Jennifer Cornet – Why Book Covers are So Important @J_Cornet

Why Book Covers are So Important

There is an old adage “never judge a book by its cover.” While it’s true that great books may lie between the pages of a poorly done cover, it’s also true that people won’t pick it up to find out. Your book cover is your first opportunity to make an impression on your reader and get their attention, so you want to put your best foot forward.

Think of it like speed dating. There are 10 guys in the room for you to choose from. One looks like he stapled a paper bag together to wear as a shirt. One looks like he threw on every piece of clothing he owned, none of which go together. One who is clearly not dressed for the right occasion; wearing a bathing suit. There are six other guys who are dressed almost identical with only minor variations of the same jeans and gray sweater. Lastly there is one dashing gentleman wearing a well-tailored suit, freshly pressed shirt, clean shoes, and a perfectly matched tie that adds just the right splash to the outfit to pull it all together. Who would you talk to? My guess would be the last guy. He’s dressed appropriately, looks professional, and most importantly he stands out for all the right reasons. He’s just different enough that he catches your attention and not because he looks like a hot mess.

This basic principle is equally as important when it comes to picking a book cover. Your cover needs to be original, look professional, and be appropriate for the story.

Let’s talk originality: There is a common misconception these days that you can simply take a cover from a book that has done well, tweak it, and then package as your own and it will sell because the original one did. I’m here to tell you it doesn’t work like that. Your cover gets lost in the heaping stack of other rips offs and the reader passes it by because it is a cheap imitation of the original. If you really like a cover, take the style elements from it but make it your own.

Looking professional is incredibly important. There are some truly awful, self-made covers out there. I’m talking arts and craft style, done in colored pencil and marker. Now, I’m not saying you can’t do it yourself, but I am saying be honest with yourself about your skill level. I am an artist who has painted for years. After briefly flirting with the idea of doing my own cover I quickly realized that I was not up to par skill wise and hired someone who designs covers for a living. It was the best decision I made. You want readers to take you seriously, so put forth something that looks professional.

And lastly, be appropriate. Nothing is worse than grabbing a book with an awesome, badass science fiction cover only to find out it’s a romance novel about a girl who falls in love with a nerd who likes aliens. Your cover should relay what type of story you are trying to tell or at least the mood. Is it campy? Is it dark and mysterious? These are important factors to consider when picking your cover.

So make a great first impression by keeping your cover original, professional, and appropriate. It’s the best tool you have to get those readers to pick up your book. Good luck!

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Genre - Urban Fantasy

Rating – PG - 13

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Connect with Jennifer Cornet on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.jennifercornet.com/

Quality Reads UK Book Club Disclosure: Author interview / guest post has been submitted by the author and previously used on other sites.

Ben Woodard – What Inspired Me to Write My Book @benswoodard

What Inspired Me to Write My Book

My writing career started when I first told a story to my oldest grandchild. I was amazed to find out that I could come up with weird, and sometimes wonderful, adventures off the top of my head.

From this I went to telling stories in grade schools through a group called Spellbinders. They provided training for anyone who was willing to go to schools and keep alive the oral tradition of storytelling. I absolutely loved this. And quite often I would tell the stories that I had made up for my grandkids.

My wife, who is a former bookstore owner, told me one day that I needed to write these down. I balked. I didn’t want to be a writer. My career was as an engineer and marketing specialist and I spent a considerable time writing manuals and marketing materials. This was definitely something I did not want to do again. But the excitement of making up a story and seeing it come to life was more than I could resist. Suddenly, I thought I’d found the best job in the world.

Often, I would start writing in the evening and continue until early morning. I was constantly writing and always excited, and then reality arrived. My critique group informed me that while my stories were good, they needed to be edited. Edited? Surely not. After all, that’s no fun. But they calmly informed me that if I had any hope of ever seeing my stories in print, I needed to learn to edit. And not only that, they mentioned such things like plotting, the Snowflake Method, story arcs, and more. So I had a decision to make. Do I want to write stories for the grandkids and for fun, or did I actually want someone to read them? And why?

I thought about the books I had read as a boy and how they influenced me in so many ways. I learned of racism, and how it affected people, through Huckleberry Finn and To Kill A Mockingbird. Books that brought a different version of race relations to a boy in a southern town in the fifties. I learned of adventures around the world, and beyond, in books such as the Count of Monte Christo, Treasure Island, The Sands Of Mars, and many others. All fiction, but written well enough that I experienced them as true. What if I could do the same for the boys of today? I knew I didn’t have the talent or the experience, but I did seem to have some ability, and with effort and study, maybe, just maybe, I could write something that might change a boy’s, or girl’s, life.

It was an easy decision.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre - YA/Mystery

Rating – PG – 13

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Website http://BooksByBen.com

Peter Clenott – Why Females Make Better Lead Characters @PeterClenott

Why Females Make Better Lead Characters

When I began writing fiction many years (decades) ago, I didn’t put a lot of thought into the sex of the main character. My early novels usually had male leads even if the main characters were chimpanzees as in PANDORA ISLAND. I think the first novel I wrote with a woman as the protagonist was RED ROSA, but this was a fictional account of an historic person, Rosa Luxemburg, the Polish-Jewish revolutionary at the turn of the 20th century. Subsequently, most of my novels have had female leads.

LIGEIA is the story of Ligeia Taylor, a slave in the White House in 1850. This novel was intended to be the initial saga of a new and distinctive pair of detectives. In the premier story, Ligeia must find out who poisoned her master, President Zachary Taylor.

In ALBERTVILLE, Alma Jesse Westcott is a young black woman who grows up in the segregated Alabama of the 1940s and 1950s. She experiences the horror of racism before going onto a Harvard degree and n assignment by the State Department to the Congo upon its independence from Belgium. Here she bonds with the new nation’s first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, only to learn that her government is planning to assassinate him.

At this point in my career, I went with young adult and wrote a new adaptation of PANDORA ISLAND. Here trhe female lead was a 16-year-old girl named Chiku Flynn whose father disappears in the Congo. She must return after years in civilization, having been raised alongside to uncover what happened to her father and she must do so with the help of the chimpanzees he has been studying. Chiku can communicate with them through sign language.

BECAUSE I CAN is about another tough and tumble teenager, named Jemma Dalembert, who is 21st century Eponine, a kid raised in a dysfunctional family, who helps them make it by using her fists. Her hero is Gina Carano the renowned MMA fighter and actress who starred in FAST AND FURIOUS.

Finally, DEVOLUTION with Chiku Flynn. Why do females make stronger lead characters in all of these stories. Because, by nature, they have greater barriers to overcome than their male counterparts. Greater barriers make for higher drama. The goals for these characters are harder to attain and so more powerful once reached. In my GOSPEL OF HANNANIAH, the main character is the illegitimate daughter of Jesus of Nazareth. The greatest story ever told would have been even more dramatic had the reluctant messiah been female.

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords

Genre - Young Adult

Rating – PG

More details about the author and the book

Connect with Peter Clenott on Facebook & Twitter

Website www.peterclenott.net

Jade Kerrion – Alpha males and the women who can kick their butts @JadeKerrion

Alpha males and the women who can kick their butts

I’ve read a great deal of paranormal fiction in the past few years, many of them romances. In keeping with the alpha male archetype, many of the novels portray the man as not just an alpha male, but possessed of superhuman qualities. He’s a vampire or a werewolf; he may be a demon, or possibly an angel.

Either way, he’s far more capable than the human woman who falls in love with him.

Those archetypes don’t work for me.

