Silenced 2: The Overtaking Blurb Reveal

Title: Silenced 2: The Overtaking
Author: Rae Beth McGee-Buda
Genre: Young Adult, Suspense, Christian
Release Date: Late Summer 2013

Blurb: In life when one thing goes wrong, it can feel like everything goes wrong. Secrets come to the surface while friendships twist out of control, romantic relationships end, and even a dear loved one can die!

In Silenced: The Overtaking Amber’s life turns to chaos when she finds out Sarah, her childhood friend dies suddenly, her stepfather reveals another devastating family secret, and her boyfriend begins pushing her away.

After all the truth comes out, Amber turns to her darkness for comfort when her worst fear becomes reality. Her secret with cutting is discovered when she loses control and ends up in the hospital. Amber’s long journey to recovery begins with a battle. While she’s fighting her way to freedom, she discovers the one love she’s been missing her entire life.
Will Amber overtake her darkness of cutting or will the darkness overtake her?

Official Book Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPxPfvrJMqk

About the Author

RaeBeth McGee-Buda was born in southwestern Pennsylvania in 1987, the second daughter of Rachel Yost and Arthur Curtis McGee. RaeBeth grew up loving to read and write poetry, as well as short stories. Her childhood dream was to become a teacher. Rae Beth's dream of writing was created in her eleventh grade literature class where writing became her passion.

RaeBeth married in August 2012 to her husband, Gregory Stephen Buda Jr. and resides in a small Pennsylvania town of Fairchance. RaeBeth is a full time mother of one and is expecting her second.

She graduated from American Intercontinental University with her associates in business administration. She enjoys spending her time writing and feels that connecting with readers is her main goal.

RaeBeth published Silenced under her maiden name but plans to continue writing under her married name with any other works.

Author Facebook Page Link

 https://www.facebook.com/raebethbuda

Email: 

raebeth.buda@gmail.com

Blog link: 

http://raebethmcgeeswriting.blogspot.com/

Twitter ID: 

https://twitter.com/raebethmcgee

 Website: 

http://raebethmcgee.weebly.com/

Purchase Links for Silenced (1st book in Series)

Each book(s) Amazon page links

Silenced in Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Silenced-Volume-1-RaeBeth-McGee/dp/1480254665/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1355696968&sr=1-1

Silenced for Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Silenced-Series-ebook/dp/B00ANRBNDS/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355696968&sr=1-1&keywords=Silenced+by+raebeth+mcgee

Link on Barnes and Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/silenced-rae-beth-mcgee/1022945794?ean=2940015999945

Additional information
Here is my author page on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/RaeBeth-McGee/e/B00ANXH6PG/ref=la_B00ANXH6PG_rf_p_n_feature_browse-b_0?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_82%3AB00ANXH6PG%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A2656022011&bbn=283155&ie=UTF8&qid=1355839606&rnid=618072011

How I Made My First Book Sale?

As a self published author, I get asked frequently how I made my first book sale. This question is hard to pin point exactly what I did to help with the my first book sale. I say this because every book is different and unique in their own way. What I can say is what I did leading up to the release of my first book, which helped create awareness and lead to my first book sale. 

When Silenced was complete in editing from my end and I sent it off to the editor, my marketing began. This is where I really worked hard to create awareness for my book. I created graphics and an event on Facebook. The graphics weren’t shared anywhere until after the reveal in the event. This helped with the excitement. During the event, I gave small teasers and those who attended played games for prizes.

I created a Street team to help spread the word. The team is still kicking off but it’s a work in progress. I started a blog where I write small posts about my writing journey, my thoughts on writing or publishing, and where I share all upcoming events. 

The key to selling the first book is to create as much awareness as you can, especially if you’re a self published author and all the marketing is on you.

4 Things You Didn’t Know About Becoming a Self Published Author

Self Publishing is Time Consuming: I didn’t realize how much time I’d be putting into my book even after I was finished writing it. I knew there would be some work involved to help my book become known and I’m still working on that. I’ve spent countless hours slaving over my manuscript to try to perfect it the best I can. I’ve went several rounds of editing with beta readers and a professional editor. Not to mention the promotion it takes to get a book noticed by a small amount. I promote my work every day, even several times a day. Most mornings after getting my daughter off to school, my time goes directly to my books. I work most of the school day on promotion and writing. At night is when I am able to relax and read a book.

The Importance of Social Networking

As a self published author, most of my time is put into the social networking world. I use Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and many more sites to help me get my work out there. Word of mouth is good too. My friends and family have done an amazing job with helping me spread the word about Silenced, but that’s only part of the marketing. With Silenced being available on Amazon mainly, I strive to keep up in the social network among the hundreds of other authors out there trying to shine too.

It’s Hard to Stand Out

The self publishing industry is booming right now. It seems like everyone and their brother is an author. Therefore, there’s a lot of competition out there. But I don’t like to think of them as competition. I find it easier to become known in this tough industry is by helping others like you. Teaming up with other authors that write in your genre have helped me get my book out there to a bigger audience. But even after all the help, it’s still like I’m one small fish in the vast ocean of books.

