#as always any typos/grammatical errors i simply do not wish to know <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[mxrisacoulter]

Barbie (2023) // Supernatural (2005-2020) 8x05 - "Blood Brother"

[phoenixrising0308]

The day I watched you marry someone else.

Books: The Royal Romance Book 3

Rating: M (Mature content and implied sexual activities)

Pairing: Liam & Jessica (MC)

The Arrangement -  This is the story of how Liam Rys and Jessica Garcia enter a Cordonian arrangement. This is a 4 chapter story arc and fits into a story in between called the Promise, which is in the Agent Phoenix A/U. 

Detailed disclaimer

Triggers: none identified by the author

Chapter Summary: Jessica's POV of the wedding

A/N: This is reposting an original chapter released in 2019/2020 under a previous blog name with new added content sprinkled in.  Im sorry it took so long to get back into the writing space life has been heavy.

Song Inspiration: The Arrangement Playlist

Word Count: 2,500 *As always, forgive my typos and grammatical errors*

New York, One week prior...

Liam walked Jessica back to her hotel room and wiped away her tears.

“He just slipped away; we just missed him.” Jessica cried out on Liam’s shoulder.

“We will find him; this isn’t over for us. It will never be over for us.”

“I don’t know what I want to do, Liam. I can’t walk away from you.”

The tears he held back, trying to be strong, started streaming down his face. They rested their heads against each other. 

“I am expected at the wedding. I don’t know if I can sit there and watch you marry someone else. Maxwell and Bertrand did so much for me and I can’t have them look even worse by not showing my face. I need to think. But I’m not getting on that plane with the rest of the court. I don’t know what happens after that, I don’t know if I can enter into a Cordonian arrangement.”

I don’t know what to say. But if you come back and want to stay, we can solve this together.  Will you wait for me?

—

Ramsford - Jessica’s room

Liam’s Wedding day

 Everyone was in a frenzy trying to get ready. Jessica sat in a daze as the letter she read, hand-delivered to her by a footman in familiar cursive writing. When she finished she let it fall to the floor.

Lady Jessica, you should know that I have invoked on behalf of the Crown prince ‘Sex primis noctibus’ or the first six nights. As Cordonian tradition dictates, the King is to be in close quarters with the Queen with no outside interruptions to get familiar with each other and bed each other for six consecutive nights in hopes that they can produce an heir. In fact, the wedding date is chosen based on the future Queen's fertile window. Liam might love you but he loves his country more. I encourage you to move on and have your sponsor find you a respectable match and marry or return to the states before you waste any more time chasing a dream that simply can not be. There has never been a divorce or annulment in the history of the Rys line of succession, and we have held the throne for a century.

-Constantine Rys 

It would be the first royal wedding in Cordonia since Constantine married Regina. But this was a larger affair. It would be a first marriage, and that hasn’t happened in decades. The last time it did was Constantine’s marriage to Leo’s mother.

Maxwell picked up the letter and briefly read it; he crumpled it up in disgust and threw it in the trash before returning to her side and lovingly combing her hair. “I’m so sorry, blossom. I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”

Jessica held Maxwell’s hand stopping him and putting the brush down. “Me too.” He took her in his arms and they cried. 

Bertrand walked into the room with a large box and said, “Maxwell, I would like to have a word with Lady Jessica.”

Bertrand took Maxwell’s place in front of Jessica and said, “This will be a very difficult day. I thank you for doing this for us. You could have easily stayed in New York, but you came. Should you want to make a life for yourself, allow me to offer you my assistance. You are to stay here as long as you want. You are our sister, this home is yours as well to make use of. But it is my duty to inform you that a suitor has approached me and asked if you would consider a proposal.”

Jessica blinked her tears away in surprise at that before speaking again. “Thank you, Bertrand. But I don’t think I’m ready for anything. I know that it is your custom to arrange a match for a lady of your house, but would it be out of the ordinary if I don’t want to be married?”

“Jessica, it is your choice. I just don’t know how to mend a broken heart. I just thought since you came here to be wed that perhaps that could help.”

Jessica gave Bertrand a half-smile. “I came here for Liam.”

“Jessica, as you know, we have no lady of the house, and surely when I marry Savannah, I would like to commission something for her, but what I am giving you is a gift. You helped me find her, and connect with her and our son, and I could never thank you enough, but I hope this is a start.”

Bertrand placed the box on Jessica’s lap. “It would mean the world to me and Maxwell if you wore this and perhaps you can channel the strength of its owner.”

Jessica opened up the box and gasped, “Bertrand, do you mean it? I can surely wear it and give it back.”

“Maxwell and I insist. This is yours to have. We can offer you our name and our protection and we have given you our mother's ring but one thing remains that should be yours. As you know, a hat is customary at court functions when not at a gala. I was not always kind to you, yet you stood by us. Your loyalty was unwavering even after I doubted your ability to be a suitor. Please accept this as a gift as a sign of our gratitude and a welcoming gift to joining our house.”

Jessica pulled out the light blue fascinator hat with a birdcage veil; made of sinamay material that glimmered in the sun-like diamond dust. 

"Maxwell tells me you favor hats, and well, this was my mother's pride and joy. It serves no purpose locked away in a closet when it should go to an owner that wears it when called upon."

Jessica was awestruck as she softly asked, “This belonged to Duchess Annabelle?”

“Yes, it belonged to our mother. The world will be looking at you today, the press will look for you to crumble. They think you are alone, that you have lost, but in this, you have gained family and friends. We are better people because you walked into our lives. Jessica, you surprised me time and time again. Liam told me you were his choice. Had it not been for his father’s interference and the loyalist on the royal council, this would be your day.”

Jessica placed the fascinator on her head and said, “It certainly is beautiful. I will wear it with pride. Thank you.”

