Straight from the Author's Mouth

A Day in the Life of Dyan Garris

2007-11-29T14:10:00.001-05:00

5:00 A.M. – The raucous blast of a telephone ring breaks startlingly into the quiet reverence of a peaceful desert morning, where a fiery sun emanating a heat that seeps deeply into your very bones has not quite yet shown its cheery face over the mountains. I fumble around for my voice which apparently is still slumbering in some undiscovered dimension. “Hello?” I manage somewhat imperceptibly. The caller is from the east coast where the day has perhaps already reached a particular level of civility.

“Did I wake you?” The caller seems completely astounded that I am still in the twilight zone.

“No,” I squeak out. “I’m just not in my body yet. Can I call you later?”

“Well, yes. . . I’m having a spiritual crisis. I need a reading. What time will you call me?”

“You know I retired from readings a year ago. You can still get a free card reading on my website.”

“Yes, but I really need to talk to you and it’s just one question. . .”

And so the day begins. I am not just promoting my Voice of the Angels Cookbook. I am in the middle of promoting my line of CDs, cards, and other books as well.

5:15 A.M. – A mixture of green tea and herbal tea gently enters my body and caresses my very soul. I absorb its warm peacefulness with a substantial twist of gratitude.

6:00 A.M. – I’m in the pool. Every day begins with a one hour swim. The water is a comforting and silky embrace and we joyfully become one. It is meditation, deliberate mindfulness and euphoric bliss.

8:00 A.M. – Another call from the east coast. My meditation basket and relaxation basket are going to be featured on a TV episode. They are calling for script approval and they need it soon. There is a production deadline. I review the script. It needs a rewrite. I rewrite it and send it on its way through the ethers of cyberspace.

9:00 A.M. - I attempt to write the Daily Channeled Message. I actually channel this message, which means I must go into a light trance. Husband with seemingly fine-tuned Daily Channeled Message radar pops into the room like a cannonball. “Honey,” I admonish him. “I’m trying to do the channeled message.”

“I know, but the graphic artist is on the phone and wants to go over the revisions for ‘The Book of Daily Channeled Messages.’”

“Please tell her I’ll call her back.”

10:00 A.M. – I signed up for a Virtual Book Tour. Dorothy Thompson of “Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion” has e-mailed me several interviews that need to be answered. My other e-mail is like a Pacific Ocean of correspondence and orders that need fulfilling. We’ll get to it. Everything gets done in its own time. I follow my own incessant advice to everyone and breathe deeply.

11:00 A.M. – I am sending out a press release through PRWeb for the cookbook. They call and request some revisions. They are very thorough. We examine every detail and every paragraph like we’re having an MRI. I am grateful. They are the best. I rewrite and e-mail it back to them. They call again. We’re good to go. Whew!

12:00 P.M. – I hear bells. Lunch is calling. I make time to talk to my food.

1:00 P.M. – Phone again. This time it’s the fax. The radio promoter is faxing over the contracts for the CD radio promotion which I need to read, sign, and fax back. They also want me to ship them 200 “Release” CDs. I promise they will go out today.

2:00 P.M. – I am revamping my press kit into a little booklet, rather than twenty sheets of paper that I send out with orders and other correspondence. The printer has e-mailed and tells me they cannot locate the cover photos and they also need me to read the proof and send them the revisions, if any. They need it today if they are to meet my deadline.

3:30 P.M. – My friend calls. She tells me she had an interview with a newspaper reporter and they would like to give me some ink. Can I send over my press kit? Soon. She mentions that she just heard one of my songs on the Soundscapes cable TV music channel. I am thrilled!

4:00 P.M. – The distributor needs one-sheets with descriptions, UPCs, and catalog numbers for the CDs. They also need signed contracts and demos. This I cannot do today. Another distributor has placed a large order for inventory. This can go out tomorrow.

5:00 P.M. – Another friend calls. She is representing my product line. “You know those greeting cards we wrote years ago?”

“Yes….”

“We should polish those up and add them to the line.” OK, it is on the list. “Oh, and I was reviewing the line and I think something is missing.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, you need to have a meditation journal for use with the CDs along with the journal that you already have for use with the cards. It makes everything complete.” It makes sense to me. I put it on the list.

7:30 P.M. – Back to computer things. I need to update my Amazon.com account and my CDbaby.com account because I’ve added new products. I upload product images and write descriptions. And I wade through a sea of all the other e-mail that requires response. In there I discover a request for interview from a magazine I’ve been waiting a year to hear from. Do I want to do it? Absolutely! I also find a request to be a guest on a radio show. That’s exciting. Count me in.

8:30 PM – I visit my two MySpace pages and my other networking sites. I answer friend requests, comments, and reciprocate with a few of my own.

9:00 PM – I remind myself that we are all responsible for our choices and I hold myself fully accountable for what I’ve created. At this point in the day, I can’t resist a little humor. I smile my sweetest smile. “Honey, will you take me to Barbados? No? Can we go to Fiji then? I flash a bigger and more engaging smile. No? Hawaii? No? Florida it is. I will make the reservations.” Soon.

Dyan Garris is the author of VOICE OF THE ANGELS COOKBOOK. You can visit her website at www.voiceoftheangels.com.

Tags: Dyan Garris, Voice of the Angels Cookbook, recipes for entertaining, Greek Cooking

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-21T14:18:00.001-05:00

Dwayne Gerald Anderson, Young Adult Author With Asperger Syndrome

2007-09-24T00:00:00.000-04:00

I like science, it was one of my best subjects in school. I loved those types of movies focusing on natural disasters, science discoveries, aliens, and others.

However, I don't just limit myself to science fiction. True, I'm a young adult author who writes for the teen and young adult reader in mind as the books deal with serious issues in society and the world. I have planned a romance, fantasy, and general fiction in the future, as well as two more science fiction novels.

I started writing in September of 2001 not long after the events of 9/11. My first book, "Alien Conflict" was a science fiction novella that focused on an alien who came to Earth to stop a war from breaking out.

The protagonists of my next works had one of my own traits and qualities, so basically, my writing is based off my own experiences in real life. Whether it's being feeble and weak yet intelligent, living with intolerance from others, wanting to be who I want to be, or trying to find my place in the world, the main protagonist of my books and I have at least one thing in common.

Writing is more of a hobby for me. Whenever I'm not writing, I'm on the computer, playing games, watching television, reading(though I don't do as much as I used to years ago), working, or whatever fills my spare time.

My most recent published work other than a novel was a poem I wrote for my late grandmother at her funeral. Her family and friends loved it and it was published in a later edition of my town's official newspaper, the Naicam News.

Being a published author changed my life here in Naicam. Now I'm famous, better respected by those who tormented me in school, and I've never been more proud of myself than ever in my life.

I don't do a lot of traveling, I tend to just stay in one place the whole time. A few years from now, I will be moving to the big city where there are greater opportunities for employment and others things than in a small town.

I was able to accomplish all this, even despite having Asperger Syndrome. Despite what many in my family believed, I can face the challenges and obstacles life throws at me. All I need is a chance and an opportunity to act upon it.

Dwayne G. Anderson
Author of PARTIALLY HUMAN
http://www.geocities.com/andersondwayne/dwaynegand.html

Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, Dwayne G. Anderson

Setting Authenticity by Nikki Leigh

2007-09-20T00:00:00.000-04:00

I love to read books set in other places and different time periods so that I can enjoy a good story and to learn about new places and times. When I write, I spend a lot of time learning about the place and time for my books to add authenticity to my stories. This requires extra work, but I like to weave factual information into my novels. In the first chapter of Widow’s Walk, I changed some major elements of a scene I really liked – because some key facts were wrong. Thankfully, I had done enough research to avoid needing to make major changes in Lady Lightkeeper.

There is a very well known author who I really like to read. Her books are great and one was set in Cape Cod. There was a great old house set on a cliff overlooking the ocean which was a major element in the story. About a year later, I visited Cape Cod and I went in search of the house – just in case it was there. It wasn’t there and there were some other major problems. The book put the house on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Problem is – there are no cliffs in that part of Cape Cod and it doesn’t face the ocean. I see that as two major elements of the story that should’ve been changed.

