Round and round we go.

What started as a simple story for a childrens book, quickly tuned into a 10 book series. Picture books of course. Just when I finished changing all of my descriptions into dialog, along comes tons of info for the book. I get my inspiration at 3 am. I thought the basic content of my books were done.
However, now that I added the new content, it would turn out to be a 17 book series. Way too big for picture books. So now I have to bump it up to a novella.
Now that it's a novella, I have to put descriptions back into the book. I am now at 233 pages. I have a funny feeling, that by the time I finish adding descriptions and a little more content, it will be a novel.
Round and round I go. I have to say, this is my first taste of being a writer, it never gets boring.

Rene and Sticky

Quiet NE, not any more.

New England use to be a nice place to live. We only had to worry about a blizzard every now and then. Not any more. This year, we have had a Tornado, an earthquake and a hurricane. And maybe another hurricane on the way. Not so quiet anymore. I love a good storm, but not when there's destruction and lives lost. It was unbelievable that we got a tornado in Mass, but more unbelievable is the destruction and lost lives of this hurricane. Vermont is devastated by flood waters.
I for one, can't wait to see what tomorrow brings, I hope it is peaceful and this next hurricane goes out to sea. We need a break here.
Rene and Sticky.

Big Mistake

I have a curse of trying to be done before I even get started. This was reflected when I wrote my book. I rushed it out in Ebook form and it was not ready. It showed by the sales reports. I am amazed that with 500 downloads, I did not get one review. If people don't like things, they ususally don't mind letting you know. Some even take joy in it. So it was weird to not hear anything.

So learn a lesson from me. Don't rush your book. Let it simmer and grow into the great book it should be.

Well, back to the manuscript.
Rene and Sticky.

Finally, my book made it.

My ebook called "Finding Spotalot" made it to the Apple Store, Barns and Knoble, and Kobo. After all this waiting, It finally happened. Smashwords is still negotiating with Amazon so I can get it out there. If you google  the book, you will see about 10 entries.
I can't believe something I wrote can be found on google and in big bookstores. I know I won't be sleeping tonight. I'll be refreshing my internet explorer all night. But that's ok, it's worth the lost sleep to be finally out there. It's time to eat and then I won't be able to type anymore because my fingers will be crossed and I'll be praying for many downloads and some good reviews.

Rene And Sticky.

Got Data

I was able to get all my data back from my crashed HD. I tried for days using all the fang-dangled apps that claim to recover data and they did not succeed. I finally added my HD as a secondary drive where my CD drive was and booted it up. Right away Windows tells me there is something wrong with one of my drives and asks to repair it. Well it repaired and I got all my stuff back. The HD is no good, bad sectors. But that's ok, I got my data back.
LIFE IS GOOD TODAY.

Have the best of days.
Rene and Sticky.

Stess and aging.

They say the best way to age is to with a lot of stress. Just waiting these past few weeks for my books to go on sale at Apple and the big bookstores has aged me about 20 years. If they don't put it out there soon, I will die of old age.

So, Apple and you big bookstores out there. Put my book out there or you will be held responsible for 1 crazy authors death. If you kill Sticky, a lot of people will be pissed off. So hurry up. 

Let me spell it out for you. P  u  t      t  h  e      b  o  o  k  s       o  u  t      t  h  e  r  e.

I hope they can read that.
Have a great day.
Rene and Sticky.

406 downloads

That's where my first book is at. Both my first and second books will be going to the apple store any day down. Remember, the first book is free. The second is $.99
Rene

A tribute to my mom.

We spent the day yesterday honoring my mom's life, who passed away last month. It was beutiful. We had pictures showing on the wall of her life. It was great to see all of us when we were younger. We had a great feast. The feast was a little too good. I am going to need an extra workout when I hit the gym today. Here's to you mom. I know your happy up there.
Rene

Planet of the apes.

I saw the original when it came out and it was awesome. Many years later, I saw it again. It was worth the 5 stars that others have given it. I can't wait for the next one. Great story, great visuals, great acting, great job on the apes.
I highly recommend it.
Rene

Waiting

Any day now my books will be going on to the Amazon and Apple stores. The waiting is killing me. Anticipation, my butt. Maybe if I pace a little longer, I might feel better. I would like to go to sleep for a week. That would be best.
Rene

Online Gaming the MMO way

Games like World of Warcraft is what I'm talking about. I have spent many years playing them. I love them. I took a break when I started writing, and now when I want to return to some of them, they ask me questions I could not possibly answer. Like what was the characters name.

