My 2021 Writing Goals

Hi all,

As promised, here are my writing and publishing goals for 2020! After how well I reached my goals last year, I thought I would push myself a bit more this year to increase my writing output.

Write three books.

I want to finish all the books in the Curse of Anubis series this year, starting with Limbo in a few weeks time. Once I've finished them I just need to decide what to write next!

Plan nine more Elemental Dragons books/novellas.

That's right, you heard me, nine. I want to continue the Elemental Dragons universe once Elemental Dragons #4: Cinder and Fire is out. But I also want to publish my backlog of books, so I will just be focusing on planning for this year! The series will be called 'Original Elementals' and will follow each of the Original Elementals, from Marine to Stellar. I have already asked my newsletter subscribers to help with designing the dragon characters!

Publish two books.

This year I'm hoping to get Elemental Dragons #4: Cinder and Fire published in April and Mute published in October. I don't want to increase my publishing output too much as I don't want my mental health to suffer. Like last time, both will be entered in Cover Wars!

Create and publish Elemental Dragons boxset.

With the final book in the series coming out, I can release a boxset! For those who prefer to download the series in one go, or others who have been waiting for all the books to come out before reading,

Get two covers designed.

As before, I'm going with Deranged Doctor Design for my next two covers. Mute and Years will have covers by the end of the year, and I even have a cover image picked out for Mute:

Edit three books.

I have found that as I have written more, I haven't been using so many drafts to edit. Now that my editing speed has picked up, I want to edit more books in preparation for publication. Years will be one of them, but I haven't decided on the other two yet.

Hire a sensitivity reader.

I want to hire a sensitivity reader for the Celestial Plague series. I'm researching quite a few now, and hope to have the books in the hands of one by the end of the year.

Write more short stories.

I'm hoping to write more short stories this year, with the goal of submitting to magazines or anthologies. I want to add more publications to my bookshelf!

Write Curse of Anubis short stories/novella.

In preparation for Curse of Anubis being eventually published, I want to create a reader magnet for it. So far I haven't decided whether this will be short separate stories like the Elemental Dragons Short Story collection, or a novella focused on one character like Celestial Plague: Seashine.

Read 30 books.

Double my goal of last year, which I blew out the water. Of course the first book I read this year was a Warriors one, which I thought was amazing!

Participate in both Camp NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo.

I've found that I write a lot better with a deadline, so I will be joining Camp NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo again this year.

That's it for this week! Next week I'm going to post an excerpt from chapter one of Cinder and Fire... See you then!

PS; looking for new books to add to your reading list this year? Check out these book bundles, filled with dragons, unicorns and creatures alike!

New Year, New Monsters!

Reading Treasures

My Favourite Writing Tropes

Hi all!

For this week's topic I ran a Twitter poll and you guys decided on my favourite writing tropes! If you liked this one let me know and I'll write another about my least favourite tropes.

Friends to Lovers.

This one is my all time favourite. I adore when characters who have known each other for years have hidden feelings but then reveal them at some point. I do prefer this to be revealed in the middle of a book or series so then we can actually read about the characters being together and how they act around each other. It's a bit annoying to see the characters get together at the end of a book or series as then we never actually see them be together. I knew when writing Elemental Dragons that Hazel and Marco would end up together, despite all the obstacles thrown in their way. They feel that they are being subtle about the way they feel, but in fact it's the complete opposite.

Comic Relief Character.

Not all the characters have to be dark and brooding. Having one around to offer jokes or quips is refreshing. Even if the characters are going on a quest or facing evil, it's nice to see one of them still remains upbeat enough to joke about their situation. I hate reading about characters that are all dark and gloomy while being unable to be sarcastic or joke around even in the light-hearted times.

Found Family.

Having a character with terrible parents or other family members can be quite commonplace in books. A lot of people find it annoying and unrealistic but I don't mind it. This is because it then gives the main character the chance to find their own family in their friends or allies. Not all family ties have to be through blood, a lot of them can just be people that you meet throughout your life. I prefer seeing a found family than a caring and supportive blood related one.

Mementos of Dead Characters.

I am a sucker for this trope. A character that the main one really cares about dies so they keep something to remember them by. This is usually a piece of jewellery or something from their childhood. I think this trope is important as in a lot of books death usually lasts one chapter and is then mostly forgotten about until the hero faces off against the antagonist. By keeping something to remember the dead character by, it shows the reader that they care about that person and that they had a close relationship.

Hero and Villain Annoying Each Other.

