Little Advice/Help

Asking for Advice:

I would like to ask for advice/help from any independent authors who come across this blog post.
While the books I would like to publish through Amazon at some point are not done, I am trying to make sure I understand the process before I finish one of the books so I am ready when they are.

Question 1: I was reading through Amazons page on KDP, and such, it mentioned that I have to have exclusive rights to my book to publish them. Do I have to do anything special, pay some company in order to claim I own my book- as in copy right or something- or is it by default mine unless I sold it to a publishing company?

Question 2: What about commissioning the cover of the book? I have commissioned it from a friend and she knows I want it for a book cover. Am I golden to use it as the cover with amazon, because I have permission from the artist?

Question 3: Is there a link you can give me to a good source for independent publishing, in case I have any other questions about the process?

Question 4: What do you suggest about editing? I know there will be errors that I won't catch and I would like to fix that, what do you suggest for getting a story edited before publishing?

Thank you so much, for anyone who helps me to answer these questions!
I have read various tips and such in blogs, but it never hurts to have a nice large rang of advice on a topic.

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About WOVaN Project & Modern Magic:

The search is finished! I did find the story. I also found a whole bunch of old crappy stories I wrote 11 years ago as well. I did find a few old Floppy's which could have more stories. I am glad my parents haven't gotten rid of their old tower yet, we have a new one, but the old one is still nearby and it has a floppy drive, at some point I will boot that old puppy up and about a half hour later I can pop in the floppy and see what is on it, assuming they still work.

WOVaN is coming together nicely. If you haven't guessed yet, WOVaN is going to be a collection of short stories. It will be a series- I have MANY short stories. The first won't have too many, a small collection. There is a completely new story-ish, the first paragraph is from an old story I found, but after that is all new that I have been working on. I think it's at 3,000 words, it might end up as a Novelette and be the focus story of the collection and then a couple shorter stories. We will see how it goes. One story you may recognize from here, but I changed and edited it. Then some older stories I wrote years ago- fixed up and edited.

One of many Shrimp we caught. Big suckers.

I am still working on Modern Magic too, right now its sort of just typing up notes from when I didn't have a laptop (which is a LOT) and then trying to organize them in the proper storyline order. Kind of a daunting task at the moment.

How I am doing:

Started my new job last Tuesday! I work 4-10. Yeah, that is right, three day weekends baby. I think I am going to love this job! NDA doesn't let me talk details, but I work for Microsoft thru Volt, game testing. Don't look to me for leaks, I want to keep my job. XP Lol, but I am enjoying it. Bugging and Crashing a Natal (Kinect) game. Fun, fun. The people I work with are so much fun. I have finally found the perfect work environment. I don't want to leave this job anytime soon!

Me and a Shrimp. See! Big suckers.

Also speaking of fun, that last weekend with that super warm and sunny-ness- while me and the sun don't get along, I had a fun and packed weekend.

Friday- I went shrimping with my dad, grandpa and uncle Scotty. Spent time on my grandpa's boat from 6am to about 5pm. Good times. I am happiest on a boat. I want to have my own boat one day and just spend hours out on the water, perhaps a few nights. I love laying down on a boat and rocking in the waves. So calming. I can't describe how relaxing being on a boat is for me. Being on a boat rids me of nausea, that's how relaxing it is.

Cute little Dwarf Cuttlefish.

Saturday- I went to Pike Place Market for the first time- I know, whats wrong with me? I have lived near Seattle my whole life and I had never been to Pike Place. But I enjoyed it, and now that I have a job I want to go back and buy things. Several things. I will go back sometime later this summer. Me and my mom also went to the Seattle Aquarium. I love that place. I love getting to see all sorts of sea life, so beautiful. Also cute. I think my favorite part of the Aquarium is the Octopus and the Harbor Seals. Then- is it horrible that I went to the aquarium, loved and enjoyed seeing all the sea life and then I went to have dinner at Ivar's? <.< I love sea life both to observing and also eating. yum. ^_^


Oh, lets go to Book corner for a moment:

 I still have so many books I want to read, I have over 120 samples waiting to be read and about 34 books I bought or found for free waiting to be read. I recently finished reading Gunship by John Davis. (The links are for Amazon) I believe the third book is due to be released soon, but I am not sure when. I haven't read the second book yet, Glimmeria, but it is on my list- in fact I should grab the sample to remind me. I did rather enjoy the book. It had a nice Firefly feel to it. I can match parallels to some of the characters. While the format of the books was hard to get used to, it was a great story. You grow to like the characters and so you want to continue to see how they are, if they are okay. If you enjoyed the show firefly, you will surely enjoy Gunship.

Right now I am currently catching up on Asimov magazine and then I will be back to reading Blood Skies by Steven Montano (@Daezarkian) Which I HIGHLY recommend. I haven't finished it yet, I am only on chapter 3, but I have to say: The world Steven Montano has eloquently painted with words is breathtaking & marvelous.

Me at Snoqualmie Falls on Mothers day

I don't know if this really fits into book corner, its a blog. I stumbled across @Suzisquared on twitter last night and by proxy I found her blog - Vampire Sexual Secrets. I have read a good deal of it by now and I will read more later tonight. But I have fallen in love with her blog and her Vampires. Ideal. That is the best word I can use. I have been seeking out Vampire since I was 4- so ever since I can remember I have gotten my hands on anything Vampire I could and while I will enjoy them on some level, some not, some I do love, but more often then not I would feel something is missing. Her Vampires, are probably the only ones that have made me feel- 'I finally found it.' Like I can take a breath and relax because I have found what I have been looking for all my life. I can't wait to get to the actual story, I am so excited. I have been reading through the other parts of her blog, which talk about her Vampires, the characters, and explaining things. Then I will read the actual story, which I am antici------------pating. Sorry, Rocky Horror Picture Show, can't help it.

Oh, and have you seen the English trailer for Kingdom Hearts? I am so excited to play! Can't wait! Already pre-ordered at Gamestop, and there will be a collectors edition through Gamestop, so when that is pre-orderable I will upgrade to that. Release date is nearly here! 7/31/12!

Alright, I think I have talked enough. Sorry for the lack of Short Story or a WOTDS. Had a busy first week of work, still getting used to it and I am feeling a little off. So what writing I can do I am putting towards WOVaN right now. This blog post- I have been slowly working on since last week. So my apologies, next post I will see what I can put together for you to read. For now, if you haven't read some of my other stories here is the WOTDS Guide and Short Stories Guide. I will leave you with that and back to editing WOVaN for me.

~Nekodra
Nekodra-blog@hotmail.com
@Nekodra

Split Musings

Checkers are so fun! <3

Oh my goodness, I just had the most insane burst of inspiration on my story the other day, I wrote over 4,000 words in one day! One day! That's so crazy compared to my average of about 500 - 1,000 a day. I am at over 31,000 words to my story. Its crazy! Its hard to believe. And it makes me so happy. I made such a leap in the story line too. I have separated some of the scenes into book one and book two. Most is in book one. Oh and I really hashed out the ending to book one, makes me happy.  Chapter 4 and Chapter five are coming together decently. While I have also written several other chapters that aren't quite in order yet, but have nice girth to them. I have actually started writing the Queen, so I am getting to know her better and she is about to make an Undead attack on Ember. I am starting to sort of delve into her personality, understand her and why she is doing what she is doing/going to be doing.

Though since that burst of inspiration its slowed down quite a bit-ish. I have two muses and I can seem to only be able to listen to one at a time. Currently my drawing muse is speaking a bit louder then my writing. While I have at least written a few hundred words each day, roughly, otherwise I feel guilty, I have more passion in my drawings then my writing at the moment. But it will pick up again, I think part of it is that its hard to focus on writing when I am visiting my boyfriend. Seeing friends I haven't seen in a while, actually going out of the house and spending time with people, makes it hard to get myself absorbing into writing. This post alone I have been working on for several days, maybe a week. >.< And who knows when I will actually post it, its hard to type when I really want to work on this drawing more. lol.