Creating a Professional Book is Hard

I didn’t realize how much it would take me to get my book to some what stand out until after I hit that publish button. I didn’t realize how much the cover matters and how much the editing matters. I designed the cover of the Kindle version of Silenced. This took a lot of time. I had to learn Photoshop, find the perfect pictures, purchase the rights to them, and then begin designing. Even after it was said and done, I still felt it could be better. This is how the paperback cover came to life. I got with another designer, worked with her to create the amazing cover, and this took time. I was blessed enough to have the designer help me as I helped her. Then, once the book was listed on Amazon I realized there was something missing. Page numbers! Yes, I formatted Silenced without page numbers in the paperback. It actually took my six year old daughter to point this out to me. Ughh!! So not only do I have editing issues I need to fix within the text, I now have to fight with the formatting of page numbers. 

So in conclusion, even though it sounds like a headache.... I still love what I do.

Beware the Procrastination Demons

One thing I have learned within the past year while finishing the edits with Silenced and the start of The Overtaking is the procrastination demon that occasionally got a hold on me. I would always say, “I’ll do it in a little while.” Then this little while would creep into a few days and possibly even a few weeks. 

I’m a stay at home Mom, so there’s a lot around the house that distracts me from what I should be doing... writing. I see something in the house that needs tended to. A dear friend or family member decides to show up. There’s just one more thing to do for my little bundle of joy before she comes. All of these are only a few of the things that distract me. 

I have found a way for myself to avoid this. First and foremost, I created a work schedule to get rid of these distractions and the procrastinations. During my newly formed schedule, I make sure I do everything I can to limit my focus on other things other than writing. I shut off the television. No radio. Grab the laptop (which runs really slow with the Internet up and one of my WIP’s) and set up to write. I turn the cell on silent and stay away from the Internet. Once all of these interruptions are shut down, I focus on writing.

I have certain times where I check my cell phone to be sure I haven’t missed any important calls. Most of the time I do this during a food break. 

When it comes to household chores, I set my writing times later in the day, so I can get those pesky chores out of the way. My reward for completing them in a short amount of time is ... more time to write. There I feel is a win/win. 

How do you like to avoid the procrastination demons?

What inspired you to write Silenced?

The inspiration came from several places. I know several friends and family who suffer from depression (myself included). I watched their struggle with it and I’ve seen the reactions of those around me. It seems like depression and self harm are two taboo subjects within this world. Most people shy away or begin judging before they even know what’s going on. They don’t give the person a chance.

I felt that it was time to bring light to this and help people to understand. I wanted to stand out from the latest trends in the book world. When I first began expanding on Silenced for the purpose of getting more awareness to depression, I noticed paranormal was the going genre. I would accomplish my goal of standing out. 

I wanted my book to have a deeper meaning than just a journey for the reader. I wanted them to get something out of it. The overall story is entertaining but the meaning goes much deeper. Depression and self harm is something I feel is very close to home. I want others to be able to see it like I do. What not a better way to do it then put the reader in my head? Why not make my character go through what I am or what I’m seeing others going through? 

I begin my research into the technical aspects of it and getting more then just my views. I began asking people I know how depression affected them. If they opened up and mentioned cutting, we talked about that too. So it’s not just me expressing myself through Amber. Its a mixture of people into one. 

The other characters within the book resemble real people I have met along the way within my lifetime. They either made a great impact on me or a horrible one. Obviously one could tell what parts were so bad by the way the characters were behaving at times. 

In conclusion, Silenced was inspired by those around me and the life events I’ve experienced. I’m totally for supporting those who self harm and helping to bring awareness to this very serious condition!

What It’s Really Like Being an Author Starting Out – at least for this one....

Everyone has dreams as their growing up. I know I did but being an author never crossed my mind. Once I realized I loved to write and wanted to focus part of my life on it, I realized my dreams changed. I want to be a successful author. By this I’m not meaning money wise. I want to be successful by always striving to get better and push myself to never stop learning. I can’t say how much I’ve learned with just writing my first book and having it published.

At first I didn’t think the word published would ever come out of my mouth. When I got to the point where I needed to begin thinking of it, I thought only the lucky authors got their books out there. That’s until I was introduced into the self publishing world. (This was also when it became the “thing” to do.) I didn’t hesitate to begin formatting my book and send it off to Lulu.com.

At this time I didn’t realize that it needed an editor. My mind was focused on one thing. When a reader (also an author) privately messaged me, they explained that my book could be a lot better if I pulled it and had it go through the editing stage. They felt my book could really make a stand out there if it had a good edit. So, it was pulled.

I put Silenced through the ringer (beta readers and an editor) then began my hunt again for a publisher. I got mixed up with the wrong publisher who presented themselves as a “great -don’t want to miss this opportunity- we’ll get your work out there to the big people” and they ended up being not so great. They destroyed my book and gave me a bunch of false hope. I eventually found out they are considered a “spam” publisher and begin fighting my way out of the contract. I found they were in breach and got the rights back to my book.

After the few months of battle, I had to put Silenced through formatting and editing again. This time I was careful. I did more research. I found an editor and sent off Silenced again. This time I felt sure it was going to be ready for the world. After several weeks of changes and emails with the editor, we felt Silenced was ready.

I went to Amazon and published it. I’m still finding out there are mistakes within the book and I plan on fixing those in the future. But for now I’m working on finishing Amber’s story for my fans.