Reflections on a successful and surprising 2015!

A year ago, I sat down to reflect on 2014, after publishing my first book that July. I couldn't have imagined then the amazing opportunities that would come in 2015!

It has been a year filled with surprises and success, and I've enjoyed every minute of it!

I have continued on my independent author journey this year and published a further 7 titles (after only hoping to publish 1!).

• 1 YA fiction (the sequel to my first)
• 2 illustrated children's fictions
• 2 adult colouring books
• 2 companion books for the adult colouring books.

I have so many ideas that I haven't had chance to pen yet too. Right now, I have I think about 30 books plotted or planned that I need to schedule to time to actually write/draw!

Of my 8 books, all are top 100 bestsellers or better on Amazon. All are positively reviewed and it's so wonderful hearing that readers have enjoyed my work. I write because I love to, but I publish because I want my books to be enjoyed.

In the case of my colouring books, I'm touched and honoured to hear from those with health problems that colouring my books has helped them cope and recover. You may recall I've had my own health problems this year - so drawing and writing has helped get me through the tougher parts of 2015 too.

A year ago, I was on the cusp of selling my 100th book. Now I'm on the cusp of selling my 4,000th! I know that's not a huge number to some, but it's much more than I was expecting or hoping for - and I'm so grateful to everyone who chose to read one of my titles. This for me, is just the beginning.

It means that I am so so close to what I would deem financial success from writing and illustrating. I have a number in my mind that I'd like to make each month from creating, to justify and enable me to go full time without needing a part time job. So to exceed that number greatly for several months of this year is fantastic. It shows me it's possible, with hard work and time - and luck!

In my personal life, there's been a lot of changes, so 2015 has been quite tumultuous! I finished my 4 year teaching degree in May and recently graduated as the only woman in my year with 1st class honours. I am so very glad to be free of teaching. It was clearly the wrong career for me.

I also changed job/working hours a few times at my part time job and am now (as of December) working a new stable pattern that allows me to have a large chunk of defined writing/creating time each week. Not being at university has certainly freed up lots of time!

My fiance and I (and of course our beloved cats Jet and Pixie) moved house this Autumn too. This is one of the biggest changes of the year, because it totally alters our lifestyle. We have upsized to a good-sized family house further into the countryside that we can grow into in the coming years.

It's in a lovely location and I have a beautiful office space to call my very own, that looks out over my favourite moors. It is a wholesome and uplifting place to be that is very good for my ongoing productivity and mental/physical health (which is really important as sitting/writing is so bad for your health!). I look forward to lots of happy years living and working here. :-)

So 2015 has been a year of transition, from university student to actively planning to become a full time author. This year my eyes have been opened to what I really want to pursue with my life, and that it's possible. I've changed from being quite naive and pottering about publishing, to wanting to make a serious go at it.

It's been exciting to stumble upon and take advantage of the unforeseen opportunities that have arisen. I am so excited to share my 2016 goals with you to illustrate exactly how I plan to achieve that, so stay tuned! :D

Have an awesome New Year's Eve, and let me know how you got on in 2015/what your 2016 goals are!

Diary of a Secret Witch 2: Worst Witch is here!

So excited to announce that my latest children's book (aimed at ages 7-11) is here! Readers of Diary of a Middle Grade Princess, Princess Diaries, Geek Girl and Tracy Beaker would enjoy the Diary of a Secret Witch series.

I have some exciting launch events including a competition to win signed paperback & eBook copies!

Enter here to win —

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sharing is caring: the more entries I receive, the more I'll give away!

Worst Witch is available for just 99p on Kindle....

Download here

...and £4.99 in paperback!

Purchase here

Not started yet? No problem; download 'Diary of a Secret Witch 1: Wackiest Week', for free on Kindle this week!

Download here

Hope you enjoy Worst Witch!

A Year Of Publishing

So it's July 31st, which means a year ago today I published my first book!

How different ... and perhaps in some ways also the same ... life is today! I hope I've managed to keep the good things and improve in other areas.

A year ago I was a third year teaching student, filled with despair at the career path I'd chosen... and discovered wasn't for me. I'd just stumbled upon indie publishing: this strange but alluring world where anything was possible and the horizons were changing daily.