Bertrand’s lips trembled as he fought back his tears and said, “You honor this house regardless of title or status. Lady Jessica Garcia Beaumont”

Jessica looked at herself in the mirror as she placed the fascinator on her head and sighed deeply, trying not to cry again.

Bertrand gave her a soft smile and said, “Tungsten… impact strength determines how much energy a metal can absorb. Tungsten can hold the highest temperature even in a forge; its melting point is the highest of any element; it will not shatter or be broken. That's why all the items in our armory are made of it. This house is your shield. When you look at yourself, remind yourself of your resilience and strength. That will get you through this painful ordeal.”

—

Royal Cordonian Abbey

Jessica stepped into the Abbey dressed in the house colors of the Beaumonts. She wore an off-the-shoulder knee-length dress that coordinated perfectly with the late Duchess Annabelle’s hat. She held her head high as people snickered at her, but she walked with grace and class paying no mind to the hurtful remarks people whispered as she passed by. Reporters attempted to get her to comment and she declined to give a statement. She took her place in the pew next to Hana. 

Hana said, “My mother wanted me to sit next to the other ladies of the court, but my friend needs me more.” Hana took Jessica’s hand and squeezed it.

Olivia entered and was directed to a pew. “I will choose my own seat. I wish to sit next to Lady Hana and Lady Jessica, should the Queen take issue with it then so be it.” Olivia took her seat next to Jessica.

Jessica said, “Thank you, Olivia.”  

Olivia quirked a brow and said, “Why are you thanking me?”

Jessica lowered her gaze. “People hate me and you have enough problems. You could have sat anywhere and yet you sat next to me.” 

Olivia smirked. “I hate the word friend you know, but there is something that can be said about sitting next to someone with the courage you have shown throughout this. You have my respect.” 

Jessica smiled, “And you have mine.”

Olivia said, “Please know Liam opted for the Abbey as he said the Cathedral before God is reserved for his marriage to you. He won’t give up until that crown is on your head.” 

Jessica whispered, “I just want to marry him. Sure, being a Queen would be amazing, but being his wife... That’s all I’m concerned about. I would marry him anywhere and not care how fancy it is.”

20 minutes later…

Madeleine’s assistant walked over to the pew and said, “Lady Jessica, the future Queen has summoned you.”

“Do you know why?” Jessica frowned as she asked.

“I’m sorry, she wouldn’t disclose, but she told me if you refused to remind you that it is a direct order.”

Jessica sighed. She stood up and smoothed her dress. “Excuse me, Hana and Olivia.” Olivia stood up so Jessica could exit with a skeptical glare on her face at the summons.

Abbey vestibule

Jessica entered and saw Madeleine admiring herself in the mirror. A few ladies of the court including Kiara and Penelope fussed over Madeleine’s dress.

Madeleine waved her hand and dismissed them. Then, she turned her attention to Jessica and coldly said, “Exactly who I wanted to see. Liam refused the use of the cathedral, and I won’t even have a reception. I will just have a small dinner... How embarrassing. For a Queen not to have all the fanfare owed to her. I have been robbed of an opportunity to be admired on my wedding day. Not to mention this lackluster necklace. It seems I was an afterthought. I should be a priority but I'm not since your insignificant little feelings matter to him.”

Jessica rolled her eyes, “Geezus Madeleine, you sound so pretentious and entitled. Let’s not forget this is a forced marriage so Liam could ascend the throne.”

“Liam isn’t playing the part, and so I must remind him that I can still get to him. Despite him not giving me control of things, there are things that I can control, and he is powerless to stop me from doing so.”

Jessica lost her temper and finally snapped at the woman who ruined everything. “Madeleine, what do you fucken’ want!?”

Madeleine smirked, “I think you want to stay here, Jessica. Your visa can be revoked for crimes against the crown, and that means not following orders. There is a lifetime ban, and there is no appeal process. Liam cannot do anything for the next six days to help you thanks to our um... the bridal bed, which surely he will enjoy. So, for the next six days, if you so much as jaywalk, I will ensure you are in a position to be deported.”

Jessica frowned deeply at the mention of their honeymoon. “Fine. I will stay locked up at Ramsford. Happy?”

Madeleine hummed as she fussed with herself in the mirror. “Some people favor you, and if they favor you, that means they don’t favor me. I want people to love me, to know that I was the best choice for this Kingdom, and not sympathize with you. I want the security of being a Queen, and you are endangering that. You have Liam’s protection, but that won’t stop me from driving you out of the country.”

“Madeleine, why do you insist on making his life difficult?”

Madeleine turned to her with a smirk and said, “By my order, a senior member of the court, you are directed to carry my train to the Abbey. You will stand there and watch me and Liam marry. You will be allowed back to your pew when the coronation ceremony begins.”

The clicking sound of heels entered the Abbey vestibule from the end of the hall. Olivia’s voice echoed.  

Olivia growled out with  murder in her eyes. “God Madeleine, how low can you stoop? In the end, you are nothing. This day will be forgotten. I don’t know what you have done to get all this favor. First, it was Leo, now it’s Liam. Who are you in bed with truly?”

“Petty words from petty people. I have it, and I will use it.” Madeleine waved her hand in the air and said, “Love? Is that his little pet name for you? Well, LOVE, pick up my train.” Madeleine commanded with sadistic glee.

Jessica stood in defeat. Olivia stepped forward. “I outrank your little entourage.” Olivia walked over and picked up the train and said, “Surely a Duchess carrying the train of a future Queen is an honor. Especially the Duchess of an established house. Liam created a duchy for you reserving Valtoria for Jessica. That must sting. You seem to just want to wound her, to take for yourself, the things he is holding for her when he can rid himself of you." She huffed and continued. "How sad. How sad to be a Queen and have nothing. If you insist on this pathetic game with Jessica, just know she is not alone and never will be. The house of Nevrakis and the house Beaumont are loyal to each other. Jessica is under Beaumont's protection, and she is also under mine as well. My protection is worth an army.”

