Category Archives: Uncategorized

Less than Minimum Wage for Authors?

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Do you want to be traditionally published? Read this first!!

ebooksinternational's avatarSavvy Writers & e-Books online

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Traditional Publishing Contracts – Part One of a Series

You might remember an article How Harlequin Publishing Deceives Their Authors from last summer in this blog, about the planned class action suit against the publisher. Today I stumbled about a sequel of J.A. Konrath’s blog: Harlekin Fail, Part 2, where he explains the contract practices of the trade publishers in general, and how they deceive their authors. From today on we will look more closely into these practices.
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When offered the opportunity to publish traditionally, about two-thirds of self-published authors are interested. The supposed prestige of a traditional publisher, the wide distribution a publisher can generate and help with marketing, are the reasons, cited in surveys.
However the perception of traditional publishing is often not up to date in public, as the way of book marketing (and the whole traditional publishing business) has totally changed…

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“WRITING FOR YOU” releases tomorrow! What is the point of this writer’s handbook? Here’s the preface.

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I follow this author’s blog and she offers invaluable advice for aspiring and beginning authors. I highly recommend this book and fully intend to get my copy as soon as it is released!

Victoria Grefer's avatarCreative Writing with the Crimson League

Screen Shot 2013-06-02 at 1.37.23 PMTOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY! My writer’s handbook, “Writing for You: A Novelist’s Guide to the Craft of Fiction” releases on amazon.com.

The ebook version will be on sale for a week for just 2.99, though the real list price I will set at 4.99, so make sure you get your copy right away to save.

Today, I wanted to share the first part of the preface with you guys. It explains who I am, why I compiled “Writing for You” from my blog posts, and what the purpose of the book is.

So, here goes. I hope you enjoy the sneak peek!

PREFACE

If you’re reading this preface, then you’ve either bought my book or you’re considering buying it, and I’d like to thank you either way for giving me the chance to speak to you, from the heart and from my experience, about creative writing.

Who is this…

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Literary Agents: Beware!!

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LITERARYAGENTBEWARECOVER
Let me first of all thank everyone for their patience! I finally have another review for you! Normally, I only review those that have 3 or less published books, but I spoke with the author of today’s review, Johnny Ray, several months ago about reviewing LITERARY AGENTS–BEWARE, AN INTENSE ROMANTIC THRILLER, and I thought it was so catchy and interesting for debut authors, that I said that I would be happy to review it anyway. Johnny Ray is the author of not 3, but 10, international romantic thrillers.

This is the story about an aspiring author who just happens to have bipolar disease. She meets and has a fling with a literary agent, hoping this will get her book read. When she is rejected, she is angry and vows revenge. In the meantime, there is a serial killer targeting literary agents. Is she guilty? What is the connection?

I do not like to give away any plot points or spoilers, so I will leave you to finish any descriptions of the book as mentioned on Amazon.

My Thoughts: This seemed a rather tongue in cheek slant towards literary agents, of course, but not in any derogatory way. The main character is bipolar, as I mentioned above, and it is a bit tough to follow their thought processes at times. I do understand this, I once had a roommate with bipolar disease, and it can be hard to deal with. The author did quite a good job at depicting this. Her building of hate and feeling of rejection was very accurate. Her later actions of falling for someone that she hated so intensely, not so much. Although the beginning was a bit slow, it was a good buildup. I was really enjoying the first part of the book because of that. About 2/3 into the book, the pace increased as you would expect it would, but in my opinion, maybe a bit too much. When she totally throws her hate away and starts behaving out of character, I kept reading, but I stopped caring. I kept hoping for a bit of slowing the pace down a bit, but that never happened. The ending felt rushed. I felt a bit let down. I honestly wanted to be able to recommend this book highly, but I just can’t do that. I know that he has many books out and I have purchased a few others, which I do intend to read. I truly think that he is a very great storyteller, but this one was really not for me.

My Star rating: ***

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my review in any way.

We Have a Winner!!!

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Welcome to Las Vegas Sign Ok, forgive the Las Vegas sign, but it was the closest picture I had! This is just a small post to announce the winner of the Spotlight Interview/Review promotion!

I would like to officially congratulate the winner of the Spotlight Interview & Review promotion–C. L. Swinney! I look forward to reading his book and interviewing him here! I very much appreciate all who entered and wish I could read all of your books. I will be having another contest when I reach 1,000 Facebook likes, so keep trying! Click on my Facebook page, if you haven’t already~~ http://on.fb.me/13Si0hm.

Thanks so much for following this blog! I will have another review for you soon, and when Mr. Swinney sends me his book, after reading it, he will be featured here. I promise it will be a great interview, so stay tuned!! 🙂

Got Already Your Amazon Website?

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This is great information! I wasn’t aware that the Amazon site did all of this! 🙂

ebooksinternational's avatarSavvy Writers & e-Books online

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Many authors skip this powerful marketing tool – or don’t know about it. Once your book goes live on Amazon you are eligible for an Amazon Author Central Account – and your very own web page on Amazon.  Best of all: There is no advertising on your site, just a (great large) image of your book(s), your reviews and your book’s description.

Not only get your website a very high page rank, Author Central tools are very effective in marketing your books and promoting yourself as a published author. Use your Author Central page to provide more information for your readers: upcoming events, a complete listing of your books, more images and videos, your book trailer and even excerpts from your blog.

 

How to set up your Amazon Author Central Account
Amazon explains: once published, expect to receive an email from Kindle Direct Publishing announcing the news and…

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Super Sweet Blogging Award

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super-sweet

Hi everyone! I added a NEW PAGE to my blog called *SUPER SWEET BLOGGING AWARD* as it seems *Catherine* from http://catherinelyonaddictedtodimes.wordpress.com/ felt I was in NEED OF some SWEETING*…LOL…..So I hope you’ll come by and see MY 13 Nominations, WELL,…..As soon as I can get them all Filled!! THANK YOU Catherine For bestowing this award to me! Hope you all are enjoying your weekend. Many Blessings, *Becky* **IF YOU ARE A NOMINEE CLICK ON THE PAGE: *SUPER SWEET BLOGGERS AWARD*.

