New website!

 I have moved all information about my, myself, and my books to my new website. Come check it out here:

www.natasjaeby.com

20/20

What a crazy year, right? 2020 is definitely not turning out the way anyone imagined it would. At the beginning of this year, I really wanted to have 20 published works, whether that would be novels, novellas, or short stories.

It would be a feat, for sure. I had a few books already written to back me up and I was working on other stories. Everything was going great.

Then March hit. And nothing went great for anyone. But I have to say, I'm proud of all my friends and family for persevering. Those of you who went through hell for a few months or are still there but holding on... You are amazing!

I'm also proud of myself. Yes, I think I can say this every once in a while. Especially since... I made my goal! That's right, in a couple of months, I'll have 20 published works out there in the world.

Next month on October 8th, I'll be releasing the 7th book in my Onepian Chronicles series. "Lost on Nagasan" is the story of Owen who travels to Nagasan with his friends, Thalia, Layla, Liam, and David. When two of his friends get kidnapped, he takes it upon himself to rescue them. You can pre-order the book here.

I left a loose thread at the end of the book that one of my characters wasn't happy about, however. So I ended up writing an extra story for those who wanted to know about that thread. I'll be making this story available on Amazon after the release of "Lost on Nagasan." I can't tell you too much about it just yet, but you can get a look at the cute cover here.

So yes, that's my big number 20!

  ...

But also, I've been working hard on the 8th book in the series and if all goes well, that will hopefully get published this year, too. As in, I might surpass my ridiculous goal. Wish me luck. And as always, happy reading! 

- Natasja

19/20

Hello my lovelies!

Those of you who have been following me know that I had set myself a goal of having 20 published works in 2020. I can't believe I'm saying this, but right now, including the 3 pre-orders I have up on Amazon, I'm actually at...19! You can read about my upcoming novels here.

Let's look at some covers!!

I design all my covers myself, with input from trusted friends. There's certainly a learning curve to designing covers, but I'm really enjoying it and I love the outcomes. How do you think I'm doing so far?

My vision for the Onepian Chronicles covers was a lot of stars and silhouettes to give an air of mystery and other-wordliness. What do you think? This particular one came out darker due to the nature of its story line.

I've played around with this series a couple of times. When it came time to design the third cover, I scrapped the concept I had for the first two, redid them with people, and came up with this. Do you prefer people on covers like I do?

I still have a bit of writing to do to reach my goal of 20. Right now, I'm working on a few different things, so I'll have to see which one will come first. But if all goes well, I'll publish one more thing by December 31st.

I still need some help with one of my books, by the way. I'm running a contest to see who can come up with the best band name to put into my new Swapped Lives book My Brother's Wedding Singer/The Art of Being a Girl. If you want to enter the contest, go here. You could even win one of my e-books!

As always, huge shout out to the people who have supported me along my journey. Without you, I would not have made it this far and it's possible none of my stories would have ever seen a bookshelf. Thank you!

- Natasja 

Take the Knockout Girl personality quiz!

If you've ever related to the characters from my Knockout Girl series, now's your chance to find out just how alike you are to them! Take the 2-minute quiz below to find out. Feel free to share your result on your favourite social media platform!

I would love to hear feedback on this quiz. If you liked it enough, I'll probably make more for my other serieses, so please let me know. Happy reading!

- Natasja

New covers, new books, new website!

I've got a lot new things happening right now. At the end of June I'm celebrating 8 years of being an author. Last year to celebrate, I released a second body-swap book and changed the cover on the first one. I'm working on a third body-swapper, but I've had to push its release to September. I still want to celebrate though, so I have all new covers...again!

You'll also notice that I named the series. The Swapped Lives series is all about young people who switch bodies with other young people. If you haven't read them yet, you'll find a lot of the same things I've got in my other books–sports, coming-of-age themes, overcoming obstacles, achieving big dreams, and romance. And of course, like all my other books these ones are clean reads, and they're perfect for middle grade and up.

Update on my 20 books in 2020 goal: With two pre-orders up right now, I'm currently at a grand total of 16. I might actually make it. Wish me luck! Check out To Earth and Back and Summer on Semerde on Amazon.

More news: I have a new website!! My author brand was starting to get too big for this blog, so I've moved all information about me to the new site. I'll still keep blogging, so you'll also be able to find my blog there, as well as all my books, my coming soon books, and a contact form. Check it out: https://natasjaeby.wixsite.com/natasjaeby.

