Category: Through The Invisible Ones

Author’s Notes on The Invisible Ones

The Difference Between Pink and Black

On By dphauthorIn Through Sweet Like Sugar, Through The Invisible Ones, You See MeLeave a comment

As much as I’d love to tell you that I am a pro in this whole writing thing, here is the truth: I am but a beginner. It’s now been a bit over a year since I ‘decided’ to go into this business, if we count the very first word I typed into the file that eventually became my first book.

Now, having independently published two books, I can do a comparison between them. Not the stories, of course, how can a parent ever compare their children? But the methods I used and the result of such methods.

If I’m not a pro, then why bother writing these down? The answer is: I’m doing this for my future self. By writing these things down, hopefully my future self will remember that I did learn something, even if it feels like nothing comes out of it.

If you are also a beginner, or you haven’t even started, and you happen to come across this post & learn something new, then I’d be glad to know that this writing also helps someone else. It’s a win-win situation. 😉

First things first: I started out with nothing but my own manuscript and a handful of trusted people from whom I asked for advice. I had no social media account for the book purposes, and only made one a few weeks before the launching of my first book. One might say this was my first mistake, and maybe one is right.

It would definitely help my book’s marketing if I already had an effective social media account with thousands of followers. But we’re not here to speculate & I’m merely stating the facts. The fact is, I didn’t have it then.

So what happened when I started posting about the launch of my first book in the brand-new social media account?

Nothing.

I had no followers, no likes, and no posts that could pull anyone to become a reader.

For the record, my social media account’s handle used to be the name of my first book. I had (and still have) no pictures of myself, no selfies. Could this also add to the problem? Maybe.

So my socializing attempt was a flop. My book launch was a flop, too. The (low) sales were all made by my family members & friends, which was of course very nice of them, but when it came to getting reviews–I’m sorry to say–it’s pretty much non-existent. And we all know how important reviews are for an independent/self-publishing author.

And they really are important, the reviews. But even with low sales and even lower number of reviews, I decided to keep it ‘organic’ and not ask for anyone to read my book just for the sake of getting the reviews.

Having my book listed in the Kindle Unlimited gave me the opportunity to put my e-book up for Countdown & Free promotions. So I used the Countdown promo 5 months after the launch of my first book, making my e-book cost 99 cents for 72 hours. By this time, I had about 100+ followers on my social media account.

This proved to be a flop, too, and brought in only 1 sale.

Soon after, I changed the handle of my social media account to be my author name. I still don’t post any selfie there, but changing the handle made the account feel more human, and I felt like I had more freedom to post things unrelated to my first book (but related to writing in general). And since at that point I was writing my second book, it seemed natural to change it.

About 2,5 months since the Countdown promo, I decided to try the Free promo.

Needless to say, this time it was a success compared to the Countdown one. This was the first time I realized that my first book was actually interesting enough for people–other than my friends & family–to want to read, if only they didn’t need to pay for it. Which makes perfect sense, because, hello? Who am I again in the writing world?

This lifted my mood and I did it again as soon as I had my next chance, and finally, after several times of the Free promo, the reviews from new readers–people I did not know prior to writing/selling the book–started to pour in.

So yes, this experience made me learn that I shouldn’t be stingy when it comes to letting people read my book. I should forget all about the money, because the truth is, when someone is just starting out (the indie/self-pub way), no one would’ve heard about him/her. I don’t mean I should sell myself short, no, of course not. But spreading my work and finding my readers/market is more important than making money.

The reviews for my first book kept alive my will to write, and as I was finishing my second book’s manuscript, I decided it was time for me to try another method: asking people to beta read my second book.

As mentioned before, I didn’t have anything but my manuscript for my first book. This time around, though, I had about 300+ followers on my social media account, and a few fellow indie/self-pub authors that I felt comfortable sharing my second manuscript with. Some of them have read my first book and gave it good reviews, so I felt 80% sure that they would ‘get’ my second book (and maybe even like it–that’d be a great bonus). I asked them nicely and when they said yes, I prepared a list of things I wanted them to especially pay attention to when reading the manuscript.

Out of 5 beta readers (I still kept it to a minimum number), 3 gave me outstanding feedback, 1 didn’t really like it, and 1 never came back to me with any feedback. It was enough for me to go forward, so as a cherry on top, I asked the ones who did gave me their feedback if they’d be willing to write short endorsements. Some of them agreed and their endorsements are now at the back cover of my second book.

Not long after that, I published my second book, and instantly gained 4 first reviews from my beta readers. I did not ask them to do it, but I was blessed with such kind-hearted beta readers.

During the launch of my second book, I also had a giveaway contest to allure people to enter to win my second book. I would’ve thought the ‘free book’ words would win people over, but I was wrong again, for a good reason: the people who would actually read my book preferred to buy my book rather than enter my giveaway contest! 😅 That was a nice surprise!

I did still get enough entries in the end, and 4 people were given my second book for free. Out of these, 3 gave reviews (again, because they wanted to).

Now, 3 months has passed since my second book was launched and the sales number are somewhat similar to my first book’s first 3 months’ sale… but guess what? I don’t even know most of the buyers. 😁 With my first book, I knew exactly who bought them, because they were my family members & friends. Now, I can’t even tell who has bought my second book until suddenly a new review comes up.

While sales are still slow, I have to admit that using the help of beta readers was a good decision for me, even if it’s ‘only’ to get reviews. As of date, I have gotten more reviews for my second book in half the time it took for my first book to get 6 reviews.

Let’s face it, without having thousands of followers in social media and going through the traditional publishing or paying for a professional advertisement/marketing service, sales will probably always be slow and low. To tell the truth, I didn’t even expect to sell any book for my second one, except for (again) my immediate family members.

But I proved myself wrong, and that made me so happy.

And, let me remind you again: everything I’ve done for my book so far have been for free. I have not paid anyone or any party for anything at all.

I have no plans yet for any Countdown or Free promo for my second book. The second book’s regular price is already cheaper than the first one, which is one of the reasons why I’m still thinking about it. But who knows? Remembering I shouldn’t be stingy about spreading my work, I probably will end up doing it one day.

Thank you for reading this long post. ❤ My journey in the writing world & my books’ journeys shall continue no matter what, and if you’re also an indie/self-pub author, hopefully your journey continues after reading this.

To read the reviews of my books on Goodreads or leave your review (yay!), click here.

To purchase my book(s), click here.

Covering the Covers, Part 2

On By dphauthorIn Through The Invisible Ones, You See MeLeave a comment

And I’m back to talk about the behind-the-scenes of making my book covers!

If you haven’t known it already, my second book that was supposed to be suspense and dark drama turned out to be yet another psychological thriller (I promise I didn’t know the genre until after I sent out the manuscript to my beta readers… more on this on my next posts!). So the same rule I used for my first novel–no person/silhouette of a person running/walking away from the reader on the cover–applies here, too.

At first, I was thinking of using a picture taken by my late brother-in-law. He was a talented photographer with an eye for raw and ‘just as you are’ scenes, who mostly took monochromatic pictures of Jakarta and its people, and he usually developed his own films, too.

Since my second book, The Invisible Ones, is set in Jakarta and Bandung, it would’ve otherwise been so perfect.

But as the writing progressed and the title came up (the book title always comes up at the latest stage for me), it was clear to me that I wanted a different approach.

For a moment, I even thought of just putting the title on the cover & that’s it. No images, no pictures, done. Imagine how eye-catching that would be, ha!

But I couldn’t do it. This ‘immaterialized’ book begged for a cover with something else, I had resolved to do it, so do it I shall!

I started doodling again on my trusted notebook. This time, I knew what color palette I was going for (monochrome plus blood red), but putting together a picture would consume too much time and energy… and I’m not even a good photographer.

That means I had to use my other hobby: drawing. I was thinking I could choose several items/events in the book that are significant, and put images of those in the cover. But when my husband saw it, he thought it reminded him too much of Ozark, so I didn’t go through with it.