I spent a lot of time researching the Outer Banks of North Carolina in the 1950’s for my Cape Hatteras mystery. My research library contains plenty of books on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and the Cape Ann area of Massachusetts. These books have been invaluable in my research and I found a wonderful historian at Cape Hatteras. Several reviews for Lilah and the Locket (Cape Hatteras mystery) specifically mentioned the atmosphere in the book. That sort of comment makes my day and justifies the added work to make it “right”.

The other side of the coin involves many local historians. I have an idea for a neat local site that I plan to include in Rebels and Rogues. So, I contacted the local historic society for some additional details. At first the conversation went well, but then I got an angry email. This was followed by a series of angry emails.

The place that I want to use has some history, but there is no proof that it was used the way I plan to use it. This seemed to be a hot button issue with the historians. One actually accused me of “perpetuating a myth that had no substantiation in history”. I tried to remind them that I write fiction, but that didn’t help. In the back of the book, there will be a note that there is no proof that my events ever took place, but many other elements of the story will be authentic.

So, what is the answer? I’ll keep using as much authenticity as I can. There will be a note in any book where I took liberties with the truth. But, I believe that as a FICTION author, I should be able to play with the facts as needed for my stories. In turn, I give the reader as much truth as I can work into the story. I feel that’s a good compromise. What do you think?

Nikki Leigh
Author of LADY LIGHTKEEPER
http://www.nikkileigh.com/

“My love of the coast, lighthouses, history and architecture let me have a lot of fun researching and creating my stories. I’ve found that its helpful to write several stories in the same area.
Nikki has a series of business books released under the name Shri Henkel. Additional information can be found at www.sandcconsulting.com/books_4_sale.htm
She also owns a consulting and promotional business. Her twenty years of business management and fifteen years in promotions have been helpful in her business books.
Nikki's latest project is the first book in a series of e-books to help authors learn to promote their books better. It delves into all facets of book promotion and shares tips
from a number of authors about things that worked for them.
Nikki would invite all authors, writers and readers to visit her and her friends at www.readersstation.com. Nikki can be reached at http://www.nikkileigh.com/

Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, Nikki Leigh

The Secret to Publishing: Allow Divine Guidance to Lead You by Yvonne Perry

2007-09-17T00:00:00.000-04:00

When I started my research I was sure that a publisher would want to publish my book. I asked for higher guidance and met Valerie Connelly of Nightengale Press one week later. I pitched my book idea to her and she accepted it right there on the spot. That was easy, I thought.

The next week I signed a contract with Nightengale Press and went to work in earnest to get my book finished by January 1, 2007. It was a deadline we both thought was realistic. What I had not expected to encounter was having the field of stem cell research change so rapidly. I kept finding new material and meeting new people in the field. It was hard to find a stopping place! My deadline came and went, and I was still digging through the material I had gathered. Still more was coming in.

I was almost ready to send the manuscript to Valerie at the end of January. That’s when I met Don C. Reed. Don has a son named Roman who was paralyzed in a college football accident ten years ago. He established the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act, “Roman’s law” and has gathered more than $40 million to research geared toward the cure of paralysis. He also worked on the passage of California’s Proposition 71 and knew everyone in the stem cell research field. I spent the next two months collecting more information that really needed to go into the book. In fact, the book wouldn’t have the punch it carries without the information I gathered from Don and his colleagues.

Finally, the book had to go to print if it was going to meet the printing date and go with Valerie to BEA in June. After the galley copy was printed full of errors but time was up! I continued to rewrite, edit and polish the book. I sent 24 pages of changes to the text for the final version. Since Lightning Source had to make so many changes after they have set up the print.
The final version will be printed at the end of this month.

Yvonne Perry
Author of RIGHT TO RECOVER: WINNING THE POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS WARS OVER STEM CELL RESEARCH IN AMERICA
http://www.write2recover.com/

Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, Yvonne Perry

Straight from the Author's Mouth of Nick Oliva, Author of ONLY MOMENTS

2007-09-06T00:28:00.000-04:00

Nick Oliva (O-lee-va’) has been a musician, composer, photographer, an audio engineer, an Entertainment Director and Technical Director for over twenty-five years and is a successful self-made money manager.

“Only Moments” was originally written within the cyclical theme of Birth, Death, and Rebirth over ten years ago. I focused on the unforgiving world, the false hope of technology and religion, incorporating one’s own search and questioning of the spiritual aspects that provide some measure of meaning, and then tying it into the romance of total devotion of man and wife. Some might call it a fairy tale romance, but there are many “high school” relationships that have survived the test of time, however difficult. These two characters are both heavily flawed but those flaws are what binds and drives them with their deep passion for music.

This journey begins in the year 2020, with a romantic surreal dream and the waking of one sixty-six year-old widower Chris Vadia, a retired professional musician, and his sullen celibate perspective due to his wife dying fifteen years earlier. After establishing the human surroundings of the time period, we flashback to 1970 and we find how he meets the love of his life, while on a wild summer vacation driving through California. A beach in Big Sur is the dramatic background for the beginning of their impassioned romance.

Time then shifts through their college days, marriage, their struggling and successes, parental deaths, their Carnegie Hall debut, and then the crisis of having grown so far apart despite being with each other constantly. Our unforgiving fate, the duality of technology, the commonality of human emotion throughout history, ties into a tale of human devotion that eventually brings understanding and hope.

The road, throughout the novel is representative of one’s life path and sense of curiosity and discovery.

I wrote it because I challenged myself to write a better book than John Grisham. Now, don't misunderstand. That I have a small percentage of his success would be wonderful. I just wanted to write a book that was more meaningful and see if I could get it published.
When I chose to get this book in print I chose Publish America. I could have went with I-Universe or a similar type of company and paid up front but I didn't want to go to what I thought was a vanity press. After the papers were signed, I realized all the controversy surrounding the publisher and read many complaints as well as people who had good experiences. I can only say that my covers were designed with my supervision and were my photos and they did a great job putting them together. There were typos and they did clean them up. It is frustrating to deal with them with the email only communication, but they have done what they said they would do. Many of the vociferous attacks on them have come from self-promoting authors who want to put down others to make themselves look better so they propagate threads on their websites and contribute little to the literary world. I think some of the complaints stem from people who have never been published and they want their book to be "perfect" in every way and it doesn't work that way with any publisher. There are always mistakes. I had my manuscript edited twice and proofed twice and there were still typo and formatting errors that occurred. I think that they have published things that probably shouldn't have reached the public, but again they are a POD and in the process of making money they have allowed acts of sloppiness to damage their reputation. I cannot fix their problems, but I wish they would bring their current standards up as their reputation is important to survive in business world. I on the other hand had a good experience, but because of the perceived and actual problems it has been difficult to get reviewed because of the Publish America stigmata. Let's face it, the publishing world has always been an exclusive enclave of "country club" mentality and this new wave of POD's and electronic distribution is a threat to democratize the business and the publishing business has been in trouble for many years. Some major publishing house are already turning to POD for their "lesser" titles and limited run books. If JK Rowling and the Harry Potter series had been published by a POD, would the validity of their writing be in question? Does the way something is brought to print affect the quality of the work? I think it is a transition from the old to the new and in the process there is pain, stupidity, and competitiveness that obscures the art for it's own sake. If the stories hold up, and the literary quality is there then it should not matter. I am proud to have a book that I know turns the lights on in a room and hopefully those who read it see things they haven't before. I leave the arguing over the way it is brought to the public to others.

My cross-over to the land of the dead, my flatlining and death experience that imitates the book I wrote years earlier is incredible but many people avoid wanting to talk about it. I think their religious beliefs or perhaps their own disbelief of anything metaphysical keeps them from wanting to hear the experience. It is almost as if it is a threat to their perceived "blanket of security" that their faith and/or lifestyle keeps them from being open minded to other possibilities of life after death. It is not just strangers and friends, it extends to my own family. No one wants their applecart upset.

Some advice for would be novelists:
Don't assume! Never assume that the world needs another book. Why is yours so special?
What makes it stand out? Does it stand out? Remember this-your finished a novel. 99% of the people who start one don't and rarely does anyone even begin one. You are part of 3 billion people in this world. Do the percentages. One percent of 3 billion is 30 million, one tenth of that is 3 million and one tenth of that is 300,000 and that is roughly how many books get published each year. That means you have 1/100th of a chance to be a part of 300,000 books that are for sale. That's a sobering thought! So don't get your hopes up or your expectations too high. On the other hand, do it for you! That's who counts anyway. You did it, you accomplished an incredible thing. Don't downplay it because you aren't on Oprah, or the movie of the week isn't based on your book. Life is about the little things. Enjoy them and be proud! Smell the roses.