I’ve always enjoyed writing about strong men and strong women. I trace those enduring archetypes back to Robotech, one of the foundational series that shaped my affection for science fiction. In Robotech, Lisa Hayes always outranked Rick Hunter. He did physically save her a time or two, but it didn’t keep Rick, a take-charge alpha male, from addressing his admiral wife, in public, as “ma’am,” and it certainly didn’t keep cool-headed Lisa from managing the star fleet or, on occasion, vetoing her husband’s military decisions.

In my Double Helix series, Danyael Sabre is an alpha empath with the power to heal or kill with a touch. His conscience however, frequently gets in the way of him exerting the darker side of his mutant powers. However, the human woman he loves, Zara Itani, rarely lets her conscience get in the way of anything. She is an assassin and has trouble expressing herself without a gun or a blade in her hand. On a good day, she can wreak more havoc with love than most people can with hate.

Naturally, the theme of the alpha male who loves an alpha female would find its way from my science fiction novels into my first foray into fantasy. In Eternal Night, it’s all well and good for Jaden Hunter to be an alpha male, but he’s human, and Ashra, the woman he loves, is an immortal icrathari who can break bones as easily as a child snaps a twig. More importantly, no matter what happens as a result of their love for each other, no matter what he transforms into, he will never be as strong as she is.

So, what’s an alpha male to do?

It’s not stopping Jaden from protecting Ashra, much to her exasperation. He’s not trying to prove anything to her or to himself; it’s just who he is. It means learning to fight side-by-side while admitting that her hair-raising aerial acrobatics turn his stomach and he’d rather keep his two feet on the ground. For Ashra, it means accepting his misplaced concern for her as his way of expressing his love for her. It means recognizing the courage and heroism in his spirit as equal to hers, constrained though it is in his frail human form.

It certainly guarantees a great deal of friction and conflict as they come to terms with their love for each other.

Real life relationships often walk as delicate a balance as Jaden and Ashra’s relationship. Real life relationships are often as fraught with friction and conflict, but in the end, I’ve always believed it’s not really about who’s stronger or about who’s the alpha in a relationship. It’s about what you can do together, and ensuring that the outcome is greater than the sum of its parts.

It worked for Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes, for Danyael Sabre and Zara Itani. Perhaps it’ll work for Jaden and Ashra too…

E-books available at Amazon / Amazon UK / Apple / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Smashwords

Paperbacks available at Amazon / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jade Kerrion developed a loyal reader base with her fan fiction series based on the MMORPG Guild Wars. She was accused of keeping her readers up at night, distracting them from work, housework, homework, and (far worse), from actually playing Guild Wars. And then she wondered why just screw up the time management skills of gamers? Why not aspire to screw everyone else up too?

So here she is, writing books that aspire to keep you from doing anything else useful with your time.

Her debut novel, Perfection Unleashed, spawned the Double Helix series which has won a total of seven science fiction awards, including first place in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2012 and the gold medal in Readers Favorites Awards 2013. She is also the author of Earth-Sim and When the Silence Ends, which placed first and second respectively in the 2013 Royal Palm Literary Awards, Young Adults category.

She lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with her wonderfully supportive husband and her two young sons, Saint and Angel, (no, those aren’t their real names, but they are like saints and angels, except when they’re not.)

Connect with Jade: Website / Facebook / Twitter

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre - Fantasy, Paranormal

Rating – PG-13

More details about the author and the book

Connect with Jade Kerrion on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.jadekerrion.com

Brian Bloom – How to research your story before writing your book? @BrianB_Aust

How to research your story before writing your book?

Probably the most sensible way to address this question is by way of a case study.  I am in the process of marketing my factional novel The Last Finesse. When it was first conceived, it was to be about nuclear energy and it was to be a “prequel” to my first factional novel, Beyond Neanderthal, that was about over-unity electromagnetic energy.

All I knew was that The Last Finesse was to be about nuclear and, arising from my first novel, I had a mentor who was able to guide me on matters relating to physics in general and energy in particular. So, step 1: Get yourself a mentor if your primary theme is to be about a subject in which you are not an expert.

The first thing I did was I focussed on the fact that there was (and still is) wild disagreement amongst people whom I knew, about the merits/demerits of nuclear. Some people were highly enthusiastic and others were rabidly anti nuclear. Fukushima hadn’t happened yet but those against typically used Chernobyl as their basis for arguing. Those who were pro tended to have a better than average understanding of the science.

Once I understood the parameters, I went to Amazon and ordered five books on nuclear: Two were in favour, two were against, and one was “How to Build a Nuclear Bomb?” I came to understand that, if you have access to enriched uranium or plutonium you can build such a bomb in your back yard, or in a small, undetectable space. Whether you do or not boils down to “trust’. Maybe that fact will influence reader views on whether Iran should be allowed to continue enriching uranium?

I read all five books and, in the process, discovered where my main questions lay. Some of the questions I put to my mentor, but I wanted a different viewpoint. So I sent an email to the Director of Public Communications at the
World Nuclear Association, London.  I looked up his contact details on the internet because I had seen that one of the “pro” books had been published under the WNA auspices.  In my email, I explained to him what I wanted to do and I asked if he would be prepared to give me any guidance and respond to questions – provided I kept the volume as low as possible. He was very co-operative. I discovered that most questions that I posed had answers on the WNA’s website but he saved me from having to wade through the entire site.

Once I understood the “core” issues, I decided to link the story to climate change and I asked my mentor to describe the most outlandish scenario he could imagine. It didn’t take him long. Without divulging any “spoilers” he described a scenario that many climate scientists were genuinely worried about but didn’t want to talk about yet because they’re having enough trouble getting people to jump over the “warming/cooling/its all bullshit” hurdle.

I then asked him to point me a direction to research that subject and his response was to send me about 20 or 30 web links to articles on the subject, ranging from peer reviewed scientific papers to media articles. Any questions I came up with, he patiently explained.

It was at that point that I had a rough idea of what my story was going to be. I wanted the opening chapter to introduce the idea of a naval vessel from the “good guys” to intercept a naval vessel from the “bad guys”. The bad guys would be smuggling nuclear components to a rogue country, so I had to find a rogue country, which turned out to be Burma.

Then I had two separate problems:

1. I didn’t know squat about the navy or maritime matters and
2. I didn’t  know squat about Burma

So I decided to cast my net to find contacts who could help me find mentors. It happened purely by accident or good fortune or however you want to describe it. Through one contact, I found a political refugee who was then living in Australia who had spent 11 years in jail in Burma. A mate knew someone who knew someone who introduced me to a retired Rear Admiral and he opened the doors for me to find an adviser within the Australian Navy who could act as my mentor. The key to finding help is to ask for it politely and respectfully. Most people are naturally helpful.

My Burmese mentor advised me on the high level problems of life in Burma (and its history) and pointed me in the direction of a website run by the Democratic Voice of Burma. I also bought a book on the history of Burma. The two together represented pay dirt! The website had specific information on what the junta were allegedly doing to pursue their aim of acquiring technology to build a nuclear bomb. The book explained about Burmese culture and the makeup of the countries citizenry.

The next step was to buy a couple of maps of Burma (now Myanmar) so as to familiarise myself with the layout of that country – both within and in relation to its neighbours – and to get a map that would show the likely route that an Australian ship would have to travel to get to Myanmar. My navy mentor told me that Australia regularly sends ships as far afield as the Persian Gulf and he helped me devise a credible scenario which would enable one of my main characters to travel from Australia and link up with a ship in the area – so as to save time.