I published that book - The Tainted Crown - not knowing what was next on the horizons. It's done ok to date - broken even - what more can I ask for? Nothing, only that it's enjoyed. :-) It was always an experiment, if I'm honest.

Now a year on, I'm no longer a teaching student, and am not going into teaching. I still have a day job... for now. One day though, creating will pay my bills. That's a promise.

I have three books out now. The sequel to The Tainted Crown - The Brooding Crown - and an adult colouring book - The Wild Colouring Book.

The fiction sequel was to be expected. It's been an amazing project to work on and publish, especially with my new editor Sophie Playle polishing my manuscript. I'm proud of that project. It's got a long wait to go before I break even but I'll get there! :) Fiction, I've learned, is very hard to make profit (aka a living) on! I have a lot more work to do before that will be a sustainable source of income.

The Wild Colouring Book was a total wild card. I never expected to produce anything like that! But I'm so glad I did!! It's been such a fun project - fulfilling in a different way to writing. And to be honest, for a year when I've been really ill, too ill to write, drawing for that has kept me going.

It's given me my first real taste of success too. I appreciate every sale... because I know I'm so lucky that anyone chooses to buy something I created! But the sheer amount of success has overwhelmed me. Wow. To date, it's sold over 500 copies in under 2 months. With no marketing or advertising budget. Out of 28,000,000+ books on Amazon, it's reached rankings of 382. And its a top 25 bestseller in self help books.

I've had nothing but praise for it - and it's beyond amazing to hear that not only are people enjoying it for a creative past time, but that it's helping people rehabilitate in hospital, and helping them through periods of depression and anxiety. Like... wow. What a privilege, that I can create something that goes on to genuinely help people. Wow. That's humbling.

So standing here now, 1 year on and 1 year into this publishing malarkey... I'm so grateful. And so determined. I've come so far - further than I imagined and in a different direction than I first thought - but this is only the beginning.

I look forward to taking stock next year on July 31st 2016! Where will things be then? Who knows...

Onwards and upwards! :)

Meg

Ps. I'd love to hear what you're up to - reply or connect with me on social media. What goals are you aiming for in the next year or so? How are you getting along?

The Brooding Crown is here!

Soren has defeated his usurping uncle and the semblance of peace has returned to Caledan, but surrounded by the twelve noble houses of Caledan, King Soren can trust few. In the shadows, treasonous thoughts grow. When news of Zaki’s presence in Roher reaches Soren, can he ally all of Caledan to his cause – and keep them?
Zaki has not given up on his plans to regain Caledan’s throne. First he must prove himself to Harad, the mighty king of Roher, but Zaki will stop at nothing to gain the support of Roher’s army, march on Caledan’s borders and take back the throne of the dragon kings.
War returns to Caledan, but a greater threat looms. The pact is broken. The Eldarkind are fading. The dragons war amongst themselves. A power too terrible to name grows in the North, and He seeks revenge. Only Eve stands in His way – but can she stop magic as old as time?

 

 

IT'S HERE!!!

I'm so so excited to finally share The Brooding Crown with you! You can pick up your copies here...

Kindle
Amazon UK
Amazon US
(The Brooding Crown is available on Kindle in all Amazon territories worldwide)

In print
Amazon UK
Amazon US
(The Brooding Crown is also available to order on Amazon EU stores, and through bookstores and libraries using its ISBN number: 978-1514382288)
 

~

I hope you enjoy! Please do let me know what you think. :-)

Bye for now,

Meg

 

 

The Brooding Crown Release Date & Cover!!

Hi!!!

I've been looking forward to this post for AGES! I'm super excited to at last share the cover of The Brooding Crown: The Second Book of Caledan with you!

I can also at last share the publication date:

The Brooding Crown will be released

on Thursday July 16th 2015!

This is my favourite project ever - I have loved working on it every minute and cannot wait to share it.

So - what do you think?

This took 5 hours of illustration by hand and closely ties in to the cover of The Tainted Crown. The Tainted Crown features the royal crown of Caledan, whereas The Brooding Crown features the royal crown of Roher, a country you will be seeing lots more of in The Brooding Crown!

