Posts tagged Beauregard
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Sign My Kindle?
As e-readers like Kindle, Nook, Kobo and iPad continue to gain popularity among the bookish, how will author appearances be affected? Will book signings become a thing of the past? A distant memory of a quainter time, when people read books on paper?
Not if Autography has anything to say about it!
Autography has developed a way for authors to “sign” their e-books with a digital photograph.
“Here’s how an Autography eBook “signing” will work: a reader poses with the author for a photograph, which can be taken with an iPad camera or an external camera. The image immediately appears on the author’s iPad (if it’s shot with an external camera, it’s sent to the iPad via Bluetooth). Then the author uses a stylus to scrawl a digital message below the photo. When finished, the author taps a button on the iPad that sends the fan an e-mail with a link to the image, which can then be downloaded into the eBook.”
Pretty cool, right? Check out the full article in New York Times by clicking the title of this post.
Who knows, maybe you’ll see me at an e-signing one day! That would certainly be something to check off the bucket list!
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Want to read SHIFT, but not sure where to get it?
SHIFT is now available for purchase through most major e-book retailers! (It’s not available in paper—yet—but should be available sometime this summer.) I’ve had a number of people ask me what the “best” way to purchase SHIFT is, so I thought I’d put together a little post to help answer that question. Each outlet has its pros and cons, so I’ve included a summary with each option, to help everyone decide based on their preferences and situation. You can also follow the links once you’ve made your decision. On every website listed here, SHIFT is priced at $2.99.
Smashwords.com (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/53300)
When you buy an e-book from Smashwords, you own it in every file format available. So, if you have an e-reader (like a Kindle or a Nook) you can buy from smashwords and upload the proper file-type to your reader. But what if you don’t have an e-reader? Well, you can read the PDF or HTML versions right on your computer—no e-reader (or special app) required. The beautiful thing is that if, later, you buy an e-reader (or change from a Kindle to an iPad, for instance) you don’t have to forfeit your copy of SHIFT, just because your media changed; you own it in file formats for every reading device.
Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Shift-Series-ebook/dp/B004XD8TVC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1304009548&sr=1-1)
When you purchase an e-book from Amazon.com, you are purchasing a Kindle e-book. Kindle e-books can only be read on a Kindle e-reader, or on the Kindle Reading App for PC, MAC, or your mobile device (Apple, Android or Blackberry). The Kindle Reading App is free and easy to download (search “Kindle App” on Amazon to find it.) I think of Amazon’s Kindle format the same way I think of Apple’s itunes: The music you buy on itunes is not the standard, MP3 file format—it is a proprietary format that can only be read by Apple software and devices. Similarly, Kindle e-books can only be read by Kindle software or devices.
BarnesandNoble.com (or BN.com, for short.) (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Shift/Elle-Beauregard/e/2940011270932/?itm=1&USRI=elle+beauregard)
Purchasing on Barnes and Noble is very similar to buying e-books on Amazon, except that BN.com uses a more widely accepted file-format (e-pub). If you own a Nook (or are thinking about getting a Nook—and you should choose Nook over Kindle if you’re interested in borrowing e-books from your local library), you should buy your e-books on BN.com. To read e-books purchased through Barnes and Nobel on your computer or mobile phone, you can download the free Nook App for your PC, MAC, or Mobile Device (Blackberry, Apple or Android) Search “Nook App” on BN.com to find it. It is as quick and easy to use as the Amazon Kindle App.
Deisel Ebook Store (http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/item/SW00000053300/Beauregard-Elle/Shift-Shift-Series-1/1.html)
Admittedly, I don’t know much about Deisel, but reviews seem to be good. You can buy SHIFT on Deisel in the same e-pub format available on BN or Smashwords.com.
Apple iBookstore
If you own an iPhone or iPad, you can buy SHIFT (and other e-books) through the Apple iBookstore. The iBookstore is a free app for iPhone and iPad, available through the App Store on your device. (Best way to find me is to search my name “Elle Beauregard” instead of searching the title alone—something I’ve learned these last few weeks…)
SHIFT will also be available in the two popular Andriod e-bookstores in the next week or so. As well as being available as apps for Android, Windows Phone 7 and HP’s Web OS in the next month or so after that. But more about that later.
If you have a favorite e-bookstore you frequent, but you can’t find me, let me know—I’m always happy to expand my distribution!
And, finally, if you like SHIFT (or even if you don’t!) I hope you’ll write a quick review of it on whichever website you purchased it through. Reader Reviews are what help the cream rise to the top of all the indie-published fiction out there. If you loved it, I’m thrilled! If you didn’t, I’d love to know what turned you off. Great writers grow through constructive criticism. I’ll never ask you what you thought of my books (I don’t think its right to put my friends, family and fans on the spot like that) but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to know!
Happy Reading!
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SHIFT and I on Indie E-books!
Indie E-books (a website devoted entirely to independent authors and their e-books) recently added a feature on SHIFT and myself, including the synopsis, a (NEW) exceprt that I haven’t posted here before, and an interview! Check it out by clicking the title, above.