I use a different name each time. so i don't remember. I can't believe they do stuff like that. They just lost a customer and they did me a favor. My disdain for them is growing. And my love for writing is growing. I don't like it when big fat cats don't pay attention to the little guy. It pushes my buttons.

I'll show them, I'll just write another chapter in my book. Wouldn't be ironic if the owner of those games bought my book. Instead of me paying them money, now I am receiving it. I love the sound of it.

Well, supper calls.
Rene

Sold my first ebook!

It's official, I wrote a book and someone bought it. Someone I don't know. Can't begin to tell you what a high this is. Life is good! I set my goal to sell 1 book and I did it. Now the rest will be a bonus. I sold a book. I don't set goals high, it only leads to dissapointment. I usually get great results when I have no expectations or little expectations. I sold a book.
Now if I sell another book, that would send me through the roof with the ultimate high. That would double my goal of 1 book. Did I tell you I sold a book.
If you would like to give me this ultimate high, buy this book.
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/75861

Time to go to work.
Rene

Get a free marketing guide

I used this marketing guide and it helped me sell some books. It's good for anything your selling.
Go here http://bit.ly/mQcwoV

Rene

Captain America

I saw Captain America with my grandaughter. We both loved it. I did not know the story of the Captain and was a bit dissapointed with the ending. I guess it's common knowledge, but not to me. It was great action and a good love story in the making. I can't say anymore without telling you the movie.
Rene

My second book has been resubmitted.

I had to take down my 2nd book, "A Home for Gardeth". I allowed 20% of the book to be viewed for free. I also included the first book with it. So when you viewed the 20%, it was the first book and not the second.

I removed the first book from the second book so now you can read 20% of the second book for free.

I am learning as I go along. I got it right now. Please download and enjoy.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/75861
Sorry for the screw up.
Rene

2nd ebook published

I just got my second ebook PUBLISHED. It costs a whopping $.99. I included my first book with it. The first book has a good description of the characters and what they can do. This is pretty exciting.

Now comes the fun part. Refreshing the page to see if the sales of my book went up. Virtual ink is expensive. I hope people liked the first book enough to get the second one. I did get great feedback on the first. I wish the feedback was put in reviews. It would help my book do better.

I don't think I will be sleeping tonight. Now that these 2 books are off and running, I can start sending out the first book to more agents so I can get this published in a real book with illustrations and all that good stuff. Although, ebooks seem to be taking this industry by storm, it's nice to have the physical book on your kid's lap.

I will keep you updated. Time to start pacing.
Rene

Nothing but Good News

Where to start, first, my free book, Finding Spotalot just reached 100 downloads.

Plus it was approved for Premium status on Smashwords which means it will be sent to the Apple store in a week and Amazon and B&N in 2 weeks.

Now that my first book reached Premium Status, I will release my second book tomorrow. It will be 2 books in 1. I have included the first book with the second. The huge cost will be $.99. I will have a link tomorrow for the new book called "A Home for Gardeth". I had to tweak the bookcover a bit, that's why it's listed here again.

I also saw Harry Potter at the Imax theater and it kicked butt compared to the regular theater. If you going to see it, see it at the Imax. I saw it with my grandaughter Isabella and my daughter Sabrina.

Yes, Life is Good.

Rene

Up to 88 downloads on my book.

My goal in 100 before the next book is released. This is so cool. I can't wait till it hits the big guys like Apple, Amazon, B&N. It should be about another week. About the same time my 2nd book will be done editing and ready to upload.

A new Bookcover for my second book. "A Home for Gardeth"

This is exciting for me. I now have a face on my characters. The artist, Katrina Joyner is nothing short of fantastic. The story is about a little boy who is lost, so Sticky and friends help him find his way home. As usual, no event with Sticky goes without additional adventure. I hope to have the book released in a few weeks. Stay tuned.

Take a look and let me know what you think.
Rene

Connected with my long lost friend last night.

We talked for a while and I think we covered most of the first year. We only got 24 more to go. Wow, that's a lot of talking. I so look forward to excaping up to Maine to just get away from everything and to see my long lost friend.

We found something we both like. We both like to be hermits or recluses. I am going to plan a winter trip also, she has a snowmobile. I only drove one once and that was in a baseball field. She is telling me that the fields out there go on for miles. Can't wait. Maybe I should go now. I wonder how the snow mobiles work without snow.

