Red Cross Partenership with Vampire Books For Blood

Red Cross and Vampires are just a natural combination. I'm considering contacting the local donation center about hosting my vampire book release at a blood drive. 

IMPORTANT INFO FOR READERS AND PARTICIPATING AUTHORS!

READERS
Thanks for supporting the American Red Cross!

The books posted on this page are from authors who've pledged to donate proceeds from their book's sales during the month of October to the American Red Cross Blood Services.

Browse through the posts to look for your next favorite book!

IMPORTANT INFO FOR AUTHORS:
Thanks for supporting the American Red Cross!

By posting a Book on this page, you pledge to donate a portion of your net royalties (after publisher/agent percentage, tax obligation, etc) from your Book's sales during the month of October to the American Red Cross Regional Blood Services of your choice.

1- Contact your local Red Cross, inform them that you're participating in Vampire Books for Blood, and let them know what percentage of your Oct. net royalties you will donate.

2- Promote your book! It's completely free to post on this page. Let potential readers know what percentage you're donating, give a brief synopsis of the book, and link to where it's being sold. Please be respectful, and only post once a day max. Inappropriate or excessive posts will be removed.

3- Donate and share how much you you were able to give! By Nov. 15th, please post the amount you expect to donate to the Blood Services center you've chosen.
http://www.redcrossblood.org/hosting-blood-drive
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vampire-Books-for-Blood/439791666159114

Connect With Me On More Social Media

    You can find me on Facebook, just click the links below.

https://www.facebook.com/authorstephaniemjandreau?ref=hl
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Platinum-Series-Amethyst/152373588158395

    You can follow my Tumblr account.
http://platinum-series-sj.tumblr.com/
 
    I'm also on Twitter.
http://twitter.com/#!/StephAmethyst

    I'm nearly finished with the second round of edits. Meanwhile the proofreading by a third party has already begun.

    I'm still in hopes of a Pre-Halloween release. But this deadline is approaching quickly and there's still so much to be addressed. The new book cover is the major issue. My male model, lives on the West Coast, has been in touch with a photographer to take the photos within the week. I have a graphic designer on standby for the arrival of the all-important image of Milican battling the Dæmon within.
   Here's a look at the current book cover.

#UrbanFiction #Paranormal #Vampire #amwriting #amediting
Stephanie M. Jandreau
V----V

Hiring the Right Editor

Amethyst is coming soon! At long last, you'll finally get the chance to meet Milican as he battles his impending fate.

I'm working with a talented book editor, Tanya Gold, to put a final polish on the manuscript before sending it to the publisher. We're diligently pushing forward to get it released in October 2014, which is just around the corner. We're about halfway through the second round of edits, and then I can send off for the proof-copy. And once I approve that copy, its off the presses! 

I must admit that I think I'm one the lucky ones who actually enjoys working with their editor. I've heard some many horrific stories of the grief of working with an editor and the drudgery of this stage of getting the manuscript ready to publish. I was dreading it because I feared the humiliation of having someone criticize my work. Having a real professional, not someone who's your friend or family member who may or may not give the best advice when it comes to your manuscript, was a scary decision to make. But Tanya's easy-going personality relaxed my concerns when it came time to handover 'my baby' to her trustworthy hands. She has been nurturing and has guided me through each step of the way. And I learned to be more confident in my abilities as a writer. 

I have enjoyed the process tremendously. That's not to say there hasn't been obstacles to overcome, there most assuredly have been moments of filled with tears and times when I blatantly disagreed with her suggestions, but in doing so, I've learned to trust my instincts and trust her wisdom of knowing the industry better than I do. Basically, its all about hiring the right editor to work with. I based my decision on a variety of factors such as; finding a personality match, having a similar writing and editing style, having an understanding the characters and their story, but most importantly having great communication between us. 

I had sample numerous editors over the course of a couple years before hiring Tanya Gold. And I'm so glad I did, that sampling gave me the proper perspective to make the comparison that lead to the best decision for my manuscript. When I read the sample edit she did, I knew without a doubt she was the right editor for me. She was the perfect person for the job. She understood my goals, my characters and my story. She had the experience and the expertise to help me craft my writing into something more marketable to readers.  Now, I'm proud to share Milican's story with the public. She's definitely put a polish on The Platinum Series: Amethyst. It needs to shine!