What started for me as a documentation of a wild teenage vacation across country and through California at age 16 and changed my life permanently, morphed into an attempt at showing life's bittersweet ride on the road to acceptance that our humanity is all we can embrace regardless of whatever technology we can muster.

Nick Oliva
Author of ONLY MOMENTS
http://www.onlymomentsbook.com/index.htm

Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, Nick Oliva

If You Have the Desire to Write, Just Do It! by Hazel Statham

2007-09-03T00:00:00.000-04:00

I don't know if I am what you would call a typical published author, but when I began writing at the age of fifteen it was with no thoughts of publication - I just had this compulsion to write. Over the years, my outlook remained the same, I wrote to amuse myself and friends, still with no thoughts of approaching a publisher. However, my outlook changed when I joined a writers' group at our local college and the lecturer who headed the group badgered me into trying to submit.

I work mainly on the computer and it was to the internet I turned when looking for a suitable publisher who would accept submissions electronically. Unfortunately, there seemed no such publishers in the UK therefore I turned my attentions to the USA. I had several novels under my belt but 'Dominic' a Georgian Romance, was the first one I sent out to All Romance Books - an ebook and POD publisher. They loved it and asked if I had any other manuscripts so I submitted 'My Dearest Friend', a Regency. They took both books but my debut was cut short when, due to the owners demise, All Romance Books was forced to close.

At that time, I was awaiting a heart bypass operation and, believing I had had my five minutes of fame, thought my publishing career was over. However, shortly after the operation, I decided to try submitting once again. I sent the two manuscripts out to Wings ePress who, within five weeks, offered me a contract on both books. At the same time I approached Triskelion with 'The Portrait', which they immediately took. Wings then accepted 'His Shadowed Heart' and with four books waiting for release, I began to feel that I was making some headway toward becoming a 'published author'. However, things don't always run smoothly in the publishing world and once again I was doomed for disappointment when Triskelion filed for bankruptcy before 'The Portrait' hit the shelves and, along with the other Triskelion authors, I am now awaiting the release of my rights so that I may submit elsewhere.

I write for the love of it and don't work to a trend or formula - I write what pleases me. I usually make a brief outline as to where I want the story to go and then just let it unfold. It's like watching a play evolve and quite often my characters take me off at a tangent. For instance, I didn't know that Stefan had an illegitimate daughter in 'My Dearest Friend' until the sergeant strolled onto the stage and told me.

In my youth, I never envisioned myself becoming a published author and even now, when I stop and think about it, it doesn't seem quite real. Nothing is ever completely certain but I say if you have the desire to write - just do it!

Hazel Statham
Author of DOMINIC
http://www.hazel-statham.co.uk/

Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, Hazel Statham, historical romance

Agony and Ecstasy of Publishing by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

2007-08-31T00:00:00.000-04:00

I've had both, that's for sure. My first book, THE ENCHANTED SELF, A Positive Therapy! was printed somewhere in the Far East. I think it was Singapore. Anyway, I was waiting and waiting and waiting. Of course the book wasn't arriving and I was going crazy calling my publisher and spending money on a publicist who had no copies to send out! Finally I found out the real truth. My book was sitting in the hull of a ship in a China sea somewhere waiting until other supplies and packages filled the hull. The boat would not sail with only my book aboard!

I was heartsick and could feel the pain of my books lying in a dark chamber in the bottom of a boat in a cold sea!

This went on for months. About four months later my book arrived. I held it like a baby and felt as if my baby had finally come home from the hospital! Now with digital printing and printing on demand that is less likely to happen. I'm relieved for all of us writers. No one should have her books locked in the hull of a ship in a sea across the world.

My new book, THE TRUTH, I'm Ten, I'm Smart and I Know Everything! has had other adventures, but none to compare. However, a Chinese professor who lives in China, has already translated THE TRUTH into Chinese. So I guess I have some sort of connection with the Far East. Maybe it all started when my parents took me as a little girl to the Far East Restaurant in New Haven and they got to eat Chinese food while I was given water, bread and ice cream! Hey, there is the makings of a cute story there. See, the ecstasy always overcomes the agony!

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein
Author of THE TRUTH: I’m Ten, I’m Smart and I Know Everything!
http://www.enchantedself.com/

Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, Barbara Becker Holstein

Straight Talk from Robin Jay, Author of THE ART OF THE BUSINESS LUNCH

2007-08-24T00:00:00.000-04:00

Ah ~ another chance to share my opinion with the fabulous world of writers! I’m in the mood for some tough love (dishing it out, that is), so here we go.

Do NOT let the snobs of the literary world make you feel inadequate for pursuing your craft in any way you can. I just read PG Forte’s blog post about writing e-books in which she shared that basically she doesn’t feel appreciated by the literary snob world because she writes e-books. Hey, she’s getting fan mail – how bad can her writing be?

She wrote, “E-books are convenient, fast, cheap and environmentally friendly.” Sounds to me like a lovely way to write. I have to confess: when I was trying so desperately to sell my book, I would walk through Barnes & Noble and look at some of the titles on their shelves. I would shake my head and wonder how THOSE books got sold! I didn’t believe I saw ANY title that was any better than mine!

I was always amazed that publishers and agents could find the value in some of those dreadful titles, but they couldn’t see how important MY book, “The Art of the Business Lunch” was going to be! What a difference a day makes. My book is now in ten languages worldwide because my friend knew some agents and the agent I chose knew a publisher and my publisher saw the value in it. (I SWEAR I didn’t sleep with anyone to get this book deal! But having contacts DOES help. That is the world in which we live.) My publisher made an offer for my book, on the condition that I would DOUBLE the word count. I pounded out the new manuscript in eight weeks, doubling the work that had taken me two years to write. Interestingly enough, a little validation goes a long way. My writing improved dramatically. Those pages I wrote while “under the gun” came fast and furious. Today I write better than I ever did before.

Am I rich yet? Not hardly. Not off the book, anyway! But I am a traditionally published author now. As a professional speaker, that lends tremendous credibility, which is why I was so determined to sell my book. And, you might enjoy knowing that I originally self-published my book. I still have hundreds of that edition in my garage if you want one to compare. Just pay me for shipping and it’s yours for free. My publisher made me pull it once we inked a deal.

Here are some interesting stats, according to an article by Chris Anderson in the July 17 issue of Publishers Weekly, in 2004:

• 950,000 titles out of 1.2 million tracked by Nielsen Bookscan sold fewer than 99 copies
• Another 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies
• Only 25,000 sold more than 5,000 copies
• The average book in America sells about 500 copies
• Only 10 books sold more than a million copies
• Fewer than 500 sold more than 100,000
• Nearly 200,000 new titles are published each year

Now, am I the only one who can see that if fewer than 25,000 books ever sold more than 5,000 copies, fewer than 500 ever sold more than 100,000 copies, and 950,000 titles sold fewer than 99 copies, that a writer shouldn’t feel badly if the acquisitions editors don’t choose their work?

The literary world is unlike any other. A great book like Dan Brown’s “The DaVinci Code” comes along and becomes the biggest success in years. Staples like Nora Roberts, Stephen King and John Grisham keep their publishers and agents happy. And the rest? From what I can tell, well, I guess I can’t tell much.

I just want you, yes YOU, a writer who loves to write, who is studying their craft and is writing every day - even when you don’t feel like it, I want YOU to relax, tell yourself what a great job you’re doing and take a break. Please don’t let this weird world of publishing get you down. Writers have never had more options than now – for writing, publishing, and distribution. Congratulations

Robin Jay
Author of THE ART OF THE BUSINESS LUNCH
http://www.robinjay.com/

Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, Robin Jay

About Native American Deputy Tempe Crabtree by Marilyn Meredith

2007-08-23T00:03:00.000-04:00

Judgment Fire is the sixth in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. Tempe was inspired by three women. The first, a resident deputy in the mountain area where I live who I interviewed for the newspaper. She told me about the difficulties she experienced as a female deputy.

On a ride-along with a female police officer, from three a.m. to six a.m. she received no calls. During this time, as we were patrolling the dark streets, she poured her heart out to me about the difficulties of being the only female officer in that department, and the problems she faced being a single mother of a young son.

When I met a young Native American artist who grew up on our local reservation, I knew she was going to be the model for my Tempe and she is who I see when I’m writing. And yes, she has read my books. I’ve only used this young woman’s looks, nothing else.

Tempe didn’t grow up on the reservation and in the first book doesn’t know much about her heritage. In each of the following novels, she learns more and more about her ancestry, including the spiritual side. Her husband, Hutch, is a Christian preacher, and believes she’s jeopardizing her soul when she participates in anything supernatural.

In Judgment Fire, I wanted Tempe to recognize why she hasn’t embraced the fact that she’s an Indian during her younger years. Of course there’s a murder, and it’s during the investigation that repressed memories of her high school years come to the forefront.

Over the years, in the area where I live, the creation of a casino has drastically changed the lives of the Indians who live on and off the reservation. Of course, prejudice rears its ugly head at times, but the atmosphere has definitely improved.

Though many of the books in the series refer to or have scenes on a reservation, though there is resemblance to the reservation near my home, the one in my novels is not real nor is the tribe I’m writing about. I do research, of course, but I want all my readers to realize I’m writing fiction. Even so, one of my most treasured compliments from a reader who is an Indian who called me to tell me he’d read one of the Tempe books, Deadly Omen, which centers on a murder at a Pow Wow. He said, "I wanted to let you know you got it right."

Marilyn Meredith
Author of Judgment Fire
http://fictionfoyou.com/

Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, Marilyn Meredith

Why I Love eBooks by PG Forte

2007-08-20T00:00:00.000-04:00

I got fan mail this morning.

Fan mail, in case you don't already know this, is one of the best things about being an author. Praise from people you know is always nice (and semi-suspect if it’s from someone you refer to, or who refers to you, as ‘Mom’). A good review always puts a great, big smile on my face. But for someone to take the time to write you––right out of the blue––for no other reason than to tell you that she loves your books and when will the next one be out...well, wow. Does it get any better than that?

But, I digress...

There's a reason, after all, why this post is titled 'why I love e-books' rather than 'why I love fan mail'. The letter this morning came from a woman in Norway (where, as my daughter so very helpfully pointed out, they speak another language). If it weren't for e-books, this woman would never have found my books.

In fact, if it weren't for e-publishing and the internet I wouldn't have readers in Australia or Singapore either, not to mention reviewers in London and Jamaica!

Yet, for far too many people, e-books just aren’t real books, e-publishers aren’t real publishers and e-authors...well, we just aren’t real authors. Are we?

Sigh. I suppose I should be used to it by now. As a writer of (primarily) romance, I’m already not considered a ‘real writer’ by a large number of literary snobs. Especially not here in the university town I call home. As a writer of erotic romance I’m completely beyond the pale in some folk’s eyes.

Which is why I find all the posturing at Romance Writers of America (where they’ve recently ‘re-defined’ their ideas about what it takes to be recognized as a publisher or as a published author) to be ridiculous. Not to mention pointless, predictable, tacky, ironic, amusing and sad.

It’s rather like the housemaids looking down on the field hands, isn’t it?

According to RWA’s arbitrary and somewhat silly (IMO) standards most (if not all) e-pubs just don’t qualify as publishers. Sorry. Too bad, so sad. I’d be more inclined to laugh it off as a really bad joke if it weren’t for the fact that...well, it’s not really a laughing matter to the very many talented, dedicated professionals who choose to publish, distribute, promote—whatever—our books primarily on the internet.

We’re the Rodney Dangerfields of the reading and writing world, it seems. We get no respect. Or, as the good people at EPIC (the Electronically Published Internet Connection) are putting it these days: it’s not easy being e. And ain’t that the truth?

I really don't understand why more people aren't enthusiastic about e-books. They’re clearly the future of publishing. Look at any sci-fi movie, TV show or book that’s been produced in the past forty years or so. What does the future of reading look like (in all but the most depressing post-Apocalyptic visions, where we’re all living in caves again or floating around on rafts)? It looks a whole lot like today’s e-book readers—that’s what!

E-books are convenient, fast, cheap and environmentally friendly.

You can buy them almost instantaneously, from the comfort of your home—or anywhere else you happen to be. They take up no space at all and if you happen to lose them all due to a computer crash, many e-publishers will replace them for you. Try doing that with a print publisher! You can load who-knows-how-many of them onto an e-book reader and carry around one paperback-sized reader instead of a small library.

In addition, new e-books are cheaper to buy than new print books (especially big ol' books like some of mine have been) which means you can afford to buy even more books. And the technology is getting better and more readily accessible all the time. Last year the New York Times even published an article about the possibility of e-paper subscriptions becoming available in the coming months. Yes! Daily newspapers that you can read on a flexible, foldable, re-usable reader. Then there’s the environmental advantage. Think of all the trees we'll save.

Seriously, where's the bad here? Unless you're looking for doorstops or something to line your birdcage?

Sure, e-books have taken a lot longer to hit the mainstream than many of us thought (or hoped) would be the case. I know a lot of people who are still waiting for my books to make it into print before they read them. And it’s possible I would have sold more books by now if they were readily available in brick-and-mortar bookstores. I would probably have made more money if I had a NY publisher handing out big advances, too.

But would my books have gone into production as quickly? Would they stay ‘in print’ indefinitely? Could you buy them in Oslo or Singapore, Sydney or Kingston or Toronto? I seriously doubt it. Which means I would never have received the lovely note this morning that totally made my day. The note that reassured me that hell, yes, I’m a real author. And those were real books I wrote. The kinds of book that real people can read and love and cherish. That they can pass on to their children (well, okay, maybe not the erotica) That they can—OMG—quote from!

I’m thinking that, for an author, it doesn’t get any more real than that!

PG Forte

Author of WAITING FOR THE BIG ONE

http://www.pgforte.com/

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Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, PG Forte

A Novel Doesn't Write Itself by Kim Baccellia

2007-08-16T00:00:00.000-04:00

Contrary to popular belief, it’s hard work to write a novel. It seems like everyone wants to write a book. But how many actually write?

Huh? I actually have to write everyday?

I know life gets in the way. I know that sometimes it’s hard to find the time in a busy schedule to write.

Newsflash: In order to write a novel, you have to stop with the excuses and actually do it.

Here are some tips I’ve found that help me when I don’t feel motivated to write.

** Set a time everyday to write. Find a time that’s best for you. I’m a morning person so I find my creative juices work best earlier in the day.

** Learn to say “no.” Don’t allow others to make you feel guilty. Oprah did a whole episode on this. You have to find time for yourself. If you don’t, no one else will.

** If you have little children, have a notebook or paper handy. Find those extra few minutes a day and write. Fifteen minutes here and there do add up. I’ve also had play dates with other moms so I could have an extra hour just to write.

** Limit surfing the web. This is a tough one. I admit I’ve had problems with this. I try to set limits on when I can go on the web.

** Have your own writing space. I have my own writing room. But if this isn’t an option, find a small space in your house to write.

** Cut back on TV time. Tivo is wonderful. Now I can tape my shows and watch them any time of the day.

In conclusion, a novel doesn’t write itself. Every few minutes do count. You just have to be creative in finding the time to do it.

Kim Baccellia

Author of EARRINGS OF IXTUMEA

http://www.kim-baccellia.com

Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, Kim Baccellia

The Familiar Comes Forward by CJ Maxx

2007-08-10T10:19:00.000-04:00

Your background will creep into your story. When I started writing IN THE ARMS OF A WARRIOR, my intention was to merely state that she came from a family of warriors. After the first crisis where do I send her--back to her family. Not because of the crisis but because her brother's coming back from the war. It worked and contributed to the resolution of her immediate problem.

I spent twelve years of my life in Special Forces. Obviously, that would be her family background. What I didn't realize was the depth of involvement of Special Forces in the story. It's not a war story, it's a love story.

You know, I couldn't make Susan Ambrose a girly-girl. With her background some of those warrior genes had to influence her. But she's still feminine and a desirable woman. I just didn't know I'd build this toughness into her until I started developing her character.

I guess this is the time to talk about my writing style. I work from a vague outline. I know that you should work everything out beforehand and write a detailed outline. And, I've done that in the past but realized quickly that I ignore it. The story changes as I type it. The details flow from my mind through my fingers when I'm writing. I don't know exactly how the story is going to end until I type the end.

