This has been a big week for my “Liberty Box” series!
It’s a Trilogy!
First, last week I decided that it was going to be a trilogy, after all. Based on my outline, I thought I was going to finish the sequel this week, but then my characters decided to have a few interactions I didn’t plan for, and that pushed the conclusion back a bit. Probably next week!
(P.S.: When I say “the characters decided,” I don’t really mean I don’t control them, the way some authors do. It’s more like I stop and ask myself, if I were Kate, Jackson, or one of the other characters, and I were in this situation, what would I say or do? Sometimes that affects the action in a way I didn’t plan for in the outline.)
I suppose this means in some way, I’m all of the characters. But that’s probably always the case to some extent, I figure. Right?
Cover Updates
Last week I mentioned that I’d found out my fabulous cover for “The Liberty Box” (above) wasn’t original, after all. I wrote to my cover designer, and she explained that she’d indeed gotten the image on the cover from clip art. At the time, it had not been licensed by anyone else, but obviously has been since. She offered to redesign something original for me (at no extra charge!), still using clip art as a base but tweaking it significantly. I asked her to make it look as similar to the current cover as possible– that way I don’t have to re-brand completely (plus I doubt I’d find something else I liked as well)… but I’ll still end up with something original.
I will share the new cover candidate when she sends it!
Audiobook of “The Liberty Box” In Production!
Also this week, I received and accepted an audition for the audiobook production of “The Liberty Box” from Melissa Williams. Somehow her voice sounds so appropriate for a YA Dystopian to me: engaging and likable.
“The Liberty Box” should be available on audible.com and Amazon by mid-May 2016!
New Series Website
My friend Harrison Koch, a very talented website designer, agreed to create a website for “The Liberty Box” series for me!
I didn’t do this earlier because I figured I only needed one author site as a central hub for all of my books… but I’m noticing more and more that authors have both an author page and a page for each of their individual books or series. I’m excited to see what he comes up with!
Also, I’m still brainstorming how I might work a giveaway into that site, in exchange for signing up for my mailing list. I’d love your feedback: of the following list of possible giveaways, what would intrigue you more?
- a free short story in the theme of the world of “The Liberty Box”;
- a free chapter or two of “The Liberty Box”;
- a Rafflecopter giveaway of a signed physical copy of “The Liberty Box” (meaning we’d randomly draw a winner every so often, and I’d mail one out);
- a PDF of behind-the-scenes research, how I came up with the world; or
- a PDF explaining how to self-publish, step-by-step?
Book 2 Title Winner: “The Eden Conspiracy”!
All week long I’ve been texting and emailing my husband while he was at work: “What about this title?” and he’d say, “Nah. What about this, though?” And I’d say, “Hmm.” This went on until he finally suggested “The Eden Hoax,” which admittedly sounds good next to “The Liberty Box” (it’s got that x thing going on). Personally, I preferred something puppet-themed (as in, Ben Voltolini is The Puppet Master.) But he said, “No way, Puppet Master is a popular horror series from the 80s!” (Does anybody else know about this? I ask you.) I totally would have gone with “Master of Puppets” if not for the Metallica song, too. Nothing new under the sun, you know?
But it didn’t matter anyway, because on a Facebook poll with a number of options (“The Voltolini Hoax,” “The Eden Hoax,” “The Eden Conspiracy,” “The Puppet Master,” and “Puppetier,”) “The Eden Conspiracy” won by a landslide as the most intriguing title.
So, once I see get new cover for “The Liberty Box,” I’ll ask my cover designer to come up with something similar for “The Eden Conspiracy.” 🙂
Even before the Puppet Master horror franchise (and its still going on) was the 1951 science fiction classic by Robert A. Heinlein, “The Puppet Masters”.
Make them work for the giveaway… make them answer a question like “Why are they like Kate or Jackson?” or “How would they be an asset to their team?” You involve them in the world more and reward them with a signed copy (selection could still be completely random).