Thanks to my wonderful, fun-loving editor Tanya Gold!
Stephanie M. Jandreau

http://tanyagold.com/ 
https://www.facebook.com/authorstephaniemjandreau
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Platinum-Series-Amethyst/152373588158395


 

Hi folks, I'm crowd-funding on Indiegogo.com for editorial and publishing costs . Please take a look at my campaign for The Platinum Series: Amethyst.

What would you do if your darkest secrets were encouraging you to kill someone you loved just to satisfy a craving?  How could you hide your vampiric tendencies?

Imagine how restrictive your life would be if you couldn’t enjoy sunlight, never being safe in the ultraviolet rays. Now ponder the terrible thought that your skin was so sensitive that any physical contact would be. These are just the minor difficulties Milican must deal with on his journey to discovering his True Self… and then he falls in love with Vivian. 

Milican is a college senior majoring in biochemistry whose primary goal in life is to unravel the mystery of his debilitating blood disease. From birth, he's battled the chronic pain of Porphyria, but he thinks he's been misdiagnosed. he grew up isolated by his disease, with a constant pestering voice within the deepest recesses of his mind, Dæmon tempting him to do the unthinkable.

 Fundraiser
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-platinum-series-amethyst-editing-publishing-project/x/6071364

Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Platinum-Series-Amethyst/152373588158395

Big Announcement!

I'm proud to announce that my Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign for my book, Amethyst, is 'Live' and ready to be viewed by you, the public.

The Platinum Series: Amethyst Synopsis

What would you do if your darkest secrets were encouraging you to kill someone you loved just to satisfy a craving?

Imagine how restrictive your life would be if you couldn’t enjoy sunlight, never being safe in the ultraviolet rays. Now ponder the terrible thought that your skin was so sensitive that any physical contact would be. These are just the minor difficulties Milican must deal with on his journey to discovering his True Self… and then he falls in love. 

Milican is a college senior majoring in biochemistry whose primary goal in life is to unravel the mystery of his debilitating blood disease. All his life, he’s battled the chronic pain of what has been diagnosed as Porphyria. Milican grew up isolated by this disease, with a constant pestering voice within the deepest recesses of his mind, a Dæmon tempting him to do the unthinkable.

When Milican falls in love with Vivian, a kindhearted dancer, he’s increasingly fearful of his vampiric tendencies. It’s an unrelenting battle to keep Vivian safe from the Dæmon’s desires.


https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-platinum-series-amethyst-editing-publishing-project/x/6071364

Moving Forward With My Marketing Campaign 


I've hired a talented sketch artist to create "Profile Art" of the a select few main characters of Amethyst. These collectible sketches will be made available as part of the incentive package for my upcoming fundraiser. The story of Amethyst is told by Milican as he experiences the world around him. I like reading first person POV books and that's why I choose this point of view. I take the reader into Milican's thoughts along with a secondary main character who torments my troubled Milican. The artist now has a physical description of Milican, his motorcycle and a unique piece of art painted on his helmet.

I'm excited to see what she comes up with as a depiction of main character, Milican! 

www.Facebook.com/Amethyst-Discussion-Group/bookmark

www.Facebook.com/The-Platinum-Series-Amethyst/bookmark

The Platinum Series: Amethyst soon will have The Collection of Short Stories to support the novel.

I hope to publish these stories in the near future in e-book version with the novel following shortly thereafter.

The Collection of Short Stories are first person POV tales told by select members of the supporting cast of Amethyst. Its their intimate thoughts, opinions & experiences with Milican. They're intended to be read in a specific order as a mini-history lesson about the life of Milican. There's overlapping content within each story that explains multiple perspectives on the numerous events throughout the progression of Milican's story.

