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2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 April 11, 2021 I just finished listening to the final chapter recordings for my m/m fantasy novel, Through the Last Door. Dan Calley's narration is absolutely amazing! Hiring a professional voice actor for the narration was definitely a choice I don't regret. His voice is completely absorbing to listen to, and the way he brings the characters and scenes to life is absolutely amazing. It's been an incredible and slightly surreal experience to hear my characters and scenes brought to life like this, and in such a brilliant and beautiful way. I'm so very excited about it. :D Now we're moving into the production phase. This part will likely take a few weeks, depending on how long it takes ACX to approve the final audio files. I'm hoping it won't be very long. The audiobook will be available very soon!! http://jajaken.com/audiobooks.html
April 6, 2021 Over the past few years, I've begun designing my own covers and promo graphics for the books I've been writing. It's something I really enjoy doing! I love the creativity of trying to capture the atmosphere and theme of a book in visual form. The more I work with these kinds of images, the more I find myself loving it. From conversations I've been having with other authors, not everyone feels comfortable designing their own graphics for the books they write. So I'm extending an offer to create book covers and/or promo graphics for my fellow authors (and other creative types!). I'm really excited about this, and I'm looking forward to seeing what we can come up with for your visual designs together. ♥ Here are some examples of the promotional graphics I've created. You can click on the images to see a larger version of them:
There are more samples on my Graphics Design webpage here:
The fee I'm charging is US$25 per cover design, plus the cost of whatever paid stock images you decide to include. The price includes both an e-book cover and promotional graphics for your book. If you're interested in starting a graphics project, send me an email at jajakenfiction@gmail.com and let me know what kind of design you're looking for! :)
April 2, 2021 So far I've listened to 11 chapters of the audiobook for Through the Last Door as it's being recorded, and I cannot stop bouncing from excitement! Dan Calley is doing an absolutely beautiful job of it. He's amazing to work with, so patient with all of my questions and the tweaks I'm requesting. I love how he's working with me to find the absolute perfect voices for the characters. I could not be happier or more excited about this entire process. I'm really looking forward to hearing the next chapters!!! :) For more info on Through the Last Door and the Sacred Guardian series, you can click here: http://www.jajaken.com/novels/sacredguardianseries.htm
March 31, 2021 Love to read quality m/m fiction? Love sneak peaks and exciting freebies? When you subscribe to my newsletter you'll receive a free ebook copy of my newest m/m short story Insomnia as a welcome gift, exclusive to my subscribers! :) Subscribe here: bit.ly/News-jajaken
March 29, 2021 I just listened to the first chapter of the audiobook for Through the Last Door, which started recording today. It is SO GOOD! I've never heard any of my books read aloud before, and to experience it with someone of Dan's talent is beyond amazing. I am so excited to hear the rest of the chapters! http://jajaken.com/audiobooks.html
March 26, 2021 The Charming, a gay paranormal thriller and All Romance Ebooks best seller, is now available FREE TO READ through Kindle Unlimited! >>> Universal Amazon Link: getBook.at/JAcharm Be the first to get further updates about my books (and get access to exclusive freebies!) by joining my mailing list here: >>> https://mailchi.mp/ed1522573268/jajakenfiction THE CHARMING by J.A. Jaken Novel (51,000 words) Genre(s): Contemporary, Gay Paranormal Thriller The shadow of a past love has blinded Clayton MacAllister until his life is slipping through his fingers. Just as Clay is ready to give up on the idea that he might ever be happy, a charming stranger steps into his life and changes everything. Mal is rich, handsome and seductive; everything Clay thought he couldn’t have and didn’t deserve. Mal’s sadistic desires make Clay more than a little uneasy, but it seems like a price he can pay—until he learns the price might be his very soul.
March 20, 2021 Sharing my very first book trailer video, created by gfxstudio1. I'm so happy with how it turned out!!!
