Alone in Paris Release Day! - Release Day Party

   GUESS WHAT TODAY IS!!!

 That's right, it's Alone in Paris release day! That's right, you can order your own copy right now. Go to Kindle & download it, or go to Amazon and order a paperback copy & have it in your hands in only a few days!

https://www.amazon.com/Alone-Paris-Standalone-Young-Romance/dp/1533527245/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1491016906&sr=8-1

 I am beyond excited about sharing this book with you guys! It took 4 drafts, a lot of reformatting and rewriting to make this book as perfect as I could make it. So, I hope you guys really enjoy it.

 I had my eyes set on this book cover halfway through writing it and by the time I was ready to publish, it was still there waiting for me so I would like to thank the artist, Melody Pond, for this gorgeous cover that represents my story so well.

 But anyway, regarding today (the release day), I have several plans! If you're not following me on Twitter, Instagram or Tumblr yet, you need to be! Why? You may ask. BECAUSE I'M DOING A BUNCH OF COOL STUFF FOR ALONE IN PARIS' BIRTHDAY--THAT'S WHY!

Instagram (@ashley_earley): https://www.instagram.com/ashley_earley

Twitter (@ashleyc_earley): https://twitter.com/ashleyc_earley

Tumblr: http://ashleyearleybooks.tumblr.com

 Most of the fun will be happening on my Instagram, but my Tumblr and Twitter are attached to my Instagram, so anything that goes up on Instagram goes up on those other social media networks as well. But I would recommend starting at my Instagram page.

 Now, I'm not going to reveal what all I will be doing for the release day. If you already follow me on Instagram, then you know that I've been trying to plan a lot of things but I'm also still deciding what I'm actually going to do. I mentioned possibly doing a giveaway for Alone in Paris bookmarks, a giveaway for a signed copy of Alone in Paris, and a Q&A with me where you can ask me anything (writing questions, questions about my book, and questions you want to know about me personally)! Point is, there is going to be a lot of activity on my pages today. You won't want to miss it, so head over to my page right now because this will be going on all day!

 If you want to know more about Alone in Paris, like in great detail, click here.

Hope you join me to celebrate my book's release! Have a great weekend!
www.ashleyearley.com
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The Advantages of Self-Publishing

   I have self-published 2 books now and I wanted to share some advantages of self-publishing with you guys now that I feel that I have enough experience. Sometime down the line, I will write disadvantages to self-publishing as well so you can decide the best route for yourself.

 You basically have total say in the book cover. This does come out of your own time and pocket. I would not recommend making your own unless you have experience and can make the cover look professional and realistic. It is better to search for a really good cover designer. These can be hard to come by but I have found a few by taking the time to search.

 You basically have total say in the format of your book. This also comes out of your own time. Formatting your book is just as time consuming as revising. It takes a lot of time to decide on what looks best and what matches the theme of your book. Fonts, paper dimensions and headers take up a lot of time and can be frustrating.  

 You get most of the royalties. Usually by self-publishing an author can get anywhere between 60% to 90% of the royalties. Smashwords and Kindle Direct Publishing gives you about 90%. This was a pretty big part of it for me because I wrote the book, revised, revised, and revised it some more, so I wanted to get most of the money because I put in a lot of work. I'm not saying that traditional publishers don't put in a lot of work; I'm only saying that I did not want to be paid in advances for my books. I wanted to try my hand at self-publishing to see how I would like it and to test the waters to see how much I could make on my own.
 It's been an eyeopening experience.

 You are responsible for revisions/editing. Revising is a hassle, I know. It is probably the #1 thing I hate because I struggle to delete unneeded parts. But I have complete control of what I want to delete and change. I am completely open to criticism, so I always send my books to my beta reader to see what she has to say about parts of my book and then I go back to fix them before sharing it with her again. But if I feel like something is too important to delete, I try to find a way to make that part better instead. 

 No deadlines. You can take your time finishing your book to make it as good as it can be. If you're writing a series, then this should be very important to you. Life often gets in the way of our plans to write, so it can take a while to finish writing a book and then revising it several times. All of these things are very time consuming. Having a deadline can pressure us to just write, whether it is good material or not.

 All of these are reasons why I self-published. It doesn't mean it's for everyone. I hope one day I will get a book published traditionally, just to get the experience.

Can you think of any more advantages? Leave a comment down below!
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Q&A by Matthew Carpenter with Ashley Earley

   I did an interview with an acquaintance that I met in a class I took in high school and he sent me an email earlier this year asking me a bunch of writing and personal questions. The questions he asks are in bold. Sorry it took me so long to post this Matthew! :)

Questions about Writing:

-Have you ever done, or even considered, devoting a whole day to writing? As in, something along the lines of waking up to see just how much quantity you can get on the page. Not leaving your room, only stopping to eat, refraining from calling or texting friends, and really just carrying on with it all until you're sleepy and ready for bed.

I've done that many times during the weekends! That's when I get most of my writing done. I genuinely enjoy days when I can devote my entire day to nothing but writing!

-Do you prefer more of a slow and steady pace, or are you often into writing bombs, where you try to produce a lot of pages in a short period of time? Does the former become monotonous and disheartening, or does the latter only  mean low quality and, in the aftermath, exhaustion that hinders further work?

I like writing bombs the most. Slow-paced writing can be disheartening for me because I find it harder to focus on the task at hand. I don't find writing bombs low quality. At times it can be, but I believe that it depends on my mood and the scene that's playing out. I do get tired after but it's because I devote an entire day to bomb writing! After going on a writing craze, I can't imagine anyone not being exhausted haha.

-Does your writing always pertain to one location, or do you sometimes switch up the setting and write by a busy street corner, a rushing waterfall, or whatever might be radically different?

I switch the setting quite often in my books but it mostly depends on the type of book. As in, if I feel that I'm visiting the same places much too often, I will take my characters to another location. Or, if the plot demands it, I will. Like, for example, my character is a time traveler or something or other, I will move my characters around a lot.

-What do you think of the quote that writers must stay immersed in what they do so that they don't let reality destroy them? Is writing a form of drunkedness, just without alcohol? That is, do fictional writers write because they hate reality and need something else to connect with, delude them, whatever?

I feel like being out in reality can mess with the part of you that needs to stay in the story. You get distracted with the things going on in your life, other people's lives, work or school, and the things around you. If you're consumed by reality, then it can be harder to visit the world you've created on your pages. I do, to an extent. I feel like I belong in the worlds I've created more than in reality most of the time. Writing also helps me escape my problems. Writing is my way of taking a step back from everything for a while.

-Do you prefer getting up early to write, or rather staying up writing long into the night?

I'm a night owl so I absolutely love staying up till 2am to write. My house is quiet and there's never anyone awake to bother me haha.

Personal Questions:

-How does it feel to have actually completed and published your own novel? What an accomplishment! Has the glory faded much?

It has a bit and I think it's because I've written 2 books since then. I'll get that feeling back when I publish another!

-Do you keep a journal? If so, for how long? Is it as enjoyable as writing stories?

I do have a journal but I don't use it often. Like I said before, I write to escape my problems - it calms me. Writing in my journal helps me access and make sense of my problems, and allows me to blow off some steam. It's not as enjoyable as writing fiction because I would rather pretend to be someone else.

-Is there a particularly favorable music genre of yours? To write to or just listen to. Artist? Band? Song?

I listen to all kinds of music so there is no way I can give you a list haha. I have a "writing album" of the songs I listen to the most but it's rather long. I don't really have a favorite song, it switches almost every week. My favorite artist would have to be Ed Sheeran. And I don't really have a favorite band.

-And finally, do you have a most influential life event of your own, something you did, from which you seek and pull inspiration during hard times?

Not particularly. I think about my friends and family and how it was difficult to self-publish my own book but I managed to get it done, and that I will get it done again.

www.ashleyearley.com
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How Much Does It Cost to Publish a Book?

   As you write your book, you might be considering to publish it once you're done writing and polishing your masterpiece, but the last thing on your mind is how much it might cost.

 When you start to get serious about self-publishing though, you might start to realize that it takes a lot of time, detail, patience, and more than a few dollars to prepare your book for publication. You have to pay for getting your book copyrighted, you have to hire a book cover artist or purchase a pre-made cover, you also have to pay for proof copies of your book if you're publishing a physical edition, and you have to pay for marketing.