I’ve pasted the interview questions and answers below, just for fun. (These were great questions! Some of the best I’ve been asked!)
What will readers like about your book?
I hope readers will connect with Leah—she is a regular person with emotions, some of which are less-than-flattering, like everyone else. But she is also kind, curious and quirky. If the reader connects with her, I think they’ll enjoy being inside her head.
Readers who enjoy lighter fare will like the overall optimistic theme of SHIFT, while readers who prefer heavier content will appreciate the underlying darker current just under the surface of this plot and the foreshadowing to heavier issues that occur in future books.
Why did you self publish?
I was introduced to self-publishing a few years ago, but the industry and market wasn’t ready yet. Now, with the wide acceptance of e-format, e-readers, etc, I feel like the market is ready to accept self-published authors. And, moreover, I think that the casual reader has become more savvy and is looking for intelligent fiction that might have slipped under the radar of the traditional publishing industry (much the same way that more and more music-lovers are turning to indie-artists.) The publishing industry is changing so dramatically and so quickly now that I’m not entirely sure I would still want that legacy deal I’d dreamed about (and come so close to having) for so long. While I’m working harder to get my name and my work into the hands of readers, I’ve gained full creative control of my work and my brand in return through self-publishing. It’s a fair trade, in my opinion, and one that I believe more and more authors will begin to make.
What is your writing process?
My writing process is incredibly variable—I give my writing and my projects the kind of attention they need when they need it; this mean that sometimes I pour over the computer for hours, hammering something out, while other times, I walk away and don’t touch something for a couple of days. One thing I do consistently is what I call “letting things percolate.” (I’m from Seattle, so count on me to make a coffee-related analogy.) When I get a new idea, I let it rattle around in my brain for a while. I let it steep. (More hot beverage references!) It takes on three dimensions and depth in that time, and usually, I unknowingly develop the skeleton of the story while the idea sits in my brain without my paying very much attention to it. The next step is driving—I think very clearly while I drive and listen to music. Ideas often come to me while I’m sitting in traffic. In fact, now that I commute less, I find that it takes me longer to get through this stage. Once things have percolated and I’ve driven them straight, I start outlining and writing.
How long does it take you to write your first draft?
If I’m writing full-time (i.e. I’m not gainfully employed elsewhere) it takes me about 4 weeks to write a first draft and to read-and-revise once on my own. Then I hand it off to my beta-reader #1 (EverCritic—checkout her blog: http://evercritic.tumblr.com) who reads for story holes, clunky sentences and anything that doesn’t make sense. I take her edits and move onto the second draft from there.
What inspired you to write this particular story?
SHIFT came to me in a unique way. It felt like I’d been reading and seeing a lot of animal-shifters—werewolves, mainly—and every time someone referred to a werewolf as a shapeshifter, something would catch in my brain (the way a breath can catch in your throat, but with a thought.) That idea of shapeshifters sent my brain into the percolation phase without me even realizing it. Before I knew it, I was thinking and driving, and then one night, I outlined the whole thing. Three weeks later, the first draft was written.
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Three Pivotal Scenes
This Wordle was created from three pivotal scenes in SHIFT. I love that “eyes” is the dominate word.
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Writing about a place I’ve never been
So, if you’ve been reading SHIFT, you know that a large portion of the story takes place in a tiny town in Arizona, called Tubac. (If you haven’t read it yet, don’t worry, that’s not a big spoiler.)
“But Elle,” I hear you asking, “don’t you live in Seattle?”
I do.
“Have you ever been to Arizona?” I can hear you ask in follow-up.
No. I have not. I would like very much to go, and hope to plan a trip to Cecelia’s hometown very soon, but was in no position to take a trip while I was writing SHIFT.
“So why Tubac, then?”
Why Tubac, indeed… I knew, in my little heart of hearts that Cecelia was from a warm, desert climate. I knew that she moved to that warm climate as an adult, and I knew that she moved away from her family to go there, in search of a quiet place to call her own. I knew, before writing a word of her character, that she was caring, compassionate and a little eclectic. I knew she wore big earrings and flowy skirts. And I knew, by virtue of her beliefs, and of being a shifter that she would live in her natural form—graying hair and all. And that she would be all the more beautiful for it.
So then I had to find that town for her to call home; a place where Cecelia would make sense. The search was on, and surprisingly, it didn’t take long. A quick trip to the library got me maps. Maps showed me towns. And the internet showed me to Tubac.
Tubac is known for its strong artists’ culture; it is a destination for artists and those who appreciate hand-crafted goods. According to articles I found via Google, some shops in Tubac, AZ do not maintain regular business hours. The town has about 100 shops, many of which cater to art enthusiasts. The Tubac Chamber of Commerce website (http://www.tubacaz.com/index.asp) has a great, quick summary of Tubac’s history (which is extensive!) and which played perfectly into what I already knew about Drake and his family. In these ways, Tubac felt as though it was made for my story—when, really, my story was made (unknowingly) for Tubac.
Once I knew Tubac was the place I’d been looking for, Google Earth and Google Maps helped me get a feel for the look and colors of the town; articles about the wildlife, climate and flora helped me flesh out a picture that I hope rings with some truth.
