Monday, December 19, 2011

Introducing Romeo! Er, L.L. Muir... Yeah, That's Right

Okay, so I'm thrilled to have an interview with a friend of mine for you today. L.L. Muir is here with a hilarious post for us to highlight her recently released novel, GOING BACK FOR ROMEO. If you've ever smiled, this book is for you.


About THE BOOK:
The Twitter version: tell us about your book in 140 characters or less:
Jillian is conned back to 1495 Scotland to extricate a plaid-clad Romeo and Juliet before tragedy strikes...w/o falling for the bad guy!

Why e-publishing? Why now?
I have a wonderful agent who is shopping around other novels for me, but GOING BACK FOR ROMEO falls into that small time-travel niche. E-pubbing is all about creating a home for niche stories.

Why now? Because the stigma is dissolving. Best-selling authors are e-pubbing left and right. The ratio of gold vs. fool’s gold is improving by the hour, and agents and editors are finding great new authors from among the e-pubbed lists instead of the slush pile. Where is the shame of being on that list? “E” is the new way to break into the business, not a Scarlet Letter. What is a Scarlet Letter is an e-pubbed book that isn’t ready for prime time. You don’t want that brand. It’s more than skin-deep; it’s a tattoo that can’t be removed later.

What’s the one thing you learned about publishing this way that you didn’t anticipate? The Giddy Factor.

Okay, I’d heard friends tell me how wonderful it was. I wasn’t buying it. I wanted the fairy tale.

The surprise? It really is wonderful. And wonderful started the minute I decided to go for it. I feel like I’ve been offered a contract. Crazy but true. I’m the queen of delusions, but this feeling is not some mind trick.

And it burns no bridges. The JK Rowling dream is still alive and well and pushing me to write better, faster, and over the top.

Designing my own cover—with the help of an amazingly talented friend—resulted in the perfect cover for the story. I was giddy for days. I still am.

Watching e-pubbing from the outside was like standing at the train station, on the platform, a few feet away from the trains as they screeched and rumbled by. Train after train stopped for me, but I wouldn’t get on, so they left. When I realized what had changed in the industry, I jumped on the next train leaving the station.

What really pushed me over the edge was learning that I DIDN’T HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO DO IT! I was amazed at how intimidating the process was for me, even though writer-friends assured me it was easy. Then one day I was given the name of a guy who would format for me for under a hundred dollars. I could afford that. It would have cost me a week of labor hours trying to learn that on my own. And there are lots of people out there who are reasonable. Lots of people who will take that stress away.

What else are you working on? Secrets? Inside scoops? Give us the juicy stuff!
First off, the sequel to ROMEO is AVENGING JULIET—another Muir Witch Project. The hero in this one is someone the readers will already love. There’s a sneak peek at the end of ROMEO.

The juicy stuff? I guess that would be my next e-book, an angel love story with an Amish twist called SOMEWHERE OVER THE FREAKING RAINBOW. It’s not Scottish, but I always find a way to squeeze a Scot into every novel. It’s a Young Adult series, but romance fans should dig it, especially if they love a good sob. It has some wrenching black moments, but here’s a lighter line: “You know that song, ‘Somewhere over the rainbow...blue birds fly?’ Yeah. Well. Those aren’t bluebirds.”

About THE AUTHOR:
Have you always wanted to be a writer? I decided to be a writer when I was 11. It made all my other decisions pretty easy—especially on career days.

What made you decide to go that “extra step” and seek publication? I’m a bit ambitious. Being a florist wasn’t enough, I had to open my own shop. This is just opening another kind of shop.

Quick! You’ve been chosen to be a contestant on Survivor. What luxury item do you take? A lovely length of plaid wool. That stuff is as good as an army tent for keeping out the weather...and maybe a bug or a serpent. (Excellent choice! Did you see the finale last night??)

Tell us something about yourself we don’t know. I’m a stand-up comedian. No. Really. I even landed a paying gig. But the nine months I spent worrying about the crowd and coming up with the jokes was NOT worth the lovely check I got. Only three jokes bombed in a 20 minute set, so I think I kicked butt. (Holy brown cows! I've always wanted to be a comedian. Jerry Seinfeld is like, my fave.)

And the most important of all: bacon or chocolate? Thick, nearly burned bacon, served with piping hot chocolate, at Sill’s Cafe in Layton, Utah. (Is that cheating?) ((Yes, yes it is. But I don't care.)) Just holler when you’re up my way. (And now you know why I love her.)

You can get GOING BACK FOR ROMEO for only $2.99 from now until Christmas. Check it out!
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords

Be sure to follow L.L's adventures on her blog.

Are you giving books this holiday season? You can gift Kindle and Nook books--just sayin'. Are you hoping for books to be lurking in your stocking? Which ones?

17 comments:

  1. A lot of my writer friends are ePublishing with great success!

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  2. It surprises me every time I see that someone is epublishing. It is getting more and more prevalent. Best wishes with your series. :) I think it would be fun to design your own cover. :)

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  3. Congrats! I hope the series does well. And dude...the survivor finale. WOW! ((Though I did want Ozzy in the finale, just saying))

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  4. Thanks for the good wishes!

    And Sharon, I'm a designer professionally, so being in on the cover design was the bomb! I think I'm addicted to it now. I'm writing even faster so I can get to that frosting, you know?

    LL

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  5. I'd love to hear an update on how things go. The marketing aspect of epub scares me.

    Elana--thanks for critiquing my query on Matt's. Lots of good things to think about.

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  6. Great interview! I've already got the book on my nook, and I can't wait to dive in. Also, I've been to Sill's Cafe in Layton - sheer heaven! :)

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  7. I really enjoyed the interview Elana and L.L. Wonderful information shared about something on the minds of lots of aspiring writers.

    Wishing L.L. Muir all the best success!! :-)

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  8. This is the first epub book I've seen on various blog author interviews that actually interests me! I love time travel (my first novel is time travel) so I'm definitely going to give this book a try.

    Thanks!

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  9. Love the tattoo reference, Lesli. It is what it is and that is the reality. Best Wishes and fun interview, ladies.

    Thanks

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  10. Lesli, You are a personal hero! Can;t wait to read this one...Can't wait to see how successful it is. :)

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  11. There are a lot of people who can format ebooks for well under $100. Add some quality cover art and publishing/promoting knowledge, it's a very viable option for writers now.

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  12. I love that she believed in her book and took the plunge! Sounds like an excellent story. I do wish more would do print publishing as well though. I'm going to have to get me an ereader!

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  13. I love you all! No really. And not in a creepy way. :D

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  14. As an update, GOING BACK FOR ROMEO just hit the Amazon Bestseller Time Travel list at #72!

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  15. I always hold the self publishing thing in reserves, just in case.

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  16. There's enough voice & intelligence in these answers to convince me! Off to click the 'buy' link! :)

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