Last little piece of information: some of you may know that I share a newsletter with three other amazing indie authors. We call ourselves the Indie Wordsmiths and we recently made a video together introducing ourselves. Check it out!

Happy reading!

- Natasja

Happy mumbleday!

 

It's been a while since I've checked in. I keep wanting to give an update to my 20 books in 2020 goal, but life gets in the way. The whole world has been thrown into chaos over a virus–something we can't even see, but we can most definitely feel.

If you're like me and you're working from home and homeschooling your kids, just know you're not alone. And even if you're not working and now struggling to figure out how you're going to make ends meet, then you're still not alone. Take comfort in the fact that we, as an entire human race, are enduring this time together and hope that the outcome is better than we imagine.

Now for the books! I'm still releasing books in the Onepian Chronicles on a regular basis. You probably already know that Co-Piloting the RR5 has just come out. On May 12, I'll be releasing The Last Prince of Onepus. More info on that soon!

In the meantime, if you want a little taste of the Onepian Chronicles before committing to the whole series, check out my Free Reads! section. You can have Bride for Onepus and Nagasani Dreams for FREE, no catch, no emails needed. Just read and enjoy. With these titles, I'm at a grand total of 14 published works. Only 6 more to go!

And now for some of my favourite quarantine memes, because sometimes memes are the only way I can cope:

Happy reading!!

- Natasja

The Onepian Chronicles - Part 2

As you know, I'm on a quest to have 20 published works by the end of this year. I've just recently set up some pre-orders in The Onepian Chronicles which brings me to a grand total of 13. I consider this to be a pretty huge accomplishment! Check out what I've got going so far:

 A Bride for Onepus is a prequel novella that is currently free if you sign up for the Indie Wordsmiths newsletter. It's the story of two strangers who–for their own separate reasons–agree to get married. Can they make it work? Find out here.

 Quest for Onepus is the official kick-off to The Onepian Chronicles. Two strangers stranded out in space and a family with a busted ship. What else could go wrong? This book is available on Amazon in ebook, paperback, and KU.

 

 Remember that family from the first book? The RR5 is a story of adventure, action, and romance told from the perspective of the oldest son. The ebook version is on pre-order on Amazon and will be available on February 13 (along with the paperback).

 Co-Piloting the RR5 is a companion novel to The RR5, which tells a variation of the same story from the second oldest son's perspective. While the story is familiar, his take on it–and his own romance–is vastly different from the original. The ebook version is on pre-order on Amazon and will be available April 9 (along with the paperback).

I couldn't leave the younger sister out of the series. So here she is with her own story of mystery, action, and romance with a spy theme to it. The ebook version is on pre-order on Amazon and will be available May 12 (along with the paperback).

I know what you're thinking. "Why did she leave so many names out of these loosey-goosey blurbs?" You know, sometimes even names are spoilers and I don't know how to avoid that. But if you want more in-depth descriptions of these books, just click or tap those links. You'll see everything and then the mystery will be gone. Have fun.

I've still got at least three (hoping for four) more books in this series that will be released this year. I've also got more novellas and short stories for you. Keep checking in and sign up for the Indie Wordsmiths newsletter if you want that info straight in your inbox. 

As always, happy reading!

- Natasja

The Onepian Chronicles

I've previously mentioned that I have a science fiction romance series that I've been working on for years. I finally reached a place where I feel confident about it and have started publishing it! The first in the series, Quest for Onepus is already available on Amazon. I've also got a prequel up called A Bride for Onepus that you can read for FREE for signing up to the Indie Wordsmiths newsletter. You can find both of those here:

    

As you know, I'm hoping to have 20 published...somethings by the end of 2020. Currently, with these two new ones, I'm at 10. Wish me luck!

Happy reading!

- Natasja

Two Thousand and Twenty

Wow, what a year it's been! I published some books, won some awards, and even started a newsletter with some friends! At this time of year, I like to look back on the goals I set for myself last year.

1. Two books to finish writing.
2. Publish at least two books this year. (I say at least, because I think I can squeeze out three, but I'm not sure.)
3. Finish editing that series!

So what did I actually do in 2019?