Madeleine sneered slightly at Olivia. “Fine. Have it your way, but she is still ordered and must comply.”

Jessica sighed and took the other end of the train. Forcing the lump in her throat to die down and to get it over with. 

15 minutes later…

The entrance song to the wedding began. Liam stood at the altar, never turning to look at  Madeleine. He just wanted the ordeal over so he can lock himself in the palace for the next six days as tradition dictated. Leo reminded him, although tradition stated he must be in closed quarters, it did not state he needed to cohabitate in the same room; just in the same wing. In fact, other than that tradition, he was under no obligation to live at the palace at all. Liam would remain in his room in the wing alone while Madeleine would remain in her room. That was his final verdict. 

Olivia and Jessica trailed behind Madeleine into the Abbey holding her train. The tears welled in Jessica’s eyes. She laid Madeleine’s train down and stood next to Olivia with their heads held high, even though she couldn't look Liam in the eyes without sobbing. 

Madeleine smiled coldly and said, “I received your message. I hope you received mine. If you listen closely, you could hear her poor heart shatter into little pieces.” Madeleine turned to Jessica and handed her her bridal bouquet, and hissed out low enough for only them to hear, “Hold this, LOVE. You will never get an opportunity to hold a bridal bouquet otherwise.” 

Liam made eye contact with Jessica as she stood by Olivia. She looked down at the flowers and averted eye contact, trying not to cry in front of the entire court, knowing that this was Madeleine’s intent all along. Liam, on the other hand, became emotional at the sight of what Madeleine forced her to do in public, humiliating her, and he was completely powerless to comfort her. 

Constantine presided over the ceremony and said, “I welcome you all here today as I am fortunate to marry my son to his Queen. It brings me great joy to unify them not only by law, but by love. Looking at Liam so emotionally over this day tells me he is completely in love.” Constantine smirked as he looked at Jessica. Then he returned his attention to the crowd. 

Constantine said, “Liam, Crown Prince of Cordonia, repeat after me:

 I, Liam Nathaniel Rys, Crown Prince of Cordonia, take you, Madeleine Elizabeth Amaranth of Fydelia, as my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and bad times, through sickness and health. I vow to love you, honor you, and be faithful to you for all the remaining days of my life.”

Liam looked at Jessica as both of their hearts broke for each other. Tears in their eyes, and hope dwindling.

[mikazukikannagisjourney]

Spiritual Log October 27 2019 also New Moon in Scorpio Post

Subtitle: I wanna quit but my soul has other plans lol Also why it is important to clear one's self to help clear the mass collective energies

Hi everyone, the Scorpio New Moon is just a few hours away, and I hope everyone's able to set their intentions, wishes, stuff you wanna integrate or cast or manifest into your lives. If you have been feeling the strong, heavy vibes, well, that's partly because this is around the time that we need to become fully aware of who we really are, and releasing what prevents us from living the life we were meant to have in this 3d realm, thus the excess baggage feels in both the physical and the heavy feelings or emotions. Also we're around the shadow of a Mercury retrograde plus the intense Scorpio energies so, I pray we all survive. Mercury is gonna be stuck until around Dec 10 so... That's gonna be one, bumpy, tear-jerky ride. I gotta stocks some toilet rolls lolz but seriously, it is likely that more people will be feeling the effects of their shadows even more so, as always I suggest clearing stale energies, cleaning up your closets (like the real ones or whatever you're hiding inside). Mercury retrograde season may suck because everything, including your life just seems stuck in the mud, but also this is a wonderful time to introspect. Go within. Find the missing parts of your soul. I gave that one a go because my intuition has been nagging me lately, and I feel a bit tired but at the same time I wake up feeling refreshed, unlike before where even sleeping makes me tired lol.

I hope you guys won't get tired of me (or of anyone else) saying this same message. Especially those who have been clearing so much of the stale, low-vibrational and stuck energies in all of their subtle as well as physical bodies. This process can be very frustrating, extremely painful, it can even drive you insane. But the strong message that I have been getting from the Divine Realms has been this:

You are here to bridge the gap between the higher realms and the lower planes. To bring in the love from Source and transmute the energies that prevent that from happening. To clear off the spiritual debris inside of you, so that each time another person triggers you, you will have no reaction but rather gain understanding and give back love, thus preventing the cycle of pain and hurt from happening and decreasing the low vibrational energies that feed this kind of thinking, of believing, and of living.

Like for example, someone sends you an extreme hatred of some sort (oh glob, I hope you avoid it but in case it did, well, I hope this example helps). You have no idea why someone would do that. Your old 3D self would either get triggered strongly (aka return that same hatred to the sender, or send it to someone else, or just cry and let it dampen your spirits), or just forget about it, depending on whether you got affected by it or not. Until something similar triggers it again. It will most likely repeat until something happens and you start running out of options.

But!

Think of it this way:

Once you're living in a higher realm of consciousness and understanding (like 5D and above), not only will your ability to sense why the hatred was there in the first place get stronger, but also because you can see things from a higher consciousness, you can help heal and transmute this within yourself. Like an older person having an insight on why a younger person is troubled, a parent giving unconditional love to their child who has been acting annoying and rebellious lately, or even as a person who feels the reason why their friend has been out of sorts and yet doesn't continually nag them to change or return to their old selves because they knew that the other person must become stronger through an event.

I am just putting this out there because the fact that living an awakened life is like living in extremes (i.e. You either feel super high vibes and unconditional love from the univers or things just make you feel like you're in the deepest hellholes on earth). But after 3 years of my conscious awakening, despite the fact that so many awakened people and wayshowers and starseeds and lightworkers and gurus have been talking about the importance of clearing the self, the subconscious, the energies, basically one's entire being because by clearing the self you're supposedly help in clearing the entire collective too. But honestly, I haven't seen the spiritual community talk about how this works. So I always have felt bad and annoyed at this concept. It makes zero sense. Some of the questiins in my head consist of:

Why do I have to do the clearing?

