Jendrick.com

Rear-Ended

// May 16th, 2012 // No Comments » // Blog, Swimming

Exactly what I didn’t need a month before Trials: Yesterday I was rear-ended in my car. Fortunately it wasn’t too bad, but I’m definitely feeling it in my back and neck a day later. To top it off in an entirely non-sports related note and to make matters worse, I somehow wasn’t surprised to find the driver who hit me not only doesn’t have insurance, but was driving on a suspended license as well.

Today is going to be some abbreviated training and a trip to the chiropractor; I’ll be doing my best to keep the effects as limited as possible. I’m scheduled to race in a meet this weekend, but we’ll play it day-by-day.

-Megan

What Are You Doing to Promote?

// May 11th, 2012 // No Comments » // Blog, Books

I received an e-mail earlier today that went like this:

“Nathan, I’ve written a great book and all my readers rave about it… but I’m just not selling copies. I sell less than 10 a month and every time I log into KDP is like a punch in the gut. If my book is good, why isn’t it selling?”

This is far too broad a topic to cover with just the information I was given. But if you’re in a similar situation and you aren’t selling the copies you want (who is?) then you have some questions you have to ask yourself. Namely -

1. Who are your readers?

If you’re only getting feedback from your friends and parents, you may want to solicit outside advice. I’m not saying your friends and family won’t be honest with you, but it’s much more likely for them to “go easy” on you for a fear of hurting your feelings. Get with some writing groups and find someone who can give you a rational read and review without bias. Use that feedback to review your manuscript.

2. Where are you promoting?

Facebook. Twitter. Pinterest. If there’s a social media vehicle out there, you should be using it. Now, I admit, I really don’t care for social media myself, but you don’t have a choice if you really want to sell books in this market. When Megan and I wrote Darkshore we were fortunate to have an audience to immediately promote to using these venues. Without them, selling the first 1,000 copies might be something that wouldn’t have happened until 2013.

Too often, writers say, “I just want to write.” Personally, I don’t like writing. I like having written. Writing is hard. And so is promoting. But if you want people to read what you have written, you have to consider it as mandatory. Being a writer isn’t just fun, it’s work, and there isn’t a job out there that doesn’t have its downsides. So tweet, update your status, blog and pin away.

3. Are you categorized properly?

This one is much more minor than other steps, but look at how you’ve uploaded your book through Amazon’s KDP or Barnes & Noble’s PubIt! platforms. If you wrote a paranormal thriller and it’s listed under strictly “General Fiction,” you’re probably missing out on some random eyes hitting your page. Fix it, and see if you get some more traction that way.

These are just a couple of tips and are very basic, but if you aren’t following them then they’re potentially able to move mountains for you. Good luck!

-Nathan

More Racing and Daethan’s First Zoo Trip

// May 8th, 2012 // No Comments » // Blog, Random, Swimming

This past Sunday I raced at the May Flowers meet at the King County Aquatic Center. It was a fun meet and I raced the 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter breaststroke, dropping quite a bit of time in those events as compared to my efforts last week. I was really happy with that because both events felt as if they required less effort, yet I went faster. This is a result of holding the technique together that I need, which I’ve had a problem with in the past. I had originally been a little skeptical of having so many meets on the calendar because I’m going into Olympic Trials with so little training time under my belt since I’ve been back in the water, but now I absolutely see the value in them. It can be rough going from training hard and into a meet and not swim well, and then have to wait a month or two before getting the chance to rectify those swims. With meets on back-to-back weekends, I was able to “make those races right” so to speak in short order.

With racing over the weekend, I was able to take Monday off from pool training (still did my boxing and weights). Nate and I took the opportunity to take Daethan to the Pt. Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma! It was an absolutely gorgeous day and for being only six-months old, Daethan is amazingly observant. He would lock eyes onto all of the animals (and seemed particularly interested in the sharks!) and stare at them and reach out in their directions. It was super cute and, without question, reminded us that being parents is the best job in the world. Daethan got a little cranky by the time we reached the elephants and took a nap in his stroller, but that’s ok — just a reason to go back soon!

