Decision Made/YA Sub-genre Roll Call

So I’ve decided as of recently that I will self-publish. I know; I know. How is that news nowadays? But, I assure you, it was news to me. After discussing it with my advisers (hella smart people out there, you know who you are), I’ve decided that rather having what I’ve written collect even more dust, I will put it out in the world and see what happens.

What’s the worst case scenario again? Oh, yes. Everyone will hate it and me by association, but that’s a small price to pay, I think to have people (HONEST TO GOODNESS PEOPLE) reading what I loved to put together.

Now, I’ve gotten to the point where I:

1. Am even more obsessive about reading through it for editing.

2. Need a book cover, and I just may be crazy enough to design it myself. (I’ll take pictures/snapshots along the way to show you how I did and what I used to do it, whenever I do it).

     C. Want to get a copyright on the manuscript, which apparently only takes an upload and $35 at the      Library of Congress website. YAY CONVENIENCE.

4. Set a price. ($0.99 or $2.99)

5. Decide on a name for the cover. Pseudonym? No pseudonym? (I’d love to hear your thoughts on that, btw)

6. Talk about it incessantly without bugging people. (Hard to do. Maybe I’ll just beg the lurkers out there to tell your friends when it happens? Pretty, pretty, gorgeously, pretty please?)

Anyone else just starting this crazy journey? Please link me to your great (and horror) stories in the comments or through email. Or, simply write that we are embarking on this thing together, thus making my powers and yours stronger as we enter this process. :)

P.S. My soon-to-be-published book is YA. I was trying to decide what sub-genre of YA it would be so I ended up doing a main YA sub-genre list to get my mind straight. Hope it helps you to (and tell your friends, please!)

YA Sub-Genre Roll Call

Sub-genres can mix

All of the below can be /Romance

(and I believe the story is better when they are)

1. Dystopian (see versus #2 here)
2. Post-apocalyptic  (see versus #1 here)
3. Contemporary (no magic, “real life”)
1. In School Setting
2. Issue based (death of someone, mental disorder, drug-related)
4. Fantasy
1. High (a whole new world)
2. Low (Our world, but slightly different)
3. Mix (Our world, but we can travel to a whole new world)
5. Paranormal
1. Angel (Fallen or otherwise)
2. Vampire
3. Werewolf
4. Faerie
5. Ghost (Main Character [MC] is a ghost, or a “haunted” story)
6. Miscellaneous school where all of the above are welcome, or only one type (I count it as different because school stories are a different mindset kind of sub-genre to me)
7. Zombie
8. Dream related magic
9. New breed, and it ain’t human, but it’s cool and not one of the above. Often involved with fantasy as well.

So, after looking at these, I’d say my book is a Paranormal: New Breed, and it ain’t human…”/Romance/ Mix Fantasy. I’ll get into more and better details later to make you be just as excited about my book’s eventual release as I am.

Here’s another song to write by/to/from: "Strange and Beautiful" Aqualung

And here’s a video on YA sub-genres with recommendations/examples that I thought was interesting: