Learning not to cave

Pressure. It is my biggest foe. As old as I am I should have thicker skin, but I don't. I nearly caved last night over a negative review amongst many great ones. Keyword: Nearly.

If not for great friends that pointed out the obvious to me, it would have been a bad day, but it wasn't. Not everyone is going to like my book. I get that. I can't please everyone. I get that too. This genre of book is overdone, has been ridden hard and put up wet. Pun intended.

I tried to give it a new twist with a stronger heroine. I think, as many others do, that I succeeded. Chance is strong, yet vulnerable. Slightly egotistical, yet endearing. Yes, some parts of me are in her character. I am those things as well, so I have been told.

Some of my besties thought I was stuck up when I was younger. That my nose was in the air as if I was too good to get to know them as people. Fact was, I was too shy. I was comfortable only around those that I knew. New friends had to earn my trust. That is Chance.

I dealt with abuse when I was a preteen, as a teenager, and yet again as an adult. It was not talked about and my mind erased it for a long time, until caring family reminded me. It wasn't easy dealing with it and I know a lot of my issues with people stem from it. This is Chance as well, but she remembers it. I tend to lock it away and leave it alone.

As a new writer and as a person, I need verification or affirmation, if you will, from others. One never wants to give away their weaknesses to those who intend you harm, but I tend to be an open book. Heart on the sleeve and all that mush.

Pressure comes with waiting for said affirmation. It is waiting on those that hold your life in their hands that terrify me to an extent. I just have to hope that the book blogs out there that are holding, and reading my book, are with the 99 percentile of reviews that are already written in the virtual halls of bookdom.

I will not cave again to someone trying to tear down what I put my heart and soul into, but instead do better, work harder, and prove to the world that I am a true story teller. The stories are there. I intend to write them, and me? I am just waiting to yell to to world:

I am here! You naysayers cannot defeat me, intimidate me, and I am not going anywhere!

Blessings,

Jo

Don't forget the giveaway!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Chance Lost

by Jo LaRue

Giveaway ends January 22, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Getting myself out there in the big blue marble of interwebs

I have learned so many new things in just the last week since the book went live. Talk about learning the hard way. Maybe I should post more about what I am learning so the next person has an easier time? Hmmm

Author pages, book blogs and tours, marketing, selling, giveaways... I think I fried a few brain cells in the process!

I didn't have a clue about much of the above. I saw that a well published friend of mine just now got her author page on amazon... and I didn't want to wait the years she did. So I researched it. Kindle Direct Publishing and CreateSpace may have had something on it but if they did, I missed it. (No surprise there!)

I found it and it is sponsored by Amazon, called Author Central. Magical place, that is. It contains all the information you need. Sales, blog posts for your author page, reviews, ranking, and you can edit your profile from there.

Check. Done.

I think I am finally in author heaven!

GoodReads was a challenge as well. The book had to be published before I could add myself as an author. Once that was done, I had to request to join, find the book, and then edit all my information into it.

Check. Done.

Twitter was not an issue until I had to link up two accounts. Yes, Jo LaRue is a pen name. I did this all backwards. I should have gotten my author email first... then joined separately from my true identity. Lesson learned, but it is going great now. My Facebook page is linked and auto feeds to Twitter. :)

Check. Done.

Now the book is out there, with number two on the way. If you want to find me at any of the above mentioned spots, here are the links:


Amazon Author Page: http://tinyurl.com/mdfaqr3

GoodReads: http://tinyurl.com/mbxsjpb

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJoLaRue

Twitter: @JoLaRueAuthor

CreateSpace: https://www.createspace.com/4345278

Announcing!!!

We are now on Goodreads! Please stop by for a visit! :)

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7579167.Jo_LaRue

We are live!

Wow. Just wow. When I started this back in May, I had no idea how hard it would be and, oddly enough, how easy it could be to publish my own book. I had high expectations, but unrealistic time lines in my head. I now know that it takes much more than I thought.

Thankfully, I have fantastic friends and family that made this happen. Without them, I would not be here telling you this today. I know there is absolutely no way I could have done this on my own. They saved me, the book and hopefully all the readers who will fall in love with Chance, Sylas, and his silliness, Jack.

Each character has enchanted me as I wrote them. Chance is partly pulled from my own life when I was younger. Sylas is the lost and lonely sort who gives everything to the woman he loves. What can I say about Jack? He is funny, caring, wise, and did I say funny? He is the brother we all wish we had, the father figure that gives great hugs, and the friend everyone deserves to have.

Thank you to every single person that helped with this project. No matter how much or how little you may have contributed... it means everything to me that you gave your time.

Blessings,

Jo

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HDZA4Y2

Nervous Nelly

Sent out my ARC's over the last two days and I could spew from the nerves that have taken hold over me with waiting. One person has responded, but I was unable to see her notes.

That said... My only thought is "Do they like it?" I can deal with anything, but the not knowing? Oy. Might as well take me out to the woodshed and line up your target!

I have put everything I am into this book. There are so many parts of me in it, that it is hard to tell which is me, and which is Chance sometimes. There is so much more to the story, but to tell it right this minute? Major spoiler alert! Nope... can't do that just yet. :)

So I wait with baited breath and hope I get some positive results. Gotta love the constant adrenaline rush though! :)

A Room of My Own: The One About the Plagiarism

Sharing this post by a fellow author in the hopes that it is taken seriously. Plagiarism is NOT the way to go, by anyone or for any reason.

A Room of My Own: The One About the Plagiarism: On June 26, 2013, I received email from a reader that included words no author ever wants to hear: "possible plagiarism." I&#...