A Place for Aspiring Writers of Fiction

Editing 101: I Put a Spell on You...The Thesaurus--The Writer's Bible

2011-12-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

I imagine most of you already know what a thesaurus is, but just in case there are a few who don't, let's start out with a general definition.

A thesaurus is a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms. In writing, you can use a thesaurus to take a simple word and replace it with something better, and if you're not already taking advantage of all a thesaurus has to offer, you should be.

The thesaurus is one of your best friends in writing. It's the place you go to plug in your simple words and spin them into word gold.

Let's say you have this basic sentence:

The girl ran through the corridor.

This is okay. It's not compelling in any way, but I understand what's going on here. Now let's take that sentence to the next level using a thesaurus.

Here are some options I can use to replace the word RAN:

BUSTLES
DARTED
FLED
ESCAPED
HASTENED
RACED
RUSHED
SCAMPERED
SCRAMBLED
SCURRIED
SPRINTED
TORE OUT
TROTTED
WHISKED

This isn't the complete list. It's only some of the options you have to use in place of RAN.

Now let's try it again.

The girl scurried through the corridor.

The girl tore out of the corridor.

The girl whisked her way through the corridor.

Would you still opt for a basic sentence after seeing these delicious options? I know I wouldn't.

As a side note, no matter what program you are using, make sure you use spell check. If you don't have one (and most all programs do), go to dictionary.com and plug in your word. Usually when you enter it incorrectly it tries to generate the correct word.

Foe example, I just went to dictionary.com and typed the word DIGITIL, which is the incorrect spelling. It said no dictionary results and then below that said: Did you mean digital?

Then you can click on the suggested word, read the definition and see if it matches with the word you wanted.

Knowledge truly is power when it comes to words, and we have all these great options at our fingertips--don't be afraid to jump in and use them.

Blog Tour Monday with my Guest Chris Blewitt

2011-11-28T14:33:00.001-07:00

Today my guest is Chris Blewitt, author of three novels: Deep Rough, The Chemist, and his latest: The Lost Journal. And...the best part is that you can pick up a copy on your Kindle for only $2.99 right now.

THE LOST JOURNAL

In 1778, during the peak of the Revolutionary War, a secret document is hidden and its whereabouts are known to only one man. Now, more than two centuries later, Seth Layton accidentally discovers the journal that will unlock its location and he is on a quest to find it. Joined by his grandfather and new female friend, Madison, they are chased by unsavory characters and some powerful people through historic Philadelphia to the streets of Washington DC. What American secret will the journal unveil and will Seth and his companions live long enough to reveal it?

***

And now for a little more about Chris:

1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

I’ve been reading since before Kindergarten. I have always loved books and immersing myself in a story. I started reading more and more after high school and during the summer I could finish a book a week. Writing came naturally for me. I wrote a novel in college and finished my first published novel fifteen years later. I didn’t do it for the fame or glory; I just wanted to tell a story. All these stories are crammed in my head, waiting to be told. I wish I had enough time to tell them all.

2. Tell me about your novel—what inspired it?

I’m a history buff. I’ve always loved history class in school and learning about things that happened years or centuries ago. Probably my favorite time period is Colonial Times, before, during, and after the Revolutionary War. My parents used to take me to Williamsburg, VA when I was kid every couple of years and I just loved learning about that time period. I wanted to write a story that was based in the present day, but inspired by events that took place during that time period.

3. How did you choose the title of the novel?

That was actually pretty tough. I had the 2nd draft written before I chose the title. It was just really difficult to nail down. One day, I just sat down and wrote every noun and adjective that had to do with the story. I started mixing and matching different words and still had nothing. Then, it just came to me one morning getting out of bed. It fit the story perfectly.

4. What made you choose your particular genre?

It’s exactly the type of books I read. I could not write a fantasy or young adult book very well because I don’t read that genre. I read thrillers, suspense, and mystery. 90% Fiction with a little true-crime thrown in there.

5. What’s the next project for you? Tell the readers about it.

I’m actually dusting off the book I wrote in college and I’m going to see if it has any merit to be published. I never even submitted the book to agents or publishers; I just had friends and family read it. Now, I’m reading the hard copy I saved and I have no idea what’s going to happen next! After that, I’m going to start a new novel that’s been in my mind for quite some time.

6. What character from your book(s) are you like the most and why?

It would have to be the main character, Seth. He’s your everyday, average guy. He gets entangled in this mess and sees it through until the end. He plays a mini-hero, he finds love, and he is close to his family.

7. Let’s put the novel aside and talk about YOU for a minute—what are your hobbies and what can’t you live without that’s non-book related? What do you do when you are not writing? If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

My hobby is reading! I’m never without a book. If you’ve ever read my first book, Deep Rough, you know I am a big golfer as well. I probably can’t live without the Internet. I’m always checking everything; weather, news, stocks, email, whatever. When I’m not writing I’m taking care of my three kids! I’d probably live where I do now, just outside of Philadelphia in South Jersey. I’m close to my friends, family & sports teams. But….if I had an unlimited supply of plane tickets, I’d live in Galway, Ireland.

8. If a reader asked you to recommend the three BEST books to read, aside from your own, what would they be?

Presumed Innocent – Just read it (the book is 30 years old or so), and it’s fantastic.
The Firm
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

9. If you could have dinner with one author, who would it be?

John Locke – The guy just sold a million books in less than a year so I’d love to pick his brain.

For more on Chris Blewitt:

Twitter: @cblewitt
Facebook: Chris Blewitt
Website: www.chrisblewitt.com

WELCOME COFFIN HOPPERS! ENTER TO WIN BELOW!

2011-10-30T14:11:00.001-06:00

I am sooo excited to be part of the Coffin Hop this year! There are 100 authors participating which means YOU have a chance to win some really cool prizes like a Nook, gift cards, books, t-shirts, and even a chance to have your name in a novel!

Although I'm not a horror writer...YET, I am a mystery/thriller writer. I write the Sloane Monroe series and currently have two books published: Black Diamond Death and Sinnerman. Both are .99 as a promotion for this contest (book three in the series, I Have a Secret, will be released Spring 2012).

My first novel, Black Diamond Death, entered the top #100 in two mystery categories six weeks after its release and has been a bestseller for over six months, and my second, Sinnerman, entered the top #100 sixteen days after its release and is doing well.

Enough about my books for now...let's get to the contest! I am giving away two prizes:

Prize #1: One autographed copy of either Black Diamond Death or Sinnerman (your choice)

Prize #2: One $20 gift card to Amazon.com

Here's how to win...

Just for stopping by and "blog hopping" you are eligible for one entry in prize #1. All you need to do is EMAIL ME with your name. My email is misspoirot@ymail.com.

To be eligible for prize #2, purchase a copy of Sinnerman (which is priced at .99 for the rest of this month) and EMAIL ME the answer to these two questions:

1. In chapter 29, where does Giovanni take Sloane?

2. In chapter 42, what part of Park City does Decklan Reids live in?

These chapters are short, and it should only take about five minutes to find the answers. Once you have them, EMAIL ME. You will be entered to win prize #1 AND #2, AND you will be entered five times for the $20 gift card.

As an added bonus, anyone who signs up to follow my blog will receive two additional entries in the contest.

And don't forget to return back to the BLOG HOP once you're done here and keep on hoppin! I will announce the winners on my site and contact them by email on November 1st.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!

Blog Tour Tuesday with my Guest C.M. Barrett

2011-10-11T08:03:00.000-06:00

C.M. Barrett is the author of A Dragon's Guide to Destiny Series and currently has two novels under her belt: Big Dragon's Don't Cry and Dance With Clouds. Big Dragon's Don't Cry is currently just .99 on the Kindle and Dance with Clouds is $2.99.

Big Dragons Don't Cry, Book I of A Dragon's Guide to Destiny

Morale in the country of Oasis has never been worse. The Earthers, a tree-hugging sect, beg forgiveness for their crimes against twigs and weeds. The Godlies preach penitence and suffering and inspire their followers into submission by threatening them with an afterlife spent being chased by a fire-breathing dragon.

All Oasans fear the dragon in the swamp at the country's edge, and they don't know that he fears them. Druid, a water dragon who puts out fires, steams up when he learns that a cunning opportunist intends to exploit dragonphobia and have the dragon killed so that he can level the swamp for suburban housing.

Tara, a kitten with charisma, is trying to bring humans back into balance. She needs to enlist Serazina, a young human woman who hides her ability to read emotions in order to avoid imprisonment in the Ward for the Chronically Crazy. Serazina's troubles grow when Phileas, Guardian of Oasis, chooses her to be the mother of the heir he so badly needs. Before he can consider fatherhood, he needs to stem the mysterious rumors that he's soft on dragons.

Somehow these four must overcome communication difficulties, mutual mistrust, and delusions of human superiority to save the country. Otherwise, even though Druid doesn't breathe fire, Oasis will be toast.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

I was an early reader for my age, and the magic of the written word captivated me. In addition, my Irish mother and grandmother were brilliant story tellers, who deepened my appreciation for the power of stories.

Beyond that, I don't remember a conscious decision like, "I want to be a writer." The desire was always there. However, I got sidetracked often, and some of these alternate paths were absorbing and compelling. There was never a question of time wasted. I feel that all I've experienced has contributed to my storytelling ability.

Tell me about your novel—what inspired it?

Although I didn't know it at the time, Big Dragons Don't Cry was conceived when I visited the Florida Everglades. I was mysteriously drawn to this place, and when I later learned that it was at grave environmental risk, something far below the surface began to come together. How a dragon ended up in the swamp of my novel is one of those magical mysteries.

How did you choose the title of the novel?

This was another magical event. I'd finished the book and was ready to publish it and agonizing over titles. Nothing quite clicked until the title popped into my head. I knew it held certain dangers, because it suggested a totally funny book, but I couldn't shake it from my mind. I had to go with my intuition.

What made you choose your particular genre?

Since I came up with the story first, fantasy seemed to be the best fit. That, however, is a huge genre, and I would be hard pressed to define a subgenre for Big Dragons Don't Cry and the other books in the series. I will add that I have always loved reading fantasy. I also enjoy that it gives me the opportunity to explore universal ideas in a milieu that's removed from current realities on Planet Earth.

What’s the next project for you?

I've just published Dance with Clouds, Book II of the series, which features the same characters.

For centuries, a priestess cult has ruled the land of Dolocairn. Now drug lords seek to take control. As part of their campaign to broaden their power, they use drugs that induce amnesia and death to attack the land of Oasis. Serazina, the Heroine of Oasis, must go to Dolocairn to stop them. Tara, a fearless kitten, and Druid, a melancholy dragon, accompany her. They may not get out alive.

What character from your book(s) are you like the most and why?

Something of me is in each of the characters. With regard to the four main characters, I love the open emotionalism of Druid, the dragon. Though saddled with a huge mission, Tara is a quintessential kitten, mischievous, confident, and very brave. (I never met a kitten I didn't like.) As far as the human characters go: Serazina, at odds with a world that doesn't accept her, remains true to herself, and I don't think anything is more important. Phileas, the Guardian of Oasis, has the difficult need to question a society whose values place him in power, and I admire his search for a deeper truth.

Let’s put the novel aside and talk about YOU for a minute—what are your hobbies and what can’t you live without that’s non-book related? What do you do when you are not writing? If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

When I'm not writing, I'm often reading. I am also a visual artist working in watercolor and member of the Woodstock (N.Y.) Artists Association. Painting is very important to me as another form of creative expression.

Animals are major characters in my books, and I've learned a lot about their behavior and interactions by looking out the window. I also spend considerable time with my cats.

If a reader asked you to recommend the three BEST books to read, aside from your own, what would they be?

This is REALLY hard to answer. East of Eden, Pride and Prejudice, and Ragtime.

If you could have dinner with one author, who would it be?

Maeve Binchy (for those who don't know her, an Irish novelist and short story writer). Reading one of her books is like comfort food without the calories. By that, I don't mean they're shallow. Her characters experience tragic events, but they pull through, usually with the help of others. I think she's a great believer in community, and in these times that's a value that can never be over-promoted.

Post where you can be found—website, blog, twitter, facebook, etc.

Big Dragons Don't Cry Amazon Page

Dance with Clouds Amazon Page

Website

Blog: on the subjects of creativity and inspiration

Blog: for cats (humans allowed)

Facebook Author Page

Editing 101: Why Bother Hiring an Editor, Anyway?

2011-10-02T09:32:00.001-06:00

I absolutely love editing--whether it's my own novel or someone else's, I have some sort of strange addiction and, what I believe is a talent I was born with. English has always been easy for me; so much so that I never had to read or study anything on the subject most of the time. I just got the A. If only I could say the same about math...

The reason I edit for others is twofold: I love it, and I'm good at what I do. I'm not an expert, but I've learned a lot along the way. Some of the best, coming from other books--which I'll get to later this month.

So why should you hire an editor?

It's simple, really. When a reader writes to you or even worse, writes a review for the world to see on a site like Amazon and mentions your book needs to be edited because it had a lot of flaws and grammatical errors, it's that first impression that you can't take back, and then it's hanging out there being read by who knows how many potential readers, and there isn't a thing you can do about it.

When I wrote my first novel, I thought I could edit it myself because hey, that's what I do--right? Wrong. The problem was I'd memorized my MS so when I was reading it over, I was skipping things because in my head, it was right. It was like the melody of a song and I was just skimming through it. I missed the simplest errors that I catch right away in anyone else's MS. My first novel was a bit of trial and error like that and it went through a few revisions before it was polished the way it needed to be.

A good editor can see things that you can't because there's no degree of separation between you and your novel.

THE BUDDY OL' PAL

Maybe you have some good friends who offer to look over your MS for you. Yippy skippy if that's what you want--the more eyes the better. But don't let the buck stop there. I had two friends look over my first novel, and they missed several errors that my professional editor caught. I didn't tell them of course, and I didn't need to. I had a professional waiting on the sidelines and I was confident all would be caught in the end.

On that note, it's important for you to have an editor who KNOWS the industry. My friends didn't have the first clue about what makes a novel good these days, or why it's important to look out for the overuse of qualifiers, -ing and -ly words, and their ilk. Just because someone loves to read, doesn't mean they are the best person to give you advice on your baby.

An editor should be able to take your novel to the next level so it reads smooth, like butta ;) Your already good story comes back to you great, ready for the world to see, and that's invaluable.

Blog Tour Thursday with my Guest Julia Crane

2011-09-29T09:34:00.001-06:00

Julia Crane is the author of Keegan's Chronicles (Coexist, Conflicted, and In the Mind of Thaddeus). I've invited her here today to discuss her latest in the series, Conflicted. Julia creates sweet stories that will open your imagination to a world of fantasy.

Conflicted: Keegan's Chronicles

In the Elfin world, magic and destiny determine who will be together. "Chosen" pairs are fated to meet at the age of 18.

Keegan, however, is an anomaly. Having fallen in the battle between the Light and the Dark, she is only alive now due to Black Magic, and her bond with her Chosen is broken. She cannot remember Rourk at all.

For the first time, she feels like a normal teenager. She is dating Donald, her long-time crush, and everything seems perfect. But Rourk still feels their bond, and despairs for the woman he was always meant to love.

Keegan’s best friend Anna is determined to find a way to use her powers to return Keegan’s bond, no matter what it takes. The question is does Keegan even want it?

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

I’ve dreamed of writing novels since I was young. I wrote a lot when I was younger, but after having children I put the dream to the side. It wasn’t until this year on a whim that I decided to sit down and write one. I wasn’t sure I could complete it, but I wanted to try.

2. Tell me about your novel—what inspired it?

Keegan's Chronicles is about a family of elves that live among humans. It's a young adult paranormal romance involving a fated couple and the obstacles they face because of magic. My family has strong Irish roots, and my grandmother often told tales that involved elves. I also took a lot of inspiration from my teen daughter and her friends.

3. How did you choose the title of the novel?

Conflicted was an easy title to choose, because the main character is conflicted in regards to her feelings. She can't decide between what she wants to do and what she should do.

4. What made you choose your particular genre?

I'm sure the fact that I have teens had a lot of impact on my decision. Also the teen years are such an exciting time of growth, and there is always some drama around the corner.

5. What’s the next project for you? Tell the readers about it.

I'm currently working on book three in the series. Consumed: Keegan's Chronicles I'm not sure if this will be the last in the series or if I will make one more. Things finally fall in place during this novel. I don't want to give too much away so I will leave it at that.

6. What character from your book(s) are you like the most and why?

Emerald, who is the mother of the main character. I relate to her a lot and I found myself writing in the first person when I wrote scenes with her character. I have a teen daughter and we often deal with issues that were brought up.

7. Let’s put the novel aside and talk about YOU for a minute—what are your hobbies and what can’t you live without that’s non-book related? What do you do when you are not writing? If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

I love to be outdoors, and we try to be active as a family. I wish I could say that I enjoy running, but I really dislike it and still do it anyway. We are lucky that we are living in Dubai, so we have the ability to travel to many places that would have cost too much from the US. My dream is to be able to move around every 3-4 months to different locations so we can enjoy living in different areas. There are so many beautiful places in this world I really can't think of one place.

8. If a reader asked you to recommend the three BEST books to read, aside from your own, what would they be?

Atlas Shrugged, Pillars of the Earth, and Lonesome Dove.

9. If you could have dinner with one author, who would it be?

Richard Castle I love the show Castle and I'm sure it would be an interesting meal.

Connect with Julia Crane here:

WEBSITE

TWITTER

Blog Tour Tuesday with my guest Athanasios

2011-09-06T09:20:00.002-06:00

Athanasios is the author of Mad Gods, a dark fantasy that deals with armageddon, the occult, the antichrist--among other things.

To begin with, what I liked about this book was that the author started the reader out on a journey right from the onset of the book--the plot was well written, easy to understand, and thought provoking.

The characters were fleshed out well and had realistic thoughts such as this one early on in the book:

I did not fall because of obedience, rather, because I supported my brothers. For the same reason, I knew they would stand with me. Each of us stood shoulder to shoulder in defense of the other. We did not stand to defend any rules or laws. We stood for each other. In the end, nobody stood for principle.

I also liked the feeling that while fiction, I was being pulled back into history to another place and time--and I love it when a book can successfully do that for the reader. It takes a lot of planning and preparation to get it right, and both are found here. The time shifts back and forth throughout the novel, but the author lays it out right at the beginning of the section, and in doing so, makes it clear to the reader so there's no confusion about what's going on and when.

I also enjoy a book that makes me think and also wonder what is going to happen next--like this one did and you're pulled into an epic battle of good and evil which has existed since the beginning of time in one form or another.

Toward the end there were other passages I liked as well, such as this one:

People looked outside themselves for guidance and fell prey to human frailty. The tools used to reach peace are all faulty. We see with narrowed eyes, hear with limited ears, smell and taste with an imperfect nose and mouth and feel with partial touch. Were we to sense a facet of true light, we wouldn't have the capacity to understand. There has never been, nor will there ever be, anything in human experience that will be able to comprehend what we are.

Overall, I recommend this novel; it was time well spent!

To learn more about it, Athanasios, I asked him to send me his bucket list:

1. Be internationally acclaimed for my storytelling in both literature and illustration.

2. Abundant, obscene emotional & financial wealth.

3. Travel the places I've read about in my research for Predatory Ethics. That would include Europe, Asia and the sacred places of the native americans before Europeans came.

4. Learn to ride a motorcycle and have a fleet of them.

5. Learn and practice as many forms of the sword as I am able to within the years left to me.

6. Learn to ride horses and have a stable of them, and people who can take care of them, 'cause I sure don't know how.

7. Collect as many pieces of militaria, (yes my own word, sue me), as I could fit into wherever I'm living.

8. Wake up every day with no real need to go anywhere I don't want to go.

9. Kill a few specific people, (no really).

10. Cripple or horrifically maim a few people for life, (no I'm serious).

Happy September!

2011-09-01T17:15:00.003-06:00

This month is an exciting time for me because I will release the second novel in my Sloane Monroe mystery/thriller series, Sinnerman, in just about a week here.

I'll be hosting a variety of different authors this month including the fabulous Jacqueline Mitchard and Heather Killough-Walden who are both releasing new books this month as well. Jacqueline, as you might know, is the author of The Deep End of the Ocean and was also an Oprah book club choice back in the day, and Heather is burning up the Kindle charts right now with her fantastic series of books.

I appreciate everyone for stopping by my site; since its inception, I've have 8,000 unique users on here, and that's pretty amazing.

I'm going to put the cart before the horse now for a moment and talk about October. I will be hosting a month long blog series on what's important in editing and offering a lot of tips from an editor POV. So, check that out starting October 1st. I'll be using a lot of that series in my upcoming book for writers as well.

Have a great month everyone, and may your sales be GREAT!

-C

Blog Tour Tuesday with my Guest Karen Fowler

2011-08-30T23:19:00.002-06:00

Karen Fowler is the author of Still Life Paintings, a collection of three short stories, each offering something fresh and unique. What I like about this collection is that her stories tie into the world of art which makes them interesting and gives them that little something extra that can't be found anywhere else.

Still Life Paintings

Still Life Paintings is a collection of three short stories, thematically linked by painting. This collection is 10,000 words in length and contains bonus material in the form of an an essay excerpt from the book Reflections on Motherhood as well.

They say that a painter leaves a bit of his soul behind with each painting, but what happens when a painting gives you back the part of yourself that's been missing? In the story Abstract Remembrances, Annie finds out that she'd lost a part of herself for a reason.

But in Still Life Painting, Sari finds a glittering jewel buried within the canvases on the wall, and more than a part of herself, she finds her future.

The last story, Different Strokes, can be summed up with a fitting quote:

"Painting is an attempt to come to terms with life. There are as many solutions as there are human beings." ~ George Tooker

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

I'm a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. By day I'm a graphic designer, on weekends I'm a photographer, and under the cover of darkness, when the house is quiet and still, I write. Everything I truly enjoy doing involves some sort of a creative element, but writing is particularly dear to me. Mainly because it let's me try on different personas, immerse myself in a world that I get to control, and live vicariously through my characters.

2. Tell me about your novel—what inspired it?

This collection started out as a single story, which was published in the Chick Lit Review (online) but it was only after I decided to release some of my work in ebook format that I considered lumping the story in with others as a thematically-linked collection. I like how the stories cross genres because it lets me flex my creative muscle while giving readers a sampler of my fiction.

3. How did you choose the title of the novel?

In college I was an art nut. Even though I majored in Biology and Psychology, I found art and art history fascinating. The term still life paintings is used for a work that captures a specific moment in time and I thought it fitting for a collection of shorts where each focuses on a pivotal moment in life.

4. What made you choose your particular genre?

I don't chose a genre to focus on and my work runs the gamut from horror to literary. It's easier to name the types of fiction I don't write... mostly category Romance, and Sci-Fi – the alien kind-- I'm open to anything science based though. I tend to go where the story takes me and worry about fitting into a genre category later.

5. What’s the next project for you?

Right now I'm working on a novel-in-stories titled Home Is Where The Haunt Is. I started thinking about haunted houses and the ways the people living in them are said to be affected. That lead me to wonder what the subtle effects of a hunting could be; how a house (or the spirit within) could change a person gradually so that no one would be the wiser?

6. What character from your book(s) are you like the most and why?

Well, I don't think any single character resembles me on the whole, but I do influence them in smaller ways. One gets my snarky sense of humor, another has a fear of crickets, and so on. I always leave a piece of me behind within each character, some are just harder to spot than others.

7. Let’s put the novel aside and talk about YOU for a minute—what are your hobbies and what can’t you live without that’s non-book related? What do you do when you are not writing? If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

When I'm not writing, I can usually be found reading. Also, I'm a portrait and even photographer, so I spend a great deal of time taking and editing images. I'd be lost without my camera and I lug it everywhere, knowing the minute I leave it at home the perfect image will present itself and I'll be unprepared.

If I could live anywhere I'd have a hard time choosing, that's for sure. My ideal life would be traveling the world, living a few months in one spot before moving off to another. Italy, Greece, England, India, Peru, Spain, Costa Rica, Ireland--all top my “someday” itinerary.

8. If a reader asked you to recommend the three BEST books to read, aside from your own, what would they be?

That's a tough one... and I'm hard pressed to name just three. Some are better written, some have a gripping plot, and others are the most imaginative. Three recent books that stayed with me long after I read them would be:

1) A Blade Away by Jack Wallen
2) Beautiful, Naked & Dead by Josh Stallings
3) Kissed By Darkness by Shea MacLeod

9. If you could have dinner with one author, who would it be?

Hands down,I'd love to break bread with Edgar Allan Poe. I'd just have to take my chances against being dropped in a pit or walled-up afterwards!

For more on Karen Fowler:

WEBSITE

TWITTER

GOODREADS

Blog Tour Tuesday with my Guest Helmy Kusuma

2011-08-23T08:41:00.001-06:00

Helmy Kasuma is the author of the novel Mementoes of Mai, a novel that takes place for the most part in Vietnam.

While looking at the reader reviews, I came across some great ones:

The descriptions of the sights and sounds were so vivid I felt like I was really there and this I enjoyed. I have never been to Vietnam and to be taken on a journey around the different markets and foodie places was great.

If you're looking for a slow paced story of love and life, you might enjoy this. The story basically showed how making plans for your life don't always work out the way you want them to.

English is the second language of this author, and he clearly has an outstanding and most admirable knowledge of it. Whilst evident that it is not his native language, this novella was charmingly written.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Post the name of your most recent novel and the product description here:

Mementoes of Mai

A mundane office life is suddenly changed into something entirely different in a flick of a hand... And now he must make up his mind to pursue the love of his life... Would he be able to reconcile his past and his present to step into the unknown territory of the probable future?

Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

I am an ex-IT worker that have gone on a wonderful vacation and decided that life is too beautiful to be spent on a cubicle. And what would best describe this beautiful world? Words, of course, because I am lousy with paints...

Tell me about your novel—what inspired it?

It's based on my own experience, and I wrote it as a release from my old ways.

How did you choose the title of the novel?

My fellow author, Alex Canton, drove me to the edge and I found the title blinking to me from the valley down below.

What made you choose your particular genre?

Well, it chose me and I am not a faithful guy so...

What’s the next project for you? Tell the readers about it.

I am writing a short story, a science fiction about our perceptions of our world. It will be called There Is Hope.

What character from your book(s) are you like the most and why?

Helmy, of course, since he is the first character of my first book.

Let’s put the novel aside and talk about YOU for a minute—what are your hobbies and what can’t you live without that’s non-book related? What do you do when you are not writing? If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

Let me see...I like reading, eating, jogging, fantasizing, talking and so on...

What can't I live without that's non-book related, isn't it obvious? Cheese and egg, of course, consequently I would like to live on a small village with stretches and stretches of farm and wilderness.

If a reader asked you to recommend the three BEST books to read, aside from your own, what would they be?

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Sable City by M. Edward McNally

A Life of Death by Weston Kincade

If you could have dinner with one author, who would it be?

Vickie Johnstone, and I would ask her to bring Kiwi...

Where can you be found on the internet?

