P.S. Also, EyeLeash: A Blog Novel hit #1 in ‘Kindle eBooks > Social Sciences > Popular Culture’ on Amazon.co.uk today. My first #1 in a category (I think!). Screenshot above.

==========

UPDATE (8 Feb 2011): jessINK is live. I like to see everything organised by genre + price (lol).

I’ve enrolled EyeLeash for expanded print distribution via LSI. My proof has been accepted — am waiting for my proof copy to arrive in the mail now (fingers crossed).

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2568901/what_is_new_adult_literature.html?cat=38

http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/New+Adult+What+Is+It.aspx

I might pimp EyeLeash to literary agents (again) once the “New Adult Literature” category is more established. I’m not going to do it right now…because I have more important things to do [like seeing to my "BUS 461: Strategic Marketing" summer course, three separate book series (different genres), and how far The Devilin Fey (my paranormal romance novella) can go in the Kindle store (highest = ~#10K ranking, in 2-3 weeks, with very little marketing on my part, thus far)].

After a few months of marketing this debut book of mine, I’ve collected some “data” to sift through and analyze, to see if I could use this data to my (and EyeLeash’s) advantage.

On the subject of the blog/IM novel format, I shall borrow the text from one of the first reviews EyeLeash received (back in July 2009, courtesy of Mr. Joseph Grinton):

“…from reading [Franz Kafka's letter to Felice Bauer in 1912], it is clear he would have understood completely everything that Jade Ashton describes in EyeLeash. The feelings are the same; only the media have changed.”

There’s this whole experimental feel to EyeLeash – and not just in terms of the blog/IM writing (I’ll get to that in a bit). I’ve had to spend more time on this debut novel than my second book (on all fronts: writing, editing, formatting, marketing), and I had a hard time categorizing the book in the beginning. Book02 was easier to label (genre = “erotic short stories”).

EyeLeash is young adult fiction, with discussions about sex/uality that are more frank, direct, and in-your-face than most mainstream YA novels (the protaganist’s *private* blog posts and chats with the guy only *with no other friends hovering about* are conducive for ‘uncensored expression’ and authenticity).

There are two defining elements of EyeLeash:

1) It’s an alternative YA novel. I did not start off by marketing EyeLeash as “an alternative YA novel” — I was trying to get it to be accepted as a mainstream novel (guess Freddie Mercury’s THE one and only Great Pretender). I think I’ll focus on its ‘alternative’ value from now on (will write a future blog post on this, asap).

2) The second point is that it’s a book written in new media format. I’ll muse a little bit on this point today.

Early on (back in 2008), one of my friends was apprehensive about writing in a blog format. He said it’s “transient,” and that the format might not be around long enough for it to be an acceptable form of literature.

I’ve heard extreme viewpoints on the concept of “blog fiction” — here are some positive ones I’ve received [these are all comments I've read IRL (in real life) so far,  when marketing EyeLeash]:

“Your blog novel sounds interesting and [in] this day and age…I bet it will appeal to a great many.” (17 year old student, female)

“It sounds like it would follow characters I’d love! Especially because, when you’re a teenager, Cyber-Stalking the boy/girl you’re madly in love with is now commonplace.” (21 year old male)

“Your writing reflects something genuine, something real, about our generation that few writers have had the talent or the courage to uncover.” (e-mail from a male reader)

Negative comments I’ve received include:

“All these typos in the chat transcripts send a bad message out to teens.” (27 year old school teacher, female)

“Book of the week: EyeLeash, which the author describes as blog fiction — whatever that is…it’s unclear who the target audience is.” (an e-fiction book club, which went defunct in early 2010 / majority of members/reviewers were female)

“Book review tagged as ‘absolute shit’.” (male reader with the word ‘cowboy’ in his username)

Side note: Personally, I used (n continue 2 use) abbreviatns while chatting/text-messaging (saves time/screen space). It does not affect my grades at school — see below.

New media is a language. Olde English, music, and Egyptian hieroglyphs are types of languages. There are nuances and specific details which are present in all languages (the characters in EyeLeash have various quirks and traits while chatting online — these habits had to be consistent, or the characterization would’ve been poor) — including new media. I can write/speak in Singlish, as well as Standard English, with equal proficiency. The same goes with writing/conversing via a blog/IM format.