1. I had set myself a goal of writing 2 books because I wasn't sure how I'd managed throughout the year. But then I got a ball rolling and wrote...*drumrolllll* 4 novels and 3 novellas! That's 7 whole new stories that didn't exist before 2019.

2. Of those 7 books, I published 4 of them (2 novels and 2 novellas), plus 2 other books that had been written in 2018. So I wrote 7 books and published 6 books in 2019. Even I have no idea how I did that. Check out all the books I published this year:

3. Ah, the series! The series that I've been talking about for years. Well, I'm happy to say that I'm a good chunk of the way through editing it, I've built covers, I've written new content, and I'll be releasing it soon! If you want to keep track of my progress with that a) sign up for the Indie Wordsmiths newsletter and b) check out the Onepian Chronicles here:

4. I won a couple of awards for Knockout Girl back in June! The Indie Originals awards I won were for Best Young Adult Novel and Best New Author. You can see a complete list of winners here.

5. I also recently started a newsletter with some other writerly friends. All of them have been personally vetted and are more talented than me. We cover a variety of genres, like fantasy, sci-fi, contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and YA, so if you want to keep up with us feel free to sign up! You'll even get a free sample that showcases all of our writing styles. Also, if you want to know more about my friends, check them out here:

• Lea
• Matthew
• Michelle

And now for my 2019 goals! Or should I say...goal. Because I really only have one goal this year: make it to 20 published books by the end of 2020. Currently I'm at 8. Wish me luck!


Happy New Year and happy reading!

- Natasja

Novembers and News

Wow, Novembers seem to be really good to me, and not just because it's my birthmonth! Last year, I did NaNoWriMo in 12 days and donated my hair. This year...

It took me 20 days to complete NaNo2019 but I'm quite pleased with it. Instead of starting a new novel, I had a few projects I wanted to tackle. I finished a book, wrote an 18k word novella, got halfway through another novella, and partway through another book. I know, that sounds crazy, but it works.

I stopped keeping track at day 21 because there were no more badges to get.

I would have pushed myself harder, except that I was still preparing for two releases this month! Yes, the Knockout Girl series is now finished with Outside Edge and Hooked. It's bittersweet for me to say goodbye to this series and these characters, but I'm happy to see so many people enjoying them. I love hearing readers' thoughts because everyone has a different takeaway from my books.

Remember, reviews are what keeps writers writing, whether they're good or bad. If you have a chance, please check out my Goodreads page and leave a review for any of my books you've read. Thank you!

So a cool thing my husband and I learned about this month is something called aphantasia. It's a condition where people can't visualize/conjure images in their minds or have a very hard time doing it. It's estimated that it affects 2-3% of the world's population, though that's hard to tell since people who have it usually don't even realize they have it. Seriously, read about it here and take a test to see where you fall on the spectrum.

Last thing: I'm doing my first holiday craft fair where I'll be selling my books and signing them. If you're in the area feel free to check it out. Click here or go to that "Events!" tab up top for details.

I have more news coming before the end of the year but until then, happy reading!



- Natasja

NaNoWriMo 2019!

NaNoWriMo 2019 is starting this Friday, Nov. 1! This will be my ninth year entering and so far I've got a streak of four years won in a row. Last year, you might recall that I finished my book in 12 days. That was The B-Boy, which was published and released in August.

My first NaNo was in 2011, when I wrote My Best Friend's Brother/The Summer I Turned into a Girl. I published that one the following summer and have since published a sequel. 

This year I'm hoping to tackle a few projects. Yup, you read that right. I need to get more words written than the requisite to win NaNo. I do have a complete novel that I plan to write during the month (more on that later), but I also have a couple of novellas and another book to finish before the end of the year. And what better time to get those done than during November?

Other things happening in November: both Outside Edge and Hooked are coming out near the end of the month, which will wrap up my Knockout Girl series! I'm excited and I'll probably find some fun way to celebrate. I'm also a little sad to say goodbye to Knockout Girl. So...don't be surprised if at some point I say I've got another book for the series, but it won't be any time soon.

 

I have a new project I'm working on but I can't elaborate on it just yet. I've mentioned it before, though, so if you scroll through my past posts and find anything related to spaceships and other planets...you might have a piece of the puzzle.

