4 Rules for Formatting in Createspace... Without Losing Your Mind

I'm using Createspace as the printer for Tempting the Ringmaster paperbacks (available soon! I'll even sign 'em if you want), and I've learned a couple of things along the way.

1. Buy a cover. I don't care if you're the grand poo-bah of paint. Unless you're a certified genius graphic artist (Jenna Bennett does her own covers... and her books are fan-freaking-tastic too) then you need someone else to do the cover. Hire a designer. Find someone who's just starting out. Get a premade (just google premade cover designs and buy one that doesn't suck). Don't do it yourself. Your paperback is one place where you really want to be a professional.

2. Do your own formatting. Formatting's hard, but it's not impossible. Do it once and you'll be able to do it a hundred times (and you won't have to pay for it a hundred times). More importantly, most of the formatters I reached out to took forever to get back to me ~ and I like having the control. Go control! Again, you want it to look professional, but you can do that by buying a template or using one of the free templates offered by Createspace. Also, get legal fonts. Really legal fonts. Go to font squirrel now. Go. 

3. Get someone else to double check. I sent out all my final preview copies with the Createspace formatting, better to have someone giving me a review come back and be like 'is this the final formatting because there's an entire page covered in cheese' then to send it out to the masses.

4. Put it all together and get a physical proof. Online's great, physical's better. Check it once, check it twice, and only then should you press approve. 

Those are the four rules for formatting in Createspace... without losing your mind. If you want to check out the createspace formatting for Tempting the Ringmaster then here's a sneak peak at the (formatted) first chapter.

Aleah Barley

Small town cop, big top girl ~ Buy Tempting the Ringmaster today!

5 Rules for Writing Your Novel

1. Write your novel. I don't care whether it's romance, mystery, or sci-fi. If the aliens invade the White House and end up taking the president out for drinks then good for you. Just write. Sit down at your laptop and write. Why are you still reading this post? You should be writing!

2. Read alot. Okay, sometimes you shouldn't be writing. Sometimes you should be reading. Everything. Read your genre, read another genre, read a classic, read the New York Times. Eat some cheese. Read some more. Why are you still looking at this post? You should be reading!

3. Edit like a mad fiend. Seriously though, most of writing is rewriting. Everything you've written should be rewritten at least twice then handed to a friend who can tell you it's crap so you can edit it again. Go edit something, this post will wait.

4. Take a deep breath, relax, eat some ice cream. Writing is about taking care of yourself. Unless you're Ernest Hemingway, in which case it means being an alcoholic. Check yourself, are you Ernest Hemingway? Do you live in the Florida Keys with a metric ton of six toed cats? Do you have a white beard? Do random people call you Papa? (Those last two might also be signs that you're Santa Clause) If you have checked yourself and you've come to the conclusion that you're Hemingway then please turn yourself in at the nearest hospital. If you're not Hemingway then there's no reason why writing should be a destructive process. Go get some ice cream, right now.

5. Do it all over again...

What do you think? Do you have any advice for writing? What do you like to see in a writer? Are you Hemingway? Leave a comment below!

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4 Reasons Self Publishing is For Me

When Entangled Publishing contracted my books Too Hot to Handle and Leaving Las Vegas... those were two of the most exciting moments of my life. Seriously. I became a published author with the backing of a great publishing house, and I got the opportunity to work with two rock star editors.

Now, I'm going solo with my next book: Tempting the Ringmaster.

Why the heck would I do that?

1. I got rejected. Lol. Seriously though, everybody loved my book (my editor managed to convince me to submit it multiple times because she liked it so much) but it didn't fit in any of Entangled's fabulous lines. Honestly, I feel pretty good about it. Because of the way romance lines target readers (building loyalty for the line and not necessarily the author), I would have needed to change my book dramatically before it could be contracted through my publisher (either taking out the suspense subplot, adding more suspense, taking out the sex, adding in more sex, etc.). I love this book. I think it's fantastic. It's smart, funny, and unique. (Okay, I've actually read one other circus book Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, I read it like ten years ago and don't remember the plot. There was a tiger. My book doesn't have a tiger.).

2. Control. I get to do it all myself. I don't have to change my book. I get to contract my own editor and my own cover designer (both of whom I love).

3. Creativity. I get the chance to experiment with marketing. Should I launch my ebook and my paperback at the same time? Should I launch them a month apart? Should I reach out to all my facebook friends (I have too many facebook friends) and market that way? Or, should I pay for marketing?

4. The Upside... Self publishing means that I get to build something myself. This isn't my first book (it's my third, and I've learned something new with every book I've published) and it won't be my last. Word on the street (okay, Hugh Howey, JA Konrath, and the knights of the Self Publishing Roundtable) is it takes five books before an author 'makes it overnight' (unless you're Hugh Howey, there's an exception to every rule). I'm going to write a heck of a lot more than five, and I'm going to enjoy my overnight success when it finally happens.

What about you? Any indie writers out there? What about readers?

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Rules to Live By

I was born in the late eighties in Los Angeles, and I’ve come to realize that most of the cute stories from my early childhood were actually the result of my mother looking for free air-conditioning (tip: art museums offer both culture and climate control). Like all kids, I like to think of myself as a rebel. In my case, this means a life spent following my bliss on nights and weekends while I work a day job. With benefits. I’ll never date an alcoholic or move cross country to marry a long distance boyfriend.

And I’ll never own a beagle.

Still, I’ve taken a few of my mother’s rules to heart:

Always buy art.

Always accept collect calls. No matter who or where they’re from.

Never turn away a friend who needs a place to stay. (In my case, they’ll be staying on the five foot long couch in my shoebox size studio apartment).  

Live like you mean it.

Rules For Aleah's Detroit Writer's Commune

1. I am the queen. You will have no queen before me.

2. Rent is due on the first of the month. It is payable by check, money order, Paypal, or cash. Art is also accepted as a reasonable currency (see, I am a beneficent queen).

3. Weekly trips to Eastern Market are optional but encouraged. Seriously, who doesn't like locally grown produce and well hung meat?

4. When I go out of town for work someone has to feed my cat (there has to be some benefit to being queen).

5. Weekly potluck dinners at my place! Or not! Impromptu ice cream parties on the other hand will most definitely be a thing.

6. Free wi-fi! Or, I will put my router near a wall! Or you can put your router near a wall, and I will give you a break on the rent.

7. Pets are allowed, within reason (no toucans, giant squid, or elephants... Even if they are meant to be ironic.)

Seriously though, there is an apartment building for sale walking distance to my work, across the street from the new coffee place. Four units. Twenty one thousand dollars. Who doesn't think that's an awesome plan?