Why am I even in this prison-like hell-hole of a planet? I wanna go home.

Great things aren't happening to me and I'm giving it my all, what the f*** universe, do you hate me that much? I am not allowed to even have a but of fun here? F*** you and all who aren't incarnated physically and feeling the extreme pain.

Or just simply the idea that when I am healed, others get healed too because we are all ONE. YEAH RIGHT. The last time I heard that kind of stuff was when EXO was still complete with 12 members.

Seriously, universe and Higher Self are you effing with me (also I am obviously fangirling here so you can let that shit slide, unless YOU know what I'm talking about. In that case, high five lol 👋).

But really, nobody said that spiritual awakening would be easy, and unfortunately maybe more than half the planet is already starting to awake and some of us wayshowers are still cleaning our own grime, living stuck in the mud and not moving anywhere, or just sunk in the deepest pits of depression and regret for even waking the heck up.

Right now I am angry at the universe for even keeping me alive despite the shitty life, the existential and desperate survival crises, and feeling cut off from the miracles that made me wanna spiritually awaken a lot more (and why I chose it in the first place). But a small part of me also knows this:

Dying is easy, living is a million times harder. And yet, what happens during the time you're alive is what makes life worth living.

I am honestly not in the best place to say that. I am still living in rock bottom but I am doing my best to live one day at a time. It sucks. But really, finding your soul tribe can help so much. Even a small cheering message from a friend can help you survive the day. And that is enough to get anybody going. Like walking a thousand miles through a long, dark road with nothing but a flashlight on. You walk that stretch step by step, bit by bit. Because you need to, and YOU HAVE TO. And that is the true path of the awakening process.

*Take a deep breath*

Gah, that felt heavy AF, I was just gonna post about how happy I was after going back to cross stitching but here I am lol. Still, I do hope that despite the content, any grammatical errors or typos, you find a sense of comfort somehow. This is not an easy path for us, and at the same time, everyone else will be walking this path too, long after we've moved on. We are all meant to awake to our true selves, all 7 billion of us here, but not everyone will be answering that call at the same time. Most will be ignoring it, a lot will answer and then hang up, and a fraction of us will answer, take a pen and paper and write the details down and process it later. Again, everyone will eventually do it, but at each one's own time.

I pray that you overcome all of the obstacles that have been preventing you from achieving your true greatness. And as always, may you find the healing you seek.

Forever with love and hugs from Source above, I remain your friend and Soul sibling,

三日月

Mikazuki

P.S. If you've reached this end after reading so much stuff, shoutout to you and your wonderful soul! 💗

P.S.S. I hope you guys don't mind me going off character aka going fangirl mode while talking about spiritual stuff. I am just that kind of person. Still sending you love though. 💖

[idombledore]

The Offworld Guide to Self-Publishing - Part 3 - The Nitty Gritty

Welcome to Part 3 of The Offworld Author's Guide to Self Publishing.

We will be tackling all the things you'll need to take care of in your Self-Publishing journey including Ghostwriting, Editing, Proofreading, Book Funding, Book Design, Book Production, Book Rights, Book Reviews, Book Publishing, Book Publicity, Book Promotion and Social Media, Literary Agent Pitch, Promo Videos, Audiobooks, Translation, Author Websites, Search Engine Optimisation, Screenplay Adaptation, Film Makers, Film Producers and Original Music.

All of these elements are key to giving you everything you need to make your book a success.

Don't want to wait for the next thrilling installment?

You can get your FREE Author's Guide here.

Have a look at our video as well...

THE NITTY GRITTY

Personally speaking, I’ve self-published 4 sci-fi fiction books on Amazon, sold tens of thousands of copies, and continue to collect thousands per month in royalty checks.

Self-publishing a book is done using these steps:

Write a book you’re proud of

Decide which self-publishing platforms to use

Get your book edited, cover designed, formatted Upload your manuscript and accompanying assets

Hit “Publish” when you’re ready.

Your book is self-published!

You can see it there on Amazon. You’ve even got an author profile. It feels fabulous. You should be proud of what you’ve done Now you can show everyone.

Not only do you no longer need one of the “Big 5” companies to publish your book, now self-published authors are actively turning down offers from publishing companies!

Self-publishing is a completely independent route with no barriers to entry whereas traditional publishing involves the acts of querying, landing an agent, and getting approved by a publishing house.

And this is what you get, things you don't get with traditional publishers:

Sole control of your book's rights

Sole control over the Story

100% of royalties

So, here finally, is a step-by-step comprehensive self-publishing guide that will walk you through the smarter starter steps of how to write your book all the way to how to self-publish it on Amazon’s Kindle (KDP) Network.

1 WHY DO YOU WANT TO WRITE THIS BOOK?

What you need to decide first when self-publishing a book, is WHY you want to write a book.

I encourage going through this brainstorming process as it’s the only way to ensure that you’re 100% committed to writing a book (and you’re doing it for the right reasons).

Here are some questions for you to decide why you want to publish a book:

Are you an entrepreneur or freelancer with a new business trying to get a leg up on your competition by publishing a book?

Do you want to leverage your skills and knowledge to become a paid speaker or coach?

Do you have a well-established business and you want to write a book to diversify your income streams and land speaking engagements?

Or do you already have a successful story, and want to build an asset that will share the knowledge and skills you’ve gained over decades of experience?

Do you have a larger number of book ideas or prompts you need to start writing?

Action Plan

Come up with at least 10 valid reasons why you want to write a book. Use the questions above as a starting guide to brainstorm.