Be sure to tune into this exciting soap opera called "Long lost, but not lost long."
Rene

Old Friends

Just talked to a friend I have not seen in 25 years. She moved up to Maine and I live in Mass. I believe a road trip is in the cards. She was my neighbor and just like a sister. Sometimes a drinking buddy, sometimes just a great listening buddy. I hope this trip is in the cards, it would be great to see her again.
In my next blog, I will reveal my new book cover for my second book.
Rene

Harry Potter Rocks

They definitly went out with a bang. The movie was nothing short of spectacular. Only 1 downside. The movie picked up where the other one left off. They did not tell you anything about the previous half. I highly recommend watching the first half before you see the second half.

I can see more movies coming with little Harry Potter going off to Hogwarts. Has anyone heard anything of more books for the Potter dynasty?

She is such a great writer. I can read her books forever.
Rene

Nerves of steel, I think not.

I am new to this writing and publishing world, though I am not new to this world, I have 4 grandkids. They tell me that I am just a big old kid.

I tried writing many years ago after reading The Hobbit. (Best Book ever - by the way). I wrote about 3 sentences and it stopped, (shortest story ever- by the way). I could not put my thoughts on paper. Trust me, there are a lot of thoughts in this head.

It was not till recently (3-2011) I decided to take the book I wanted to write and make it a children’s book. Now, all these characters are popping up in my head and I can't type fast enough to keep up with my thoughts.

I know now that I was not meant to write for adults, just kids. Although, many adults who read to their kids are also enjoying my book. In two weeks time, I typed 126 pages of fun. I was laughing most of the time. I could not believe the stuff coming out of me.

I thought to myself, that was not too hard. I like this writing stuff. It’s fun and easy. Little did I know that the first draft is the fun and easy part. After the second draft, I started to realize that it was not so easy. Breaking up my descriptive paragraphs into something that won’t bore the kids was not so easy.

Then I had to add the 4 billion quotation marks. Now came the moment of truth - I sent it to an editor. I found out that I was an adjective junkie. When the editor gave me back my book, it was 6 pages shorter. Mostly adjectives being removed.

In my head, I am still a kid and the word 'really' has to be in every other sentence or you lose their attention. Well, I learned the hard way that you can describe what you want to say without 2 billion really’s in there. The easy is not so easy anymore.

But that wasn’t the end. Now the book is finished, I had it kid tested. I broke the book into a series of books and gave the first book to people in work to read to their little ones. Surprisingly, that was a success. The kids liked it and wanted more. I passed the acid test.

Now that I realize that writing is harder then I first realized, now comes the publishing part. I decided that while I wait for the publishers to make up their mind about taking my book on, I was going to release the first part of the series for free as an eBook. It’s a good way to test the waters, get some feedback.

I went to Smashwords and got it published. I usually have nerves of steel. I found out that when it comes to waiting to see if my book gets downloaded, I don’t have nerves of steel. I was up all night refreshing the page to see if the numbers changed. Not realizing that most normal people were sleeping and not sitting by their computer waiting to download my book.

I crawled into work the next morning and sent out the link to download my book to my friends. Now my nerves of steel were shot. It got so bad, that I started pacing, my stomach was jumping all over the place and I was about to throw-up. I could barely talk to anyone. Walking to my computer to refresh the page some more.

I finally made it through the first 24 hrs and ended up with 34 downloads. I won’t complain about that. Now I realize that the book will not sell itself. I need to use this vast internet to get my books out there.

So, nerves of steel, I think not. But that’s ok. My book is out there, I did not throw up and today is a new day.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Rene Cournoyer

You can download my book here. There are no illustrations yet. When it gets published by the big boys, it will get illustrated. It is geared towards 5-7 year olds.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/71947

Pushing for 70

I am hoping to his 70 downloads with my book tonight. I only need 1 more. Next week is big. If I get accepted into Premium Status with Smashwords, they will send my book to all the giants. Apple, Amazon, Sony. I can't wait. They said 7 to 14 days. Tomorrow is day 8.