I then started to dig deeper and deeper into Burmese culture and life to understand what the citizens of that country were going through. It turned out to be “hell” but the typical tourists were not allowed to see that hell. In particular, Burma is the second largest grower of poppies for heroine in the world, behind Afghanistan.

So, now I had the skeleton of a story. That’s when I started fleshing out my characters. Along the way, as I was writing the story, it became necessary to research other scenes. There’s one scene set in Hawks Nest, where I Iive, which hosted an international wind surfing competition. I went down to have a look, camera in hand, took a couple of hundred photos and got chatting to the organisers and competitors. They were very helpful. I needed to understand travel arrangements, so I went onto the internet and went through the motions booked an imaginary flight. This enabled me to get accurate flight times. I needed to have my character land at a particular airport, so I went onto the web and searched for an aerial image of the airport. I needed a scene that described a particular tourist attraction, so I got hold of a travelogue DVD from a caravan club that described the journey along the way.

And thus the story evolved. It all starts with research and the more research you do the better and more believable your story will be.

But let’s not lose site of the main challenge: The quality of the book boils down to the quality and structure of the story, and how well you communicate it.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre - Conspiracy Thriller

Rating – MA (15+)

More details about the author

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Quality Reads UK Book Club Disclosure: Author interview / guest post has been submitted by the author and previously used on other sites.

Michelle Rabe – How to Create a Great Work Area for Inspiration @michrabe

How to Create a Great Work Area for Inspiration

I think how everyone creates their own space to let inspiration in is as unique as every writer. So I’ll tell you how I came up with my little nook. The first thing and most important part of any writing room is a door. Seems a little obvious but, you need a door that you can close. This isn’t my idea, I got it from Stephen King’s book On Writing. The reason you have to be able to close the door is so that you can shut the world out. You as a writer need the space to let go of the stresses of everyday life and give your imagination room to play. I’m a very visual person so staring at a blank wall drives me crazy. As a result, my writing space has masks and a cork board on them. I like working in low light, candle light is preferred but since it’s not always practical I have a string of funky lights along the wall. On my desk I have a lamp that’s a lit tree, that along with the other lights are enough to write by. My desk isn’t big, it’s an old fashioned writing desk that has a section that pulls out to write on. The desk has been in my family for as long as I can remember. The past few years it’s been tucked away in a spare room at my dad’s. In its long life it has been painted (by me) with a white and lavender crackle finish that I didn’t work for me anymore when I got it back this time. When I embarked on the long process of stripping and repainting it I had this crazy idea to paint the writing part with chalkboard paint. I get ideas in a lot of different places, they kind of hit me at strange moments so I like have a way to write things down quickly so that I don’t forget, hence the chalkboard. The rest of the desk is covered with little trinkets that help me get in the mood to work. I have a coffin, more masks, file folders with information that I might need, spare pens and a couple of candles. When I’m going to work, I turn on the lights on my desk and leave the main light off, turn on my music of choice and settle in. You can set up your work area however you like, if you need no distractions then maybe just a laptop cart or desk just big enough for your computer is the way to go. No matter what you like, I want to stress that you should have a regular writing space, especially if you’re a beginning writer. You’ll get used to working in that place and you’ll find yourself being able work better in that space. I wish you all happy writing nook making, have fun with it and remember to do what works for you.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre - Paranormal Urban Fantasy

Rating – PG-13

More details about the author and the book

Connect with Michelle Rabe on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://paperbackvamp.tumblr.com/

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Merry Farmer – How to Avoid the Rejection Blues @MerryFarmer20

How to Avoid the Rejection Blues

Writers might be the most rejected people on the planet.  Yep.  It’s a sad fact of this passion of ours that with the urge to create stories and share them with the world comes the inevitable pile of rejections.  They stalk us at every step of the process.  From those oh-so kindly worded form rejection letters from agents that dent our hopeful spirits to the vicious 1-star review from the reader who just didn’t get what we were saying, rejections are a part of writing.

But don’t despair!  There is hope!  All of these rejections don’t have to hang like weights on your soul.  I know they hurt, I know that no one wants to see them, but they don’t have to be the end of the world.  We all have different strategies for coping with these disappointments, so here are a few that might just speak to you.

The most important thing to understand as you’re holding Form Rejection Letter #15 in your hand is that we’ve ALL been there.  You are in the best company in the world!  I know you’ve heard all the stories of how many times J.K. Rowling was rejected or how Stephen King had a spike on his wall where he skewered all his rejections.  I guarantee you that every writer you love has been rejected enough times to shock you.  I wish that writers would bring out their rejection letters more often, keep them in collections and swap them like trading cards even.  “Oh?  You were rejected by Donald Maass?  Me too!”  Then we could see them as the badge of honor they are.

Rejection is part of the process.  That letter is a good thing because it means you’re actually trying.  You are already ahead of the vast multitude of wannabes who never work up the gumption to try.  You are awesome!  Way to be proactive!  If you knew how many people out there never even reach the point of querying or who give up after one or two rejections, you’d be astounded.  But not you!  You are already on the path to succeeding by virtue of being willing to put yourself out there where rejection lives.

What about those of us who managed to find an agent (oh the thrill of hope!) only to have that agent be unable to sell the book to a publisher.  Ouch!  The disappointment of that rejection has to be twice as hard as a simple agent rejection because the hope that preceded it was so much greater.  It sucks, but the thing to remember is that publishing is such a subjective business and those fancy traditional publishing companies don’t always know what books will be a hit.  The good news is that nowadays you have other options.  Self-publishing is not a consolation prize anymore.  It’s not the last resort of the rejected.  It is a viable, legitimate, extremely profitable alternative.  There are writers out there making a living and more off of books that were rejected by New York.  Why?  Because they didn’t give up.

Ah, but what about those icky rejections that come when you HAVE succeeded, when you’re right there in print for all the world to buy, but someone gives you a scathingly bad review?  These are the most bittersweet rejections of all.  They’re like enormous zits on your face – everyone is going to see them as much as you don’t want them to.

Again, every writer worth their salt has negative reviews.  They are a badge of honor!  They mean that you have reached that coveted audience beyond your friends and family.  Strangers are reading stuff you wrote!  Whether they liked it or not, you’re out there.  You’re in people’s hands.  That’s an amazing thing.  And often, if you read those bad reviews closely, you’ll see that it’s not your talent they call into question, it’s the emotional reaction they had to the story.  Not only did you reach them, you touched them as well.  Maybe it was a bad reaction on their part, but their feelings were strong enough for them to tell the whole world.

I know rejection isn’t fun.  It’s the pits.  But keep your head held high.  You are in a special group of dreamers and doers.  All you need to do is keep going, keep writing, keep submitting, and keep reaching.  You can do this!

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre - Western Historical Romance

Rating – R

More details about the author

Connect with Merry Farmer on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://merryfarmer.net

Catherine Astolfo – Inside the Mind of the Author @cathyastolfo

Inside the Mind of the Author: Oh The Voices in My Head

by Catherine Astolfo

If you heard an echo of “Gloria” in yours at that title, you are probably close to my advanced age!

I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea, but I have to admit that I go around hearing voices. They are pretty real to me, since I gave birth to their owners.

The characters in my Emily Taylor Mystery series have birthdates, full names, height, weight, colour of eyes, hair and skin, personalities, quirks, strengths and weaknesses—all from me. Most of them live in a little village that I created too.

Emily, Langford, May, Alain, Edgar, Frances, Chief Dan and so on—are all people I can picture instantly. Like old friends whose faces you can never, ever forget. The moment you are back in one another’s company, it’s as though you’ve never been apart.

