Monday, April 30, 2012

Well, it just keeps getting better and better!  My printer said she would waive the fee and put me in a Book Distribution company and then I would be on Amazon.  Then a few weeks ago I saw my book on the Barnes & Noble website, Oh too cool!  So I go to Barnes & Noble and speak to the manager about what all would entail having a book signing.  Well, he wouldn't do it because my book is in the POD category and if all the books don't sell they are not returnable.  I said, hell, I would buy them and bring them in, have the signing and what sells we split the profits.  Oh hell no!  They don't go for that!

So, I am very upset to say the least, angry all the way home thinking of what I could do.  I send my printer an email and she finally gets back to me I believe a day later.  Well, this is the email she sent me.  And what pisses me off is that she acts like I am a complete idiot.  I guess I was, because I let those bastards screw me over!  I honestly can't have a book signing unless it is my own damn garage!!!


Kathleen,

We have done what we can and your book is no longer at B & N (but you are not out of the POD program). See the note below. Also, you are going to need books at your book signing, you realize that right? Barnes and Noble won’t do a book signing without books which is partly why they said what the did about POD. You can still be in the POD program and as long as you and your B & N manager agree on how many books you will need to come with (you have to pay for these remember) then you should have no trouble setting up the book signing.

If you need anything else, let me know,

Okay, for starters.  I NEED books for a book signing.  Really????  You don't say.  Thought maybe I would just sign post-it notes saying I owe you!!!!  Oh, and I would have to pay for the books.  Again, Really????  Thought since I trusted them to print my books that maybe they would just hand over a thousand or so and let me get back to them with the money I owe them! 

Is the world so full of stupid people??  They have truly screwed me over and pretty much I now have to waste my time looking for someone else to print my books.  And when I do I will be very pleased to tell them to take me out of the POD program.  Don't care for it much!  I spent over 20 years of my life in the spare time I could from my husband, and two kids and moving every 3 years because we were in the Military.  After the kids started school I had to go to work.  But, I spent nearly half my life writing this 4 book series and with my book on Amazon I get LESS than $2.00/ book.  And I never get a notification when one has sold.  I have read about other Authors, they do believe they NEVER see all of their earnings!

Sometimes I should have just listened to myself and just burned all of my books and lived like a normal person and just dashed all my stupid dreams, because sadly they have become a NIGHTMARE!!!

Well, I know this doesn't really matter to anyone, I just needed to vent but still dredge on...NOTE TO SELF...if you have dreams make sure they are ones that cannot be squelched by others!!!!!!

-Spyder

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Well, marketing your own book to gain the eyes of potential readers is unbelievably nerve racking!  I am signed in to so many different places that I seem to be losing my mind and remember them!  I have a spreadsheet, but I just want to scream.  Hopefully when I release Book 2 it will be less daunting. :)  I really need a Vacation - sadly haven't had one in years!!!

Thursday, April 5, 2012


For the Month of April I am offering 50% off on my first release Personal Justice 1 of a 4 book series. Coupon Code: NP62E  Expires: April 30, 2012  - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/147171

Smashwords offers several formats of ebooks.

Well, marketing your own book to gain the eyes of potential readers is unbelievably nerve racking!  I am signed in to so many different places that I seem to be losing my mind and remember them!  I have a spreadsheet, but I just want to scream.  Hopefully when I release Book 2 it will be less daunting. :)  I really need a Vacation - sadly haven't had one in years!!!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012



is:  April 4, 2012 (Finally got this done!  I really need a personal assistant!!)

When I was in the Military (1985) a friend of mine had a book that look very intriguing.  She said it’s a Romance, I said never read one!  LOL!  She lent it to me and I was HOOKED!!  It was Savage Autumn by Constance O’Banyon.  She is an amazing author!

I began reading a lot of Romance novels and thought I can do this – yeah ok.  I tried to write a Historical Romance, but it wasn’t working the characters weren’t heading anywhere except to bed every few pages!  That is not a good book at least not for some.  My husband said I will have to research even if it takes 20 years.  Oh hell no! 