This blog has been quiet. I am the only one posting. I thought there would be more posting. I posted to others, but they have not returned the favor. That's ok, it will happen when it's suppose to .
Rene

Work

I need work to get out of the way, so I can write. This is the only writing that I will get done today. But I suppose it's better than not writing at all. I came home just plain brain dead. Not creative thoughts happening. I think my brain short circuited.
I guess I'll take the night off and watch a good action or horror movie. I'll save the writing for tomorrow.
I get woken every morning at 3 am with a head full of thoughts, I can never get back to sleep. I have to get the thoughts our on paper. So I type till they empty out. It's usually time to go to work by then. There's that 4 letter dirty word again. W-o-r-k. Always in the way. I love the weekends. I write from 3 am till about 10. I relax with a book and then write again. Somewhere in there I throw some food in the ole tummy. Sometimes I get lucky and can take a nap.
Book downloads are at 57. I have a few things in place that should increase that number. If they succeed, I will share them here.
Till then, goodnight all.

My first review.

Life is good. My first review came in. I got 5 out of 5 stars. They joined my mailing list. Wow, I could not of asked for a better response. I did not know the reviewer, which makes it real. If it was a family member, I would still have my doubts. Family is kinder than strangers.

Now I'm pumped, it's 2:30 am. I know I won't be getting back to sleep. I never should of checked my email in the middle of the night. Actually, I was just refreshing my page to see how many downloads, (54), when I thought I would take a quick peek at email.

On a different note, I am still trying to figure out this social networking stuff. I sent out some tweets on twitter, basically just introducing myself as new and I have not got one response back. Weird. I don't know why, but I'll figure it out.
Rene

Help!

I hate being new to anything. I am trying to figure out Twitter. It seems so simple, but I am so lost. I clicked to follow a publisher. I get an email from them thanking me with a button to click to send a direct message. I do this and introduce myself and it says I can't sent to someone who is not following me. How freeking insane is that.
How do I introduce myself to this publisher on twitter if they are not following me.

On a different subject, I now have 44 downloads on my eBook.

A whole new world out there.

I have never one to be social online or that much offline. Today I had to start opening up to the world of social networking. I signed up for Twitter, facebook, my space.
I hope I don't turn into a communication junkie.
I found some nice tools to make life easier. Tweetdeck will keep track of all of these and more, all in one neat app on your desktop.
Life is good!
I also found twitterfeed which takes what I type here and puts it on twitter and facebook for me.
Life is Good!
My email is increasing. People I don't even know are following me. I think that's the right terminology.
I'm getting there. Pretty soon I will have the lingo down and you won't be able to shut me up.
Well, enjoy your day. I just wanted to share some of these tools.

A new day

I made it through my first day and after a day of pacing and amost throwing up, I am exhausted. I had 34 downloads of Finding Spotalot in the first 24 hours. I will not complain about that. I am not a social networking person, actually, I am brand new to it. So bear with me. I am now learning about tweets, facebook and a few others. I need to get my name and my book out there. Books don't sell themselves.

Ebook Published!!

While waiting to hear from the publishers, I decided to make my book into an ebook. It's a 10 book series, so I made the first one free. It got published last night and can be downloaded at: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/71947

This is exciting. Ya, it's only an ebook, but it's published and I wrote it so ya, it's exciting. I even managed to get few hours sleep last night, which suprised me. I sent the link out to my family last night and will send it out at work today. I had 15 downloads before my family got their emails. So ya, this is exciting.

In 2 weeks, it will be sent to Apple, Amazon, and other giants like that. I will make the next book available for $.99. Did I mention that this is exciting.

You can join my mailing list so you can know when the next book is coming out. http://www.childs-imagination.com/Mailing-List.html And still, after 3 paragraphs, it's still exciting.

I orinally sent my book to just one agent, now, I will start a mass distribution to many agents. Yes, I want an agent. They can get to the publishers better than I can. It's worth the 15% to let them do that while I focus on writing.

Time to go to work, I will keep this updated. I would love to hear opinions on the book.

Who knew.

I never in a million years figured that writing a book was the easy part. Getting it published is a nightmare. I am just starting as a writer. I do not have anything published yet. I am in the process of making my book into an ebook while I search for publishers. I have sent it out to a few publishers, and nobody sent me a million dollar check, can you believe it....just kidding.

It is more then I expected. I thought writing a book was the hard part. Wow, was I wrong. I am also hoping that as an ebook, I might get noticed. I write children's books. Geared towards 5-7 year old. Once I get my ebook published, I will include a link on my website.

I sent the book out to a bunch of kids and they loved it. It's actually a 10 book series in hardcover when it's published. I had to break it into 10 separate stories for the ebook. Ebook publisher does not like series. I am having the cover designed as I write this. Once that is done, I will submit it to the ebook publisher. I am going to smashwords.com to publish.

I am curious to know how it's going with your book and getting it published?
Oh, I am also brand new to writing and blogging.