Gay & lesbian

Sacrifice Novel Kickstarter Project

/ S.E. Doster / Leave a comment

Today, I am officially announcing my Sacrifice novel Kickstarter campaign that will launch in September. Originally, I was going to use one of my comic book projects to attempt my first Kickstarter but decided against it.

Why did I choose Sacrifice instead?

I felt that this story embraces diversity of both race and sexual orientation.

I knew my first novel, The Alliance: Bloodlines, lacked diversity in a major way. At the time of writing Bloodlines, I was too scared to attempt such diversity even though I wanted too. There were characters that I originally intended to be gay, but changed it to make their sexual orientation much less obvious.

Why?

At the time I hadn’t read many books that had gay characters and was hesitant to take the risk myself.

Looking back on it now makes me feel silly for not going with my original plan, but even then all of my main characters were still white.

Why?

Almost every book that I read growing up featured a white male protagonist. The reason that I added a female protagonist was through the influences of the awesome power of Joss Whedon. After watching Buffy as a teen, I knew that I wanted to write powerful and inspiring female characters, but I wanted my heroine to be gay and not just surrounded by white supporting characters.

Sacrifice was a story that worked its way into my head a few years ago, and I let it sit and simmer for several months before taking action. I took notes and created in depth characters while I built the outline that would be the foundation for this novel. I knew that this was the time to take the risk and write the story I’ve been dying to tell.

Why?

I finally realized that if all writers simply write or modify their stories to fit the “norm” then nothing would ever change, and ten years from now a new generation would still be reading tons of books that mostly featured a white cast of straight characters when that doesn’t reflect real life. Writers of today have the power to break the vicious cycle and set new standards for the future generations. So I have chosen to write a story that’s true to my real life diversity, but of course with added supernatural elements and meta-humans!

So what is Sacrifice all about?

Sacrifice contains the romance of a lesbian couple, but that factor doesn’t define the story. This is an action packed thriller involving meta-humans and supernatural characters —some of which just happen to be gay.

The story showcases a diverse cast of meta-humans that have dedicated their lives to protecting the human race from dangerous supernatural forces. The overall theme questions how far one person would go to protect their loved ones. The protagonist, Katherine Reese, relinquishes her freedom to the meta-human military in order to keep her family safe, but she finds an even greater sacrifice is required—possibly even her life.

Rogue werewolf attacks and dastardly mages have everyone on edge when the meta-human military sends their top team to investigate.

Katherine Reese leads the powerfully stacked alpha team on a search for answers that reveals a larger threat. Supernatural leaders have set a plan in motion that could destroy the balance between the human and supernatural world.

More information will be revealed over the next few days. Stay tuned and you can stay updated by subscribing to my blog or via Facebook updates.

Taking a New Approach to Self Publishing

/ S.E. Doster / Leave a comment

In my previous post I discussed the mistakes I’ve made in my adventures of self-publishing. Today I just want to talk about ways that I am trying to learn from my mistakes, and attempt a different approach to making a new WIP more successful than The Alliance: Bloodlines. Now Bloodlines has received some amazing five star reviews, but that means nothing to readers if the cover, description, or editing isn’t strong enough.

 So what happens now? If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!

Now that I know I can’t skimp on a cover design or editing, I must find a way to provide those things. Unfortunately I don’t have the money for pay for the hefty costs of professional editing or design. Editing costs can really break the bank depending on the length of the book or different types of editing. I’ve seen recommended professional editors quote as much as $2,000-3,000 for editing one book.

So in order to offer these necessities for my new novel, I will be turning to Kickstarter to try crowd funding enough money to pay for some of the harsh expenses.  Now crowd funding is not easy feat, but with the right planning it can be successful.  You still need to build your audience first (another mistake I mentioned in my previous post) because you shouldn’t assume that enough people will magically stumble upon and back your project. A lot of your backers will come from friends, family, and word of mouth.

I’ll be doing a lot of research and planning before I release my project in May. I would recommend checking out some of the successful Kickstarter projects to get some great examples. I’ll probably do a more detailed blog about Kickstarter once I’ve had more experience with creating a project on the site.

I’ve read a lot of opinions about using Kickstarter for a novel, and I noticed several people have their doubts. If you build enough interest and plan to use the self-publishing route anyway, why not give your book as a backer reward? If the project is successful then you have just put your novel in the hands of many, and that can equal book reviews for you! My goal is simply to get my book into the hands of as many people as possible, and Kickstarter feels like a great outlet for that.

Regardless of what path you take, you should never give up on your passion. If your novel isn’t successful that isn’t your warning sign to quit, but instead evaluate the whole package and determine how to improve.

I’m posting the announcement that I made on my Facebook page for anyone who don’t follow or might have missed it. This gives a very brief explanation of my project. I’ll be providing more details and art as time passes, but for now I just want you all to know why this project is important to me. Please read on if you haven’t caught up with my Facebook page!

 

“I’ve decided on my Kickstarter project! After much consideration, I chose my latest WIP that is currently titled Sacrifice. This title may not stick, but right now that’s what i’m calling it. The story centers on a gay protagonist who also happens to be a meta-human. I’ve gotten great feedback from beta readers, and I really feel like this is a story that needs to be told. There needs to be more quality LGBT friendly novels. I’m sick of seeing a small selection, and most of them don’t even look professionally done. I will work my ass off to make Sacrifice a well written story that positively represents the LGBT community and can be enjoyed by anyone.

I’m planning to launch this at the first part of May and more details will come soon. I have a strong well-thought out game plan, but I also need to build an army to make this successful. I have a great group of friends that have offered their time to help me create art, beta read, edit and much more. I am very grateful to have such awesome people supporting me. I’ll need more help spreading the word, and if you have a blog or know someone with a blog/site that might be interested in an author interview/Q&A or whatever, i’ll be looking for every opportunity possible. Stay tuned, and stay awesome.”