GOODREADS

FACEBOOK

WEBSITE

Blog Tour Tuesday With My Guest D Kai Wilson-Viola

2011-08-16T09:22:00.004-06:00

Today I interviewed up and coming author D Kai Wilson-Viola. Her novel, Glass Block, will be released on September 14th, with a novella of free stories coming this week.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

GLASS BLOCK PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:

When Big Brother fell out of popularity in the early part of the 21st century it was replaced with ever more ‘realistic’ reality TV shows, till the need for this was replaced with a need for fantasy. In an attempt to resurrect the old format some die-hard fans filmed themselves locked in with a recently released murderer. The person to get out got the money from the stream sales at the end.

They were slaughtered. Word of this spread on the internet and a ‘sanctioned’ version by the UCPS (United coalition of Prison Services) was established. Brought in from Darkness, one of the cities providing most of the prisoners, most of which he’d been responsible for collaring, Elliot Peters is forced into a nightmare world where the walls are made of glass and people vote as to whether you survive. (pre order details at http://glassblock.darknesspd.com)

1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

I’ve been writing since I could – my mom has a book that I wrote when I was four (I’m 34 next year) and I’ve never stopped since. I now work full time as a copywriter, editor, and novelist, and I love it! As to the ‘why’ – if I don’t write, I’m unhappy. It itches and burns not to write, in my head, so I write, every day.

2. Tell me about your novel—what inspired it?

What initially inspired it was I needed a novel to write for the 2003 Nanowrimo challenge (which was my first). Glass Block was inspired by the television show ‘Big Brother’. At first I wanted to write a satire about it – and talk about how vapid it was and how pointless, with a counter point of how dangerous it could be to be in a room with people you just don’t know. And then, Elliot took over, and became a character in 24 books, and counting. The book isn’t anything like I meant it to be, but that’s good, because it’s much better.

3. How did you choose the title of the novel?

Honestly? It kinda came to me while I was thinking about the book. I don’t actually give my titles much thought, though, as it happens, it’s set up quite the pattern for the books – none of them relate to the underlying theme, but are directly tied to the story anyway, so I think it works quite well. And it fits. Glass Block, as in a glass cell block, something that can be transparent and entirely passive, or blocking and obscured, and Glass Block as in the TV set ;)

4. What made you choose your particular genre?

I haven’t. Glass Block is a blend of sci fi, police procedural, thriller, horror and psychological suspense – the book just came out that way. I don’t write in one genre, because the stories I write don’t seem to want that kind of structure. I don’t know whether it’s a good thing or not, but it really does work for me.

5. What’s the next project for you? Tell the readers about it.

The next one up in this series is Paradise – where Elliot tracks down one of the escaped prisoners, gets sucked into a cult and gets more than he bargained for, but the next book out is under my pen name, Sabrann Curach, and is a horror novel called ‘Prayer for the dammed’. I’ve also got two non-fiction books out specifically to help writers.

6. What character from your book(s) are you like the most and why?

I’m probably most like Morrigan Roth, but I’m very careful not to write myself into my books. I guess, each of the characters have something in common with me – Elliot’s got serious mental health problems, Morrigan is living in a man’s world and betrayed by everyone but her two closest friends, and Harper is a suicidal idealist whose world can’t get any worse. At one time, I could or still can identify with them.

7. Let’s put the novel aside and talk about YOU for a minute—what are your hobbies and what can’t you live without that’s non-book related? What do you do when you are not writing? If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

I think I would live where I am – which is in the Cotswolds’. I used to live in Scotland, and though it was lovely there, the pace of life in our (now) home town is much better and we have a better life. And I’ve got a soft spot for my university, now that I’ve graduated.

And, that’s what I do when I’m not writing, or did. Study, towards a degree in creative writing, and then will be studying Forensic Linguistics as soon as I raise the funds. I also look after two children, a cat, knit or cross stich, read, and play roleplaying games like Warhammer 40k and Rogue Trader.

8. If a reader asked you to recommend the three BEST books to read, aside from your own, what would they be?

Oooh, that’s a tough one.
‘Chasm City’ and ‘The Prefect’ by Alistair Reynolds and American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I’ve loved those books forever. If I were choosing Indie authors to recommend specifically though, I’d go with Valerie Douglas, John Dow and Michael Edward McNally. Having read each of them in the last six months, I’d say that they could easily compete with my favorite books.

9. If you could have dinner with one author, who would it be?

I think Neil Gaiman, though I’d have dinner with just about any writer to have a chat about writing happily!

WHERE CAN YOU BE FOUND?

WEBSITE

WRITING TALK

TWITTER

FACEBOOK

I have a free novella of short stories due out imminently to introduce people to Elliot, Morrigan and Harper, news of this is coming on my Facebook page; I’ve also got a gplus account HERE.

My Novel On The Side...From An Editor Point of View

2011-08-15T09:46:00.008-06:00

When I'm not writing, my time is spent editing novels for other writers. I usually only take on 3-4 a month max so I get the time I need in for my own writing. Lately I've read some books for writers that I thought were really hum-drum. And at the same time, I've been editing novels and seeing the same kind of issues novel after novel...and by that, I don't mean to say the writing is bad at all; in fact, I've edited some fanstastic novels this year, but it's the simple things I notice that are easy to fix and would tighten up a writers manuscript and just give it that little something extra.

I've decided that while I continue with my Sloane Monroe series, I'm going to start a book on the side for writers, from an editors POV. It's something that I am completely off the charts excited about.

Years ago when I became a VP of Performance Development at a company where I taught people how to edit, I was given a test to take called the Myers-Briggs. The test questions asked all sorts of things about me and my habits and how I see myself. In the end, it spits out what my personality type is and what type of job suits me best, and I am a pedagogue--a teacher, and I excel at teaching or conveying something (like a story, which is why I can write).

And so begins my journey into the writer's handbook--and what I'm looking forward to most of all is helping my fellow authors with little tips that will improve their writing.

It's August -- The Happiest Month of the Year!

2011-08-03T19:48:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it's August already. How time flies. I love August because it's the month of my birth and something about that always seems magical, especially since it's only four days away. I've always wondered if others feel the same way on their birthday month.

So how can I shun such a month as this? There is one drawback...book sales.

I've heard all year that in the summer book sales decrease. Readers are busy juggling kids and vacations and the like and things just slow down. I had a good month in June and an even better month in July so I thought I was going to fly through summer without feeling the sting of declining book sales that other writers speak of.

And then something happened about a week ago--my book sales slowed down. I don't necessary think there was any rhyme or reason for it; I'm doing the same things I've always done so I keep telling myself it's just summer and and fall is on its way, and then the holidays so there's a lot to look forward to. And on that note, I am doing everything I can to focus on the upcoming golden seasons.

In September or October I will release the second book in my Sloane Monroe series and I'm thrilled. With each new book, the writing seems to flow more easily and connect much faster than before. I wrote the first novel in a year and the second in five months, and along the way I've taken note of every piece of advice I've received on what I should be doing and how to make the most of my journey.

For those of you who usually do well but are seeing slower book sales, I feel confident things will pick up in the coming months and I spend my time now doing the one thing that will help me more than anything -- I keep writing, and so should you.

Interview with J. Carson Black - Part Two

2011-07-27T20:58:00.000-06:00

J. Carson Black is the bestselling author of seven novels, including her Laura Cardinal series, which currently has under three titles under its belt.

She has a total of 12 books; seven published and also one short story. Her Laura Cardinal series has three books in the series: Darkness on the Edge of Town (#59 on Kindle), Dark Side of the Moon (#387 on Kindle), and The Devil's Hour (#362 on Kindle).

All of her books are doing amazingly well, and she is a truly talented writer. I was thrilled to be able to host her on my blog for a two-part series; the second, catered to the readers and fans of her work.

INTERVIEW

Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

The simple explanation: I can’t not write. I am a writer by every definition of the word, and was a writer from the time I was a child. My first “book” was THE EASTER EEG, written and illustrated by me – a few scrawled words (kind of ) in crayon on the flipside of my dad’s test papers (he was a teacher). My mother was brilliant at appealing to my materialistic instincts to keep me reading. Every Friday night we’d go to a store called the House of Paperbacks, and my parents would turn me loose to buy whatever books I wanted. (Books were about 75 cents then.) I’d pull together six or seven books. I remember buying THE MOUSE THAT ROARED and ANIMAL FARM, and of course---you’ll like this---MY FRIEND FLICKA. When I read Ray Bradbury’s SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, I wish I’d written that book. I wanted to be an author. I got shunted into music because I could sing well, but eventually I found my way back, and sold my first book, DARKSCOPE, in 1990. It was a horror novel, inspired by THE SHINING and GHOST STORY.

Tell me about your book – what inspired it?

My husband and I were watching TV (cable news) and John Mark Karr was being flown to Boulder to face charges for killing JonBenet Ramsey. He’d been flown over from Europe, dining on shrimp cocktail and entertaining his captors---federal marshals, I believe---and now the press was lined up to watch his arrival in Boulder. So the private jet came in, and you would have thought it was the Space Shuttle. All the cameras, all the microphones, an absolute frenzy! Just as it was for Michael Jackson when he went to court. This is the new American way. Celebrity out of nothing. It turned out later that John Mark Karr was playing everybody---he didn’t kill JonBenet Ramsey. But he’d fulfilled his purpose---he’d fed the hungry maw of the media for a short time. Glenn and I looked at each other and had the idea for THE SHOP fully-blown.

What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?

It wasn’t a chapter, but was surprised that one of my bad guys turned out to be a lot of fun. The former Attorney General of the United States, Franklin Hubbard, loved his wife and admitted he loved her more than she loved him. He was funny and interesting and was a good foil to my assassin. My assassin planned to kill him, but couldn’t help liking him. There’s a scene on Franklin’s boat where he cooks the assassin eggs benedict, and they get along great. They teamed up together…for a while.

How did you choose the title of the book?

It just came to us – when Glenn and I watched Karr’s plane come in, we thought there had to be a secret government “shop” to do what we planned, and so the title became THE SHOP.

How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?

I’m a slow writer. I can do a book a year. But I will have to pick up that pace now. I try to write 6,000 words a week, when I’m working on a book. That doesn’t take into account all the research and preparation as far as characters, scenarios, etc.

What made you choose your particular genre?

I love thrillers and I love crime fiction. It’s what I read. There are about 30 authors I love in the genre, and the only thing as fun as writing a thriller, is reading a thriller.

Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?

It’s another thriller, along the lines of THE SHOP as far as the style goes. The book, ICON, stars a movie star, literally – the Tom Cruise of his day, a man named Max Conroy. He escapes rehab in the Arizona desert, but they’ve screwed him up---and now someone is coming to kill him. He teams up with a sheriff’s deputy who has autobiographical memory. His memory plays tricks on him, and she remembers everything. I’m about 25K into it.

Where can you be found on the internet?

WEBSITE

TWITTER

FACEBOOK PAGE

SUMMER BOOK CLUB

Interview with J. Carson Black - Part One

2011-07-15T12:15:00.001-06:00

J. Carson Black is the bestselling author of seven novels, including her Laura Cardinal series, which currently has under three titles under its belt.

She has a total of 12 books; seven published and also one short story. Her Laura Cardinal series has three books in the series: Darkness on the Edge of Town (#24 on Kindle), Dark Side of the Moon (#149 on Kindle), and The Devil's Hour (#182 on Kindle).

All of her books are doing amazingly well, and she is a truly talented writer. I was thrilled to be able to host her on my blog for a two-part series; the first, catered to her fellow writers.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

How long did it take you to achieve the success you are having with your books right now?

My husband and I first put up DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN in June. we sold one book. The following month, we sold two. I didn’t crack 100 books sold until February. Then sales went up precipitously!

What was the best thing you did marketing wise that you believe helped you get where you are today?

The single best thing I did was become a member of the Kindle Boards Writer’s Café. That ‘s when I saw what was possible. I know that doesn’t sound like marketing per se, but seeing all the success stories focused me like nobody’s business. I’d see someone who was successful commentating on a thread and I’d ask them how they achieved their success. That’s how I found out about the Victorine Method – drop the price of your books down to 99 cents, and a week later the books took off.

What do you do to market yourself? What works, what doesn't?

I don’t do a lot---some interviews and guest blogs, some blogging. I have a Facebook and Twitter presence. I think it comes down to the quality of the book, the quality of the cover, and the quality of the product description. If you have several books, as I do, you want that look to be as uniform as possible to create your brand.

What tips/advice do you have for other writers?

Write the best book you can. Do scrupulous market research on your genre and the kinds of books that are selling, the kinds of covers that are selling, and write a great product description. (Try it out on a lot of friends, and ask for honest answers.)

Writing Versus Promoting

2011-07-11T15:00:00.001-06:00

I've been asked a lot lately from other writers what I do to promote myself and my current book, Black Diamond Death. So I've decided I'll get that all together and hopefully post it sometime later in the month. I have written previous blogs that list many things out, but I have not put everything on one page...so I will gather it all up and get that out for those of you who would to know what has worked for me so far.

In the meantime, I wanted to speak on another topic that we writers seem to discuss a lot: writing and promoting.

If you are a new author (like me, with only one book published so far), then you probably don't have a big following yet, and with that first book comes a challenge to get yourself out there and build a fanbase. And yes, that is important. But, not as important as writing.

Why?

If you are spending a lot of your time promoting, what is happening to your writing? Do you still find time to get a decent amount of writing in each day, or does it fall by the wayside sometimes? For those of you who heavily promote and spend a great deal of time and effort promoting yourself, I wonder how many more books you think you sell for all your efforts compared to how much time promoting took away from writing that next book. In hours, how much time is spent--an hour a day--two hours--more? Now take that precious time and think about how much faster you could publish that next book you're working on if most of your time and effort wasn't spent on promoting.

I am not suggesting you don't promote, because it has its place and you are the one to make it happen, but I am suggesting to choose your promoting wisely and cut off whatever you are doing that wastes time. Time you could use to get back to what you love, writing.

When Black Diamond Death first came out, I spent a month promoting the hell out of it. But I had done a lot of research, read a lot of advice on the topic and decided what would work best for me in my genre. And then I set off to promote myself in those ways. And I didn't get a lot of writing done the first month the book was out, but in the back of my mind, I was always thinking about the second book and jotting down notes when things came to me that I wanted to save for later.

Some things I did to promote were total gems, and I did well, and other things were complete time wasters, but now I know for next time. And promoting that first book allowed me to see what worked and what didn't and next time, I have a folder saved in my favorites of all the things that worked that I plan on doing again.

I still do things to promote myself every day, but they are quick-simple-easy. What's important to me at this stage is that my books get out there. If I take one to two years to write something that could have taken six months or less, then that's something I have to take into consideration.

I am currently writing my Sloane Monroe series and fans always ask how long they have to wait for the next book to come out, and the first one has only been out four months! What I want you to understand is that writing is a part of promoting yourself. The more books you have out there, the more you'll get noticed.

My plan for myself is to write more than anything for now. I would say I write 75% and promote 25%. I stil do little things here and there--I guest on blogs, post something witty on Twitter, keep up with the writing groups I'm in, and get my book on sites like KND, Free Book Friday, etc. (more on that later). By choosing the RIGHT site and place to promote, you can pack a lot more punch than spending hours and hours each day doing things that don't garner book many more book sales.

With that said, WRITE ON!

Want an iPad? Enter This Contest!

2011-07-07T20:27:00.000-06:00

A few of my author friends are hosting a fantastic giveaway this month--a chance to win a new iPad. The contest runs from July 8th to July 15th.

All you have to do to enter is to purchase one of the $2.99 books below and send the receipt to authorgiveaway@gmail.com Each receipt equals one entry you can enter as many times as you want. The winner will be chosen at random by AuthorGiveaways. The Ipad2, valued at $499, will be sent directly from Apple to the winner.

HERE ARE THE BOOKS:

THE SABLE CITY, AUTHOR: M. EDWARD MCNALLY

COEXIST, AUTHOR: JULIA CRANE

IF I DIE YOUNG, AUTHOR: TALIA JAGER

THE TEMPLE, AUTHOR: HEATHER MARIE ADKINS

It IS July, Right?

2011-07-03T08:24:00.000-06:00

A couple nights ago I woke up in the middle of the night to a raging hail storm outside. It felt a little bit like I was in The Twilight Zone. It's July, not March!

July is one of my favorite months. I spend more time than usual thinking about how much I appreciate this country of mine, the chance I have to be a writer, and the opportunities living in the USA has afforded me. And I salute all the men and women who fight for my freedom each day.

Lately I've had this itch that festered until I tended to it, and I knew it was about time I started to read books on how to improve my writing again. It doesn't matter how good I get or how many years I have behind my belt, there's always room for improvement. And so I hunkered down and read and in doing so, I've added much needed new tips to my reading toolkit.

With that comes the itch to blog more about how to improve YOUR writing as well. We are all in this together, and for me, helping my fellow authors is key. I have learned so much, and I feel it's my duty to share what I know with everyone that I can. So this month, if I can manage more than a few moments of spare time, that will be my focus.

Enjoy the month!

-C

Blog Tour Tuesday with my Guest Athanasios

2011-06-28T08:50:00.002-06:00

Athanasios is the author of Mad Gods, a dark fantasy that deals with armageddon, the occult, the antichrist--among other things. To learn more about it, check out Athanasios author interview below.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

I'm Athanasios. I've been creative all my life and have always striven for outlets to express it. I've tried strict Fine Arts, including drawing, painting and sculpture. I've tried graphic arts, illustration and animation, and I've had a measure of success in all of them. The one form of expression I feel the most comfortable and immersed in is writing. I grew up loving comic books and then by extension became enthralled by fantasy, sword and sorcery creators like Michael Moorcock, Robert E Howard and comics. I wanted to elicit that type of wonder. Those guys worked on my intellect, and in many ways my emotions. Earlier in my life there were other stories that got my imagination. In childhood I was enamored by ancient myths. I grew up in both Greece and Canada. I finished grades 2 & 3 in Greece and the ancient myths were taught there as light precursor to regular history. The tragic heroes of antiquity caught and still have my attention. The stories and humanity they show put much of modern narrative to shame. There are few epics that can match the Iliad or the Odyssey in their breadth of emotions and display of idealism or depravity. Over the years I've come to know the Mahabharata, an ancient Sanskrit epic that like Homer's work cannot trace its true author. They both have held their respective nations in thrall since before either of them could remember. Other literature that held me were Japanese stories that extolled self sacrifice and heroism in the face of insurmountable odds. The exploits of Miyamotto Musashi and other Samurai heroics were close to the myths of my childhood.

2. Tell me about your book – what inspired it?

Mad Gods began after seeing the Omen in 1976. In it the Antichrist was human, not the monster from the Bible. It scared me to the point that I slept with the lights on and covers over my head for nights on end.

If the Antichrist is one of us, why would he want to destroy the world? Prophesy, fate, destiny didn't matter. Who wants to be responsible for the end of everything. I couldn't believe any person would do that. Why would the Antichrist want to be THAT GUY?! Continuing that idea I thought anybody brave & strong enough to defy Revelation could not only be Antichrist but Christ as well. He could be all things, all Saviors to all people.

3. What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?

My favorite chapter is Chapter 4 – Zealots, because it shows the motivation of why the introductory main character, Kosta Paleologos dedicates his life and soul to giving the Antichrist a chance to live a life more ordinary. It also is a major turning point in the narrative from Kosta’s to Adam’s life.

4. How did you choose the title of the book?

The title Mad Gods is an appropriation of the Joe Cocker album Mad Dogs & Englishmen. It stayed with me till for an earlier comic book version of this story called Mad Gods & Buried Children. It was about a giant guy, a natural hulk who was also scarred badly in his youth. Due to his abnormal size he was thought of as a monster, a damned creature that had to be a creation of the devil. So the Antichrist hadn't come into my mind until way later in the Mad Gods & Buried Children timeline. So this huge hulking guy, Bear, comes along in my imagination with this terrible childhood. That's the buried children part. Then I decided to drop the buried children because it took too long to explain to offended parents.

5. How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?

That’s not an easy question to answer. This first one can’t be the gage as to how long it would take me from start to finish. If I had to sit down and do nothing but, i.e. no regular day job & just the writing, hold on let me dream, I would think I could get it done, that’s revisions and editing in less than 3-4 months. This one took decades from concept to finish. The decades though, was the complete storyline Predatory Ethics, of which Mad Gods is only the first installment.

My daily writing schedule is waking at 5 AM and after taking care of dog, cats and showering, I write from 6-8, right before I have to get on the train for work. On said train I write on my iPad for another hour. Then if I’m lucky enough I can squeeze in another hour or so during work and another hour on my commute back home on the train. Sometimes I work at night and the weekends.

6. What made you choose your particular genre?

I didn’t choose it, it chose me. Is that a collective retching sound I hear coming from out fellow IWU members? No it didn’t choose me, that’s a bogus answer. I grew up being, gaga over fantasy & myths and I look at Predatory Ethics as an updating of myths. I figured out early on that those early ancient myths were their religion, so why not take our religion, God the Devil, the Antichrist, angels, demons, heaven and hell and use them in my myths.

7. Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?

I’m working on Predatory Ethics no2: Commitment. In it Adam Paleologos, the dual Xos/AntiXos, - Christ/Antichrist is in a mental asylum. This asylum doesn’t live up to its name and holds no refuge from Dark Nobility, his Biblical Father, Pagans or newer darkness. They all still hold him as their Savior, Redeemer and The One. He is also beset by demons, serial killers and the Final Reich.

8. Where can you be found on the internet?

WEBSITE

AMAZON

indieGOGO PAGE

Blog Tour Sunday with my Guest Joshua Mays

2011-06-26T22:32:00.000-06:00

Joshua Mays is an up and coming author who is just about to launch his first novel, Terra Incognita. Take a little time to get to know him and his novel.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1.Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

When I was a kid, I led a pretty solitary life style. Being the only child on my block for many years, I grew up entertaining myself by creating wild adventures for all of my action figures to live out. I even had a slew of voices I did for each, creating an interest in dialog. Being that most of my toys were X-men and other comic heroes, I had a natural interest in comics, video games, and cartoons. This need to create has never gone away. I can’t do something without wanting to make it my own. I play(ed) this card game in high called Magic The Gathering. It got to a point where I wanted to create my own game. It’s been this way with everything I’ve ever done. I guess it’s just something I have to do. Cliché answer I know, but it’s the truth.

2. Tell me about your book – what inspired it?

My book, Terra Incognita, is about a boy who finds himself in a world of myth and magic that has been sealed off from our world for thousands of years. In this world, he experiences many trials and tribulations that help him develop into a different person.

My inspiration for this book is pretty much everything I’ve ever been interested in. From the occult to fantasy fiction, it’s a hodgepodge of ideas. This is why I choose the story I did. I wanted a sand box kind of world where I could create pretty much anything I wanted without having to worry about plausibility and suspension of disbelief.

3. What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?

That’s a very hard question to answer, and to be honest, I don’t think I can.

4. How did you choose the title of the book?

Terra Incognita (unknown land) is what you will find on ancient maps when the makers didn’t know what was beyond the explored land. Sometimes they were known to use, “There be monsters here.” Terra Incognita just sounded better to me. I think it really fits with the idea of the story since no one from our world has entered this other place for a very long time.

5. How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?

It took me a year to write the first rendition of Terra. I sat on it for awhile and after a ton of rewrites, I gave up. After starting a couple other projects, I finally forced myself to start rewriting the book from scratch. Instead of waiting for it to be completely done, I decided to publish it in parts. Part one took me 3 months to finish. It’s currently being edited, but I’m hoping to have it completed in a week or two. I generally try and write 1,000 words a day. This makes a writing project of 40,000 words finished within two months, editing included.

6. What made you choose your particular genre?

When I was young, my uncle let me borrow these books called Dragonlance. Once I started reading them, I couldn’t stop. After 30 books, I realized I was a fan of fantasy stories. Granted, I haven’t read many since, but when I started writing, I decided that my first book would pay homage to fantasy, and that’s how I started. I picked a my genre and sat down and started writing. It wasn’t the best method as I know now, but it taught me a lot about how not to write novels.

7. Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?

I am working on part two of Terra; it will be finished in the next couple of months. It’s just a continuation of Ben’s adventures and his development into manhood. He will go through some very dark times, but im confident that my sadistic glee for putting him through hell will be gone before I finally finish the series.

8. Where can you be found on the internet?

ABOUT ME PAGE

FACEBOOK

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

AMAZON

SMASHWORDS

BLOG

WRITERS: Think You Can't Sell 500? YOU CAN!!!

2011-06-16T22:58:00.000-06:00

So the other day I was reading a fairly interesting article that included stats on the publishing industry, and I love statistics, so it was right up my alley.

Did you know that right now over 500,000 books are being published each year? This includes both self-pubbed and traditional.

Of those, how many do you think sell more than 500 copies (of one book)?

50%? Nope.

25%? Nope.

I'll tell you. 2%. That's right, 98% of books published today don't sell more than 500 copies. Wow. I couldn't believe it myself. Some of you might think that sounds about right, but it really threw me for a loop, so to speak ;)

Once I let that sink in, I did my happy-happy-joy-joy dance and decided never to let my book sales get me down (which is easier said than done). My first novel has been out for three months and has done well. It took me 42 days to sell 500 copies, and I've also been fortunate enough to make it on a couple Amazon Top #100 lists and actually today made it on two top ranked lists as well.

When I first published Black Diamond Death, there were many days when I only sold a few copies a day, and I was discouraged, but I'm also impatient and needed to remind myself on more than one occasion that these things take time. What worked for me might not work for someone else, but I believe you all have the tools to be a success. And as I strive to one day sell 100,000+ copies like some of my fellow author friends, so should you.

One thing that I believe helped me was that I focused on promoting in any way I could (that didn't cost money) for the first month that my book was out. I tried to do a minimum of five things to promote myself a day, and as a newbie, I honestly didn't know what I was doing, so I relied on my fellow authors to show me the way, and they did through Kindle Boards and also through a group I created on Facebook called Indie Writers Unite. It's amazing how willing your fellow authors can be, all you need is to ask.

I have loved the journey so far and look forward to a lifetime of memories, more book sales, and new friendships. ONWARD!

Blog Tour Tuesday with my Guest - Danielle Blanchard

2011-06-14T09:21:00.000-06:00

Daniella Blanchard is the author of a couple saucy and steamy books that are brand new to the Kindle.

Her first is called The Proposal: Book One (The Beautiful People), and the second is The Hook Up: Book Two (The Beautiful People). Both are under $1.50 on Kindle.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

I am a writer because it is the one true gift that has been given to me. I wrote my first short story in 2nd grade and have never looked back. I finished my first novel when I was fifteen and decided to write a novel in the spirit of Jackie Collins at the age of 19. I finished it several years later and it has been on various desktops and laptops for many years. I finally decided to publish it myself after all the rejection letters I received (all very nice by the way; the book wasn't what the agents were looking for and I can understand that and appreciate that). Perhaps they are correct and this isn't the right time for my novellas but I adore writing and this was my slice of mindless summer reading. I love literature as well and consider this my true calling but I also adore I was able to come up with something fun and airy for anyone to enjoy who likes books about the entertainment industry.