2 WRITE YOUR BOOK

If you’ve ever tried to start writing a book, you might have had moments where you’ve stared at a blank page for hours with nothing to show for it. Feeling frustrated, you resort to procrastinating and get nothing done!

This is normal, writing a book is hard work. In fact, coming up with a book idea in general can be very tricky. But in order to start writing your book, you must develop a writing process.

Here are some effective ways to write a book worth self-publishing:

Calendar. Schedule your goals per day/week.

Create an outline. An outline is like a map of your book that provides direction to your story. It keeps you on track and ensures that your ideas are organised.

Develop a writing habit. Condition yourself to write at the same time every day. With this practice, it will soon become a habit that will make writing a book automatic.

Get an accountability partner. You can hold each other accountable to write and finish your manuscript by your “draft done” date.

Build your writing environment. Find an area where your head is clear, there are no distractions, and where you can write in peace.

Of course, if you really don’t feel you have the writing style, or more likely, the time,  there are many Ghostwriting Services that will write your book for you based on your root ideas and you will keep 100% of the rights to the book.

Action Plan

Figure out which methods best filter out the negative noise to get you into the writing process.

3 GET EARLY FEEDBACK

When writing your book, it’s important to get as much feedback as early in the process as possible.

It’s essential to get this feedback in order to improve your writing.

Everything from creative writing to factual, non-fiction works needs feedback in order to produce a polished publication.

As writers, it’s all too easy to retreat into your cave for a long period of time, spend countless hours writing what you think is the perfect first draft, only to find that

a) your draft doesn’t make sense to anyone else or

b) no one else is as interested in the topic as you originally thought.

Writing tips can come from anywhere and the best usually come from those reading your book for the first time.

Not only can a fresh set of eyes on your book help you catch typos and grammatical errors, but a new perspective can give you ideas for tightening up your story and making the theme more clear, like in the example below.

Giving your book to one (or more) “beta readers” before giving it to an editor and self-publishing can also cut down on the time and cost of paying a professional editor.

You can also use something like Grammarly or the Hemingway Editor so you can learn as you write!

You can get help with reviews via several Reviews Services to get reader reviews before and after publication.

Action Plan

Reach out to a few friends who could provide good (preferably unbiased) feedback, and ask them if they’ll be willing to read a chapter or two (or the whole book!) as you finish writing

4 CHOOSE A BOOK TITLE

Contrary to popular belief, you should never decide on a book title until after you are done writing your first draft.

This is because choosing a book title first often results in you “writing yourself into a corner” because you’re trying so hard to align your story to the title of the book instead of writing what needs to be written.

Don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be.

The key to choosing a perfect title is: the simpler the title, the better. As you’re brainstorming ideas, always remember to keep it simple.

Your title should also be clear on what your readers will receive by reading your book. This is because experts state that a clear promise or a guarantee of results will further intrigue your readers.

Here are some questions to consider when creating your memorable book title:

Is your title going to teach a high demand skill?

Can your title impact someone’s life?

Can your book solve a very difficult problem?

Is it short enough to read in a thumbnail image on Amazon?

Does it elicit an emotional response?

Editing Services also help you form the perfect title for your book along with full Concept Evaluation, Plot Evaluation and Editorial input.

Action Plan

Once you’ve narrowed down your book titles, send out an email to your friends and family or put a poll up to your audience asking what title they’d prefer. You could also ask a community of other authors what they think.

5 HIRE A GREAT BOOK EDITOR

Hiring a great book editor can mean the difference between becoming a bestselling author, or self-publishing a mediocre book. Therefore, it’s important to take as much time as necessary during this stage of the process.

To find an editor for your book, begin with your personal network. Do you personally know any qualified editors?

Start there. If you don’t, then do you know someone who knows an editor? If you don’t have any luck finding an editor within your personal network, don’t worry!

No matter how you find your editor, make sure they’re a good fit before committing to the full book by paying them a small sum to edit a few pages or a chapter of your book. Some do provide a Courtesy Critique as well.

Make sure the editor is interested in the subject matter, that they can get your whole book edited in 4 weeks or less including back-and-forth revisions, and that their edits are both accurate and make sense to you.

Whatever you do, don’t give up during the editorial process!

It is truly essential.

Action Plan

Find a friend or professional editor who can make sure your book is error-free, and start working with them sooner rather than later!

6 DESIGN A BOOK COVER THAT CONVERTS

When it comes to self-publishing, a high-quality book cover is one of the most important elements that will get your book to convert into sales!

The reason is that your book cover design is what readers see first and will immediately determine whether they want to read your book or not.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover” simply doesn’t apply to actual book covers, as much as we wish it did.

The hard truth is that everyone judges a book by its cover whether they realise it or not.

So you must make sure that it is created professionally and that it will stand apart from the rest of the books in your genre or category but at the same time fitting the demographic style expectation.

What makes a good book cover?

Simplistic styling. Too much going on will make readers unable to figure out what your book is about. Keep the cover minimalistic and it will convert more readers.

Professionally designed. Book cover designers know how to create book covers that convert. They have industry knowledge and have studied what works and what doesn’t.

Clear title and subtitle. The title on your cover does matter. The easier it is to read, the better. This allows your readers to clearly see what your book is about as they scroll through Amazon or other book retailers.

A design style that fits your intended audience. If you’re writing a faith-based book intended for an audience of faith, having an overly dark, devilish cover doesn’t make sense.

Prices will vary depending on what type of service you want, but the end result will be well worth the spend.

Action Plan

Find a book designer with any of these sites and your book will stand apart from its competition

7 RIGHTS PROTECTION

Everything you do to protect your copyright and other rights must carry your name as the registered owner of your manuscript, your book and all publicity that follows.

This is where you normally lose all control with traditional publishers.