The stories and the plots are always there in my head, too. It gets very crowded sometimes and circuits do tend to overload. For instance, I could be taking a lovely, summery day ride in the car with my husband. Inside my head, it’s a different picture altogether.

Down in a dark, dank basement, a man lies slowly bleeding to death from a shotgun wound.  I am contemplating how long it would take him to die, when my husband asks me what I’m thinking.  Unfortunately for him, I tell him.  This is a scenario from The Brdigeman, Book One of The Emily Taylor Mysteries.

A large raccoon is splayed upside down in the slope of the ditch on my right.  He is stiff and awkward on his back, lips pulled back in an angry grimace.  Maggots crawl out of his mouth and flies swarm everywhere.  I can hear their frenzied delight as we stop for a red light.  I am fascinated.  Victim—Book Two!

Next we pass a burned-out shell perched forgotten on a side road.  I am thrilled to see it.  I ask my husband to stop so I can get out and breathe in the scorched wood smell and the stench of furled plastic and dead things underneath the ash.  Great experience for Legacy, Book Three.

Forensics for Dummies, Until You Are Dead, Criminal Investigative Failures – these were the books that dominated my shelves during the writing of Book Four.  Along with questions to which I find an answer through Sisters in Crime’s forensics specialist: Can you paint scenery on a dead body?

Now I’ve got 3 books on the go: one about a psychopath who betrays her best friend, a “cozy” about a retirement home, and a children’s story about a ghost I once knew. Oh the voices in my head!

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre –  Psychological Suspense

Rating – 18+

Connect with Catherine Astolfo on Facebook  & Twitter

Website http://www.catherineastolfo.com/

What inspired me to write my book? – Rik Stone @stone_rik

What inspired me to write my book?

Lots of people feel the need to write almost as soon as they learn to put words together. I went to

school with girls who kept diaries and diligently made entries on a daily basis. Not me, I was like

the other boys. If there was a ball to play with, we’d play football. If there was no ball, we’d find

an old tin, maybe in a dustbin, and play kick the tin. In the late 50’s, early 60’s, where I came

from that was what life was for a young lad – and I loved it.

I don’t remember the exact age, let’s say fifteen for the sake of argument, but I picked up a book

I think was my uncle’s and began reading it. The novel was called The Carpetbaggers and was

written by Harold Robbins. The first chapters, when the protagonist’s parents were murdered,

absolutely enthralled me. I couldn’t put it down. Unfortunately, not enjoying the greatest of

concentration at that time, I found the book too long, too slow, and soon got bored. However,

when another novel by the same author showed up in the house, The Adventurers, I thought I’d

give it a go. Once again the first chapters had me living the pages, but, yet again, as I delved

further into the book my interest waned.

So, you might think, no signs of a budding writer here. But no, those first chapters in The

Adventurers were about an author who’d made it to the top of his trade. He lay next to his

private swimming pool in the garden of his grand house musing over what the point of his life

was now he’d done it all. Without realising it at the time, that man by the pool had been so

believably drawn by Robbins that he weaved himself through my skin. Over the years he held on

to a compartment of my mind. I wanted what he’d had. You might think I mean his wealth and

position. That would be nice, but no, my reasoning was that the stories of that fictitious writer

were adored by all who read them. He had a worldwide following and his works were renowned.

I think what I felt was that age old sin… envy.

This figment of some writer’s imagination grabbed a space in my mind from where he

occasionally popped up to make sure I hadn’t forgotten him. I was fifty when I retired and I had

no intention of donning a new harness belonging to someone else. At the same time I’m not one

to sit around contemplating life and I’d been an avid reader for many years. The little man in my

head chose that moment to highlight an opportunity. I did creative writing courses, bought and

read a multitude of ‘how to write anything’ type books and started writing… and there I was,

proudly presenting my debut novel Birth of an Assassin. An interesting offshoot to this tale; you

can carry ambition around for many years without even knowing it.

Buy Now @ Amazon, B&N, Kobo & Waterstones

Genre - Thriller, Crime, Suspense

Rating – R

More details about the author

Connect with Rik Stone on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://rik-stone.simdif.com

Kim Cresswell – Ingredients of a Great Thriller @kimcresswell

Ingredients of a Great Thriller

By Kim Cresswell

Every now and then you read a novel that has you glued to the story because the action is moving at warp-speed and you’re swept way not wanting to stop reading until you know how it turns out.
The tension rises and you ride along with the characters feeling every blow right up until the climax.
In my opinion, the main ingredient in a great thriller is emotion. If you feel the story in your heart and gut then the author has done his or her job.
A great thriller is unpredictable. What if the FBI agent leading a murder investigation is the killer?
A great thriller has deadlines—the ticking clock. Will the FBI agent be caught before he kills again?
A great villain is a must-have in any thriller—a villain that stirs feelings of hatred, fear, disgust and sometimes empathy in the reader.
A main character who is worthy to fight the villain and hopefully win.
The setting and the action must also be believable for the reader because if the reader doesn’t believe, the story will end.
In Lethal Journey, my heroine Lauren Taylor, is a New York district attorney. She’s taking on the most important and dangerous case of her career, prosecuting mob boss, Gino Valdina and it’s not going to be an easy journey for her. All she has to do is stay alive!
As the story progresses, it’s unpredictable, has deadlines, a villain who evokes fear, hatred and empathy, and a heroine and hero who are physically and emotionally worthy to battle the villain to the end.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Thriller

Rating – PG-18

More details about the author

Connect with Kim Cresswell on Facebook and Twitter

Website http://kimberleycresswell.wordpress.com/

Quality Reads UK Book Club Disclosure: Author interview / guest post has been submitted by the author and previously used on other sites.

Justin Blaney – For Evan Burl Fans @justinblaney

For Evan Burl fans, There’s a lot to be Excited About in the Next 6 Months.

by Justin Blaney

Part 1 and 2 of Evan Burl and the Falling released in January

As noted in a previous post, I’m combining part 1 and 2 of Evan Burl’s series into a single book. We’re going to do a huge launch (hopefully huge, with your help it will be) on January 9, 2014.

For those of you waiting for book two (I love you!), you might be disappointed with the amount of new material in this book. It depends on what version you read last. The easiest way to know is looking at the chapter count. The book being published in January will have about 66 chapters. If your version has less than 66 chapters, there will be some new stuff in that final version for you. If your version already has 66 chapters, there probably won’t be much new until the new Book Two comes out down the road. Even if you have read a 66 chapter version, the new version will be all shiny and edited and worth downloading a new free ebook when it launches.

The reason for this confusion is there are at least 5 different versions of Evan Burl. I’ve been adding new material to book one since December, 2012 to test it with a public audience. In fact, the book available on Amazon right now is actually the combined version of 1 and 2.

If you have already finished any version of Evan Burl, I recommend waiting until the final launch in January. I’m doing a ton of work editing it down and adding details that I think will make the book even more enjoyable.

If you haven’t read any version of Evan Burl yet, I’d love to have you pick up a free copy at evanburl.com/download and give me some feedback to incorporate into the final release. I’m actively seeking feedback on this advanced reader version and your input will make a huge difference in the quality of the final book.

Thanks for your patience with the number of revisions and confusion. I’m planning to explain more about why I’ve released so many versions in a future post that discusses a new take on the philosophy of today’s publishing world.

Amazon shopping spree and book giveaway

To celebrate the launch of Evan Burl in January, I’m giving away 10 signed books and an Amazon shopping spree (at least $250, maybe more). I planning tons of ways to get more entries in the giveaway like downloading the free ebook, joining this mailing list, writing a review and sharing the giveaway on Facebook. If you’ve already done any of those things, don’t worry, you’ll automatically be entered.  This contest is for you so if you have any ideas for how to run it better, please leave a comment!