#1 Link's Story titled "Years Of Constant Pain"
#2 Vivian's Story titled "Casanova Is Too Hot To Handle"
#3 Parent's Story titled "In the Blink of an Eye"
#4 Mystery Character's Story titled...
Sorry, I'll keep that one to myself for now. The title gives away too much.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Platinum-Series-Amethyst/152373588158395?bookmark_t=page https://www.facebook.com/groups/147175615307857/?bookmark_t=group

Sample #1 Book Cover

Sample #2 Book Cover

Sample #3 Book Cover

  I'll be attending the Author's Expo this coming Wed July 18 in Danvers, Massachusetts.I'm really excited about the wonderful opportunity to meet with people working in the industry. Plenty of authors will be there selling their books so I can ask questions about their experiences of becoming a published author. Also there will be artists, literary agents, copy-editors and publishers to learn more about the publishing world. Without an actual book in print, I'm preparing my own "press kit" including my business card, sketches of logo ideas, a synopsis of each of the first three titles in the series, merchandising ideas, jewelry I've designed such as the Celtic Eternity Heart and three samples of the artwork for the book cover that I've created. Yet another baby step closer to getting Amethyst published and in the hands of readers.
  Stephanie M. Jandreau

Celtic Eternity Heart

http://merrimackmedia.com/2012/07/visit-merrimack-media-at-the-2012-new-england-authors-expo/
    

It's Been A While

.

It's been quite some time since I've had the chance to update this blog. The first book in The Platinum Series: Amethyst is getting closer to being published. It's being edited to thin down the lengthy manuscript highlighting the struggles of the main character, Milican. "Streamlining" the main story into a concise, strong book that I hope will retain the overall "heart" of Milican's adventure and depict his undying love for Vivian. I love his story so much that Amethyst had gotten to be a bloated 1,100+ pages roughly. So instead of eliminating so much content of the plot, I divided it into two separate titles thus creating book #2 Diamond as the follow up in the series. This gave each title a single major conflict that no longer competed against the other as the main goal of the story.

I'm currently working on my query letter to submit to potential publishers and also to literary agents. Realizing this may take a long time, if ever, to find a traditional publisher interested in the series, I have decided to self-publish or release the book as an e-book if necessary later in the year. At some point within this calendar year Amethyst will be available to readers.

I've selected a small "test audience" of various ages, both genders and random backgrounds to read Amethyst gathering their feedback. This will allow me to alter the manuscript if they point out flaws or mistakes in the writing. One such suggestion was that Milican would seek the approval from Vivian's parents especially her father, Thomas. And the father needed a more divisive role when dealing with Milican after major things in his life had dramatically changed thus impacting Thomas' family. Basically Milican would need to regain the confidence of Thomas before continuing his relationship with Vivian. The original story Thomas was too apathetic about his daughter dating someone like Milican and that needed to be addressed so I added more conversations between Milican and Thomas to show more of the father's misgivings about their relationship. This tip from a trust friend who is a English creative writing professor was crucial in building a more realistic story. The father would be more protective against what he would perceive as a dangerous situation for this daughter, grandson and wife. Milican would have to proof himself to be a good choice for Vivian by convincing Thomas that he was still a good person after all that had changed and that he was not a threat to their safety. (Thanks Shaun for that advice.)

That kind of feedback at this stage is priceless. And since I'm writing multiple titles simultaneously, this allows me to customize their interactions making the stories stronger and more life-like. This is a tragic tale of supernatural events that empower Milican to love Vivian like no other man ever could, but its a unbalanced love affair despite the fact that she loves him equally. The fact that he is a supernatural being creating tremendous stress and hardships that they have to deal with on a nightly basis as they journey forward in their lives.

I'm juggling several different stages of the writing, editing, brainstorming, finding a publisher and researching numerous topics directly related to my story, plus thinking and designing my marketing strategy for the series all at once. They all go hand in hand so I don't mind having so many concepts, such as I designed a custom-made piece of jewelry that is important to the story and will be used throughout the series. I've been designing my own logo and/or brand to market my series so its easily recognizable and will hopefully make The Platinum Series standout amongst the crowd of new books in the genre of Sci-Fi, Supernatural, Mythological Creatures Romances.

I've written up to the fourth title so far in the series, Amethyst #1, Diamond #2, Garnet #3, & Sapphire #4. March of 2010 when I started this writing experiment, I had thought of having six books about Milican but the story is progressing so easily and quickly that I have stopped thinking of a set number to end the series. Although the last chapter of the last book has already been written so I know how the series will ultimately end for Milican. I almost don't want to see the final title, Onyx, published because that will mean its over... but I'm a long way from that point.

Fingers crossed that I'll be blogging soon of a released date for The Platinum Series: Amethyst

Thanks for reading Stephanie M. Jandreau