Confession of a Starry Eyed Author

It's been exactly three weeks since Hunted has been released into the world and I have a confession to make. I thought selling my book would be easy. 

Go ahead and laugh...it's pretty funny. I expected to sell 150 books the first week! You see, Hunted is only available as an e-book. Once I sell 150 copies, it will be printed by the publisher. But, this has to happen by November. 

I never wanted to sound over-confident, but I always expected those sales to happen rapidly. I thought Inkspell Publishing would be so proud of me for selling so many books so fast. Other than a few close friends, luckily I never bragged about selling so many in the first week...:)  

The first day I sold about 26 copies and by the end of the first week sales were at 41. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited that sales are steady and the blog tour is happening soon, so that will be great for publicity. My very cool postcards just arrived, too. 

So now, this starry eyed author has faced reality and learned a valuable lesson. Promoting any book isn't easy. Just like writing, it takes persistence. Hard work pays off, right? I have an awesome team of friends and former students willing to push my book on anyone with an operating device. Be ready team! Postcards are coming your way this week. Sell, sell, sell!

It's Official!

I can now officially call myself a PUBLISHED AUTHOR! It still feels so surreal. 

Hunted was released on Saturday and I was overwhelmed with emotion. I'm a crier. I cry at the end of every book; sad, happy, or indifferent. I even cry at the Publix commercials when they won't let the little salt-shakers inside during the holidays! Awful! But the tears I shed on Saturday were happy tears. The kind that showed how all of my hard work had paid off. 

It started Friday around 10:30 pm when the publisher began letting me know that the book was live on Inkspell's site and Amazon.com. I cried when I Googled it and saw it sitting there, waiting to be purchased. Then, one of my best friends, Kristi, took a screen-shot of MY book sitting on the shelf of her Kindle. Any wanna-be author will tell you that it's a dream to see your book sitting on a bookshelf one day. Kristi made that happen for me and I will remember it always. 

Managing to unwind myself enough to sleep for a few hours, I was supposed to meet another couple of friends for breakfast the next morning so they could download the book with me. Suspicion arose when my daughter, who is never awake before eleven, had set her alarm to join us and then proceeded to offer to drive me there. She hates driving. 

As we pulled up to the clubhouse, I knew I had been bamboozled. :) (I just love that word!) My amazing friends, Shannon, Melissa, and Audra had spent countless hours and oodles of money throwing me an amazing SURPRISE book birthday party complete with posters of the cover, bookmarks, a cake with the cover on it, and even a wifi downloading station for everyone to use. It was unbelievable! Needless to say, many more tears flowed. They made my day so very special, one I will never forget.

All in all, it was an amazing start to what I hope will be a phenomenal ride. My book is alive now. It is out there for the world to read. Five years in the making and two more to get to this point. This author is at a loss for words when it comes to the joy in her heart. Thank you for buying my book, Hunted. I hope you enjoy. 

MY COVER REVEAL!

The moment you've all been waiting for has finally arrived...

The reveal of the cover of my first novel in the Cycle Thirteen series:  Hunted

Enjoy!

Get those Nooks, Kindles, iPads, etc. charged up and ready. The e-book release happens in 5 days!!!

Book Blurb:

8

That’s how old I was when I found out I was special. I was given my rose quartz gem and taught about my past.

13

That’s how many times I've lived in this world. This is my thirteenth life cycle as a human.

1

That’s how many seconds it took me to fall in love with Mike.  It’s also the amount of time I had to say goodbye to him just before he was killed by Reggie, the hunter that’s been after me for months.

Will Reggie succeed in killing the love of my life and me, and possibly eradicating the planet of the unicorn race forever? Find out in Hunted: A Cycle Thirteen Novel.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jill Kaelin is a graduate of the University of Central Florida with a degree in elementary education, and Nova Southeastern University with a graduate degree in teaching. She currently lives and teaches elementary school in Florida with her talented daughter Justyce, playful dog Coco, and three cats. She enjoys quiet mornings in front of her computer plunging into the lives of her characters. Her favorite things to do include inspiring young writers, reading paranormal romance novels, and watching her daughter dance on stage.

