Keywords and Smut

It’s been one week since my novel, Love Simplified, went live on Amazon Kindle. To all the kind souls who bought a copy, you should have a notification that the file has been updated. Why, ask? I had to update my keywords.

For those who don’t know about the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing process, a part of uploading your novel is entering in up to seven keywords. Keywords are very similar to tags. They make it easier for people to search for my novel on Amazon.

Or they make put you in bad company.

When I first uploaded my novel, I didn’t use all seven of my keywords. I only used, in this order: Christian fiction, African American (my protagonist is African-American), reality TV, relationships and romance. I thought I had picked good keywords…until I saw the other books with those same keywords. Well, one keyword in particular.

Apparently, African American fiction is synonymous with smut. I am not a shy person and I don’t embarrass easily, but some of the other books with that keyword made me blush. And the covers! Oh, my. I really wish Amazon had a feature that filtered cover art. Call me sheltered, but I don’t want to see anything that makes me want to wash my eyes out with bleach.

And there was my baby, mixed in with all the smut. As soon as I realized it (last Friday night), I went in and changed my keywords. As much as I hate to admit it, I had to take the African American out. That seemed to be the culprit.  I did, however, try a new keyword: interracial relationships (there is a mixed couple in the book).

And that made it worse. I found my novel buried seven pages deep in more smut…now just interracial smut. So I went in and changed it again. No African American, no interracial, just Christian fiction, romance, relationships, dating, and reality TV. I have two more keywords I can enter, but I’m afraid.

The African American/smut connection makes me very sad. I would love to see some redemption come to that genre. I would love to read books with African American characters that aren’t half naked, crackheads, drugdealers or pastors sleeping with the members of his congregation. But that is for another post.

For now, I’ve changed my keywords and hopefully have escaped my bad company. 

How to Support Your Friendly Neighborhood Indie Author

Making the decision to become an indie author hasn’t been an easy one. It has caused me to look at my writing career in a different light, sometimes a terrifying and overwhelming one. Since I committed to being an indie author, I’ve noticed that the learning curve is pretty high, but not impossible to mange. I’ve learned that this is a tough road to walk (although with the changes happening in the publishing industry, it’s getting easier). I’ve also learned that this process is easier with support.

There is an innate sense of loneliness with indie publishing. In essence, you’re breaking away from the norm and deciding to go it alone. Instead of the team of industry professionals making decisions, you have to make all the decisions yourself. It’s daunting, but not impossible. Support becomes a balm to the soul for indie authors.

With the popularity of independent publishing, most of us know at least one person who has self-published. I know many since I’m a graphic designer and have done layout and cover design for years. These indie authors are our friends, pastors, coworkers and family…the people we care about.

It goes without saying that the best way to support your indie author is to buy their book. But your support doesn’t have to stop there. Here are some simple ways you can support an indie author.

1.  Pray for them. I can’t say enough about the value of prayer. Even the simplest prayers can be very effective. It can be great encouragement to know that someone is thinking of you and petitioning the Father for your needs. If you don’t pray, encourage your indie author. Trust me, they’ll need both.
2. Don’t treat them like they’ve grown a third eye and a horn. I must admit that when I first announced that I was going to become an indie author, I got some unexpected critical feedback. It threw me for a loop. Independent publishing is not a cop-out, a way to circumvent the system, a mark of laziness or low-quality writing. Independent publishing is an option that some have chosen to take, plain and simple. I think the stigmatism of independent publishing is quickly fading, but until both traditionally-published authors and indie authors are on the same social standing, don’t treat your indie authors like second class citizens.
3. Write a review. This can be very helpful for indie authors since they don’t have a marketing team to promote their books. A good review helps readers decide whether they want to take a risk on an indie author. But a word of caution: please be honest with your review. If you didn’t like the book, say so. Give reasons why you did or did not like the book. Don’t worry about giving negative review. They can be just as helpful to a prospective reader as a good one. Here’s a previous post about how to right a helpful review.
4. Tell a friend. Word-of-mouth is the best and cheapest marking an indie author can get. If you like a book, recommend it to a friend. They may love it, too.
5. Share resources. An indie author has two choices when it comes to successfully producing and publishing an excellent book. They can either learn to do everything themselves or they can hire someone to do the things they can’t. This is where resources come in. If you know a great copyeditor, graphic designer or marking professional, let your indie author know. I’m sure they would appreciate all the help they can get.

What are some other ways that you use to support your friendly neighborhood indie author?

Flip the Book Over

Yesterday, I posted the cover art for my novel, Love Simplified. I love the repsonses I've gotten, all positive. But one person's comments made me realize I'd forgotten something.

Becca Whitham posted, "I love it! And it tempts me to turn it over and see what it's about, so you have accomplished your first purpose." I smiled when I read her comment (thanks, Becca), but then I realized I forgot to include the back cover blurb for the book. DUH.

