Indie-Licious Giveaway

I can't help it, I love participating in Giveaways! So here's another one hosted by Indie-licious! The contest starts tomorrow, Feb. 1st and will run until March 17th! Readers have a chance to win signed print copies, ebooks, and some sweet author SWAG! Along with some great indie author giveaways, I will be giving away the entire Travelers Series (ebook) to one lucky winner! 

May the luck of the Irish bring you lots of freebies! 

It's a Snow Day, Back To Work

Well, things are finally back to normal here at Casa Lefeve. We are now down to one lab puppy (so happy Sadie finally found a great home) and taking care of Gertie is definitely easier than two! 

Gertie is taking a nap with her stuffed snake while I write. 

Now that I'm not running around after two pups (our pug Gus doesn't count since all he does is sleep), I am taking advantage of this dreary snowy weather and getting some writing done. I just love working during a winter snow, looking out the window and getting inspired by the scenery. 

The view from my office yesterday. It's actually starting to snow again as I write this post! 

On days like these, working from home definitely has it's advantages. No morning (or evening) commute, especially during days like today. I don't have to put in "unscheduled leave" during bad snow storms (not that there's a bad storm today), I can snuggle in my warm fleece p.j.'s, and make endless pots of coffee without having to share. 

Oh, and on a somewhat related note, I've been watching Dawson's Creek on Netflix (another self-employeed perk) and while I enjoy re-hashing the exploits of Dawson & Co., I am sooooo annoyed that they are using a different theme song! UGH! At first, I thought it would switch over to Paula Cole's  "I Don't Want to Wait," after a season or two, but no... as I get to the last season, I'm stuck listening to "Run Like Mad," by Jann Arden instead. Apparently it's some kind of Sony royalty issue with Netflix/DVD's. 

So, to get to the main point of this post, this week on the work/writing front, I've managed to finalize the audio files for PARALLEL (should be available early Feb), worked on my taxes (one thing about being self-employed that isn't desirable), did some edits on my current WIP, did research for PARAMETER, and scheduled a book blitz tour for February with the lovely ladies at Kismet Book Touring. 

That's all I have for now until I have something better to report other than the weather... 

Much To Do About... Well, Nothing.

It's been awhile since I last posted and there's a very good reason for that. I haven't done much of anything! I've still got two lab puppies that I have to watch like a hawk while they are potty training and it hasn't given me much time for anything else, much less writing. I am happy to say that the one puppy we are "fostering" has found a great family that wants her and will be going home on Tuesday! Our pup, Gertie, will be much more easier to handle than two. 

Our pug, Gus, not sure of what to do when his home got invaded.

While I haven't gotten much writing done, I have managed to finalize and approve the audio files for PARALLEL and should be available on Audible.com, Amazon, and iTunes in the next few weeks. So if you have friends/family that prefer audiobooks, let them know! 

Cover for PARALLeL audiobook.

I also managed to contact all the winners of Elle Casey's January Anniversary Promotion. Thank y'all who requested copies of PARALLEL! Since it's is currently perm-free, all those that won a copy also got book two in the series! 

Indie Life!

I had plans on writing this post earlier this morning, but as we all know, life gets in the way sometimes. This time, it's in the form of four lab puppies! Yesterday, the hubby and I drove all the way to Richmond to meet a friend (who came up from South Carolina) to pick up four lab pups. We are now the proud owners of a beautiful chocolate lab we named Gertie, while three of our friends are taking the remainder of the bunch. Needless to say, I stayed up all night and have spent the entire day cleaning and puppy proofing (while they napped)! We are now down to three and by tomorrow, two. I really hope that by Thursday evening, it will just be Gertie so I can actually get some sleep and get back to work! 

Here are two of the puppies! 

So while I have a few moments to spare, I wanted to introduce y'all to Indie Life! Hosted by the Indelibles, it offers insight into indie authors to offer support, advice, tips, or whatever! So make sure to check-in on the main site every second Wednesday of the month (you can find it on my sidebar) to read about what other indie authors are up to. 