Swim Fast!

-Megan

Long Course Season is Here

// April 30th, 2012 // No Comments » // Blog, Swimming

Over this last weekend I swam the Long Course Kickoff meet up here and raced the 100 freestyle, 100 and 200 breaststroke events. The freestyle was just a way to get the heart rate up and get moving, and the breaststrokes were something to test a little stroke count out on.

I’m not overly happy with the times, but that’s to be expected, I think, given what we’re doing. We look at it as, “We could go a bit faster, but it wouldn’t be the technique we’ve been working on – so what’s the point?” I’ve been tweaking a LOT of things on my stroke lately, so I haven’t really been able to lock anything in consistently yet and needed a meet to test it. Next week I’m swimming the 100 breaststroke in a meet (but not the 200) so that will be a good look at how much difference a week can make.

Less than two months to Trials – I’m excited!

- Megan

‘Darkshore’ now on Kindle and Nook!

// April 28th, 2012 // No Comments » // Blog, Books

Check Darkshore out on Kindle or Nook!

Amazon’s ABNA

// April 24th, 2012 // No Comments » // Blog, Books

Well, my novel “Darkshore” didn’t make it to the semi-finals, but I did get some nice feedback from the Publishers Weekly reviewer. While reviews are always very personal, no matter who is giving them, it’s nice to get some “professional” thoughts on my work, especially when they call the novel, “solid fantasy,” and adding, ” This manuscript is overall very strong. The writing is solid, the plot is interesting, and the characters are vivid.”

At this point, I think I’ll get a cover made, convert it for publication, and launch it as an eBook for Kindle and Nook. I enjoy taking on side projects (especially with training, it’s a nice reprieve) and this one has been particularly fun.

- Megan

Masters Meet Recap

// April 17th, 2012 // No Comments » // Blog, Swimming

I swam quite a few events on Saturday and Sunday down at the Association Championship meet in Hood River, OR. First off – Wow! I know Washington has some great hidden landscape, but being on the Columbia river and the Gorge and all the trails and things in that area… wow! We actually stayed at a hotel in Cascade Locks, OR (home of the ‘Bridge of the Gods’!) and we spent just as much time enjoying the outdoors as we did at the pool. I’m sure that didn’t do anything to help my swimming, but being able to show our son so many neat new things was great!

I raced the 50, 100 and 200 breaststrokes, the 50 fly and the 100 IM. I wasn’t very happy with my times in any of my events, but getting the rust off of racing against is still a work in progress, so it was all much needed. Adjusting to SCM from SCY training was a little more challenging than I had remembered, but that’s ok, it was still fun! And anytime I can swim the 100 IM is really a “win” in my book.

Many thanks to the meet hosts and all of the other swimmers who graciously welcomed us to their event!

- MJ

Packing for a Meet, Baby style

// April 13th, 2012 // No Comments » // Blog, Swimming

I’ve swam in two meets now since being a Mom and both were relatively simple since my husband just had Daethan on deck. But now, for the first time, we’re heading to another state to swim, so we get the experience of packing everything for a long car trip and a couple of nights in a hotel stay. This much is fact… despite being 17 pounds, Daethan has more stuff that needs to be packed than both Nate and I combined! And, of course, it doesn’t really help that every time we think we’ve got everything, we find ten more things he “might” need or “might” want to play with. And while we debate these things, Daethan just sits and watches and giggles. So cute!

I’m swimming six events this weekend at a Masters meet and really looking forward to it – we’ll see how it goes!

Jendrick.com

// April 11th, 2012 // No Comments » // Blog

Because our individual sites covered a lot of the same things–training, nutrition, advice on writing, etc.–we thought it was finally time to merge the sites into one location. So here it is – Jendrick.com!

Exciting Stuff

// April 6th, 2012 // No Comments » // Blog

Nathan and I are working on an exciting change for our websites, so stay tuned!