book trailer – AJ Mullican, Author

What a difference a year makes

#books, #design, #dystopian, #publishing, Abnormal, book trailer, Celebrity, Convention, cover art, Fandom, Learning, Marketing, Musings, Novel, Promotion, Sci-fi, Social Media, Thoughts, Time, Writing

A lot can happen in a year. You can move, change jobs, cut your hair, gain weight, lose weight, start a new diet…

…You can sign with a publishing company…

That’s right: it’s been a year since I signed with RhetAskew Publishing! What a whirlwind of a year it’s been, too! Edits and revisions and frustration and a trailer and marketing and promotion and cover concepts and decisions and book launch and signings and Tucson Comic Con–whew! Now my second book is in the hands of the great people at RhetAskew, and I can’t wait for my next round of edits–and my next year of publishing.

The whole thing is still pretty surreal. I mean, I have a published book. In bookstores. Online. At a con. I have a sequel in the works. A series in the works.

I wonder what the next year will bring… The sequel, of course. More cons? Maybe, maybe not. Tucson Comic Con was close to being worth it, financially speaking, but not quite. I still have books in the back of my car that I need to sell. There’s a smaller local con in February that I need to talk to my husband about. It’s much cheaper than TCC, and it’s close to home, but I don’t know if the logistics would work out.

There’s also the possibility of another TCC. I’ll get an offer of the same table rate as this year because I was already a vendor, but again, it’s a matter of logistics. I want to try to get into TusCon, which is a sci-fi-specific con, but I’m afraid to even check the prices on tables for that. It’s gotta be more expensive than TCC was. Still, it would be a good opportunity. Hmm…

I still gotta work. Still gotta do all the things. Laundry, grocery shopping, bills, etc. Life’s not going to become all sunshine and roses and unicorn farts just because I’m signed with a publisher. It would be nice if things worked that way, but nope. Not quite. Lol

RhetAskew has been great to me this past year. They give great advice, and they listen to their authors. I don’t really feel that I had to really sacrifice anything to get Abnormal published. The book is great. The cover’s great. RhetAskew really does whatever they can for the author. They even give marketing and promotional advice–something I would have been lost on before!

I suppose I should get back to Book 2 before I have to go to work. I’m a little bit stuck, but I’ve made progress in the last week or two. Not as much progress as I’d like to make, but progress is progress. Who knows? Maybe next year I can add “NYT bestseller” to my list of annual accomplishments…Lol

Jitterbug

#books, #design, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Abnormal, anxiety, Art, Art for sale, book trailer, Celebrity, Convention, cover art, Crafting, embroidery, Fandom, Geek, Insomnia, Learning, Mental Health, Novel, Promotion, Sci-fi, Sewing, Stress, Thoughts, Time, Work, Writing

The time has almost come! After work today, my husband and I will leave for Tucson, and in the morning we’ll get up bright and early to go over to Tucson Comic Con and set up our table.

The Con Jitters hit me just last night.

I was fine. Honestly, I was. I was excited but prepared. Business licenses procured, books procured, bookmarks made, PayPal reader set up, etc….but as I was printing flyers and what have you last night I started to get that THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP in my chest that indicated the start of anxiety. I’m not entirely sure why I’m so anxious. I have almost everything I will need. The only thing I’m really missing is cash and change, and that I can have the hubby grab from a bank before the exhibitor hall opens to the public.

Booth setup shouldn’t be too long. I just have books, bookmarks, and some signs. Small, 8.5″ x 11″ signs, that I can either tape or pin to the tablecloth. I’m a little worried that the tape I’m bringing won’t be strong enough, but it’s what I have, and to be honest I could probably just set the signs down on the table and be fine. Still, I’d like to affix them to the tablecloth somehow to get them to stay put. But safety pins are packed. Tape is packed.

I’ve got an apron for keeping my phone, PayPal reader, and markers close at hand. I’ve got receipt books (for whoever might actually want a receipt, though the days of the written receipt are going by the wayside). I’ve got a notebook to jot down any notes that I haven’t already thought of, with my Tucson business license info and the TCC exhibitor packet and some sundry other items in it.

I’ll have my laptop Friday and Sunday, and while my husband has it at an SCA event Saturday I’ll have his tablet. Why the laptop and tablet, you may ask? Well, someone gave me the brilliant idea to have my book trailer playing at the table. To conserve battery I might not have it on a continuous loop, but I can at least pop it on for those who might be interested in the book but are iffy on buying it.

Books. I have books. I have bookmarks. I have a tablecloth. I’ll have a portable battery for making sure my devices stay charged. I have embroidery to do that I can use to keep myself occupied if things get slow, so I don’t waste battery power on playing with my phone. I have sell sheets and author info flyers. I have my clothes for the weekend packed and ready to go in the car.