The main male character, David Wilson, does not come across as a warrior or even a good romantic hero in the beginning. As I developed his character I had to balance the negatives with some warrior traits. Again, it came from his interactions with her warrior family.

When another crisis arises, not directly involving their love life, Susan reaches into the active Special Forces community through her father to help prepare David for what he'll face it the near future. Then the story builds on that relationship in the chapter that finds him in great danger, in a war zone.

It wasn't until I neared the end of the story that I realized what Susan really wanted in a man. You have to read the story to see how that happens.

They say you should write what you know. Well, everyone can't know everything, but when you are developing your story or your characters it's helpful to fall back on the familiar, your background.

CJ Maxx
Author of IN THE ARMS OF A WARRIOR
http://www.cjmaxx.net/

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Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, CJ Maxx

Keeping it in the Family by New York Times Bestselling Author Jane Green

2007-07-18T00:01:00.000-04:00

I adore my family. I have a wonderful relationship with my both my parents and my younger brother and his wife, so close I think of her as a sister rather than a sister-in-law. When people ask me what I miss about England, I may answer with silly witticisms such as Marks and Spencer's food hall, but in truth what I have missed most, since moving to America seven years ago, is my family.

And what I have found myself doing, from the moment I touched down on these shores, is attempting to create a 'family of choice', surrounding myself with people I love, friends who become so much more, people I can phone in the middle of the night who will drop everything and come to help me out of a crisis.

I have a couple here in town, girls I have known for some years, our children growing up together, going to the same pre-schools, the same painful music classes.

But I don't see these friends as much as I used to. Long gone are the days when the children were all in pre-school and we could spend our time at one another's houses, drinking endless coffees as the children crawled around our feet.

Now I am lucky if I see these friends once a month. We still get together in the evenings from time to time, when we are not so exhausted we do nothing more than collapse into bed, and we still get together for Christmas and Thanksgiving, but now that our kids are in different elementary schools, it's rare that we see one another on a daily basis.

I live in Westport, Connecticut, in a town where few of my female peers work, where I spend my time ferrying my four children back and forth to ballet and soccer, wondering why it is I never feel quite right, never feel that I belong, as groups of women expertly unfold their collapsible chairs, maneuvering their Starbucks coffee from one hand to the other as they shout hellos and wave to all around them.

Even now, in Summer, I drop the kids at camp every morning and feel my muscles tense as I get out the car. I know a few of the women, but I am not, have never been, tribal, have always felt ill-at-ease amongst groups of women, and particularly these groups. I don't know what to say to them, and I stand, awkwardly, at one side as they greet each other in their workout gear, each of them looking as if they have something I don't: they belong.

These women, for the most part, don't work. These women, for the most part, are full-time mothers, involved in local charity work, their children's PTA's. I am quite certain that most of them are delightful – on the occasions I've met one of them on a one-to-one basis, they have been lovely – so why is it that I feel so awkward, so different, so utterly wrong? Is it because I'm English? Does that automatically make me different? Is it because I work? Or perhaps is it the nature of my work?

What I miss, as I sit on the edges of the soccer field or bury myself in a book as I wait for my daughter to finish ballet, are other authors, female friends who work in the same line, who can truly relate. Who else could understand my frustrations at an editor, my delight with an agent, my strategies with a publisher? Who else could understand the difficulties of juggling book tours with motherhood, and the joys and sorrows of writing novels, this peculiar life where you are half in, half out of the public eye.

Two years ago, when I moved – briefly - to Litchfield, Connecticut, I told myself I was moving away from suburbia and towards an area in Connecticut that is known for its artists, actors and writers. All I'd have to do, I thought, was walk out my front door where I would be stumbling across household names, people I have, for years, found inspirational, people with whom I would be able to sit, recounting our various literary adventures.

I did find them, but only in passing. I was married, at the time, to a rabid Republican, something of a fish out of water in the liberal world of artists and writers. The friends I did find would talk of organizing parties for us, introducing us, then balked at the eleventh hour, knowing that however I might have been accepted on my own, as a couple, as a 'we', it would never have worked.

My marriage started unraveling, and I moved back to Westport. I moved away from a world that held so much promise, that had so much potential to be the right place for me, to a world that I knew, a world that already held my friends, a place that felt safe.

I jumped back into suburbia with my eyes squeezed tightly shut, but I have found that those friends I made in Litchfield, the artists, the writers, the actors, are still in my life, that the distance between us hasn't changed our friendship, but has given us the space to explore it slowly, has made those friendships even stronger.

My family of choice now includes those people, my closest friend from that time being another female author, fiercely successful, far more literary than I, yet we meet for lunch and can't stop talking for hours – from the writing process, to book tours, to new deals, to make-up, and back all over again.

So even though we are no longer neighbours, even though I now have to jump in the car to spend time with these friends, they are now, firmly, part of the fabric of my life, and I am so grateful that I have them, that I don't have to spend my time fretting as to the precise reasons I will never fit in with the other soccer moms.

Jane Green
Author of Second Chance
http://www.janegreen.com/

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Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, Jane Green

A Note to the Reader by Marilyn Celeste Morris

2007-07-16T11:39:00.000-04:00

There really was/is a Camp Sobingo, located outside the capitol city of Seoul, South Korea at the end of WWII. This military compound’s cookie-cutter “quarters” was home to the women and children who joined their Army officer husbands during the US Occupation. The camp had a school, a post exchange, a dispensary, a commissary, and even a movie theatre (think “MASH”). Ever-present, however, was the military presence, both Korean and our own US forces, and the tyranny of the Russians located across the 38th parallel, who merely annoyed the dependents with their random denial of electricity to the American contingent.

Most of the Americans had deployed to other assignments before June 25th, 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. Those remaining escaped safely, but “The Land of the Morning Calm” would never be the same. In 1954, my father was ordered back to Korea as part of the Military Advisory Group. He took a short drive to what remained of Camp Sobingo, and sent snapshots of our former quarters, (Hq.G-27) which had been pock-marked by aerial strafing, and natives were stripping the floorboards for fuel.

The window, where I had sat and dreamed a 10 year old’s dreams and played with my homemade doll-house populated by models cut from the Sears, Roebuck catalog, was boarded up. More pockmarks surrounded the framework.

An unusual childhood, one might correctly assume, yet I was not alone in this kind of adventure. There are vast numbers of military brats and wives of servicemen who carry the same experiences from different countries. Thanks to the power of the Internet, we are finding each other. Two such sites that assist in this process are: http://www.military-brats.com/ where you may register so that others may find you, and http://www.overseas-brats.com/. Another organization of interest is the American Overseas Schools Historical Society, which recently broke ground for a museum to be built in Wichita, Kansas, housing such “sacred artifacts” as my 4th grade report card from Seoul Dependents Elementary School. Many of the schools currently in operation overseas are being closed as our military presence is no longer required.

Researchers and historians will be astounded by such a treasure trove detailing one small but important part of our nation’s history.

Marilyn Celeste Morris
Author, The Women of Camp Sobingo

http://www.womenofcampsobingo.blogspot.com/

Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, Marilyn Celeste Morris

Why I Love Book Signings by Judi Moreo

2007-07-06T01:05:00.000-04:00

My recent book signing at the North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce Women’s Council turned out to be a wonderful experience. They called it “Wine, Cheese, and a Good Book.”, served wine and cheese and I did a talk on “You Are More Than Enough”. Of course, I would, that’s the title of the book. Twenty-eight people attended and we sold twenty-four books, the other four people were from the publisher’s office and Chamber staff.

It was amazing who came. .. Jeanne Bennett, who was partner with Buck Ram in Personality Productions in 1963. The significance of this is…I was her secretary back then… Buck Ram is the man who wrote the songs, “Twilight Time”,”My Prayer”, “Only You” and many, many others. I hadn’t seen her in 30 years. She still looked like a million dollars and was just as charming as ever.

Nelson Sardelli was there. Nelson was a big time star in Brazil for many years and then played Vegas and Reno in the 80’s and 90’s. He was the heart throb of the city. He still looks as good as he did back then and exudes personality. He bought a book and ended up lugging it all over Italy and then came back and bought four more for gifts. He said he only started reading it because I wrote it and then couldn’t put it down. That certainly was good for my ego.