There are several Rights and Sales Tracking Databases to register your book on, primarily on the US Copyright Office. If anyone plagiarises your work, this registration is vital to effectively claim your property.

You should have already secured and assigned all ISBN Numbers for your book and now, you assign those same numbers to International Rights databases

You need the appropriate Sales Tracking is in place for your book from Retailers and 3rd Party Rights Trackers.

It is advisable not to scrimp on this one. Find someone who knows how to do this thoroughly. Imagine getting to this point only for someone to plagiarise your work. Without this stage in place and without bigger lawyers than them, you are vulnerable.

Action Plan

Get this done before you publish!

8 CREATE A KINDLE DIRECT PUBLISHING (KDP) ACCOUNT

Amazon has a self-publishing service called Kindle Direct Publishing where you can create and manage your Kindle eBook, paperback, and audio books.

Amazon has recently acquired the well-known book printing company CreateSpace and they’re now merged as one.

This means you can now offer print books to your audience. It’s the best way to learn how to publish a book and start selling quickly, and I’ve used it for all my self-published books.

I highly recommend it for all new self-publishers! Here’s how to set up your KDP account on Amazon:

Visit https://kdp.amazon.com and create an account with either your existing Amazon account or your email address.

Next, you must complete your tax information. You will not be able to submit your published book if you do not complete this step.

Once your tax information is complete, hit “Finished” and your account is complete!

Or you could leave it all up to a seasoned Publishing Service to set this up and manage your portfolio.

Action Plan

Follow these steps to create your KDP account! With this platform, you can figure out how to publish your book within minutes and soon have it appear worldwide!

9 FORMAT YOUR BOOK

If you’re on a budget, there are plenty of resources online that can tell you how to format your book yourself for free. You can start by looking at Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing forums where there are plenty of discussions on book formatting.

You can also use KDP’s free resources to help format your book. Formatting can be a frustrating experience for the uninitiated though, so if you have a few bucks to spare, you might consider paying someone to help you and there are a few Book Creation and Production Services out there.

Also keep in mind that formatting will look different for fiction versus nonfiction books.

Typically, nonfiction books don’t have an indent between paragraphs but instead, they have spaces whereas fiction books are indented with each new paragraph.

Just be sure you hire someone who knows how to format your specific book genre.

Action Plan

Make sure your book is formatted properly by hiring someone who can handle the formatting process for you.

10 PRICE YOUR BOOK

Then I would set the price to $2.99, and I would moderately increase the price by $1 every week and measure how well the new price performs. Once you see a sales dip, that will determine the exact price of your book that will guarantee book sales.

Action Plan

Find the perfect price by using this strategy that will attract your readers and best drive long-term success.

11 PUBLISH

When you feel confident your book is ready for the public, you can create a KDP account and upload your book.

This is how to upload your book on KDP:

On the KDP main page, locate and click on “Your Bookshelf”. Locate and click on “Kindle eBook Actions”.

Then, locate and click on “Edit eBook Content”.

Finally, click on “Upload eBook Manuscript”, and upload your manuscript file from your computer.

Amazon also allows you to select 7 keywords or keyword phrases to make sure your intended audience can find your book when searching on Amazon.

It’s highly recommended you also select two different categories on Amazon your book might fit into so you can reach a broader audience.

There is a way we can get you 10 categories. It’s not available in Amazon’s publishing process, but we can handle it for you afterwards.

To select keywords and categories, look at other best-selling books in your niche and notice what keywords and categories those authors chose.

Once Amazon finishes uploading your file, a confirmation message will be sent and you can preview the uploaded file to check for any errors. Create your Amazon author central account after uploading your book.

Include a bio, photo, and link to your website or blog to help you stand out among authors. After a few more steps, you’ll be ready to publish your book, at which time you’ll click “save & publish” in your KDP book dashboard.

Afterward, you should be ready to publish your book! Just click “save & publish” in the book editing screen!

Action Plan

Follow these steps to upload your book. You are allowed to upload your manuscript as many times as you want with each upload overriding the previous.

12 FORM A LAUNCH TEAM

Your launch team is the group of people who are dedicated to helping make your book successful.

They should be a passionate group of individuals who are eager to make your book launch successful. Remember, one highly skilled team member is better than a group of mediocre ones!

To find quality candidates, here’s a questionnaire you can use to assess applicants and see if they’re qualified to market your book:

Why do you want to support my book?

What goals are you trying to reach with this project? How would you market this book?

Which influencers would you reach out to and why?

Do you have a genuine interest in my book and its genre?

Action Plan

Create an application with questions that align with your thought process. Try to be open-minded with those who think outside the box – they may be the perfect candidates that can get your book to become a bestseller. And don’t forget to use our Reviews Service.

13 MAXIMISE EXPOSURE WITH REVIEWS

It’s not enough to learn how to publish a book and be done with it. You still have to take action even after your official launch.

As soon as your book goes live on Amazon, be sure to leverage your launch team and your audience to help you market your book! It may be odd to ask your fans for help, but your fans are there to support your project and want to see you succeed.

You might be surprised how willing they’ll be to help you if you just ask!

Here are some marketing initiatives you can assign your team and audience to do:

Share content from your book as blog posts across social media

Submit reviews on Amazon (ensuring they don’t make the mistakes in the video below)

Help build your book’s website

Reach out to influencers for a future guest post or podcast feature Share a book review on their YouTube channel

Buy extra copies to gift their friends

The additional exposure generated from your launch team and audience will help push your book up Amazon’s rankings, which will drive more sales!

Action Plan

Create your book marketing launch plan using these methods. Measure each of these methods to see which will best get your book in the hands of new readers and convert into sales.

14 CELEBRATE. YOU’RE A PUBLISHED AUTHOR

Publishing after writing a book is just the beginning. Depending on your goals for your book, self-publishing can get you more customers, free publicity, and establish you as an expert in your niche.