 To start out, finish your book before you worry about the publishing side. Your focus should be on writing and finishing your book, and then you need to concentrate on polishing it. Editing is key. There are always mistakes that you'll need to fix and you can strengthen your story at the same time. (Click here to learn more about the editing process).

 Once your book is written and it has been edited enough times that you feel that it's good enough. Also try to get a few people to read your book when it's done to get some tips on improving your book further.

 Decide when to publish! After your book is polished and ready to be thrown out into the world, you need to decide when to publish. You don't have to pick the exact day just yet, but you should decide what month. Take into account that you have to get the cover, copyright it, and format your book to the standards that the publishing platform requires of you (whether digital or physical). Give yourself a reasonable time-frame to get everything together and ready.

 How much do you want to spend? Think about how much you want to spend on self-publishing your book. Give yourself a budget, start saving, and try to keep to your limit during the process of publishing. I will warn you though, book covers don't come cheap. (I'll leave a few links to book cover artists that I've used down below.)

 To calculate how much this is going to cost, you first have to make decisions about all of the things you want to do and will need (like advertising and book covers) and add up the costs for everything. 

 The last thing you have to do, it save up X amount until you're close to the publishing date and go ahead and purchase everything you need!

Book Cover Artists I've Used:

http://phatpuppyart.com

http://melodyypond.weebly.com

 Good luck! <3
www.ashleyearley.com
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Reader Copies

Guest Posts & Interviews

I love guest posts and interviews and would love to participate in either if available! Please contact me at ashleycearley@gmail.com for availability.


Advance Reader Copies

 For a chance for an advance reader copy, email me at ashleycearley@gmail.com

***Please note: at this time I am no longer accepting requests for physical copies. But I would be happy to send you a PDF version or an e-book in your preferred format.


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How to: Planning to Self-Publish?

   Have you decided to self-publish? Excellent! Before you get started, though, you're going to need to outline a plan. It's the same as outlining a plot for a book.

When you self-publish, you're not only the author of your book but you're also its editor, publisher, and marketer. You have several jobs that will take up a lot of time. Don't get frustrated as this is a rather long process.

 Edit. First and foremost, you have to edit your book. Several times, in fact. Editing can take months, especially when you have to do it more than a few times. That's okay though, you should take your time and pay attention to detail. I would use a red pen for this process. Using another color--like blue or black--will make it difficult for you to distinguish the mistakes you've corrected from the actual text.

 Saving Money. You're going to need a good amount of money to self-publish. You're going to need money to copyright your book's content, purchase a good-looking book cover (which doesn't come cheap), to send out review copies, list giveaways, advertising, etc. Set a goal amount of money you want to have to spend only on your book's progress. Save until you reach that goal and then you're all set to jump into the rest of the publishing process!

 Marketing Plan. Before publishing, you should be signed up for every social media website there is--Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. Sign yourself up for any website that could help you with getting the word out there! If you're already signed up for some of these, you should be mentioning your book on social media long before you plan to self-publish. Now, I don't mean share your manuscript with everyone--that could be risky if you haven't gotten it copyrighted yet--but maybe mention the title of your book and talk about it some.

You should also sign up for Goodreads and sign up for their Author Program. That generates quite a bit of buzz! Their Author Program allows you to list giveaways, post about your book on forums, publicize your upcoming events, write quizzes for your book, and so much more! I'm on the website every day. I'm addicted!



 
  Starting a Blog. Starting a blog to talk about yourself and your book is also a good idea. This will give you the ability to blog about your self-publishing experience to help others who are thinking about doing the same thing. This will help generate followers so they will see the posts you've mentioned your book in (aka you get free marketing).

 Cover Artist. Who are you going to hire to make the cover for your book? There are several artists that you can find and contact online. All you have to do is type in "book cover artists" into your search engine and then you can take your pick! Make sure to look at their prices and compare that with their portfolio. You'll want to pick someone professional, who won't try to sell you a cover that someone else has already used, or someone that will sell your book cover to another up-and-coming author.

