It’s October, and that got me excited about witches, shifters, demons, and vampires. As the good guys:)
I love writing novellas. On Amazon, there’s a special section for One Hour Reads. That got me excited. I looked at the top one hundred, and that made me even more interested in trying to write one. BUT, being the slow learner that I am, the requirements are stories that are 33-43 pages. So I wrote a manuscript that on my computer came to 46 pages including the title page, blurb, etc. I was pretty happy with myself. I even made my own cover on canva.com using an image I found on canstock.com. I didn’t break my arm patting myself on the back, but I was pretty happy with what I’d done. Until I loaded it. I’m still happy with the story, BUT for any of you reading this who might want to try the same thing, remember that Kindle pages and manuscript pages are not created equal. My story came to 62 pages on Kindle. Lesson learned. Next time, I’ll write even shorter.
Stephen King once did an interview and said that he liked to write short stories and shorter pieces between books to clear his mind. I like to do the same thing. I’d just finished a draft of my fifth Jazzi Zanders mystery, and I had ideas for the sixth one, but I needed a break between them. And that’s why I started writing Muddy River.
For me, the shorter the story, the harder it is to write. And when I write things that are really short, I can’t justify (to myself) putting them on Amazon and charging money for them. So I post them on my blog for fun. But novellas are long enough that I feel they’re worth selling. I used to write LOTS of them as Judith Post. My favorites were the Babet and Prosper series. Muddy River gives me that same satisfaction.
This is the first time I’ve written about Hester and Raven, had them fight their enemies and win, but left one tiny part of the problem unsolved. I couldn’t get to it in 46 pages. I’m going to have to deal with that later, but at the moment, I have no clue what that next story might be. I already have a longer Muddy River all mapped out, and it’s not part of it. So I guess someday, sooner rather than later, I’m going to need to tie up that loose end. That gives the little grey cells plenty of time to come up with something:)
In the meantime, my DH’s brother is coming to stay with us from the 15-22, so I probably won’t find time to post a new blog this coming Thursday. But I hope that doesn’t mean that when the cat’s away the mice will play. I’m reminding you to keep writing, and may the words flow for you! And if not, hey, hope you enjoy yourselves anyway.
99 cents @ https://amzn.to/2nLM42G
Judi Lynn 
Very cool. I just bought a copy and will probably read it tonight. Perfect timing as I just finished a book and am getting ready to start another.
I appreciate the information about One Hour Reads. I have a 33-page story pretty much ready to go. I just need to format it and make the cover. The latter is proving the hardest part as my Photoshop access is limited these days and I’m still learning GIMP. I’d like to release it in February then have my book of short stories ready to go in April. Plans, LOL!
Enjoy your time with family!
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We’re really looking forward to seeing Jim. I knew you had a lot of short stories so thought I’d include a blog instead of just a cover reveal. Here’s the Amazon link for one-hour reads.
I don’t know if you’ve ever tried canva.com for twitter and facebook headers, posts, or covers, but if you don’t get too fancy, it’s pretty easy to use.
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Thanks for that link. I’m going to need it! 🙂
I played around with Canva ages ago, but never gave it a proper go. I’ll have to look into it again.
And I already read Under Siege and posted a review to Amazon. I couldn’t find it on GR or BB but I’ll keep checking. The way you ended things has me curious about what is coming next!
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I don’t now what kind of system you have, but if there is a toolbox markup, there are lots of ways to fiddle with a downloaded image from Canva, Canstock or Shutterfly. I’m not tech savvy (more like tech dense) and figured it out. Judy mentioned the short idea and am planning on a regency short, and later, one for the fantasy. Let us know when the short story comes out!
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Good to know. I still have access to Photoshop, just not as often as before, so I may fiddle with that. And, of course, I have gimp. I can take a look at Canva again, too.
That’s cool about your shorts. I’ll look for them!
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Canva has a new template just for book covers. If you type in “book cover,” it comes up and it’s the right everything to load onto Amazon, no tinkering with pixels or size. If I can do it–I’m not a whiz at graphics, etc.–anyone can:) It’s just finding the right image.
And wow, you’re fast! Thanks for reading Under Siege and reviewing it already. I looked on One Hour Reads, and if your story’s 33 pages, it’s a perfect fit there. All you’d have to do is your cover, etc. and load it.
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Now you’re inspiring me to devote set aside time to work on the cover. I’m so used to setting sizes and pixels in Photoshop, but it’s nice to know there is an easy option in Canva. Part of my problem is deciding on the cover art (it’s an odd story), but I have a vague idea. There are a lot of stock photography sites I haunt and one where I pay for credits, so I should be able to find something. 🙂
LMK when you have US on GR and BB, and I’ll add my review there, too 🙂
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I didn’t even realize One-Hour Reads was a category. Thanks for the info. And good luck with your latest!
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I’d never looked at it either but it’s the length I love to write.
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Bwahaha! My evil plan is worki8ng, Mae! I’d love to see a new story of yours available:)
And thanks for reminding me about Goodreads and BookBub. I got interrupted putting things up and forgot I didn’t get to them. I did it this morning. Thanks.
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