I don't mean this in a 'fight to the death' sort of way. Instead I just like to read about the hero and the villain bickering over little things. Or if the villain captures the hero, the two of them annoy each other. For example, the villain treating their minions horribly but the hero treats them with kindness, which annoys the villain. Or the villain tries to showcase the captured hero to their friends but the hero looks bored and claims that the villain has a poor taste in traps.

Good Main Characters Who Turn Evil.

I have a book series revolving around this trope that I hope to write in the future. There is nothing more exciting than reading a book from the protagonist's view only to realise at the end of the book that they were the antagonist all along. I think it's a satisfying twist when done right, and can also set up more books revolving around that character. It's also fresh to see something from the villain's point of view.

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed reading! See you next week.

PS, check out these FREE books!

September Children’s Books Giveaway

Creatures I Want to Write About in the Future

Hi all!

This week I’m going to focus on what creatures I would like to write about in the future. These can be animals, aliens or mythological. If you’ve read my other blog posts you’ll know that I love writing about animals and monsters more than anything else.

Dinosaurs.

As a kid I loved reading and watching films about dinosaurs. I especially loved watching the ‘Walking With Dinosaurs’ miniseries. If I have to choose one dinosaur to write about, it would be the Velociraptor. They were always my favourite growing up so they would be my go-to when I write about dinosaurs. I haven’t got any ideas for them yet, but I’m sure I will in the future!

Arthropleura.

I would love to write a story about a gigantic millipede that causes carnage in the modern world. I have a series idea that I could put them in, though the idea is very bare at the moment. Ever since I saw a TV series that had an episode with them in, I've known that I wanted to write about them.

Shapeshifters.

Although I never would have considered writing about shapeshifters a few years ago, I'm now more open to the idea. I've got a book idea that revolves around shapeshifters, though they don't shift into conventional animals. They are a mix of two or three animals. In fact, one of my notes is just 'Buff Sabretooth Tiger vs Frog-Dog'. I'm not sure when I will get around to writing this one though.

Teumessian Fox.

This is a fox from Greek mythology that is destined to never be caught. I would love to write about this fox at some point, though I'm not sure whether it would be in a novel or short story. I love Greek mythology and having a fox that can never be hunted down is such a fascinating concept to me, especially since they are usually hunted so much.

Kitsune.

I have written a short story on a Kitsune before, but I don't like it so much. I want to add them into another story where they have a bigger role instead of just being the protagonist's wife.

Phoenix.

This is another one I really want to write about but can't find the story for. I adore the concept of it dying and then being reborn from it's own ashes, but each death darkens the colour of their feathers. There is also the potential for it to be as creative as I want, it doesn't just have to be an orange bird. It can have multicoloured feathers or talons.

Fenrir.

I’ve never written about canines before and would love to include them in a story. Fenrir is the one that fascinates me most, as he has such a good reason to be angry and vengeful against the Gods. He is also destined to break from his chains and wreak havoc, which I think would be a cool thing to write about.

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed! See you next week!

PS, love free books? Check out these ones about monsters!

Dragon, Creature and Monster Giveaway

Pros and Cons of Pen Names

Hi all! 

This week I'm going to talk about pen names. For those that don't know, a pen name is an alias an author, or a group of authors, write under instead of their legal name. An example of this is Erin Hunter, who is actually multiple authors writing under one name. Quite a few authors actually use pen names, so I thought I'd make a post explaining the good and bad parts of using one. 

Pros. 

It hides your identity. 

If you don't want to use your real name, you can use a different one. It doesn't have to incorporate anything from your name either. 

You can have multiple. 

For authors that write in different genres, this is a plus. I want to write Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Horror, but for different genres I need to consider different pen names. 

It can be anything you want. 

It's your pen name, so you can choose whatever name you want. No-one can tell you what you can and can't use. 

It avoids confusion with fans. 

Writing under one name for multiple genres can confuse your fans. If they follow you for your thriller series, most of them aren't going to be interested in your historical fantasy. With pen names, you can have multiple aliases that allow you to write in both without confusing fans. 

Cons. 

It won't protect you legally. 

If you steal someone's work or write something that's copyrighted, a pen name will not protect you. Although it is what readers will see, any legal action will require your real name. When signing up for Amazon you have the choice of using a pen name, but the setup process will require your real name. Having a different name does not make you untouchable. 

Having too many.

You need to decide what genres require different pen names. Although it's easy to create as many as you want, you then have to manage all these names and the income from them. This can make paying tax tricky and updating readers on new releases. 