2. Tell me about your book – what inspired it?

The book was inspired by my love of everything from Jackie Collins. She is the original feminist; women can do everything! I realize that sentiment is a bit blase now but I love her ballsy way of writing and her sheer guts for pushing the limits. The Beautiful People series is a take on her vision of Hollywood with a twist. Most of the characters are multicultural and come from all walks of life. Some are straight, some are bisexual and some are gay. I think I have pretty much summed up America in the 21st century. It was very important for this not to be a run of the mill book about Hollywood. You still have the "ladies who lunch" types and there is plenty of gossip and fun to be had for anyone who reads the book. I just hope I have added a more modern twist to a stale genre. I am the first to admit that Jackie Collins, Joan Collins and Danielle Steel paved the way for this type of literature but I can only hope I have "kicked it up a knotch" as Emeril Lagasse would say, and added a bit of extra spice!

3. What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?

Now, you are asking me to play favorites and that, I try not to do. Without a doubt, in the first novella: The Proposal: Book One, "Chapter Eleven: Christina (Nina)". I love this character. Perhaps it is because she is blonde and beautiful; she is a ball-breaker, she pulls no punches. She is real and fake at the same time but more than that, she shows heart and you can see a los tand lonely young woman who has experienced real heartache but has a knack for not showing it. I suppose she is a lot like me (without me being blonde and blue eyed). I think she is one of the best characters I have ever created.

In The Hook Up: Book Two, one of my favorite chapters is "Chapter Twenty-Four: Hooking Up & Breaking Up". I suppose that is because there is so much excessive energy and there is so much going on. Many of the characters are in turmoil and again, it features Christina, one of my favorite characters. She has broken off a relationship with one man and is hooking up with a rock star in a band. Everyone thinks she has gone insane but there is a plan in her madness and she sets herself on a path that no one can predict. I like to weave excessively complicated plots because sometimes, people don't understand where they are leading but I always find a way to explain them and wrap them up in the end. This is one of my favorites about being a writer.

4. How did you choose the title of the book?

Choosing a title for your work of fiction is never an easy task but it has to be done for us all. My working title was Film Star (a famous song put out by the British group Suede) but that got changed to The Beautiful People (a notorious song by Marilyn Manson) once I realized I was going to release this behemoth in novella form. Then it was as simple as coming up with titles for each novella. The Proposal: Book One was easy as there are all sorts of proposals (sexual and otherwise) in the novella. The Hook Up: Book Two, was also easy as there are many of those in the second novella. Heartbreaks & Lust Aches: Book Three took a bit more time. I have managed to name all eight novellas though they are all under the series title of The Beautiful People. I wrote them down on a napkin one day in between picking up my daughter from school and taking her to an after-school function!

5. How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?

It all depends. The Beautiful People took almost three years to write as I had written it on this really old word processor that was on its last leg. I had then had to transfer it to my desktop. My ex-husband fried that so I was only left with a rudimentary copy of the novel in Microsoft Works form. I then had to rewrite it into Word form and it has been officially finished for the past year. My current series, Murder, Inc.: The Pop Stars series has been in the making for over seven years. DeGeneration, my literary masterpiece, has been in the works for almost a year, give or take. I am almost 1/3rd of the way done but have not been able to write for the past 6 weeks. The Beautiful People series monopolizes all my free time!

In an ideal world, I would like to set aside at least 2 hours of writing time per day but lately, that has not happened!

6. What made you choose your particular genre?

I don't know--fate? I love literary novels and that is what I feel I am particularly good at as it takes a lot of research and planning. I have always been fascinated by German and French history. My literary novel written at thirteen was about a complex family living in Nazi Germany during World War II. In the late 90s, I came up with a sequel to that novel which focuses on the later generations. The very wealthy family has now acquired tremendous political power and are on the verge of winning some major races in the German elections. A bloodless Fourth Reich, if you like. DeGeneration is also a very literary piece of work. It is convoluted and very complicated novel to write and to read.

As for The Beautiful People series and Murder, Inc.: The Pop Stars series, these were supposed to be my "money-makers". Light reading when you must endure long hours on a flight or mindless reading on the beach. They were never about me flexing my real might as an author. I suppose I wanted to see if I could write something easy and fun. It proved I could and I was quite proud of myself for these entertaining reads.

7. Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?

Oh, where to begin with the masterpiece that is DeGeneration? It is a play up of the title of our generation (Generation X, the generation I am proudly a part of, even if I am on the tail end) and the word, degeneration, which means to go back as opposed to going forward. In many ways, we are the first generation since the Baby Boomers who will do much worse than our parents. Most of us aren't looking forward to any kind of pension. We are listless, lost and I feel a sense of apprehension in the air. The title is just the beginning.

My book revolves around two best friends: one American and one French. The American has shed her cozy life in the States and moved to France. She comes from a well-to-do family, extremely educated and knows French fluently. She falls in love with her best friend's brother who is quite the player. Like many Europeans of his time, he lives for himself, has a successful job, doesn't really ponder the meaning of life and kind of just goes through the motions. This is the first time either one of them has ever been in love. Their love is obsessive and all-consuming. They make their partnership permenant but something happens to change the course of their life forever. They part and once again come together again at the wedding of the American's best friend and her partner's sister. They must work through their issues if they are to survive as a couple.

It is at best described as a deconstruction of a relationship. Yes, we, as humans (whether hetero, homosexual, bisexual, transgender) get together but what happens to tear us apart? Why do we find ourselves separating from those we love? It is above all, a human story because we all want to be loved as human beings and it seems it is harder to connect to one another in a world where machines control more and more of our lives (or shall I say technology).

It is a novel I am truly proud of and can't wait to finish if I am being completely honest. I think it is some of the best work I have ever done.

8. Where can you be found on the internet?

Many, places but I will only list a few:

BLOG
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
ABOUT ME

I am not all that successful yet so I am still very gracious to hear from anyone who has purchased my book and wants to give me a shout out. My novels are located on all the usual suspects (Amazon Kindle, CreateSpace in paperback, Smashwords and Barnes&Noble.com). Thank you all for reading! And thank you, Cheryl.

Blog Tour Tuesday with my Guest - Alan Nayes

2011-06-07T09:51:00.002-06:00

Alan Nayes is the author of three novels and is currently hard at work on his fourth.

Alan's latest novel, Barbary Point, is a step away from his original genre and unique in the way that Alan uses a setting for the book that he knows quite well. Drawing from one's own memories whether it be a place or an experience is often overlooked in writing, but when it's used and used well, as is the case with this novel, the result is a richer and stronger story. And not all writers can leave their genre and do well in another, but Alan proves that he can do this, and do it well.

Barbary Point is a sweet story, and one that I recommend. On AMAZON it has an average ranking of 4.86 out of 5 stars which speaks for itself.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

Hi Cheryl, thank you for having me.

I’m basically a Texas guy living in southern California. Love it here, but I get back to my home state as much as possible. I started writing in college, but it was music. Very quickly I learned I couldn’t sing well—actually not at all--so I took a hiatus from writing until I moved to California where I took some classes in creative writing to relax. Little did I realize then that writing is anything but relaxing. I do find writing enjoyable, but also a tremendous challenge, for me anyway. It’s a great feeling, though when I finally complete a project and see people actually enjoying my stories!

2. Tell me about your book – what inspired it?

BARBARY POINT is about a young woman from Los Angeles who is engaged to a wealthy older man. When her father--whom she never knew because her parents were divorced when she was quite young--suddenly dies, Kelly must fly back to Oshkosh, Wisconsin to close out her deceased father’s estate. She only wishes to make the trip brief and get home to her stable life in Los Angeles, but unexpectedly, Kelly meets a fishing guide and falls in love.

The inspiration for BARBARY POINT came from an actual setting—a family cottage we own on the shores of Lake Winnebago. I always thought this would be a great place for a love story—and you can fish too, though I never seem to catch anything. However, the drinks sure taste good on the boat.

3. What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?

Can I pick two—chapters 20 and 24. Ch 20 because the protagonist catches this huge fish and it’s fun to read and ch 24 because though it is poignant, it demonstrates the emotional resiliency of the main character, Kelly English.

4. How did you choose the title of the book?

Like I mentioned, my family owns a cottage on Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin. In front of the cottage along the shoreline is a small point of land that really has no name but in the story I called Barbary Point to coincide with one of the fictional character’s names.

5. How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?

It usually takes me about six months to a year to complete a full length novel—this includes the first draft and subsequent revisions. I could work faster but I have a full time job. My daily writing schedule is highly variable—sometimes, especially on weekends I can put in four or five hours but usually during the week it’s about an hour.

6. What made you choose your particular genre?

Cheryl, this is a funny story—well sort of. I actually wrote BARBARY POINT on a challenge from a former agent. My prior two novels—GARGOYLES and THE UNNATURAL were biomedical thrillers so he asked one day if I thought I could write a love story. I said sure, what could be so difficult about a simple short love story. Boy, was I wrong. BARBARY POINT was hard, but it was enjoyable, too, because I really empathized with the characters in the book.

7. Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?

Several, actually. HEMLOCK POND is a horror story about a divorced woman and her young son who move into an old farmhouse with a haunted pond on the property. I’m also working on a sequel to my biomedical thriller GARGOYLES titled PLAGUE. SMILODON is also in the works—this is about a huge cat that terrorizes a small town in the Pacific Northwest.

8.Where can you be found on the internet?

WEBSITE
AMAZON
BARNES&NOBLE
GOODREADS
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
BLOG

Thanks for having me, Cheryl.

My Cover for Sinnerman is Out!

2011-06-02T18:55:00.001-06:00

I am so pleased to share the new cover for the second book in the Sloane Monroe series with all of you.

I feel like I need a drum roll here or something ;)

The creator of this fine piece of work just won an award for best cover art 2011, so I am thrilled to be working with her now on my future covers.

I am working diligently to get the book out by the deadline Fall 2011.

Until then...it's back to work for me!

Happy June!

2011-06-01T22:14:00.000-06:00

It's June, and I love the fact that the temperature is rising (summer is my favorite time of year), but the kids being out of school sure puts a damper on my writing sometimes. Scratch that. All the time.

And that's why I have a writing schedule. Does it work? Well, most of the time. I've carved out what I call "quiet time" in the afternoon. I sit the little ones down with a movie and the big one (who needs to be reminded daily), knows she can't have anyone over for those two precious hours. And then I sit down and write like a crazy woman!

I wish I was one of those people who could write late at night when the house is quiet and everyone is asleep. I stay up past midnight most nights, but my writing isn't as good during those hours, so instead of trying to hash it all out, I use that time to think about where the story is going next.

So this month the writing may be a little slower than usual, but I can spend more time doing other things that don't take absolute quiet like reading more. Summer is a great time to learn, and I have a few great books lined up that will keep me growing as a writer.

For this month, I'll try to find the time to post a few how-to articles and I will also be featuring various reviews of some great books out.

Here's to a great summer everyone!

Guest Post by Stephanie McAfee

2011-05-31T08:31:00.001-06:00

Stephanie McAfee is the author of the hilarious Diary of a Mad Fat Girl.

Right now it ranks #63 in the Kindle Store and is #4 in humor and comic and #23 in contemporary fiction. And, about a week ago, she passed a milestone and sold her 100,000 copy! As a writer who is experiencing a lot of success with this novel, I asked her to stop by and share some of the things she did that helped her in her journey.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1. How long did it take you to achieve the success you are having with your books right now?

I listed Diary of a Mad Fat Girl on Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing website on Christmas day of last year. I put in on Barnes & Noble's PubIt! website on February 4, and just recently relisted it on Smashwords. It made the New York Times Bestsellers list in the fiction/ebook category on March 27, 2011 and has managed nine weeks of "hanging in there". I can honestly say that there is not one single person on the planet who could possibly be more surprised by this than me.

2. What was the best thing you did marketing wise that you believe helped you get where are you today?

I asked all of my friends on facebook to buy it and told them I'd give them their dollar back if they didn't like it. I was joking, of course, but I'm not the kind of person who can just say, "Hey, you there reading updates on the home page - go buy this book!" And I think it's important to note that I don't have a million facebook friends. I have around 400 or so. It just so happens that in that 400 are some really nice people who not only bought the book, but did a fine job spreading the word about it. As did lots of other people who bought it, read it, and liked it enough to tell their friends. To them all, I am eternally grateful.

3. What do you do to market yourself? What works, what doesn't?

I created a blog, after which I discovered that most writers create a blog, then write a book, so I guess I got that one backward. I also created a facebook "like" page that I linked to my product pages on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and that has worked like a charm. I keep the communication going on my end by responding to every comment and/or post in what I hope is considered to be a timely manner. I feel it's the least I can do for someone who was kind enough not only to buy the book, but to take the time to let me know they liked it.

I just recently created a Twitter account and though I'm far from being Twitteriffic, I have managed to post a few tweets @stephaniemcafee. I also created a Facebook page.

4. What tips/advice do you have for other writers? (and this can be anything you want to say).

Sell your ebook for 99 cents. I'm fairly certain that has been a major factor in my success. Equally important is the editing. I did not have the luxury of a professional editor and it's really embarrassing to see reviews that say things like, "Should be read by someone with a literary background" when I have a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Education. Two very educated friends of mine read over it and they caught a lot of mistakes, but there is simply no substitute for professional editing. It's definitely worth the money.

Another thing is to give yourself plenty of time so you can fully develop your story and your characters. My deadline was Thanksgiving of last year and I had to rush to get it done by Christmas and guess what? A lot of feedback has been of "the ending feels rushed" variety. Readers don't miss a thing. Take your time.

Guest Post by Cheryl Shireman

2011-05-27T15:15:00.003-06:00

Cheryl Shireman, an author who I also consider a friend, is the author of six books, two of those are novels, including Life is But a dream that is burning up the charts right now.

At this moment, Life is But a dream is ranked #346 on Amazon and is #16 in Women Sleuths and #25 in Literary Fiction, which is an amazing achievement for an indie writer.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. How long did it take you to achieve the success you are having with your books right now?

Well, I published Life is But a Dream just over four months ago and I am currently selling about 100 copies a day on Kindle. So – four months?

2. What was the best thing you did marketing wise that you believe helped you get where you are today?

Actually, I have not done much to “market” myself other than two things –
I have done several interviews on various websites and I also participated on a website called Free Book Friday. Every week they showcase books in four categories – Fiction, Teens, Romance, and Indie. The book descriptions and an interview with the authors are posted on Saturdays. Then, readers enter to win a free autographed copy all during the week. The following Friday, the winners are announced. I have been fortunate enough to participate in promotions for both of my novels – Life is But a Dream and Broken Resolutions. When they told me that over 900 people entered to win Life is But a Dream, I was just stunned! My most recent book, You Don’t Need a Prince: A Letter to My Daughter will be promoted starting May 28th.

3. What do you do to market yourself? What works, what doesn't?

I put up a website. My husband designs websites (webendev.com), so that certainly makes things easier for me. I started a blog and have had a lot of kind responses to that. I became more active on Twitter and Facebook. I joined Kindleboards and “hung out” in the Writer’s Café so I could learn more about Indie writing. I joined a Facebook writer’s group (which I LOVE) called Indie Writers Unite! Imagine a cyber coffee shop with a bunch of writers hanging out with each other and talking shop. I can’t honestly say that I have noticed a spike in sales after doing any of these things. It has been more of a gradual but consistent increase in sales every day. For one three day period in late April I had a spike in sales, but I still have not determined what caused that. On April 28th I woke up to find Life is But a Dream in the #3 spot on Amazon’s Movers and Shakers list. What a morning! Number 1 was a book by Bob Greene (Oprah’s trainer), and he had just been on Oprah that week! I took a screenshot of the Amazon page so I could save it forever. My brief moment of glory. Ha!

4. What tips/advice do you have for other writers?

First – write. I often hear people say they want to write, but they don’t have time. You do have time, but you will probably have to sacrifice other interests – such as watching television, following facebook and twitter, or reading the books of other writers. Especially if you have children. If you have children at home, they should be your priority. Enjoy them while you can. Soon they will be out of the house and you will wish you had another afternoon to color in a coloring book or build a tower with Legos. Savor those moments. Write before they get up, or after they go to sleep, or while they are at school. If you don’t have children at home, then you really don’t have any excuses. If you are not writing, then you probably like the idea of being a writer more than the actual act of writing.

Second – be nice. There is so much negative energy in the world. Don’t add to it. Find ways to encourage your fellow writers as well as those who are just beginning to write. Writing is a tough and solitary profession. We all need encouragement and support. This is especially true of Indie writers who are really on their own without the support of an agent, publisher, editor, and marketing team. Use every opportunity to support other writers. Choose to be kind.

Guest Post by David Lender

2011-05-23T08:45:00.001-06:00

David Lender is the bestselling author of Trojan Horse and The Gravy Train, both of which are selling well on Amazon, with The Gravy Train currently at 75 and Trojan Horse at 108 in the Kindle Store.

His latest novel, Bull Street, should be out in the next couple weeks. I was privileged to do the copy editing for him and can tell you that if you enjoyed his last couple novels, you will enjoy this one as well.

What I like about the way David writes is that he does a great job of creating a mental picture in your mind and he understands the importance of showing instead of telling. He also offers great detail in his novels and understands how to put words together so they convey what they need to. He's expressive and not every writer can do that, which I find refreshing.

I've enjoyed the opportunity of getting to know him a little bit this year and of becoming familiar with his writing.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1. How long did it take you to achieve the success you are having with your books right now?

It’ been over fifteen years since I decided to start writing. That’s been an evolving process, including finding someone to teach me. I wrote my first novel—that’s all I’ve been interested in writing—fifteen years ago. I’ve had a career as an investment banker, which is a demanding profession that leaves little time for much else. But I made a commitment to writing, and just muscled it into my schedule. I started getting up at 5:00 a.m and then writing for about an hour before heading to the office. In my investment banking career I always wrote with a mini-cassette dictaphone. I was used to working that way, so I hired a typist in my neighborhood and bought a transcription machine. I’d leave the tapes in my mailbox and she’d pick them up and drop off the transcriptions in hard copy and on a floppy disk. I’d outline on the bus or train, in the car service, on airplanes, anyplace. I did rewriting and editing drafts wherever and whenever I could.

It took me about a year to finish my first thriller. I showed it to a friend’s brother, a successful commercial thriller writer. He said to consider it a Master of Fine Arts and move on. I did. I wrote the second novel over the next year the same way as the first.

Then I educated myself about the agency and traditional publishing businesses, targeted my queries and sent both novels around. In the course of that, a well-connected friend sent Trojan Horse to a prominent literary agent. Her reaction was, “Not bad for somebody who doesn’t know what he’s doing.” She introduced me to some thriller editors. I started working with a seasoned publishing exec who’d edited Robert Ludlum’s first nine thrillers. Eighteen months later, after one of the most intense meat grinders I’ve ever experienced, a finished Trojan Horse emerged.

Around that time I got caught up in my career again, so I didn’t send Trojan Horse out to more than a dozen agents; nobody bit. And so it wasn’t until about three years ago that I got serious again. I signed up for Thrillerfest in New York and spent the Agentfest day of face-to-face pitching to agents. Some people in all walks of life are knuckleheads. Agents are no exception. I had some offers, but who wants a knucklehead working for you? I kept writing and querying. I did Thrillerfest again the next year. Nothing.

Then I got a Kindle for my birthday last year, and one of my brothers converted Trojan Horse to a .mobi file to read it on his Kindle. It started me thinking. I educated myself about Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform and decided to try it. I started reading blogs about what was going on, observing the market. After about a month of screwing around with pricing at $9.99, $6.99, $4.99 against established authors I got real and changed my price to $0.99 and Trojan Horse took off. It’s now been in the Kindle Top 100 for over six weeks.

2. What was the best thing you did marketing wise that you believe helped you get where are you today?

I’ve done some Book of the Day sponsorships on Kindle Nation Daily, BookLending.com, eReader News Today, The Frugal eReader and Kindle Author. I seek out opportunities to guest blog and appreciate invitations to be interviewed on various blogs. I am in a writing group on Facebook and try to help out my colleagues and they help me out. I’ve sent out some review copies to local newspapers and reviewers. It’s all little bits and pieces, but I think it all helps to get the word out.

I can’t put my finger on any one thing as pivotal. Luck helps. Timing, too. This is a unique time in the life of the epublishing business. It’s like a rising market that lifts all stocks and makes people think they’re great stockpickers. I’m grateful for the reception of Trojan Horse, but I’m going to continue to work hard, write the best stuff I can, have it edited, proofed, properly formatted, etc. Now The Gravy Train is out and is doing well, also in the Kindle Top 100. I’m releasing Bull Street soon and am into my next novel in earnest. I believe it’s important for readers to know you will be there consistently writing the best quality books you can for them to read, that you’re in it for the long haul.

3. What tips/advice do you have for other writers?

First, if you’re going to epub, treat it like a business, because it is. Educate yourself about what’s happening out there. Look at what successful authors are doing with pricing, their platforms, their content. Read blogs and other tools to learn the business. Joe Konrath. Kindle Review. Kindle Nation Daily. Read Steve Windwalker’s book on pricing ebooks for Kindle. See what people are talking about on the KindleBoards.

Write the best material you can and find people to edit, proofread, format and produce professional covers for it. Buy a Kindle and a Nook and see what your books look like on them, and on the mac or pc versions of Kindle and Nook before you release them. Then spend at least a few hours of every day staying current with the blogs, maintaining your social network presence, corresponding with your readers and doing everything you can to expand your readership. Don’t spend all day writing. But do set goals for your writing; number of pages or words per day, or on average per day over a week. Keep grinding. That’s what I’m doing.

For more on David Lender, visit his WEBSITE. And thank you David for sharing your insight with your fellow writers!

Guest Post by Nancy C. Johnson

2011-05-16T08:14:00.000-06:00

Nancy C. Johnson is the author of Her Last Letter which is doing excellent right now on Amazon. It's currently #79 in the Kindle Store, #2 in Women Sleuths and #3 in Romantic Suspense.

Nancy originally published in 2007 (which she will explain more about below) and then at the end of last year, her book really took off. I asked her to share some insight about the process and the tips she has for her fellow writers about how to promote yourself and what she did to achieve success.

Author Interview

1. How long did it take you to achieve the success you are having with your books right now?

I originally published my paperback in 2007 and was selling books on Amazon consistently, but nothing too major. I also created an ebook that could be downloaded from my website. I offered free ebook copies to publicize it, and was surprised by how far reaching some of the downloads were, from Brazil to India to England. But it wasn’t until I read Joe Konrath’s, A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing, blog that I decided to sell the ebook through Amazon. I published it in late April of 2010 and sales trickled in at first, then picked up about a month later. I started out selling the ebook for $1.99, and then later for $.99, but it wasn’t until the holidays in November of 2010 that sales really took off.

2. What was the best thing you did marketing wise that you believe helped you get where you are today?

I kept the price of Her Last Letter very low on Amazon, at first at $1.99, and then I reduced it to $.99 in September. That helped a lot. Readers found no problem trying my book at that price. I also posted in the Amazon forums on threads which advertised cheap ebooks, and I participated a lot on Amazon’s Kindle Boards forum, not just mentioning my book, but asking questions and getting to know everyone. My book cover was my signature, so each time I posted others could see my book. My website was also a part of my signature.

3. What do you do to market yourself? What works, what doesn't?

I advertised my paperback on Craigslist.com in the beginning, and did all the free ads I could find on the Internet. This helped to sell the paperback, I believe, as the free ads would show up on Google. I also did book signings with independent bookstores in my area, and sold a few books, and their advertising probably helped a bit. They would invite several authors at a time for each signing. This seemed to help pull people into the store. It took all the courage I could muster to call and ask about doing a signing, but I had a good experience, and that helped a lot. Most owners were very gracious. Blogging is also a good idea, and I was very consistent with it until recently. I do love blogging.

4. What tips/advice do you have for other writers?

Most of the writers I’ve met are hard working and really love the craft. I’d say write what you love, enjoy the process, and your enthusiasm will rub off on the reader. Of course, write the very best book you can. Though each book you write may not get any easier, I do believe they get better. Make sure your copy editing is first rate. Ask friends to help, or spend extra time doing it yourself. I did my own copy editing. Of course, if you can afford it, hire someone. The cover is very important also. It must look professional and accurately convey the story you have to tell.

Thanks so much, Cheryl, for inviting me here today!

Guest Post by Victorine Lieske

2011-05-10T08:51:00.003-06:00

Victorine Lieske knows a little something about where promoting can get you.

Last year her novel Not What She Seems made its debut in April 2010 and by the end of May had a total of 158 sales. In the month of October 2010 she sold 1,401 copies and in February 2011 she sold an amazing 28,745! She is currently #243 paid in Kindle store, #8 in Romantic Suspense and #31 in Mystery. Her next book, The Overtaking, just came out on 5/14.

Victorine is successful for a number of reasons. Here are a few that I feel are among the biggest ones:

1. She wrote a good book (a really good book).

2. She hung out in places where she could mingle with both readers and writers so she could connect with readers and learn from writers.

3. In everything she does, she is always friendly and polite, and this goes a long way.

With regards to her success, this is what she had to say:

1. How long did it take you to achieve the success you are having with your book right now?

I would have to say that sales really took off about seven months after I published. It was seven months of doing something every day to get my book in front of the public eye. After that, the sales took on a life of their own, and I didn't have to push the book at all to see hundreds of sales each day.

2. What was the best thing you did marketing wise that you believe helped you get where are you today?

I attribute pretty much all of my success to Kindleboards.com. And I don't mean that I just hung out there and that's what sold all the books. I mean that everything I learned about marketing came from posts made on the Kindleboards. The authors there are wonderful, and ready to help everyone. They discussed what techniques helped them, which websites they joined, how to find book bloggers, and what not to do. Just about everything I did came from the wonderful authors over there.

3. What do you do to market yourself? What works, what doesn't?

Here's a laundry list of the things I tried and found helpful: I networked with other authors, I volunteered to do interviews on blogs, I submitted my book to a lot of review blogs and websites, I held contests and giveaways, I joined websites like goodreads.com, I posted frequently on Kindleboards.com and in places where readers hung out as well as other authors, I got to know other authors, I shared information, I bought other author's books and publicly recommended the books I liked, I used my name on all my posts, I started a blog, I built a website, I listed my ebooks as books on CD on Ebay, I helped new authors who had questions, I didn't participate in flame throwing or controversial topics, I bought an ad on Kindle Nation Daily, and I tried to always be polite and kind.

What doesn't work? Spamming. Before you post an ad about your book, check to make sure there are no rules against it. Also, if it's okay to post about your book, don't do so more than once a week. And if the place doesn't get a lot of traffic, even that's too often.

4. What tips/advice do you have for other writers?

My biggest advice would be to not give up. If sales are slow, that's fine, sales are always slow when you first start out. If you've been selling for months and can't gain momentum, take a peek at what might be the cause. Does your book cover or blurb need help? Are you priced too high/too low? Did you utilize beta readers and critique groups before you published? Perhaps your manuscript needs tweaking, or maybe your book is specialized and won't ever be a best seller. No matter what, you will find an audience. Keep on writing and never give up.

Victorine can be found in several places:

BLOG

WEBSITE

TWITTER

How Important is it to Keep Growing as a Writer?