A really great looking man came in and bought a book and said he recognized my picture from one of the dating websites and then saw it in the paper and thought he should come by and get acquainted in person. Second big boost for the ego.

I really like the idea of Wine, Cheese, and a Good Book and think more book signings should include wine and cheese. I feel like it’s more hospitable to do something other than just asking people to show up and buy a book when they don’t yet know what the book is about.

I also had a great book signing at the Border’s Store in Henderson, Nevada last week. Jesse Ferrell, the author of “How You Leave Them Feeling” came in and bought a few books. (By the way, his book is fabulous!) Another one of those men from the internet dating showed up to let me know he had found a woman and it wasn’t me. But he bought a book for the woman he found! My ex-sister in law came. I was so glad to see her. She has always been one of my favorite people and we had lost touch. Various ex-models came by…people that had worked for me when I owned Universal Models fifteen years ago.

I’ve decided that book signings are the way to go to catch up with old friends and sell books at the same time. I met lots of new people as well. The store manager and staff were wonderful. The more I do book signings, the more I realize that people who manage and work in book stores are fabulous people. They are so gracious and easy to work with. The table is always set up when I arrive. My publisher, Stephens Press, furnishes posters and bookmarks and the staff has them displayed and puts bookmarks in the shopping bags for people when they buy books. They are so good about making sure I have everything I want and need to make the book signing successful.

Sometimes my assistant, Charlotte, goes with me and she walks around the store with a book in her hand and asks people if they’ve seen it yet or if they’ve met me. We’ve found that is a real boost for sales. Of course, Charlotte is very personable and loves to talk with people so she tells them all about the book and how fabulous it is. When we do back of the room sales at presentations, she sets up the table and decorates it beautifully with blue cloths and gold stars (which is my trademark, because of the story about my dad in the book). Then she talks about the book and handles all the sales.

We’ve now created a line of motivational jewelry that goes with the book… We have bracelets that say “I am more than enough”,”Purpose”, “Passion” and “Power”. We also have my signature gold star bracelet…. So Charlotte handles the sale of that as well.

This past weekend I did a book signing at the Barnes & Noble store in St. Peters, Missouri and it poured down rain just as I walked into the store, so the traffic slowed down a bit, but it was still a wonderful experience. The book store personnel were very, very nice and supportive. Several friends from St. Louis stopped by in spite of the rain. We sold a few books, got some publicity in the local newspaper, and made more new friends.

I’m looking forward to making lots more new friends this year. I find that once the book store people like me and know about the book, they make some of the best promoters you can possibly have. They recommend the book when someone is looking and asks their advice.
Someone asked me the other day if I ever get tired of signing books. My answer, “Are you kidding? I’ve waited my entire life to do this!”

Judi Moreo

Author of You Are More Than Enough: Every Woman’s Guide to Purpose, Passion, and Power

http://www.judimoreo.com/

Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, Judi Moreo

A Bit About Me And My Books by Elena Dorothy Bowman

2007-07-05T01:30:00.000-04:00

I am an author who writes in several genre's including: futuristic science fiction, and mystery romance novels that have a touch of the paranormal running through them. I started writing fiction seriously during my lunch hours at work. I needed the diversion since most of my writing at that time was devoted to technical writing. With my first published novel, I guess it started with my smoking. Yes, I used to smoke. I don't now, haven't for many years. But one day while sitting in my office during a break, after a real rough morning, I lit a cigarette.

I watched the curled smoke from my cigarette rise toward the corner of the office disappearing into a crack in the wall. I watched this for several minutes wondering where the smoke was going. Was it just being swallowed up into the wall, or did it vanish into the nooks and crannies that were hidden from view and led to God knows where. Needless to say, my imagination took hold and before I knew it I was writing the first chapter to my science fiction/mystery/romance novel Sarah's Landing-I-Contact. I have since taken the smoking aspect out of the story and replaced that part of it with a human being — the lead character — which ultimately led to the birth of four complete novels in The Sarah's Landing Series. All four books in the series have been released in ebook format by Write Words, Inc., ebooksonthe.net. The print editions will be released sometime in 2007 by their imprint Cambridge Books.

My fifth published novel, a Romance/Suspense/Mystery Thriller, The House On The Bluff, first came into existence due to a mysterious, seemingly uninhabited house on a ledge that overlooked the ocean. A place where I had never seen anyone enter or leave in the many times I had visited there. It was as if the house sat there waiting for something or someone. It was a foreboding looking house, especially on a cloudy day. Still, there was something majestic about the way it stood its ground against the ocean crashing up against its seawall, and the mystery
surrounding it — just added to the equation. This, too, lent itself to a three book series entitled The Legacy Series. All three books in the series have been released in ebook format by Write Words, Inc., ebooksonthe.net. The first two books in the series have been released in print by their imprint Cambridge Books. (http://www.cambridgebooks.us/).

We come to my eighth published novel, Time-Slip, in the Romantic Paranormal Suspense genre. At present, it is only available as an e-book, but hopefully it, too, will be released in paperback. This novel had its birth while researching ancient histories and lost civilizations. The thought occurred to me as I read certain books that what if, what they say is true, about a continent that disappeared in the Pacific? What if it all did happen exactly the way they say it did? But what if it all wasn't lost? What if a part of it was trapped in a sort of bubble, but no one, just by looking, would ever discover it? What then? What if some young archaeologist decided to search for
ancient artifacts and was caught in a seaquake, an undersea earthquake that opened the door to a portal that only the Earth remembers —and to an undersea world that shouldn't exist? This, too, will be released in print sometime in 2007 by Cambridge Books. More about all of my novels, excepts and reviews can be read on my website: http://sarahslanding.com/ or http://elenadb.home.comcast.net/. My blog: http://elenabowmanscifimysteryromanceauthor.blogspot.com/

Elena Dorothy Bowman

Author of Gatekeeper's Realm

http://elenadb.home.comcast.net/

Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, Elena Dorothy Bowman

The Nightmare of Booksignings by Susan Gregg

2007-07-03T10:37:00.000-04:00

When my book The Toltec Way came out, I went on a book signing tour of the West Coast. When I got to my first book signing, the store had forgotten they were going to even have a book signing. That could have been my first clue. I spent 3 1/2 weeks on the road going from town to town signing books.

Now don't get the wrong idea, some of the book signings were wonderful.

I got to meet so many wonderful people. One night while I was waiting for people to show up I sat in the back row. I forgot my picture was on the back of the book and just sat there watching people gather. Finally the woman sitting next to me said, "I know who you are are you supposed to be up front?"

I feel silly sitting behind a table with a pile of books and people scurrying by trying to avoid me so I refuse to do a book signing unless I get to do a talk as well. One of the bookstores had shelves that were about 4 feet high. When I started my talk there was a handful of people
sitting in the chairs. As I talked I started to see disembodied heads appearing over all the shelves. It was great.

At a bookstore, I think it was in Seattle, there was only a schizophrenic and a homeless man who really enjoyed the cookies. Some day I hope to have people lined up around the block, just waiting for me to sign their book, but for now I'll just enjoy my virtual book tour.

Susan Gregg
Author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Short Meditations
http://www.susangregg.com/

Tags: book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tour, online book promotion, Susan Gregg

My Name is Dorothy Thompson and I Hate Booksignings by Dorothy Thompson

2007-06-13T13:55:00.001-04:00

It started out as a nice little day with the sun shining brightly, no rain in sight, and I was about to join three other authors, all three published by New York presses, at a NASA base on The Eastern Shore of Virginia. Oh, I don't mind mentioning where because I'm sure the story I'm about to tell could be read from my eyes by these NY authors that very day. And, I'm sure neither one of them even blog as they're scurrying about doing conferences and giving talks of which their hosts who booked them because they were NY published paid them for.

But, I digress.

There were four of us and I was the only one without a line at her table.

The NY published authors were laughing and gabbing among themselves as they fielded questions from said people in line, and sold lots of books.

I sold two.

The press did announce we were to be there so I'm presuming my name was included, but no one came to see me as I was not a NY published author, but an author published by a small press, even though they are a very respected small press.

I also had something else not in my favor. Their books were related to some kind of military stuff and mine was related to soul mates.

Lesson learned. Don't try to sell a relationship book to a bunch of NASA employees, 'cause they aren't going to buy.

So, who were my two buyers? One was running a craft exhibit opposite me and the other one was a Reiki teacher. Both women.