Anyway, if you're even remotely interested in doing NaNo this year, head on over to https://nanowrimo.org/. It's loads of fun, even if you don't make it to 50k words. There are local write-ins, chats with other writers, pep talks from published authors, and badges to collect! If you're trying it this year, feel free to add me as a buddy. Just search for Natasja and you'll find me.

Happy writing! I'll check in at some point next month.

- Natasja

Homework help - Amazon book descriptions

I'm writing a new series of blog posts called "Homework help" where I post about things I've learned during my self-publishing journey in hopes of helping other aspiring indie authors. I'm starting this series with Amazon book descriptions because I've seen enough self-published authors struggle with this. If you've published with Kindle Direct Publishing and you're having problems with this, you've come to the right place!

The thing about the Amazon descriptions is that if you copy and paste from wherever you have your blurb written down, it's not going to look as pretty as you want. You're probably looking to have your blurb broken up into easy-to-read paragraphs and maybe a bolded or italicized tagline, right?

For this, KDP supports a simple list of HTML tags you can use. Using these tags is super easy and will make your Amazon book description look nice. But remember, when you open a tag you have to close it, or it won't work. For example, when you want something bolded, you have to put the word you need between the tags like so: <b>[important words here]</b>. That will make it look like this: [important words here]. Alternatively, you can use the tag <strong></strong> for the same purpose. If you wanted to italicize something, use the tag <i></i>.

When you want a space between your paragraphs, you need to use the tag <br></br>. Remember to always close it, otherwise your faulty code will show it and it still won't have a break between paragraphs.

Here's an example of the description I used for The B-Boy followed by how it looks on Amazon:

<strong>Follow the rhythm of your heart.</strong><br></br>Now that high school's over and he's left his life as a bully behind, Red finally has time to focus on what he wants: boxing. For as long as he's able, that's what he'll do.<br></br>Zara's passion for dancing is rivaled by none, but her dreams are shattered when her dance partner sprains his ankle weeks before their showcase. With no other options, Red's cousin and Zara's best friend suggests they team up.<br></br>Now Red has a tough decision to make: stick to what he's always known or find the courage to love something new?

Follow the rhythm of your heart.

Now that high school's over and he's left his life as a bully behind, Red finally has time to focus on what he wants: boxing. For as long as he's able, that's what he'll do.

Zara's passion for dancing is rivaled by none, but her dreams are shattered when her dance partner sprains his ankle weeks before their showcase. With no other options, Red's cousin and Zara's best friend suggests they team up.

Now Red has a tough decision to make: stick to what he's always known or find the courage to love something new? 

One other important thing to note is that Amazon doesn't allow you to put links in your book descriptions, so even if I wanted to give you the HTML for that, it wouldn't help you. They'll just tell you there's a problem with the description and tell you not to do that. Sorry! 

I hope this helps someone out. It's really not easy to self-publish on your own and knowing these little tips and tricks can really make the experience easier and better. Thank you, once again, for going on this journey with me!


- Natasja Eby

News - Outside Edge

I've been hinting at the next book in my Knockout Girl series for a while now. And I'm finally ready to tell you all about it! Before we go any further though, you should know that there are spoilers for the previous books. If you haven't read them and hate spoilers, look away!

After the events of Standup Guy, I wrote off Adrian as a not-great boyfriend, who ended up being an awful ex. He was mean, resentful, and jealous, and made some really bad mistakes. That was it for him - no more chances from me, the author of his fate. I figured for someone like him, there's no redemption, no forgiveness.

But then, an idea formed in my head. A story about redemption, forgiveness...and, yes, second chances. Does someone like Adrian deserve a second chance? No way. Does someone like Adrian who detests the mistakes he's made deserve a second chance? Absolutely.

After his breakup with Elli, Adrian takes a downwards turn and trying to drown his sorrows with alcohol doesn't help. In fact, all it gives him is two DUIs, which in turn rids him of his scholarship and his spot on his hockey team.

When he gets sent to live with his Pops way up north in Christmastown, he takes his resentment to the next level. Nothing could ever make him want to change. Except maybe Brooke and the kids she's training.

Though she was once on track for a top competitive figure skating position, Brooke's dream has become derailed. Now she's being forced to help a bunch of kids put on a Christmas pageant. And even worse - she has to teach an errant hockey player how to ice dance.

Finding common ground between them isn't nearly as difficult as a triple axel. But can the rink also help them to repair the damage of their past mistakes? Will Adrian and Brooke learn to find strength in each other's arms?