And if you want to share our contest with your friends now, all they have to do to enter is download the book. Here are some links: Twitter, Facebook and email. Thanks! Blog tour

I hope to get Evan Burl reviewed and have our giveaway featured by 100 blogs. If you’re a blogger or know one, please let me know! I’m also planning to do some Facebook parties, but have no idea what I’m doing. If you want to help out, email me or leave a comment. I don’t know much about blog tours and release parties, but I know they’re important to getting the word out and would love your help if you have some experience.

Kickstarter campaign

Along with the release of Evan Burl in January, I’m planning a kickstarter campaign to print several thousand hardbacks. I have several goals for this campaign that I think are really exciting.

1. With your help, I want to donate 1000 copies of the book to libraries around the world to encourage reading, especially with young men, and increase awareness for issues related to fatherlessness.

2. I love small, independent book stores and want to support them by printing a high enough volume to keep our prices low. In today’s publishing world (even Barnes and Nobel is bleeding money) small, independent bookstores need our support more than ever. Together, we can ensure that we always have inviting, comfortable places to browse and discover great new books! Plus, book stores smell great. The world just wouldn’t be the same without them.

3. In addition to donating copies to libraries, I hope to see Evan Burl used by reading groups to stimulate conversations around the social and personal issues brought up in this novel. As part of the kickstarter, I plan to release support materials and make highly discounted books available to make participation affordable. (the ebook will be free, but not everyone can afford an ereader).

4. Wonder what Evan Burl’s world looks like? (Sometimes, I do too) I’m planning to work with a great artist based here in Seattle to develop a series of original digital canvases which could be included in the hardback version.

5. 10% of the proceeds from the kickstarter will be donated to support at risk youth and orphans.

6. Promoting and participating in the kickstarter will also earn entries to the Amazon shopping spree giveaway.

Book trailer

You may not know that I own a video production studio, which pays for my writing habit. I’m planning to get our whole production team involved in something special for Evan’s book trailer and can’t wait to share it with you. Look for the trailer to be released around the first part of September.

Book two progress reports

Starting in 2014, I plan to release regular progress reports on how work is going with the next book in Evan Burl’s tale. This was originally going to be book three in the series, but because I combined books one and two into the new Evan Burl and the Falling, this will be the currently-unnamed, book two. No release date is planned yet, but you’ll be the first to hear as soon as I know.

About this blog

Over the next six months, I’ll continue to update you on launch activities. I also have a few other writing projects I think you might find interesting, including an illustrated children’s book called Isfits, and plan to share more about those projects in the future. That said, I don’t want this to be some kind of continuous commercial for all my junk. If you ever have any ideas for something interesting you’d like to read about here, let me know. I’ll also be on the hunt for content to write about that I think you’ll find interesting. Thanks for being along for the ride as we figure this blogging/writing/publishing thing out together!

That’s it for now. I’ll be in touch.

Your friend,

Justin

PS, if you want to let any of your friends know how to get a free copy of Evan Burl, I’ve made it easy with these links: Twitter, Facebook and email.

About the author

Justin Blaney is the #1 bestselling author of Evan Burl and the Falling. He’s a blogger at JustinBlaney.com and I4J.org, the creator of Isfits, and a film producer with Inkliss. He lives outside Seattle with his wife and three daughters. Connect with Justin on Facebook, Twitter or Youtube.

My father abandoned me when I was an infant.
My friends have turned against me.
My uncle beats me.
The most powerful men in the world want me dead.
They all have one thing in common.
They think I’m turning into a monster.

I’m starting to worry they’re right.

Genre - Young Adult

Rating – PG

Giveaway Link

More details about the author & the book

Connect with Justin Blaney on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.justinblaney.com/

Why Book Covers are So Important – Shanna Hatfield @ShannaHatfield #thechristmascowboy

Why Book Covers are So Important

Many scoff at that old adage of not judging a book by its cover, but the harsh truth is that people judge books by their covers every minute of every day. That’s why it is so, so important for book covers to stand out from the crowd – in a good way. First, let me state that I am not an expert on book covers. Not at all. However, I have learned a few things in the last two years of self-publishing about book covers and thought I’d share them with you today.

Your book cover should provide, at a glance, some hint about your story. People should be able to look at your cover and see a tiny preview into the book. If you’re writing a flowery romance that’s all sunshine and roses, you wouldn’t slap a photo of death and destruction on the cover. Likewise, if your book is a dark, suspense thriller, you wouldn’t make the cover all happy and cheery. Your cover should set the tone for the book. Similarly, it’s helpful if your cover image reflects the content of your book. If your book is set in the mid- 1800s in a western town, you wouldn’t put a photo of a skyscraper on the cover. The image should allude to the story.

The next step is one I think many people forget to take into consideration when they are choosing a book cover. Picture your cover the size of a postage stamp. That is close to the size your book appears in on-line retailers. Can readers clearly see the image? The title? Your name?

While a cover may look great filling your computer screen at full resolution, when you get it down to that tiny little size, it may lose all the important detail. It is tempting for authors just getting started to cut costs by slapping together something for a cover. Resist that urge with every fiber of your being. If you don’t have graphic design skills or resources, hire someone who does to design your cover. You want your book cover to look professional and polished. Avoid purchasing a popular pre-made book cover. I’ve noticed, especially during the holiday season, you can easily find the same cover on a dozen different books in a quick look through online offerings. When a reader is browsing through sea of identical covers, there’s a strong chance they won’t choose any of the books. Stand out from the crowd with something unique. There are many talented graphic artists working for reasonable fees.

You absolutely want your book cover to be an original. Invest time, funds, or effort into making it the very best cover possible.

Your book deserves it and so do you.

***

For more details about The Christmas Cowboy, visit The Christmas Cowboy page on Shanna’s website. From December 1-24, Shanna will donate 10% of her net proceeds from all her book sales to the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund.

Find The Christmas Cowboy, and her other books at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Follow Shanna online: ShannaHatfield | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads | You Tube

Author Bio: Shanna Hatfield is a hopeless romantic with a bit of sarcasm thrown in for good measure. In addition to blogging, eating too much chocolate, and being smitten with Captain Cavedweller, she writes clean romantic fiction with a healthy dose of humor. She is a member of Western Writers of America, Women Writing the West, and Romance Writers of America.

"10% of the net proceeds from all my book sales December 1-24 will be donated to the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund®"

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Romance (contemporary western)

Rating – PG

More details about the author

Connect with Shanna Hatfield on Facebook and Twitter

Website http://shannahatfield.com

Quality Reads UK Book Club Disclosure: Author interview / guest post has been submitted by the author and previously used on other sites.

Laila Ibrahim – “Are we rich?”

When my older daughter was 8 or so she asked me, “Are we rich?”  At the time she was flipping through an American Girl Doll catalogue considering how to spend her birthday money when the question popped out.

My reply: “You are shopping for a dog for you doll!  Yes, we are rich.  You have never once wondered if you would go to bed hungry because we did not have any food in the house.  We have a nice home that keeps us warm and dry throughout the year.  You have clothes, you go to school and you receive many of toys and cash on your birthday.  We have plenty of money for everything we need, and for many things that we want.  Yes, we are rich.”

As Unitarian Universalists it was important to Rinda and I that our kids understand how privileged they are.  My wife and I wanted them to be grateful for the most important things in life:  clean water, an abundance of food, trusting relationships, and good health.  We hoped to teach them to put the ups and downs of their lives in context and know to be grateful just for the chance to be alive.