 Create an Author Website. Starting an author website can be quite helpful in generating buzz. Through this you can direct visitors to your blog, Goodreads Author Page, social media profiles, and more! Having a website will make it easy for your social media and blog followers to check out your website to learn more about you. To get a general idea of what your website should contain, check out mine at www.ashleyearley.com

 How Are You Going to Sell? Are you going to sell your book in paperback or ebook, or both? Where are you going to sell your book? Are you going to publish through Createspace, Smashwords, Kindle Direct Publishing, Lulu, maybe through another? This is a very important decision to make and you need to choose wisely. Compare and consider all of your options. And research these websites as much as you can so you can figure out their pros and cons. Make the right choice for you and your book! You have to decide so you can begin formatting your book to their standards. 

 Format. Depending on how you self-publish and where, there will be a certain way they will require you to format your book so it can be loaded to look pretty for your readers. For ebooks, you might want to add a Table of Contents to make it easier to get around on an iPad or Kindle. For paperbacks, you'll want to pay close attention to those margin guidelines.


Well, that's all the advice I can think to give you. The self-publishing road ahead is going to be a bumpy one so don't get too frustrated and I wish you luck!

www.ashleyearley.com
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You've Finished Your Book; Now What?

   This week, I finished writing a book. It's the first in a trilogy so I know what my next project will be, but I remember what it's like to write a one-shot or finish a series. You start to wonder what you should do next. Should you start on your next book? Maybe edit the one you finished? There are many things you can do once you finish writing your book, whether it's your first or your tenth.

 Edit. Editing sucks, I know. It is frustrating and makes you feel like a horrible writer. But that's the point! Editing is about making your book as good as it can possibly be, so if you're reading your book and thinking, "Wow, this is a piece of crap," then that's good! It means that you can and know how to fix it to make it better! If you write a book, you have to edit it sometime--that's just a fact.

 Start on the Sequel. If you just finished a book, maybe you don't know if it's a one-shot or destined to be a series. How did you end the book you just finished? That's the way to tell. If you can feel that you can make it into a series, do it!
Shouldn't you edit before starting the sequel? Well, I don't because if I take something out in the first book and forget about it as I'm writing the second, I might mention that part by accident and then no one would have any idea what I'm talking about. So I edit when I'm done with the series to make it less confusing. But that's just me.

 Write Another Book. Maybe you want to take a step back from the series you're working on to write something different, and then later come back to finish the series. Who says you can't? That's awesome that you have another idea for a book! Go for it! You can always come back to the series. Though, I would suggest reading the first book before coming back to jump into writing the rest of the series. You don't want to miss any little hints that you had in the first book.

 Take a Break. Taking a break after you finish a book can be refreshing, unless you're someone that always has to write 24-7 to keep yourself sane. I fall into the latter category. If I fall out of writing, I end up reading a lot because I have to leave reality somehow. After I finish a book, I might take 1-4 days off from writing. I just can't go long without going back to my imaginary world.

 Let Someone Read Your Newly-Finished Work. Letting someone read a book you just finished is scary. I only let one or two people read my books when I'm done with them or as I'm writing them, depending. One of those people is my co-blogger over at Infinite Book Reviews, Nadia. She always gives sound advice and points out things that I miss. She's more helpful than she will ever know!
Letting someone read your book can help you fix plot twists, character structures and a whole bunch of other things that you might miss! This is called a beta reader. 
Beta readers are not explicitly proofreaders or editors, but can serve in that context. Elements highlighted by beta readers encompass things such as plot holes, problems with continuity, characterisation or believability; in fiction and non-fiction, the beta might also assist the author with fact-checking. (from Wikipedia)

 Do You Want to Publish Your Book? Are you considering trying to get your book published or self-publishing it? Well, before you do I'm going to suggest editing it first because you can never edit too many times. Polishing your work is good for you and it will help you get to where you want/need to be.
If you want to try to get your book traditionally published, your writing, characters and everything else about your book will be judged by those in the publishing industry because that's their job. They're looking for a book that will sell, but they won't want to spend months on editing your book.
If you want to self-publish, you're going to have to edit too because people aren't going to want to read something with a ton of grammatical errors and plot holes.