I’ve had a college professor say (with a kind smile) to me, “Oh [a blog novel?]…it’s not for me, then.” Another person of a similar age group (60+) wrote, “I read EyeLeash and didn’t know all of the [Internet] chatspeak — but I could still follow what was going on!!”

I suppose I’ll just leave EyeLeash alone (and out on the market, of course) after a while, as I’ve done with 4:Play. I have new (decidedly mainstream, this time) books that I’ll have to market for a bit too.

I suppose EyeLeash’s target audience includes those who are open to the idea that new media IS a valid language (and form of literature, omg-deviant-and-unthinkable as that might be to some folks). It kind of goes in line with what’s at the core of the novel’s plot too — the whole point about what’s inside (a person), versus what’s on the outside.

In terms of gender within the target audience — oh, I really don’t know. I think some characters and stories appeal to the reader/person, regardless of their gender [or orientation -- the about page for (the multiple genre-crossing) 4:Play touches on that subject a little bit]. After all, there’d be no progress if the same old things are shoved down people’s throats. Commercialism is safe, but not long lasting. For better or worse, I’m one of those types who aims for something with both style and substance, more so than (variations of) emo glitz that may be all the rage today, but not tomorrow.

I shall end this post with two writing quotes:

“Literary success of any enduring kind is made by refusing to do what publishers want, by refusing to write what the public wants, by refusing to accept any popular standard, by refusing to write anything to order.”
– Lafcadio Hearn

“It is advantageous to an author that his book should be attacked as well as praised. Fame is a shuttlecock. If it be struck at only one end of the room, it will soon fall to the ground. To keep it up, it must be struck at both ends.”
– Samuel Johnson

Hopefully, I’m doing something right (as recorded by this screenshot).

P.S. There’s been a delay with my last two exams for the Spring 2010 semester — essay questions on Herman Melville’s short novels, and Moby-Dick.

Fact #1: Page 182 mentions the true story/scandal, of a cheerleader/student who lost her phone (Google keywords: “Singapore NYP Tammy”). It was just one of my ways of keeping up with the times…

NYP clip
Sunday, July 2, 2006 – 1.24pm

*updated via Mobile Device

Overheard someone on the train talking to her friend: “What’s wrong with teens today? They’ve no morals, and they care for nothing!”
What an ageist question. Every generation will have something “wrong” about it.

Update – 10.24pm

There’s a big hoo-ha because of a 15-yr old cheerleader from NewYoungParents High School, Tannie, whose cell phone got stolen.
There was a 10-minute sex romp of her and her boyfriend on the phone. BIG DEAL.

~ excerpt from EyeLeash, Pg 182 (print copy)

Fact #2: I got the title, EyeLeash, from playing anagrams. I was shifting around the letters of a guyfriend’s name. I’d accidentally left out one letter from the name — and had the word staring right back at me.

Fact #3: The worst thing about writing EyeLeash were the timestamps (per blog post and IM chat), and the formatting. Each date/timestamp is in font size 10; each blog post title had to be bolded and underlined manually. Editing the manuscript was very tedious.

Fact #4: The best part about writing this particular blog novel, was the blend of fact and fiction. I know which parts exactly, are true and/or false (or a mix of both) — I still smile now and then when I spot an “inside joke” (even if I’m the only one who knows about it!).

Fact #5: The first page (which is an e-mail) has a deliberate typo error (which no one has pointed out to me…yet).

Fact #6: Novan’s hair gel/hair wax is inspired by the Tigi range. Those products smell good enough to eat. The brand of hair wax in the book is FastFixx. Yeah, I like playing around with names a lot. Jade’s perfume is real (Anna Sui’s Secret Wish).

Fact #7: Pages 226 & 227 are real IM chat convos I have had with people (on what someone said while playing “truth or dare”, and the purpose of “good-looking guys”).

-lia-: good looking men are there for just one reason.
-lia-: they’re good to look at.
-lia-: they’re just objects.

~ excerpt from EyeLeash, Pg 226 (print copy)

Fact #8: Pg 269 (about the song-writing competition) was inspired by a poetry competition. Though I didn’t win, that poem remains one of my personal favorites. It’s a poem about city life, entitled Slates of Grey.

Fact #9: EyeLeash is a project that’s been 4 years in the making. This includes the initial drafts, discussions with an interested editor, and everything else up to the actual publication date (24 June 2009). I might show excerpts of the (laughable, cringe-worthy) first draft, on a random day in future…

Fact #10: The first cover’s design was of a girl’s profile, but I wanted something more artistic-looking, so I dug up one of my old drawings (a sketch from 2004). The present cover you see on the sidebar, is the second cover.