2011-05-07T21:25:00.000-06:00

In a word, VERY.

And yet, I've heard a lot of writers say things lately that shocked me.

The ease of getting a book out these days on your own without a publisher is a wonderful thing. It has opened doors for writers who might not have ever been afforded the opportunity, and it seems everyone wants a ticket on the indie train. A lot of great indie authors are coming out as a result of this, and it makes me proud to mingle among some of the best of the best. I've read some indie books lately that were far better than any legacy published books I've read in a long time.

So what shocks me?

I'm seeing a lot of due diligence fall by the wayside. Just because we writers have been given the keys to the kingdom doesn't mean it's okay to put out anything less than our best work.

Some indie writers seem so paranoid about how long this wave will be around (and I don't think there is any reason to worry) that they are literally trying to put out novel after novel as fast as they can. And some established writers can do this, and still maintain quality. It's because they've put in the time to learn the craft over the years. But most new writers can't. They just aren't there...yet.

I've talked to fellow writers out there who are in such a hurry they aren't taking the time or making the time to continue growing as a writer in the process. The writing might even be good, but there are all these key elements missing - it's kind of like being in a horse race without the horse. It's impossible. The horse needs the jockey and vice versa. You can't write a good novel without learning what it takes to write a good novel.

I read anything I can get my hands on about the craft and I am constantly learning new things every day. Does that mean I'm the best writer out there? Not yet! But I'm constantly looking to improve - to make the next book better than the last - to keep my readers invested and interested, and I hope you all will do the same. The more quality indie books come out, the better and more successful we will all be as a result of it.

Guest Post by Heather Killough-Walden

2011-05-03T10:49:00.008-06:00

Heather Killough-Walden is the author of several novels which you can find HERE on Amazon.com. She is also the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of the Big Bad Wolf series and The October Trilogy.

Her novels are fantastic and offer readers that rare opportunity to step out of their lives for a moment and to be swept away into a world of fanstasy and suspense. All of her books are well written and appeal to a multiple of audiences.

To give you an idea of her current success, check out these numbers on Amazon from just a few of her novels (current as of this moment):

THE HEAT
#98 paid in Kindle store
#4 in Romance Vampires
#4 and #5 in Romantic Suspense

THE STRIP
#114 in Kindle Store
#6 in Romance>Vampires
#9 Romance>Contemporary

SAM I AM
#180 in Kindle store
#7 Children's Fiction>Love and Romance
#14 Children's eBooks

HELL BENT
#165 in Kindle Store
#9 Fiction>Action Adventure
#32 Thrillers>Suspense

THE CHOSEN SOUL
#559 in Kindle Store
#10 in Fantasy>Epic
#11 Science Fiction>Adventure
#11 Romance>Fantasy

And that isn't even the best part. All of Heather's novels are only $1.00 on the Kindle right now.

I had the chance to interview Heather and I asked her to share some of the secrets of her success with other writers.

1. How long did it take you to achieve the success you are having with your books right now?

It took quite a while. I did the query letter routine for ten years without success and publishing houses almost never accept unsolicited manuscripts any longer. I have more than 300 rejection letters in my closet. Finally, Amazon Kindle came around, providing for people like me a venue and platform through which to share their work with the world. I hastily posted a vampire romance I wrote called The Third Kiss: Dorian’s Dream. It shot to #1 in vampire romance on Amazon and prompted a call from an incredibly prominent (and very good) agent. That agent, the CEO and chairman of Trident Media Group, managed to secure a number of publishing deals for me in record time. I have the best agent in the world!

The entire process, from the time I finished my first novel to the time that I signed my first deal took approximately ten years. I felt like giving up a hundred times. Maybe more. But Churchill’s famous speech kept ringing in my head and I hung in there. I’m very, very glad that I did.

2. What was the best thing you did marketing wise that you believe helped you get where are you today?

Again, that would have to be simply posting my work on Amazon. Amazon also possesses a number of blog sites and lists that you can join as an indie author in order to promote your work. I have to admit that I’m relatively shy, so I only posted on one or two of these. However, I priced all of my books at $1.00 and that, combined with the incredibly popular paranormal genre and (I’d like to think, lol) my writing skills, ensured that the books sold anyway, thrusting me into the top ranks on Amazon. I recently made it to the USA Today Bestsellers List, in fact. It’s an incredibly momentous occasion for me.

3. What do you do to market yourself? What works, what doesn't?

At the moment, Trident Media and my print publishers are in charge of a lot of the marketing for my upcoming print publications (The Lost Angels series, due out in the UK in July and here in the US in November). However, for my electronic works, I have created a number of mild marketing techniques.

Once I had enough readers, I developed a newsletter through which readers learn of upcoming releases, contests, awards, etc. A good friend of mine handles the list for me. I also have a Facebook page and I love to friend readers and carry on conversations with them; they’re all very unique and precious individuals and I am more grateful for their loyalty than I can say. I have a website as well, and through that website, I keep readers informed of what is going on in my literary career, I have a blog, and I thoroughly enjoy feedback. Now that my books have sold a good number of copies, Amazon also does a bit of marketing on my behalf by suggesting my books to readers for me. That’s a big, huge help.

4. What tips/advice do you have for other writers?

I have very often felt like giving up on pursuing my writing career. The rejections really hurt, and when you get enough of them, no matter how good you are, a part of you begins to believe them.

Plus, if you’re not selling books, then you’re not making any money, and in so many peoples’ terms, that means you’re not “successful.” Like it or not, you’re judged on your financial worth. Add to that the fact that being poor can be literally painful at times, and you have one disheartening situation.

So, to those writers out there struggling day after day, rejection after rejection, Ramen meal after Ramen meal, I take a page from Winston Churchill and say this:

“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty. Never give in….”

Want to learn more about Heather Killough-Walden? Visit her WEBSITE.

Readers and Writers, Want to Mingle With Each Other? JOIN US!

2011-05-01T17:41:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone!

I wanted a place on Facebook where readers and writers could come together in one centralzed location to interact and mingle with some of your favorite authors and to meet and get to know new and upcoming authors.

Here's just a few things you can expect from the authors of the group:

*Authors sharing information about their works

*Announcements of contests, promotions & giveaways

*Q&A with the authors

*Author interview sessions

*Links to author reviews

*Author spotlights

*Postings of books available at different price points from fantastic freebies to more expensive novels and eBooks that are worth the money.

The site just went live five minutes ago, so give me time to get everyone set up. We have some terrific authors joining so come JOIN US.

Time to Get Back To Writing

2011-05-01T09:23:00.002-06:00

Over the past few months I've featured highly successful authors who are published with a legacy group and several up and coming indie authors on my site as well.

This month I'll be doing two things:

1. Taking a step back from interviews that so I can get back to articles on writing, improving writing, and that type of thing.

2. I will be featuring a handful of fantastic published authors and their advice on how they marketed their books. The list of guests include:

Nancy C. Johnson - Her Last Letter

Victorine Lieske - Not What She Seems

Heather Killough-Walden - Several Books including The Big Bad Wolf Series

Dave Conifer - WRECKER and others

David Lender - The Gravy Train, Trojan Horse

Black Diamond Death Featured Today on Daily Cheap Reads

2011-04-29T07:26:00.000-06:00

Today my novel Black Diamond Death is featured on Daily Cheap Reads. You can read the article and a summary of my book HERE.

And I've decided for the month of May to continue at the .99 price point. It's been an interesting two months since the book was published, and I've had a lot of positive feedback from writers and readers alike which I appreciated. What a wonderful life to be able to do what I love for a living. Thanks for all the support everyone. The second novel in the Sloane Monroe Series, Sinnerman, will be out in the Fall.

Book Review: Spotlight on Michael Robertson's Regret (writing as Dan Dawkins)

2011-04-26T08:20:00.000-06:00

Oh what a tangled web we weave...this is a good way to describe Michael Robertson's novel Regret. What initially attracted me (besides the fact that it was nicely formatted and easy to read) was the use of language throughout the novel. He does a great job of turning a phrase. I also enjoyed many of the chapter endings and thought he did a good job of creating a hook that makes the reader want to keep reading. Here's an example of that:

"It was only a few hours after this that I awakened naked in Jenna's hotel, her body pressed against mine, under the sheets of the bed, and had then been propelled into the unbelievable and despair-filled horror that would become the rest of my life."

A lot of books these days are predictable, but not this one. There were twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and I can usually guess what's going to happen next, so I really enjoyed the suprise that came with not knowing what to expect.

The novel is well written and well thought out, and I highly recommend it. And you can get it for .99 right now on the KINDLE and the NOOK.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

Before you can even begin to write, you have to read—A lot! I was fortunate enough to have a mother who loved to read and did her best to pass the fascination with books onto me. She didn’t have to try very hard. From since I can remember I’ve always had a book by my side. I wrote a few stories when I was young, and enjoyed it, but didn’t really start and try my hand at seriously writing fiction until I was about 20. I’ve written two novels since then, but only published the second one, Regret.

2. Tell me about your book – what inspired it?

Regret is about a young author named Dan Dawkins who, just as all the pieces of his life begin to fit together, experiences a great tragedy, for which he blames nobody but himself…at first. As he tries to outrun his past he begins to become less and less stable, eventually adopting the persona of a character he’d written about. A character that isn’t so nice. The new Dan begins to think of revenge instead of guilt, and the outcome is pretty shocking. The story itself is a first-hand account told by Dan, detailing everything that happened, and offering up and explanation. This is why I published the book under Dan’s name, since it really is his story.

As far as inspiration, it’s hard to say. Regret is a classic case of the characters doing things that the writer didn’t expect. When I started writing the book the plot was a good bit different than the final product. Somewhere around the first 100 pages the story completely changed (for the better) and I never looked back.

3. What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?

A few of my favorites I can’t talk about because I don’t want to give anything away. But, I really enjoy the chapter where Dan spends his first night at The Sanderson Homestead. It’s where he meets Ralph, who some of my readers tell me is their favorite character in the book, and it was a lot of fun to write, bringing Ralph to life in that chapter.

4. How did you choose the title of the book?

I wrote the entire book without a title. Then I did all my edits without a title. The title is literally the last thing that I figured out with this book and ultimately settled on Regret because in the end regret is just about all Dan Dawkins had left.

5. How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?

Regret took me a little over a year from first day of writing to final draft. Since I work my full-time job and at the end of the day just don’t always have the motivation to sit back down at the keyboard, to say that I have a writing “schedule” would be a lie. I simply wrote when time would allow and I felt that I was focused enough to do so. Sometimes this would mean starting to write at 9PM and go till midnight, sometimes it meant getting up at 5am and writing till it was time to go to work. Sometimes it meant actually writing at work (Shhh, don’t tell my boss). The most important thing, though, is that I wrote it. And that’s what matters.

6. What made you choose your particular genre?

They say that writers tend to write what they know, and what they themselves enjoy reading. Horror, suspense, and thrillers are my favorite genres, and really all I can ever imagine myself writing. I’ve written a couple short stories that don’t really fall into these categories, but they were simply ideas that wouldn’t go away.

7. Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?

Well, I have a collection of short stories and one novelette coming out in May called The Teachers’ Lounge, also being published as Dan Dawkins (readers of Regret will understand), and after that I’m going to start focusing on my newest novel. I don’t have a title yet (of course) but it will be a more supernatural tale compared to Regret, full of mystery and tension. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

8. Where can you be found on the internet?

WEBSITE

FACEBOOK PAGE

TWITTER:@DanDawkinsBooks

Book Review: Spotlight on Chris Stout - Days of Reckoning

2011-04-21T08:00:00.001-06:00

Days of Reckoning pulled me in right from the beginning, and I honestly don't want to say much more than that for fear of giving too much away, but trust me when I say it will hook you from the start. Here's just a little tidbit:

"Her aim had always been good, whether it was a softball, baseball, water balloon or hunting rifle. This time was no exception. The rock caught Donnie squarely in the back of the skull with a wet crunch. He screamed once and pitched over the side of the ravine. Bullseye. Miranda moved quickly to check her kill..."

You can see what I am saying now, right? The beginning (which is 13 years earlier than the rest of the story) is set up beautifully. And the great thing is, the entire novel is filled with juicy passages like the one above. I enjoyed seeing how Miranda developed throughout the story and what obstacles she had to face. Her character was really well written.

I can honestly say as far as the writing goes, Chris Stout's novel is one of the most interestingly unique book that I've read in quite some time, and at .99(click here to buy it), it's a book that shouldn't be missed. And for the Nook Click Here.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

I’ve always turned to stories as a form of escape, so writing seemed a good way to keep finding that shelter. Writing led me to attain an MA in Writing Popular Fiction, and I am currently working on an MFA, so I feel like I have good justification for all those hours that some called daydreaming, but I prefer to think of as story-boarding.

2. Tell me about your book – what inspired it?

Days of Reckoning had several inspirations. I’ve always loved vigilante stories, but I also recognized how dangerous such a mindset can be. So I wanted to blend the myth with some reality, and see what happened. I had several false starts, and one night I decided to switch my main character from a male to a female. That provided just the spark I was looking for. Writing from the opposite gender’s POV was a huge challenge, but I have to say: it was also a lot of fun.

3. What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?

Ooh, this is a tough one! Chapter 23 is right smack in the middle of my book, and is a scene where my two main characters, Miranda and Sam, are stalking each other through a house, where Miranda had been attempting to assassinate another character. I had a lot of fun with this scene, because I based the setting on a home that belonged to a good friend. So I was able to do several walkthroughs and map out where Miranda and Sam would be, how they would move, and where the bullets would go once the shooting started (and no, I did not shoot up my friend’s home!).

4. How did you choose the title of the book?

Midway through my MA program, our school hosted a panel of editors and agents. Each student submitted the first five pages of their thesis novels, and the guests reviewed them. When we broke into smaller classes, the agent leading mine picked out my submission as one that really intrigued her, and invited me to pitch it and the end of the session. At this point, I didn’t have a working title, so during the last 20 minutes of class I brainstormed with one of my buddies, and came up with the title just before I met with the agent to pitch the book. She requested the first fifty pages be sent to her. Unfortunately, she left the agency soon thereafter, so the pitch fizzled out.

5. How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?

I can usually write a first draft in a month or so. Editing takes longer, sometimes as much as a year. Since I am self-publishing through Kindle, Nook and the other online vendors, I’d love to pare that down a bit, if it can be done without compromising quality. There is much more of a sense of urgency in knowing that a story will be going in front of the public, rather than onto an agent’s slush pile. So I want to do a good job with my revisions, but I also have to be efficient with them.
When I’m writing a first draft, I try to follow the NaNoWriMo suggestion of 1667 words a day. It’s enough to be challenging, but damn does it feel good to see that much production!

6. What made you choose your particular genre?

I love mysteries and thrillers. From the Hardy Boys up through books like The League of Night and Fog and Creepers by David Morrell, I’ve always looked for excitement in the books I read. So I strive to create that same excitement in the stories I write.

7. Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?

The next novel that I will be bringing out is tentatively titled The Killing Cards. It’s a bit darker than Days of Reckoning, but still exciting, I think. I wrote the first draft quickly, and used it as submission material for group critiques in the MFA program, so I think I’ve received lots of good feedback on tightening it up and getting it market-ready. It’s going through a last round of revisions, and then I’ll have a copy-editor review it one final time. My hope is to set it live by June, but my work and school schedule may push that back a bit.

8. Where can you be found on the internet?

Blog

FACEBOOK AUTHOR PAGE

TWITTER (@ctstout)

This summer I will be developing a website so I can start offering freebies and other cool things.

Spotlight on Indie Writer Chris Blewitt - Deep Rough

2011-04-18T09:02:00.001-06:00

Deep Rough is unique in that it introduces the reader to the world of golf while also telling a story, and here and there the author includes little facts and side notes related to golf, which I found to be interesting. He did a great job of knowing when to add them in without taking away from the story or overdoing it. I've had the opportunity to travel around and visit several different golf courses so it was easy for me to get a mental picture of what Chris described in his book.

Another thing I enjoyed was the dialogue and the timeline of the story, both of which were well written. There was a natural flow that was easy to follow.

Around the middle of the story, things heat up with passages like this: "I said," the man began, "keep your mouth shut. You don't know anything, you didn't see anything, and you didn't hear anything. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Understood?"

Scenes like this keep the story moving and the reader invested. It's a good story overall, and I would recommend it to anyone - whether you are familiar with the golf industry or not.

Deep Rough can be purchased on Amazon.com and at B&N for .99

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

I've always enjoyed reading, even at a young age. I picked up The Firm in high school and could not believe someone could write a story like that. It really was a fantastic book and I could not put it down. At first, that made me want to become a lawyer, but that never happened. So, I set out to write a novel based on mafia types. I sent it to my cousin (a writer) and he didn't like it very much. He said "write what you know". I know golf so I wrote a golf novel.

2. Tell me about your book – what inspired it?

I had a ton of ideas of golf that I pitched to my cousin and he shot them all down, telling me they've been done before. Then, I had a dream on my birthday about the idea of (Deep Rough's plot). It was never done before and I was excited. I immediately sent him the outline and began writing.

3. What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?

I'd say the second to the last chapter. It ties everything together and there is fighting, guns, heroism, and excitement.

4. How did you choose the title of the book?

I wanted a golf term ("Ah, your ball landed in the deep rough.") and also to portray the book as a thriller.

5. How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?

Deep Rough took 2.5 yrs to write and I didn't publish it until 5 years after that! I wish I had a daily writing schedule. With 3 kids and a full-time job, it becomes difficult. When I set out to write, I usually wake up around 5:30 everyday and write for 90 minutes. I've been traveling for work so being on a plane for 3 hours is a great time to write.

6. What made you choose your particular genre?

I'm a fan of thrillers but also a serious golfer. Thrillers are usually all I read. I read Connelly, Coben, Child, Larson, Grisham but I'm also finding a lot of new authors out there.

7. Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?

My next publication will be The Chemist, out in April. It is a short story based on a true story. It's a fictional piece based on something that happened during Prohibition. After that, I will have my next novel out, untitled. It's finished but needs a 2nd & 3rd draft. What is it about? Think Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code meets George Washington. I can't wait for that to be out there.

8. Where can you be found on the internet:

WEBSITE

Book Review: Spotlight on Dave Conifer's Wrecker

2011-04-14T11:52:00.002-06:00

Dave Conifer's latest novel Wrecker is burning up the Kindle charts. At this very moment it's #295 in the Kindle store and on two top #100 lists, including #10 in psychological thrillers, and what's even better is that you can get it on your Kindle for a mere .99.

The first thing I noticed when I started reading is that unlike many other eBooks, this one is formatted in a way that is easy on the eyes. I could follow along with the story without any confusion about where a chapter or a section begins and ends.

I also enjoyed the opening because he did a great job of jumping into the action with: "Steve Havelock watched the man that had to be Manteo emerge from the filthy white truck." Excellent use of description here and no backstory - he just gets right to it.

The dialogue is sharp and smart and moves along quickly. I found the pacing of the book to be perfect.

Dave also gives readers an opportunity to connect with more than one character which I don't always like in novels, but with this one, he did it right. Here's one example taken from the character Jane: "Should I pretend it didn't happen? That's what he's doing. Should I go outside and ask him if he's alright? What if he says he isn't? Should I tell him to go away and never come back? I don't have the nerve and...I'm too worried about him to do that." I was impressed after reading this; Dave does a great job throughout the book with both the male and female characters, and that's not an easy thing for a writer to do.

And finally, the story keeps you turning the page because there's more than one thing going on at the same time, which I found interesting.

Overall, I really enjoyed Wrecker; it's easy to see why it's an Amazon Kindle bestseller!

INTERVIEW WITH DAVE:

1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

I'm a 47 year old dad and I live in South Jersey with my wife and three kids (19, 15 and 12). Besides writing and reading, I'm a big time fitness fanatic. If I don't spend a couple hours a day working out then I'm not happy. I make time for this by not watching TV or doing much else. I'm also a vegetarian since 1996, for no other reason than I just got so I didn't feel good after I ate a bunch of meat.

2. Tell me about your book – what inspired it?

A few years ago I was installing a sprinkler system, and then some ceramic tile, and I took a look at myself during the job. I was filthy, hairy and grouchy. It dawned on me that when I saw guys doing physical work looking the way I did, I figured they were just work drones with nothing going on in their heads or lives. Just like anybody would have figured about me if they'd caught a glimpse. So, I started thinking about a guy like that who actually had a ton of issues inside of him.

At first it was going to be more of a Nick Sparks type book. The unhappy wife and the depressed grunt worker were going to hook up, the nasty husband wouldn't like it, there'd be some conflict and there'd be an odd man out at the end. I did a blog post on how it evolved from there:

3. What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?

Chapter 16 is my favorite, and is probably the most important chapter in the book. It's where the little mysteries all come face to face for Jane to reconcile. I like it the best because it was quite a challenge to weave it all together so it flowed smoothly while allowing Jane to piece things together. I had to draw lots of cool charts with squiggles and asterisks.....

4. How did you choose the title of the book?

I wanted something violent and edgy, and I've always liked one-word titles. It just came to me once I had those parameters in my cranium.

5. How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?

I find that for me it's 9-10 months. I'm not a fast writer, in part because I do a lot of self-editing at the end of each chapter. Once I had fleshed this one out, though, the second half came pretty quickly -- maybe six weeks from halfway done to done. Prior to that there were several points where I had to think and write my way out of a jam, and that takes time.

6. What made you choose your particular genre?

I'm not a one-genre kind of guy. This was my second thriller. As I said, it didn't start out as one but I just kept having, well, thrilling ideas.

7. Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?

I know I should be working on a Wrecker-like book to keep the momentum going, but so far I haven't managed to have a new, thrilling idea. I'm actually working on a sequel to Snodgrass Vacation, which was a satirical comedy. Those characters are fun and easy, even if it wasn't a big seller. In this one the main characters are time-traveling, and it's a bit of a spoof on different time travel books that have popped up -- some which toe the line and some which play fast and loose with the basic time travel tenets.

8. Where can you be found on the internet?

BLOG

FACEBOOK FAN PAGE

Book Review: Spotlight on Indie Writer Paul Clayton - Calling Crow

2011-04-11T08:30:00.005-06:00

I really enjoyed the opportunity I had to review Calling Crow by Paul Clayton. I found the book to be captivating right from the start. The opening, "The blue sky stretched over and away from the green bean field, seemingly to the ends of the Earth," was fantastic. I thought this was a beautiful way to begin the novel.

I also really liked the unique names used in the story such as Calling Crow, Sun Watcher, Birdfoot, and Mennewah, just to name a few. And aside from the fact that they have great names, they are interesting as well and well developed.

The author also knows how to write riveting chapter endings. One of my favorites was, "As they waded through the mangrove forest, disembodied screams traveled over the still black waters, sounding like tortured cries from the Christian hell." It was endings like this that kept me turning the pages.

The novel itself kept my attention and I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end.

INTERVIEW WITH PAUL CLAYTON

1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

I still haven’t completely figured this out. I think about it from time to time, especially when I’m weary of it. After all, I’ve been doing it for a long time, it’s hard work, and sometimes there isn’t a big return. Of course I write to entertain by telling a story. But it seems I also write to ‘explain’ myself to the world at large. Sometimes I think I write to alert the world and inform them about something I see happening that portends ill. I try to do this covertly, not wanting to preach. I believe that all writing should inform and attempt to move people, not merely entertain them. And you must do it stealthily and craftily. I know that this notion is not shared by all writers, and I respect that. The way I see it, we only have so much time in this world and we should use it wisely.

2. Tell me about your book – what inspired it?

I had already written my Nam novel (Carl Melcher Goes to Vietnam) and hadn’t been able to sell it (it would finally sell to Thomas Dunne about fifteen years later). And I was enrolled in a writing workshop at the time. So I was always thinking of writing and plots, etc. My employer sent me to the Florida/Georgia coast for a week of meetings and training. I stayed on beautiful Amelia Island during a balmy spring. I had recently read an article in which a writer speculated that the first encounters between the native Americans and the Europeans (primarily Spanish) were likely colored by a vast ‘power imbalance,’ much like had been recently dramatized in movies like, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (a thriller about alien abductions). This writer speculated that when these, essentially stone-aged Americans were confronted by armor-wearing, war-horse riding, Conquistadores, wielding smoke and fire-spewing ‘thundersticks,’ they, the natives, were rendered mute and paralyzed. Indeed, some of the anecdotal accounts bear that out. So, I had that notion bubbling in my mind as I walked this beautiful beach (after visiting local libraries and historical sites, including the Castillo de San Marcos) and I imagined my character, Calling Crow, seeing a ‘floating house’ or ‘cloudboat’ for the first time.

So that was the genesis. A whole lot of research followed. And I do most of my research in book form, although a lot of it is secondary source, since I don’t read Spanish. I remember when Shogun came out, how wonderful that was. That book became a model and goal for me. I wanted to write the Shogun about the clash of the Native American and Conquistador.

By the way, when my book came out, it was, I believe, unique in that it brought to life a period that hadn’t really been explored and exploited enough, dramatically speaking. In fact, the book industry didn’t really have a niche for it and it got shoved onto the Western shelves for that reason. I think that the term, applied by Terry C. Johnston (don’t know if he originally coined it) ‘Frontier Fiction’ is the best one for this kind of book, and I wish Amazon would add it as a category.

3. What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?

I like them all, and they’re rather short. But, let’s see (flips through the book…), how about chapter 8? This was a lot of fun imagining. It is the first encounter and I think I got deep into character and caught some of the subtleties that would have been present.

4. How did you choose the title of the book?

Ah! Well, to explain let me get back to Shogun above. I remember as a young man, wondering into a bookstore, something I did a lot, and seeing Shogun on the shelves, face out, dozens of copies. And I thought… could it really be? Did they actually go to press with such a blooper on the cover of the book? I mean, it obviously should have read, ‘Shotgun,’ right? Well, I pulled a copy down and of course it wasn’t a mistake, and the back cover, I think, or maybe in the first couple pages, explained what a shogun was. But my point is that that title made me reach for the book. And until that book showed up and became a best seller, 99.9 percent of the American public didn’t have a clue what a shogun was, which led, I’m sure, to a bit of intrigue. And that was why I titled my book, Cacique.

Wait a minute, you say… Your book isn’t titled, Cacique. It’s titled, Calling Crow. Yes, you’re right. It is. And this is testament to the lack of power a new writer has in negotiating with his publisher. Yes, I wanted people reaching for my book, Cacique (while ignoring all the other books screaming for attention), initially wondering what the hell a cacique was. But the editors and salespeople disagreed. I still think they were wrong. But frankly, when you’ve just signed your first author contract, you don’t ‘insist.’ So they picked the name of my main POV character as the title.

5. How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?

It takes about eighteen months to finish a book. And that doesn’t include all the re-writes and re-edits after I begin sending it out to literary agencies. Of course, that doesn’t happen anymore. It still might take eighteen months to write because of my schedule (full time job, commute, family, etc.) but I have recently decided I’m not going to play the NYC game of sending my hard work off to NYC to have it sit on some eighteen-year old intern’s desk for six months only to come back informing me that they are only interested in YA, or Paranormal, or Whatever-The-Latest-Trend-Is. The internet, the ebook, primarily the Kindle, and Amazon have changed all of that forever.