As for me, even thought I've got my hands full at the moment, things are always in the works. I just heard back from the fabulous Sienna Beckman, who just finished recording the first book in my series! She still has to do some editing, but I expect to have PARALLEL on audio by the end of the month! I never expected to ever have my books available on audio, but now it's a reality! 

So for those of you who haven't considered audio as an option, I really recommend you try it. I went through Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX), listened to some sample readings, contacted a voice artist I thought had the right "voice" for my character and she accepted my offer! All of this within a month... That's one of the great things about being indie: if you want something done, or try something new, you just do it! If anyone wants more info on how it works and/or how it's working for me, shoot me an email. 

That's all the indie info I have time for today. I have to get back to the romper room extravaganza that's going on in my office. Don't forget to check back every second Wednesday of the month (or weekly if you want to read my other blather) for more Indie Life! 

A Year in Review

I'm a few days late, but Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday season and here's to a bigger, brighter, new year!!

I know I've been absent for awhile, as I've been getting as much writing in as I can before the new semester starts (I teach every Mon & Wed). Granted, I only teach two days a week, but those are TWO days I'm not writing! 

In the last couple of weeks, I've gotten in over 14k words on a new book that I'm working on. It will be a brand new series (YA paranormal) and so far, I am loving every minute of writing it. It's got a touch of Southern Gothic flare, with a mix of gods, demons, and everything else in-between! But don't worry, I am still brainstorming and working on PARAMETER (book 4 of the Travelers Series). 

Another thing I've been working on is my sales number for 2012. I hardly ever look at them as a whole, but I'm getting ready to start my taxes *groan* and I have to get all my sales figures and business deductions somewhat organized...

So how many ebooks did I sell in 2012? 

7,700!*

Granted, book sales didn't pick up until late March with the release of PARADOX (book 2), so if I continue with these steady book sales, I should expect to reach 10,000 by this March. This may not sound like a large number, as most folks believe that a majority of authors sell a lot of books. In reality, this is a pretty damn good figure for a nobody like me. This is especially a huge number considering most indie authors are estimated to sell on average only 100-200 books a year. Many traditionally published mid-list or debut authors (that didn't get the right promotional backing by their publishing house) can expect to sell between 1,000 - 5,000. Yeah, I'm kinda pulling numbers out of thin air, but from everything I've read from the NY Times, literary agent blogs, to Publishers Marketplace, these are the numbers most quoted around the web. And if it's on the web, it must be true right?

In any event, I'm proud of what I've accomplished in such a short time. Granted, I know of a lot of indie authors that boast average sales between 10,000 to 30,000 a year. And yes, I realize that my figure only represents ebook sales. But in my world, a book is a book, so it counts! 

All I can say is, I couldn't have done it without my faithful readers. I know I say this in what seems to be every other post, but THANK YOU again! You are the ones that keep me motivated to write more and you are the ones that allow me the opportunity to work in my p.j's most days. I am forever grateful! 

*For those that are interested, here's my yearly ebook sales breakdown:

Amazon: 3,945

Sales did not pick up until March when I released the second book in my series.  

iTunes: 3,029

I didn't sell a single title until June, even though my first book was released back in 2011! Since then, iTunes has been my biggest market!! 

B&N: 691

Oh, B&N, what am I going to do with you?

Kobo: 39

I recently uploaded my books on Kobo late this summer. I hope to see an increase in sales. 

I didn't do a breakdown of individual titles, but keep in mind, I have had PARALLEL (book 1 in my series) perma-free since June 2012. This means, the majority of sales have been for PARADOX and PARADIGM (my other titles, short stories, sell very few copies). Also, these figures to not account for print books sales (I haven't gotten that far yet). 

And if January is any indicator, it looks like I'm headed towards another great year! So again thanks to all my fabulous fans (and fellow writers) who have made it possible for me to continue on with my dreams...