+ + +

:: EyeLeash Blog Tour ::

May 13 — Review @ Hot Gossip Hot Reviews

“It is an authentic, original and raw look at a seventeen year old’s life, via the blog. Throw out rules of grammar / Throw out textbooks / Add realistic dialogue / Add crisp, unforgettable characters…EyeLeash is a spellbinding dive into the teenager mind with a fresh style of writing — blog style.”

Aug 09 — Review + Interview @ Opinionated? Me?

“When I first heard of a “blog fiction” novel, I immediately thought it would be another IM fluffy rom-com, like TTYL by Lauren Myracle. But [Ms. Scott captures] perfectly the John Hughes-like angst every teenager goes through like any real teenager would — through the internet.”

Aug 09 — Review by unlikelyaristotle

“…Jade is not infuriatingly self-deprecating the way Bella Swan (main character from Twilight) is, among many other differences. She’s got confidence, and it’s refreshing to read a book about a girl who actually thinks she’s got a good body. I think that’s so important.”

July 18 — Review @ Joseph Grinton
Aug 11 — Interview + Honorable Mention @ LA FEMME READERS
Aug 11 — Review + Interview @ From the Heart
Aug 15 — Blog Fiction Discussion @ The Book Scout
Aug 22 — Interview + Guest Post @ Beth’s Book Review Blog
Aug 24 — Interview @ Author Exchange Blog
Aug 25 — Interview + Guest Blogversary Post @ The Electrical Book Cafe
Aug 27 — Interview @ A Journey of Books
Sept 05 — Interview @ A Flight of Minds
Sept 08 — Interview @ Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf
Sept 14 — Books By Their Cover (the INSANE interview)
Sept 19 — Review @ Falling Off The Shelf
Sept 22 — Interview @ AMWC
Sept 26 — Interview @ ChickLitTeens.com
Nov 12 — Review @ That Chick That Reads
Jan 10 — Review @ Everything To Do With Books

“What I got from this book was that it’s basically about self-discovery and it was really interesting. I liked watching both Jade and Novan transform into better people so to speak…I wondered what [the name EyeLeash] meant and the cool thing is I found out and that was just really really cool.”

Feb 04 — Interview @ Shelagh Watkins | Literature & Fiction
Feb 19 — Review + Interview @ J. Timothy King’s Blog
May 7 — Interview @ Fallen Angel Reviews
May 18 — Interview @ The Indie Spotlight
May 31 — Review @ LINDEA / “Free Your Inner Stalker”
June 12 — Review @ KindleObsessed
Sept 18 — Review + Interview @ The Phantom Paragrapher

* Part of this tour was hosted by the very cool Traveling to Teens.

+ + +

:: Promo Postcards ::

EyeLeash postcards are were up for grabs at The Electrical Book Cafe, and A Flight of Minds!

From left to right (clockwise): Jade Ashton / EyeLeash Book Cover Art / Novan Chang / Jade & Novan (romantic snapshot). These are also available at S.t.u.f.f, my online store.

Smashwords is having a Summer/Winter sale special (till the end of July), so I’ve enrolled my blog novel in their sitewide promotion.

Here’s the link to download and read EyeLeash: A Blog Novel — use the code JFREE at checkout to get the book for FREE.

Two things:

1. Let all your friends know

2. Feel free to let me know what you think (good, bad, and everything in between ^^). Reviews would be much appreciated.

And now, to get to work on some stuff for my next book…

As for the EyeLeash book trailer — it took about one weekend to put together. I had some old pieces I drew some time ago, so in they went.

For now, here’s an excerpt from EyeLeash: A Blog Novel. It’s part of the first IM chat that appears in the story.

Jade (if she were a rockstar). Sketch done in 2004/2005.