And then I started thinking of symbols. Things that go on in the book, but put in a way that’s not too obvious. The first thing that came to mind was an onion, because of the way the female main character of my book tells her story. We’re peeling layer upon layer of her story until we get to the very core of herself as we move on throughout the book.

But as I thought of the layout of the book cover, imagined it with an onion at the center, it made me think of a recipe book instead. And that wasn’t a good idea. How could I make it work? I figured I needed to look around for ideas. How do other book cover designers/illustrators illustrate book covers in a not too-obvious way? How do they decide what to show on the cover?

While I went through other authors’ gorgeous book covers to search for ideas, I suddenly got reminded of my other past-life obsession: tarot cards.

Ever since I was a teenager & got my first tarot card deck, I had always dreamed of making my own deck. I was intrigued by the many hidden symbols in one single card, when I finally got the meaning of one thing it was like decoding a secret world.

It suddenly clicked in my head that that was what I was gonna go for. Make my book cover look like a tarot card, with all kinds of symbols for everything that goes on in the book. When the readers decode it (and I hope they do), I imagine giving them the same satisfaction as I got from decoding tarot cards.

Since the story takes place in Indonesia, I wanted to make all the symbols and style distinctly Indonesian, or even more specifically, Javanese. What would be better than Javanese batik and wood carving style?

The ‘two of everything’ continues all the way to the cover. Each main character deserves their own illustration, so I made 2 separate ones to be combined in the end.

The bulb and flower for Maya, the clouds and rain for Indra, my other main character.

The clouds are drawn in the style of Indonesian batik pattern called ‘Megamendung’. I can’t even begin to tell you how these clouds depict Indra so well (other than the fact that his name means ‘god of lightning & rain’), so you can google the meaning of the pattern if you’d like.

Maya’s is the onion, as per my original idea, drawn also in the same style of Javanese batik.

I used licensed Photoshop for commercial use again to edit the illustrations.

This time, I wanted the font not to only tell readers/viewers what the title of my book is, but to also show it. I chose a font that has multiple thickness to create a sense of invisibility to the ‘invisible’ word.

In general, I like my book covers to have matte finishing. However, having a black book cover was something I never tried in matte finishing, and I was slightly worried about how it would look. This was where the author’s proof copy came in handy.

If you’re self-publishing a paperback, I highly recommend getting the author’s proof copy before you actually publish it. For me, it was great to see if all the tiny white outlines of my illustration were visible enough and to know just how dark black the book cover would look like in real life.

Once everything was done, it was time to publish the book!

Just like with my first book, I love my second book cover. It’s me, it’s perfect for my story, and it’s something I won’t be embarrassed about no matter how long I see into the future.

If you’ve read my book, how many symbols have you found in the illustration that you could make out from the book? Remember, everything means something there in the book and on the cover design. Nothing means nothing.

It’s Time

On By dphauthorIn I See You, The Invisible Ones, Through The Invisible Ones, You See MeLeave a comment

The time has come for Maya and Indra to welcome you to Indonesia. 🧍🏾‍♀️🧍🏻

The Invisible Ones is going to come out on July 15th! 🥳🤩🙈👀

My proof print came yesterday and I couldn’t contain myself. Though this is my second book, seeing my words coming into the shape of a real book is just priceless. There are still some minor things to tweak, which is why a proof print is always good to have. Yet I am confident that I will be able to get the book out by 15th. 😊👌

I’d like to share the lovely endorsements I got from my beta readers, printed on the back cover of the book. These are their honest opinions and I am so incredibly happy to know that they liked my book. When you’ve spent so much time to write a story and lived in it for so long, it’s sometimes hard to believe that other people would actually read and understand your work, let alone like it. Having these words printed on my book will certainly remind me of this achievement, no matter how small it may seem to others. To me, it means the whole world. Thank you ever so much, dear beta readers! 😘💕

There will also be something fun starting tomorrow, just to while away the days until the actual launch of my book. Stay tuned!

Selamat jalan ke Indonesia! 🛫Semoga selamat sampai tujuan. 😉

📸: Victor Lumunon.