Even though I struggled so hard at times, I think this was a really important story to tell. I guess I couldn't just say "the end" to Adrian without giving him a chance to change. If a pronounced bully like Red could become a great best friend, couldn't Adrian also learn to change his ways? You'll have to wait to find out! Outside Edge is now on preorder and is set to be released on November 18, 2019.

In other news, I've been working on another Knockout Girl novella. Details and a cover are coming soon, but for now I'll leave you with the title: Hooked.

Happy reading!

- Natasja Eby

The Art of Cover Art

Have you ever wondered why I post my covers all over all the time? Well, let me tell you why: because they're hard! I mean, not only the actual aspect of putting them together, but there's so much to think about. Does it fit the tone and genre of the book? Is it eye-catching/esthetically pleasing? Are the fonts nice and readable as a thumbnail (important for ebooks)? How's the blurb on the back cover? Did you manage to get the j and the t to both fit on the spine?* Now the fun part - getting it to upload properly to whatever publisher you're using and making sure it looks right.

I'm actually not here to complain, but rather to say that I'm proud of how hard I work on that stuff. And not only that, but there are about 5 or 6 people that I'm constantly pestering with questions and observations and to whom I send a million different copies of the same cover with minute differences in them. To those people I say a huge THANK YOU. I've said it before and I'll say it again: there's no such thing as self-publishing alone. 

Alright, here's another look at my covers, because why not? 

My Best Friend's Brother/The Summer I Turned into a Girl. This one is special to me because it was my very first one and my BFF designed it for me. She took such a load off my shoulders by putting it together for me. I still love it, but ended up redesigning it so I could make it match with its sequel.

MBFB take 2. This is the new cover I designed. It was both fun and frustrating to do because no matter what I tried, I couldn't please everyone. I started off with paler colours and it looks better like this. I started with too many fonts and without knowing what to do where, I fell back on the font that I've been using for my Knockout Girl Series. (More on that below). Finally, I came up with something good enough - though I'm still not sure it's perfect.

My Brother's Best Friend/Learning to Sing Like a Girl. This one I ended up liking a little bit better than the first, although maybe that's just because I was so tired of trying to design these covers that I was willing to sacrifice a lot for it. Still I like it and the tone it conveys and I like that they're now a matching set.

And of course, there's Knockout Girl. This was the first time I thought to myself, "Hey, maybe I should put a person on the cover of my book." I think it turned out well and it started a trend for the rest of the series. Those of you who have been following me will have noticed that I added a laurel to this book after I won a couple of awards for it. I like it because Elli really does deserve a laurel on the cover. Major props to my sister and bro-in-law for helping me with the full cover. The title font is called EDO and I love it.

Ah, Standup Guy. A coworker of mine suggested making a cover that matched Knockout Girl by finding a model in a similar pose but on the other side of the book so that when they're side-by-side, Elli and Julian are back-to-back. I think it works quite nicely actually. The problem with that is that this is a flipped image so all those numbers were backwards. Bro-in-law came through for me again and fixed them, but he also at one point hilariously superimposed his own face onto Julian's. Ha ha. This is what I get for free labour.

My next release, The B-Boy has been getting a lot of compliments for how stunning it is. But I have a secret for you. Lean in close. Pay attention... It's just a stock photo with a filter on it. But it does look really nice, doesn't it? In all honesty, I couldn't find a couple that really screamed "Red and Zara!" at me, but I love this couple. The pose is great and the tone is just right for a summer book.

I did a lot of searching around for the perfect cover for Rinkside. I actually was searching for a specific European city (huge spoiler, so I won't say which one if you don't know it from the picture). Low and behold, I found this model casually strolling in several poses through said city. She had a perfect Cherry look, so I grabbed at the chance. I also wasn't originally going to do a paperback version...but then I found a perfect picture for the back cover and that convinced me.

Congratulations on making it to the end of this post! (Unless you scrolled down just to enjoy the pictures. In which case, I applaud your laziness.) And since you're already here, I'm going to show you some full covers, because really. It's so. Much. Work.

Thanks you for going on this crazy adventure with me! You guys are awesome. Happy reading!

- Natasja

*You'll notice all caps on the spines for the Knockout Girl Series, because I can't with all that stuff hanging out the top and bottom.