That's all the spoilers you're getting for now, but I'll be releasing the first chapters to my mailing list. Sign up to receive them!

Hope you like it! Feedback welcome as always. :-)

Meg

Jogging through June

Hi all,

Hope you're well!

It's June already - how!? 2015 is rushing by.

May's main success was of course publishing The Wild Colouring Book. It's gone down a storm! I've been overwhelmed by all the people sending in snaps of them colouring it in and generally enjoying it. It's awesome to have created something for people to have fun with!

@Emma_stitch on Twitter getting ready to colour!

I didn't meet all my May targets - alas, it happens! So I have a bit of catching up this month. But it's not a problem, as I had built some slack into June's timetable just in case.

Unfortunately, I've been rather ill for a couple of months and it turns out that I've had glandular fever! The fever is long gone, but unfortunately I've been left with extreme fatigue. Even the most simple, unstrenuous things tire me out and I can't concentrate for long at the moment. That's really shot me in the foot in May! :S

So June will, in part, be given over to getting back to good health and fitness.

My writing goals for June are:

1. Final edits of The Brooding Crown, now I have received it back from my lovely editor Sophie.

2. Proofing of The Brooding Crown (by the end of the month I should have a copy in my hands - how exciting!!)

3. Finish off the tweaks to The Tainted Crown and reupload to sales platforms (will now include a preview for The Brooding Crown!)

4. Start releasing material for Accounting For Authors. (May tweak the title to Finance for Authors too since that fits better...)

My illustrating goals are:

1. Pitch to a pubisher for a follow up colouring book project. ;-)

I'll also start releasing material for The Brooding Crown! The cover and the first few chapters will be released. Exciting times! :-)

What are you doing this month?

 Let me know in the comments, or catch me on social media!

Happy Monday,

Meg

The Wild Colouring Book is here!

Hi, good news this week!
 

The Wild Colouring Book is available to purchase and enjoy TODAY! Here's how to get your hands on one and how to join in with the fun launch events!

 

Where can you buy a copy?
Print copy (unsigned) - Amazon UK / Amazon USA / AMAZON EU
Print your own (PDF) - My online store.


What's happening to celebrate the launch?

Giveaway! Join the giveaway to win copies of The Wild Colouring Book (it runs until 5th June). The more people enter, the more copies I'll give away!
Competition! Send your entries via email, Twitter or Facebook! Prizes will be copies of The Wild Colouring Book!
 

Thank you all for your support during the pre-launch period. I really hope you enjoy The Wild Colouring Book.
I'd also really appreciate a few seconds of your time to share this on social media! The buttons are at the bottom of this post. Thank you. :-)
Happy colouring!

Meg

Mix-it-up-May

Hi,

How do?

I achieved all of my April targets, which is great. The Brooding Crown is now with my editor, and The Wild Colouring Book is finished. I have the first copy in my hands, am waiting on the shipment of preordered signed copies to arrive this week, and everything is set up and ready to go to launch the sales pages online. Yay!

Things are really heating up now we're in May, though! This month is so random... I'm working on a real mix of projects.

The Tainted Crown is undergoing a bit of TLC this month - it needs a few tweaks before I'm happy for it to sit alongside The Brooding Crown. [Sign up to my fiction newsletter to hear release news & updates first!]

The Wild Colouring Book will be released on May 28th (next Thursday), so there's lots to do for the launch of that! I'm really looking forward to the launch party and hope I get lots of entries in the giveaway and colouring competition! [Sign up to my colouring newsletter to hear release news & updates first!]

I'm getting cracking with the Accounting For Authors project after a couple months forced downtime to focus on uni stuff and prioritise The Brooding Crown. I'm lucky to have the very talented Joanna Penn of thecreativepenn.com / jfpenn.com offering me advice & support on this project. This project will become a much greater focus of mine from now. [Sign up to my non-fiction newsletter to hear release news & updates first!]

The Shattered Crown: The Third Book of Caledan is already in the outlining phase so that's going to come onto the to-do list too! But not this month. Revising The Brooding Crown (once I receive it from my editor) comes first!

