This week’s Sacrifice character reveal is Micah Morgan.
Micah had been Kat’s best friend for as long as she could remember, but he died in a tragic car accident almost four years ago. She struggled with the loss, and his name went unspoken—until he started haunting her dreams. Micah’s spirit became linked with a group of mages, and he communicates with Kat through her dreams to warn what the future holds if she can’t stop the supernatural attacks happening across the country.
This week’s Sacrifice character reveal introduces Cash. I love writing his dialogue, and he quickly became one of my favorite supporting characters. Everyone needs a gay best friend, especially the always troubled Katherine Reese.
Cash is a member of Kat’s prestigious Alpha team. He’s a tall, blonde haired, dreamy eyed, martial arts master who loves to watch Xena and sleep with men. He’s the youngest member of the team at only nineteen, but he is the stealth and recon expert. Kat describes Cash as a “white boy ninja” since he moves at an inhuman speed and makes no detectable noise while doing so. Cash hates firearms so when he needs more than just hand to hand combat, he chooses a blade or bow as his weapon.
This week’s Sacrifice character reveal includes art that I created myself. I’m not skilled at creating comic book concept art, so I decided to make digital concept portraits for some of the characters. This gives you an idea of how I picture the characters as I’m writing the story.
Cameron Ryan is the girlfriend that Katherine Reese isn’t supposed to have. She was born in Australia as a mix of Australian and Tibetan, but her parents died when she was just a baby. She was adopted by her uncle who lived in the States, and spent her whole life in New York unaware of the supernatural world. Cameron’s eyes are opened to mystical elements when she learns Kat is a meta-human and rogue werewolves are discovered in her neighborhood—leaving her world forever changed.
There’s one question that I get asked more than any other.
“What are some tips for new writers?”
I decided to share a handful of tips that I’ve dished out to friends who are interested in writing. I feel like most of these tips are important regardless of what you’re writing, but some are just my suggestions and not mandatory for success.
Don’t stop writing. Sounds simple enough, right? Writing is a craft made better through practice. I keep all of my writing projects filed away whether I finish them or not. If I need a boost of confidence that shows me that I’m improving, I’ll flip through an old manuscript and marvel at how I’ve improved.
Never stop learning. The web is filled with information that can help you improve your craft, so take advantage of online resources. You can join writer critique groups or attend writer’s workshops.
Read as much as you write. I analyze everything I read whether I’m reading a comic book or a novel. You’ll learn new words, new ways to get inspired or tell a story, or just something that pushes you want to write more.
Build an outline. Outlines aren’t used by every writer, but I personally work best when I make a basic outline. Outlines can be modified throughout the drafting stages. I start with just the basic plot points, and then I work off of that building block. If my story evolves and goes in a different direction, I simply adjust my outline and keep writing.
Don’t edit until the first draft is finished. This is one tip I always give new writers. You can fix anything in the revision process, so don’t slow yourself down during your first draft. To attempt editing before you even finish the complete story would have you running in circles, and would be a complete detriment to your progress.
Read On Writing by Stephen King. I don’t care if you purchase the book, borrow it from a friend, or go to the library—just read it! This book offers invaluable information for writers to improve their craft. I also find the book very motivating, despite King’s no bullshit approach to explaining. This is a book that I always keep on hand, and I read whenever I feel like I need a swift kick to get back on track.
Write what you love. This tip sounds like a no brainer, but it’s easy to forget what’s important. Don’t write a story that you aren’t interested in just because you think the topic would please someone else. What’s the point in writing any fiction if you can’t write with passion? Write the stories that you want to tell, and stories that you would want to read.
Hope you found these tips to be informative. You can subscribe if you don’t want to miss future writing tips, and don’t forget to keep reading and writing!
This article is where i’ll break down the planning portion of building a successful Kickstarter. Have you read part 1 yet? If not, I recommend you go here. That article contains information about Kickstarter, and explains what to expect from starting your own crowdfundung project.
Okay, so now you’ve read part 1? Let’s continue.
The planning is where things get really serious. It’s crucial to establish a plan, do the necessary research, and put the plan into action long before you decide to launch.
First question, have you generated any interest in your project on social media? If the answer is no, then I would suggest you start there. Some people might just stumble upon your Kickstarter page, but mostly you’ll need to drive the traffic there yourself. Start generating interest long before you’re planning to launch.
Second, have you thought about your fan base? Who would be most interested in your project? Gamers? Mothers? Sports fans? Find out what social media platforms are best to seek out potential backers. Facebook and Twitter are pretty common, but don’t limit yourself to just the social juggernauts.
You will also need a video. Based on all the research I’ve done on Kickstarter campaigns, the success rate of projects without videos is very low. The odds seemed so bad that it’s a risk I wouldn’t take.
You also need a passionate story. If you can’t tell people why the project is so important and worthy of their money, why should anyone care at all?
Set a reasonable goal. Don’t try to aim for a goal that exceeds the amount you really need. Once your goal is locked in place, you have to hope that you reach the amount by the end of the campaign time. You can exceed your goal, but you can’t have a successful campaign if you don’t reach the set amount. With that being said, you must also remember to factor in the small fees charged by both Kickstarter and Amazon, as well as factoring in the cost of your rewards. Not sure what to offer? If you’re completely stumped then I recommend you browse similar projects, and see what others are offering as rewards.
Speaking of rewards, don’t just offer thoughtless incentives. Entice people with simple, yet fulfilling reward tiers. Some people might donate simply based off your passionate story or video, but most people want value from their rewards.
Now that I’ve broken everything down, let’s use my Kickstarter plan as an example.
I’m slowly building my fan base on social media. Sacrifice is an New Adult urban fantasy novel that features a gay protagonist. I knew that if I narrowed down my fan base to very specific groups, my best chance would be with fantasy readers and the LGBT community. I was already a part of several online communities that specifically relate to those two groups, but I still needed to build interest in the novel.
How? I went to talented artists and asked them to create concept art and illustrations that I could use. I could have just talked about my book, but some people want a visual. The art gave me something to show in my video while I explained why Sacrifice was important, and it provided me with art prints to use as rewards.
Next I wrote up a very compelling story that explains why Sacrifice is important. My book offers diversity of both race and sexual orientation, and that needed to be my key selling point. Make sure you make your selling point clear in both the video and written explanation.
I did my homework and got estimates for how much it would cost to have my manuscript professionally edited, with a professionally designed cover, and formatting for both paperback and ebook. I knew I needed a little more than my estimate to cover costs of printing and shipping rewards, as well as the small fees charged by Kickstarter and Amazon payments (it’s 5% for Kickstarter and 3-5% for Amazon as they process the payments). So I didn’t magically pull a number out of the air, and I won’t be asking for more than I actually need.
Now with my rewards I tried to keep my tiers simple, yet still fulfilling to my potential backers. For one of the cheaper tiers I’ll be offering a downloadable PDF of the finished project. The download will allow people to help for a small price while still receiving a fair reward. No shipping there! People also like to receive tangible rewards, so for that I will offer paperback copies and art prints. Small printing and shipping costs are figured into the tier price. I will even offer much larger and enticing rewards such as having a character in my novel named after a backer. So be creative and put time into your rewards.
These tips should give you a great advantage when planning your Kickstarter. You shouldn’t get discouraged if your project fails to meet the set goal. A first attempt at crowdfunding is a learning experience, and you can use that knowledge to make your second attempt even better. Remember to show passion, have patience, and plan as much as you can.
S.E. Doster 