I know I haven't been around a lot lately. Between my major mental health failings and trying to get this accomplished (and all that regular life stuff!) I had to seriously streamline my life and activities so I had the energy to focus on getting one thing done at a time.
So anyway, I FINALLY got one thing accomplished!
I got my proof in the mail yesterday! It is so exciting to hold this in my hands and see my work laid out like this. I'm astounded.
I still have a few free ARC copies if you like to read psychological thrillers (and maybe leave reviews if you feel inspired)
My husband has been the driving force behind this getting finished and published. He has been so beyond supportive, I just can't imagine having the courage to do this on my own without him there pushing me along each step of the way. (Or just listening to me vent in frustration about yet another thing I couldn't figure out!)
Seriously, I can not explain to you how difficult this process was for me. Writing the book? No problem. I wrote the entire thing in two weeks during NaNoWriMo. It was started/inspired by a Freewrite here on steemit thanks to @mariannewest. But the nervewracking part of sending it off to an editor while I was in the midst of a horrible depression was SO anxiety-ridden, I can't even begin to convey it in words.
Then the #@(*^#$^@ formatting issues I had over and over again as I tried to learn the scrivener (on Windows), only to find out that a lot of options aren't available unless you're on a Mac... that was beyond frustrating.
But all that being said, I'm really proud of myself for following through, in spite of everything. I'm really bad about giving up when things get rough... and I didn't.
The book is available on kindle unlimited as well as paperback or ebook on Amazon
This is my 5 minute freewrite thanks to @mariannewest
Today's prompt was Fire Alarm
Cover Photo Source
@byn!!!! This is absolutely fantastic news!!! Good for you and your husband forgetting this ❤️ you should be so very proud of yourself!!! I just find myself grinning here, I'm so happy for you 😊❤️
This is bad ass! I want a copy... do you ship to Guatemala?
I'll have to look and see how much that would cost. It is available across several countries through amazon, though. I'm not sure about Guatemala.
Whaaaat! That's awesome sweets, and some people say freewrites are a waste of time. I gonna get a copy hey. You gotta come sign it for me :)
Now that sounds like I need to be in the same place you are at some point soon.... Hmmmmm... I wonder when that would be? ;) I would LOVE to!
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YOU ABSOLUTELY ROCK. <3 <3 <3 Thank you for all of your support over the last year!
Sure thing hun, I'm glad it's been fulfilling and productive for you🤗
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I know!! People!!
Very cool book cover, big congrats!
That is just so AMAZING 😉👍
Congrats on your hard work paying off.. Must have Been such an incredible feeling holding the book in your hand 😊
I'm so happy for you!
And after all you been through along the way... Damn you strong girl 💪😊 well done!
Have a wonderful week. Much love 💕💖
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Hello again my friend.
Hello 😉👋
Hope you are having a great day.
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I am having a super day!!! Thank you.
What kind of silver will you be investing in next?
Glad to hear that my friend 😊
I don't know what silver to invest in next... But my next silver I'm waiting for is a star wars silver.. Lol so that's one I'm excited about.
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Which Star Wars coin do you like the best?
My favorite coins is Darth vader and I have them both..
Stormtrooper is cool to but.. Darth vader is badass.. Lol
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My absolute favorite star wars rounds are the handmade silver that was a gift from my friend @Silverd510 look at this 😍
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Thank you so much! It's been quite the rollercoaster!
I understand that sweetie and you should be SO proud of yourself 😊👍 your achievement is greater than most.
Wish you the best in life you deserve it and Happy Easter... It's finally free day here tomorrow and Easter... Lol
Much Love 🤗💕🌹
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Wow congrats on your book, that’s amazing! 2 weeks? How many hours a day did you spend on it?
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A lot. I really have no idea. When I get an idea/inspiration, I just sit and write for hours at a time. I was also doing the NaNo challenge on steemit and posted daily here. But, I pretty much let everything else fall by the wayside and only did writing (and eating) :)
Huge congratulations, dear Byn! What a wonderful accomplishment!
Thank you! One of my first encouragers here on steemit!! You're part of this journey with me. Seriously, if not for you and the others who were so encouraging as I branched out into longer writing project, I wouldn't have gotten to this point, so THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! :)
It's always a good day when I find time to read the things you are writing! I tried to get your new book for my Kindle and was unsuccessful with Kindle unlimited and it says that I can pre-order it and it will be available next week on Kindle. So I guess I have to wait?
If this link works for you, I can get you an advanced review copy! Just fill in your name and email.
It would help if I included the link! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe53Jvgr68Ls7KIQCsiXRoVAYiiVtrO_K-i2OZDjVUwwOf9LA/viewform
Sorry about that @melinda010100
Thanks so much... I already did the pre-order option and I'll be looking forward to it arriving on my Kindle on the 30th!
Outstanding!!! Congratulations. I know that must be a good feeing.
Thank you :) It feels great!
I am soooooooo happy for you!!! Yay!!!!!
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You started this ball rolling... I can't thank you enough!