There are a few things for you to think about this week :) Good luck with writing!
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Signed Book Giveaway!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Darkest Light

by Ashley Earley

Giveaway ends December 31, 2015.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Holiday Giveaway!

Enter to win a signed copy of Ashley Earley's YA Fantasy novel, The Darkest Light!

I am hosting a special giveaway this holiday season! I will be giving away 1 signed copy of my young adult novel. You can enter today (December 16th, 2015) and up until December 31st, 2015!

Below is the summary for the Young Adult Fantasy:

After discovering a secret her parents have kept from her all her life, Alyssa’s life begins to unravel, and she’s thrown into a magical world she never knew existed—one that’s both frightening and intriguing to her.
While trying to discover who she really is, and who her father was, she begins to see the darkness this unknown land holds, and fears becoming part of that darkness.
Torn between this new world, and the human world, Alyssa must make the ultimate decision between the possibility of losing herself forever to become part of it, or stay behind and let the world of Föld perish.
As if her life wasn’t complicated enough, she’s falling for two guys—that live in totally different worlds. Wesley and Archer couldn’t be more different, but they both have her captivated.
A battle is coming. Will Alyssa be forced to fight against the people she loves?

Here is the link so you can enter: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25540795-the-darkest-light

And here are a few links to where you can find me :)
www.ashleyearley.com
www.ashleyearleybooks.tumblr.com
www.ashleyearleywrites.blogspot.com

Happy Holidays everyone!
-Ashley Earley

The Darkest Light Book Review | OneMoreChapter

Should You Read Reviews About Your Book?

   There is no easy answer to this question. Everyone is different, therefore everyone will react a little differently to reading reviews on their book whether positive or negative.

  If You Read Reviews:

  If it is a negative review: Every author gets a negative review. You're not the only one so don't let yourself get down! Getting a negative review might help to point out things that you did wrong. Maybe someone pointed out a plot hole, or a few other things, either way, you'll be more cautious to take notice to such things with your next novel. Negative reviews aren't all bad.
  Don't ever contact the reviewer to harass them, or explain why their review is wrong, and why your book is actually great! Don't be a rude author! Take feedback with grace. Feedback, whether good or bad, still brings attention to your book.

  If it is a positive review: I'm pretty sure reading a good review makes every author swell with pride. Should you comment or write this person about their review? You can if you want to say, "Thank you" but maybe don't praise them--it could make the reviewer uncomfortable. But sending a generic "thank you" email or comment should be okay, it just depends on the person.

  If You Don't Read Reviews:

  If you don't read reviews on your book, you'll never know if someone said a good or bad thing about your work. This isn't necessarily a good or bad thing; like I said, it depends on the person! By not reading reviews, you won't know what needed to be fixed, and you could make the same or a similar mistake in your next novel.

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Killing a Book Character

   Authors love a good death scene.

 Writers enjoy doing some really weird stuff. One of those things is killing a character. I'm sure you (as a reader) already know this if you've read a John Green, J.K. Rowling, or Gayle Forman book. All authors that write tragic novels are evil because we crush your soul by killing your favorite character. We've heard it before. If you're a reader, book character deaths destroy you, anger you, make you want to cry; good, that's how we were hoping you would react.

 Death scenes are fun to write, regardless of whether we'd planned it way in advance, or if it was a spur-the-moment decision because we were in a bad mood. Either way, we love 'em! This is another weird writer-thing. I don't know a writer who doesn't love a good, fictional death, especially if a fight is involved.

 Necessarily, you don't have to plan the deaths of all your characters. Some can be spur-the-moment, or slightly planned a few pages or chapters in advance, or you can plan to have this character die before even starting the book!

 Death was planned in advance: Now, if you're one of those authors that start the book off just right, and make it known to your readers that this certain character is going to die before the end...As a reader, you annoy me; as a writer, I respect and applaud you. Because you brought this character to life, made everyone fall in love with him/her, only to kill him/her. I have an example for you: if he had been with me by Laura Nowlin. I read this book recently (I did a review over at Infinite Book Reviews ∞), knew that Finny was going to die as soon as I read the first chapter, then fell in love with him, only to have my heart ripped out by the time he died!

