I cleared my desk – which is a folding table in front of the sofa that also doubles as our dinner table – so that I could focus on yet again fixing the files for publishing my books on Amazon. Book 1 is and has been live, but I had some seemingly simple corrections to make. The file was rejected and we’re back on that hamster wheel of tweaking bits and bobs until it’s finally accepted! Such is the life of a Canadian children’s books author.
“KDP, Amazon’s publishing platform, and I have not yet become best friends”
I’ve been taking courses to improve myself as a writer. Website design, WordPress courses, marketing and promotion, KDP University, educational blogs. KDP, Amazon’s publishing platform, and I have not yet become best friends, but I am a tenacious person with goals and focus. This is a learning process that will be a great benefit for later.
Upcoming Events
My target publishing date for Book 2 in the Riley’s Adventures series is August 24. I plan to enter it into the UK Storytellers contest which has a deadline of August 31.
I am excited to be a part of Jasper’s Alberta Culture Days. A group of organizations in the Library and Cultural Centre – ACFA (French association), Habitat for the Arts, Jasper Artists Guild and the library have sponsored the event for the past 5 years. This year it will be a pop up event at Robson Park on September 25 from 2 pm – 4 pm. Jennifer and I will be holding a session at 3 pm where we do a reading and a painting workshop en français.
Watch for the French version of Riley’s Adventures – coming soon!
Jennifer is busy working on the illustrations for Book 3 – Coyotes and Wolves & Pyramid Lake. Watch for this exciting adventure by the end of October. We may even have some sneak peeks at the illustrations soon!
My website and social media platforms are a work in progress – pardon the awkwardness if you’ve visited recently. I’ve finished 34 of 143 modules for the course on building my website. The stories of The Little Engine that Could and the Tortoise and the Hare come to mind quite frequently.
Looking for Reviewers
Ice and Fire, by Lisa Nantais
I am looking to build a small group of readers who would be willing to preview, provide objective feedback and write thoughtful public reviews from final advanced copies prior to publication.
Ideally you regularly read books that are in the same genre and can answer the following questions:
Does it flow well? or is it choppy?
Does it make sense?
Can you picture the characters and where they are at?
Is it consistent with the tense it was written in?
Does it keep your constant attention so you don’t want to put it down or does it drag?
Did you find anything long-winded or unnecessary?
Was there anything that you had to read twice to understand?
Is it believable?
Does the dialogue sound right?
Is there anything confusing about it – other than the potential plot twists?
Are the characters believable?
Do they each have their own unique personalities – or is the writer’s personality overriding all of them?
What were your favourite parts? Why?
Send me a note if you’d like to join my Round Table
You will be part of the elite team that gets the final copy first and free, knowing that you contributed to its success. And you will feel good about helping an independent artist compete with the publishing giants.
I have 6 seats and one has already been filled, message me soon!
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