Web Page: www.jillkaelin.weebly.com

Twitter: @jillkaelin

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cycle13Hunted?ref=hl

Blog: http://jillkaelin.blogspot.com/

GIVEAWAY!!

Blast my cover to everyone you know! There's a free bookmark in it for you uniquely designed for the Cycle Thirteen series by JA-SO Art Glass Jewelry. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

More Good News...

Hunted will be released on AUGUST 17th!!!!  

That's right...just five little days between the cover reveal and the e-book release! Doesn't get any better than that. 

I feel like the only thing I say anymore is "I'm so excited." Is there a better word? Enthusiastic? Thrilled? How about electrified? No matter how you describe it, I cannot wait for the world to read Hunted. After so many years of working on this novel, the reality of its birth is almost here. 

Timing is Everything

It's almost time to reveal the Cover of HUNTED! I'm so excited, I can hardly type this post. 

My teacher friends are probably wishing August 12th doesn't arrive any time soon. That's the day before we head back to work for the next school year. I, however, can't wait! To be able to share my book cover with the world will be a very happy day for me. Sorry teachers, but HURRY UP AUGUST 12th! 

At the stroke of midnight when August 12th begins, I'll also be flying high for another reason. I'll literally be on a plane returning from California to Florida. That's right...taking the red-eye back home and landing at 5 in the morning! Crazy, right? Who sleeps on planes anyway? I'll be working the laptop, revealing my cover from thousands of feet in the air. This author can't think of a better way to launch her book. Just hope I don't keep anyone else awake with my keyboard banter. 

So stay tuned...I promise to hurry along the days as quickly as I can. 

COUNTDOWN CLOCK WIDGETS

The "C" Word

How many times a day is considered normal to check your e-mail when you're expecting something special? The "C" word around my house is COVER. You weren't thinking of something else, were you?  

The cover design for Cycle 13: Hunted should be out soon and it's killing me with anticipation. I'm so excited to see the way the book is interpreted through the art on the cover. All authors must feel this way, right?

The first thing I do in the morning is pop open the laptop and click on the letter Y. This immediately pulls up Yahoo--because my computer seems to be expecting this action--and I hold my breath to see the little envelope in the corner. I feel it's important to mention that this is an email account that few have access to, one of which being my publisher. So any time that purple rectangle is lit up with a number, my heart skips a beat, leaps, and then sinks until I press MAIL. (Can you tell I've done this a few times?) Oh, and the worst is when I check Yahoo on my phone. That darn circle of dots that says "checking for updates" seems to last hours! Needless to say, it's been breathtakingly disappointing when a wayward junk message finds it's way into my inbox.

That being said, I must admit that I sort of like the anticipation at the same time. Weird, huh? I mean, once the "C" word is revealed, the only thing I have left to look forward to is the book birthday...which, I'm sure will hold it's own restless excitement.

I'm off to check my Yahoo account again. I'll keep you posted! :)

Graduation

As most of you know, due to my many annoying posts, my daughter graduated high school this past week. While preparing for her party, I've spent countless hours going through old photos and reliving the past eighteen years of my life.

Advice from many sprang to mind from years ago..."Enjoy her while she's young; They grow up so fast; Cherish each moment." All of these words meant little to me at the time. Sure, I did everything I could to remember her youth. This is evidenced through the many videos and pictures. But I can honestly say that those words of advice never meant much to me because time seemed to stand still, at least while I was living those precious moments.

Now, being the older and wiser mom that I am, I wish I would've been able to pause time. Perhaps a life's remote control...fast forward through the earaches, heart problem issues, and other illnesses...but put special occasions, recitals, and mommy-daughter days on slow motion or repeat. ((sigh))

So those of you with young ones, heed my advice and cherish each smile, each belly-busting laugh, and each scribbly drawing brought home from school. Because before you know it, those moments begin to dissipate and turn into career plans.

Luckily for me, my daughter and I are very close, so even though her high school days are over, I know we'll have many more times recorded both mentally and photographically.

 

Congratulations Graduate!