Creating social media accounts for each one. 

Although you might just decide to lump everything into one profile, if you write drastically different genres you will need separate ones. This means you have to update more than one social media profile every so often to keep readers engaged. 

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed reading! See you next week. 

PS, have Kindle Unlimited? Check out these books!

Summer and Sunshine Sci-Fi Fantasy KU

Submitting Short Stories

Hi all! 

This week I'm going to talk about submitting short stories to writing magazines and anthologies. There are a lot of places out there that are willing to accept work from authors, no matter if they're published or not. Like querying, I thought I would list some dos and don'ts. 

Do. 

Be polite. 

Make sure your cover letter is polite and pleasant. Anything offensive or arrogant will end up rejected. 

Read the submission guidelines. 

Make sure your story is within the specified word count and is a genre they are looking for. If it's not, find somewhere else to submit it. There are a few places that will accept writing that is a bit on the longer side.

Edit your work. 

Don't send a first draft, unless it's immaculate. Like with everything you write, make sure you edit it for simple mistakes. For a short piece places will expect minimal errors so keep that in mind. 

Be aware of fees. 

A few places will require you to pay a small fee to submit. First, check it's within your budget and be sure that you want to spend it. Second, research the place you're submitting to. Is the price worth it in your eyes? 

Be prepared to wait. 

Like querying agents, these places get a lot of submissions. While some might get back to you if you've been accepted or rejected, others won't. Submit to a few at a time and wait a few weeks before submitting to a few more. 

Read the fine print. 

Some places will ask for first publication rights and ask you not to publish elsewhere for a certain amount of time. Make sure you're okay with this before submitting. 

Don't. 

Send nasty emails. 

If you don't get accepted, don't send them nasty or rude emails. You will be blacklisted and they will not accept another submission from you again. Don't burn bridges just because you're upset. 

Trash talk them on social media.

Not only will it make you look bad, but it's also a sure-fire way to burn bridges in the publishing world. Magazines and anthologies talk to each other, and you will find yourself unable to submit to many places after your outburst. Think before you post anything. 

Steal work. 

Don't steal someone else's work and pass it off as your own. Even if they don't catch it straight away, someone will find out eventually and expose you. Use your own merit to get your achievements. 

Pay too much. 

If the cost is exceptionally high for a short piece, don't submit. Chances are you won't get your money's worth and you'll be out of pocket. 

Chase them constantly. 

An email asking for an update after a few weeks is fine, but don't bombard them. It's a quick way to get your submission rejected. 

Ignore submission guidelines. 

Your story will not be the 'one-off' they accept. Not adhering to the genre will get you rejected almost instantly. Going above the word count won't work either, as especially in magazines they only have a set amount of space to fit stories in. 

Give up your rights. 

Don't sign over the rights to your story without thinking. They should only ask for publication rights for a few weeks to months. Don't sign over the whole thing and let them use it as they please. 

Let rejection get you down. 

Rejection is rife in the publishing world and its inevitable that you will receive one at some point. Don't let that put you off however, keep trying and you'll get there eventually! 

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed reading. See you next week! 

PS: do you like book bundles? Check these out:

Escape Into Fantasy This June

Joyful June Books

Summer and Sci-Fi Fantasy KU

Why Authors Need Reader Magnets

Hi all! 

This week I'm going to be talking about reader magnets, and why authors need them if they have an email list. 

For those who don't know, a reader magnet is a free gift you give to people when they sign up to your email list. They can be as follows:

Ebook.

Enovella.

Writing/Marketing Tips.

Online book merch.

Character profiles. 

Poster. 

For subscribers to my email list, I offer a free enovella that can't be downloaded anywhere else! It follows the stories of four dragons in the Elemental Dragons universe, you may even see some familiar faces! Link here: https://www.subscribepage.com/jessicaturnbull

I will also be writing reader magnets for other series, such as Celestial Plague, Damaged Goods and Curse of Anubis.

The cover for my reader magnet, the prequel to Elemental Dragons

So, why do you need a reader magnet? 

It entices readers to sign up. 

Readers are not likely to sign up for your email list unless they get something in return. Only hardcore fans will sign up for nothing. If you don't offer anything, you're not likely to get many subscribers to build a substantial list. 

It can be anything you want. 

You can decide what to give away. It doesn't have to be a full ebook, it can be a short prequel to your book or a collection of short stories. It's up to you to decide what you think readers will be interested in and how big a gift you want it to be. 