March 19, 2021 I've officially added a new audiobook page to my website. You can check it out here: http://jajaken.com/audiobooks.html Right now there is only one audiobook listed there (obviously), but I expect that will be growing with time. Dan has agreed to commit to narrating the entire four-book Sacred Guardian series, which is amazing and makes me so very happy. I'm sure I'll have to revamp the page once I have multiple audiobooks to list there, but for now it seems to be working well. And here is the new promo graphic I made for the Through the Last Door audiobook, because I was feeling super excited and creative last night:
March 18, 2021 I've finally chosen a narrator for the audiobook for Through the Last Door. I waffled a bit there at the end because his fee is a bit more than I was expecting to pay going into this, but I really think his talent is worth it. He absolutely nailed the voice of Kaori right from the start, and his narration style in the audition samples he sent me completely drew me in. I'm getting shivers just thinking about how incredible this all is. To hear Kaori and Hunter come to life like this, and Ishaya, and Haku, and Yura and Malo and Ben. I've never heard one of my stories read aloud before, and to hear it narrated by a talented voice actor is beyond amazing. ♥
March 15, 2021 I've gotten a few narrator auditions now for Through the Last Door, and something has occurred to me. When it comes to narrators, there's a distinct difference between a storyteller and someone who reads text off of a page. I'm definitely in the market for a storyteller for my audiobook, someone who can breathe life into the scenes and characters and make me want to hear more of the story they're telling. That's the experience I want to give all of you, and everyone else who ends up listening to the finished audiobook. I'm so excited about this entire process. I think the end result is going to be absolutely magical, and I can't wait to listen to the finished product. :D
March 13, 2021 The hardest part of the audiobook process so far is turning out to be listening to the samples from all of the possible narrators I have to choose from, and selecting the ones I want to invite for an audition. A lot of them are automatic no's because their voice doesn't fit the characters or the story, or they don't have the right energy, or various other reasons they just don't fit for this particular book. But a few are catching my ear and making me think okay, I could imagine this narrator reading my story aloud. It feels like a lot of pressure, though, because if I choose the wrong one then I know I'm going to regret it. So I'm being very careful and moving very slowly at this stage of the process. I can't help feeling really excited, though. This is new territory for me, and a new way to share the characters and worlds I've created. If any of you have been through this process already and have some advice to offer, please let me know!
March 7, 2021 I just finished posting Through the Last Door on ACX to begin auditioning narrators for the audiobook release. I'm really excited about it! I'm planning to have audiobooks made for each of the books in the Sacred Guardian series. Eventually I would like to move on to having audiobooks produced for my other books as well, but this is a start at least. The final edits for the fourth book in the series are going very well. I'm hoping to have The Caves of Time finished up and ready to publish very soon!
If you aren't familiar with the Sacred Guardian m/m fantasy series, you can find out all about it on my website here: bit.ly/SGseries
February 20, 2021 Checking in to say that things are finally settling down into an even keel again here at Casa Jaken. Thank you to all of you who have continued to buy my books and support me in that way over this past year, and by spreading the word about how much you've enjoyed them to your friends. It's been an incredible help to me as I've been struggling through the financial insecurity and uncertainty of these past months due to the pandemic. Every single comment I've read or email I've received letting me know how my books have touched your lives has been treasured and lightened my spirits immensely. I can't tell you how much your support and encouragement have meant to me. Now that I'm feeling more stable and focused once again, I'm planning to get back to conquering my writing goals. The first one of those is to finish the new book in the Sacred Guardian series. Poor Kaori and Hunter have been languishing for far too long waiting for me to finish the final polishing of their story and get it out there for all of you to read. I'm planning to get started on tackling that this afternoon and intend to have a finished book ready to publish in the very near future. That being said, I think it would be in my best interests to start focusing on marketing the series once again, and hopefully picking up some new readers who might not have had an opportunity to read the earlier books yet. So look out for those notices as I will likely be planning some giveaways and other goodies as we move forward toward the publishing of book 4. If you aren't familiar with the series, you can find out all about it on my website here: bit.ly/SGseries Here is my latest promo graphic for the series to hopefully start getting you excited about it: :)
January 1, 2021 Happy New Year, everyone! Hoping you all got through the chaos and challenges of 2020 with a minimum of damage and are looking forward to getting a fresh start in the new year. I've been through my share of personal tragedy and challenges these past months, and am looking forward to the opportunity to take a breath and move forward again with my writing goals. This is going to be a quick entry because the chaos has not yet settled down entirely for me. I just wanted to check in, let you know I'm okay, and that I hope to be interacting more with you in the coming months. I'm looking forward to reconnecting with all of you. I miss my online community. :) Take care and stay safe. Much love to all!
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