New series - no spoilers! I have outlined 13 books in a completely new series (detailed plotting for the first installment is completed) - I just need time to fit them in! I need to write The Shattered Crown first though, but ohhhhh I *really* want to start writing this new series! ;-)

Oops, I'm getting ahead of myself now! So the rest of May will be busy, and the year will be running along at full pelt much as it is now. It's so exciting to finally be in the middle of managing all these different writing projects after having planned out my 2015 schedule back in January.

Well, no time like the present. The books don't write themselves if I'm blogging! Bye for now, don't forget to let me know what creative projects you have on the go in the comments/on social media! :-)

Meg

The Wild Colouring Book - Release Events & Where To Find It!

Hi!

 

The Wild Colouring Book is so very nearly here - Thursday 28th May - and the first copy has landed! I thought I'd blog to let you know how to get your hands on one and how to join in with the fun launch events!

Where can you buy a copy?
Print copy (unsigned) - Will be available on Amazon for £4.99/€5.99/$7.99 Print copy (signed) - Will be available through me, just hit reply if you're interested. £4.99/€5.99/$7.99 + postage.
Print your own (PDF) - Available at my PayHip store for £3.99.

(Links to follow on release day!)

  

What's happening to celebrate the launch?
Launch party! There'll be an online launch party, hurrah! This will be operating between 8 and 9pm GMT*. You can join in on Twitter using the hashtag #TWCB (I thought #TheWildColouringBook would be a bit longwinded!). [*3-4pm EDT, 12-1pm PDT, 9pm-10pm CEST. None of these your timezone? Calculate the time here.]
Giveaway! There'll be a giveaway to win print and digital copies of The Wild Colouring Book. The more people enter, the more copies I'll give away! (Link to follow on release day!)
Competition! What better way to celebrate the release of The Wild Colouring Book than to have a colouring competition? I'll be accepting entries from now until Sunday 31st May. To enter, colour one of the free images in my download pack and send me your best attempt via email, Twitter or Facebook! Prizes will be copies of The Wild Colouring Book.

On launch day, I'll share links to all the places you can purchase The Wild Colouring Book, a link to enter the giveaway, and of course a reminder to join in the fun at the launch party!
In the meantime, why not hop over to my Pinterest account. I have a 'Colouring Books and Pages' board full of lovely colouring pages by other people that I hope you'll enjoy whilst you're waiting for The Wild Colouring Book's release.
Happy colouring!

Meg

The Wild Colouring Book release date announced!

Super excited. Today, the proof copy of The Wild Colouring Book arrived!

Suffice to say, I got rather giddy! Today I've spent some time testing it with felt tip pens, artist markers and various colouring crayons. It's performing really well!

The paper is not bleeding at all for the felt tips, which is brilliant, and the colouring pencils are laying down a fantastic, vibrant layer of colour. It's really easy to shade. Happy days! I so hope that people enjoy colouring it. :D

I'm happy to announce that it will be published on Thursday 28th May 2015!

 

Int he meantime, you can grab some FREE colouring pages from the book exclusively from my website at illustration.megcowley.co.uk!

 

Happy colouring!

- Meg

Mad March Roundup & Arty April To Do List!

One of the images for my adult colouring book.

Yikes. I can't believe March is over already. It was such a busy month! If you follow me on twitter, you'll notice I even dropped off the face of the earth for a bit. You know you're busy when you don't even tweet!

I was ill, but also really productive. Totally finished my dissertation (aka 13,200 words of 'kill me now'!), the final essay of my degree (YAY!) and more importantly to me, editing The Brooding Crown and outlining my new series. I am *almost* done with uni stuff (finishing mid-May) to focus solely on writing. Feel the anticipation!

The Brooding Crown is now in the hands of my lovely writer friends to critique before it goes to my also lovely editor Sophie next month, and my new series, which will be written as a serial, has been plotted to the tune of 3 series and the first installment outlined. Woohoo! Not sure when I'll have time to start writing it, mind.... I'm hoping to fit it in later this year, but there's lots of other stuff to do too!

One of the images for my adult colouring book.

