Thursday, August 29, 2013

Interim Goddess of Love trilogy: Sale until September 15!


Hi, everyone! Been getting a lot of questions about this lately, and yes, the entire Interim Goddess of Love trilogy is done, published, and available worldwide in ebook and paperback through Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Book Depository, Apple, and other sites. 

In the Philippines, the Summit editions are the ones that will be in bookstores, but I'm not sure when exactly Queen of the Clueless and Icon of the Indecisive will be released. (Sorry! Definitely this year for QotC though.) 

If you absolutely cannot wait, you can get the international edition paperbacks by ordering directly from me. And hmm how about a sale? Order and pay for your books on or before September 15 and get the entire trilogy for P950. (Regular price is P1,050 for all three books.) Claim them through a Libis QC pickup, or add P70 for Metro Manila shipping/P100 elsewhere in the Philippines.

Email minavesguerra at gmail dot com to get the payment details. :) Thank you!

Monday, August 19, 2013

Interim Goddess of Love trilogy blog tour!

Before I forget, and because this week happens to be a busy and rainy one...


Yes, this is happening. The Interim Goddess of Love trilogy will be making appearances at various blogs over the next two weeks. I'll post links to them here, when they're up.

Thank you, Dia at Book Junkie Blog Tours for making this happen!

The tour posts!
Book Spotlight + Giveaway at Book Junkie Joint
Trilogy Review + Giveaway at Sab the Book Eater
Quickstop Tuesdays Review of Interim Goddess of Love at My Book Musings
Review of Icon of the Indecisive (Interim Goddess of Love #3) at The Girl Behind the Stories
Excerpts and Giveaway at Vailia's Page Turner
Reviews of the entire trilogy + Giveaway at I Am Krissy
Review of Queen of the Clueless (Interim Goddess of Love #2) at My Book Musings
Interview + Giveaway at Over a Glass of Milk Tea
Excerpt Reveal + Giveaway at Over a Glass of Milk Tea
Review of Icon of the Indecisive (Interim Goddess of Love #3) at My Book Musings (Spoilers!)
Review of Interim Goddess of Love + Giveaway at My Library in the Making
Guest Post ("How Sweet Dreams started it all for me") + Giveaway at marginalia
Review of Queen of the Clueless (Interim Goddess of Love #2) + Giveaway at The Blair Book Project
Interview + Giveaway at The Girl Who Read
Trilogy Excerpts + Giveaway at Logodiversity
Trilogy Excerpts + Giveaway at Diary of a Book Maniac
Review of Queen of the Clueless at Omaygawd (Spoilers!)
Review of Icon of the Indecisive at Omaygawd (Spoilers!)
Interim Goddess of Love review at Book Junkie Joint
Review of Icon of the Indecisive at Amaterasu Reads
Review of Queen of the Clueless at Not Just Silly Thoughts
Interim Goddess of Love review + Giveaway at Books for YA!
Queen of the Clueless review + Giveaway at Books for YA!
Icon of the Indecisive review + Giveaway at Books for YA!
Review of Queen of the Clueless at Book Junkie Joint
Excerpts and Giveaway at My Viewpoint on Books
Guest Post "Making Characters Believable" and Mini Reviews + Giveaway at The Smell of Parchment (Spoilers!)
Reviews of the Interim Goddess of Love trilogy at The Enigma of Herself
Review of Icon of the Indecisive at The Blair Book Project (Spoilers!)

And congratulations to Grelyn G. for winning the giveaway! She will be getting the entire trilogy in paperback and a Team Quin or Diego or Robbie keychain! (Which one will she choose? Heehee.)

Sunday, August 11, 2013

A taste of my own medicine: Going through #romanceclass

Assignment 1 (sort of) and 2
I'm starting a new contemporary romance novella project (calling it Iris Moving On), and I decided to put myself through my own novella writing class. I will have to modify it slightly because this project is not my usual romance novella, but I think the #romanceclass steps will still be helpful.

So this past week, I got to work on Assignment 1 (Premise and Ending) and Assignment 2 (Outline). I'm not exactly done with the ending though, because I pretty much just decided on the outcome, but didn't determine yet the circumstances. That got a little clearer though when I worked on my outline. I also spent some time on names, because they are so important. You'd think it would be easy to give characters names, since there are thousands in existence, but this is my tenth (!) novella project and it's getting harder to just pull out names that I really like.

Next up? I'll think about the ending some more. And then in parallel, will start on Assignment 3 (Act One).

Friday, August 9, 2013

Interview: Chris Mariano, author of Cover (Story) Girl

Cover designed by Miguel Calvan
Is this your first published book ever? What took you so long?
I've been included in a few anthologies before but this is my first solo book -- and my first romance! I've actually been writing speculative fiction. Romance is new publishing territory for me (unless you count those old Sweet Dreams-type stories I scribbled down in high school).

What made you decide to finally write something and publish it?
#romanceclass made me do it! I've no qualms writing and publishing for speculative fiction, though I haven't really stumbled on an idea that I'd want to expand into a full-length genre novel. Romance is a different story.  I've been writing and finishing romance short stories and novellas but haven't really felt the need to publish them. I've always thought that hey needed more spit and shine before I took the plunge.

But then #romanceclass happened. I've had Gio and Min Hee's story in my head for a while now and on some level I didn't think I was ever going to write it. I figured it was a good topic for the #romanceclass experiment. The class gave me the motivation and the dedication to finish something that I wasn't keen on writing.

(Also, I'm saving up for a long trip. I have realistic expectations, of course, but sales could mean extra pocket money. Opa!)

