First Cup of Coffee - September 13, 2022

Happy release day to ONCE UPON A FORBIDDEN DESIRE, a Fantasy Romance fairytale anthology! Besides that I'm discussing defending writing time with fences and thoughts on setting first in series free.

You can buy ONCE UPON A FORBIDDEN DESIRE here: https://books2read.com/forbiddenfairytales

Interested in Author Coaching from me? Information here: https://jeffekennedy.com/author-coaching

Preorder SHADOW WIZARD, Book One in Renegades of Magic, continuing the epic tale begun in DARK WIZARD. https://jeffekennedy.com/shadow-wizard

ROGUE'S PARADISE is out today! (https://jeffekennedy.com/rogue-s-paradise). Buy book 1, ROGUE'S PAWN, here! (https://jeffekennedy.com/rogue-s-pawn) and book 2, ROGUE'S POSSESSION, here! (https://jeffekennedy.com/rogue-s-possession).

ORIA'S GAMBIT now available in audio on Scribd here! https://www.scribd.com/audiobook/571010481/Oria-s-Gambit LONEN'S WAR - now in audio! - is available wide. Buy links here https://jeffekennedy.com/lonen-s-war and in audio on Scribd here https://www.scribd.com/audiobook/558914129/Lonen-s-War

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Transcript

00:00.70
jeffekennedy
Good morning, everyone! This is Jeffe Kennedy author of epic fantasy romance I'm here with my first cup of coffee.

00:12.68
jeffekennedy
Ah, it's good today. It's good every day but boy that hits the spot today is Tuesday September Thirteenth a big day in the publishing world. Um.

00:31.18
jeffekennedy
Do I even know what it's called hold on all right? So Once Upon a Forbidden Desire is out today. It's an anthology put together by a bunch of the FaRo gals. The fantasy romance gals. A lot of good friends in it. Ah Grace and I did a forward to it. We had a lot of fun doing that we did ah an online chat I think we use facebook messenger which is our usual medium ah and just talked about. How we met how we became friends about fantasy romance in general about the joys of collaborating with other authors and yeah it was fun to to do that for them. Um, they had asked us if we would. Contribute stories to the anthology in the very early stages and and we said no. No ah, ah in a nice way, but it was like a cannot fit that in so um so yes it's only ¢99 for a collection of. Fabulous stories. so so yeah grab that and DARK WIZARD is free this week. It's now officially free and there will be a book bub ad out for it today. So it's already at like 

02:03.89
jeffekennedy
Five Hundred thirty something in the free Kindle store. So it's very interesting because and I may have mentioned this yesterday that I was trying to figure out when do I set it free because it's not that simple. Um, I just checked the transcript handy to have the transcripts I did talk about it yesterday. So I won't go into all of the how do you set things free on Amazon  I um changed. Price on Sunday to ¢99 and then by the end of the day Amazon had already price matched it because they picked up that some of the other retailers had set it to free grapes.

03:00.34
jeffekennedy
And but it had already started climbing. Um it was. It was amazing I you know so I tracked my daily sales just number of sales and on Sunday I had already doubled. My average sales and yesterday more than tripled maybe maybe more by the end of the day i' looked to see where it topped out at and yes, a lot of those are free downloads but still it was like well because I hadn't really said anything except here and um.

03:34.83
jeffekennedy
Maybe this goes out farther than I realize I think it does sometimes you know it's like not easy for me to track like all of the listens and to be fair I don't because I don't want to? um I don't want to spend a lot of mental energy on it. Because I feel like the book should come first. So I'd mentioned it here but otherwise I really didn't say anything about it anywhere and but boy people find those things. So ah, it's I don't think that the. The book but emails have gone out yet. Maybe they have I don't know if they stagger those they probably do so anyway, dark wizards climbing and the whole point for those of you who like are you know like what's the point of giving your book away which I don't do it very often but is. That you hope that people will then go on to read the and buy buy and read the ensuing books. So ah, you hope to make your money back on ah on bright wizard and gray magic and now gray magic has the link in the back I got the new version uploaded. And it has the link in the back to preorder shadow wizard. So I'm hoping to prepare for a good launch for shadow wizard in a couple of weeks um providing I finish it? Ah no, it's it's good it's good I've got like 8000 words to go.