WOOHOOOOO!!!!!! That is absolutely fantastic hon!!!! CONGRATULATIONS! I know how hard you have worked for this and I hope you absolutely REVEL in the glory of the achievement! Lots of love xxxxxxxxx
Thank you!!! I had to really shut down every other activity in my life for a while to have enough energy to plow through it, but man. It was worth it!!! Now I feel like I'm kind of stumbling back into the light... slowly!
We are SO proud to have you as a member of our
FANTABULOUS Power House Creatives family!
uvoted and/or resteemed!
❤ MWAH!!! ❤
#powerhousecreatives
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Amazing my sweet @byn Congratulations, I knew you could do it 💕
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Thank you! Encouragement from you and the other freewriters really helped motivate me!
You're awesome @byn 💕
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Never easy the first time round, but by the tenth book it becomes a habit hahaha.
Congratulations on you being published!
Blessings!
Let's hope so! I have such a bad memory for things like this, I'd best write another book NOW so I don't forget everything when it comes time to format again! :)
Ouch! We seem to be in the same boat. I get so distracted that I put my car keys in the refrigerator hahaha.
And I get into the shower with my glasses on, thinking that I am going blind in the steam hahaha
Better you write number 2 right now my friend!
Blessings!
Congratulations!
Thank you!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Thrillers are the best!
Good luck with your sales!
Thank you!
Congrats. And I must say I love thrillers. Will it be translated to German?
I have NO idea how that would work. I do hear about it here and there in author groups... so I know it is possible, it's just out of my range of knowledge.
Huge congratulations! That's a gigantic achievement!
Thank you!
Congratulations! Such a HUGE accomplishment! That's amazing to push through and make your dream a reality. 🌟
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Thank you! I'm glad I pushed through and finished it!
So excited for you! You have worked so hard. Cant wait to read it.
Ren
Thank you so much!
Huge, huge Congratulations are in order!! What an outstanding accomplishment! I just finished ordering it and I can hardly wait to dive into it!
And to think that it started here with @mariannewest and the 5-minute Freewrite! I am so glad to hear that you blasted through it with Na-no! Who doesn't love that November dealie???
I have dealt with the formatting issue when editing for someone and I actually wanted to pull my hair out. No, seriously, so you have my admiration for pushing through that stuff!
Again, congrats and much luck with your book!
!tip
It is amazing!! We have at least 4 Freewriters now that published a book and several more that are published as a group! So cool!!!
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That is absolutely awesome, Marianne! @mariannnewest And to think, it started with an idea. XOXO
!tip
🎁 Hi @mariannewest! You have received 0.1 SBD tip from @dswigle!
@dswigle wrote lately about: Tree Tuesday Spring To Life Feel free to follow @dswigle if you like it :)
Sending tips with @tipU - how to guide :)
Thank you! That really means a lot coming from someone who has been through the headache of formatting!
The 5-minute freewrites absolutely restarted my desire and my ABILITY to write again. The encouragement from Marianne and numerous other freewriters was absolutely a huge part of what kept me going and encouraged me to do this scary thing!
Oh, it was more like Formatting Hell! Oh, pardon my French! I always feel like I don't have time for the freewrite or anything worthy of writing. I am not a real blogger, but, put together eclectic thoughts for my posts.
I am still excited about your book. :) I am glad that it was available to purchase!
Well thank you so much. I look forward to hearing what you think!
We are all PROUD off you CONGRATS
Thank you!
🎁 Hi @byn! You have received 0.1 SBD tip from @dswigle!
@dswigle wrote lately about: Tree Tuesday Spring To Life Feel free to follow @dswigle if you like it :)
Sending tips with @tipU - how to guide :)
Congratulations to have published your first book on the market!
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That's awesome and inspiring. I've always wanted to write my own novel. Congrats.
Congratulations
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Congratulations @byn!!!
Well done, and nice title...
Thank you! :) Those Freewrites inspired some of the best titles!
I had the same idea to use all the material I put on steemit and make books out of it... done around 8 books so far over the last year...
Wow huge hats oof all that hard work and now you have a perfect end result and maybe a stepping stone to publish more congratulations on the book I also have a small heart for writing unfortunately in school/college I sucked at it and was always told I couldn’t write and tbh they kinda right 🤣 but I do enjoy writing I’m no good at it but I enjoy it non the less Huge congratulations to you keep it up 😃
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My writing improved so much just from doing the daily freewrites. So much less pressure than a school environment. It gave me the ability to find my voice AND to start to see some of my writing faults. I was able to hone my skills over time, even just doing freewrites. I highly recommend it!
Huge congratulations to you! You have accomplished what many writers aspire to do, but few actually manage to follow through on! Actually finishing a manuscript and seeing it through to publication requires more effort and perseverance than most people realize.
Bright Blessings!
It really does! Heck, I'm not sure I would have even tried if I'd have known how much work went into it, but I'm really glad I did!
Congratulations!! NaNoWriMo is such a good kickstarter way to get writing DONE.
Props for having the guts to send in your work, and cheers to getting the recognition for your efforts!
Thank you!