6. What made you choose your particular genre?

I’ve always been fascinated by history, so historical fiction was a good fit. But I also write mainstream or literary fiction. And, I write Science Fiction as well (watch for The Blue World and Other Stories débuting this summer).

7. Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?

Yes, as soon as I finish publishing and promoting my current list I’ll get back to In the Shape of a Man, a dark tale told in sunny California. It is the story of two families living on the same block, not far from the necropolis of Colma. One, a baby boomer couple, is on a downward spiral, while the other, younger, hip couple is stalled, but striving to grow up and blossom. You could say it’s A Child Called It mashed up with Rosemary’s Baby.

8. Where can you be found on the internet?

Paul Clayton Website

Book Review: Spotlight on Indie Writer Laura Lond - The Journey

2011-04-08T10:15:00.002-06:00

Author Laura Lond's book The Journey is a sweet story that centers in the beginning around a boy (Jeco) and his dog (Gart). I like to see pets incorporated into stories when it's done right, and in this case, it is. As a reader you get a real sense of what the dog means to the boy, and that is heartwarming.

One of the other things she does well with this book is when she describes the settings and the surroundings. In her author profile I read that she has a BA of Arts degree in history, and I would suspect this was beneficial to her as she wrote the different scenes. Once of my favorite lines in the story is:

"Jeco lifted his head and saw that he was lying in the soft grass of a forest clearing, under a nutwood bush, its leaves beautifully lit with sunbeams."

The book is filled with these types of passages, and I found it to be both charming and heartwarming.

1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

I was the only child in a family of engineers who loved to read. Books had become my best friends early on, and almost right away I knew that I wanted to write my own stories, too. I guess I was born with it. I couldn’t find satisfaction in anything else, no matter what I did. I’ve had good jobs, but I’ve always viewed them as something temporary, something I do “for now” because I have to. I spent every spare moment writing and searching for a publisher.

My first book had come out in 2000, after years of knocking on doors, released by a small press publisher. I was happy. I thought I had “made it,” books will now follow one after another quickly and easily. I was of course wrong. While my book did well, the publisher was in no hurry to print more, although they liked all I wrote and did plan to have it released -- someday. I yet had to learn about the excruciatingly slow pace of the publishing industry. I also had to learn what it’s like to be back to Square 1 and start all over again, several times.

But it’s worth it. There is still nothing else I would rather do than write books.

2. Tell me about your book – what inspired it?

The Adventures of Jecosan Tarres trilogy is about a young blacksmith’s apprentice who is visited by a supernatural messenger and sent on a dangerous mission to prevent a war between two powerful kingdoms. Book 1, The Journey, deals with the first part of the task -- to get to the capital city and to the royal palace on time -- and sets the stage for further events to unfold.

The trilogy was inspired partly by The Chronicles of Narnia and partly by Oliver Twist. Both books had a profound effect on me. I had read Oliver Twist in my early teens, and his story had stuck with me for years. There’s just something special about this boy who goes through so much hardship yet keeps a good heart. The Chronicles of Narnia had made their way into my hands quite a bit later, when I was in my early twenties. I was a newly converted Christian, and I was blown away by this series. Of course, I didn’t consciously set out to write something like Narnia and like Oliver, but I see the influence of both books in my story.

3. What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?

I don’t have a favorite chapter, but I have favorite episodes scattered throughout the trilogy. I like everything that has to do with Gart, Jecosan’s dog; readers seem to agree with me here. I am also partial to Lord Farizel who makes his appearance in the second book. A refined nobleman and the personal tutor of the princess, he gets demoted to a court jester “for inappropriate presentation of history,” as he puts it, but he manages to keep his honor and earn even more respect holding that disgraceful position.

4. How did you choose the title of the book?

I had started working on this trilogy over 15 years ago, and at first it had a rather bland title: The Light and The Darkness. Fortunately, a more experienced writer took a look at the book and made some helpful suggestions. One of them was to use the main character’s name in the title. “It is such an unusual, interesting name,” he had said, “Why waste it?” So I changed the trilogy’s title to The Adventures of Jecosan Tarres. After that, the titles for each of the three books came easily and naturally: The Journey, The Palace, and The Battle.

5. How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?

I am a slow writer. It takes me months, sometimes years. I usually write in the evening, often late at night, when everything else is done, everyone is in bed, and I can work without interruptions. I still have a day job, although I work from home, and a one-year-old, so finding the time to write is not always easy.

6. What made you choose your particular genre?

As a reader, I’ve always enjoyed being taken into a world different from my own. I guess some people never grow out of fairy tales, and I’m certainly one of them. As a writer, I like fantasy because of the many options it gives. It encompasses almost any other genre: you can include mystery, romance, adventure, intrigue; you can have magic and wonders, or you can have something that reads very much like historical fiction. Themes to explore are endless.

7. Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?

Yes, I am writing a second book of The Lakeland Knight series. Book 1, My Sparkling Misfortune, features Lord Arkus, a villain, as the main character. He wants to capture an evil spirit who would make him nearly invincible, but he messes up and catches a Sparkling instead -- a good spirit who helps heroes. That makes his life rather interesting. The book has won 1st place of the Reader Views Literary Award 2010; readers’ feedback has been very positive as well. I think Lord Arkus’s fans will be happy to know that his adventure continues.

8. Where can you be found on the internet?

Laura Lond Website

Laura Lond Blog

My books can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and in other online stores.

Enter Indie Writer Linda D. Welch's Contest!

2011-04-06T08:58:00.001-06:00

My fellow author and friend Linda D. Welsh has announced a contest to celebrate the release of her new book Dead Demon Walking, and she's giving away all kinds of things from mugs and chocolates to gift certificates, so take a few minutes and get it on the action!

You can find information about the contest HERE.

And you can purchase her book right now for only $2.99 HERE.

Book Review: Spotlight on Indie Writer Gary Ponzo - A Touch of Deceit

2011-04-04T08:29:00.003-06:00

Today I am spotlighting Gary Ponzo. His latest novel is called A Touch of Deceit, and it's doing well in the Kindle market. Really well. One of the reasons for this is that I believe his book offers something a little different than many others out there, and the fact that he incorporates his Sicilian background into the story also helps.

The novel opens well with the line, "There was a time when Nick Bracco would walk down Gold Street late at night and young vandals would scatter." I like this because it incorporates action right from the start and gives readers plenty of things to question such as:

1. Who is Nick Bracco?
2. What's so special about Gold Street?
3. Why were vandals afraid of him?

This keeps the reader reading, which is exactly what should happen. And from there the story moves along well and at a fast pace and Ponzo adds several cliffhangers at the end of chapters to keep the readers turning the page.

I liked the many visuals offered throughout the book such as, "The evil seeped through the door like toxic waste." He also sets up scenes where you think you know what's happening and it turns out to be something else.

The terrorist aspect of the book reminded me of a good episode of 24 and he switches it up and allows you to see what's going on through different perspectives with multiple POV.

Overall, I found Gary Ponzo's novel entertaining and full of suspense.

The Interview:

1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.

I've always written even as a young child. I guess it became apparent I had some skill when my teachers seemed to pick my work to copy and show the rest of the class. The most memorable came as a senior in high school when I'd forgotten to write an English assignment and scribbled a couple of paragraphs while taking the bus to school. The next day my English teacher gave me an "F" on the assignment and wrote, "Who are you kidding" on top of the paper. Naturally I thought she was referring to the jumpy script from writing on a bus with worn out shocks. When I meagerly asked why I received an "F" she flatly told me I couldn't have written that work, it was simply too good. Of course I was flattered, but needed to prove my innocence. She told me to sit down in front of her and write two paragraphs of an action scene. I did it. When I was done she'd read the work and looked at me with a red face and said, "Why are you wasting your time in my class? You never raise your hand, you never join in conversation, you barely complete assignments--why are you not getting serious about this skill you have?" Of course it took me many years to take her advice to heart. Too many.

2. Tell me about your book – what inspired it?

My book is political thriller about an FBI agent, Nick Bracco, who recruits his cousin Tommy to track down a terrorist. Tommy, however, is in the mafia. It's this relationship between law enforcement and those who break laws which sets up the drama of the novel.

My inspiration was born out of working in my father's candy store when I was just sixteen. I used to work alone on weekends and my father had some Sicilian friends watch over me while I was working, especially at night. I guess I knew they were mafia at the time, but to me they were family friends. They'd sip coffee and talk about their kids, baseball, my school. I wanted to show how these people were actually very patriotic, so when a terrorist comes to America to bomb soft targets, these Italian Americans show how much they value their American side.

3. What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?

Probably the climax. When Nick finally does come face to face with this terrorist, he finds a way to straddle the line between becoming a vigilante and legally protecting his country. I think it's my most powerful chapter in the book.

4. How did you choose the title of the book?

I wanted to come up with something which would display the undercurrent of using the mafia to scour the underworld for these terrorists. The FBI become's desperate and actually hands over classified files to these Italian Americans to help find these assassins, so they use a Touch of Deceit. It also can refer to the time Nick Bracco lies to the president about capturing this terrorist so he won't acquiesce to the terrorist's demands.

5. How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?

This one took me over a decade because I was still publishing short stories and trying to make a living and be a dad and a husband too. I write mostly at night when the family is asleep so I'm not interrupting anyone's lives for me to get my story down. But if I focused just on writing novels I could probably get one done in six months.

6. What made you choose your particular genre?

I guess it's what interested me. I'm Sicilian and I thought a Sicilian protagonist was interesting, but once I realized he would be an FBI agent, I knew my story would be a little different than most in that genre.

7. Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?

Yes, because of the success of A Touch of Deceit I'm furiously working on the sequel, A Touch of Revenge. A week doesn't go by without receiving a comment from one of my readers about the progress of the sequel. It's a very rewarding feeling knowing there are literally thousands of people waiting to read what I'm writing. I'm very blessed.

8. Where can you be found on the internet?

Website

Strong Scenes Blog

My Decision to Go Indie

2011-04-02T03:26:00.000-06:00

I've had a lot of fellow writers ask me lately whether I would sign with a traditional "legacy" publisher or not if given the opportunity, but to understand how I got to this point, I better start from the beginning.

If you've read my 2010 blogs, you'll notice I wrote a lot of articles about how to land an agent and how to get a publisher and things of that nature. They offer useful information, so for now, they'll stay.

In the fall of last year I'd just finished my first novel, Black Diamond Death, and I made this gorgeous spreadsheet to help me land an agent. The spreadsheet had a list of agents in my genre who I could query and it was numbered in order starting with my favorites first (yes, I am an overachiever). I wrote my query letter and started pitching my book to agents. At the same time, I became friends with D.B. Henson, Author of Deed to Death, and the more we emailed each other, the more interested I became in what she had to say about the world of self-publishing.

Six months ago I would have never considered self-pubbing for a second. I had spent so much time researching the "traditional" way of doing things that my mind had not expanded enough to consider it as a viable option.

After sending out a dozen queries, and stressing over what agents would say in return, I actually received some great comments from my sample chapters, and I even generated some interest, BUT - dut, dut, dunn...it was too late. I'd already spent an entire day reading J.A. Konrath's blog. And that was kinda like opening pandora's box. Once opened, I couldn't go back, and I didn't want to - but I could do something for myself, I could go forward.

And forward, I did.

On March 10, 2011 I self-published my first novel to Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords. I honestly had no idea what to expect. I was an unknown author with a dream. From March 10th to March 31st, I sold 166 copies of my book. I didn't really know what if that was good or bad, but I was thilled. And that's not all. On March 22nd, less than two weeks after my book posted, I entered the top #100 in mystery/hardboiled category. And you would have thought I just won the lotto. It popped back off the top #100 of course several hours after it was on, but then about a week ago I got back on and have managed to stay on it fairly consistently each day. And let me tell you, to be #57 and have #56 be one of my idols (Robert B. Parker) and #58 Sue Grafton, I'm not complaining!

I'll be honest, promoting yourself is a lot of work, but it's also fun, and once I self-published I had this inner need to connect with other self-published authors. Kindle Boards was one way to do this, but I needed more, so I created a Facebook group for Indie Writers. It was one of the best ideas I've ever had because now I am connecting with some amazing people.

I've always been really independent, so once I latched onto the idea of publishing myself, it wasn't hard to keep the ball rolling, and to answer the original question about whether I would sign with a publisher/agent, I would be open to an agent that was the right fit for me, but in order for me to sign with a legacy publisher, I would like to see more rights for writers and some modifications made to the old way of doing things.

Back in High School I latched on to my cassette tapes like they were the last few pieces of chocolate left on Earth, and I resisted buying CD's for a long time. Eventually I was able to wrap my head around why it was positive to progress and do things differently, and that's what publishers need to do. I would be hesitant to sign away my rights to someone who is going to profit most from my hard work. eBooks carry no cost, so why is the author royalty so low? I don't want my eBook sold at $10 just so everyone can get their cut. It's not fair to the reader. It's issues like this that have caused me to think differently. For now, I am excited for what the future will bring.

In closing as a little side note, of the dozen agents I queried, three wrote back to tell me they had just closed up shop and were no longer agents. Hmmm, if that's not enough said to the way things have been going lately, I don't know what is :)

Black Diamond Death Contest and Promotion for April and May 2011

2011-04-01T11:08:00.001-06:00

Author Cheryl Bradshaw has just released her new mystery/thriller Black Diamond Death, the first novel in the Sloane Monroe series. For the months of April and May, Bradshaw is offering her book on promotion at .99 on both Amazon.com for the Kindle and Barnes and Noble for the Nook.

In addition, Cheryl will be running a contest and offering an Amazon.com gift card for the first fifty people who download and read her book. (If this post is still active, we haven't received 50 emails yet and the contest is still going).

TO ENTER:

1. Purchase Black Diamond Death on eBook for .99 at Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.

2. Send an email to piperdeveraux@ymail.com (Cheryl Bradshaw's assistant), and state BLACK DIAMOND DEATH CONTEST in the subject line. In the body of the email put the date and time that you purchased the book and your name.

Two winners will be chosen in April and two winners will be chosen in May and will receive a $25 gift card to Amazon.com.

GOOD LUCK, AND THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING!

It's Indie Month!

2011-04-01T07:35:00.004-06:00

Lately there's been a lot of buzz about indie writers, indie books and the success that goes along with it. It's an exciting time to be an indie writer, and I want to add to that.

This month I will be spotlighting several authors who have books worth checking out that fall in the .99 category on the Kindle and Nook. I have some outstanding books this month that I will be recommending to all you readers out there.

Purchase an eBook for .99 and Help Donate to Relief Efforts in Japan

2011-03-31T13:18:00.001-06:00

PRESS RELEASE: 4/1/2011

Mystery and thriller writer Cheryl Bradshaw is donating 50% of the profits from the April 2011 sales of her book Black Diamond Death to the relief efforts in Japan and is also hosting a contest for the first 100 people to purchase it.

To enter:

1. Puchase eBook Black Diamond Death at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.

2. Send an email to Cheryl at misspoirot@ymail.com and write BLACK DIAMOND DEATH PURCHASED in the subject line.

One winner will be chosen from the first 100 sales in April and will receive a $50 gift card to Amazon.com. The winner will be announced on Cheryl's website and on her blog. She will also donate 50% of ALL book sales for the month to assist in relief efforts.

(Don't have a Kindle or a Nook? A new app on their sites will download it to your computer for free)

"Ever since I was a child I have wanted to participate in humanitarian efforts, and it has been my dream to one day be able to travel around the world and offer whatever help I can to those in need," says Bradshaw. "Donating a portion of the sales from my book is just a small step in that process, but an important one, and it allows me to do my part in making the world we live in a better place for everyone."

For more about Cheryl and her latest novel, visit her website at www.cherylbradshaw.com and thank you for your support.

Self-Publishing: Final Thoughts

2011-03-30T16:25:00.004-06:00

As this month comes to an end, I wanted to add some final thoughts about self-publishing, promoting yourself and the entire process.

Wouldn't it be nice if writers could just write their books and someone else could take care of the rest? It doesn't matter if you are a writer with a publishing company or an indie writer - either way, in today's world we all have to do something to get our books out there.

But how much do you have to do, and how much time should you spend doing it?

I've talked to fellow writers who are so fed up with promoting themselves that they have stopped completely. Just today I read a post on a forum where the writer said she'd "had it". And I empathize with that - I really do. But, as taxing as it might seem sometimes, it's a part of our job and not to work at it, well - that's giving up in my opinion.

I do think there are some things that should be considered though, such as how much time you are spending each day promoting yourself versus how much it seems to be boosting your sales. And also, are you spending so much time worrying about your sales that you aren't finding the time to write?

When my first novel got published I was completely stressed out about how many sales I was generating, and I was checking my dashboard constantly and spending my days thinking up ways to promote myself. Some positive came out of that (I had 100 sales right out of the gate), but some negative too. I started spending less time on my writing, and one day I realized if I want to continue to sell books, I need to keep writing them. It was a hard lesson for me to learn, but I finally realized I needed to set some boundaries so I could get back to doing what I love the most, writing.

And to that end, I offer a few pearls of wisdom that work for me:

1. SET A GOAL

Set a number as to how many things you would like to do to promote yourself in a day. I would say somewhere in the 5-10 range is good. Each item doesn't have to take long. I have about four things I do that take less than five minutes each. And anything counts as one thing. This blog for one would be an item I count for myself. Posting on a board would be another.

2. CHANGE IT UP

Don't always do the same things each day to promote yourself. It's easy to get on a roll and go through the motions doing the same thing day after day, but I find that changing it up a little and trying different and new things really helps. You never know when you will try that one new thing and it will be just what you needed. I am always looking for new ideas and open to them.

3. SET ASIDE TIME

It's easy to get swept away with the internet. So many sites, so many possibilities, but you must set aside time for your writing each day. Carve out your time period if you have to and then stick to it.

It's been a great month, and I've learned a lot writing these posts. I am combining all the wonderful ideas of how to promote yourself into one blog post and will be putting that up soon.

Happy Writing!

Indie Writers Come Join Us!

2011-03-23T08:55:00.001-06:00

Indie writers now have a place to go and chat with each other on Facebook. It was just set up yesterday, and I would like to see everyone there!

Indie Writers Unite

-C

Self-Publishing: Book Samples and Formatting - Does It Really Matter?

2011-03-21T11:51:00.003-06:00

This topic is a little off the beaten path of self-publishing, but it does tie in, and I'll tell you why.

As indie writers, we're in the business of selling books (among other things). So, I took a poll, and these were my questions:

1. Do you sample before you buy a book?
2. If yes, what are you looking for and what turns you off or makes you decide not to purchase?
3. Does formatting matter, mistakes, errors, etc. and if so, how much?
4. How much of a sample do you need to read before you know if you want to purchase or not?

The majority of readers said yes, they sample books before they buy them.

If a reader samples your book, that's great - now you just need them to buy it. So what are they looking for? I chose three responses that I liked (and my thanks to them for allowing me to post their remarks):

I absolutely always download a sample. I expect it to be well edited and reasonably well formatted whether it's from an indie (which most of mine are) or from the Big 6. (A lot from the Big 6 are miserably bad)

If the entire sample is TOC and dedications, I assume that tells me something bad, an I don't buy. If the sample is full of errors, I don't buy. If it can't even hold my interest through the sample, I don't buy.

Errors can definitely be a deal-breaker. If I see two or three errors in the sample, I know that they creep in. I'll ignore them. Beyond that, I can only assume it will get worse because the first of a novel always gets the most work.

I'm willing to buy only sometimes with only 10% but I prefer 15 or 20%. 10% if it's marginal might not be enough. But if most of that is taken up with introductory material, it makes me assume the author has something to hide. I want to see that much of the novel itself, not dedication.

Once I start reading a sample, I'll probably finish even if I'm going to buy it. I'm a very fast reader.

Yes, I'm tough, but I expect people to be equally tough on my novels.

***

I often download samples. If I run into samples that are nearly all TOC or I come across a lot of typos, extremely poor formatting, and/or weak or nonexistent plots, I delete the samples. I'm not wasting my time on an effort that more resembles a rough draft than a polished product.

I also have to admit (a bit sheepishly) that I don't read works by indie authors whose posts here on the Kindle Boards are full of grammatical and/or usage errors. I am a teacher, and those sorts of errors really bother me. (As far as I'm concerned, mistakes such as it's/its, their/there, whose/who's, and your/you're are inexcusable.) If I run across any such mistakes while reading a sample, I'm finished. It's a shame if someone has great ideas but neither the skill nor the talent to translate those ideas to paper (or e-ink). It's also a shame that someone in the life of that aspiring writer can't/won't find the courage to suggest that the writer take a couple of courses in writing. (I ran into a writer here a year or so ago who said that no one was allowed to read her books until they were (self)published, and that she had no intention of taking any courses in order to improve her writing. She felt that her ideas were good enough to get her where she wanted to be in her writing career, and she refused any constructive criticism. (Believe me when I say that there were several successful indie authors who offered her their wisdom, and she was very offended. She was a rare example of someone who shouldn't be publishing anything for which payment was expected.)

For the record, I'm not a writer, but I have a tremendous amount of respect for those of you who have the courage/skill/talent to commit words to paper (or electronic media), sharing your love of language and reading with the rest of us. Keep up the great work!

***

1. Do you sample before you buy a book? Yes, always.

2. If yes, what are you looking for and what turns you off or makes you decide not to purchase? This question is hard to answer because it depends on the type of book I'm sampling what I'm expecting from that type of story. Most of what makes me decide no are just personal issues/reasons that other readers might not care about ... like I don't like an overuse of curse words and first person, present tense. That type of POV just doesn't sound right to 'my ears' but others love it and enjoy it.

3. Does formatting matter, mistakes, errors, etc. and if so, how much? Yes. A couple of typos or formatting mistakes in the sample don't bother me too much if it's a larger sample. While I know that mistakes do get through at times, I don't want to read a book where it seems like the author didn't take their time because they feel that a certain amount of mistakes are standard so it's okay.

4. How much of a sample do you need to read before you know if you want to purchase or not? I always read the entire sample unless within a few clicks I know it's not my type of story. If it's a short sample, not even a chapter of the book, I'm less likely to buy it without reading reviews first because I don't feel that I've gotten a good feel for the book.

***

Now that you've read through those, I want to share some of my own thoughts. Over the last couple weeks I've been curious about about other indie's books and how they look compared to mine, so I downloaded probably about 75 samples and took a peek. I was shocked to find that only about 20% of what I looked at was properly formatted, for starters. Most of what I saw was title pages with no disclaimers, chapters that start in the middle of a page right below a chapter that just ended, and no sense of proper sentence structure. And here's what I was thinking:

WOW!!!

Because those fixes are easy for anyone who takes the time to do their homework. And if your book looks like am amateur wrote it, who knows how many samples people are reading and not buying. Yikes!

The other thing that grated on me was something another person talked about above. The its/it's, spelling errors, grammatical errors. I found several errors on the first pages of many of the books I sampled, and I was thinking - if this many errors are on the first page, what's the rest of the book going to be like? What's sad is, it might be a really cool book, but I personally can't get over all the errors. How much do you want to bet other readers are thinking the same thing? Your sample is like a first impression and you know how the saying goes - you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

It's hard to catch every little error, I understand that. But you can tell the difference between those who try and those who just submit it without pouring over it one final time before it's posted. I'm just as impatient as the next person, but never at the expense of people reading my book and finding an abundance of errors. When I'm not writing, I am a copy editor. So, I was fairly certain after going over my book that it was practically perfect in every way. But, I still had two copy editors look it over, and I'm glad I did. My problem was, I was too close to it - I had memorized almost every line, so the more I went over it, the more I probably glazed over it not seeing the errors. And even the copy editors missed a couple things that I saw just this last weekend - so I think it's reasonable for a book to have a few little things here and there, but it should be as polished as possible. If anything creeps up on me now, I don't hesitate to make the change and resubmit a new copy of my pages.

My hope for all of you is that you become a success. You sell lots of books and live the dream, and I hope you take the time to really give your book a good look and present your very best work. Readers do notice.

On my blog under the READING LIST tab, I have several books that I urge new writers to read in order to improve your writing, but I am going to list what I consider to be the absolute essentials here to help with the grammatical stuff:

The Elements of Style - William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
On Writing - Stephen King
A Grammar Book for You and Me - C. Edward Good
Writing the Breakout Novel - Donald Maass
Stein on Writing - Sol Stein
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers - Renni Browne/Dave King

And here are a few indie books you can sample that will show you what the beginning of your book should look like and chapter spacing:

Saving Rachel - John Locke

Deep Rough - Chris Blewitt

Trojan Horse - David Lender

The List - J.A. Konrath

Black Diamond Death by yours truly (Cheryl Bradshaw)

And for a great book on formatting for Amazon Kindle, I recommend this:

Format Your eBook for Kindle

HAPPY READING!

Self-Publishing: Book Video Trailers

2011-03-18T11:55:00.002-06:00

To book trailer or not to book trailer, that is the question. Personally, I don't, but I'm going to provide information below for all of you who would like to.

Yesterday I ran a poll on Kindle Boards and asked readers if they would be more likely to purchase a book if it had a book video trailer. Two said yes, twenty-seven said no. So that's somewhere in the 7% yes range. A lot of readers feel they aren't really well done, and that unless they're promoting a movie based on a book, why bother?

Plus, they can be pricy unless you are doing them yourself, and most people that do them on their own post a PowerPoint presentation, and few are impressed by that when they're used to seeing sweet movie trailers on the tube. I think one would hold my interest if it was professionally done to look like a movie trailer, but most don't look like that.

One other comment I liked from a reader was that the book jacket should sell the book and not the trailer. Agreed. After all, it IS about the writing, right?

Here's one recommended by a fellow author for A Writer's Book of Days. (Of the ones I viewed on the lower end, this was one of the better ones)

Schiel & Denver (this one is okay)

Circle of Seven Productions (this too is just okay)

Stephen King - Under the Dome

Dan Brown - Deception Point

And now for my two personal favorites...

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

And finally, this site offers some great advice for those of you who want to produce a book video trailer and place it on YouTube:

Book Trailer Videos

And here's a guide on how to create a video trailer courtesy of Lulu.

Lulu Blog

And now to who you can hire that won't break the bank. I mentioned in the book cover section that Christine DeMaio-Rice does covers, well...she does trailers too.

Here's one of her TRAILERS, and you can get her contact information HERE.

eBook Sales Up 115%

2011-03-17T14:42:00.002-06:00

Indie authors, check this out...and woohoo :)

Media Bistro Article

Self-Publishing: Promoting Yourself - Part Four

2011-03-17T14:27:00.007-06:00

There are many outlets both in print and in person where you can be seen and heard.

MAGAZINES

In print, consider submitting short stories to different magazines. Every reader of your article is a possible buyer for your book. For one stop shopping in this area, become a member of Writer's Market. On their site, they list magazines alphabetically that you can submit to.

One other place you can register is at HARO (Help a Reporter Out). If you sign up for emails, you get three a day on business days and they are all related to stories a reporter is working on, and if you are chosen, there's a good chance your name and the fact that you are an author will be mentioned. As a tip, I heard the people who respond with their phone number within 15 minutes of getting the email have the best chance of being used. Just some food for thought there!

