and a post on why i'm an idiot

I'm sitting here, smacking myself in the head. Okay, not really- because i loathe being hit in the face. More on that some other day. Or not.

I think when I first started this website, I just wanted to be able to give simple updates. Little blurbs about what was going on with the books I'm writing, where to buy them, etc. And so I made the comment section disappear. Because I felt like I could have dialogue with everyone on so many other places (goodreads, twitter, facebook)...

BUT HELLO STUPID. (that's me by the way, not you)

I WANT dialogue here on the blog. I mean, I tell y'all to come read my latest blog posts and then I give you no place to comment on them? No place to ask me questions pertaining to the blog post? No place to yell at me, give me feedback, tell me you want the book, tell me ANYTHING?!?!?!

see? IDIOT.

so now i've remedied that. and you guys, i tried... i really did... but i hate typing blog posts with capital letters. i don't think you have any idea how hard it was for me to write a whole book with proper capitalization. ha it's just not my thing. lower cases... i dig em. so yeah. all my blog posts will be in lower cases letters. unless you guys go nuts and tell me you can't read the blog posts anymore because it drives you absolutely nutballs, or something.

then i'll probably consider writing properly. but i won't like it. lol

omg, i've totally strayed from my original point. which isn't so shocking really cause my brain? let me tell you... it is all over the place. right now it's stuck on scenes of ryan gosling's hot self from the movie "crazy, stupid, love." if you've seen it, you KNOW what i'm talking about. rahr.

i'm meeting with someone at a local bookstore to get copies of "in dreams" on the shelves there. which is super exciting! and we're hopefully setting up a meet & greet as well. which is on one hand, SUPER exciting- and on the other, somewhat terrifying because what if no one shows up? i'll be sitting there all sweaty with anticipation and no one will come. rad.

have i mentioned enough how hard parts of this whole self publishing thing are? i'm really proud of the work i've done. i love my book cover and i honestly can't wait to design my other ones. i'm pretty happy with my website and the way each book has it's own color theme. as much as i love designing my website, it is ridiculously time consuming. and don't get me started on the book formatting for all the different types of books i offer (paperback, kindle, other e-formats). stuff takes forever. and then the hardest part is just waiting for people to buy your book, talk about your book, and spread the word. i mean, i can only talk about my own stuff for so long before my opinion doesn't matter, right? it's all word of mouth. i think for any indie author, we rely on word on mouth to help us get our product out there. i guess the hardest part is feeling like people AREN'T talking about it. i know the book just came out and i didn't expect an overnight sales explosion... it's just that the self publishing world is a hugely saturated market right now. especially for young adults. and don't get me wrong, i love love love that people are writing- and people are buying and reading books... it's just... i don't know- i guess i want everyone to love MY book(s).

which really can't be that much different than any other author out there in the world. okay, i'm shutting up now. really. :)

xoxox -j

don't forget that you can get e-versions of my book for only $2.99 right now (at smashwords and amazon)! no coupon code needed! spread the word, eh?