💃Congratulations BeautyFull! 🙌
💖💖💖🔥🙏🔥💖💖💖
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Thank you!
Hello!
This post has been manually curated, resteemed
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Much love to you from all of us at @helpie!
Keep up the great work!
Manually curated by @niallon11.
Wow that is a great accomplishment!
Amazing, @byn! Congratulations !!!!
You write so well and I hope this will only be the first of your published works :D :D :D
Thank you so much! I have several other stories going... I just need to decide which one gets my full attention next!
@byn,
Congratulations!!!
A huge milestone in the life of any wordsmith. When's the next one due?
Quilll
Hold on there, sir! The next one? :) Actually, I am writing, but I'm hoping to aim for a series/trilogy next and will wait until I have at least 2-3 books finished before I start this process again. It makes much more sense financially to do it that way!
And thank you! :)
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yeah, I am so happy for you @byn that is great news, I would love to read it xx congratulations xx
Thank you!
that is brilliant and congratulations! I too have an unfinished book around but don't it formatted properly. :( this is the most frustrating part of the entire process.
I could not believe how frustrating it was! Pretty much every part of the process AFTER writing it was a lesson in how many different variations of things you need to learn to keep on! For every one thing I'd figure out, three more things would pop up that I then had to figure out. I felt like my brain was going to melt!
I can imagine, but you know a whole lot more, so next time it will be easier!
Congrats on your major accomplishment. so proud of you
resteeming!
Oh my goodness, congratulations. I just published too. Doesn't it feel amazing to hold our book in our hands for the first time?
Are you using any specific advertising or ways to get the word out? I've got ads on Goodreads, but I'm wondering what else I can do. Amazon ads require a monthly subscription which I can't afford.
I used my mac to format too. What printer did you use? I went with IngramSpark.
Oh, I'm so excited to find another indie author here 🤗
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I paid for a launch program, mostly to learn the process. I haven't bought ads yet, other than the book rebel promotions that came as part of my launch. I'll be working on ads this coming week. I'm on a REALLY limited budget at this point, though. With it just being one stand alone book, I don't know how much $$ I want to pour into it until I have another book out/ready to publish.
I'm just publishing through amazon at this point.
Cool.
Yeah, I've got a very limited budget too. Anything I can find that is free I can jump on.
If you have a mailing list you can exchange with others to introduce your book to their list and you do the same for them. Needs to be somewhat in your genre.
And sorry I never followed up on your original contacting me. I have been crazy busy and behind with everything...
No worries. If people can help that's great, if it just doesn't work out, I completely understand 😉
Yeah, I sent about 300 emails through mailchimp 😁
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@Byn congratulations for being both amazing writer and person. Your perseverance is commendable and I'm sharing ❤. Much love.
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Thank you so much! You're one of the OG freewriters who was so encouraging to me. If not for that, I'd not have had the guts to push this through!
I am so glad my encouragement helped push you on to this wonderful accomplishment! You have so much talent and guts and I believe many more books in you. Hugs!!
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So awesome! Congratulations :D How amazing is that! I am happy for you, you must be just so thrilled for this ^_^
Thank you!!!
This is super exciting
Congratulations @byn
I can't wait to read it
I hope you are feeling better
You have so much to be proud of <33
I feel like the spring time is definitely taking away some of my dark emotional space. Thank you :)
Hey, @byn.
Congratulations! I can feel your joy and exhilaration in your words, and to a degree I know how you feel. It is one of the best feelings anyone can have, and certainly the best feeling a new author can have. Actually, it probably repeats for at least the second time. :)
The book cover on your proof looks awesome—professional, dark and mysterious. The opening chapter is great, too. An amazing hook, I think.
I wish you great success with this book. Looks like you've got a decent ranking just through the kindle pre-orders. That's cool, since the ebook doesn't drop for several more days.
Very exciting! :)
Thank you so much! (And thanks for the ranking comment, I hadn't even thought to look yet!)
Congratulations! It's a great feeling, isn't it? Looking forward to seeing more of your awesome stories.
I hope to get back to writing after this weekend. I'm ready to birth some new stories and ideas! I miss my freewriting prompts!
CONGRATULATIONS! May you be able to sell a lot of copies!
CONGRATULATIONS!
May you be able to sell
A lot of copies!
- sgbonus
I'm a bot. I detect haiku.
Thank you!
Huge congratulations and may your book leave many marks ;)
Ha! I see what you did there! Thank you :)
Yay! You self-published, right? @stinawog and I have been talking about that for her novel! Will you tell me a little about your process?
Yes I did... oh LAWD. My process has been sadly lacking. I've literally been dragging myself through the absolute necessities.
My biggest recommendation is to join the fb group "Indie Cover Project" for help with blurbs & covers. But even more importantly, the group https://www.facebook.com/groups/20Booksto50k This group is a HUGE wealth of information for indie publishers. I couldn't even begin to explain how much FREE information and help is in that group. A LOT of very successful authors on there who are more than happy to share their experiences. It's been great.
Thanks for the tips!
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Congratulations for this!! You made a dream come true!!
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