Inspiration: Making Your Book Real

Writing a book, no matter the content, can feel unreal at times. Sure you can sit down at your laptop and write and write until your fingers cramp and you get a small headache behind your eyes, but that doesn't mean it feels real yet. You're just another person with another story. Anyone can sit down and write nonsense.

However, not everyone will get published.

This thought can be a daunting, self-damning one that keeps you from pushing yourself that much harder to complete your book. I know because I've been writing a book series for more than seven years and, if you Google my name, you won't see the credits to a best-selling book series attached to it.

It's not that I don't have faith in my characters, the plots, or the writing...I just had a hard time getting my figurative feet moving forward.

Until recently when I found inspiration in myself.

A week or so ago I self-published a writing prompt book (go here) and, while the intricacies of publishing alone made me feel like I was being productive, it was the final preview that made it real. It showed me how the book would look on a Kindle and I got to turn the pages to my own story made public.

The Dark Side of Writing: 35 Writing Prompts is not my main writing project, however, it made me want to see how my novel-in-progress would look on an eReader. I converted the files and sent it to my Nook. There I was able to read everything I had written via my lovely Nookina.

It inspired me all the way from my hair to my toes! Seeing it how others would (hopefully) view it made everything very real. It gave me that push I needed and I have written more in the past week than I have in the past two months combined! It is my heartfelt advice for you to do the same.

The following instructions are how I converted my Word .doc (or .docx) to an ePub file:

Note: I didn't get intense with formatting since I just really wanted to read the content. I'll have another post on here soon about how to format a word document the best way for an eReader. All I did was bold my new chapter headings. 

1. Open up your .doc or .docx and Save As .htm. If you don't have a title for your book, then go ahead and give it a temporary one.

2. I went to Calibre.com and downloaded a free version of their program here. It's an eBook management program that can convert an .htm file to an ePub one. (ePub files can be viewed on eReaders.)

3. Open up Calibre and go to Add books on the top left then Add books from a single directory. Once you click this you will be able to chose the .htm file you saved.




4. Your file will show up in the Calibre main screen. It should be above Calibre's Quick Start Guide. Select your file until it's highlighted blue and go up to Convert books, then Convert individually.

5. A new screen will pop up and, if you really want, you can fill out all of the details. Seeing as mine was a crazy rough draft I left everything as it was and just hit OK. This starts the conversion process. It shouldn't take more than a minute depending on its size.

Now you have an ePub file that can be read on your eReader. All you have to do is search your computer for the file name!

Don't know how to send the ePub file to your eReader?

For Kindle
Connect your Kindle device to your computer. Once it is recognized you will see a new icon at the top of Calibre called Send to Device. Click to highlight the ePub books you want to send to your Kindle and click Send to Device. You will be asked to auto convert. Do it!

Once the job is done, disconnect your Kindle.

For Nook

I like the whole drag and drop process. Connect your Nook and take your new ePub file and drag that sucker to your Nook's Documents. Drop it in and then disconnect!

It may seem complicated but it's super easy and highly effective! Seeing your book on an eReader may give you that pesky push and dose of inspiration you need to finish your book!

Enjoy!
-Tyler Anne (aka Chick Tyler)

Fan Fiction Authors, Become Published!

Oh sweet mother of fan fiction, my day just got a few Elena and Damon shippers better.

Amazon just made me one happy nerd.

It should be no surprise to you that I used to be crazy into writing and reading fan fiction over at Fanfiction.net. In fact, my very old account is still active with stories about Kingdom Hearts and Inuyasha.

Yeah, yeah, I know I didn't finish them but give me a break. I was young and a closet fan fiction FANATIC. I remember being absolutely obsessed with Harry Potter stories in which Hermione and *gasp* Draco got together. Crazy right?

Not really. I came across several stories in which the user created chapter after chapter of compelling content and wonderful character continuity that would have J.K. Rolling question if she had actually written it or not. Sure, there were some stories I read that were riddled with spelling and grammatical errors and just flat out bad writing. Some just wanted to be in the story so badly they made their own character and traipsed through the fictional halls of Hogwarts with an unforgivable arrogance.  However, those few stories that actually surpassed all of my high, Harry Potter expectations made me want Draco and Hermione to get together. They did research in the previous books, they kept everything in the already established world J.K. Rolling created going smoothly, and they made me wait on pins and needles for the next chapter.

Why is that such big deal?

Well, Amazon just debuted a licensed publishing program for fan fiction.

Be still my nerdy, little heart.

This, in the simplest of terms, means that you fan fiction writers out there might be able to be published and earn royalties doing so. Now, this new program won't support every fan work--not all copyrighted franchises are a part of it.

However, according to a Publisher's Weekly post, Amazon Publishing has negotiated licensing agreements in advance with such properties as L.J  Smith's Vampire Diaries and Warner Bros. These, along with other copyright holders, will support Kindle Worlds.

Kindle Worlds is a new commercial publishing program that will enable fans to create original works based on established franchises...aka the fan fiction you write up. According to this post, June is when Kindle Worlds self-publishing portal will be available for fan to upload their fan fiction.

Kindle Worlds will allow writers to sell their stories in the Kindle store under a broad licensing agreement that will pay both the fans AND the copyright holders. Under that license, Amazon will pay the license holders a royalty and will also pay the fan fiction author a 35% royally of net revenue for stories of at least 10,000 words. This is based on list price, not wholesale. You will get paid royalties monthly.

Did it just get hot in here? Because I just broke out into a very excited sweat. Too much info? Too bad, I'm over the moon about this new turn in the publishing world.

I will keep everyone updated on the list of the copyright holders that decide to throw in with this new program. Will you write a fan fiction and submit it?

Which franchise are you hoping will be included in the program?

-Tyler Anne (aka Chick Tyler)

Writer Talk: So you want to write a book

Holli Anne made a good point yesterday. When you tell someone you're writing a book they either respond with a.) what's it about? and b.) I want to write a book someday too.

I've run into both reactions before and couldn't help but wonder how many of my friends are actually trying to write and finish a book. So, I made the whole "Like this status if you're writing a book" and was surprised at how many people Liked it and messaged me about it.

See, Holli and I have been making Writer Talk plans and were going to wait to unleash later next month but I don't see why we can't do it earlier!

What we did
We created an open group on Facebook called Writer Talk. Go here to see it.

Its purpose is to first and foremost create a sense of camaraderie among aspiring writers. Anyone can be a writer and that makes for an interesting variety of talents. Writer Talk is a place on the internet where you can talk with The Annes and others about what inspires you, what problems you're having, your success stories, and so much more!

What we will do
We will start daily discussions within the group. We will ask questions that are writing-related and offer writing resources on the web.

Another big part of this group will be our prompts! Every now and again we will give you a writing prompt for you to address within the group. We will then pick our personal favorite response (or all of them, depending) and post it as a Writer Talk post on this site! (That is if you are okay with it. We will not post anything by you without your permission!)

What we hope to accomplish
Basically, we love to network and we love to write. This group is mashing those two things together! Writers face very normal and very weird problems from time to time. This group will allow us (and you!) to talk it out with fellow writers who are just trying to realize a very awesome dream--writing a book!

We hope you'll join our group! Remember, go here to join!