05:04.99
jeffekennedy
I'm I'm on the final scenes. Um, and I know what it's gonna say I Just um, need to get through it and then do my revision and the out loud proofing. So it'll happen also still trying to finish getting the taxes together. Those are my big projects right now. Yeah, so.

05:33.68
jeffekennedy
What was I thinking about saying I am very brain sodden on finishing this book. Ah Jadren... What am I going to do with him.

05:50.73
jeffekennedy
It's funny. There's ah, a sound out there. Maybe it's a car with a bad tire. It sounds like a drum or a car with a bad tire.. It's like a piece of equipment doing work on the the road outside the house there. So I Paused. To spare you all I can't see it because of the high wall but it must have like a big roller on it does the ah the drum like flat tire like sound. So um.

06:24.36
jeffekennedy
Yeah, so I talked a little bit about what you hope to do for sell through to to goose stuff. Um, you know I've always been dubious about about free books. There are a lot of others who firmly believe in permafree for first in series. It's not something you do unless you have the rest of the series in place and I have been waiting on dark wizard to do this? Um, so you know a lot of people will download and never read up but you hope for a certain percentage will continue to read through.

07:02.41
jeffekennedy
And yeah.

07:09.82
jeffekennedy
And let's see you know with collections like um once upon a forbidden desire they're doing something very specific there and that they are you know putting a lot of money on advertising and hoping to hit a list. And get a lot of notice for the people in it and so I I wish them very well.

07:34.93
jeffekennedy
Yeah, and and at this point I always have a little bit of um, maybe that's the fomo thing the fear of missing out. Ah I think I tweeted this at 1 point too and I feel like it could be my my autobiography. Is that ah when I see stuff going on. You know, like somebody doing some sort of talk or workshop or interview or you know what have you a thing you know I see one of my author friends or frenemys. There are not many of those. Doing something and I'll think well. Ah why didn't they ask me to do that right? You know you have a little bit of that. Well I could have done that why didn't they ask me. But then when I agree to do stuff. Ah, but I'm always like why did I agree to do this thing. And which in't done this thing so it's it's it's hard to be me size square um, you know finding that balance because you want to do as Mary Robinette Kowal says the shiny things. Ah and it's. Can be very difficult to say no to the shiny things and a lot of times you you do say yes to the shiny things because they are shiny but you can also overload yourself and so you know there's that thing of like when the time comes ah it can be a little much.

09:10.33
jeffekennedy
And and I'm aware of you know like I'm big on boundaries and I talk about New talk about this with new writers all the time that I ah I circumscribe my life pretty carefully.

09:27.70
jeffekennedy
Some might say obsessively and I I will totally cop to that I know that I'm a little strange about it. But you know when people talk about not being able to write not being able to get the peace and quiet to write I'm always telling them. You have to build a fence around it. You have to build a fence around your writing. And not let anybody through the fence for any reason you know like not unless they're bleeding because and and as soon as you do it. Your family will test that fence I'll test those boundaries and and I've had conversations with people because they've said well you know I've tried to do this I've tried to set up the time. But then um, my kids always need me and and I end up not being able to do it and I'll say well you have to tell them that they cannot need you during that hour that you know that they have to play quietly you know unless they're tiny, you know, like unless they're liable to set themselves on fire. You know I figure you've got those things handled that their lives are not in danger I remember 1 conversation vividly where I was saying to this guy. You know your kids will test you I said everybody in your life will test you because they want to know that you love them more than you love the writing. And and it's not a contest That's what they have to understand. It's just that you need that time you need that 1 hour a day or 2 hours a day or 15 minutes whatever it is. You're asking for for you to focus on this thing and prioritize it above paying attention to them and they will test you they will.

11:04.56
jeffekennedy
See if you mean it and I said it's just I don't know what it is. It's human nature. People are weirdly jealous in that way and they will test you to see if you really mean it and and this gal said but not my children. They don't know they're just little kids. And I'm like little but I could not sway her I was like little kids. No, they absolutely do this and they maybe they're not plotting it out consciously but they absolutely are are doing that and I remember when my stepkids were little ah they got. Very adept very quickly at playing the 2 households across against each other um and in some ways it was I mean it wasn't malicious. It was just they they got good at playing the game and they knew if. If something was against the rules in our house and if they told their mother that it was against the rules in our house then she would let them do it or let them have it simply to toward us and um, you know I think people want to because children's. Brains aren't fully formed because they don't think the same way that adults do because they don't have the knowledge and education that adults do people want to treat them as not being that intelligent. It's kind of like when we look at past civilizations and people want to view past civilizations as being.