This can help you land speaking gigs and build a business within your area of expertise.

Your book sales can also help fund your lifestyle with passive income.

Dream big about what you want your book to do for you. When you have a vision for where you want your book to take you, it will be easier to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

Getting clear on what you want will also help you focus your writing content.

What to do now?

Now that you’ve learned how to publish a book, it’s time to take action and bring yourself one step closer to your goals and dreams.

If self-publishing a bestseller is something you want to do, and you’re serious about changing your life and your business for the better by getting your book out there in the world, then you need a step-by-step system to follow to take action.

Action Plan

Spare a moment or two and have a glass of something. Remember the last time you hid yourself away and read that first Agent’s reply? Different now, right?

15 MOTION PICTURES

Apart from getting started on book number two, you could always keep a thought in the back of your mind about different formats for your book.

Maybe an Audiobook would be good for it, maybe it needs Translating into a language you think would work.

And maybe you think about the Movies. Why not?

While you were writing your book, you will have imagined scenes and action, characters and all sorts of things. So, how would your book look on the big screen, as a movie?

If you like your book, you’ve got to love the movie it could be.

"Based on the novel by " is a particular favourite because the

story already has traction. People already know of it. Just look at The Shawshank Redemption, Harry Potter, Wizard of Oz, The Color Purple, Jurassic Park, Lord of the Rings and thousands and thou- sands more. All originally books.

Well, you can transform your book into a fully adapted Screenplay and get it in front of Movie Producers.

Think about it. You’ll get a nice percentage (based on the movie’s budget) and someone possibly famous will be taking on your lead character.

Action Plan

Take a look at the steps to seeing your story on the big screen.

16 NO BRIDGES BURNED

Of course, if you still want to examine the traditional publishing route, why not see what the agents say now you’re professionally published with everything in the right place?

After all, you’ve got reviewers and customers, star ratings and book sales to do most of the work for them.

Suddenly, it becomes more viable talking to you. You’ve got sales. You’ve got followers. Publishers love picking up successes and they love series. Why not keep your main character alive to come back and save the world another day? You’ve already got a captive audience.

So maybe you go back to the process you started with with a bit more encouragement.

If you do, there are services that can develop exactly the right collateral and methodology to pitch an agent, format your manuscript for that purpose, and pitch out, not to 20 or 30, but to hundreds of logged agents.

There are some clever little gizmos to feed all the relevant manuscript data and agents submission requirements and pitch out to everyone on the list.

Action Plan

This time round, make sure you’re presenting your work in the right way to agents. They have set formats to receive things and they get mighty peeved if you suddenly send through an amateur eBook or such like.

And save yourself hundreds of hours doing it manually.

And that's it for Part 3 of our series. And that's it for the series.

Watch out for more posts about:

Ghostwriting

Editing

Proofreading

Book Funding

Book Design

Book Production

Book Rights

Book Reviews

Book Publishing

Book Publicity

Book Promotion and Social Media

Literary Agent Pitch

Promo Videos

Audiobooks

Translation

Author Websites

Search Engine Optimisation

Screenplay Adaptation

Film Makers

Film Producers

Original Music

Take care, big hugs and adios.

[char27martin]

10 Ways to Make Your Submission Stand Out in the Slush Pile

It’s been said that literary agents are the gatekeepers to the (traditional) publishing industry. Every year agents receive thousands of submissions in their respective query boxes—both unsolicited and solicited. Many agents also work full-time jobs separate from their work at an agency. Needless to say, they are incredibly busy people. As a result, the unsolicited slush piles are often left to agent apprentices and interns to sift through as the first readers (though, this isn’t always the case).

This guest post is by Meg LaTorre-Snyder. LaTorre-Snyder is the editor of a magazine and has a background in journalism, medical writing, and website creation. She is also a literary intern at the Corvisiero Literary Agency and one of the editors for Pitch to Publication. She has written for online publications and local newspapers on a variety of topics, including book publishing, nutrition, healthy living, startup companies, and local politics. She has authored an adult fantasy manuscript and is working on several other manuscripts. In her free time, she enjoys reading long novels, drinking tea by the bucket, participating in musical productions, playing basketball, and reading nutrition textbooks. To learn more about Meg, visit her website or follow her on Twitter/Facebook, and stay tuned for her new video series about the book publishing industry on YouTube!

In order for your submission to reach the eyes of the agent, it has to really stand out—which begs the question: How can you make your submission (and ultimately your novel) shine with sheer awesomeness? The answer that many agents offer on Twitter is simply to write a fantastic book—and one where the characters have a standout voice.

Although that advice sounds relatively straight forward (as well as depressingly vague), it assumes that the agent (or intern) has opened your submitted pages. However, if a query is mottled with grammar issues, obvious plot holes, and/or doesn’t reveal what the book is about (i.e., is almost entirely about a writer’s personal life, doesn’t introduce the protagonist, etc.), an agent is unlikely to read the manuscript pages.

As a literary intern at the Corvisiero Literary Agency (and one of the slush pile readers), I have found that many writers often make the same mistakes in their submissions—ones that cost them requests for additional pages or earn them an automatic rejection.

So, how can you make your submission stand out (and increase your likeliness to receive a request for additional pages)? For many writers, it’s often a matter of better understanding the submission process. Consider the following 10 tips for your submission.

1. Write a formal email subject line.

When I first joined the Corvisiero team as an intern, the number of queries that had vague, unprofessional, or blank email subject lines surprised me. Some of the most common:

Query

[No subject]

Hello, my name is [name]

[Manuscript title]

Will you be my literary agent?

Submission

If you think about it, the subject line is the first thing an agent or intern sees. Therefore, you want to create a good first impression.

