think about that right now.

So the manuscript is good to go. I have some preliminary cover art from a friend of mine, and I need to get him to sign over the rights to me so I can actually use his design. My author photo shoot was last week on the University of Western Ontario campus — I’ll post a pic when I get them from my friend — so that’s taken care of. As near as I can tell, all I need is the author photo and the cover art rights contract, and I’m officially set to publish!

Man, this feels good. At the same time it’s terrifying, because I’ve read very mixed reviews of iUniverse. I’m mainly publishing with them because they can get my book into an actual brick and mortar store, but I still want the process to go as smoothly as possible. I’ve liked my interactions with them so far, so hopefully it will continue. Fingers crossed!

I guess the next step is to submit everything, then wait for the editorial review to come back. That’s supposed to take a few weeks to a month, so I’ll have time to kick back and get some actual, paying work done. Then they format the book, inside and out, turn it into an ebook, etc. etc., and then it’s PUBLICATION TIME! That won’t happen until about September, of course. But considering that I’ve been editing Imminent Danger for six years now, 3 months isn’t a heckuva long time to wait.

Wooo!

Update on my website troubles

Remember that list of questions I posted about how Justhost works from this post? I tagged Justhost in that post. The next day, I got a phone call from a Justhost representative. It turns out they actually monitor posts that Justhost is tagged in. Which at first I thought was kind of creepy, until the Justhost rep (Joshua) sent me a super-detailed list of answers to all the questions I posted on my blog. No strings attached, just a “We noticed you had some questions, so here are your answers trololol”. How awesome is that? Talk about customer service! Anyway, I’m really thrilled with Justhost so far, so thank you to Joshua and Justhost!

Game of Thrones Awesomeness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rapo0h-RDnk

Warning: There’s some PG-13 stuff in that video, so don’t watch with your little ones in the room 🙂

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Image cred: http://hannahgracewalls.blogspot.ca/2012/02/codex-and-illuminated-manuscript-1st.html

Categories: My Works | Tags: author, books, editing, game of thrones, imminent danger, iuniverse, justhost, self-publish, the key of awesome, writing, yolo | 3 Comments

Oh snap! I’m in a Blog Tour!

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Michelle Proulx

So fellow author and blogger Tania L Ramos has cordially invited me to participate in her upcoming blog tour. Woot!

The blog tour is to promote her recently self-published novel Be Still, which you can find out more about via her website. Here’s the lovely image of her cover:

I read it, and despite it being the polar opposite of the genres I usually read, I really enjoyed it. It’s a modern, romantic adult drama about a man slowly dying who wants to join his wife and daughter in the afterlife, but can’t die peacefully until he’s resolved his issues with his living son.

For people who don’t know, a blog tour is basically the internet version of a book tour. Instead of flying all around the country doing interviews and promoting their book, the author does it online instead. So at each of the stops along the blog tour, Tania will be doing an interview, or the blog’s author will post their review of the book (which is what I will likely be doing), or there might be an “interview” with one of the book’s characters, etc. Sounds cool, right?

Oh, and did I mention there will be a free giveaway of the book at each stop on the blog tour? Now you’re interested! Mwahaha. Seriously though, it’s worth stopping by just to enter into the contest. Who doesn’t love a free book? Nobody, that’s who.

Anyway, here’s the schedule for the blog tour:

July 19 – http://katherinenader.tumblr.com

July 20 – http://nerdybookreviews.wordpresscom

July 21 – http://freebies4myfamily.blogspot.com/

July 22 – http://davidmcgowanauthor.com/

July 23 – https://michelleproulx.wordpress.com/ ((ME!))

July 24 – http://www.youtube.com/user/tramossnvvc/videos ((video blog))

Here’s some cute to get you through Monday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-CkMBr4Ga0

Categories: Blog-related | Tags: author, be still, blog tour, books, cute, free, iuniverse, monday, poodle, puppy, self-publish, writing | Leave a comment

So I bought a website … help!

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Michelle Proulx

What up, blogosphere. Today I reach out to you in my hour of need. Ready for my plea?

I bought a website.

I signed up with justhost.com, and bought the domain name michelleproulx.com. Feel free to click that link and check it out — it’s laughably simple, because I have no idea how to build/maintain a website.

My site is created using Weebly.

Weebly is a widget-based website creator, which Just Host told me to use, and it baffles me. I figured out how to make basic pages with photos and text, but more complicated things elude me. How, for example, do I view my site statistics? Is there a way for me to add a Facebook “Like” button on a page? Or what about a “Tweet it” button? Does it have something to do with HTML? My author friend Tania L Ramos has a website with a Twitter button right on the homepage. How do I get that?

I can’t find any useful how-to videos.

The only videos I’ve found are ones that explain the very basics of using Weebly, which I figured out for myself. A five-year-old could figure it out. I need to know more complicated stuff. Like, how come when I Google my website name, it doesn’t show up until like page 8 of the Google Search results? How can I get it higher up the list? Is there some feature I need to turn on? Do I need to sell my soul? If so, to whom? Is there a refund policy?