12:39.73
jeffekennedy
Ignorant, um, or stupid ah because they didn't have the same understanding of certain things like viruses or what have you but people are people are people right? and so there's always that same level of mental acuity. There. You just don't have the same tools at different ages or different stages of civilization. So children are smart and they're they're wily little Monkeys and I say that with affection. But ah, you know. Children will figure out ways to to benefit themselves I think human beings we are so wired to for Self-preservation and not just Self-preservation. But for self- advancement to get our own selves. The best deal that we can. So even though we will consciously make. Sacrifices for other people or you know because I do believe that human beings are also noble and loving and giving all of these things but but we do also want the best for ourselves and want to to get. To get all the things right? So You know it's people will get will take as much as you are willing to give um and even beyond what you are willing to give they will take.

14:11.78
jeffekennedy
Ah, what they came from you and and love you at the same time.. It's just it's not ah, a good or a bad thing. It's it's the nature of the Beast. So I got very good. At circumscribing my writing time. Um, and I remember you know a lot of pushback from my family early on my mother got really mad at me that I wouldn't pick up the phone when I was writing now she knows ah you know it just takes time to get people to get used to it. But also for them to understand that this is not against them that this is not that you don't love them. It's not that you don't prioritize them but that this is this is your schedule So I am um I do have a lot of ways I am very aware of how I um.

15:05.98
jeffekennedy
Have fences around various things in my life and I was trying to explain to a friend of mine about which of my emails to you when and I realized how how absurd I am in some ways. Um because I actually have 6 different email addresses that I try to.

15:24.41
jeffekennedy
Use for different things. So and and I'm not sure 2 of them may just really count as one because for for Sifwa I have president@sfwa.org and then I also have jeffe.kennedy@sfwa.org ah neither of which is a secret.

15:44.60
jeffekennedy
Obviously those are public email addresses but they both go to the same inbox. But I only look at those emails at very particular times of the day and longtime listeners. You will all know that I talk about you know, like setting up the order of my day that I don't look at email early in the day. Ah, except for 1 email address which is my um like semi secret personal address but everything else waits until later in the day and after I've gotten words done after I've got another work done and then I go in and I try to deal with all my email at once. You know, sort of use that 1 touch method read it respond to it deal with it. It's not always possible. But I do that as much as I can.

16:36.93
jeffekennedy
Thrasher is here getting a grape feeding the birds people always ask us. What do you do with your grapes I said feed the birds. Ah.

16:48.84
jeffekennedy
So yeah, every year I think we should harvest them and do something and every year I don't it's a thing so anyway, um, yeah, i. I'm sure I take this too far in some ways but I also I become aware of it when I'm trying to explain to someone else. Um, you know like about my schedule or about my times for access and it's it's funny because um. People who know me, well my good friends. My family and stuff are so used to this now that they know but it's only when I have someone who's like becoming a closer friend and Iss like well when can we chat and be like well I can chat be between's I know that's. But you know, but maybe that's a maybe that's where I come from being um on the Leo Virgo cusp right? Somebody told me that that makes me a meticulous volcano which I think is probably pretty accurate. Ah.

18:02.85
jeffekennedy
Anyway, that was a sort of little bit of sojourn into into things. Um, yeah, so the ah anthology that's out today once upon a forbidden desire congratulations gals. Good example of collaborating networking. Working with other people. Ah I ah, wish them all the the best of success with this and um, yeah, very excited to see how this week goes for bonds of magic and promoting renegades of magic.

18:40.37
jeffekennedy
And ah, excited to finish this book. So I'm sure those of you who who watch for a long time engage me at my different processes on this book are on the various books I feel you probably. Recognize that I'm I'm not stressed about the ending in this book like I often am maybe because I know how it's a new I don't know oh also um mom you may have noticed the volume should be much better I had to toole the mic input and so I had to go into settings and I think maybe. Getting that new webcam head like changed the input. So I think I I could see my waveform again. So it must be much better so can't have my mother not being able to hear so um, him I hope you all have a fabulous tuesday. Ah, go out and enjoy the literary fantasy romance epic fantasy romance dark fantasy romance offerings today and I will talk to you all on Thursday you all take care bye bye.