In the Works

It's been 10 days since I last posted. Ooops. I'd like to say that so much has been going on that I forgot to post, but that isn't exactly true. Much has gone on, but not out of the ordinary. I normally lead a very busy life with driving children places and taking care of animals and the house and laundry, cooking etc… There is never a dull moment in this house. We watched the Raven's play and lose to New England on Saturday. It was a really close game and exciting to watch.

I also gave thought to the cover of Names Can Never Hurt Me and decided to ask for a change. As much as readers LOVE the book who take the time to read it, it is also not a big seller and there are WAY TOO MANY readers I am losing simply by (possibly) having a cover that is too off-putting and controversial. This IS the cover I wanted. It is. I wanted a more neutral cover without cover-models, that basically captured my point in the book. It did. The cover below says it all.

Except that it also does NOT tell you it is a ROMANCE NOVEL. It also does't say anything about being a romance between two men. It is maybe TOO neutral. Ya see, I am not widely read to begin with. If I were Stephen King, and I use his name all the time because everyone knows who he is, I could put a puppy on the cover and nothing else and people would buy it. I could picture a tree or a xylophone and my readers would probably suspect what they were going to read without having a cover that spelled it out. Even before flipping a book over to read the blurb, Stephen King fans KNOW what he writes. No so with me.

For those Wade Kelly fans who follow my blog or read my Twitter Tweets, or have "Friended" me on Facebook, you already know what I write and although all my books are different, I suspect you know what you are getting yourself into. For the random people out there who have yet to experience the Wade Kelly Special, they don't know what to look for, they don't recognize the name, and they are more likely apt to pick up a different book on Amazon by a different author that they've maybe never heard of JUST BECAUSE there is a hot guy on the cover. I am not saying I am against guys on the cover. What I hoped I could do was widen my reader base by having a cover that was DIFFERENT. But mine was too different. Very few people bought it.

In the interest of trying not to slit my throat before I am even out there, I asked to have the cover redone, WITH GUYS ON IT! Dreamspinner was very accommodating and the cover is in the works. I am excited about it. Now, readers will get the chance to see what Nick and RC might look like. For those who read it, be warned, it is extremely hard to find a larger, hairy, italian looking dude with long curly hair and green eyes etc. The guy I picked was the best I could do. I think he's good enough. He makes the point that the one protagonist is not a typical twin or stud. (Although plenty of people will consider him a stud anyway!) My models will hopefully do the trick and catch some more reader's eyes. I need to or this awesome book will die. Personally I want it to take off so DSP will consider doing an audio version! Wouldn't that be cool? So, fingers crossed, we will have another cover on Names Can Never Hurt Me soon.

With the re-do, maybe I will give away a few paperbacks! ;) Stay tuned!

In other news, I've been writing. There was a LONG DRY SPELL where I didn't feel motivated at all. Then, I had about six different characters talking at the same time so three books started moving ahead. I have word-counts on:

Only Skin Deep - the sequel to NAMES
The Honorary Tooth Fayrie - a comedy about a male hygienist.
and ….. and….. the sequel to JOCK! Should I tell you the title yet? No, I'm gonna wait. Those in the Wade Brigade on Facebook have heard the title I'm leaning toward. I have been outlining this book and plan to hit it hard when I have some time.

My main issues are time… and um, TIME!

Did I mention I have kids? Yeah, well, last year I think I did a good job balancing the time between smily and writing. This year I hope to do an even better job and make a stronger commitment to really being an AUTHOR and not a part-time writer.

Goals… (I hate setting them because I always come up short)

1.  To have a good chunk of the new JOCK book done by the time I go to the Dreamspinner Writers Workshop in March. That is not a lot of time, but I think I can do it as long as the words flow. Fingers crossed and hope they flow like a waterfall during monsoon season! :)

Once JOCK 2 (Title coming soon) is done and submitted to DSP, I need to get two other projects working this year. So,

2.  Finish writing my vampire comedy/ horror My Lover Sucks because I want to submit this to a different publisher and spread my "eggs" out among other baskets. (To use a metaphor) I think having two works submitted this year will help jumpstart that ball rolling of having MORE THAN ONE publication per year! I was 2-3 a year! After I submit MLS, I will jump on another self-pub!

3.  Rewrite Sculpting Clay! and get it self-pubbed. Is that wise? I don't know. Self-pubbing so far is turning out VERY SLOW moving indeed. BUT, I think it is because I am not well known. Once I get my name out there, then hopefully readers will find my other stuff on Amazon like Misplaced Affection! I self-pubbed that so I could have another publication out within six months of NAMES. If I can self-pub Sculpting Clay before the year is out, then I can only hope that JOCK 2, and My Lover Sucks will be published in and around the time that Sculpting Clay make as reappearance.

Does that all make sense?

I'm trying to play the publishing game. Authors need to learn the rules of what works and what doesn't. I attended a seminar about publishing facts that was designed to inform self-pubbers, but the stats are helpful for anyone really! 3-4 books out a year is what the most successful authors do. More than that, well you are the bomb! (*ehem* Kade.) I don't see myself ever writing that fast. I simply don't take the time to do it because I have other priorities. Maybe as the kids are older and the words and ideas are flowing, I can do 3-4 a year, but for now I will be chuffed to get to 2-3 a year. (So far, it has been 1 per year! FYI)

So, I think that's all. I don't know where my day has gone. I am going to share this post, eat lunch, and write (JOCK 2 title here).

My main character is named Chris. I haven't had a Chris so I thought it was a good name. Chris is a soccer player! (Shocker) I'm thinking blond or dark blond hair, bright happy smile. Everyone's friend. Captain of the soccer team! This is a 1st person narrative from Chris's POV. I haven't come up with a last name yet. I DO have the love-interest's name, but I'm not sharing yet ;)

Anyway… talk at ya laterz….

Wade
xoxox

Don't forget to order your copy of my latest HERE!