Modern Day Magic Recent Word Count:

Please remember, this drawings belong to me, Thanks!

2/08/12- 23,394
2/09/12- 24,432
2/10/12- 24,949
2/11/12- 29,024
2/12/12- 29,771
2/13/12- 29,859
2/14/12- 30,114
2/16/12- 30,854
2/17/12- 31,475 -so far today


Have I talked much about Once Upon a Time? Just a beautiful new take on old tales, wonderful. I eagerly look forward to Sundays. The recent episode, Sunday 2/12/12, had the wonderful Sage Brocklebank, who I normally know as the lovable, adorable, and just huggable Buzz McNab from Psych. Buzz is such a sweetheart with the cutest large grin. I don't want to say too much in case you haven't seen it. If you enjoy new takes on fairy tales, I suggest taking a look. You'll have to play catch up, I think its around 12 episodes so far, and its one of those shows that you really need to follow in order.

Again, did I mention fun? lol

Also, who else has been pulled in by The River? Wonderful, everything you love in creepy and heart stopping fear. The dolls, made me shiver. Something about dolls, they can make your blood run cold. Or losing the ability to see, that would be terrifying. Its wonderfully done. Its by the guys who did Paranormal Activity, so if you loved those movies, oh you will love this show. I still need to get my hands on Paranormal Activity 3, haven't had a chance to see it. Since I no longer work at a movie theater, I don't really get many chances to see movies anymore. Its very rare. I miss getting to see them for free, mini dream come true, free movies at a theatre. I love going to the movies. Anyways, The River, if you enjoy horror then you will enjoy it.

I have also now fallen for Sherlock, created by the same guy who is currently doing Doctor Who, Steven Moffat. Only on episode 3, but I enjoy it. There is just something about really smart guys who are hyper observant like him and Shawn Spencer (Psych). So fun to watch.

The only picture I could find, I am the blue one. >.<

In the world of games, I am currently taking a small break from Disgaea 2 to pick up Pokemon Black again to start breeding pokemon for Sakura-con. See I cosplayed as a PokeBreeder last year and well being a Pokebreeder I gave away eggs of various pokemon. So I am getting a start on getting a good selection of pokemon. Breeding them with my Ditto, and also leveling up and training a few pokemon to make them stronger before I use them to breed. So if you see me, a light Blue Pokemon Breeder with a tin bucket of pokeballs, ask me about my Pokemon eggs. That is if you want some baby pokemon. My Vulpix's are born with Flamethrower, will-O-Wisp and Ember.


In the world of Psych!

From USA's webpage for the Psych Calender Countdown.

Also, is anyone else excited when this saw this video? So close, its almost here, just under two weeks!

One last thing, I can't wait to get see The Secret World of Arrietty later tonight! I was really excite for this movie before I knew who was voice acting and finding out David Henrie is, I really can't

Okay, I think I have spend enough time working/writing/editing/yammering on this post. I am off to patiently wait to go to dinner at the Ram and see Secret World of Arrietty, by doodling and watching more Sherlock.

--Okay one more thing! Holy shi-! The epic long trailer for the next Kingdom Hearts game, its all in japanese, but still! Can't wait! Its almost 10 minutes, but if you are a fan like me, that's not long enough. Currently no date yet for America.

Okay the side notes and that's it for today. I may have to go play some Kingdom Hearts instead of drawing, now.

-- Please Comment, I would love to talk!

Also any tips, suggestions would be loved. 

You can also email me at Nekodra-blog@hotmail.com
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--Follow me on Twitter. I will tweet every time I post on my blog. Nekodra's Twitter 
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--If you have never seen Psych and you love comedies or crime shows, I highly recommend it! Currently on a mid-season break and will return on Leap year, Feb. 29th 2012! 12 more days!
So excited here is a Link to a trailer for the second half of season 6.  I am so excited, can't wait for 2.29.12!
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-- Please remember, Modern Day Magic belongs to me, thank you.

~Nekodra K.D. LaCroix