Here is the back cover blurb (Just imagine you're flipping the book over):

Tempest Day is an expert on helping others find love through her Connection Parties matchmaking service and the methods outlined in her bestselling book, Love Simplified. She’s one step away from becoming a celebrity matchmaker, the pinnacle of her career dreams.

But when a seemingly simple interview on the nation’s most popular daytime television show takes an ugly turn, Tempest is forced to admit a secret she’s carried for years: She’s never been in love. The fallout is immediate and severe. So severe that the only way to fix the damage is to use her own methods on a reality TV show…a show highlighting her non-existent love life!

Tempest soon discovers that love is anything but simple. The show and its cranky but handsome associate producer, Lance Moretti, challenges all that Tempest thought she knew about relationships, even her relationship with God. What starts as a desperate attempt to repair her reputation turns into Tempest’s biggest love connection ever.

Terri J. Haynes holds a certificate in Creative Writing, an Associate’s Degree in Religious Studies and a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Theology. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, a 2010 Genesis Finalist and a 2012 Genesis Semi-Finalist. She is an Army wife with three children and lives in Maryland.

Here It Is...Cover Art for Love Simplifed

And here it is. The cover of my novel, Love Simplified.

I must admit that this was a challenging undertaking. Not because it was beyond my skill set. I have been designing covers for over five years now. When working with a client, I normally have guidelines, even with clients that allow me release my full creative abilities with little input. Not only that, I have to adhere to certain guidelines that come along with being a graphic artist.

For instance, I have to create, first and foremost, a great piece of art. The baseline function of art is beauty. Yes, the things I design have purpose, but it must be at its core, appealing and engaging artwork.  Another guideline is purpose and audience. I have to consider who the author’s audience is and what kind of cover catches that audience's attention.

Also, I have to try and adhere to industry “standards” in cover art. That’s not to say that there is a set rule on cover art must look like, but there are some common features to certain genres. For instance, romance normally has pictures of couples. Women’s fiction books often have one or no people on their covers or vector-based drawings on the cover. Thrillers and normally done in dark colors, unless it’s a cozy. And there are so many more considerations that go into creating cover art.

Since I know all that already, it should have been easy for me right? NOT!

The fact that this cover is for my book, my baby, I threw all that knowledge out the window. In the early drafts, I didn’t consider audience or purpose. I just created what I liked. Right around draft 8, something clicked and I remembered all the rules. So after 14 drafts, I finally came up with something that I liked.

But that brought on another problem…the problem of revision. As a writer and a graphic designer, I love to revise. I love tweaking my works, adding subtle improvements and pushing myself to create something really spectacular. I could revise forever, and thus the problem. Normally, my clients or the contract I have with them decides when a project is finished. But when I’m the client, I could have kept revising until kingdom come. Also, I haven’t been completely delivered from being a closet perfectionist, so it was hard to me to stop tweaking and count the cover as done.

So after much revising, and my husband telling me to stop stressing myself, I settled on a cover. I can’t say I’m not tempted to take it through another round of revisions (read: kill perfectionism). What do you think of my cover?

PS: I spent an hour tweaking the line "A Tempest Day Production." When I finished, it was well after midnight. Bad girl, Terri!

Big Announcement!

Young writer in the making!

I wrote my first “book” at age 6. Although I don’t remember what the book was about, I do remember that I did all the illustrations, cut pieces of paper for the pages and stapled them together. And then I “published” it by sharing it with my sister Michelle and my father.

Humble beginnings, but even then my desire was to share my stories with the world. I wanted to give readers a memorable experience and help them escape the stress of the world on the wings of my words. Even then I understood that my process of writing wasn’t complete until I shared my stories.

As far as my desire to be a storyteller, not much has changed all these years later. I still want to give people a memorable reading experience. I still want to share my stories. Fortunately, now I don’t have to cut up and staple pieces of paper to do so. Even though I’m much older than 6, I feel the little kid excitement of sharing one of my stories with the world.

I am pleased to announce that I will be releasing my first novel, Love Simplified, on August 6, 2012. It will be available on Amazon Kindle, Smashwords and Nook.


The decision and the journey to becoming an indie author has been a sobering experience. I have prayed and contemplated this move for a long time and felt like God gave me the green light to move forward. Am I nervous? Of course. Do I realize how much work goes into this kind of venture? Yes. I’ve been researching for almost a year. Also, I have helped others become independent authors, helping with the layout, pricing and marketing of their books. Am I excited? A big, resounding yes!

What’s next on this journey? Watch this blog for updates. Also, check out my author page on Facebook. As the time draws nearer, I will be featuring interviews, give-aways and some other very cool announcements.

Thank you for taking this journey with me.