PS. Visit my Instagram for more exciting news, updates, and an ongoing giveaway contest (from 12th to 14th of July).

Q&A: General Stuff And Coming Book

On By dphauthorIn Through The Invisible Ones, You See MeLeave a comment

A while ago, there was a Q&A session in my Instagram account, as part of a monthly challenge I did. After fearing that I would not have any questions thrown at me, I was excited to see that there were in fact quite a few questions I got, regarding writing in general & my coming book.

Something I dreaded turned out to be something enjoyable, and it was a nice experience! So much so that I decided to put a few of them to ‘The Author’ page.

I’m also putting them here for a keepsake, and the ones that have to do with my coming book, The Invisible Ones, will only be here instead of in ‘The Author’ page.

Q & A session with D P Haka, as copied from her Instagram post, May 30th, 2020.

Q: Why did you want to be a writer?

A: Hmm, I don’t think I ever ‘wanted’ to be a writer. I’ve seriously wanted to be a manga artist because I love to draw and make up stories, but as I grew older I found less time to draw, so writing became more of a thing. I’ve been writing just for fun ever since I was 9 or 10, and before self-pub was a thing, I didn’t know what to do with my stories. When I finally figured the whole self-pub thing, writing & publishing a book seemed like the next thing to do! So here I am now! I think writing, to me, is mainly an outlet for my creativity, where I can also share my feelings & emotions to anyone who wants to read them. It’s also a good therapy for myself, to let out these emotions in writing rather than bottle them up.

Q: Which author has a writing style you struggle with and which author’s writing style do you love?

A: Ooh, very good one. Hmm, I have only 1 experience of struggling with someone’s writing style and I’m not completely sure if it’s his or the translator’s ’fault’. The book is called Man Tiger in English, and though the author, Eka Kurniawan, wrote it in my mother tongue (Indonesian), I only got to read it in English. It was hard to read because there are very long paragraphs with 10 different topics and there are very few gaps between each ‘action’ that I felt like I was swimming in a murky water. But surprisingly, I really loved the story and the idea behind it, the book ends up to be one of my all time faves. The ones whose style I love has got to be Diane Setterfield and Gillian Flynn.

Q: What’s your favorite book?

A: Ah, my fave book of all time still hasn’t changed: ‘The Phantom of the Opera’! It has everything I love in a story: unrequited love, tragedy, misunderstood character. And of course I love the fact that it’s dark (lots of murder there), sad, dramatic, and that it spans over a long period of time (but the pacing is quick). So it’s kind of like a writing bible for me.

Q: If you could be a fictional character, who would you be?

A: Christine Daae! And I’d forget Raoul to go with Erik. (This is why I didn’t make the book.)

Q: What’s your favorite thing about being a writer?

A: Hmm… how to say this without sounding like a psycho? My fave thing about being a writer is to be able to play God… (in a very small scale!). ‘Cause, you know, we get to create our own worlds, our own people/creatures, decide who gets what and who dies… okay, I’ll stop right here before the internet police come & and take me away.

Q: Do you spend a lot of time doing research for your stories or do you just ‘write from the seat of your pants’?

A: For something as trivial as ‘do people eat this/that in this area?’, I don’t spend too much time researching it. For more important ones like ‘how to drug someone’ (both examples are from my search history) I do spend time to get to the bottom of things, because so far I write stories that happen in real world (non-fantasy). Other than searching online, I also ask people’s personal experiences and discuss things with others to get their POVs and know what works/don’t.

Q: What is your writing practice? Same time or place?

A: Before lockdown: random time, depending on my work schedule. After lockdown I was already nearly done with my coming book so I just wrote as much as I could whenever possible! Place: always the same, my good ol’ workspace in our living room.

Q: Do you write daily?

A: No. What a shocker, right? But since I’m not a planner, that’s just the way I am. Sometimes I just can’t hear the voices, so I don’t push myself to write air. And, right now, for example, when I’m waiting for feedback from my beta readers, I don’t write at all (though I have found some new ideas for new projects).