You'll get more subscribers.

Although some will only sign up for the freebies and then unsubscribe, you'll have a few who will stick around. 

Your email list can be used as promotion. 

The more subscribers you have, the more people you can promote to when you have a book coming out or on sale. The problem with using social media is that when you first start out it can be like screaming into the void. So many people are promoting their work that you will struggle to stand out. With an email list, you have a group of people who are waiting for news on your next release! 

You can offer more than one magnet. 

If you like to write across multiple genres, you can create a reader magnet for each one. For example, a Sci-Fi enovella and a horror ebook. 

More to add to your writing portfolio. 

It's another piece of work to add to your collection, and knowing that people are downloading it can be a real confidence boost. 

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed reading. See you next week! 

My Experience With NaNoProMo

Hi all!

This week I'm going to be talking about NaNoProMo, or National Novel Promotion Month. Every year in May BadRedhead Media run this free event, which is full of blog posts by guest writers and resources to help you with promoting your book. There's also the opportunity to win loads of great prizes! 

Website here: NaNoProMo.

I heard about it through joining the BookLinker Facebook page, where a post about it starting soon just happened to be put up when I joined. I looked into it and thought it was a great idea, so I kept an eye on the website for launch day. 

This year they had a launch party where experts were engaging with authors and sharing their tips and tricks with chances for prizes to be won. Due to the fact that I'm in a different timezone and I also worked that day, I missed most of the event but was still able to catch up later. There were great posts about what the experts were working on and engaging authors. Once this was over blog posts were added daily to their website.

My favourite blog post throughout the event was this one: How to Safely Choose Colours for your Author Website. I've always struggled with colours for my website and this post has given me a lot of thinking to do! I think I my colour palette sorted, I just need to adjust my website a bit so it fits.

I also won a prize during week one which I was not expecting! I can't wait for my consultation about marketing.

I will participate again next year as it was just so fun and informative. Even though it's over this year, you can still read all the blog posts and posts from the guests on launch day by going on their website. There's also the posts from 2019 and 2018 as well, so there's a lot to read!

With events such as NaNoWriMo and NaNoEdMo I'm pleased that there's a month for marketing and promotion. A lot of people, like me, struggle with promoting their book so events like this are amazing. I've learned a lot just from reading all the posts and engaging with the organisers. Everyone has been so lovely and the prizes that were available were amazing, such as free consultations on marketing tips and website colours to magazine subscriptions. It's such a great collection of resources and I would definitely recommend authors look into it and participate.

I also just wanted to say thank you to the organisers and the guest bloggers who put their time, energy and heart into making an event like this. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm so grateful that an event like this exists thanks to their efforts.

Before I say goodbye I wanted to announce that Elemental Dragons Book 2: Venom and Earth came third in Cover Wars, thank you to everyone who voted!

That's it for this week, next week I will be revealing the cover for Elemental Dragons Book 3: Glass and Ice. It will be posted on Facebook and Twitter first with a blog post on it a few hours later! See you next week.

How to Sign Books

Hi all,

I haven't seen many blog posts on the subject so I thought I would offer a bit of advice.

Your author signature needs to be different to your normal one.

Why?

Because, unfortunately, although most fans will keep signed books as a keepsake, others might try to forge your signature and pretend to be you. This is why your signature needs to be different, in order to protect your identity, brand and finances.

Your signature can be whatever you want it to be, as long as it's different to your usual one. You can make it as large or small as you like, add symbols or drawings. It's entirely up to you!

Make sure you practice writing it beforehand so you can get into the habit of using it. The more you practice the quicker you'll get and the less messy it will be.

You should also have a few messages that you can write in your books. For example:

I hope you enjoy my book! (Signature)

Thank you for supporting me! (Signature)

Most authors prefer to sign their books on the title page - example of Venom and Earth

I would recommend three or four messages that you cycle through when signing to keep it fresh and ensure you're not writing the same thing in every book.

If the reader wants the message addressed to them, make sure you check the spelling with them first. Even if it's a common name, it can have loads of different spellings. The last thing you want is to spell someone's name incorrectly in their own copy of your book.

If you want inspiration check out how your favourite authors. See what they write and what their signatures look like so you can get an idea of what you would like to do.

I've signed a few books and having everything ready beforehand really helped me lessen my anxiety. It still worries me when people hand me their books to sign and I find myself writing really slowly to make sure my writing is clear and free of mistakes. My regular handwriting is hard to read so it's important that I slow down so my writing is readable.

That's it for this week, hope you enjoyed! See you next week.

How I use Mythology and Folklore in my Writing

Hi all! 

This week I'm going to talk about Mythology and folklore and how I use it in my writing. A lot of my work is greatly inspired by ancient myths and folklore, so I thought I would go through some of my series that contain it. 

Elemental Dragons. 

This series, of course, has dragons of all species in it. From hydras to Wyrms. I spent a lot of time researching which dragon species I could use for this series. For example, in Elemental Dragons the hydras will regrow heads when cut off, just like in the Greek myth. I've always been fascinated by dragons and wanted to make sure I wrote them the correct way, with a little bit of wiggle room to change them as I saw fit. Even in this universe they study myths through Dragon Mythology classes. I

Years.

I'm currently writing this Young Adult Sci-Fi for Camp NaNoWriMo. The characters all pray to Mother Earth and build machines to sacrifice people to keep her alive. The machines are named after goddesses that represent Earth or are linked to it in some way. They are Sif, Terra, Pachamama, Prithvi and Gaia. I'm still writing this one so I'm sure I will add more as I go along, depending on what the story needs.

Damayanti - by Danielle English @KanizoArt on Twitter

Damaged Goods. 

I have yet to start writing this series, which will be a Young Adult Historical trilogy. The first book is set in ancient Greece, where belief in the Greek gods are rife and people mould their lives around them. Then the next two books are set in more modern times, but people still believe in the Greek gods and it shows how that has changed society. Greek Mythology has always been my favourite and I knew at some point I would write something about it.  

Curse of Anubis. 

As you can probably guess from the series name, this set of books will contain Egyptian gods. Most notably Bastet, Thoth, Anubis and Set. I haven't started writing this series either, but I can't wait to get into it. It will be a Young Adult Horror/Dystopian about a zombie apocalypse. Some Egyptian gods will descend to try to help people during the outbreak, while others are trying to prolong it. After Greek Mythology, Egyptian would come second for me and I still want to do a bit more research before starting this series. 

Mute. 

I'm planning on starting this book during July 2020 Camp NaNoWriMo. It will be my first attempt at New Adult and Horror. This book centres on university students making a video game. They accidentally summon a wendigo, a creature that feasts on human flesh. I'm in the final stages of researching wendigos now as I want to make sure I write them scary enough for people to want to continue reading. 

Elemental Dragons Book 2: Venom and Earth is out Tuesday 14th April. If you haven’t purchased a copy yet but want to - please visit my ‘Books’ page!

That's it for this week! I hope you enjoyed reading, see you next week! 

Pros and Cons of Giving Books out for Reviews

Hi all! 

This week I'm going to talk about another marketing tool, giving out copies of your book in exchange for reviews. Although I've never done this myself, I have been given a few books in exchange for an honest review. It's good to drum up reviews when you need them, as many promotion sites won't advertise your book unless you have a certain number of reviews. 

Pros. 

More reviews. 

This is the obvious one. The more reviews your book has the better it looks to prospective readers. Not all of those reviews have to be positive either, having a few different reviews shows that it's not just your friends and family rating it. 

Advertising. 

You can use these reviews to advertise your book. As I said earlier, a few promotion sites won't even look at you without a specific number of reviews. Some even ask for 25+ with an average of 3.5 stars. Giving your book out can help you get some of those reviews. 

Getting a range of opinions.

Your book will look more professional to new readers when it has more reviews. Some readers buy books based on reviews alone, so having a range of them can help you. 

Extract of a review from entering the Wishing Shelf Book Awards

Cons. 

You may not be able to afford it. 

Especially giving out paperback copies. Ebooks are easier to give out than paperback, as you can just email it straight to the reviewer. With paperback you have to purchase an author copy and mail it to the reviewer all out of your own pocket. 

There's a chance you won't get a review. 

Despite giving the book out, the person may never read it. If they do, there's a chance they won't review it. Then you've given a book away for free and received nothing in return. 

Not all the reviews will be good. 

Asking people to give an honest review means what it says on the tin, honest. If they don't really read books in your genre or don't like of they are required to say so. Be prepared to get some reviews that not are glowing five stars. 

People who love freebies are more likely to be receiving books than regular readers. 

People who only seek free books are more likely to approach you for a free copy in exchange for a review. Just be careful as these people usually receive books in bulk and rate them lower due to the tiniest things. 

That's it for this week! I hope this has helped those who are considering giving books out for reviews. See you next week!