Each agency typically has a format for the subject line that they prefer (make sure to check out each individual agency’s submission guidelines on their website to see what those are). However, if there are no specified guidelines, here is one option for a standard subject line:

Query: [MANUSCRIPT TITLE], [genre] (Attn: [name of agent])

(With the text in brackets being replaced.)

2. Address the query to a specific agent. (And spell the agent’s name correctly.)

When you submit a query, always, always address the query to a specific agent. In addition, check if the agent is open to unsolicited queries (this information can typically be found on the agency’s website under the individual agent’s bio).

As in any other part of life, showing you took the time to personalize your inquiry makes you stand out—check out the agent’s MSWL (manuscript wish list) or the latest edition of Guide to Literary Agents to see if your work is something she’s actively seeking.

Furthermore, don’t just take the time to learn about the agent, but make sure you know how to spell their name. As an editor of a magazine, one of the biggest turnoffs when I receive story proposals is when a writer spells my name wrong (I mean… it’s only three letters…), calls me “Mr. Snyder,” or pitches a story to me that I explicitly said I don’t cover at the publication. However, when a writer takes the time to personalize a unique pitch, knows what types of stories I’m interested in, and can spell my name properly, we are pretty much LinkedIn buddies right away.

Last, but certainly not least, don’t address your query to an intern at an agency. Only submit queries to agents and agent apprentices (and only one person per agency).

3. Check if that agent represents manuscripts in your age group and genre.

Be sure to research whether an agent represents books in your genre (fantasy, historical fiction, contemporary, thriller, etc.) and age group (picture book, middle grade, YA, adult, etc.). If the agent says they are only interested in adult fantasy, thriller, and science fiction manuscripts, don’t submit a contemporary YA or adult romance novel to them—you’ll get an automatic “thanks, but no thanks” (or no response at all).

4. Follow the submission guidelines.

This part, in my mind, can be a bit tricky. Most agencies will tell you how they want you to submit your query, sample pages, etc. However, most of the time, each agent also has a specific way they want you to submit. As a writer, I remember thinking… so which should I do?

Here’s what I recommend:

Check out the general submissions page on the website and see what is being asked for (query, number of sample pages, synopsis, attachments, no attachments, and so on).

Next, find the bio of the specific agent you want to submit to. If the agent has specific submission guidelines, follow those. If they don’t, go with the general submissions guidelines.

If the guidelines say to submit a query, first five pages of a manuscript, and synopsis, submit that (typically without attachments). Do not send your whole manuscript and say “I hope you don’t mind, but I thought I’d send you my whole manuscript just in case.” That’s a big no-no and is frowned upon. (Show your uniqueness through the way you craft your story—not by choosing to ignore instructions.)

5. Eliminate all spelling and grammatical errors in your query.

Edit, edit, and edit your query some more.

Most writers copy and paste queries into the body of an email when submitting them to an agent. (They are not to be sent as an attachment in an otherwise empty email.) So, before you copy and paste it into the email, triple check that sucker to make sure there are no spelling issues, grammatical concerns, and so on.

One of the biggest red flags for agents is a mistake in the query. Why? If your query has typos and grammatical errors, (typically) your manuscript will as well.

6. List your genre, age group, and word count in your query.

In my post How Genre & Category Impact Your Ability to Get Published, I go into detail about the difference between genre and age group, as well as the (general) word count expectations. (Writer’s Digest also has a fabulous post on the topic.) So, if you’re unfamiliar with the difference between genre and age group, I highly recommend checking those out.

But for the purpose of making your submission stand out, simply include your genre, age group, and word count in your query. Typically, this information is listed at the beginning or end of a query and is formatted as such:

A GAME OF THRONES is a standalone adult fantasy novel with series potential complete at 100,000 words.

(Granted, George R. R. Martin’s books are way longer than 100,000 words, but you get the idea.)

7. Craft a story snippet that reveals the stakes for both your character and the world.

Depending on the specific agency’s guidelines, you typically have one to three paragraphs to summarize your story. In this snippet, make sure to reveal:

  Who the protagonist is and what his/her desires are

The protagonist’s personal stakes

Who the antagonist is

What’s at stake for the world at large (what’s the larger picture)

Keep the number of characters and the world-specific terms in the query to a minimum if at all possible. Most importantly, do not reveal the ending of the book in the query. The goal of this snippet is to leave the agent wanting to read more.

8. Include a (brief) bio at the end of your query that includes your writing credentials and why you’re the best person to tell this story.

The end of the query (typically the last paragraph) is when writers have the opportunity to give a brief description of their writing and personal background. Make sure to keep the information concise and explain why you are qualified to tell this story. You also want to give evidence that you’re a credible writer—which is where you’d mention if/where you’ve been published, if you’ve received special recognition for your writing, if you’re a part of any writing societies, and things of that nature.

9. Include your full name (and pen name, if you have one), email, website, and Twitter handle in your signature. (No mailing address or phone number necessary.)

Need I say more?

10. Be a nice person on social media (and in the query too, of course).

On more than one occasion, I’ve spoken with agents who have opted not to request additional pages from a writer (or to represent a writer) because this person was unkind on their public social media pages or in the query itself. The reason? No one likes to work with unkind people—especially since an agent-writer relationship is one that can last for many, many years. So, in all things, be kind, patient, and understanding. It makes you stand out!

The biggest literary agent database anywhere is the Guide to Literary Agents. Pick up the most recent updated edition online at a discount.

If you’re an agent looking to update your information or an author interested in contributing to the GLA blog or the next edition of the book, contact Writer’s Digest Books Managing Editor Cris Freese at cris.freese@fwmedia.com.

    The post 10 Ways to Make Your Submission Stand Out in the Slush Pile appeared first on WritersDigest.com.

from Writing Editor Blogs – WritersDigest.com http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/10-ways-make-submission-stand-slush-pile