Two Short Stories

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The Lighthouse by M.T. Mathison
This review is for two short stories by the same author, M.T. Mathieson. They are similar in many ways. The first is The Lighthouse.

This is the story of Ann Barford. She is a forty two year old divorced woman, mother of two. Ann has a secret and it has eaten at her for the past thirty two years. She must return to the source of her pain, the Hennerton Lighthouse. It is there where she will finally lay the ghosts of the past to rest. But will she?

This is a interesting piece with excellent character development. The author shows the reader how Ann’s secret has manifested itself throughout her life. Some may not like Ann and wonder why she reacted as she did, but I think the author painted a very clear picture of the how and why of it. I really liked this piece although a bit dark. Of course, I like dark. I am a mystery writer (debut, work in progress however). I give this story:
****

TXT

The second story is a very short one, only about 10 pages, called TXT.

This is the story that takes place over a two hour period. Carol Walsh is a mother that is very worried about the world and the bad things that can happen. It drives her daughter crazy and Sophie feels she is overprotective. She texts her a lot. What happens when the text go unanswered?

This story, like the first one, is a middle aged woman as the protagonist. She seems rather obsessed and that is shown well in the story. M.T. Mathieson does a great job in a short piece in showing this character. I liked this but not as well as the first one. The reason is the ending. I know the reason behind it, but I feel that it could have been developed further. It seemed too abrupt for me. I do recommend it for the character development, so I will give this one: ****

Thanks for being so patient with me. I realize it has been too long since my last post. I will try to do better and have another one for you soon. Happy Reading!

If you have any books (yours or another that you liked) please leave a comment with the title and a link to the book so everyone can enjoy it! I would love to hear from you. Please leave any comments that you would like to share with us.

Do You Like Mysteries?

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The Scent of Lies
Do you like trilogies or book series like I do? Sometimes a character will stick with you long after the story is over and you begin to feel about them as not only a living human being, but a friend. You don’t want to let them go. That is how The Scent of Lies makes the reader feel. I am adding a star rating system now for every review based on 1-5 stars:
*hated it; **I can’t recommend it; ***it’s mediocre and needs work; **** I really like it and recommend it: and *****a very high recommendation and will read more of this author.

The Scent of Lies is Book 1 of 4 in the Paradise Valley Mysteries series by Debra Burroughs. This is a romantic mystery, but unlike many of this genre, it is not heavy-handed romance with the mystery as a sideline. The emphasis is on the mystery, or mysteries in this instance. I find that very refreshing. There is nothing wrong with romance, but if you are going to call it a mystery, that should be the focal point. Ms. Burroughs has an excellent balance of both throughout the entire book.

Emily Parker is a young widow whose husband, Evan Parker, Private Investigator, was murdered in his own office 6 months ago. While looking for answers into his death, Emily discovers more questions. Was he really the man that she thought he was? When she is asked by a client of Evan’s, Delia, to investigate Delia’s husband, she is interested and encouraged by her close circle of friend’s to take over Evan’s P.I. business. Then Delia’s husband is murdered. To complicate matters, Emily is introduced to the sexy new police detective, who is convinced Emily’s first client is guilty of murdering her husband. Emily must fight for her client before Delia goes to prison for a crime she didn’t commit. Or did she? Emily fights to prove Delia’s innocence as she also tries to fight the budding attraction to the new police detective; who is trying to keep Emily alive long enough to see if she could be the one to mend his heart.

Ms. Burroughs has the beginning to a winning series with The Scent of Lies. The reader is immediately rooting for Emily, for her to solve the case, get the answers about Evan’s murder, and for the new romance building for her. She has several strong female characters and men that support them rather than feel threatened by their resolve. Not all of the answers are given, it is the beginning of a series after all. The reader is given enough to pique the interest to continue reading the series, but not a gratuitous major cliffhanger that makes the reader feel cheated at the end. I highly recommend The Scent of Lies. I will be reading the entire series of Paradise Valley Mysteries. I hope you’ll join me.

MY STAR RATING FOR THE SCENT OF LIES:
*****

As the Sun Goes Down

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This post is a bit different than other I have done. This is not a review, because I haven’t read the book yet. This book is an anthology that was written solely for charity. The charity is for the care and welfare of the Salukis, a breed of dog. Since I am such an animal lover, I agreed to post this because they are in desperate need of assistance. Here is a little background on them:

Saluki Welfare Fund is set up to help rescue and re-home Salukis and also to provide a support network for breeders and owners. This is their website:

http://www.salukiwelfare.org.uk/

Salukis are very different from most other dog breeds. They look beautiful, very elegant, and that is often their downfall. They have very individual requirements from us humans. It is harder to keep them safe and to provide adequate exercise facilities for them than your run of the mill mongrel or common pet breed. But if you can meet their needs the payback is immense. They are a joy to know and to love.

Salukis are probably the oldest recognised distinct breed in the world, having been hunting in partnership with humans in the deserts of the Middle East for thousands of years. Their breeding has remained true to their function. They are lean, they run like the wind, they are intelligent and independent, but still love to share a sofa with their human. To a Muslim, dogs are kelb, unclean, but a Saluki is not a dog, it is a gift from Allah.

The name of this anthology is As the Sun Goes Down, by Jay Howard.

Here is the link for the book:

Remember, it is for charity for these dogs!

I will be posting my new review most likely tomorrow, so stay tuned!