 The hope crusher: You could be the kind of writer that gives hope that this character isn't going to die, that everything will be fine, and then snatch that hope away and crush it. if i stay by Gayle Forman is an example. I thought Teddy was alive and okay. I was convinced that Mia would wake up and she'd figure out a way to take care of him.
That hope was squashed a few chapters later when everything does not turn out okay!

 Planned deaths: You don't have to plan a death, unless you're writing a tragic book that requires you to kill a certain fictional character. In the past, I hadn't really planned character death's because most of them died during a major fight and I felt that it should have been just as much a surprise to my readers as it was to me...and sometimes I was having a bad day and decided to kill a fictional person instead of screaming into a pillow. It's a wonderful stress reliever.

 Attached to a character?: The more you're attached to a character, the harder it is to kill them, so don't get attached! Keep your distance! Make icicles form around your heart and be the cold-hearted writer I know you are so you can kill this character! Usually, if you feel that you have to kill them for the plot, you have to, especially if you planned it in advance.
I'm totally joking; if you really feel like you shouldn't kill this character, then don't unless if you have to for the plot. Always go with your gut!

 Last minute demise: Spur-the-moment deaths can be just as thrilling, or upsetting as a planned one. As long as this character wasn't an unnecessary one and you're just killing them for no reason other than because you realize that they're unimportant to the story, it should be a good death that gets the reader riled up.

 Let the words flow and do what your gut tells you when it comes to killing off characters! Look at J.K. Rowling, she'd planned to kill Ron throughout the series, but could never bring herself to do it. She'd put him into this horrible situation that she didn't think anyone could get out of, then would find a way for him to at the last minute because she couldn't kill him.

 Happy writing! <3

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The Darkest Minds Book Trailer

  Soooo I made a book trailer for The Darkest Light. It's kinda cheesy, but it was something I just threw together in, like, half an hour so...yeah, it's not a serious trailer. It was just something a threw together quick.

If you want to learn more about The Darkest Light, click here, for it to pull up on Goodreads. OR, click here, for information about the book to pull up on this blog. The Darkest Light is available on Amazon, Kindle, Barnes&Noble.com (for the Nook), Kobo, iBooks, and Smashwords.

Don't worry, I might make a better book trailer. Though, I might wait until my next novel to make a fantastic one ;)

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Why Writing Is Hard

   A lot of people who don't write, wonder why it's so hard. Well, I'm about to tell you.

 Here's a list of why writing is hard:

 Writer's Block. Every writer experiences this at one time or another, and it's horribly frustrating. You're staring at your blank page, or at the last line you wrote, and you're just stuck. You don't know what to write next but you feel like you must continue. You get a headache because you're focusing so hard as you try to think of a ways to continue. You feel like you can't walk away and leave your book this way, you want to finish what you've started. Every writer hates and battles with writer's block. It's just part of the process and it sucks.

 Starting a New Book. Starting a new book means: New characters, new setting, new personalities, new descriptions, new plot, and basically, new everything. Starting a new book can be easy for some people, but it can be difficult for others. Or it just depends on how much of your book you already have planned; you may be one of those magical people that already have the beginning of your book planned so that, now, all you have to do is get it on paper. Lucky you. Writers that can't just pull a beginning out of their magic hat both hate and envy you.

 Trying to be Realistic. Every writer wants their readers to feel the main character; understand the main character; understand the main character's situation; understand and see the world you've placed that character in. But if you're writing, let's say fantasy, it can be hard to describe the interaction your main character has in the world you've placed him/her in while also making this fictional world seem real. You don't want to sound too cheesy; you want this fictional world to be awesome and exciting; you also want your characters to seem realistic, but you're hesitant because you are worried your book sounds stupid.
No idea is stupid.
As long as you act and write like you believe this world is real, your reader will feel that it is. The goal is to always make your book entertaining, exiting, good, and realistic. You can only achieve this if you try your hardest to make it these things. Write what you want to write! That's why you have this ability in the first place. Not everyone can just sit down and write. I know it seems natural, but it's not. It's weird and awesome, so embrace that and write whatever you want to write about.