In conclusion, technology confuses me.

On the plus side, I did figure out how to get the comments widget to email comments directly to me, so I can read those now. Huzzah!

Help!

Any insights into justhost.com, Weebly, or pretty much anything about making a website would be extremely helpful. Now, to repeat, I know how to make pages, text objects, photos, and link things. It’s the rest of the website building thing that I need help with. Assist me!!!

Image cred: http://www.fanpop.com/spots/the-hunger-games/images/28601336/title/lol-true-fanart

Categories: Blog-related | Tags: author, books, google, hunger games, imminent danger, justhost, peeta, self-publish, website, weebly, writing | 20 Comments

Some of my favourite Harry Potter fanfictions

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Michelle Proulx

Like many writers out there, I got my start in fanfiction. I began with a delightfully terrible Harry Potter fanfic called “The Heir of Gryffindor”, which involved Harry getting horribly abused by the Dursleys and then being rescued by Sirius Black, who for some reason owned a mansion in the English countryside and had a fondness for mint humbugs. Yeah …

Then I progressed to my first real novelling attempt–a massive, 241,317 word fic entitled “Harry Potter and the Dream Come True”. Basically, James Potter comes back to life, hilarity ensues, and Harry finds the family he’s always been dreaming of (hence the title). It started off sweet and heartfelt, but has now become rather bizarre. I also haven’t updated it in about three years–shame on me! I’m sure I’ll get back to it one day.

But my most successful fanfiction by far has been my latest, a Hunger Games fic called “Life Through Sea Green Eyes”. People love it, and a few fans have even started translating it into Chinese. Awesome, right?! There’s a link on my “Fanfiction” page (located on the sidebar) if you’re interested.

On to the main event!

I used to read a lot of HP fanfiction. In fact, I probably spent more time reading HP fanfics in high school than I did playing WoW in university. Anyway, here are three of my favourites, two of which I’ve actually had printed out on Lulu.com so I can have them on my bookshelf forever. If you’re a HP fan and you haven’t read these, I suggest you get cracking!

Semi Charmed Life

Within the Marauder band of Merry Men, Sirius is the dashing Will Scarlet. Seventh year, his goal is to help Robin woo Maid Lily, avoid sermons from Friar Moony, aid a rat in need, and win the love of a fair lady.

This is a funny, romantic Sirius/Rosmerta fic with a little Lily/James and some Lucius-induced drama thrown in on the side. I particularly enjoyed the depiction of Hogsmeade daily life, as well as gratuitous Sirius-on-motorbike-wearing-black-leather scenes. This is one of the fics that I printed out, because I’m just that awesome. Go here to read.

Learning to Breathe

Harry Potter is 16 years old. He already defeated Voldemort, with the help of his Godfather Sirius Black. Now he is in for the biggest challenge of his life: attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

This is an AU (alternate universe, for the uninitiated) fic about how things would have gone if Sirius had never gone to Azkaban, and had instead raised Harry as the ultimate warrior. The story actually starts after Harry defeats Voldemort, and revolves around him trying to fit in at Hogwarts when all he’s known is being a soldier. It’s Ginny/Harry, so she plays a big role in helping him acclimatize to civilian life. It gets a little weird at the end, but it’s a really great fic, and has lots of re-read value. Go here to read.

Draco Malfoy the Amazing Bouncing Rat

Draco Malfoy, magically transformed into an evil rat. Who is it who always seems to get the evil rats as pets, and what is poor, poor Draco’s new name? Eventually D/Hr, just now mainly D/coffee…

My favourite HP fanfic of all time. As the plot summary suggests, Draco is turned into a rat and ends up living with Harry and the gang in Gryffindor tower. It’s full of brilliant one-liners, and basically just gives me a warm, fuzzy, happy feeling when I read it. This is the other fic I had printed out.

One problem with this fic is that it has apparently vanished from the internet. Neither the fanfic.net link nor the fictionalley.org link works. However, I did find this horribly-formatted site that has the complete text: click here to read. Expand the first menu and read the chapters as you please. Again, the formatting is squished and weird, so if you are interested in reading this fic (which I highly recommend!), I suggest doing a Google search and seeing what else you can find. Or I guess you could also copy/paste the text into a Word doc and change the paragraph settings so that the line spacing is double, which would make the formatting much easier to read.

Google “Harry Potter Fanfiction”, and here’s what comes up:

Fanfiction ftw!

I’m mostly past my fanfic-reading stage, but reminiscing is fun! What were your favourite fanfics / did you ever read fanfiction? For that matter, did you ever write fanfiction? Was it terrible? Was it awesome? Tell me!

Image cred: http://uthinkido.com/what-people-think-i-do/gallery/animal/otter ; http://www.aki-hoshi.com/thebet/bet.htm