So I decided to write something easier; a contemporary story of what sells bests and they are…?  Violence, Sex and drugs and that equals a cop and a prostitute (And other than her work my characters didn’t spend all their time in bed!  So, thus I started my writing life and first Novel Right or Wrong.  Sadly I started this back in 1986 and for me there was no personal computer.  Got to love the ‘The pen and note pad(s)’ and then a typewriter – not!

Having never written a book before I took out my note pad and started to make keynotes of what I wanted to happen to my characters.  So I made a long list and then the hard work was how to write the first sentence and believe me it is very hard! 

So, how do you start a book?  You open with an intense moment, screaming, running for your life or a bang! Something to snag the reader and keep them reading.  To me the first few pages are very important.  I still have a book that I can’t get past the first page, but some day I will! (Cross fingers).    

It was amazing how easy it was then to create a story.  Sometimes my poor hand couldn’t write fast enough to keep up with what my mind was spewing out! After spending three years on and off with my first Novel I began writing my next Novel and have not stopped to do much else.

While in Alabama I believe I came up with Lure of the Legend (Originally I called it Mystery Lake - this just wasn't clicking so I changed it).  I think the idea came to me after watching The Jim Henson Hour with a huge White Lion.  Something just clicked and ta-da! Since I really was nowhere near being ready for publishing I just continued writing. 

Next place we had to move to was Iowa. (Military life-don’t ever get too comfortable where you are!).  Here, I went crazy coming up with Ideas.  One day watching the news they were talking about someone being Homeless and ta-da!  A new idea (So I grabbed pen and paper and started listed key points to write about.  This book is titled Homeless Love.

One day my husband told me about a rumor going around, because things get so distorted when told over and over, but I’m sure it hadn’t lost much of the truth.  Basically a young Soldier went off to fight for his Country and put his life in harm’s way all day every day!  Long story short she (Skank loser) found a new boyfriend and sent a tape of them to her boyfriend/husband.  I am sure this sad truth has happened to so many.  I think it is best for the Soldier to realize he can find better!  Thus I wrote On the Homefront.

I think after my husband had a car accident (which could have been worse than him just rolling over and only sustaining bumps and bruises.) I could have been a mother of two little ones and lost.  I came up with my next Novel – Love thy Neighbor.

My next two Novels, Makeover Magic and By Accident, I have no idea where these two crawled out of!  I guess they might be those embarrassing ones I probably should just keep hidden, but hey we all end up failing one time or another right!

My next Novel, Domestically Speaking.  This one was more of a spark of an idea from a book I read.  Since my first Romance Novel I was reading them heavily in Iowa.  I have almost all of Dorothy Garlock and Jude Deveraux’s books.  If you have not read Sweet Liar (1992) by Jude Deveraux OMG!  I got a sample book with about four book excerpts and I read Sweet Liar and was immediately ordering it!  And by no means, and I know people will probably accuse me, but NO I did not complete Plagiarism!  I did not copy her book (I am nowhere near her level), which was extremely intense with its plot of joining the past with the present.  When you read Sweet Liar then Domestically Speaking you will see that I am not a liar!  Jude Deveraux’s books made me laugh.  She is truly a great Author. 

I did finally attempt to write a Romance Novel and it turned out so much better!  Again, this was another sparked idea this time from a Movie.  I bought the movie Secret Garden the one starring Kate Maberly, Heydon Prowse, Andrew Knott, Maggie Smith (Now she is top notch!). John Lynch (And he is Yummy ;)). Again after watching this movie with my son and daughter an idea grew into Phantom’s Desire (Originally Chamber Maiden, but not hot/sexy enough).

My next Novel Personal Justice came from a news report on the Radio.  I remember being in my kitchen and the man on the radio say that a purse snatcher was knocked to the ground and I’m sure there was some rough housing and the ‘Good Samaritan’ beat up the ‘real’ criminal and later the ‘real’ criminal pressed charges against the ‘Good Samaritan’ for assault and battery!  Imagine that! A criminal then cries boo hoo and well, I never heard anymore about the story, but I’m nearly sure the ‘Good Samaritan’ probably was marked as the criminal.