DO A GUEST BLOG

Take part in blogging on someone else's blog. Most authors have one, and some have a huge fan base. Do as many guest spots as you can in the areas that you are knowledgeable.

On my Facebook group, Indie Writers Unite, we host a FREE blog tour for writers. This is an excellent way to be seen and heard.

There are also professionals out there who offer paid blog services and will hook you up with book bloggers.

GET INTERVIEWED FOR THE NEWSPAPER

Once your book is in print, you can submit a press release (and you should) to your local newspaper (and any other venue that applies to your general area). I grew up in California, then moved to Utah for several years, and now I live in Wyoming. That gives me three states to start with that I have ties to. An example of other venues would be - in Utah there's a news station called KSL. They have a huge online classifieds section where it's free to post a listing, and you can post more than one actually. And I've never met anyone in Utah who wasn't familiar with KSL. It's well known and widely used. So for me to pass up a chance to put my press release on there for FREE would be crazy. So seek out what you options you have in your area and use them.

CONTACT INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES

Next I would suggest contacting the independent bookstores in your area. I think as an indie writer, you have a better chance of getting them to be interested in you right off, and it helps that you have a tie to the location as well (you live there, your book was based in that city,etc). You might be invited to do a signing and they may even purchase some of your books for their store.

Here are some tips:

1. Once you find out the date you will be a guest author, see if the store will start promoting that you will be there. Maybe they can hand bookmarks that you send them out with every purchase or a flier or they can post a poster in their store about the event.

2. Try to get your newspaper article posted right before your signing so you can announce it.

3. As an indie author, you will need to bring your own copies of your books if the store hasn't already purchased them, so be sure to have them in advance.

4. Sometimes nobody will come, and don't be frustrated by this. Greet customers when they come to the store, even if they aren't there for you. Chances are, they'll walk out with a copy of your book. I know, most of us aren't salespeople - I'm sure not, and I'm not pushy by any means - but you can still say hello, engage in conversation, and be friendly.

ATTEND CONVENTIONS

There are so many wonderful conventions each year for writers to meet and greet and get known. If you don't have a lot of money, try to find one close to you to start and then you can work your way up to some that you have dreamed of attending. I have made some author friends along the way and I absolutely love being a part of their world because they are the only ones who really understand the passion I have for what I'm doing.

And finally, I am working on a list of sites your should promote your book on when you publish. It will come sometime in Spring 2012.

Self-Publishing: Promoting Yourself - Part Three

2011-03-16T18:03:00.002-06:00

A big part of self-publishing is getting out there and becoming involved, and there are so many ways to do that, but I wanted to list several sites that allow you to interact and get to know your readers. I've already covered some of the sites you should sign up with, but I wanted to focus on writer forums.

And first, INDIE WRITERS UNITE. Great group, and on the first of every month, I allow authors to promote their books and kinda do a swap -- you buy mine, I'll buy yours, etc. I also have threads for new books, book promotions, and that type of thing.

Here are a few other worthwhile groups on Facebook for writers:

WRITERS ENCOURAGING WRITERS

BOOK JUNKIES

STORYTALES GALLERY

If you have an eBook on Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook, and chances are you do - you really should pop into their boards and take part. I will say that I see the same people over and over but these are passionate people, let me tell you, and you want them in your corner promoting your book for you. It doesn't take long to choose a few threads and write a little ditty, and I suggest doing it every day if you can. If you spend 15 minutes, that's something.

Just be sure to "follow the rules". The moderators can get pretty snooty when you don't ;) Make sure that if you are not allowed to promote your book on a certain board that you DON'T. It will be removed - immediately. You can post to them, and you should, just don't post about your own book. I love these boards because you can connect with readers and find out what they are interested in, and then participate by suggesting someone else's book - that is completely acceptable. And guess what, you can still add your signature to every post so readers will know you are an author.

On the Amazon Kindle Boards, my favorite ones that you should be checking out are:

The Book Corner
The Book Bazaar (and within that Writer's Cafe)

And at the Barnes & Nobles Boards I post most often to:

The Community Room
NOOK General Discussion
Nookbook Discussion

And here are a few other forums I like:

Writing Forums
Book & Reader
BookTalk

Self-Publishing: Promoting Yourself - Part Two

2011-03-15T17:19:00.002-06:00

As you prepare for your book to come out, a great thing you can do in advance is to get together a press release, and there are a few sites that will send them out for you for FREE.

The only downside I had with the ones I have sent out is that I wanted to put my contact info as misspoirotatymail.com instead of using the @ sign. Why does this matter? Once that release goes out a bunch of spammers will flood your inbox with a bunch of stuff you don't want or need. Fortunately, they are well known spammers and 99% of it deleted itself when it arrived in my inbox, so that was nice. So, it's kind of a give and take. You could set up a separate email I suppose for things like this, it just depends on how much it bothers you.

Moving on...

Here are the sites I have come across where you can submit a press release for zero dollars:

PRLog
PR.com

And here are two others, but please note - they are NOT free:

PR Newswire
PRWeb

You can also post at Digg and that's free, and you can say the same type of thing as your PR, but you need to have a link to it, so the way I work around that is that I put the PR in my blog and then link to the blog page.

For those of you who have never put out a press release, don't fret, it's not that hard, and yes-you can do it yourself.

Some advice and examples can be found on these sites:

Haunted Computer Books
Xlibris
Author Press Release

And finally, here's my latest press release.

Self-Publishing: Promoting Yourself - Part One

2011-03-14T12:30:00.002-06:00

There are plenty of options out there to promote yourself, which is great because most new authors don't have tons of extra money to shell out to advertise and get themselves out there. You are essentially your own publicist. It is a little daunting at first and takes away from your time as a writer, but gaining readers is a good thing.

For part one, I'm going to touch on the basics. These are things you can do before your book even comes out (and you should).

1. Website

Every writer should a website, and there are plenty of sites out there right now that are free. I would recommend going with one that allows you a little more freedom than a free site though - for around $5 a month you can create a site that looks just as professional as the high-end sites, and there are several options out there that take you through the process and create it for you with a template, etc. You don't have to be an expert to create a site that looks like a million bucks.

Once your website is in place, it's time to advertise it. You can go directly to the various search engines and add it so that it will be put as high on the list as possible.

Here's a list of the top search engines to promote it to:

Dogpile
Ask.com
The Internet Archive
Yippy
Yahoo
Bing
Mahalo
Dogpile
Google

2. Blog

A blog is a great thing to have because when you list your book, a lot of sites now will link your author page to your blog directly. This is terrific and good advertising for you. I love to blog because it gives me an outlet to say things that aren't in my books. And blogs are free, so there's no reason why you shouldn't have one. I would suggest once you get your blog up and running that you keep it fairly active. I try for about 3 posts a week or more if I can. They don't have to be long, but it allows you to touch base with your readers.

When choosing a blog, you will need to decide what you want to talk about. Maybe a bit of everything, maybe you want to make it a page for fans where you post announcements, or maybe you want to gear it towards a specific topic - mine is obviously written for aspiring writers, but I also add things here and there for the readers about my books and what's going on with them.

3. Connect with fans

There are a lot of sites out there where you can gather fans and promote yourself at the same time. Facebook is a must in my opinion and you only need 25 friends on your author page for it to exist, which isn't hard to get. Places like Red Room, CrimeSpace, Goodreads, and Shelfari are excellent because they are filled with people who love to read.

Facebook
Twitter
Red Room
CrimeSpace
Goodreads
LinkedIn
MySpace
Shelfari

From my personal experience, the two places that have been the best for me are Twitter and Goodreads. In about six months I gained 5,000 followers on Twitter, and I am hoping to have another 5,000 by summer 2012.

Self-Publishing: Promote Yourself with Business Cards

2011-03-12T20:27:00.003-07:00

So, when I was doing a little research on ways to promote yourself and your book, I came across several sites that said to create a business card and at first, I thought that seemed a little weird. I pictured myself at a restaurant and as I left saying, "By the way, I'm a writer. Please take my card, and oh yeah, buy my book!" Okay, so maybe that's extreme.

My issue is that I don't really like promoting myself. There, I said it. It's true though. I'm a writer, not a publicist, so that part of the job isn't my favorite. But, I also know that you have to get yourself out there if you plan on selling your book. I can write on forums and on my blog all day, and I can even put out a damn good press release, but handing out a business card to someone in the flesh - mano y mano?

Strange, maybe. Worth it, YES!

Once I wrapped my head around it, something great happened. I have been running into people all over the place that are asking about my book without me having to say a word about it. This is great, but it's even greater when I can give them a card with a link to where they can buy it and the name of it, just in case they forget, and trust me - they WILL forget somewhere between making sure they got everything on their grocery list and oh yeah, did I put gas in the car and oops, I forgot to pick up my kid from dance. So, offering a card is simple and something they can go back to.

And I don't know about you, but I'm sure you all have at least one seriously flamboyant person in your life like your mom, sister, MIL, husband, wife, etc. For me, it's my husband who has been telling the entire planet about my writing (bless him!), so if you have someone like that, give them some cards too!

You'd be amazed, but most people that you come into contact with will think it's super cool that you wrote a book and would love to purchase it just to tell everyone that they MET you.

So my vote is to try it out, and here is what my first one looked like (I got it on VistaPrint).

Self-Publishing: Where to Publish Your eBook and Your Book in Print

2011-03-12T20:02:00.001-07:00

As time goes by more and more sites are popping up where you can sell your eBook and printed paperback/hardback. Even as I sit here writing this, someone out there is probably putting together a new site where you can self-publish. It's great to have options, isn't it?! Especially when you're not out by much - just a little time and an upload and your book is on sale. Below are the sites you definitely should post to:

For your eBook

1. Amazon Kindle (KDP Author Platform)

This is #1 in my opinion, and they are now offering not only the option for readers to download the eBook to their Kindle, but they have a FREE Kindle application so readers can now download to their computer, iPhone, iPad, blackberry and android. So basically anyone can buy your book there, and they do. Right now, it is #1 for my book sales. I sell 75% more there than I do anywhere else.

2. Pub It (Barnes & Noble) Nook

3. Smashwords

4. Lulu

Lulu isn't very competitive at the moment with their eBook sales, but it's still another location you can place your book, so why not?

For Your Book in Print

1. CreateSpace

Amazon's createspace is fantastic because you don't have to purchase hundreds of books and then try to sell them. You just get the book uploaded and then set a price point and then they are printed on a per-purchase basis. And another thing I like about it is that you can olrder books yourself to give to friends and family and only pay the per-page charge for the book and not what you have it listed for at Amazon. Nice!

2. Lulu

Lulu is similar to CreateSpace in many ways, and they can also distribute your book to Amazon, etc. for you and ship once a book is purchased.

And then if you still want another option, you might want to try Outskirts Press - they have packages that you choose from and based on that, they put the book together for you and get it ready for distribution and then you keep 100% of the profits.

Aside from these options, there are loads of people out there who can create your book for you, but many of them require you to purchase an X amount of books up front, and with CreateSpace and Lulu, I wouldn't personally do it any other way.

Next week I will add to this segment and offer some pricing information for Lulu and CreateSpace, so check back for that. Until then...

Self-Publishing: Your eBook Price Point

2011-03-10T14:11:00.006-07:00

I have read a lot of articles on different opinions regarding the price point of eBooks, and I wanted to give my feedback on the topic.

If this is your first eBook, my recommendation is to start at the .99 price point. Yep, that's right - I said 99 measly cents. But, guess what - it's not measly, and here's why:

1. For your first book, you are unknown. Let me say that one more time so it sinks in...YOU ARE UNKNOWN. But not forever, deary--just for now! Think big! Dream big!

So being unknown, what do you want? To get known. And how do you achieve that? By getting as many human beings to read your lovely novel as possible. And what do people like? A BARGAIN if they are going to take a chance on an author they have never heard of before.

2. Pricing at .99 on Kindle gives you something valuable - When a reader searches books in your genre from lowest to highest price, they will find you easier. And that's a good place to start.

3. We all have goals for our books - but one of your goals as a writer who is just starting out should be getting your book read as many times as possible so that your name is seen as many times as possible.

This is one reason I like the KDP Select Program through Amazon (more on this later).

4. And along those lines, you should have a goal to get your book as high on the list as possible--meaning, you want your ranking to get low enough to break the top 100 in its respective category. All my books have achieved this so far.

Let's use Amazon Kindle and Stephen King as our first example. And this is current as of this very moment.

Stephen King's new book Full Dark, No Stars is on Kindle for a whopping $14.99, but remember - he IS Stephen King. And right now, here's how the book rates on Kindle:

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #156 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#2 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Short Stories
#3 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Horror
#4 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror

Now, since we aren't Stephen King (just yet), let's look at how some others are doing.

In the mystery genre of Kindle, 9 of the top 20 are .99. That's basically half, and if they are bestsellers, that means they are selling the most, and I feel the price is a big reason for that.

I would like to propose to you that you can sell more books at .99 as an unknown than you will even at the $2.99 mark. And to those of you who say BAH to that, read this:

The List Experiment

Now, having said all of the above, I want to say that for whatever reason, this doesn't fare the same for everyone. And if at .99 it is not working for you, experiment with it. Try for the $2.99 price point for a month. You will make more money on each book that sells.

One author told me they self-pubbed their first novel as a newbie at .99, the second at $2.99 and the third at $5.99 becuase now they have a following. I will be conducting my own experiment in April and we will see how it goes!

Happy writing.

UPDATE--FEBRUARY 2012:

As I add new books and sell more copies, I raise prices. I have two books right now at $1.49 and one at $2.99. Don't be afraid to try different things out to see what works for you.

Self-Publishing: Formatting Rules for eBooks

2011-03-09T23:00:00.004-07:00

The funniest thing happened when I thought I was done with my eBook and tried to publish it on Kindle. I had filled out all the boxes, added my title and then uploaded my precious manuscript. Once it loaded, I was able to preview it. And guess what - it looked like CRAP! Why? Because it wasn't formatted to eBook standard, and I felt like an idiot for not knowing this at the time. In hindsight though, the process gave me experience and allowed me the chance to pass my knowledge on to others, which makes the effort and struggle worth it.

If you are going to upload on Smashwords, they have their own formatting to follow. And they offer excellent instructions for that here:

Smashwords Style Guide

And if you don't want to hassle with doing it yourself, they have a list of writers who are great at it and will do it for you. To get the list, send an email to this address:

list@smashwords.com

And you will receive a reply right away with several different formatters to choose from. They all say what the charge is as well.

But, hold on a second...before you do that, I want to recommend my formatter. You can reach her here:

INDIE DESIGNZ (BY DAFEENAH)

She is fast and affordable. Tell her I sent you.

Still want to do it yourself? Read on...

For Amazon Kindle

I started with converting my book to a Smashwords acceptable eBook, and then to put that on Amazon Kindle myself, you can keep everything the same EXCEPT if it's in MS Word, you need to go through the document and place page breaks after the end of the last sentence in EACH chapter. Then, you want to indent three lines for the beginnings of each chapter (like: CHAPTER FIVE), you want to indent three spaces on the page and have that start on the fourth line. If you don't do this, your chapter will be smashed up at the top of the Kindle.

For Barnes&Noble Nook

Now on to the Nook. Similar to Kindle formatting EXCEPT instead of inserting a page break, you insert a section break (the one for a page), and you do this below the last line on the page for every page you need to break - like between chapters, and voila - you're done!

***

I want to add as an end note that it's a royal pain in the ass to get help from Amazon or B&N if you need help formatting. They both have tutorials on their sites - HOWEVER, they offer no form of customer service over the phone. And when I emailed Amazon's KDP for help with a question, it took them four days to respond and then it was an auto text with no clear answer to my question. Fortunately, there are Kindle Boards and PubIt boards where other writers help each other with the process. So if you get hung up or stressed, never fear - other writers are happy to assist. And to give an example of this, check out Guido Henkel's series on his blog about the proper way to format your book.

Self-Publishing: How to Find a Great Graphic Artist/Book Artist/Cover Designer

2011-03-07T15:56:00.004-07:00

The first and most important part of finding a great graphic artist is making sure they are skilled in YOUR genre. Some are multi-genre, while others are experts in one specific area.

On my author group, Indie Writers Unite, I have a Yellow Pages document of cover designers that you can get quotes from.

When I wrote, Black Diamond Death, I was still getting my feet wet in the industry, and I went with a talented lady, and I thought the cover turned out good, but then I found someone who took it to the next level. So sometimes it's trial and error, but it's a great feeling when you find that perfect fit.

To point you in the right direction, a good place to start is by looking on my Yellow Page list on Indie Writers Unite.

And here are a few recommendations that are affordable:

FLIP CITY BOOKS - Christine DeMaio Rice

She is quick, sharp, and affordable--and she can do any genre. Tell her I sent you.

ADORKABLE DESIGNS - Jack Wallen

Jack is both a talented writer and designer.

Medium--but still affordable--designers

Author J.A. Konrath uses Carl Graves as his cover artist.

Bob Aulicino has designed covers for J.A. Jance and Lawrence Block.

And here's something really cool - it's a video that shows how a book cover was made. Love it!

Now, as one final item of note - I want to caution you all NOT to pay too much. I believe all the graphic artists I have listed here to be honest and fair, but please be careful. I received quotes from under $100 to almost $1,000 SHEESH!

I believe anything up to about $500 for both an eBook cover and a paperback cover, complete with spine, is acceptable.

Some authors also offer pre-made covers, where they just take a stock photo and slap your title and name on it. It's a good option if you are writing just an eBook novella or novelette that won't be in print. But you need to understand going into something like that--it's a possibility you'll see your cover on another authors book as well. Stock covers can be bought by anyone.

Self-Publishing: Book and eBook Cover Artists/Graphic Artists and Why You Need One

2011-03-07T14:51:00.005-07:00

So you've finished your novel and you have decided to publish it yourself. Well, to do that, you need a graphic artist (unless you are talented enough to do it yourself, and if you are - bravo!) For the rest of you, here's some help...

The first thing I want to say is that you don't just want to hire the first person who comes along. Here are my recommendations:

1. When you query a graphic/book cover artist, check out samples of their work and if they don't have any, request them. And here's why. Book covers can increase or decrease your sales so you want a cover that reflects the fantastic book you wrote.

2. One of the coolest things about self-publishing is that you are in control. Usually you don't even get a say with the cover of your book when it's being distributed by a publishing house so here's where you can get creative, and also - you can tell the artist that you like it, don't like, want this change and that change, etc. You CAN be picky, and you should. After all, this is your baby we're talking about, right!

For an idea of the process and how it works, let's use an example from my novel Black Diamond Death.

The first thing I did after choosing the person I wanted to design the cover was to tell her in a few sentences what the book was about and what I thought the cover should look like, and then I let her do her thing.

Here's the metamorphasis:

These were the first images that I got back, and I chose the first because I thought the background was lovely, and in my novel, it's a clear day when the skier is on the slopes and in the second and third photo, I thought it looked like she was caught in a tornado of some kind. I also didn't like the font or the colors, so I made some suggestions and actually sent her a few novels with fonts that I did like.

These next two were starting to look a lot more exciting to me. I liked the first one quite a bit, and I didn't like the second one at all - mostly because I thought it looked like he was in a cartoon. But, cool graphic. And then I decided, well - I didn't like the skier because my skier was a girl and this person looks like a dude.

So then, she sent me these two options for women skiers, and I loved the second one.

Now we had the new skier and the graphic artist was ready to make the final adjustments to the cover and add the tagline.

And I know I'm partial because it is my own book cover, but how amazing is my graphic artist? It doesn't get any better than this.

The Dawn of the Self-Publishing Revolution

2011-03-01T09:13:00.001-07:00

If you asked me six months ago if I would ever consider self-publishing, I would have said no. Scratch that, I would have said hell no. Sometimes I think it's hard to get traditions and the "traditional way" out of our minds and allow ourselves to focus on what's happening all around us. It takes a shift in your thinking to even consider it, doesn't it?

If you are me six months ago I urge you to climb inside your mind and unlock the door to possibility. Come out, come out, wherever you are! I'm not saying to put aside getting an agent who in turn will get you a publisher and so on and so forth.

And here comes the BUT...

Did you know that most books from the time you query the agent to your book making it to print is usually 2+ years for most writers? I don't know about you, but my goal isn't to spend years of my life trying to get the book into print after it's finished when I could be spending that time working on my next book.

When I completed my first novel Black Diamond Death in 2010, I went the way of tradition. I first queried a handful (well, maybe a bit more than a handful) agents on my list. And if you've spent any amount of time reading about that process and what it entails, it's terrifying to think about what might come back.

I'm a fairly logical woman with an open mind so I was open to comments, feedback, suggestions and the like - just as long as the agent wasn't downright vicious. Thankfully, I received a lot of positive comments, but agents were hesitant to sign me at first, and here's why:

1. My first book was a cozy mystery, and I was told that right now, cozies aren't selling like their brother, the thriller. This, essentially, is INCORRECT. Both the mystery and thriller genres are doing great.

2. Every month ebooks are selling more and more and printed books are selling less. So it's a gamble - even signing you they have a long road ahead to try to get it printed if this is your first book.

With regard to ebooks, this is actually a hard one for me because I love a book in my hand and I always will. And as a collector of books, a printed book will always trump the ebook for me. But as a writer, what I want most is for my book to reach as many people as possible, and because of that, I have to be open (even if it's a little) to ebooks.

3. It's the self-publishing revolution and best-selling authors today are trying their hand at publishing themselves, Check out JA Konrath, Barry Eisler, Blake Crouch, David Lender, and Carol Davis Luce for examples).

I am all for a writer doing whatever they can to get their book out there. However, this comes AFTER you've done your homework. If you aren't an avid reader and haven't spent a great deal of time learning what you need to about your craft, you have no business publishing until you do. What you put out there should be your absolute best. You owe it to yourself and you owe it to your readers. I've seen a lot of writers scramble to put a book together and then just put it out there -- that's not the right way to go, and you'll end up with a ranking somewhere in the 350K range, trust me.

To those of you who have taken the time to get it right, I say CHEERS! This month is dedicated to you and the how-to's of self-publishing.

Featured Author - Jacquelyn Mitchard

2011-02-28T17:35:00.001-07:00

I think the world of Jacquelyn Mitchard. And it's not just because she kept trying to write out something for my blog in the midst of everything else she was doing this month (although in my book she gets a gold star for fabulousness for that). Jacquelyn is a gifted writer and has written many books including Deep End of the Ocean - you know, the one that was made into a movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Whoopi Goldberg and was an Oprah Book Club choice...yes, that's the one ;) She also has a great blog which I highly recommend, and she is wonderful about sharing her wisdom with new authors.

FOR NEW AUTHORS: TEN PUBLISHING MYTHS DEBUNKED

By: Jacquelyn Mitchard

MYTH: If my book is published by a large press, such as Harper Collins, I’ll only be a face in the crowd to my editor.

TRUTH: A good editor at a large publishing house, a small independent or a copying machine in your basement will give you professional treatment, understanding and support. Your book’s success matters to your editor and your publisher.

MTYH: Agents are crooks and the best writers don’t need them.

TRUTH: Bad agents are bad and bad lawyers are bad and bad doctors are bad and bad singers are bad. A professional, powerful, thoughtful, determined agent is the angel in your corner. Make sure that agent is a member in good standing of the Association of Author Representatives and then, trust your gut. But negotiating the world of e-rights, not to mention a, b, c and d rights, is a full time job and not yours.

MYTH: No one can get published anymore. The market is too tough. You have to be an established “name.”

TRUTH: It is much more difficult to get a novel published now than it was a decade ago. Many doors are at least opened to “name” authors. That said, Charles Bock’s ‘Beautiful Children’ Kathryn Casey’s ‘Minotaur’ James Syrie’s ‘The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen’ and Ann Wentz Garvin’s ‘On Maggie’s Watch,’ were all first novels that generated lots of buzz and, in some cases, lots of $.

MYTH: I need an advanced degree to write fiction.

TRUTH: You may wish to sturdy for your MFA to do deeper into your fiction and poetry. In teaching, an advanced degree is an enormous advantage. In being published, it is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage.

MYTH: The biggest of the big writers don’t write their own books.

TRUTH: A few (such as James Patterson) produce detailed outlines that are then written in first draft form by a salon of newer writers whom Patterson encourages and nurture in their own work as well. Most writers whose names you know as important, however, write every page just as I am writing this blog.

MYTH: You have to be under the age of 30 to really make it. Editors want to have a long term relationship with the writers they “raise” from their first books.

FACT: If you write a great book, no one cares about your age. Many authors (such as Lisa Genova, ‘Still Alice,’ and ‘Left Neglected’) are 40 or older and have been very successful in other fields before their first novels are published. Orange Prize short lister Patricia Kesling Woods was 53 when ‘Lottery!’ was published. Editors do want a long- term relationship, so walk two miles every day and eat your bran flakes. They do not want to hold hands with a neurotic adolescent. Being a person who has found herself as well has her voice is no disadvantage.

MYTH: a professional editing job, pre-submission will mess up my book’s vision.

TRUTH: Good editing before an agent ever sees your first 50 pages is a wonderful idea if you can afford it. Professional editors with proven track records probably do the best job but the “second eyes” of a friend in the craft is a terrific boost.

MYTH: All top-notch writers live on the east or west coats.

TRUTH: Elizabeth Berg lives near Chicago. Jane Hamilton lives in Wisconsin. Billy Bryson lives in England and Carl Hiassen lives in Florida. Chris Bohjalian lives in Vermont and Jodi Picoult lives in New Hampshire. A very famous writer once told me that living in New York City actually kept him from writing because there was so much more temptation to participate in social and cultural events.

MYTH: Other writers will steal your ideas. Agents will steal your ideas and give them to more established authors.

TRUTH: This is called paranoia and results from extraordinary stress and pre-publication blues. While I have never personally known a situation in which this happened, the lawsuit based on the PROOF of its happening would set you up for life and let your write your first ten books without having to wait tables.

MYTH: I have young kids. I cannot write. I have a job. I cannot write.

TRUTH: When I wrote my first novel, I had four kids under the age of ten, and was a widow, and had three day jobs .I had no money. I was besieged by grief. As Jane Hamilton said to me at the time, “These are very good excuses. However, they are excused.” You are barking up the wrong writer with this song. The truth is that children do better if they pay more attention to you than you pay to them. The truth is that you don’t have to be a bad parent to be a good writer. And you do not have to be a woman. Andre Dubus III (‘House of Sand and Fog,’ ‘Townie’) is one of the best family men and one of the best writers I know. He also is a full-time professor.

Jacquelyn Mitchard is the author of ten novels for adults, including The Deep End of the Ocean and the upcoming Second Nature: A Love Story. she also is a frequent contributor to magazines such as Parade and Real Simple and adjust professor of Creative Writing in the MFA program at Fairfield University.