Most nights before dinner we hold hands and bend our heads as one of us says these words, “Dear God, Thank you for this food and for all that went into brining it to our table.”  Though we take turns speaking, I am almost always the one who initiates saying grace.  To be honest, I feel intrusive and demanding when I bring it up.  Just before I mention it I wonder if it is worth interrupting everyone for this ritual that is important to me.  I have to push past my own doubts and my family’s actual or perceived resistance to insist upon this nightly ritual.  But during the prayer, with my eyes closed and a warm hand holding mine, in the moment when I actually feel grace, I never doubt.  Taking the time for gratitude, for remembering that we are wealthy enough, is always worth it.

In 1837, Lisbeth Wainwright is born to the white mistress of a sprawling Virginia plantation. Seconds later, she is delivered into the arms of her black wet nurse, Mattie. For a field hand like Mattie, her transfer to the big house is supposed to be considered an honor—except that the move tears Mattie away from her beloved grandfather and her infant son, Samuel. But Mattie is a slave, with no say in the matter, and so she devotes herself to her master’s daughter, though she longs to be raising her own child. Growing up under Mattie’s tender care, little Lisbeth adopts the woman’s deep-seated faith in God, her love of music and black-eyed peas, and the tradition of hunting for yellow crocuses in the early days of spring.

As the years pass, Lisbeth is drawn slowly back into her white parents’ world and begins to learn the ins and outs of life for a high-born young lady. Still she retains her connection to Mattie, befriending Samuel and drifting comfortably between the two worlds. She accepts her parents’ assertion that their slaves depend upon them for guidance and protection, yet that notion becomes more and more difficult to believe as she gains awareness of the inequality of life in the big house versus the slave quarters. When, on the threshold of her society wedding to debonair Edward Cunningham, Lisbeth bears witness to a shockingly brutal act, the final vestiges of her naiveté crumble around her. Just twenty-one years old, she is forced to choose between what is socially acceptable and what is right, a decision that will change her life forever.

This compelling historical novel chronicles young Lisbeth Wainwright’s coming-of-age during one of the most difficult chapters of American history. Lisbeth’s powerful bond with Mattie makes her loss of innocence in the face of society’s ugly secrets all the more heartbreaking, and yet it is the courage she learns from her stand in mother that enables Lisbeth to blaze a new path for herself. Yellow Crocus offers moving proof of how the greatest social change often blooms forth from small personal acts of love.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre - Historical Fiction

Rating – PG-13

More details about the author and the book

Connect with Laila Ibrahim on Facebook

AFN Clarke – Things They Never Tell You @AFNClarke

Things They Never Tell You About Becoming A Published Author
by AFN Clarke
When someone asks “what do you do?” and I say “I’m an author”, invariably the response is “wow, it must be great to just sit and write all day”.  And of course I nod, but I secretly think “if only you really knew!”
Am I happy to be a writer?  Of course I am.  Am I bursting with creative energy that’s ready to flow onto the page effortlessly giving life to what is sure be the next best seller every day? In my dreams!  So I got to thinking, what are the 10 things that I didn’t know about becoming a published author that I’ve learned the hard way?
1.    Published authors have the privilege of developing really thick skulls.
Who else would work long hours with little sleep, no money, get rejected a million times and drag loved ones through hell and back to just hear that one precious word “yes”.  Our bubble of denial and refusal to see reason actually cultivates miracles – how cool is that?
2.    When people like what you write, they’ll only sometimes tell you so.
We are insecure, sensitive creatures who though we staunchly deny it, measure our own self-worth through someone else’s eyes.  Positive feedback is like life support – so if you like my work put me out of my misery and tell me, so I don’t end up a blabbering mess of insecurity.
3.    When people don’t like what you write, there’s no stopping them telling you so.
My big “aha” is that the moment a writer commits words to paper he/she becomes public property – a target to be criticized, loved, praised, or condemned a hundred times over. Live with it! I wrote my thriller An Unquiet American with a very politically provocative premise that dramatically escalates tension in the book  - and also some people’s blood pressure!  So be it, at least it’s generating heated discussions for them as much with those who love it – isn’t that the point?  It’s all a matter of attitude.
4.    Fame and success erase your battle scars but also common sense.
My first book CONTACT was a best seller. I was on TV, in the newspaper, and felt invincible. When the limelight faded my publisher asked “where’s your next book?” “What book?” Oops, wrong answer!  That rookie mistake took years to correct – so while the fans are still cheering take a bow, stick your ego in a box and quietly get back to work.
5.    You will take your partner to the brink of madness.
After all these years, my wife deserves a medal. As with most authors I can be a self-indulgent hermit who’s rarely truly “present”.  When writing I live in a parallel universe that only intersects hers at mealtimes at best. When I’m not writing I’m grumpy, as I’m upset I’m not writing. So authors – if anyone puts up with you, cherish adore and love them, because they’re a rare species.
6.    Those pesky 140 characters will take you to the brink of madness.
Here’s the deal Twitter – my latest thriller The Orange Moon Affair has 479,180 characters and you want me to do what?  Be meaningful in 140?  You’ve got to be kidding right?
And of course I’m running out of characters already – so here are learnings 7, 8, 9, and 10:
7.    You’ll become best friends with loads of people that you never even get to meet.
8.    You’ll learn to see the silly side of everything life throws at you.
9.    You’ll get to face your greatest fears, reveal the inner depths of your soul, open your heart and mind, become totally vulnerable, learn about things you never heard of and chase your wildest dreams.
10.  And if you learn to get over yourself, you’ll live through it all to celebrate the most wonderfully satisfying and richly rewarding times of your life.
Being an author rocks!
AFN CLARKE is the son of a British MI6 operative, pilot, sailor, screenwriter, father of four who’s lived all over the world, served in the British Army and recovered from the physical/emotional traumas of war.  His bestselling memoir CONTACT was serialized in a British newspaper and made into an award winning BBCTV film.  He’s insatiably curious, loves heated discussions and has a rascally sense of humor. He now writes fiction of various genres – thrillers (The Orange Moon Affair and An Unquiet American); human drama (Dry Tortugas), humor/satire (Dreams from the Death Age; Armageddon), horror (Collisions) with more coming soon.  For more information visit http://www.afnclarke.com, connect on Facebook or Twitter (@AFN Clarke).

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Thriller

Rating – PG-13

More details about the author and the book

Connect with A.F.N. Clarke on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.afnclarke.com/

P J Dunn - WHAT INSPIRED ME TO WRITE A BOOK? @pjdunn49

WHAT INSPIRED ME TO WRITE A BOOK?

From the time I entered first grade in school, I have been fascinated by history. Especially history that occurred in areas such as my hometown. A Revolutionary War Battle took place near where I grew up. From a very early age, I visited the National Park occasionally, where I could walk the trails, see the monuments and grave sites, and let my imagination run wild. As I got a little older, my fascination with the Revolutionary War only increased. When I was taught in school about the Civil War, I quickly developed the same fascination. I would converse with anyone who would listen to my ramblings, and it didn’t matter to me which war we talked about.

At the age of fourteen, I met a man, a teacher, who seemed to have the same inherent interest and I guess you would say obsession with the Revolutionary War. I would sit and talk with Richard, for hours, to the point that his wife would become agitated. We had to curb our daily chats. Since we both also had a love for history, we used the school library to organize a history club. We also picked up another neighbor and luckily his wife, was also interested in our discussions. So, now we had a group established. During one of our discussions, my friends wife stated she could not believe the extensive knowledge of the Battle of Kings Mountain, that I possessed. Well, why not? I had read every page I could find, viewed every filmstrip, slideshow, movie, talked to anyone and everyone who had knowledge, and spent hours at the National Park learning about something I loved…History. Richard spoke up and said I needed to write a book. The seed was planted. It took another fifty years for the seed to sprout, grow, and come to fruition, but better late than never. I fulfilled a life-long dream of writing a book.