Who were the customers? Mainly men. A few women walked past me and the NY published authors as well, but the men were lined up to see said NY published authors that were pretty darn well known in my territory.

Although this wasn't my only booksigning, it was my last. Not that I won't partake on other offers to stand there, looking silly, and hawk my books to innocent potential buyers, but it did change my way of thinking.

I now promote exclusively online.

What I have learned in the last six years since I have been promoting online is that I am reaping more sales this way. Sure, it still takes work on my part and lots of it, but I can have bed hair and wear jammies and no one will know the wiser. I don't have to be something I'm not.

What with blogging, virtual book tours, connecting with online writers and readers, there is no reason why anyone has to put themselves through that torture just to sell books. Unless they want to.

It's probably not wise to openly and publicly announce that you hate booksignings, but I have a feeling I'm not alone.

I'm Dorothy Thompson and I hate booksignings. Thank you.

Dorothy Thompson

Editor/Co-Author Romancing the Soul

Co-Author The Search for the Million $$$ Ghost

CEO/Founder Pump Up Your Book Promotion PR

http://www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com/

Tags: the writer's life, book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, online book promotion, Dorothy Thompson

All for the Sake of the Al'Mighty Pen by Dorothy Thompson

2007-06-08T06:22:00.000-04:00

Interesting story in the NY Observer yesterday.

The title was what caught my eye: "My Book Deal Ruined My Life."

Say it isn't so.

Here's part of it:

Brendan Sullivan, 25, moved to New York after studying creative writing at Kenyon College in Ohio. He hasn’t landed a book deal for his novel, but is determined to find a publisher. “Writing has ruined my life and cost me many, many girlfriends,” he wrote in an e-mail. “I have thrown away several careers and one college degree to spend my time working in bars, D.J.’ing in bars and drinking my rejection letters away. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy, and I’ve made many of them since I started …. I also abandoned my agent with words harsher than those I’ve saved for lost loves.”

That's only one case. The article quotes other cases where one's life was disrupted by the al'mighty pen.

Six years ago, I had a life. I was thirty pounds lighter, I actually knew where all members of my family were going after they told me and rather enjoyed frivolous waste-of-time shopping trips where I had nothing to do all day but ogle clothes I only wish I had the money to buy.

I showed up for work on time and actually volunteered for overtime to increase the paycheck so I could have more money for said shopping trips.

The car got washed and the garden got watered, not to mention my body took on a golden glow from all those trips out in the summer sun.

Relatives were visited, neighbors were checked in on and playing in the park with my dogs was an every day thing.

Clothes were thrown out on the line to save on the electric bill instead of tossed in the energy-guzzling dryer and food actually was prepared up on top of the stove (or the grill) instead of the microwave.

All for the sake of the al'mighty pen, I have given up all those things.

Every morning, there is a mad dash for the computer to either read email from my writing group, write in my blog or start working on a scene in a novel that was hauntingly driving me to write it down, lest I forget it.

All for the al'mighty pen do I do this because...

I'm not quite sure.

I'm thinking it might be a disease that inflicts ordinary people that drives them to give up on what they used to know as everyday life and turn it into a frenzied marathon of writing, editing, revising, writing some more, sending said writing to agents and publishers, reading the rejections, screaming, writing again, sending again and repeating the whole process over and over until you finally give up and start on another novel and repeat the same process over and over.

It's a disease of the al'mighty pen.

Anyway, what prompted me to get out of bed, empty my bladder, grab a sandwich and some pepsi and turn on the computer at 4 a.m. in the morning when I could still be sleeping is a condition that strikes every known man or woman on the face of this earth if they decide to become a writer. And, God forbid them to want to become a published author because if that happens, they're in for a treat and their life will never be the same unless they take that al'mighty pen, lay it down and refuse to pick it up again.

But, we don't do that.

We can't.

We just can't.

So, I'm sitting here at the computer at 4 in the morning - errr, make that 5 by now - and I come across an article in the NY Observer titled "My Book Deal Ruined My Life" and I'm thinking...no matter how much my life has changed and no matter how much I long for the times when I could kick back and enjoy life without having to turn this blasted computer on, I still think because of the al'mighty pen, my life has become a little richer, and a little more meaningful.

I don't know how or why because that book deal is just not happening; but somehow, somewhere, I just feel it and if I wait just a little while longer, and pray a little harder, and keep on writing and revising and submitting, I'll finally get to where I'm going.

All for the sake of the al'mighty pen that just won't let me let it go.

Dorothy Thompson
Co-Author, The Search for the Million $$$ Ghost
Editor/Co-Author, Romancing the Soul
CEO/Founder PUMP UP YOUR BOOK PROMOTION PR
www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com

Tags: the writer's life, book deals, NY Observer, book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, online book promotion

Don't Quit Your Day Job by Lois Winston

2007-06-07T12:00:00.000-04:00

I am a published author. In April 2006, TALK GERTIE TO ME, my first book was published by Dorchester Love Spell. My second book, LOVE, LIES AND A DOUBLE SHOT OF DECEPTION, arrived on bookstore shelves the end of May 2007.

I am a published author. To most of the non-publishing world, that means I'm RICH.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I am a published author. Friends, relatives, acquaintances, and even strangers expect me to give them free autographed copies of my books because I am a published author, and they think I'm RICH.

If you're struggling to get published and expect that when the day arrives, you'll no longer have a financial care in the world, I'm about to clue you in to the truth of publishing: Most published authors can't afford to quit their day jobs.

When the general public hears about a book sale, they hear about James Patterson or JK Rowling. They think in terms of million dollar advances.

They think all authors receive advances of at least a hundred thousand dollars per book. The general public has no idea that the average advance for a first book is less than $5,000 -- much less than $5,000. As a matter of fact, many publishers are now routinely offering less than $2,000 for a first book.

Once upon a time an advance was supposed to support the author between the time the book sold and the royalties started coming in. Those times are long gone except for a select few stars of the publishing world, every Hollywood celebrity and pro athlete who thinks it would be fun to write a book, and a handful of A-list politicians.

And even when an author does start to see royalties, the average author doesn't see lots of zeros on that check. Consider the fact that the average royalty for a mass market paperback for a first time author is 6% (and with some publishers it's as low as 4%.) Now consider the fact that the
author's print run will probably be less than 20,000 books, and if she's lucky, she'll have a 75% sell-thru (the number of books actually sold from the print run.) If the cover price of her book is $6.00, she'll make a grand total of $5,400 on a book that may have taken her years to write.

And that's only if she's getting 6% royalties. Like I said, some publishers are only paying 4%. That's a whopping 24 cents per book or $3,600 if she's lucky enough to sell 15,000 copies. And if she's got an agent, she has to deduct 15% of that for the agency commission. So now she's down to $3,060.

It's kind of hard to live on $3,060 in 2007.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the publisher will probably hold back at least 40% of the author's royalties for up to two years. That's called 'reserve against return.' If your book doesn't sell, the bookstore strips the cover, trashes the book, and returns the cover to the publisher for
credit.

Then to add insult to injury, most publishers expect a first time author to finance her own publicity. Publishers only pay for postcards, bookmarks, mailings, book tours, etc. for the authors receiving the mega-advances.

They need to make back that advance money in book sales, so they throw more money at the author in the way of PR. The rest of us have to pay our own way. Now consider this: The cost of a first class stamp is 41 cents, a postcard 26 cents. If you want to mail out brochures or postcards to announce your new release, you'll lose money with each mailing.

The odds of doing well are stacked against us. We're lucky if anyone even stumbles upon our books in the bookstore. Most of us won't be shelved on the New Releases racks or at the front of the store on the New Releases tables. And we certainly won't be on end caps, displayed in the
window, or featured in special cardboard dumps throughout the store or up at the register. Publishers pay booksellers for those types of placement, and they're not paying it for the average author. If we're lucky, our books will be face out instead of spine out on the shelves, but even that costs extra, and your publisher may or may not pay for it.

The rule of thumb used to be that an author should spend 10% of her advance on PR. When your advance is less than $2,000, you probably won't even be able to get a decent number of bookmarks printed for 10% of that advance.

Most authors I know are routinely sinking their entire advance into PR. They have to. When you consider how many books are published each year, you have to do everything in your power to get your name out there in the hope that people will buy your book. Because if you don't, you won't have decent sell-thru numbers, and if you don't have decent sell-thru numbers,
chances are you won't sell another book.