Featured Author - Chelsea Cain

2011-02-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

Chelsea Cain has published 12 novels, her first in 1996 at the age of 22. Her newest novel The Night Season will be released in March 2011. Her novel Heartsick made it on NPR's 100 Best Killer Thrillers list. What's great about Chelsea is her sense of humor which translates into her books. To get a good idea of what I mean, here's what she sent me for all of you:

What I Wish I Knew About Getting Published Before it Happened To Me
By Chelsea Cain,
Author of The Night Season

•Travel with a corkscrew. Otherwise you will end up having to buy one every time you want to take a bottle of wine back to the hotel room.
•Never get photographed holding a glass of wine. The glass always looks askew, and you will look drunk.
•When an agent/editor says they "don't love it," it means they hate it.
•Every copy counts. You'd be amazed how few copies you have to sell to get on the bestseller list.
•Don't tell people you will read their manuscripts. You won't, and then they'll think you're an asshole.
•If there is a mistake in your book, readers will find it and they will mention it over and over again.
•The Oregon State Bird is the Western Meadowlark.
•Sometimes you will give readings, and no one will come. The resulting crushing despair will pass.
•The best signing pen is the extra fine tip Sharpie. The regular tip Sharpie emits more fumes and will make you high after about a half hour.
•Always ask people how they spell their names before you write an inscription, even if you are certain that there is only one way to spell "Pat."
•Protect your writing time at all costs. When you are published at a certain level, you will find that you have very little time to write, among all the events, social networking, interviews, book tours travel and endless online Q&As. Marketing is important, but only if you have a book to promote.
•Get a really good accountant.
•Make friends with booksellers, they are some of your most important allies.
•No red wine before photo shoots -- it stains your teeth.
•Don't put a heart on the cover of your book if you want lots of men to buy it.
•On a related note, don't put the word "heart" in the title of your book if you want lots of men to buy it.
•If you have any say, go with trade paperback, as opposed to mass market.
•When you start to panic because of a publishing issue, wait 24 hours before you send the frantic email to your agent/editor/publisher. This will save you having to write the second email where you apologize for the first.
•People like it when you look like your author photo, so don't go dying your hair platinum right after the book comes out.
•Get a P.O. Box.
•Few of your friends or family will ever truly understand exactly what you do. Tell people you are a nurse or a ballerina.
•It is perfectly natural to hate your copy editor.
•If you have to sign 1000 tip-in sheets, you probably want to do this over time rather than waiting until the night before.
•Trust your translators. They are collaborators and they know their cultural markets way better than you do.
•If you happen to know a language your book is translated into, never ever read it.
•Some people like to see their names in books; some people do not.
•Do not, under any circumstances, start checking your sales ranking on Amazon.
•If you go to Book Expo America, wear really comfortable shoes. Even then, bring band-aids.
•Sign stock anytime anyone asks you to.
•Norwegians are awesome.
•At some point you will be doing an event, and someone will bring you a used copy of your book to sign and you will open it only to find that you have already signed it to some dear friends who immediately unloaded it at the used books desk at Powell's. Do not feed sad. It will make a funny story later.
Copyright © 2011 Chelsea Cain, author of The Night Season

Author Bio
Chelsea Cain's, author of The Night Season, first three novels featuring Archie Sheridan -- Heartsick, Sweetheart, and Evil at Heart -- have all been New York Times bestsellers. Also the author of Confessions of a Teen Sleuth, a parody based on the life of Nancy Drew, and several nonfiction titles, Chelsea was born in Iowa, raised in Bellingham, Washington and now lives in Portland, Oregon, with her family.

Chelsea Cain's newest thriller, The Night Season, is out March 1, 2011.

For more information about the author please visit http://www.chelseacain.com/ and follow the author on Facebook and Twitter

Featured Author - Anders Roslund

2011-02-26T12:30:00.010-07:00

Anders Roslund is one part of the duo Roslund and Hellstrom. They are from Sweden and they write crime stories, good ones. Their latest novel Three Seconds won for best Swedish crime novel of the year and was the second most sold book in Sweden in 2010. And that's not all. Three Seconds has just been acquired by New Regency and will be made into a movie over here in the states. But this isn't the authors first foray into film. Four of their other novels have been aired on Swedish National Television. Anders has some great rules for writers:

Here are my three best tips, working for me, rules I try to stick to.

1. I often get the question "How does you as a writer trick your readers?"
and I keep answering "I never ever trick my reader." There are no
shortcuts, easy way out, no formula which is possible to use once more.
Well, you can trick your reader once, but then you deserve to be left
there at the bottom of the pile of books. Since there is no trick. There
is hard work and hard work to pull a good story all the way to the jacket.
Or, maybe, there is one trick: to never repeat a trick. To always ask
yourself - 'have I done this before?' and then to have the guts to not
return to that trick which once worked even if the feeling is familiar and
convenient. The reader who is supposed to pay for my book deserves no less
than a story not yet written.

2. Since we are two authors working together, and have done so for a long
time, we invented a rule never leaving each other after a days work in
anger. We always have to make up, be friends again, before we leave each
other. For all those working in pairs, this is the first, second and third
rule.

3. Never give up. We were two not very handsome, middle aged men when we
finally hit the top lists. It's never to late, experience is what you need
to have a good story to tell.

this is from me, Anders Roslund, half of the duo Roslund & Hellström

all my best
Anders

http://www.roslund-hellstrom.com/

Featured Author - Lisa Gardner

2011-02-25T09:16:00.015-07:00

One of the things I like about Lisa Gardner's website is that she includes a link for aspiring writers called WRITER'S TOOLBOX. There's some great stuff on there, so take some time to check it out. She has published many books (both romance and thrillers). She sold her first novel when she was just 20, and her latest novel Love You More comes out next month, March 2011. She has 12 New York Times bestsellers and won The International Thriller Writers award for her novel The Neighbor.

She sent along some advice that's short and sweet but certainly relevant:

My best advice is to sit at your computer and write. Every day. Get to know your market and go for it. You can’t get rejected if you never submit. Those rejection letters are just more steps on your path to publication.

Sincerely,

Lisa Gardner

Featured Author - Karen Kingsbury

2011-02-23T11:24:00.002-07:00

Karen Kingsbury has written over 40 novels and has made it both on the USA and New York Times Bestseller list. Her novel Like Dandelion Dust was released in theaters in 2010 and she has three others that are either in production and scheduled for production. She has also written music and wrote on an upcoming album for Marie Osmond - the song is called Tell me to Breathe. Her books include series books and childrens books, and what's refreshing about her books is that they are uplifting.

Karen's mother, Anne, was kind enough to respond to my request and her comments are below:

"Thanks for asking about writing tips. Karen has put together a list of "Writing Tips" on her web site. We have heard from many writers that these were helpful to them. Click HERE for her tips.

Additionally, if you search the Internet under "Christian writing tips" loads of information comes up from many well known authors. There are also online writer's associations such as the Christian Writer's Guild - which will lead you through a course that helps you write your book. If you're interested in this, that's something Karen recommends. It is run by a good friend of hers - author Jerry Jenkins.

Here's another author's blog with writing tips: http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/ by Randy Ingemanson

Here's a website that has very good information on how to submit a manuscript to an agent: http://www.wordserveliterary.com/
Then click on "Submission Guidelines".

Karen didn't struggle to get published like most authors do. A New York agent discovered her because she was a news reporter for the LA Times and was covering a trial. The agent asked her if she could make the story into a book and she did and received a four book contract from a big publisher. The rest is history as they say!

When you get time please stop by Karen's Facebook page. Karen posts there almost every day! There's a link on her website.

"Unlocked" which is Karen's new "stand alone" book released on October 12th. You can also watch her new talk show on her website. Karen interviews those who have inspired this story. She also introduces "Cody Coleman" who is a character in her "Above The Line Series"!

Thanks so much again for your letter, and for taking time to share your thoughts."

Blessings,

Anne Kingsbury
Karen's Mother and Assistant
www.karenkingsbury.com

Featured Author - Marta Perry

2011-02-20T09:38:00.003-07:00

Marta Perry aspired to write from the tender age of eight. She has several different series of books in the romance and suspense genre and writes an Amish series as well. She is also a New York Times bestseller. She has written and published over 40 books and I was honored to have her do a guest blog this month.

"When I was getting started in writing, the internet didn't exist, I hadn't heard about organizations like RWA, and I'd never even met another oddball person like me! Aspiring writers today have so many wonderful opportunities to network with other writers and to learn from the best, and I would urge them to take full advantage of that. Seek out groups, either in your community or online, who have the same aspirations you do, and who have the same level of commitment. (Beware the group which turns into a coffeeklatch, talking about writing instead of actually doing it!) I think it's also helpful if the other folks in the group are at your skill and experience level or a little farther along. Remember, you need honest critiquing and encouragement, not criticism.

Above all, aspiring writers must read, read, read, especially in the genre in which you want to write. Know what the classics are; know what the bestsellers are; know what's selling now, not what sold last year.

And write, write, write. It's my personal belief that all of us have a certain amount of dreck that we have to write before we can get down to the real stuff--the things that only we can write, the stories only we can tell."

Wishing each of you all the best in your own writing journeys,

Marta Perry
www.martaperry.com
www.booksbymartaperry.blogspot.com

Visit me on Facebook at Marta Perry Books
MURDER IN PLAIN SIGHT, Amish suspense, HQN Books, Dec., 2010
SARAH'S GIFT, Pleasant Valley Amish Book 4, Berkley Books, March, 2011
VANISH IN PLAIN SIGHT, Amish suspense book 2, HQN Books, June, 2011

Featured Author - D.B. Henson

2011-02-17T05:07:00.003-07:00

One of the reasons I chose D.B. Henson is because of her story. It's not typical like those who went the usual route trying to get an agent as far as being rejected and then plugging along like this for a time before becoming published.

D.B. took advantage of what the new era has to offer - the power of the internet. She published herself, and in doing so, landed an agent. Her first novel Deed to Death is an Amazon Kindle bestseller, and I'm sure this is just the beginning of a long and prosperous career. For those of you toying with the idea of self-publishing, this is for you.

"My story is not typical; I did not choose a route to publication that would lead to rejections. When I was finishing Deed to Death, my first novel, I read about Joe Konrath’s success self-publishing on Amazon. Rather than querying agents which could take months, I decided to follow Joe’s lead and upload the book to Amazon myself. I reasoned that if the book sold, it would help me to secure an agent for my next novel. I had no idea Deed to Death would become so popular. It caught the attention of Noah Lukeman, president of Lukeman Literary Management. He just recently sold the book to Simon & Schuster.

The best advice I received was from Joe Konrath – to self-publish. Had I not gone that route, I would probably be sitting amidst a pile of rejection letters.

Question: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers about the industry?

Answer: The industry is rapidly changing. I believe the future lies in e-books, however, I think there will still be a market for paper books for several years to come.

Question: What books did you read that you feel are must reads for new writers?

My agent, Noah Lukeman, has written three books I feel are must reads for writers."

They are:

The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile

The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life

A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation

My other favorites are:

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King

Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass

Stein on Writing by Sol Stein

On Writing by Stephen King

- D.B. Henson

Featured Author - Janet Evanovich

2011-02-15T12:35:00.001-07:00

Janet Evanovich has her own unique style of writing that is unlike anything I've seen before, and that makes her stand out among other authors. She has three different series of mystery novels and has written romance as well (she actually got her start when her romance novel was published). I asked her a few questions about her experiences and this is what she had to say:

1. In the beginning of her career when she was rejected, what motivated her to keep going instead of giving up?

I actually did give up. I wrote three books and just couldn't seem to get published. I burned all my rejection letters and went out an got a temp job. But four months into my new secretarial career I got a call from an editor wanting to buy my last manuscript.

2. Was there one piece of advice she received from an agent or someone in the business in the early days that improved her writing or helped her to eventually get published, and if so what?

There wasn't one piece of advice that helped me get published, but after I was published an editor told me to never hold anything back for the next book. Always put all your good stuff in the book you're writing. I think that's good advice.

3. When her first books were rejected, did she do anything to different with the next book (the first one to be published) that made all the difference, and if so what?

Those first books were mostly about me teaching myself. Typically, a rejection letter doesn't come with a lot of criticism, constructive or otherwise. It's usually pretty much just a "no."

Featured Author - Catherine Coulter

2011-02-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

Catherine Coulter is a New York Times bestselling author who has written both romance and thriller novels. Next up is the FBI thriller Split Second which will be out in July of this year. It is the 15th novel in the series. But, that's nothing. All in all, Catherine has published 65 novels, and 59 were NYT bestsellers. The first novel she published was in 1978 and Catherine continues to write solid stories that please her fans to this day.

Catherine's advice to writers is to join the RWA but most importantly to be disciplined:

I will tell you the truth. I plugged along, was blessed, fortunately, with a single very good editor for a very long time, and my numbers grew until finally I hit the NYT bestseller list.

The real key in making a writing career work is discipline. In any endeavor, if you don't have discipline, you're in major trouble. Actually, you won't go anywhere at all without it.

I also strongly recommend Romance Writers of America. It is the largest most professional writing organization in the world. Chapters are all over the U.S. and Canada so it is easy to join your local chapter. And you can do it online. RWA is important because there are lots of beginning writers, so you're no longer alone, plus editors, published writers, agents -- and it's all there waiting for you. When you have a completed manuscript, you attend a regional conference, have an appointment with an editor --

But the very most important thing you can do? BE DISCIPLIINED.

Catherine Coulter

You can learn more about Catherine Coulter on her website.

Featured Author - Jodi Picoult

2011-02-11T06:48:00.000-07:00

Stephen King describes Jodi Picoult as a writer who writes with "unassuming brilliance". I almost want to say 'nuff said ;) but to be fair, that is just one compliment in a long line of them.

Jodi is the bestselling author of 17 novels, to date. Three of her books have been made into television movies including: The Pact, Plain Truth, and The Tenth Circle. And that's not all. Her novel My Sister’s Keeper was turned into a movie in 2009 starring the talented Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin.

Her advice to writers is to believe in yourself and to find someone who believes in your work:

"I had over 100 rejections from agents. What I believe is that the people who believe they are going to make it eventually do - you don't have to sway everyone but you DO have to have a single person fall in love with your manuscript, and often if you won't give up it makes someone take a second glance. I also think it is important to stick to your guns. If an agent insists a YA novel won't work in first person and you think it will, don't change to simply "make the sale." Eventually you'll find someone who believes in strongly as you do in your voice."

Jodi Picoult

To learn more about Jodi and to read her books, visit her website.

Featured Author - J.A. Jance

2011-02-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

J.A. (Judith) Jance is a New York Times bestselling author. Her latest novel Fatal Error was just released on February 1st. J.A. writes mystery and horror novels and has more than 10 million copies in print (yep, that's right - millions). Her first novel Until Proven Guilty was published in 1985 and she's been a mover and a shaker ever since. Her advice for writers is short but certainly poignant:

"When I bought my first computer in 1983, the man who installed it for me fixed it so that whenever I booted it up, these were the words that flashed across the screen: A writer is someone who has written TODAY!

Those words were a gift to me when I believed I was a writer and when hardly anyone else did. They sustained me in the early years and they continue to sustain me now as I STRUGGLE to bring my 44th book to order. Just because you become an experienced writer doesn't mean the job becomes any easier."

Hope these help.

JAJ

For more about J.A., visit her website, blog, or facebook page.

Featured Author - John Lescroart

2011-02-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

What a nice guy John Lescroart is, and if you don't know much about him, first - I highly recommend reading his books (Larry King didn't call him one of the best thriller writers for nothing), and second - visit his page on Facebook and check out his video on 5 Things to Know about John Lescoart. In the meantime, here's some things I would like you to know about John. He has written 22 novels (and screenplays) and his latest book, Damage, was just released AND named a must read by Entertainment Weekly. He writes thrillers and is most known for two specific series. For more information about John, visit his website.

With regard to aspiring writers today, John had this to say:

"I probably went through very much the usual travails in
trying to get my writing career off the ground. Lots of rejection
notices, not much support from anybody aside from my wife. About the
only concrete advice I can give is that you've got to keep believing in
yourself (all the while understanding that your rejections are not
personal and that you probably need to improve in the craft), and you
can't let the bastards get you down. The best way to do that, in turn
(and this is admittedly very difficult), is to simply ignore the pain
and keep plugging on with your writing. Enjoy the day-to-day exercise
of putting down good words and find your joy in the actual work, and not
in its success or lack thereof. So much of writing is a mind game, and
anyone who wants to get into it had better have tough skin and a true
passion for the process itself, because that is really what it's all
about. Fame and fortune come to some who are talented and lucky, and is
often withdrawn randomly and even unfairly. What remains are the words,
and the love of the endeavor itself. If you are writing well, and
strive to be happy in your life, good things will happen some or even
most of the time. And if they don't, you've led a fulfilling and joyful
life in the meanwhile, and that is life's true goal."

Hope this helps,

John Lescroart

Featured Author - Jeffery Deaver

2011-02-03T08:05:00.001-07:00

Ever see the riveting and emotionally charged movie The Bone Collector with Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington? Then you are familiar with Jeffery Deaver. And his success doesn't stop there. Jeffery was chosen by Ian Fleming's Publications to write Carte Blanche. What's so great about that? I'll tell you. Carte Blanche is the next James Bond novel. Aside from that, he has additional novels coming out in 2012 (Kathryn Dance book) and 2013 (Lincoln Rhyme book). With how busy he must be at the moment, I was thrilled when he accepted my request to offer advice to all you writers out there.

"I can tell you that I truly look at writing as a business. That means I get up each day and go to work for eight to ten hours, whether I'm in the mood to write or not. I never wait for inspiration. If I did, I would never write anything.

I'd encourage new writers to read as much as possible and write as much as possible. The more we write, the better we become at the craft of writing. Remember not to be discouraged if your work meets with rejection at first, because all writers--even published ones--have work rejected all the time. You just have to keep trying.

Some readers want to know if I plan my books out or if I just start writing. Because my books are so plot-driven, it's important for me to know exactly where I'm going before I begin writing the book itself, so I spend the better part of a year writing a detailed outline that runs hundreds of pages. Creating the outline is the hardest part of the writing process, but the most necessary.

I realize this is just general information, but I hope some of it will be helpful to your readers.

Good luck to all my fellow writers out there!"

All best wishes,

Jeff Deaver

For more information on Jeffery Deaver, visit his website and catch all the latest news on Facebook.

It All Starts with a Dream...

2011-02-01T07:42:00.019-07:00

Last month I reached out to several famous authors with a request: would they be gracious enough to contribute some words for aspiring authors trying to break into the business.

To my delight (and I hope yours too) several agreed to write a little blurb which I will post throughout the month of February. And my many thanks to all the authors who generously gave of their time to assist me in this task.

This month you will hear from:

- Jeffery Deaver
- John Lescroart
- J.A. Jance
- Jodi Picoult
- Catherine Coulter
- D.B. Henson
...and more!

Author Spotlight - Tony Hillerman

2011-01-24T20:38:00.001-07:00

Tony Hillerman

What I like about Tony Hillerman is that his novels offer something different that can't be found anywhere else. The culture he evokes in his writing offers me a glimpse into a life that I know nothing about and I feel like I'm given this rare chance to be an outsider looking in. Don't you just love that?

Stats

Born: 1925-2008 (He passed at the age of 83)

Number of Books Published: Over 30, 18 in his Navajo series

Most Known For: Navajo series

Credits, Awards & Recognitions

2002 Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Award

2001 Agatha for Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year for Seldom Disappointed.

1998 Jack D. Rittenhouse Award of the Rocky Mountain Book Publishers Association. Press release.

1997 Oklahoma Hall of Fame Inductee

1991 Arrell Gibson Lifetime Award of the Oklahoma Center for the Book

1990 National Media Award of the American Anthropological Association

1990 Public Services Award of the Department of the Interior

1989 Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Award

1987 Special Friends of the Dinee Award by the Navajo Nation

1986 Western Writers of America Spur Award for Skinwalkers

1979 Guest of Honor at BoucherCon Mystery Convention

1974 Edgar Award for Dance Hall of the Dead

Little Known Facts

He was a decorated WWII Veteran and earned a Silver Star, Bronze Star and a Purple Heart after he was wounded in 1945. The injuries he sustained were great and included broken legs, ankle, foot, facial burns and he even had temporary blindness.

His memoirs were published in 2001.

He was ranked New Mexico's 22nd most wealthiest man in 1996.

Five of his novels have been made into films.

His goal with the Navajo series was to preserve the Native American culture.

Short Bio

Tony Hillerman was born in 1925 in Oklahoma. In 1943, he joined the military and was a decorated soldier. Following the war, he worked as a journalist from the years of 1948-1962 and also earned a Masters Degree during that time as well. From 1966-1987 he taught journalism at the University of New Mexico and began writing novels. The first book in his navajo series, The Blessing Way, was published in 1970 when Tony was 45-years-old.

With regard to writers, he had this to say:

You write for two people, yourself and your audience, who are usually better educated and at least as smart. Tony Hillerman

What can be learned by Tony Hillerman?

To write with passion and purpose. And that's different for each of us. What matters to one, doesn't hold the same interest for another. And that's the beauty of it.

I know what I write about seems exotic to a lot of people, but not for me. I pulled up to an old trading post and saw a few elderly Navajos sitting on a bench. I felt right at home. Tony Hillerman

Author Spotlight - Thomas Harris

2011-01-21T20:07:00.003-07:00

Thomas Harris

Ah, the elusive Thomas Harris. Little is known about him, and he seems to prefer it that way. What originally drew me to Thomas Harris was the first page of his novel Silence of the Lambs wherein Clarice Starling enters the a building after a stint on the firing range. The opening immediately draws you in because of the way he sets it up and then goes on to hold the readers interest as he desribes her and what she's thinking. It's brilliant and shows off the amazing talent he has - a talent for perfection. Regardless of whether you have seen the movie or not, if you plan to write in his genre, you must read his books. A lot can be learned.

Stats

Born: April 11, 1940 in Jackson, TN

Number of Books Published - 4

Most Known For: Hannibal Lector series

Credits, Awards & Recognitions

For The Silence of the Lambs he won the Anthony Award for Best Novel and the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel.

In 2006 he won the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Little Known Facts

He has not given an interview since 1976.

He worked for the Associated Press covering murders and other crimes.

He wrote stories for magazines before writing novels.

While researching for the Hannibal series, he attended the trial of a serial killer.

He spends an inordinant amount of time doing research for his novels.

Every novel ever written thus far has been made into a movie.

The Silence of the Lambs swept the "big 5" at the Academy Awards winning the award for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenwriter. It was one of only three movie to EVER sweep the awards - the others being One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and It Happened One Night. And in fact, 1991, when it won, was the last time any movie won all 5 (Makes me wonder how long it will be until it happens again!)

Short Bio

Thomas Harris was born in Jacskon, TN. After High School he attended college and earned a Bachelors Degree in English. He worked for a local newspaper and then got a job with the Associated Press. In 1975 (at the age of 32) he wrote his first novel, Black Sunday, which was turned into a film in 1977. In 1981, he wrote the first of the Hannibal Lector series, Red Dragon and the wrote The Silence of the Lambs in 1988. Three years later it was made into a movie. In 1999 Hannibal was released.

What can be learned from Thomas Harris?

The art of perfection, among other things. A lot of writers crank out novel after novel - sometimes once a year, sometimes twice, and to their credit, there are a FEW writers who actually continually produce wonderful novels. However, it's rare. Most of the time I am left wanting and disappointed. My feelings are that rather than putting out complete crap just because an author has a fan base, it would be far more refreshing to see a novel that took a little more time and was worth the wait.

What I'm trying to say here is - don't rush it. Do what you need to do to get it right. A good writer writes for the love of writing and has the mindset of putting out a novel that sticks with the readers - something they will never forget.

Why settle for anything less?

Author Spotlight - Stephen King

2011-01-18T16:41:00.001-07:00

Stephen King

If you know anything at all about books and writers, you are familiar with the works of Stephen King. As for me, my favorites aren't quite the norm, but good nonetheless. I absolutely loved Rose Red and also enjoyed Secret Window.

Stats:

Born: September 21, 1947 in Portland, Maine

Number of Books Published: 49 (including non-fiction and short stories)

Most Known For: Everything, really. He's the master of horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy.

Credits, Awards & Recognitions

His books have sold over 350 million copies.

There are too many to list here, but just to name a few, he has won Bram Stoker Awards, World Fantasy Awards, and British Fantasy Society Awards.

His novel The Way Station won a Nebula Award for best novel.

Little Known Facts:

His goal is to write 2,000 words a day.

One of the people who influenced his writing: Richard Matheson.

He has worn glasses since he was a child, and in fact, has an eye disease that affect the cells in the back of his eyes.

He's a member of the band The Rock Bottom Remainders.

He's a Red Sox fan.

In 1999 he was hit by a van (the driver didn't see him). The accident impacted many areas of his body and there was a time when he said he was going to stop writing (thankfully, he didn't).

He wrote seven novels under the pen name Richard Bachman.

Short Bio

Stephen King was born in Maine and started writing while he was in school. After High School, he attended the University of Maine where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in English. For awhile, he sold short stories and also had a job as a teacher (1971).

In 1973 the novel Carrie was accepted by Doubleday. The interesting thing about this was that he threw it away at first, but his wife rescued it from the trash and he eventually finished it. The novel was published in 1974. From there, he has had a career in writing which is still going strong today.

What can be learned from Stephen King?

What impresses me about him is he studies the craft continually. As a writer, I feel you must be passionate about books and reading. I read somewhere that his advice to young writers is to read and write for several hours a day. I agree with this wholeheartedly. I can attend all the conferences in the world, and while they are beneficial and I definitely suggest making it to as many as you can a year, nothing can take the place of reading.

And speaking of reading, I highly suggest reading his book on writing if you haven't already done so. You can get it HERE.

Author Spotlight - John Grisham

2011-01-15T09:54:00.004-07:00

John Grisham

It was also in my twenties that I started reading Grisham. I found his books fascinating, and I enjoyed the law aspect that he weaved into his work. He addded something fresh and new to the industry, which isn't seen often these days.

Stats:

Born: February 18, 1955 in Jonesboro, AR.

Number of Published Books: 23 plus 1 short story, 1 non-fiction

Most Known For: Legal thrillers

Credits:

9 of his novels have been turned into films.

Awards and Recognitions:

The Firm was the bestselling book of 1991.

He is a Galaxy British Book Awards Winner.

He is one of only three authors to sell two million books in its first printing.

In 2005, he won the Helmerich Award.

Little Known Facts:

As a child he wanted to be a baseball player.

He majored in accounting.

It took three years for him to write A Time to Kill - which was rejected many times before it finally sold and only 5,000 copies were printed (in the first printing).

The film rights for The Firm, his second novel, sold to Paramount for $600,000.

John writes one book a year.

He has over 250 million books in print in around 40 languages.

He has casting approval rights for movies based on his novels (how sweet is that!).

One of his influences in writing was John Steinbeck.

Short Bio:

John Grisham was born in Arkansas, and as a child, he wanted to be a baseball player. As a teenager, he worked at a nursery making $1 an hour. As he got older, he attended college and then law school at Ole Miss and he practiced law for 10 years. One day he overheard testimony given by a youg girl. This compelled him to write a novel, and he did: A Time to Kill. He woke early around 5 am and then wrote before going off to work. While that novel didn't do well at first, it gave him the experience and tools he needed to write the second novel, The Firm, and his writing career took off. At present, it only takes him about 6 months to write a novel.