Excerpt from EyeLeash [Page 10 + 11]

~ Download THIS Messenger Today! ~

Conversation started on [31 Jan 2006, 11:30PM]

[novan]: hey hey
¤Jade¤: helloo
¤Jade¤: haven’t seen u online in a while =)
[novan]: oh yea
[novan]: i’ve been busy with a friend’s band, lol
[novan]: so how u doin
¤Jade¤: i’m good. how abt u?
¤Jade¤: and wow cool ur in a band??
[novan]: been listening to the same song for hours… trying to get the tabs right
[novan]: yea!… we’re ‘the blah blah blahs’ (super creatively thought of by myself)
[novan]: every band names already being used, yknow
¤Jade¤: yeah, u should rest. ooh what’s the song!
¤Jade¤: what instrument do u play too?
[novan]: i play bass
[novan]: get on top // rhcp (chili peppers)
[novan]: know the song?
¤Jade¤: not really
¤Jade¤: got the mp3?
[novan]: sure

[novan] sends: “05 Get On Top.mp3″

¤Jade¤: so how’s this chili peppers song coming along
[novan]: well my fingers are killing me…
[novan]: and the song on repeat is insane
[novan]: but i shld be all gd in a bit :)
¤Jade¤: hey when did u learn to play bass?
[novan]: hmm
[novan]: 15?
[novan]: music was a rebellion
¤-Jade-¤: ooh, how so
[novan]: my ’rents are always busy makin money
[novan]: thats the most important thing for them… cash, cash, cash
[novan]: i don’t wanna be like that
¤-Jade-¤: well that’s good
¤-Jade-¤: that you’re not like that =)
[novan]: yea
[novan]: lol
[novan]: still remember how it started
[novan]: with sid vicious… he’s the bass player for sex pistols
¤Jade¤: sex pistols?
[novan]: yea a REAL punk band from the 70s… i saw sid & was like ‘damn, i have to play bass’
¤Jade¤: LOL
[novan]: google his picture
¤Jade¤: ok
¤Jade¤: i think bass players are cool :P
[novan]: :) *nods in agreement*
¤Jade¤: how’s it like?
[novan]: we keep the rhythm, with the drums
[novan]: if we make a mistake… u’ll hear it right away
[novan]: and we’ve less antics than say, *cough* the lead guitarist *cough*
¤Jade¤: LOL
[novan]: bassists are very good with their fingers
[novan]: and some of us sing backup vocals, so that means we’re good with our mouths too…
¤Jade¤: awesome *that goes for your last sentence too ;)*
[novan]: haha :P
¤Jade¤: oh my i’m looking at some pix of sid vicious
¤Jade¤: he’s SO bangable
[novan]: ROFL. it’s too bad a preppy punk poseur of our day compared herself to sid in a SellOut Magazine interview.

**You have successfully received C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\My Received Files\Red Hot Chili Peppers – Get On Top.mp3 from [novan].**

[end of excerpt].

I could have toned down some parts, if I wanted to. But the female protagonist explores her thoughts, feelings, fears, doubts, anxiety, via the safety of her private journal. If she did censor herself, she would be disrupting her journey of self-discovery (a process which doesn’t occur overnight)! I don’t think the compromise would have been fair to her.

I think a person can decide for his/herself, whether or not they’d want to spend time with something (whether it’s a book, or music, or a film, etc)…which is probably why I left the material as it stands.

It is mainly for authenticity’s sake.

And personally, I think it’s better to be controversial for the right reasons, than be popular for the wrong reasons.

EyeLeash: A Blog Fiction Novel

Started gathering material/researching/living the content (it’s semi-autobiographical): Mid-2005

Started writing novel: January 2007

Completed novel: September 2007

Got the interest of an editor (Flux Imprint/Llewellyn): January 2008

Discussed with editor: 6 months (snippets of editorial discussions available in my free eBook, Porcelain).

Outcome with editor: Editor leaves for another publishing house, and I have to start all over.

Got the interest of another editor (Sourcebooks): October 2008

Outcome: Never heard back from editor, or agent who submitted the material.

Total number of rejections from agents/editors/publishers: 500+ (possibly 700, I have lost count).

Reason for my persistence: I believe EyeLeash tells a good story that rings true at the end of the day. I think it’s a waste to toss this away into the dark recesses of a cabinet just because it’s difficult to break into the publishing industry with this innovative, experimental, unconventional piece of work. I believe I utilized the blog and IM formats for this book for pure storytelling purposes — it isn’t a gimmick to make the novel more “hip” or “relevant”. The story just IS the way that it is; I refuse to accept that all my hard work has been for nothing :)

Who I am: Of all the names I have/have had, I like “Jess” best. I read, write, love, and live, and plunge myself whole-heartedly into experiences. I’ve a short bio on my main website. Porcelain is my writing portfolio, which offers a glimpse into my writing voice+style+structure. If you want to follow my random howabouts, I can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and these other places.

Thanks for reading.