I am a published author. Do you want fries with that?

******
Award-winning author Lois Winston writes humorous, cross-genre, contemporary novels. She often draws upon her extensive experience as a crafts designer for much of her source material. Her first book, TALK GERTIE TO ME, a combination chick lit/hen lit/romantic comedy with a touch of the paranormal, was an April 2006 release from Dorchester Publishing and has to date won a Readers and Bookbuyers Best award and racked up nominations for a Reviewers Choice Award, a Golden Leaf Award, and a Beacon Award. LOVE, LIES & A DOUBLE SHOT OF DECEPTION, a mom-lit romantic suspense, is a June 2007 release from Dorchester. Lois also contributed to DREAMS & DESIRES, a charity anthology of 19 romances by 19 authors which was released in February from Freya's Bower. All proceeds from this anthology go to a shelter for battered women. In addition, Lois is a contributor to HOUSE UNAUTHORIZED, a November 2007 release from BenBella Books.

Lois Winston

Author, Talk Gertie to Me
www.loiswinston.com

TAGS: Straight from the Author's Mouth, book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tours, Lois Winston, Love, Lies, & A Double Shot of Deception

Sometimes It Pays To Embarrass Your Mother by Marilyn Celeste Morris

2007-06-06T05:44:00.000-04:00

I have to tell a story about how my 86-year-old mother reacted to my first novel, Sabbath’s Room. Keep in mind it’s a paranormal murder mystery.

She called me and said, “I sat down and read your book today, all in one sitting.”

I said, “Okay, what did you think?”

She kind of stuttered a bit, and I prompted her, “Go ahead, tell me if you didn’t like it.”

“Well, that’s not it. It’s just that….well, I was surprised by all the sex and violence.”

I have to tell you here, that the “sex “consisted of passages such as “necking like teenagers” and “she lay in his strong arms.” And it is a murder mystery, so it has some violence in it.

“Well, Mother, I’m sorry you feel that way. I could have put in a lot worse on the sex scenes and made the murder much more graphic, so what you’re reading is pretty mild. Are you ashamed of me?”

“Well, no. I’m not ashamed of you. It’s just that --- well,” she finally said in exasperation, “It’s just that I recommended it to my Sunday School class.”

I laughed and said, “Well, okay, next Sunday, apologize to your Sunday School class for the recommendation; that you didn’t know it had so much sex and violence in it.”

She said she would do that.

And guess what? My sales went up.

Gotta love those Methodists.

Marilyn Celeste Morris

Author of The Women of Camp Sobingo, Once a Brat and Sabbath's Room

www.sabbathsroom.blogspot.com

http://www.onceabratbookblog.blogspot.com

Tags: Straight from the Author's Mouth, book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tours, Marilyn Celeste Morris, Sabbath's Room

THE ARROGANCE OF IT ALL by Karen Magill

2007-06-05T04:00:00.000-04:00

What annoys me is some of the people involved with the literary world. A lot are fantastic but then there are those who aren’t. They are unprofessional, childish, narrow-minded and seem to like to belittle others.

In my opinion being narrow-minded is the death of a writer. A writer has to have an open mind and be willing to accept new ideas. When it comes to publishing many aren’t. They are trapped in the idea that a person has to be published by a big New York house or they aren’t published at all. I was like that until I grew up. Well, as much as I’ve grown up.

I am proud to say that I am independently published. Or self-published or vanity published; whichever term a person wants to use, it doesn’t matter me. I know that I am a talented writer yet I also know that the avenue I’ve chosen is going to close a lot of doors in the publishing industry. That’s fine, I just have to operate within my boundaries and work at opening those doors.

But other writers are a hassle. I don’t need to be insulted by them, though it doesn’t faze me. It lessens them in my eyes. I have had writers on Yahoo groups act like they are really interested then start with the snide remarks. Some writers that start out the same way develop an attitude when he or she gets a contract. Suddenly the old route, which they were very supportive of, is to be ridiculed. Along with anyone who is still publishing that way. I have even had another writer who is not published tell me that those who self-publish will never make it in the industry because they don’t have the patience to last. After all, I didn’t have the patience to wait for New York to recognize me.

I don’t have time for this. I am an entrepreneur of sorts. I am at the grassroots and learning as I go. No one who is published can get away without self-promotion anymore and this is the way I have chosen to learn it. The pressure isn’t on me to sell so many units in a certain amount of time or I will lose my contract. No. I can muddle through and make mistakes – believe me I have made some – and hopefully learn from them. I don’t have people from all sides telling me what to do and letting me know that my future relies on it. Because it doesn’t. Now is the time to make the mistakes so that when a big house publishes me, I won’t make as many.

Perhaps the other writers don’t realize that we are all after the same thing, just going about it in a different manner. If we all got along a little better, put our egos aside, maybe we could all learn from each other. Or maybe the problem is that I am just too much of a threat? Interesting concept.

Karen Magill

Author of Let Us Play

www.lulu.com/karenmagill
www.letusplaylovestory.blogspot.com/
http://www.karenmagill.com/

TAGS: Straight from the Author's Mouth, book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tours, Karen Magill, Let Us Play

The Interminable Wait by Sandy Lender

2007-06-04T10:57:00.000-04:00

It's longer than a pregnancy.

This is that year to three years between the signing of the contract and the actual release of your novel. It's a horrendous time. For me, a fantasy author signed with ArcheBooks Publishing, Las Vegas, The Interminable Wait was 13 months. And that ain't half bad. Looking back on it, I think I remained really calm, given my impatient nature...

But authors can use that Interminable Wait to their advantage if they just realize that it's coming and plan for it.
1) Write the sequels. While waiting for the release of Choices Meant for Gods, I wrote Book II in the trilogy, Choices Made by Gods, and most of Book III. (I also began a vampire trilogy, wrote a paranormal romance novel, started an online serial novel, and started some other projects that are on the back burner right now.)
2) Plan your marketing strategy if you didn't do this before your pitch/proposal. And get the marketing strategy lined up so when the release hits, you're already in marketing mode.
3) Get your site set up and your credit card orders ready to go.
4) Get your mailing list into ACT! or some other database management program so you can interface with an e-mail program easily.
5) Get your review list ready and, when your galleys arrive, send those babies out.

This list could go on forever, but I think I've made my point. The Interminable Wait can drive you nuts (and it probably will), but use that time to your advantage. Everyone and their brother should know you've got a book being released by the time it's actually released because you've used that downtime to get to them and let them know. And, yeah, you'll have more grey hair and less sanity, but, let me tell you this: It's all worth it for the day your copies arrive and The Interminable Wait is over...

"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."

Sandy Lender
Author of Choices Meant for Gods
www.todaythedragonwins.blogspot.com
http://sandylender.blogspot.com/

TAGS: Straight from the Author's Mouth, book promotion, book publicity, author interviews, blogging authors, guest blog, guest bloggers, book blog, virtual book tours, Sandy Lender, Choices Meant for Gods

WHO WE ARE

2007-06-03T18:18:00.001-04:00

Welcome to STRAIGHT FROM THE AUTHOR'S MOUTH with guest posts from authors dishing out on the real world of being published. Think it's a glamorous occupation? Think again. There are more bumps in the road than you can shake a stick at. But, these writers who pen books are in it for the long haul and they'll tell you, straight from the author's mouth, what it's really like when they finally get to the point where all their efforts and dreams are contained between the pages of their published book.

If you are a published author and you would like to guest post at STRAIGHT FROM THE AUTHOR'S MOUTH, send us an email telling us what you'd like to dish out. You can email us at thewriterslife(at)yahoo.com and please put "STRAIGHT FROM THE AUTHOR'S MOUTH" in the subject line.

The topics covered will run the gamut of what it's really like being published to the joys as well as pitfalls in their own experience that are inevitably a part of being a published author. Send us an email and let us know how you feel and you'll appear on STRAIGHT FROM THE AUTHOR'S MOUTH.

Your guest post will include your book cover and bio for those who don't mind saying it like it really is, but if you'd like to go anonymous, that's okie dokie with us.

Thank you for visiting STRAIGHT FROM THE AUTHOR'S MOUTH and, please, come back to see what other authors think.

Dorothy Thompson
CEO/Founder Pump Up Your Book Promotion
www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com