I’ve got all this stuff…so why am I not feeling ready? Why am I so anxious over the whole thing?

Anxiety’s a bitch. She gets you all worked up but doesn’t tell you why she’s got you all worked up, and she doesn’t follow the rules of logic. If I’m pretty much ready for the con, why am I anxious? Who knows. Maybe once I clean out the car and pack it I’ll be better off.

Who am I kidding? I’ll be nervous until the con’s well and truly started. Lol

Ebook envy

#books, #dystopian, #publishing, Abnormal, book trailer, Celebrity, cover art, Fandom, LGBTQ, Marketing, Novel, Promotion, Reading, Sci-fi, Social Media, Writing

I’m jealous of my ebook. You see, it’s available for preorder on Amazon Kindle already, but the hardback and paperback aren’t…yet.
Yeah, I know, it’s not fair. You might want me to autograph your book, and how can I do that with an ebook? I mean, I’m not above signing a Kindle (on the back, of course, or if there’s a margin around the screen, sure–never over the words though 😉 ), but a Kindle also doesn’t come with that book smell. You know the one.
It’s only just gone live for preorder, so I know I should be patient, but when it comes to this book I’ve worked too hard to be patient. I’ll be stalking the Rhetoric Askew link all day until the other two versions are live, too, so don’t worry–I’ll let you know.

And then there was one….

#books, #design, #dystopian, #nerd, #publishing, Abnormal, book trailer, cover art, Fandom, Geek, Learning, Marketing, Musings, Novel, Promotion, Reading, Sci-fi, Social Media, Stress, Thoughts, Time, Writing

Tomorrow, folks! Tomorrow Abnormal gets its big cover reveal, and the preorder link goes live! I am so freakin’ excited!

Now, if you follow this blog on more than one platform (Facebook, Twitter, whatever in addition to here), you may notice that you’re not seeing this cross-posted. There are a couple of reasons for that. First off, I’m attending an virtual workshop on how to market a book, and surprise! Readers/followers don’t like repeat content. You’ve seen my blog post once; you don’t need to see it over and over again ad nauseum.
Secondly, I actually do check my stats on this blog pretty frequently. Obsessively, even. And I’ve noticed that lately, it’s not Twitter or Facebook that gets the most views for me. It’s WordPress reader. So, my hope is that these still get read even if they’re not in-your-face on every platform.
I’m also going to venture into creating a website for myself. There are going to be links to the preorder (starting tomorrow, or when I get the site up–I have no idea how long this will take me), there will be the book trailer, and there will even be a link to Whispers of Death, my first novel.
This site will probably take a while to get up and running, because I know zero about website creation. I’ll keep posting here for a while, but soon ajmullican.com will be the place to go. (No point in putting an actual hyperlink there until I know the site works lol)
Off I go down the rabbit hole of website creation and stuff!

Thirty days hath September…

#books, #dystopian, #publishing, Abnormal, book trailer, Convention, Fandom, Interview, Learning, Marketing, Novel, Promotion, Reading, Sci-fi, Social Media, Time, Writing

You know that old mnemonic to remember which months have thirty days and which have thirty-one? “Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November. All the rest have thirty-one. Except for February. That guy doesn’t fit the rhyming scheme.” Or something like that.
Well, August has thirty-one, so that means thirty days until ABNORMAL hits stores!
That’s right: I got a widget for my phone. Now I can count down properly 😉 And, since there’s Tucson Comic Con in my future, I can set a widget for that, too. Maybe that’ll get my lazy butt motivated to sew my corset again. Lol
I still have lots to do (contacting other authors to see if they want advanced reader copies, push Abnormal like there’s no tomorrow, finish my own ARC assignment, set up interviews and blog tours–still don’t quite get that one–and live post and…) So yeah. Still work to be done.
This has been an amazing journey, and I’ve learned a lot about the publishing side of things. I can’t wait to learn more with Book 2 😉
I’ll add a new image with a new quote from Abnormal each day until the release, so be sure to check out my Instagram (@AJMullican), Twitter (also @AJMullican), and Facebook author page for updates. There’s also a mailing list where you can get your email added for news and updates about Abnormal as well as view the book trailer again. And don’t feel shy about sharing–share away! Spread the news about Abnormal and get the word out!

Trailing ahead

#books, #dreams, #dystopian, #publishing, book trailer, Marketing, Novel, Promotion, Reading, Sci-fi, Social Media, Writing

Abnormal is getting even closer to publication, and today the book trailer went live on Rhetoric Askew!!!
Click the link. You know you want to. Scroll down to the neurons. See ’em? Yeah, click play. Now watch. Bad. Ass.
I’m super stoked. Today is a good day. I have decided. Who cares what happens after this? Well, okay, I should care–but I’m just jacked up on book trailer giddiness.
Now I gotta get ready for the day job.
But hey–one day closer to release!