Did/do you have any fears about going indie? 
My fears had more to do about publishing something in general rather than publishing independently. Was my story good enough? Did I get all the typos out? Did I establish things early? Was my story good enough? But by then, a friend was already doing the cover. People have already beta-read and edited it. It just seemed like such a shame to not push through at that point. But I think whether it was published traditionally or independently, I would still have most of the same doubts.
 
What was the most surprisingly pleasant part of the process of writing and publishing your book? 
Formatting the manuscript! Goodness, I can write an ode to formatting the manuscript for Smashwords and Kindle. Reading and following it was such a breeze. It was a nice break from the pressure of writing well.
Another part I enjoyed was watching the cover get made. My former advertising Creative Director Mike volunteered to do the cover. We were both on the same page when it came to the look and feel we wanted. We've worked with each other before so we already had a system. He showed me pegs before starting, updated me every step of the way, sent me WIPs -- it was a really exciting part of the process.

What's the part that you'd prefer someone else do for you? 
I wish I could get someone to do the online marketing with me! I already work in marketing but I just didn't feel comfortable marketing myself. I wish I could have someone take care of the small but important stuff (making author pages on Amazon, Goodreads, maybe even Facebook). I feel like I need to sit down and devote a proper day to fixing these pages, fixing SEO, etc.

What has been the most awesome response to your book (by a stranger) so far? 
My friend and beta-reader Chachic of Chachic's Book Nook posted about my novella on her site. Surprise, surprise, YA fantasy author Rachel Neumeier picked it up, read it, and then blogged about it. She had very kind words to say, which you can read here.
 
What's the next book going to be about?
It's a contemporary cozy mystery about an amateur sleuth/wedding planner, which was what I was writing when Cover (Story) Girl happened. I'm already at 30k words in, though at this point I still don't know if I should turn this into a trilogy (amateur detectives need more mysteries to solve, right?) or stick to a one-off. One thing's for sure -- it'll still be set in Aklan!

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E8KBU9S
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/342321

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Sneak peek: Icon of the Indecisive (Interim Goddess of Love #3)


I post screenshots of my book pages every now and then on Instagram. I should be sharing them here! This is a page from Icon of the Indecisive, the final book in the Interim Goddess of Love trilogy.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

What's the plan, writer?


Yesterday was the last day of our Author at Once Creative Writing Short Course at iAcademy, and it was an amazing six weeks. My session was about publishing options, but it really was about, What's the plan, writer? Now that you went through a writing course, and I've told you how easy it is to get a book out, what's the plan? I asked them this at the beginning of my session, and then again after. Because I wanted everyone to admit what it was that they really wanted to get out of it. Why write? Why think about publishing?

Writing is something we can do by ourselves, and it can happen whether or not anyone gets to read the work. So writing itself, that isn't a goal. Finishing something, maybe. I've helped people do that. But then what? Is it really enough to look proudly at the thing you wrote and then hide it in a shelf somewhere?

So we talked about goals. And I asked them to not be shy about it. Because admitting what you really want (fame? recognition? critical acclaim? money?) and telling people who can help, will get you what you want sooner, right? So they admitted it (and I won't reveal the goals because they were told in confidence haha) and we discussed some practical ways to achieve them. 

There will be another run of the short course soon, but I asked that it happen after the Manila International Book Fair (sometime mid-September) because I'll be busy then. There will also be another Author at Once afternoon talk in September, will announce when soon. 

PS - Yesterday, Tania Arpa also spoke about cover design, author marketing, and story pitching, and it was awesome. I mean, we talk about this all the time and I work with her and all, but I still learned a bunch. It pays to actually attend these things, even as a speaker! Heehee.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Summit Media's Chick Lit Fest 2013!

Excuse me if I squee just a little, because I've never done anything like this before...

Squee! Signing! Authors! Q&A! Giveaways! Snacks! August 20! Tuesday! 6-8 PM! Glorietta NBS!



Plus I actually do want to spend time with Ines, Marla and Abi because I never do and they're awesome. Drop by and say hi if you can! Zack and Lucas and Dante and Manolo and Anton and Quin and Diego and Robbie INSIST. :)

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Interview: Agay Llanera (author of Vintage Love)


Cover designed by Gerry Isaac
Is this your first published book ever? What took you so long?
It's my first published novella! I have three published children's books, but I've always wanted to finish a long-ish story, and the romance novella was the perfect format to achieve this goal.

What made you decide to finally write something and publish it?
Romance class with Mina Esguerra! I had actually submitted the story to a publisher last year but I never heard from them. When I heard about #romanceclass, I readily joined with the finished manuscript. I gained a lot of helpful feedback about it, which was crucial in improving the story. I decided to publish it because I was inspired by Mina and my classmates, who are such fearless, good writers.

Did/do you have any fears about going indie?
Yes. I've always shunned technical stuff, and self-publishing means following certain technical rules so you can publish on on online book distributors such as Kindle and Smashwords. Right now, I'm figuring out how to create the PDF file so I can have the book printed in paperback.

What was the most surprisingly pleasant part of the process of writing and publishing your book?
It was nice being totally hands-on with the whole process--finding an editor, a cover artist, conceptualizing the cover, and formatting the manuscript so it'd be fit for publication.

What's the part that you'd prefer someone else do for you?
Marketing! I'm still in the process of learning how to sell my book without spamming people.

What has been the most awesome response to your book (by a stranger) so far?
When I posted the first two chapters at Wattpad, someone commented that she was blown away, and that she was definitely going to buy my book. *kilig*

What's the next book going to be about?
I'm deciding between writing about a collegiate volleyball varsity player or a girl obsessed with Paris (the city, not the person).

Buy Vintage Love
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/336762
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Love-ebook/dp/B00DWO33UA