 Making Things Fit. Imagine that you've dropped your favorite vase and it shatters into a thousand pieces. You want to put that vase back together because you love it. This seems totally impossible, right? Well, that is what it feels like to write a book sometimes. Big pieces have to fit. Small pieces have to fit. All the pieces have to come together in order to put together the thing you are trying to create. Details, details, details; they always must be added to make the book, and plot, good. And it can be really frustrating when you're not entirely sure how all those details come together as you get closer and closer to the climax. UGH.

 Getting Emotionally Attached to a Character You Have to Kill. Now, all writers are weird, so we usually enjoy killing off characters, maybe even the ones we like. Though I like killing characters, I don't enjoy killing off characters that I like. Killing off a likeable character will definitely leave your reader upset, and that's usually a good thing. It means you sell more books lol!
But seriously now.
Killing a character you like is so hard, because you've created this person and it's someone you like and feel really bad about killing, but at the same time, you have to do it because killing him/she is part of the plot. It's necessary, so you do it, but you don't like it.

 Character Development. Writers always put a little bit of themselves in their characters. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, because your unknown readers won't know you so they won't see it, but family and friends and other people that know you, will. Everyone puts a bit of themselves in their characters, but you have a draw a line and avoid stepping over it. It's hard to draw the line. You're you and it's hard to change that. It's hard to come up with a person and then become that person whenever you sit down to write.

 World Development. You may have difficulty in describing the world you've created (if you're writing about a fictional world). You want your reader to grasp the world you've created--to see each detail you see, but you may not want to be too descriptive. Depending on their writing style, writers can have a lot of difficulty with this. I feel that a lot of us don't want to spend too much time describing scenery because their worried about boring their readers.

 Character Descriptions. You may already have an idea of what your main character looks like. Well now you have to get that down on paper. And what about the other characters in your book? They need to have a face too, and a body....and everything that entails creating a fictional-human-being. It can be hard to keep up with character descriptions, especially if you have a lot of characters, and it can be hard to come up with looks because you want everyone to be different and unique in their own way. Yeah...I have the hardest time with this. I usually come up with the description, then write it down under the character's name and keep it tacked to my bulletin board so I can keep up with who's who.

 Coming back to writing after having had walked away. It's hard to come back to writing after you've stopped for awhile, however, it's even harder to re-enter the writing world if you've stopped in the middle of a manuscript, short story, poem, etc. because you have to regain your grip on the story and feelings during the scene you were in.

 Not in the Mood. This happens to me more than anything. After work and classes, who feels like writing? It requires a lot of thinking--too much thinking, so after a long day, it can be super hard to convince yourself to write when all you want to do is lie down and watch TV.

 Editing. Editing is really hard for a lot of writers, because we're not editors. We wrote the story, and now we have to do everything we can to make it as good as it can be before we show it to people, try to get it published, self-publish it, or whatever it is that you plan to do with your manuscript once you're done with this process. Editing consists of grammatical corrections, making things (puzzle pieces) fit, adding sentences or paragraphs to make things more intense, taking out scenes that we feel are unnecessary, and so much more. Editing is not a one-two-three ordeal and I, personally, hate it.
But I do it because--as a writer--it's my job, and my novel is unfinished until I've completed the circle-of-writing, as far as I'm concerned.

Did I miss anything? What should I have added to this list?

Happy writing! <3 

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Writing a Book (Writing Your First Book)

   Writing a book can be a wonderfully difficult experience.

 I have a few tips to help you get started:

 Start small. You don't have to sit down and write a full chapter in the one day that you decide to write a book. Maybe just a few words to get you started, or you can write down all the ideas you have for the book. That's where my second tip comes in.

 Have an outline. Have a relative idea of what you want to write about? Good. You should probably write it down. Not just the general idea though. You should write down something more in-depth, like the plot of the book. As you continue to write your book, you should write down every little idea that pops into your head, even if it sounds stupid. You don't have to use every idea, but it is good to have ideas written down somewhere in case you forget, or actually want to use it. You could always change the idea, morph it to fit your book. All of my plot notes start with "Have (such and such character) do (something)." They're stupid notes, but when I need to write fast, that's how I jot them down.