Q: Will you ever write in a different genre?

A: Yes! Believe it or not, before writing 2 psychological thrillers, I started with romance, paranormal YA, and action stories. After my coming book is out, I’m gonna do children’s book(s), or try my best, at least!

Q: Do you have a set schedule you stick to for writing or do you write whenever you have time/make time?

A: Due to my full time job, I usually write when I have the time. This used to mean late nights after work, but of course the lockdown changed that. Even so, I don’t think I can schedule my writing. I’m bad at planning things! So when I feel the urge, I write. If I’m at work at that moment, then I’d just quickly write down key words to my phone’s notes so I’d remember what to write when I get home.

Q: Do you plan to write more books based in Indonesia?

A: I do, as a matter of fact! Not quite sure yet ‘when’ exactly, but I have always wanted to do something that has to do with reincarnations and the old kingdoms of Indonesia. It will require lots of research, though, so… maybe one day!

Q: Who’s your all-time fave character to write? 

A: Okay, my all time fave character to write so far has got to be Indra (from my coming book)! Anything seems possible with him! Things that I can’t normally do with other characters, I can do with him. And I can’t say anything more, because: spoiler. But the gray characters are always a delight to work with.

Q: What inspired your WIP?

A: The Invisible Ones (the name of my coming book) is basically about the ignored ones, the ones we don’t see/care to know about, because they’re not interesting/good-looking/successful enough. They’re everywhere around us, IRL and in social media. My inspiration came from my own ‘sad life’, but I wanted to make it a lot more… sinister. Vengeful. Twisted and dark. So it’s very far from my real life/experience, I promise.

Q: What’s your favorite line of your wip (work in progress)?

A: Ooh, this was tough. And I’m gonna answer with a long one, taken from Maya’s POV:
‘I hated him then.
I hated him for making my name sound beautiful, for putting a new meaning into it, breaking my lifelong belief that my parents just hated me from the day I was born that they named me after a mirage, as if I wasn’t real.
I hated him for making me feel real, and visible.
And most of all, now that I felt visible, I hated him for making me feel like he liked what he saw.
I hated him, because not only had I already fallen for him, but now I was starting to realize that he might actually stay and turn my world upside down.’

To all of you who were involved in the Q&A session, I was honored to have your questions and answer them. Thank you so very much for the interest. Hope you’ll enjoy reading this as much as I did writing the answers!

The Next Book

On By dphauthorIn I See You, The Invisible Ones, Through The Invisible Ones, You See MeLeave a comment

Months ago, I wrote about winning a writing competition for a short story with the genre ‘crime’ or ‘possible crime’. This same winning piece is now fully developed into a longer story, bearing an altogether different title. As you can now see from my newly designed website, the title of my next book is The Invisible Ones, whereas the winning short story was called Best Friends.

A few things about my coming book:

It’s all about the rule of 2 for my next book: 2 main characters, 2 cities.

The 2 main characters are Indonesians, and the 2 cities, Jakarta & Bandung, are in Indonesia. I didn’t ‘choose’ this location because I’m from there, but because for this story to be believable, it has to happen there. Things that may not make sense anywhere else in the world, they do there. And I’m hoping that by the time you finish reading the story, you will see why & won’t be left with questions.

The story, much like my first book, spans out a bit over 3 decades. The earliest year recollected here is 1986 & the present time is 2018. It’s a long process. One part of the book takes you back & forth between all those years, the other part goes in a linear way.

Everything that happens in the book happens for a reason. Nothing means nothing.

There’s also 2 trigger warnings: mental illness & domestic violence. I’m sorry to say that this book is not a light one to stomach. Instead, I’ll admit, it is an ugly one that paints an ugly picture.

But it’ll all end well, right? Well, see, I can’t give you any spoiler. All I can say is that this is not a ‘feel-good’ kind of book, more of a ‘wake-up call’ kind, for us to start becoming aware of things that go on around us, even if they happen in a far away place. I’m still trying to figure out myself what the genre of the book is, but it has crime, suspense, and darkness written all over it.