The seed had been planted, but remained dormant for so many years. Being a teen, some things got pushed aside. I didn’t abandon my passion for history, just let it fall aside. Even though I began to replace some of the activities, with typical youth activities, I was still received an award from the Daughters of the American Revolution, for involvement in history, and promoting the historical facts of the Battle of Kings Mountain.

After finishing my education, I did as most everyone does, and entered the workforce. I was married to my lovely wife and we were blessed with three children. I was working a public job, struggling to get along. We moved away from Kings Mountain. I never lost my fascination for the Revolutionary War or the history of the United States. Always in the back of my mind, I could still hear Richard say, “you need to write a book.” In December of 2012, illness forced me to take some time off work. As I sat at home, recovering, I thought, maybe this would be a good time to make my dream come true. I began to write my first book, writing about things I knew and loved. “King of the Mountain” was released September 16, 2013

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Historical fiction

Rating – PG

More details about the author

Connect with PJ Dunn on LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter

Blog http://www.pjdunn.tumblr.com/

Cerece Rennie Murphy – What I have learned so far from publishing @CereceRMurphy

One year and two months later.  What I have learned so far from publishing my first book by Cerece Rennie Murphy, Author of the Order of the Seers Trilogy.

A year ago, I published my first full-length story EVER – a sci-fi novel called Order of the Seers.  It took me about a year to write and almost as long to get up the courage to publish it.  But on September 4^th, 2012, I took the plunge, hit the send button, uploaded my file to Amazon and waited for the masses to collectively shudder in awe at the little piece of my heart that I sent out into the world.  It has been quite a journey since then, and ever since I got my head out of my ass and started using it, its been kind of fun too.  How hard this journey has been hasn’t exactly been a surprise to me, but watching myself slowly evolve into a publisher has. This is a short list of some of the things I have learned so far.

1)     Welcome to the REAL world AKA You are NOT an overnight sensation.  The day my first book was published, I spent the entire day sick in bed with worry and fear.  After a week, I think I had only sold about 20 ebook copies.  I was devastated.  I told myself my book was horrible and I shouldn’t have even tried to publish it.  It took me a week to start THINKING about what I might have done better or differently.  That’s when I really started to move into the new career that I have chosen.

The Lesson: If you don’t become a bestseller your first week out, it’s not the worst thing in the world.  It’s just where you started.  Where you end up is up to you.

2)     One blog tour and one eblast does not a marketing plan make. Seriously – that was pretty much my marketing plan for the release of my 1^st book.  Yes, I was very naïve about what it would take for people to find out about my book.  Most of my reluctance to developing a marketing plan had to do with a) my fear of putting myself out there and b) my general ignorance about what methods and resources were available to me.  I did a little bit of this and a little bit of that for a while.  Some things worked (I built my mailing list by going to comic/sci-fi conventions, did a cover reveal blog tour for the 2^nd book along with a $.99 week long sale promotion for the 1^st book) and some things didn’t (spent a ton of money on a Christmas ad campaign that cost way more than I sold in books).

The Lesson: If you have the guts to publish a book, have the guts to market it.  One barely makes sense without the other.  One of the best marketing pieces of advice that I have gotten so far is, “pick a monthly budget, no matter how big or small and do something every month to promote your book.  Keep writing and keep marketing.  Consistency will pay off.”  It has taken me over a year, but I am finally seeing the maturity and wisdom of these words.  For most writers, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

3)     Guard Your Headspace AKA Read Reviews Sparingly.  I have read this time and time again from accomplished veterans of the writing profession, but this advice is so hard to heed. In the beginning, I used to check my reviews every day.  It would stress me out so much that, at one point, I was literally afraid to go on Goodreads.  A glowing review would be met with relief, quickly followed by skepticism.  A strong, but not effusive review would be picked over to death for the rest of the day.  Neither one helped me write any better, but one could shut me down for a good 24-48 hours.

The Lesson: Everyone isn’t going to like your book.  That’s a fact and it’s ok.  Find some people you trust and respect.  Get them to read and critique your work.  Modify as needed, then let it be.  Periodically, I will check the number of reviews I have when I am in the middle of a promotion.  Sometimes, if it appears that I’ve gotten a few good ones, I’ll chance a glance and feel happy, but I don’t let myself linger.  It’s just not that helpful to my state-of-mind.

4)     Building Buzz Takes Time AKA Give yourself more than 4 month before you publish your 1^st novel.  I decided to publish my book at the end of May 2012 and I published my 1^st book in September.  This was stupid.  The process of trying to learn what I was doing while I was doing it was so stressful and crazy.  At the time, I didn’t want to give myself the chance to chicken-out, so I think I just tried to plow through it, but in the process, I missed opportunities for reviews and using other promotional resources that might have made my first release more successful.

The Lesson: Don’t do what I did.  Give yourself time to learn the business before you dive in. (But don’t use your research as an excuse to procrastinate!)

5)     The doubt doesn’t go away, but it gets more manageable as you go.  I wish I could say that, a year later, I feel like a bad-ass self-published author, but I don’t.  Most days, I feel the weight of all the things I still need to learn and do, but I can also acknowledge how far I have come.  The release of my second book in the Order of the Seers trilogy this summer was a bit less personally traumatic and much more thoroughly planned out and executed than my first release.  This was made possible only with the help of an author’s assistant, street promotion team, 3 book blog/promotion services running simultaneously, a small, but positive, collection of pre-release reviews, a week-long free sale of the 1^st book and an uber-coordinated mailing list, Facebook and twitter campaign.  The result – my second book stayed on Amazon Kindle’s best-seller list for over a month in the sci-fi/genetic engineering category and made it into Amazon’s Hot New Sci-fi releases list.

The Lesson: Believe in your story enough to work on writing it, honing it and sharing it, every day that you can.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Science Fiction

Rating – NC-17

More details about the author and the book

Connect with Cerece Rennie Murphy on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.crmurphybooks.com

Madeleine McLaughlin – Inside The Mind Of The Writer @Madoxane

Inside The Mind Of The Writer

by Madeleine McLaughlin

Every writer is curious (nosy) and wonders about the world and people around them. A writer hears an airplane overhead, she imagines the lives of the passengers or wonders who they are and where they’re going. A writer sits in a restaurant and listens to conversations going on around her.

We love to look at people, too. Over there, there’s a young girl with a long pelvis. How does she walk? Hey, I can use that for a character. Gossip is thrilling for every writer. It’s what interests people in each other, therefore what will interest the reader to keep reading. That man talking about never realizing his boss was siphoning off money from the firm is placing a plate of author-food in front of you. The character and the reaction of others. Everyone reading the story would react the same.

There’s something else, the need for the world to know what you think and approve of your stories. I know it sounds pathetic but who wouldn’t want their inner thoughts to be accepted and even complimented. Communication is a wonderful thing, people respond and when you’re a writer, they’re responding to something very personal and important to the writer.

Writers live in the past. Some people respond to adversity or tragedy by wanting to forget it happened. The writer lives the tragedy over and over again, until she has extracted every emotion and thought about it and put it down on paper. Everything is of use to a writer, every bit of information that others see as useless or trivia is fuel for the writer.