 If you don't have the full plot figured out. It's okay if you don't have the full plot figured out! I almost never have my books totally planned (I'm just one of those writers). I can have the middle and the ending, or the beginning and the middle, or the beginning and the end of a book. As long as you know what you want to write about and have some general idea of an outline. You don't have to have everything figured out. The more you write, the more ideas you will come up with, so don't get frustrated.

 Writing regularly. I highly suggest writing on a regular basis. Maybe you don't write everyday, but you should write a couple of times a week, if you don't have severe writer's block (you should try to write to overcome this). If you don't write regularly, you might forget where you are and what you were doing when you stopped last. It also keeps your momentum up. You are more likely to write in the same manor if you write more.

 Deadlines. Giving yourself a deadline for each day, week, or month will keep you motivated. Lindsay Cummings tries to write 1,000 words a day. Stephen King tries to write 2,000. Everyone is different and only you know what you are capable of in a day. Sometimes it takes authors years to finish writing a book.

 Read, read, read! You should read more than you write! Writing is important, but reading can do wonders for your book, and yourself as a writer. Reading can give you ideas (don't plagiarize though, obviously), can inspire you to write, and trigger your creative juices. When I'm reading a good book, I usually have to put it down so I can start writing. When I feel inspired, it feels like I'm overwhelmed with words. 

 How I think of a book as I write.

 I see a book as a puzzle. There are all these little, intricate pieces that require careful observation before you try putting them in the slot you think they belong in. Example: Maybe you add some tiny detail half-way through your book that turns out to be very important at, or towards the end.

 I think of chapters as a staircase. You move up a step after each chapter you complete, because in each chapter you are building the story, and building suspense.

 As a writer, it is your job to make all of the pieces fit, unless you're writing one of those books that have a split ending where you want the reader to decide the ending, like in Inception. (Yes, I am aware that it's a movie but I couldn't think of a book).

And it is your job to build the story as you climb the staircase of chapters.

 Don't give up. You will feel very accomplished when you finish your first book.

 Write another. Don't get frustrated if the book you have just completed doesn't go anywhere. Maybe you try to get it published, or represented but you can't. That's okay! Many authors get rejected. J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books were rejected by eight publishers. For more information on negative feedback, click here.

 No matter what happens, nothing should discourage you if writing is something you love and want to do.

Editing your book. Click on the link if you're at the stage of editing: http://www.ashleyearleybooks.blogspot.com/2015/07/editing-your-book.html

Happy writing! Good luck on your book!

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Dealing with Negative Feedback

   Every writer has dealt with negative feedback.

 It doesn't matter if you write poetry, short stories, reviews of books, or books. Not everyone is going to like your work. Not everyone is going to agree with your opinions.

 Negative feedback can come from anyone. A publisher, editor, agent, even a friend. Anyone can say that they don't like your book, and that's okay because that is their opinion. They have a right to have an opinion and post it on social media, Amazon, Goodreads, etc. because your book is out there and people are allowed--and going--to talk about it.

  You can either take negative feedback as a learning experience, or ignore the negative comments that people make about your work. What you should NEVER do is reply to a negative comment hostilely. The comment is this persons own opinion. He/she isn't speaking for the whole world. This is what they think and you should accept it and move on. Don't say anything back along the lines of, "You're too simple minded to understand that my story/book is actually great." No hostility should be exchanged what-so-ever!!

 Because:

  1. That's really rude and unprofessional. YOU come out sounding like the simple minded one. Your book isn't perfect! No book is! J.K. Rowling's book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, was rejected by 8 publishers and gets negative feedback from readers. Now, I'm not comparing your book to anything J.K. Rowling has written; I'm just saying that even one of the most popular and loved books in the world gets negative feedback from readers.

  2. You're hurting yourself by doing this more than the other person. Your readers will lose respect for you, and will lose interest in your book because of your rudeness. (This could seriously damage you if you're a self-published author.)

 I'm not saying that negative feedback doesn't hurt. I'm just saying that you shouldn't reply to comments with the intention of being mean/rude. You should be happy that someone has reviewed, or talked about your book, even if they didn't like it.

 Negative feedback shouldn't deter you from writing. The more you write, the better you get! So don't give up!

Happy writing! <3

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