My surprise project of March was an adult colouring book - finally, I seem to have found the output for my art that is most appropriate for other people to enjoy too! :-) I've not released title/cover yet, but it's coming soon. That's already one third complete - I've been a busy bee! - and is on track to be finished by the end of April and published by the end of May. More details to follow on that. :-)

One of the images for my adult colouring book.

So, seeing as most of my writing stuff is wrapped up for now, my April to do list is much more arty! That's great - I've missed drawing. I should have stumbled on this adult colouring book idea sooner!

Here's what I'm up to this month:

• Finishing all illustrations (about 30) for my adult colouring book.
• Cover design and interior file creation for the colouring book.
• Creating a sub-section of my website for the colouring book and a separate mailing list (I have one for fiction, non fiction and will have a third for this).
• Cover design & back-cover blurb for The Brooding Crown.
• Nervously await feedback from my critiquers on The Brooding Crown!
• Being a guest for my local scout group, who have invited me along to interview so they can get their writer badges! Very excited to hopefully inspire some young writers. :-)

What are you up to this April? Do let me know in the comments/on twitter/facebook.

Bye for now!

Meg

Mad March To Do List!

 

Hi!

Wow, I can't believe it's March already. I probably say this every month of every year, but where's the year going?!

It's going to be a busy month. A really busy month. Like I'd-really-better-get-my-backside-in-gear-last-week busy month!

My to do list for March includes...

Degree related stuff (yawn) -

• Write my dissertation (7,500 words)
  I've already part planned this and collected most of my research. Just need to collect academic stuff to back it up and get it written. Why is this so much harder than it sounds!?
• Plan a handwritten essay on... something (I have no idea, should probably work on this...) by mid March.

 Writing stuff (yay!) -

•  Edit The Brooding Crown!
  94,000 words of fiction to trawl repeatedly through until I want to bash myself over the head with my keyboard and never see the manuscript again. Joking aside, looking forward to this!
• Plan more of my new series!
  No spoilers/details as yet! I've plotted one book, but want to outline a couple of sequals to get a headstart too. This will be a late 2015 project at the earliest, most likely a 2016 project by the time of publication.
• Finish a freebie for my Accounting for Authors series.
  This will give you the lowdown on everything you need to set up your own business as an author. It'll be simple, easy to follow and link to all resources needed. It'll also give exact details of when/how to complete this.

Degree stuff unfortunately has to take precedence! Can't fall at the final hurdle and all. But boy I can't wait to be done there (I finish in May) so I can get back to writing and the things I love. :-)

What are you up to this month? Let me know in the comments!

Meg

New book idea + share your writing processes!

 

The sky is the limit!

Super excited today. I had a vague notion for a story a while ago - perhaps as long as a year or two actually - but it never fully formed at the time, and whilst I thought, 'oh, that's a good one to keep', I didn't know what to do with it. I only had the main character/two but no idea of the plot.

Well that changed last night! I was just trying to drift off to sleep when it popped up into my head again. The main characters strolled into my head formed (and sassy) and the story unfolded. One thing I learnt (the hard way) to do when this happens? Write it down immediately! As awake as you think you are, and as much as you think you can trust your brain to remember all the details in perfect clarity... oh boy it won't!

So I jotted everything down on my phone and emailed it to myself. Plotted roughly the first book in about 10 minutes flat. Not in any great detail of course, but figured out most of the key events - that can't be a bad thing!

It's going to be a YA fantasy heavily based in myth and magic!

A bonus was being able to see a series arc as a whole. There's still far too many gaps to know how long it will be, but I know there's so many adventures the characters can have! Exciting times. I usually struggle to see the much longer term picture (I have struggled plotting too far ahead with Caledan, for example), so this is a new and welcome feeling.

How do you plot/plan your stories? Do you plan far in advance?

Of course, I still had to trawl Amazon this morning to see if I could find anyone who'd already written it. I came close! I had a nervy few minutes thinking that someone had written my exact idea, but thanks to the synopsis and Amazon's 'sample' features, I was able to see it was completely different. Phew!

Have you ever done this and found someone's already written your ideas? What did you do!?