Delving deep into the soul, whatever that is, is another thing writers do a lot. It’s like we’re in continual therapy, rooting around in our emotional root cellars looking for scraps. And strangely, the writer is visual. She sees the image of the scene and pulls out the words to match it.

The writer likes newness and oldness, both are fodder. She likes babies and old people. She watches to see how they behave and figures out how she can use them. What will make them good characters. Does it sound like the writer is always working? True. Well, we take vacations and don’t think then but most of the time, at work or at play, the writer is thinking.

Throwing a frisbee around in the backyard with the children could be a story when she puts all the elements together. Innocence. Great horror movies and books have been written with innocent characters becoming monsters. Or a heartwarming story might be in store for the imagination.

Just remember, it’s all good in writing. Every single thing is of use. The writer notices everything.

She works to put it all together so that others will understand her point of view about it. So just know that when you’re reading that book you can’t put down, that what is in it is actually a lifetime of thought and imagination of the writer. The end result of years of play.

When Kevin learns of his mountain town’s evil past, he must struggle to understand his father’s part in it and how it affects himself.

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords

Genre – Horror

Rating – PG

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J.J. Ward – Fake Reviews on Amazon: my top five ways of spotting (and not spotting) them @MI7Ward

Fake Reviews on Amazon: my top five ways of spotting (and not spotting) them

“I really loved this book! It had me turning the pages all the way until the end! I’m certainly going to recommend it to my friends! I can’t wait till the next one. Five stars!”

We’ve all seen this kind of thing. Quite a lot of self-published books come garnished with a million variants of it. I used to think I could tell which they were, those phonies, but now I’m not so sure. Here are my (former) top five ways, and then why I’ve now changed my mind.

1. Is the review overly general? You loved what? If you can’t even be bothered to tell us what you enjoyed about said book, perhaps you haven’t actually read it.
2. Is it brief but overly gushing? In my experience, people who gush with excitement tend to go on for a long time. Perhaps someone who gushes for the obligatory 20 words Amazon allows for a review, and no more, isn’t really gushing at all. Maybe she’s just pretending!
3. Are there ten or twelve 5*s, all written at one time, and then a long, eerie gap? It looks a little like the author might have corralled his or her friends, and then exhausted his stock of them!
4. Are the one and two star reviews longer and more analytic than the four and five? If so, maybe they felt conned by the latter!
5. When you click on those five star reviewers, have they ever reviewed another book? Are they habitual reviewers? Or is this the only book they’ve ever reviewed? Hmmm!

Now, I know this sounds harsh. What a dim view of human nature! And that’s partly why I’ve abandoned it. Let’s have a look at what’s wrong with it, point by point.

1. Not all readers are natural critics. Just because they can’t write at length about a book they loved, it doesn’t mean they’re not sincere. Not all books invite an extensive response. A lot of people actually read the same sort of book over and over again. They loved it means: it was a super romance/ fantasy/ thriller.
2. Sometimes gushing makes you self-conscious. Especially when you’re immortalising your words in a written review.
3. Maybe the author wrote to ten or twelve Amazon critics, asking them to honestly review his book – something which happens all the time. Then he stopped.
4. Just because the one and two star reviews are longer and more analytic, it doesn’t mean they’re right. Different readers like different things, and even the most intelligent reader can miss something crucial, something that makes the whole novel make sense, instead of being an incoherent mess.
5. The mere fact that these people actually logged on to Amazon and wrote anything at all may be proof that they really did ‘love it’. Maybe it really is the greatest thing since toffee-glazed barbecue popcorn.

Nowadays, I read the reviews for entertainment. I look at a selection of each: five, four, three, two, one. I take into account everything they say, and I still apply the five tests, although alongside the five qualifiers I’ve outlined. Then I do what everyone should. I click on ‘look inside’. There are usually a lot more answers there than any review can possibly provide.

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords

Genre – Espionage Thriller

Rating – PG

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Quality Reads UK Book Club Disclosure: Author interview / guest post has been submitted by the author and previously used on other sites.

Christina George – How to Find a Publisher @publicistgal

How to Find a Publisher

I’ve been in publishing for almost 20 years. When I first started as a publicist, out there on my own things were very different in publishing. You had to have an agent to get a publisher and back then, it was pretty easy to sell a book. Well, easy is relative of course, and perhaps easier than it is now.

The big paradigm shift has come from a few places: the shrinking bookstore shelves, Amazon which sort of swept up the playing field when it came to online purchases of books, and readers buying fewer books. Then came the authors who were willing to self-publish, and did so very well, climbing to huge success and ready for a publisher to snap them up. All of this changed the dynamic of what publishers want.

Authors wanting to find a traditional publishing house need to know a few things. First, all of the above has resulted in publishers who are pretty risk-averse. They want to buy books they know will sell which is why so many of them snap up self-published titles that have found a market. If you aren’t willing to self-publish your book, then consider raising your own author profile even before you’ve signed a deal. This means getting a website, starting to blog and getting on social media. If speaking is your thing, you may consider that, too. Second, publishers want to know that the author can sell their own book and is willing to do so. Having an author who is already marketing by having a website and social media presence is pretty attractive to most publishers. Third, and perhaps most important, you need to know your markets. I’m speaking of the market you are writing in as well as the publishing market in general. Getting to know who is buying what, what publishers are looking for in terms of books and what changes are happening in the industry will set you ahead of most of your competition. Wondering where you can learn about publishing? Well, start by subscribing to a few free sites like Publishersmarketplace.com and the DigitalBookWorld.com newsletter. Both are free, both offer daily tidbits on publishing and authors.

Another surprising way to increase your chances of finding a publisher is by having a clean manuscript. I know when our editors decide to take on a book, this is something they look for, too. Believe it or not, they want something that’s been edited. Don’t send them something half-assed because unless it’s the most unbelievable piece of literature ever, they won’t take it. Keep in mind, however, that if a publisher decides to take you on, you will likely have to rewrite certain portions of it and the original manuscript you sent them may go through a lot of changes. It’s part of the process; to get the book to commercial levels there is a lot of work involved. Rarely does a manuscript arrive at a publisher commercially ready to go. Most, if not all, need work. But the more attention you can show to detail from the start, the better your chances of finding someone to publish your book.

Many ask me if they need an agent. Here’s the thing, agents are fantastic but like everything else in publishing, their world is changing, too. Agents are a necessity for many seeking a publisher, so yes, you should submit to agents when needed, though some publishers (such as the Love Swept line from Penguin) accept unagented works.

Finally, is there a market for your book? This is a very tough question to ask yourself, I know. We all want to think that our books are marketable but often many aren’t. So, how do you know? Well, research will tell you where there is a market for what you’ve written. Check out your local bookstore and see what other titles there are similar to yours. If there aren’t any, there may be a reason why. Next, have someone who can be objective give you some solid feedback. When I say objective I mean no one you know. You may have to pay for this advice but it can be really worth it. Find someone in publishing, a coach or a marketing person, but beware that they don’t try to sell you some publishing package or something you hadn’t planned on. Start with straight coaching or editorial feedback so you know if you have a solid book and a one that has a market.

Publishing has changed, many say for the better, and  I would tend to agree. Digital books, self-publishing, and authors willing to do the work have brought in a tsunami of change into a pretty old-guard world. Publishers must evolve or die and, despite the fact that they aren’t willing to take the risks they were say, ten years ago, they are still looking for books. Who knows, yours could be next.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Contemporary Romance

Rating – R

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Quality Reads UK Book Club Disclosure: Author interview / guest post has been submitted by the author and previously used on other sites.