Anybody out there ever visited? Or, even better, are you from Tubac? How’d I do?
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Interest - Passion - Life: The EverCritic on giving your passions the attention they deserve
I have the amazing fortune of having wildly creative, inventive and realistic people in my life. EverCritic (checkout her blog, here) is one of those people. She is also my BetaReader #1—she reads and helps edit every single piece of written work I labor over. Her ability to look at any piece with a passionately critical eye is what helps me deliver work to you all that is worth reading.
So, when I decided to launch this series called “Interest - Passion - Life,” I knew that I wanted her to contribute first. I hope to make “Interest - Passion - Life” into a regular series where guests can contribute posts about how they turned an interest or hobby into something they do as part of their lifestyle. Because, as EverCritic put it, saying that ‘“Writing is my hobby that I do in my spare time” is a very different mindset than “I am a writer.”’
You don’t have to be a writer to contribute to “Interest - Passion - Life!” If you’d like to be a guest on the series, send me a message via the “message me” link in the right column.
And now, onto EverCritic, and her thoughts on giving our passionate interests the attention they deserve.
Setting the scene: Three young Seattleites meet in a coffee shop early Sunday morning. Caffeine in hand, they sit down and chat. One of them heard about a job opportunity at her company that might work well for another in the group, and the third (EverCritic) is a hanger on enjoying the girl time and sugary pastries. Job strategizing turns to chatting…
The general consensus of the group was that there were many exciting opportunities and creative interests that we had a desire to pursue, and not nearly enough time to pursue them. And then one of the ladies at the table piped up…I didn’t write down her words at the time, so I can’t quote her verbatim, but the overall message I got was this:
“I work because I need to, and it takes up way more time than I wish it did.”
The other ladies at the table nodded in agreement.
“The sad thing is, I put in all that time, and really my only goal is to keep the job, so I can keep putting in more time, again, because I need to work. I pour all this energy into keeping a job that only fulfills itself and no energy is spent in growing interests that would be meaningful and fruitful for me personally. That seems way out of balance.”
So she made a decision. She would take a look at her extra-curricular, beyond-the-job interests, prioritize them, and then…treat them as another job.
Sounds un-fun doesn’t it.
That is what I thought at first, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that she was completely right. I work very hard to make my career a success. It pays the bills, and so I pay it time and considerable effort. This means that I attack my work life with a lot of hours, forethought, planning and strategizing, and I hold myself accountable for the results. Meanwhile, my spare time is unorganized and un-prioritized, and I end up disappointed that my interests don’t bear fruit.
Case in point: the EverCritic blog. In a fit of inspiration (as many of my projects and hobbies begin) I started the blog one month ago, and felt that rush of excitement for a potential new creative opportunity. And then what happened? Nothing. I didn’t write any more posts (despite having considerable fodder) and the EverCritic languished. Why? Because I had no organized plans for growing the blog, and most importantly, I wasn’t holding myself accountable for the results.
We can’t all make careers out of hobbies, but we can still treat them that way. “Writing is my hobby that I do in my spare time” is a very different mindset than “I am a writer.”
What does this mean, in a practical sense? I can tell myself that I will get serious about my hobbies, but as they say, that is all talk, and not much action. The gal at the table said she set up specific work times for pursuing her pet interests (in her case, it was creative writing), outlined goals and marked deadlines for these goals and tasks on the calendar. And wouldn’t you know it, she felt so much more satisfied with her progress, and with her writing in general.
Maintaining a ‘Hobbies Calendar’ proved to be a breakthrough for me. As contrived as it sounds, making detailed to-do lists and marking deadlines on a calendar somehow made my nebulous interests and goals…tangible, and even more so, achievable. This doesn’t mean that I don’t fall short of deadlines, or let free time pass me by without putting it to good use, but attacking my hobbies with even a fraction of the conviction I have for my career goals is the difference between you reading this blog post and…
no post at all.
(Source: evercritic.tumblr.com )
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SHIFT: Back Cover Synopsis
When Leah’s inability to control her new-found skill nearly sends her into a full blown shifter-tantrum in front of the entire high school, even she has to admit that the last week of school is no place for a new shape-shifter.
Keeping her new, unpredictable shape-shifting skills a secret is paramount, so Leah agrees to spend her summer vacation with her eccentric Aunt Cecelia, a fellow shifter who lives in the deserts outside Tubac, Arizona. Begrudgingly at first, Leah learns what it means to be a shifter, discovering that, in nature, her kind is not as rare as she first thought. While coming to terms with her new identity and learning to control her skills, she meets the son of her Aunt Cecelia’s life-long friends. But Drake King is different from other boys, and not just because he is a shifter; his sage green eyes make Leah feel profoundly warm and safe, as though she’s been lost all her seventeen years but never known it. When cornered by a pack of wild dogs one night in the unfamiliar desert, Drake reveals an additional, extraordinary gift that saves Leah’s life.
Amidst rumors of rogue shifters who have broken their oath and revealed themselves to the public, Leah and Drake embark upon a journey that will redefine them as individuals and forever solidify them as a pair.