I just don't know when on earth I'm going to do it and how I'll fit it in! I already have lots of projects planned out for this year. I'm not sure if I can give myself to anymore without compromising the integrity of the ones I already have (which is of course, non-optional - I firmly believe in putting out your best work, despite the fact we are all continously improving).... but I'm *really* bitten by this idea and want to start now now now!

If only I didn't still have most of my dissertation and other essays to write, it might be possible to fit it in much sooner! I'm going to focus on plotting this in my spare time though, see if I can't hash out the first few books in the series. I think I need to become more productive in the time I have to manage everything. I know people who put out many books a year, so it must be possible!

How do you ensure you stay on task and are as productive/efficient as possible?

I love being a writer - new ideas can strike you any time and anywhere. The sky is the limit - or rather, the bounds of your imagination are.

I really want to share this project, but I know it's too soon yet! Hopefully in a few months I can spill more of the details.

Take care for now!

~ Meg

Career decision made. I'm going to be a full time author.

Hi all, hope you're well.

Today is the day that I admit to the world that as of this May, the very moment when I finish my degree, turn in my dissertation and sit my exams, I'll no longer be a student teacher, I'll be a full time writer. It fills me with joy to say that!

The decision has been a long time in the making. I started writing seriously in late 2011/early 2012 and made the decision to publish in 2013. Since then, I've not looked back. The world of writing and publishing has sucked me in.

The online community of writers - both indie and traditional - has welcomed and inspired me to pursue the impossible, the improbable and the original. It has truly been a beacon of hope to me in dark times and a chain reaction of inspiration in good times. It's helped me overcome my own fears about writing, acceptance and pursuing my dreams.


It is regrettable that I've done a four year degree in teaching and no longer intend to pursue it as a career. But then, the career is in no way related to what I thought it would be and doesn't fulfil me as I'd expected it to either.

I try not to regret the decision to study it, because it's led me to where I am today. I try not to think about other paths I could or should have taken, too, like Illustration or Graphic Design or Creative Writing. A degree is still a degree - a valuable asset, though perhaps not right now.

It's not to say that teaching won't ever be the right thing for me - who knows - but for now, it's certainly not and I'm lucky enough to be able to walk away from it to pursue writing. It's a really hard job - at times impossible - and I genuinely respect anyone that can do it and do it well.

We need outstanding educators in our societies to have any hope of furthering ourselves as a race, especially in an ever changing society. Educators also need to be totally committed to all that teaching entails to have any hope of doing their pupils justice - a reason why I *should* not be a teacher at this current time. I cannot fulfil that.

So instead, I get to focus on doing what I do love, which is a position I feel extremely fortunate - no, the luckiest person alive - to be able to say and do. Writing consumes me and almost every waking moment is devoted to thoughts of writing, publishing, improving and sharing my work with the world. Now I get to do that full time (well, soon, anyway).

Of course I still have bills to pay! I'll be keeping my part time job indefinitely to meet those. I'm blessed with an incredibly supportive partner who encourages me in this venture too, whilst we have the opportunity for me to pursue this. I hope that I can repay his confidence in me by making a success of this.

For many months, toying with the decision of what job to choose and feeling like I had no choice by to pursue my degree as a career... the thought of letting down those I love by walking away from a 'proper' job, a respectable profession and secure income indefinitely was the greatest weight upon my shoulders.

I do intend, though I'm not sure how long it will take, to make a full time income from doing what I love - writing - so that I can support my family as a responsible member of society and also be able to continue to do what I love the most; more writing! I will succeed. There is no question or doubt in that. I will make it happen. No one is going to hand this to me on a plate - I have to go and earn it and I will.

So. Over and out for now. Can't wait to finish my university commitments (dissertation and various essays), so that I can concentrate on my many exciting projects for 2015.

Just as a final thought - it really is important to do what you love in life. I wish I had been braver and pursued my true interests earlier in life. You only get one go: make the most of it. And whatever you think, however hard it may seem: there is always a way.

Bye for now,

Meg, the (soon to be) full time writer.

#MegsNoWriMo Day 19 + Exciting 2015 projects announced!

I have a ton of exciting writing projects lined up for 2015 already, which is beyond any expectations I would have had last July upon publishing my first book, The Tainted Crown. So 2015 looks to be set to be an exciting year!



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