Dominique Gibson

Hi! Dominique Gibson is back with another post, this time about bookfunnel. I have been paying a subscription to bookfunnel for a while now, trying my best to figure out what I am going to do with it. I have sent out a couple of short stories to some people the old-fashioned way (email with a PDF) but decided that I wanted to give bookfunnel a try. I have heard that a lot of indie authors swear by it because of them doing landing pages and uploading ebooks and short stories on there to get people to sign up for their newsletters.

The problem? I can’t figure out what to upload on bookfunnel.

As I stated, I have written two short stories based on the characters from the first three books of the Truson S.E.T Series. I have also wrote a holiday novella that features a different hybrid than the ones in the main books. I have also considered whether I want to give Courtney’s Redemption away as a free ebook while keeping the paperback version on Amazon. As you can see, I have come up with many different ideas on how to distribute my stories. I know that I would have to rewrite whatever story I choose to upload on bookfunnel. I just don’t want to rewrite the wrong story or rewrite the story I only feel somewhat passionate about (Only because it’s a short story and NOT a novel).

Decisions, decisions. Even a veteran writer like myself has to go through these things sometimes.

See you soon.

Dominique Gibson

Hi! Happy December! It’s been busy around here, especially with the holidays approaching. I had originally intended to do a different post today, one where I would talk about the latest book I am reading or the latest book I am writing about (Or should say rewriting about), but I decided that I wanted to do a post about my frustration with IngramSpark.

I guess I now understand why people are getting so upset when it comes to Ingramspark. I just recently went on IngramSpark to correct a mistake I had made about two weeks ago. I seemed to be successful when it came to publishing the hardcover copy of An Orman’s Revenge. I even managed to get a few sales on the hardcover edition of the book. However, when I decided to do the paperback version of the same book, I ran into some issues, including trying to change the book cover of the book. Thinking that I would be able to use the same cover for the paperback as I did with the hardcover, I uploaded it to my IngramSpark dashboard and waited.

Unfortunately, my book didn’t upload to IngramSpark. The reason? The margins for the book cover didn’t match for the paperback version of the book. Now, they have stated that they wanted me to do a book cover template to upload the cover. Do I have a problem with this? Not really. I have been experimenting with trying to do the book cover for a while now on Canva. I guess it would be time for me to figure it out and upload it to see what happens.

But I still had a gripe with them because they do not have a feature where you can delete the book and start over, something in which I wanted to do considering the book cover looked terrible. I searched everywhere but yet, I couldn’t find the feature anywhere. With Amazon, I am able to have the option of deleting my book whenever I want. What a difference a book distribution makes.

Oh well, I guess I will have to start back at ground zero when it comes to IngramSpark….after they approve or disapprove my changes.

See you soon.

Dominique Gibson

Hi! I’m back. I haven’t been able to post as often as I should. I had so many ups and downs when it comes to my full-time job (still doing lesson plans, observations, etc.) along with some sort of mysterious sickness going around that the doctors can’t quite put their finger on at the moment. At this time, I am still on the self-editing phrase of Courtney’s Redemption. Although I am trying my best to do this on my own, I am still struggling when it comes to seeing my own work through a different perspective (as an editor) and is still in that phase of ‘Oh my book just sucks’ category. I am now reading chapter eleven and will have two more chapters to go when it comes to taking notes on what I need to improve on in this story. Since it’s been a while since I relied on new self-help books in order to improve my writing skills, I thought it would be a nice opportunity for me to explore some new books when it came to me rewriting the novel. One of those books has been circulating around the internet for a while and it’s something that most indie authors swear by when it comes to writing the first (or tenth) novel.

So, lately I have been reading Save The Cat writes a Novel by Jessica Brody and I will admit that it’s quite interesting. They talk about the beat sheet and what elements you might need in a novel that would make the story more interesting to read. After reading a couple of chapters, I have decided that I am going to follow the instructions and exercises that are in this book and maybe do a blog and a video about the overall progress when it comes to doing the exercises in this book. I don’t know what the final result would be when it comes to this considering my books center on romance and sci-fi but it does give out some examples on the more popular genre books like Twilight and The fault in our Stars. She also goes on to do ‘beat sheets’ on certain books that talks about the beats you would need in your novel to make the reader want more.

I will be sure to keep you guys posted on my updates when it comes to my discovery when it comes to using the Save the Cat book on the fourth book of the Truson S.E.T. Series, Courtney’s Redemption. If you will excuse me, I think I will read and take notes on one more chapter before I call it a night.

Dominique Gibson

Hi! I know it’s been a long time since my last post. I have been super busy when it comes to moving things forward in my personal life and it’s been a real struggle to balance everything out. I will be posting periodically throughout the website and my social media posts about me looking for some clients for my book coaching program between now and December of this year. In addition to that, I am still working on Courtney’s Redemption. I have gotten started on the rewriting process (self-editing) and I must admit that I am having a few moments where I go:

Why in the h*** did I write this?

Please keep in mind that I have written a total of five books within the past five years. There are some authors out here who think that what I do gets easier every time I write a book. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Just by reading what I wrote, I can already tell why my book was on the short end of my word count and why it was longer than I thought it would be. This made me realize that I wasn’t truly done with my work in the first place and that it needed a lot of work for it to be where I wanted it to be.

I am currently reading chapter seven of Courtney’s Redemption and wonder if it’s going to be ready in time for Christmas. As much as I want it to be ready, the juggle between me having a full-time job, finishing my classes as a book coach, and having other personal duties filling up my plate at the moment doesn’t make it easy to publish the book like some people think. It’s even more of a struggle because of my constant promotion on Booktok to reach more viewers so that in return, they will be able to buy my books.

While I will admit I did have some level of success when it came to giving away my first book for free during the month of September, I know that I still need to write, publish and promote more books. But with the little money I have every week from my job, it is getting harder to find editors and beta readers to take a look at my work for a cheaper price.

But I am determined that I will get it done. It’s just a matter of when…

Dominique Gibson

Hello! Hope you guys are all having a wonderful evening, day or morning wherever you are. I must say that today, I am super excited! Not only was I happy about celebrating my birthday on the 28th of August this year! (Go me) but I decided to pass on my excitement to anyone who is interested in reading books and need a book on your TBR (To be read) list! If you like:

• Romance
• Light sci-fi
• Hybrids with superhero powers
• Murder mystery/thrillers
• Second chances

Then maybe you would be interested in reading the first book in the Truson S.E.T. Series, An Orman’s Revenge! If you are, then that’s great because I am offering a FREE paperback copy starting from August 29th, 2023 to September 29th, 2023. I am only offering this wonderful opportunity for ONE MONTH ONLY! After that, the FREE copy of An Orman’s Revenge will be replaced by another book sometime in the near future and I will no longer be able to offer this precious book for FREE. So, if you want to experience something new and different that is a little outside the norm but still follow the genre tropes you know and love, then sign up in the link down below to get your FREE copy today.

*Please make sure you put your mailing address in the message box so I will be able to mail the book to you.

*Also, please let me know if you want to sign up for my newsletter or not. Although I would really like it if you did, you are under no obligation to sign up whatsoever!

Thank you!

Dominique Gibson