 So now, my quest to be a published Author was seriously on.  I had heard on CNN I believe about a self publisher and how successful he has been.   On and first and foremost, not long after getting to Iowa we were able to buy a COMPUTER!!!  Now to type all those written words, chicken scratch at times into a doc.

The self publisher, Dan Poynter, I had bought his book Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual.  This is a must in my opinion.  I had also read Writer’s magazines, The Writer’s Market, how to get an agent, etc.  And I had never been more discouraged then after reading most of these.  A lot of the ‘rules’ of contact were snide.  “If we didn’t ask for your manuscript don’t bother sending it.”  No unsolicited material.  Not many of us know anyone to help us get our foot in the door.  So instead of wasting money on unread returns and reject letters I focused on self-publishing end of the spectrum.

In Texas, yeah moved again!  I heard about self published Walter Swann, and he was a true inspiration for me.  Dan Poynter helped, but he was on the business end of it all, helping others.  Walter Swann was the real deal the man who put his heart and soul into his work only to be refused.  So he mortgaged his home, bought a truck load of books and the bookstores said we take I think it was about 40% of the sales.  He said no, and went home to his wife sad.

They soon devised a plan to open “The One Book Bookstore!” and it worked!  He sold tons of books, Autographed them and told stories to whoever came to listen.  I am sad that I was never able to meet him, but I did get to talk to him on the phone.

The complaint many would have is that the grammar was bad the right side of the page was not justified and so on and so on.  In my opinion if you read a book only because it is published through normal route because you believe it is perfect in every way then you are missing out on so much!  I know a guy who actually edits books that were published and are on The New York Times bestseller list!

You have to think of a book as the Voice of the writer.  What they feel in their heart and soul.  It is a part of them.  Some can spend years writing a book and it will never end up in the hands of a reader, because Publishers say it just isn’t what they are looking for.  There have been many times that I just wanted to burn all of my books and just be normal, but I wouldn’t let myself fail.  It has been a long and trying 25 years since I started writing my first Novel Right or Wrong. 

A book is like a child.  You give birth to it, you nourish it until you can send it out into the world and let it do its thing.  We always hope for the best, but sometimes….

Okay, so for the past 20 years I have spent most of my time devoted to Personal Justice.  Problem is is that I couldn’t stop writing and it grew to Mammoth size.  I had a friend read through it for me and her critiques were pointed and that is what I needed.  I had written over 1000 pages.  No one will read that big of a book, so by her suggestion I broke it down into a Trilogy.  She made points that some things didn’t sound believable and I need to make some changes.

I him-hawed for about 2 years then decided to just write a prequel in which to explain a lot of things and I think it truly nails it!  My original couple was to have been Krystal and Zachary, but in book 1, Tony and Nikita stole the whole book!  Their relationship is so tumultuous and I get a treat every time I do a reread of my books. Think of them as Luke and Laura (If you are a Soapie).  Romeo and Juliet without all the poisoning and dying (Had to pause went and bought the Movie from 1968. Silly me!)  Bella and Edward (For the Twilighters).

In January 2012 I learned about http://www.freado.com/ a place for Self Published Authors.  I made my own Video for my book, because I can’t see paying hundreds of dollars for something so few actually watch.  I had very little money and my idea was buy the needed images, create my videos from each book and I did and I love them. They tell the stories perfectly! View all my book trailers for the 8 ebook Personal Justice series @ http://www.youtube.com/user/SpyderBooks/videos?flow=grid&view=0.  You can also read an excerpt from Personal Justice series books @ http://www.freado.com/users/books/31192/kathleen-brown-spyder. My website is where you can purchase a clothing line that goes with the series!  www.Spyder8fly.com.

I also found out about the hugely successful Amanda Hocking (Bought My Blood Approves – not read yet and Got Hollowland – Good Book can’t wait to get Book 2- Still poor at the moment.)  And also the successful Joe Konrath.

I am done reading book 2 and am now working on book 3.  I hope to be done reading book 4 by May.  Then I will have them edited.  Bad news I have been unemployed for four years this June 17th the day after my B-day!  Whoo hoo!  So I am working with an Editor to hash out a deal! 

Well, hope I have not bored ya with my long story, but if it helps get to know me better than that is a good thing!