It's Official!

I received the paperwork in the mail that I can start doing business as Gargoyle Girl Productions!

Even though it's been a lot of work to figure out how I want to create and run my own creative business for design, photography, and writing, I'm becoming more and more convinced that diving into this project is what has helped me stave off "chemo brain."

Chemo brain is the memory fogginess, related to fatigue, that lots of people experience during cancer treatments. Since I feel like I need to sleep at least 10 hours a day right now, at first I could see signs my brain wasn't functioning at full capacity. But I refused to accept that state of affairs. I started going on morning walks in the hills above my house for exercise, signed up for online French lessons to brush up on my French for a trip I'm taking once I'm well, and filled a notebook with research notes about forming Gargoyle Girl Productions and publishing my mystery novels. Next up: Setting up the website with more than a placeholder. And did I mention I'm also back to working full time at my day job?

So far, my plan to foil chemo brain appears to be working. I'm sleeping when I need to, but when I'm awake I'm exercising either my brain or my body. Speaking of which, I think it's just about time for my morning walk.

Tips from a Sisters in Crime Panel on EBooks

In a Pens Fatales blog post last week, I shared my news about forming Gargoyle Girl Productions and publishing my first novel myself. Since then, many people have asked me if I'd be chronicling my journey. I'm doing tons of research and taking lots of notes, so I thought I'd share my journey here on my new blog.

Yesterday I attended a panel on eBooks put on by my local Sisters in Crime chapter. Since my immune system is low from chemo, I donned my opera gloves (shown at left) and told my friends they'd have to take a rain-check on hugs for a couple more months. But I'm so glad I attended! I'm going to be publishing my books as both print books and eBooks, so it was helpful to hear what successful eBook authors had to say.

The authors on the panel were Simon Wood (mystery and horror), Bella Andre (romance), Dana Fredsti (mystery and zombie-fiction).

My Key Take-Aways from the Sisters in Crime NorCal Panel on eBooks:

1. Everything in eBooks is changing so quickly. What was true last year isn't true today, and what's true today won't necessarily be true next year. 
2. Covers are just as important for eBooks as for print books. If a current cover isn't generating sales, research your audience and change your cover. It's also a good idea to have a similar style for all your covers in a series so that readers can immediately see it's one of your books.
3. Blog tours are the flavor of the moment. But before overcommitting yourself, think about how long it takes you to write a witty blog post, and decide if you'd rather be spending more time devoting that energy to your books.
4. Paid advertising works in some cases. You need to be sure to target your particular readers. Research your market and see where you might want to place targeted online ads.
5. The thinking on pricing eBooks changes over time, so stay current with your pricing. There's lots of different thinking on pricing, and there are also different audiences who think a book has value at different price points. The one thing the panelists agreed on is that giving away your eBooks for free to begin with to gain readers isn't a successful approach. If you start off free, people won't like the switch to being charged.
6. For your eBooks to gain the most traction, you need to have lots of books available. If a reader likes one of your books, they want more, and if you've got other books available it's easy for them to get more at the click of a button. 
7. Novellas are a viable eBook form. Unlike in print, novellas are very popular eBook downloads. They're also a great way to have time to write more eBooks for your eager readers.

I'm especially pleased about the last point, because my natural style of writing is short. It was a stretch for me to write two 75,000-word novels, but I can write much more quickly when writing shorter fiction. I've got rough outlines for several more Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery stories, so I think I'll write some of them as novellas.

Book News

I told myself I'd put off my decision about joining Facebook until I had a book deal. A long time ago, I made a promise to myself that I would enjoy each aspect of my life. And unlike Twitter, Facebook never sounded like much fun to me. I know a lot of people love it, but since I never understood the fascination with it, I knew that the reason I'd probably join was for mercenary reasons when a publisher told me I had to be on Facebook to promote my mystery novels.

Being true to my goal of enjoying my life is why I dropped out of a PhD program with no job prospects but knowing it was the right thing to do. It's why I started taking art school classes at age 26. It's why now, ten years later, after a breast cancer diagnosis shook up my life, I decided to form my own company, Gargoyle Girl Productions, and publish my mystery novels myself. You can read the full story over at Pens Fatales today.

And no, I'm not joining Facebook.

Instead, I'm doing what sounds fun to me. I'd like a place to post updates about my mystery novel and other things going on, so I've started this blog. I know I'd reach a lot more people more quickly through Facebook, but at the moment I'm not really into doing what I'm supposed to do. If you've found me here, welcome! If you enjoy my upcoming mystery books and stories, that's wonderful, too. If not, I'm still having a great time writing mysteries and doing mysterious photography at the Gargoyle Girl blog.

My mystery novel Artifact is coming out in August 2012. Here's a teaser:

When historian Jaya Jones receives a mysterious package containing a jewel-encrusted artifact from India, sent by her ex-lover the same day he died in a supposed accident in the Highlands of Scotland, she discovers that the secrets of a lost Indian treasure may be hidden in a Scottish legend from the days of the British Raj. But she's not the only one on the trail...