As a tribute to his influence from John Steinbeck, here's a quote:

Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. John Steinbeck

What can be learned from John Grisham?

Never stop believing in your dreams. When The Firm was published, he was 36. There's no age limit on writing, and it's never too late to put pen to paper and get started. I was in a bookstore a few weeks ago and the woman, who appeared to be in her late 40's said, "I wish I could write a book someday." I have news for all of you aspiring writers out there, someday is now. What are you waiting for? Get out there!

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Program...

2011-01-10T15:05:00.002-07:00

I apologize in advance for breaking out of my "Authors of the Month" series this month, but the other day I came across a website that was so fun, I had to share it with all of you. And truth be told, it's possible that I am the last writer on the Earth left to discover it.

The website is: http://iwl.me/

And the way it works is that you, the writer, type in or copy and paste a little snippet of your work and then you press the "analyze" button and voila, it instantly reveals what famous author you write like.

So I copied and pasted the first page of the novel I just finished and then waited with baited breath for a response. In the meantime I passed those few moments of waiting by convincing myself that I didn't understand how it could possibly be accurate - whatever happened to having my glass half full?

And then the results came and it goes without saying that I am now a believer ;)

Author Spotlight - Agatha Christie

2011-01-07T08:56:00.003-07:00

Dame Agatha Christie

In my early twenties I purchased a book from a used bookstore titled Death on the Nile. It was the first Agatha Christie book I had ever purchased and when I cracked it open and read the first sentence, I was hooked. I read the entire book in one go. And thus began my love affair with mysteries.

Stats:

Born: September 15, 1890 (Died January 12, 1976)

Number of Published Books: 66 detective novels in 56 years

Best Known For: Her Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple characters

Credits

There are too many to list here, but aside from her novels, she is credited with TV series, movies and even video games - among other things.

Awards/Recognitions

Here's just a few...

1956: Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

1957: Became President of the Detection Club.

1971: Promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Little Known Facts

Aside from her mysteries, Agatha wrote six romance novels under the name Mary Westmacott and also penned a childrens book. Her romance novels remained a secret for 20 years.

She is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling writer of books of all time (coming in only second to the Bible). Her books have sold over four billion copies.

She is the most translated author - 103 languages.

Hercule Poirot appeared in 33 novels and 54 short stories. He is the ONLY fictional character who received an obituary in the New York Times.

She wrote her first novel as the result of a "dare" by her sister.

Her first novel wasn't published for five years - and this was after being rejected by six publishers.

By the time she turned five, she had already taught herself to read.

She wrote one of her romance novels in a single weekend!

Short Bio

Agatha Christie was born in Torquay, England. She did not attend school and instead was homeschooled by tudors (she did attend finishing school in her teen years). In her early years, her mother was an advocate for her writing. Agatha wrote poetry which was published in The Poetry Review.

During the war , she held a job as a VAD nurse and later transferred to a pharmacy where she acquired her knowledge of poisons. She married Lieutenant Archibald Christie and they later divorced. She had one daughter by him, Rosalind Hicks. She later married famed archaeologist Max Mallowan.

Agatha was 25 when her career in writing began. The Mysterious Affair at Styles took several years to get published. At some point during the first book she got writers block and it was suggested she stay in a hotel. There, in the peace and quiet, the book was finished in no time. She also wrote short stories in magazines. As she traveled, she found inspiration for her novels through the beautiful settings she experienced. And in 1922, she traveled the world. In 1927, she introduced Miss Marple in the short story The Tuesday Night Club.

With regard to writers, Agatha said the following:

“You start into it, inflamed by an idea, full of hope, full indeed of confidence. If you are properly modest, you will never write at all, so there has to be one delicious moment when you have thought of something, know just how you are going to write it, rush for a pencil, and start in exercise book buoyed up with exaltation. You then get into difficulties, don’t see your way out, and finally manage to accomplish more or less what you first meant to accomplish, though losing confidence all the time. Having finished it, you know it is absolutely rotten. A couple of months later you wonder if it may not be all right after all.”

“The only thing I will advance as criticism is the fact that the would-be-writer has not taken any account of the market for his wares. It is no good writing a novel of thirty thousand words- that is not a length which is easily publishable at present….You have got something you feel you can do well and that you enjoy doing well, and you want to sell it well. If so, you must give it the dimensions and the appearance that is wanted….It is no good starting out by thinking one is a heaven-born genius- some people are, but very few. No, one is a tradesman- a tradesman is a good honest trade. You must learn the technical skills, and then, within that trade, you can apply your own creative ideas; but you must submit to the discipline of form.”

“When you begin to write, you are usually in the throes of admiration for some writer, and, whether you will or no, you cannot help copying their style. Often it is not a style that suits you, and so you write badly. But as time goes on you are less influenced by admiration. You will admire certain writers, you may even wish you could write like them, but you know quite well that you can’t. If I could write like Elizabeth Bowen, Muriel Sparks, or Grahame Greene, I should jump to high heaven with delight, but I know that I can’t, and it would never occur to me to attempt to copy them. I have learned that I am me, that I can do the things that, as one might put it, me can do, but I cannot do the things that me would like to do.”

What can be learned from the life of Dame Agatha Christie?

Perseverance. Agatha peddled her novel for some time before it was published, but she never gave up. And it paid off in more ways than one.

Author Spotlight - Robert B. Parker

2011-01-03T09:38:00.003-07:00

Robert B. Parker

I remember where I was when I learned Robert B. Parker passed away. It was a day I'll never forget, especially since meeting him in person was #1 on my "bucket list". It is an honor to remember him by selecting him as the first author in my author spotlight.

In a world where most books fail to hold my attention beyond the first few pages, Robert B. Parker has been a breath of fresh air.

Stats

Born: September 17, 1932 (Died January 18, 2010)

Number of Published Books: 65 books in 37 years

Best Known For: Spencer Series

Married: Wife - Joan, Children - Two sons

Wrote First Novel: 1971 (first Spencer novel)

Credits

1985: Spencer novels turned into television series Spencer for Hire, starring Robert Urich.

2005: Jesse Stone series aired on CBS, starring Tom Selleck (who was also a good friend to Robert B. Parker. Jesse Stone continues to this day.

2008: Western novel Appaloosa turned into a movie starring Ed Harris, Jeremy Irons, Renee Zellweger, and Viggo Mortensen.

Awards

Robert B. Parker received three nominations and two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America.

In 2002 he won the Grand Master Edgar.

In 2008 he received the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award.

Little Known Facts

The "B" in his name stands for Brown.

He was once asked to write a short story for Playboy.

His most collectible book was his first book entitled The Godwulf Manuscript, which was published in 1974 and his 1982 limited editions of Surrogate.

He wrote five pages every day except for Sundays, holidays and vacations. I also read somewhere that he wrote ten pages a day, but in recent years, he said the number was five, and he worked until those pages were finished.

Every book was dedicated to his wife.

Robert and his wife started a company called Pearl Productions, an independent film company (named after his short-haired pointer).

Robert could write a Spencer novel in 3-4 months.

The Sunny Randall series began at the request of actress Helen Hunt who planned to turn it into a feature film. That never panned out; however, because of the success of the book, Robert turned the character into a series.

Short Bio

Robert B. Parker was born in 1932 in Massachusetts. He earned his BA at Colby College in Maine. He also served two years in the U.S. Army in Korea. In 1957 he earned a Masters Degree in English Literature from Boston University. In 1971 he wrote his first Spencer novel. He became a professor in 1976, and three years later, decided to pursue writing full time (at this point he had written five Spencer novels).

Compared to most authors who went through a lot of rejections before finding success, Robert B. Parker was successful right from the start - with one exception. After Playboy requested he write a short story for the magzine, they rejected his submission. He never submitted to the magazine again.

With regard to writers, Robert B. Parker had this to say:

Writers write. Finish it. The idea isn't the trick; the execution is everything. Any story will do as long as you execute it well. So write it and send it in. And if you keep getting rejected, you might want to re-examine your professional goals.

So what can be learned from the life of Robert B. Parker?

The most valuable lesson a writer can learn from this remarkable man is his dedication to the craft. He was timely, responsible, and poured himself into his work. To be a success in this industry, a writer must have these qualities.

You will be missed, Robert B. Parker.

Hello, January!

2011-01-01T05:31:00.038-07:00

January. The month of fresh starts and new beginnings. We close a chapter in our lives and open a new one, full of hopes and dreams for the forthcoming year.

This month I'm focusing on the secrets of success by sharing how a handful of different authors made it in the business. Each one of these authors had their own trials to endure, but look at them all today!

Here's my all-star lineup:

- Robert B. Parker

- Agatha Christie

- John Grisham

- Stephen King

- Thomas Harris

- Tony Hillerman

Grammar 101: Comma, Comma, Comma Chameleon

2010-12-28T08:16:00.003-07:00

Commas are used as a means of interruption.

A comma is used in several different ways and often misused. Some writers comma all over the place while others don't know where to place them so they are left out all together. It's a lot easier if you know when to use them. So without further adieu, let's go over the common rules.

1. Commas are used in a series whenever there are three or more things.

Example: George will divide his estate between his son, daughter, and wife.

2. Commas are used to connect two independent clauses: (and, but, for, nor, yet, or, so)

Example: I wanted to stay, but she was ready to leave.

3. Commas are used to set off introductory elements.

Example: Walking to the store, George realized he forgot his wallet.

4. Commas are used to set off parenthetical elements. Also, use commas before or surrounding the name or title of a person directly addressed.

Examples:

George, a bounty hunter, waited for the man to arrive.

Can you, George, go to the store for me?

5. Commas are used to separate coordinate adjectives. Use a comma to separate two adjectives when the word and can be inserted between them.

Example: George was a tall, lean man.

You could eliminate the comma by changing it to: "George was a tall and lean man."

6. A comma is used to set off quoted elements.

Examples: George said, "I would like to sell you this car today."

"I want to sell you this car," George said, "if you can buy it."

7. Commas are used to set off phrases that express contrast.

Example: It was the calories in the brownie, not the brownie itself, that George was concerned about.

8. Commas are used to separate things if it will help avoid confusion.

Example: In writing, when you want the reader to pause, a comma can be added.

9. Commas are used when writing out a city, state, date, etc. Also, use a comma to separate the day of the month from the year and after the year.

Examples:

August 1, 1995

Las Vegas, Nevada

George met Sherry on February 14, 1971, in Palm Springs, CA.

However, if any part of the date is omitted, leave out the comma:

Example: June 2005 will be our wedding date.

Also, if you use the two-letter capitalized form of a state in a document, you do not need a comma after the state.

George drove to Palm Springs, CA to meet his future bride.

10. Use a comma when an -ly adjective is used with other adjectives.

Example: George was a wildly, fun young man.

11. Use a comma to separate a statement from a question.

Example: George won't fall, will he?

12. Use a comma to separate contrasting parts of a sentence.

Example: That's my ipod, not yours.

Still stumped on commas? Check out the grammar books on my reading list.

Think you got the hang of it? Take this QUIZ and find out. If you can recognize comma placement, you can write it as well.

Grammar 101: Like Totally Awesome Dude - LOL

2010-12-27T18:42:00.001-07:00

I like was in the grocery store the other day and there was this dude who like held up a gun and then there was this chick who was totally freaking out and like totally told the guy to like chill out and then he like turned the gun on her and she was all like...

Oh boy. I'm writing it and can't even stand it.

I was in Great Britain several years back and a local told me she loved listening to the sound of my voice - to her, I had an American accent. And I was thinking, wow. Because to me, our language is filled with slang and laziness. Kids these days don't even finish their words for heavens sake!

I hear things all the time such as:

What-ev (whatever)

What's your prob (problem)

What's the diff (difference)

Or popular new ways to say things like - His new album "drops" January 1st (that one really gets me). I mean, it isn't dropping, right? It's just coming out, so let's say that. Oh wait, I forgot, it's so un-cool to say it that way.

And don't get me started on texting - LOL, OMG, LMAO

I understand that times have changed and I allow a cerain amount of slanguage in my every day life, but not in my writing. I don't care how trendy it may seem, it's NOT good writing and has no place in any novel worth its salt.

Sometimes in order to get the richness of a character across writers add in things that allow us to feel like we are actually there in the conversation, and that adds to the book as long as you know how to do it right. For an excellent example, read one of Robert B. Parker's Spencer novels and focus on the character named Hawk. I like Hawk because his words allow me to get a sense of what he's like - I don't need Spencer to tell me about Hawk and what he's like because it's shown to me through the dialogue. It allows me to get a good sense of him without the overkill. And that's what you want. The current trends will eventually die out, and you don't want your writing to die out with it.

Grammar 101: Taking the Lead over Lead and Led

2010-12-21T09:20:00.002-07:00

The first thing to know about these two is that as a verb, they sound different. Some people don't understand that.

LEAD

(present tense)- Is pronounced like L-E-E-D and rhymes with "feed".

It is a verb and means to guide responsibly, show the way.

It is the present tense of led.

LED

(past tense)- Well, just sounds like led and rhymes with "bed".

Led is also a verb and the past tense of lead.

If you look at it in terms of tense (present or past) you should be able to grasp which one is correct and which is not.

All of these examples are correct:

He leads the team in points.

He led them into battle.

He led the horse to water.

He led by example.

I will take the lead.

Hopefully this given you a better understanding that hasn't led to confusion - sorry, couldn't resist!

Grammar 101: It's or Its?

2010-12-20T08:56:00.002-07:00

I see this written incorrectly all the time. And it's an easy thing to learn.

ITS - Means "of it" or "belonging to it" and is a possessive pronoun

IT'S - Means "it is" or "it has"

Most people tend to write it as "it's" for everything.

Take a look at these examples and try to figure out which ones are the incorrect form of it's.

1. The dog sat in it's bed.

2. It's been great knowing you.

3. The elephant made sure it's baby was in tow.

4. It's okay for you to pick me up at seven.

5. I wonder if it's going to rain today.

6. The store lost some of it's customers.

7. Every dog has it's day.

8. It's a small world after all.

Okay, ready for the answers?

1. INCORRECT - Try looking at it like this - The dog sat in "it is" bed. That doesn't fit, right? That's how you know it's incorrect.

2. CORRECT - It "has" been great knowing you.

3. INCORRECT - The elephant made sure "it is" baby was in tow. That reads wrong, so the correct use is its.

4. CORRECT - It "is" okay for you to pick me up at seven.

5. CORRECT - I wonder if it "is" going to rain today.

6. INCORRECT - The store lost some of "it is" customers. Nope.

7. INCORRECT - Every dog has "it is" day. Nope again.

8. CORRECT - It "is" a small world after all.

If you can replace "it" with him or her, there's no apostrophe. Take #3 for example:

"The elephant made sure its baby was in tow."

Can also be:

"The elephant made sure HER baby was in tow."

Cool, right?

One thing I want to mention is that it is NEVER okay to write it's or its like this: Its' - never, never, ever.

And on a final note, now that you are the it's/its master, try this quiz, because quizzes are so much fun, and besides, what else are you going to do right now - write or something?

IT'S AND ITS QUIZ

Grammar 101 - Affect and Effect

2010-12-15T22:48:00.002-07:00

Let's start with the basics, a simple definition of the two.

AFFECT

1.To have an influence on or effect a change in.

2.To act on the emotions of; touch or move.

3.To attack or infect, as a disease, to lay hold of.

In summary, affect means "to influence" (as a noun to express emotion).

Example Sentences:

1. His affect on me was amazing.

2. How did it affect her when she left?

EFFECT

1.Something brought about by a cause or agent; a result.

2.The power to produce an outcome or achieve a result; influence: The drug had an immediate effect on the pain. The government's action had no effect on the trade imbalance.

3.A scientific law, hypothesis, or phenomenon: the photovoltaic effect.

4.Advantage; avail: used her words to great effect in influencing the jury.

5.The condition of being in full force or execution: a new regulation that goes into effect tomorrow.

6.Something that produces a specific impression or supports a general design or intention: The lighting effects emphasized the harsh atmosphere of the drama.

7.A particular impression: large windows that gave an effect of spaciousness.

8.Production of a desired impression: spent lavishly on dinner just for effect.

9.The basic or general meaning; import: He said he was greatly worried, or words to that effect.

In summary, effect means "a result".

So, you would use "effect" to cause, accomplish or to bring about. And here's another tip. Use "effect" when when preceded by a, an, any, the, take, into, and no.

Example Sentences:

1. What effect did the medicine have on you?

2. It will have no effect on me.

Most of the time, affect is used with a verb and effect is used with a noun.

Think you have a good grasp on it yet? Take this QUIZ and find out.

Grammar 101 - Their, There, and They're

2010-12-13T22:40:00.012-07:00

So you think you have a handle on there, their, and they're.

Here's one way to find out, take this QUIZ.

Want to try again? Take this quiz.

If you scored 100%, you probably don't need to continue. If not, the journey continues...

The first thing we will go over is how to notice the difference.

They're - means they are

Their - is a possessive adjective (it modifies a noun)

There - refers to a place

Now, for some examples:

They're

They're all sitting the gym.

They're playing our song.

They're beautiful.

Their

They went to their home.

I went to look at their cat.

Their car wouldn't start.

There

The dog is over there.

There are too many cooks in the kitchen.

I wonder what's out there.

***Now, take the quizzes again and see how you do this time***

Grammar 101 - Qualify Your Qualifiers for Elimination!

2010-12-11T22:38:00.003-07:00

Qualifiers are words or phrases that preceed adjectives or adverbs.

The ones we see the most in every day writing are:

- VERY = He was very nice.
- QUITE = I had not seen her for quite some time.
- RATHER = He was rather large.
- SOMEWHAT = I was somewhat bored.
- LEAST - I wasn't the least bit worried.
- TOO = The visit didn't go too long.
- SO = I was so excited.
- JUST = I just wanted to sleep.
- ENOUGH = I had enough money.
- STILL = I still needed to call my sister.
- ALMOST = I almost cried.
- FAIRLY = I was fairly certain.
- REALLY - I really wanted the bike.
- PRETTY = I was pretty sure she wanted me to call.
- EVEN = I didn't even care.
- A BIT = It didn't matter a bit.
- A LITTLE = I cared a little too much.
- A WHOLE LOT = I had a whole lot of excitement.
- A GOOD DEAL = He took a good deal of convincing.
- A GREAT DEAL = I spent a great deal of time reading.
- KIND OF = I kind of wanted some brownies.
- SORT OF = I sort of understood.

Other qualifiers include: indeed, more, most, less, etc.

For the most part, qualifiers suck the life out of your writing. I'm serious! If you can part with the "little" buggers (remove little unless it actually refers to size), take them out. I'm talking slice and dice.

You don't need them.

I "sort of" understood = I understood.

I "just" wanted some sleep = I wanted some sleep.

He was "very" nice - He was nice.

As you can see above, when you take out the qualifier, the sentence stands on its own without it, so why use it at all? Writers often think that they need to use this type of verbiage when they don't. Trust me, your sentences are a lot sharper without them.

Grammar 101 - Get Fired Up Over Modifiers

2010-12-06T22:35:00.058-07:00

When I first started writing I amazed myself. As I wrote my first draft I found it above reproach, even before my first revision. And truthfully, even now, I still think it wasn't too shabby, but it wasn't a Picasso either. Revisions, if done right, take awhile. And by doing so, a writer trains their mind to weed out all the needless stuff and shape their manuscript into perfection.

As a child my grandfather went on "rock adventures". When he returned and showed me the rocks he collected, they looked like nothing at first. Just plain old rocks. I didn't get the fascination. And that's because I focused on the surface of the rock. When he put it through his machine and busted it open, I saw the beauty inside. And I liken that to writing. At first, you put in the bare bones and then return later to flesh it out.

My point - the reason you need to learn about things like modifiers is so you recognize them when you edit your work and take them out. Yep, I said take them out. And we'll get to that in a minute.

Now, without further adieu, let's get to the reason we're all here: modifiers.

First, an overview.

Modifiers are words, phrases, or clauses that provide description in sentences. They function as an adjective or adverb (which is why we limit them in our writing). It's the vague modifiers we writers want to avoid, the ones that weaken your nouns and verbs.

You especially want to avoid dangling modifiers that use the passive voice. Dangling modifiers create awkward sentences that don't make sense.

Here's an example:

After I left the store, my earrings got lost.

Earrings don't lose themselves, right?

Instead, you would say: When I was in the store, I lost my earrings.

What you want is the modifier to be placed next to the word it modifies.

Another trap to avoid - don't put modifiers in front of verbs.

As beginners, many writers use blah, ho-hum verbs with an adverb modifier instead of using a power verb which would make saying it any other way pointless. If you start with the power verbs, that's all you need.

Grammar 101 - Adverbs: Friend or Foe

2010-12-04T22:34:00.005-07:00

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They also have the ability to modify a sentence or clause.

Adverbs answer the questions:

- How?
- When?
- Where?
- Why?
- How much?
- How often?
- In what way?
- Under what condition?
- To what degree?

Now that we've established their purpose, let's go over some examples of the first three.

HOW

Examples: quietly, quickly, carefully.

She ran quickly.

She talked quietly.

He read the documents carefully.

WHEN

Examples: recently, today, tomorrow.

She came over recently.

My appointment is today.

My new dog comes tomorrow.

WHERE

Examples: under, down, below.

The ball slid under the table.

The balloon fell down.

The jar is below the counter.

Adverbs can be placed anywhere in a sentence - beginning, middle or end.

Tomorrow I will take the test.

I barely recognized her.

She looked at him sadly.

Many times words ending in -ly are adverbs, but not always.

Examples:

He yelled loudly.

She ran quickly out of the room.

For a great list of -ly words for reference, refer to this LIST.

Now that you have the basics down, let's get to the question: friend or foe? In the kind of writing we do, I say FOE, especially when used as a form of -ly. Remove them as much as you can. Instead of writing: She screamed loudly, just say - she screamed. This is quick, easy and understood. If the girl screamed, it's a given that she screamed loudly, so it isn't necessary. Instead, use a strong verb. Verbs are capable of standing on their own and read better when they do. Beginners sometimes have a hard time with that, but it's true. The same goes for he said/she said. The reader doesn't need to know that he said it contemptuously. Show don't tell!

Trust me, agents and publishers consider the overuse of adverbs as bad writing. In a first draft, I say who cares. You can edit it out later.

Anf believe me, I know, I know, it sounds good at first to write out your character as they walk quickly, yell loudly, or sing beautifully, but do this throughout your novel, and you're sure to see the rejection pile.

Mark Twain said it best:

I am dead to adverbs; they cannot excite me. To misplace an adverb is a thing which I am able to do with frozen indifference; it can never give me a pang. ... There are subtleties which I cannot master at all,--they confuse me, they mean absolutely nothing to me,--and this adverb plague is one of them. ... I cannot learn adverbs; and what is more I won't.

Now that you know this, master it. Go back through your manuscript and do a find for -ly and then revise those evil little sentences!

Ah, December...

2010-12-01T17:29:00.003-07:00

I love December. It's a hopeful month where I wax nostalgic as I sit back at my desk with a cup of hot cocoa or a nice glass of orange pekoe tea and reflect on the past years accomplishments and what the next year will bring.

I received the latest issue of Writer's Digest in the mail today and it's a good thing I was alone in the post office as I did my happy-happy-joy-joy magazine dance. It invoved some sweet ballet moves combined with a lot of twirling as I held it in my hot little hand and spun myself out of the office and back to my car. On the cover in big, beautiful teal letters was an article on writing a novel in 2011. Plastered on the front a photo of Harlan Coben with an interview on the secrets of suspense. Talk about merry early Christmas, right?

The end of my year brings a completed manuscript, a fresh start on a new one and starry-eyed surprise of what 2011 brings. And I hope the same for you. All I want for Christmas is for Santa to publish my latest manuscript. Are you listening, Santa? ;)

I'm devoting the month of December to Grammar School for those of you who need to sharpen your grammar and editing skills. If you're looking for specific topics, check my Grammar School blog for a list in alphabectical order.

Happy writing!

Get Published - The Contract - What to Know BEFORE Signing on the Dotted Line

2010-11-27T09:09:00.005-07:00

Ever play the game Your Don't Know Jack? At some point you have to figure out a gibberish question. My point is - there's going to be parts of the contract that are complete gibberish to you, and that is why you shouldn't get so excited that you sign your life away without knowing what you are getting yourself info.

Now, depending on your agent, there are some things they will do for you. However, it's your signature that's going to be on the dotted line, so you are ultimately responsible for your own happiness and satisfaction.

Because it's important that you do it right, I am going to provide several links so you can get great information straight from the experts.

SITES

Publishing Contracts 101

Publishers Contracts

Negotiating Your Book Contract - Part One

Negotiating Your Book Contract - Part Two

BOOKS

Negotiating a Book Contract

Copyright Handbook

Contracts Companion for Writers

Get Published - Agent Fees

2010-11-26T09:08:00.003-07:00

Most agents charge a percentage to represent you, and this fees usually averages somewhere in the 15% range for domestic books. To find out exactly what a particular agents fee is, you can usually find the informaton on their website.

A well respected agency will NOT charge you a reading fee, copying fee, etc. And if they do, you need to flee the scene and find another agent. I mean it. I previously recommended in another blog to start with the AAR. It's not the only place you can find an agent, but members of AAR abide to certain rules and those rules are there for your protection.

When choosing an agent, ALWAYS check the site Preditors and Editors before signing. You can search by agent and find out whether they are a legitimate agency, whether they are a member of the AAR, and sometimes you will see next to their name something like charges fees, not recommended, and this is where my advice to flee the scene comes in - find someone else.

The agent is working for you, remember that. And it's up to you to make sure the agent you signed with is a good fit. Don't just sign with them because they were the first person to make you feel fabulous. There are many, many agents out there and it's important to find one that you feel comfortable with.

And finally, read THIS.

Get Published - Starting Your Next Book

2010-11-23T21:01:00.005-07:00

It's hard enough to focus on one book, yet alone another. But, it can be done, and if you can juggle all of it, I say go for it.

Once you have one book completed to the point where you are ready to query agents, it's the perfect time to start another manuscript if you haven't already done so. After all, are you a person who wrote a book, as in ONE, or are you a writer? Because if you are a writer, finishing your first book should be the tip of the iceberg. It's the key that unlocks the door to writing as a career.

In the middle of my first book, I came up with a great idea for a serial killer, so it was easy for me to make the transition from book one to book two. Sometimes you query for a year or more without an accepted manuscript, and why waste precious time waiting to see if it finds a publisher or not? Move on. Start something else. I'm not suggesting to cast your completed book to the side without so much as another thought, but while you in the midst of wooing agents, you don't need to sit around doing nothing. Brainstorm, create ideas for future books, and get them down on paper. I also think it makes the rejection process a little easier because you are already focusing on something else.

If you start something else and an agent is serious about your completed manuscript, fine. Go back to it for a time. You can always come back to your next book later.

I suppose my whole point is that time is precious, don't waste it. If you want to be a writer, BE A WRITER, and keep at it.